it's just a book, for god's sake

it's a pretty popular book; been around for a while.
lots of folks have built careers telling others about it.

of course, it's just a book.
tells some rather tall tales, kind of hard to believe it all.
snakes, apples, some quality time with your best [only?] friend
in a beautiful garden--where's the harm in that?

right...two of everything. ever run an orphanage? i didn't think so. i've had as many as twenty orphaned cyclists, three dogs, two cats, and a bird or two.

i'll tell ya where you can put your "two of everything," god.

so read the article below, and then tell me who's crazy!

......

HAYDEN, Idaho (AP) -- A man who believed he bore the ''mark of the beast'' used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said.
The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff's deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the mental health unit of Kootenai Medical Center.
''It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived,'' sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. ''He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn't bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad.''
It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.
The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: ''If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury.''
The book of Matthew also contains the passage: ''And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.''
Wolfinger said he didn't know which hand was amputated.

can't sleep?

then why don't you think up great products like this?

share your bright ideas in the comments section!

STRIKE TWO!!

too rich? too slick? too lazy?

the new calendar's here! the new calendar's here! the new calendar's here!

huh? i am not a bum. i'm a jerk. i once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. now i only have two things: my friends and ... uh ... my thermos. no, wait! three things: my friends and ... uh ... my thermos and ...

my 2008 iowa bicycle racing association calendar!!

.....

you can get yours, too, for only $10!!!

[here's how]

STRIKE TWO!!

fast ball? change up? underhanded lob? t-ball? curve ball?

but can we get it in green?

it's the latest in bicyclist protection

jack and the magic bean bus

chapter 12 –

the mystery pickle and the gathering horde

Jack quickly folded the newspaper shut, hoping that G-Pickle hadn’t noticed the news story about the search at the orphanage and about Jack’s fugitive status. Much to Jack’s relief, G-Pickle seemed content to hum a little tune quietly to himself while gazing out the big windows into the parking lot and the street beyond.

A moment later, another Hy-Vee 99¢ pancake breakfast just like Jack’s was placed in front of G-Pickle, and they both dug in. Somehow, between bites, G-Pickle managed to sing a little song:
“Nip and tuck, danger, duck,
Raccoons riding in a truck.
To dodge them all, you’ll need some luck,
And a bike that’s in the muck.”

Jack had no idea that he had left Dog Bait’s just in time. Not too far behind him, Miller Avenue was now thick with raccoons.
The Des Moines Register newspaper delivery truck had arrived in town just after sunrise, and it took a while to navigate the Iowa City streets. Cautious persistence paid off, and the truck finally found what seemed to be the end of the trail at a house on Miller Avenue.

Still wanting to keep a low profile, the truck continued past the house and pulled into a deserted parking lot on the other side of the street between some businesses and the empty field. The rear door of the truck slid open, and several raccoons tumbled out without waiting for the ramp to be put in place.

They fanned out and drew near to the house from the field across the street, sniffing and feeling their way along. Once again, the ranks of the raccoon army were thinned as they crossed the street, this time by a school bus filled with horrified children. Undeterred, the remaining raccoons pushed forward and reached the front yard.

The scent trail definitely stopped along the side of the house, but the trail also led to and from the house at least twice. The multiple trails, plus the fact that the scent was getting very faint as time went by, made it very difficult to track.
More raccoons piled out of the truck and joined in the search that was now slowly making its way back up Miller Avenue, along the path that Jack had taken during the night and also earlier this morning.

Just a few miles ahead, Jack and G-Pickle had both finished their breakfasts. Jack had even managed to drink his entire orange juice without being poisoned by bleach, although he did forget to shake the drink before opening it and ended up with all of the pulp sitting at the bottom.

Jack noticed the paper again and began to wonder if Sister Kim might have left him another secret message in the classified ads. G-Pickle was sitting behind the comics pages held up in front of him, humming to himself once again. This was Jack’s chance to check the ads without being watched. He held the classified section up in front of his own face and turned to the old auto ads while G-Pickle began to sing.

“I wondered as I rode my bike along the city streets
Who would put their coffee beans in a bag for SIDI cleats?
But sure as I am sitting here, the beans were sitting there.
I stopped and picked them up and brought them back with special care.”

G-Pickle’s song was making it tough for Jack to concentrate on looking for a secret message among the ads for used cars. He eventually found the same ad for the 1962 VW that he had seen the day before. It still mentioned missing Jack and listed the address for Dog Bait’s. There was no new information. None of the words were different.
The words to G-Pickle’s songs were always different, however, and it took a while for them to sink in. But the mention of coffee beans and SIDI cleats started to make sense.

Jack whipped the paper out of the way to ask G-Pickle what he meant with his newest song but found himself staring across the table to an empty seat. G-Pickle was gone. But at his place he had left a familiar little SIDI cleat bag full of the beans Sister Kim had given Jack.

to be continued...

[a serial by little orphan dbax]

he certainly doesn't LOOK 73!

i grew up listening to the king...and still have a bunch of old sun 45s
we all had to have elvis birthday cakes.
and here are some of my very favorite tunes.
happy birthday to the king.


little sister...

king creole...what a great movie.

video sucks on "his latest flame," but song still rocks.

patriotism [donne-moi le drapeau, s'il vous plait?]

from buzzflash.com:
Mark Karlin, Editor and Publisher, BuzzFlash.com
January 7, 2008

In March of 2007, BuzzFlash ran a commentary about how not one member of the extended Bush family of fit and firm youth was serving or had served in Iraq, Afghanistan or combat anywhere, yet Bush remains an enthusiast for sacrificing the lives of other people's children -- mostly poor and rural.
Here's the photo we ran, along with the commentary "Not ONE Member of the Bush Extended Family Has Served in Iraq! Not One! Take a Look":


After the Saturday night debates in New Hampshire, we don't need to concern ourselves with the families of the Democratic candidates, because not one of them supports the war in Iraq.
But we will offer family photos of two leading GOP presidential aspirants. First off are the strapping five Romney boys, who received infamous publicity early on when their father, the Mittster, declared that they were serving their country campaigning for him, implying that traveling around Iowa in a Winnebago was equivalent to putting your life on the line in Baghdad. (Later, he partially apologized for the comment, but none of his sons has joined the service yet.)
Romney is a steadfast supporter of Bush and the war in Iraq, but the closest his five army ready boys have come to armed conflict are fraternity food fights:


Here is Mitt Romney's position on the Iraq War from the Pew (Charitable Trusts) Forum on Religion and Politics:
Romney supports President Bush's policy in Iraq, including his January 2007 decision to increase the number of troops in Iraq. He has criticized the planning and management of the Iraq conflict, but says keeping the U.S. in Iraq is the best option for minimizing casualties, securing the country and maintaining a democratic government there.
Of course, there is the unflappable, smooth-as-a-lambskin-Bible-cover Mike Huckabee. He has two military ready sons, John Mark and David, neither of whom has served in the armed forces.
David, seen below, has become notorious for hanging a dog while serving as a Boy Scout counselor in 1998:


Of more interest to his combat readiness, David was arrested in April of 2007 for trying to board a plane in Little Rock with a loaded Glock pistol in his carry on bag. So we know that the boy can shoot. Why isn't he on the front lines of the war his father so ardently supports in the name of Christ?
(By the way, the reaction of Dad Huckabee to David's gun arrest is notable. "It's one of those stupid things," Mike Huckabee said. "He knows better." Ah, yes, nothing like a forgiving preacher. Do you feel safer now knowing that a gun toting animal abuser's father might be president? Clear the squirrels from the White House lawn now.)
Here, by the way, is Mike Huckabee's position on the Iraq War according to the Pew (Charitable Trusts) Forum on Religion and Politics:
Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III' against Islamic fascism, which he describes as 'a perversion of Islam.' He said that President Bush's 2007 plan to increase troop levels in Iraq should be given a chance to work, adding, '"I'm going to have to trust the people over there sucking that sand into their lungs and putting their boots on the ground every day." Huckabee favors gradually transferring power to the Iraqi government, though not on a timetable.
Which brings us to the inevitable coup de grace of this visual journey through the heartland of Iraq war hypocrisy that runs like a cancer through the Republican Party aspirants for the presidency.
Yes, you guessed it, neither Mitt Romney nor Mike Huckabee ever served in the military. They could have followed their convictions and volunteered for service, but they were too busy espousing war to fight in any of them.

things found while surfing the internets

you can find the craziest things on the internets these days. i have a search program that sends me posts about me, or things similar to me ["mostly reverend" and such], and while most times it's just some "reverend" who is thankful for "mostly" sunny skies or such, every now and then the similarities are so close--and just so "not me"--that it gives me a chuckle. well, here's one that i received a few days ago. let's read along together...

Dear Capricious Kim,

Posted Thursday, December 27, 2007 by PRC's Czar of Information

Oh, how we once were inspired

By your revolts against the higher

And how you represent our cycling community

With your flavor of audacious impunity

We've always entertained your thoughts

And your creative anti-Christian plots

All amidst your governmental doting

And your shameless self-promoting

And we've heard you claim to support us gals

Yet you will insult us anyhow?

Acting so tough in front of the boys

But alone with us you're a soft putty toy

Despite that your words could never do us in

Still, we hope you could clue us in

Because we just don't know anymore

What the hell you're standing for

Or, what you're standing against

Grandpa Kim please make some sense

You mock us to every end

And then call yourself a Reverend?

Do you need another reminder

You're in great risk of getting Alzheimers

You've mistaken us girls for an easy match

And starting throwing boomerangs you can't catch

So let's hear you testify

Why PRC gals should be so denied

And how is it you see the gold

Picking on girls with the same goals

This is your chance to make everything clear

Before the ice melts off your beard

And as you grind away your mental cog

Wait - oh my God!

We forgot you can't, you can't comment on this blog.

So in lieu of that let's just say this

There's no need to be filled with vinegar and piss

No matter whose party we court

We're all out here to support our sport
-from the girls of PRC

.....

as i said, usually these random hits are just funny little things that only give me a chuckle as i ponder other not-too-parallel universes. but i don't know, this one seems to be a more slightly skewed universe.

.....

and this gem found just today by an alert reader:

From a Clinton campaign email list:
"The Iowa caucus process is a broken and flawed process. It was designed to allow for the active party Dems generally known to one another to assign delegates and was not designed to handle a flood of students and independents. It was a system designed to give more power to Dem party loyalists. In the tension over whether the candidates should be chosen by the party or by the general public, the Iowa caucus was designed to give the party the advantage. For this reason, the Iowa system failed on Thursday."

[thanks, b.g.]

sunday funnies

for those cyclists whose early season fitness does not allow them to compete in today's grueling valley west mall roller "races" please be advised that there will be a group ride leaving lippold's house on franklin avenue at noon.

wear old clothes, slap on your fenders, please, eat a hearty breakfast and bring some food and drink, and be ready for five hours of fun in the sun.

hardly anyone left behind!

[has anyone seen ben garrett lately?]

jack and the magic bean bus [REVISED]

chapter 11 - jack seeks protective reorganization

Jack awoke at Dog Bait’s just after sunrise, which was much earlier than he expected, considering the late night adventures of the beater brigade just a few hours before. Jack noticed ashes smoldering in the fireplace and wondered if they had anything to do with the pool of sweat that had drenched his clothes while he slept on the vinyl couch.

Everyone else in the house was still sleeping, and this gave Jack an opportunity to search for the lost beans while his clothes dried out. Jack sifted through the empty beer cans and spent fireworks looking for the small plastic bag that carried the beans. The bag had the word SIDI printed in white letters on one side and once held cleats for cycling shoes. It was nowhere to be found, but Jack managed to scrape together $1.98 in loose change scattered on the floor and among the couch cushions.

Then Jack stepped outside and studied the ground along the front porch and the side of the house where he had parked his bike. Still he found nothing. Jack sat down on the front porch and stared blankly into the empty field across the street. It suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t even know what was so special about the beans he had lost. They looked and smelled like the coffee beans that Sister Kim had often used for coffee at the orphanage. “What’s the big deal?” he wondered. “And why did I have to escape? What am I escaping from? Who’s chasing me?”

Even though Jack didn’t understand his circumstances, he trusted Sister Kim. In order to quiet all of the questions crowding into his head, Jack decided to get some breakfast, but his search for food in the kitchen was just as unsuccessful as his search for the beans.

“It’s time to go,” Jack said to himself as he scribbled a note of thanks to Dog Bait and stepped out of the front door. He was determined to start looking for the bag of beans along the roads and get some breakfast along the way. Hopefully, Jack would be able to find the beans by eleven o’clock so that he could catch a ride to Denver with Brendan.

At first it was easy to retrace the path that the beater brigade had taken the night before. He headed up the big hill at the end of Miller Avenue and took a right turn, passing the pile of trash cans that Sluggo had knocked down. Jack scanned the gutters but found nothing. From here, Jack wasn’t exactly sure where they had ridden last night, and he was in danger of getting himself lost again.

After wandering around on his bike for a while, Jack spotted a big Hy-Vee grocery store, and hunger took over. Jack aimed for the parking lot and then leaned his bike up against a wall near the windows. He walked into the deli area and ordered a hearty 99¢ breakfast of pancakes and sausages, along with an orange juice that Jack was pleased to see came in a sealed container. There would be no bleach accidents at breakfast today. While waiting for his breakfast to arrive, Jack sipped the orange juice and thumbed idly through a copy of the Des Moines Register that had been left behind by another customer. A small headline in the local news section caught Jack’s eye. It read Local Orphanage Searched, and a short news story appeared underneath.

"Local authorities searched the Orphanage of our Lady of Perpetual Acceleration in the 1500 block of 48th Street in Des Moines yesterday, hoping to question one of the residents there, Jack Piper, in connection with certain financial irregularities discovered within the Des Moines Register’s trial run of its new computerized auditing system."


"Authorities were unable to locate Piper at the Orphanage and would not comment further on the questioning of orphanage administrator the Sista Kim, Nun of the Above, of the Church of the Two-Wheeled Scam, and of the Order of the Air-Cooled Bus, except to say that the questioning did not produce any 'useful or coherent information.' ”

Jack’s heart was pounding in his chest as he looked up from the newspaper to find that his Hy-Vee 99¢ breakfast had been delivered to his table and that G-Pickle was sitting right across from him, humming quietly to himself.

to be continued...
[a serial by little orphan dbax]

caucus night in iowa

So we accepted the orphanage's challenge and rode our bikes to our caucus, presented the resolution, and I guess it was accepted. We didn't really know what to do with our resolution so we gave out some copies and gave a copy each to two of the people who seemed to be in charge. Then after we got in our groups and got delegates people started to leave. So we asked the two in charge and they said that we were the only ones that brought anything so they would just take it on to the next stage since they didn't have anything else competing for the platform.
I guess democracy is easier in a small town.
We were in Allamakee County, Precinct Waukon 1
Lee & Andrea Venteicher

[We were, sadly, the only ones who biked to the caucus.]
[Here is me feeling silly after our resolution "passed" due to general apathy.]
[outside hubbell elementary school, i unwittingly tested the camera.
the paper indicates i AM at the right location.]

[the mostly reverend opted for a fixed gear bike, a late-60s schwinn "racer," a nod to his first participation in national politics in 1968, and to his intransigent attitudes and political resoluteness, often confused as crustiness and obstreperousness.]

.....

when the great history book is written, included in the chapter covering the presidential campaign of 2008 will be this significant footnote:
"three brave, committed citizens of iowa put their politics where their asses are and rode bicycles to their respective precinct caucus. two in the tiny, picturesque northeast allamakee county community of waukon, and one in the liberal urban enclave of the northwest side of des moines proper. as a result of their dedication and efforts on a cold, clear, crisp and history-making night in january, a resolution supporting the rights of bicyclists became the principal plank of the democratic platform, and revolutionized transportation in the united states, ultimately freeing america from its lethal addiction to foreign oil AND helping to revolutionize the reorientation of the medical profession from a treatment-oriented field to a wellness and prevention endeavor.
"sadly, the names of these three cyclists/patriots/heroes is not known."

.....

if you have cycling caucus stories and photos to share, please send them to me, and we'll post them here. thanks, and thanks to all who participated last night. it was good.

.....

and on an unrelated topic, this from a reader...

Plans for a Lance Armstrong biopic are still simmering, reports the BikingBis.com blog. Shooting could begin next summer, according to producer Frank Marshall, whose credits include the Indiana Jones and Bourne movie franchises. And speaking of Bourne, Marshall said that the lead role for a Lance movie is still Matt Damon's to turn down. (Damon is 37.) Marshall added that cycling's doping controversies are not the reason the movie has been slow getting going. He implied it's been a matter of other projects taking precedence.

.....

question: who would YOU recommend for the role of lance? who would you recommend for other roles [jan, george, johann, et cetera]? leave your suggestions in the comments . . .

quote of the day

The new Team Astana has started out the new year with a win. Sports Director Sean Yates [b. 5.18.60] won the Southborough and District wheelers 10-mile time trial on New Years Day – 30 years to the day after he first won the race.
When he was given the prize – a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape. "If I keep progressing like this, I might well turn pro one day," he joked. Yates raced as a professional from 1982 to 1996. After drinking half the bottle, according to a team press release, he said, "This cycling lark is piss easy."

another morning at the waveland

one pancake, a slice of ham, an over-easy egg and lots of barely drinkable coffee with bill richardson, fred thompson, ron paul, john edwards, john roberts and the rest of the "best team in politics," a bunch of secret service-looking people, and too many out-of-place and uncomfortable-looking republicans anxious for face time on cable news. and me, listening to npr on my walkman, wearing my little joe biden pin.

impressions:

1--bill richardson wanted to eat my breakfast;

2--I'M glad fred's not MY grandpa;

3--ron paul looks like a kid who promised to be good if his parents would take him to the circus;

4--john edwards would look better in jeans and a flannel shirt;

5--the massive cnn crew wants to get the hell out of cold weather.

it's gonna be interesting tonight, tomorrow, and the next few weeks.

race season 2008 begins!

i had no idea how exciting these competitions were

until i read all about them; why don't YOU?

1/06/08 Valley West Wipeout, West Des Moines
1/12/08 Harper's Cycling & Fitness Rollerhead, Muscatine

1/26/08 Victorian House Bed & Breakfast,Washington
1/27/08 Bikes Two You, Grinnell

2/03/08 Rollin' the Rapids, Cedar Rapids

2/10/08 ISU Roller Race, Bike World Ames

2/17/08 Des Moines Rollin' the DSM Y
2/24/08 FROSTBUSTER 13, Cedar Falls

caucus night tough guy/good guy points

two-fers here in iowa, boys and girls!

how?

1--go to the iowa bicycle coalition;

2--download and print a few copies of the 2007 iowa caucus resolution proposal;

3--RIDE YOUR BIKE TO YOUR CAUCUS to show how serious you are about the bicycle as a viable form of transportation; and

4--let me know that you did.

i'll confer official tough guy points for your efforts.

.....

chuck norris ain't got nothing on ME!

over the coffee

IT'S NOT CALLED THE SILLY SEASON FOR NOTHING
- by Donald Kaul
Once upon a time, not that long ago, I was an all-purpose political commentator, geysering opinions on world affairs, global warming, the price of oil. I was really something.
Now I just write about religion, mainly. Who's Christian, who's not. Who believes in God more; less.
God I'll be glad when the Iowa Caucuses are over.
They used to be kind of fun, you know. They used to be about major issues of the day. I remember back in 1968 when Gene McCarthy challenged President Lyndon Johnson on the issue of the war in Vietnam. People almost came to blows in the caucus meetings that year.
Now you can't even mention the war in candidate debates. Really. In the most recent debates the monitor, the editor of the newspaper formerly known as the Des Moines Register, actually forbade discussion of the war in Iraq. And the candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike, went along with the gag.
Instead of a boring old issue like the war she asked them, I'm told, what their New Year's resolutions were. And they told her.
I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Jefferson Memorial moved three inches off its foundation.
Mike Huckabee, the former Baptist preacher, seems to be winning the God game for the Republicans. The most recent polls put him at 35 percent, compared to 27 for Mitt Romney, the previous front-runner. Asked to account for that, Huckabee said:
"There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000"
Poor Mitt. He's forced to spend his time convincing Iowa's conservatives he's more religious than that and, like any good Christian, that he hates illegal immigrants more than Huckabee does. But always he makes sure to say things like: "Most of us believe in God."
"Marriage is between a man and a woman."
To which smart aleck Huckabeephiles might say "and a woman and a woman and a woman." (I myself, by the way, would never make a joke like that. It is racist. It is sexist. It is Mormonist. I'm just reporting the news.)
Romney tried to gain an advantage by saying that Huckabee, when governor of Arkansas, issued more than 1000 pardons to convicted criminals.
Huckabee's forces shot back by planting a scurrilous story that Mrs. Romney had given $150 to Planned Parenthood in 1994.
I'll tell you, politics can be a dirty business.
John McCain, who is disappearing from the radar screen in Iowa, is left with issues like the mortgage crisis or the war (when debate monitors are out of the room) or even campaign finance. How he ever expects to get nominated talking about things like that I'll never know.
The religious issue isn't that big a deal in the Democratic contest in Iowa. Once you lay to rest the rumor that Barak Obama is a secret Moslem there's not much there.
Democrats tend to argue about which of them is more electable. Hillary Clinton thinks she is because she's spent time in the White House. Obama says he's the one who can mend the frayed seams in the fabric of the party and, later, the nation. John Edwards says he's got the best policy positions and Joe Biden claims to have the most expertise, Bill Richardson the most experience.
There's some truth in all of those claims but you have to wonder whether anyone cares.
Looking at the Republican candidates, you would think that any of the Democrats would be electable. This is the weakest Republican field---in terms of credentials and experience---in memory. The only one among them who seems as though he could do the job without adult supervision is McCain and his party doesn't like him much.
Still, that's why they have elections, isn't it?
I'll just be happy to see the back end of the Iowa caucuses. I'm religioned out.

"Distributed by MinutemanMedia.org."

can biden defy the iowa odds?

from time.com

ABOVE: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden speaks during a house party in Marion, Iowa.

[see joe biden at raccoon river brewery new year's day here]

Facing celebrity candidates endowed with hundreds of millions of dollars, the one thing Joe Biden may have going for him with only days to go before the Iowa caucuses are low expectations. For most of the campaign, few pundits or members of the media have given the Delaware Senator much of a chance of having a respectable showing in Iowa. "The people that come out of here are going to be the ones that beat the expectations that [the media sets], it could be four people, it could be three people," Biden told TIME on Monday. "The plain old politician in my fingertips tells me that we're going to do well."
"Well," in his case, would be for Biden to come in fourth behind the front-running pack of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, and lately it seems that he may have a real shot. For Iowans looking for an experienced candidate, Biden arguably has the longest and most distinguished resume in the field. And it is on that strength that he is drawing surprising support in pockets across Iowa, particularly in the eastern cities like Dubuque and Cedar Rapids, as well as in rural areas, where he's giving Edwards a run for his money.
One hears caucus-goers mention Biden's name wistfully at events for Clinton, Obama or Edwards. Biden's a politician with a lot of experience that many voters wish had more money and little bit of that youthful energy that symbolizes change. Still, caucus-goers flock to hear him, eager to ask the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman about Iraq and Pakistan, Iran and North Korea.
"People have been kind to say, including even the national press, that I am qualified to be President of the United States, that I could win a general election, but how can he win the caucuses?" Biden told a crowd of several hundred people crammed into an Ames library Monday. "The only thing that I ask you, and the only responsibility to the Democrats in the rest of the country I think you have, is not to be pundits but to pick for them who you believe that the most qualified persons are to be in the finals."
Biden has seen standing room-only crowds, like the one in Ames, across the state in recent weeks. And the Ames audience was twice moved to its feet in ovations for Biden's stump speech — a surprisingly brisk 18 minutes compared to Obama's nearly hour-long closing argument, Hillary's 45-minute speeches and Edwards' typical 35-minute spiel. Biden by comparison spends more than an hour answering questions, a strategy, his communications director Larry Rusky says, that is starting to pay off.
In addition to the large crowds, Biden yesterday signed up more than 100 precinct captains — people who will stand up and argue for him in the individual caucuses — in a single day and has raised $750,000 online in the last month. And while he hasn't budged much in recent Iowa polls, Biden has gained most in the category of experience. Of the 33% of likely Iowa caucus-goers polled by ABC News/The Washington Post who said experience was the most important quality in a candidate, nearly half said they favored Clinton, 15% said Edwards, 10% chose Biden and 9% picked Obama.
Biden is betting that caucus-goers, whose average age is 61, will ultimately value experience over other qualities. And he claims that despite what Obama, Edwards or Clinton claim, he is also the real change candidate. "Each of the major things that I've done, I've done alone," Biden said, citing his list of achievements from authoring the Violence Against Women Act to convincing former President Bill Clinton to intervene in Bosnia. "No one supported my plan for exiting Iraq [a federalist plan which has become the model endorsed by congressional Democrats] and yet in all those instances, people came around. That's change."
By comparison, during his six years in the Senate, Biden continued, Edwards "only passed four bills and they've all been about post offices, I mean literally, because most freshman Senators don't get things passed. Barack Obama hasn't passed anything. And there's not a major bill that I know of with Hillary's name on it. I mean, where have they generated this change and leadership?"
Biden's campaign has been an old-fashioned retail operation, with him and his family blanketing the state. The strategy worked well for Jimmy Carter, who won his term after investing a lot of time shaking hands and answering every question in Iowa. Biden's large extended family, including his mother, siblings, kids and grandkids, have held more than 2,000 events across the state for him. That's compared to the nearly 140 events Obama's wife and sisters have hosted, 40 events held by Clinton family members including husband former President Bill Clinton, and the few dozen campaign events held by Elizabeth and Cate Edwards.
"We?ve particularly seen people coming from the Edwards camp and the Clinton camp," said Rusky. "The Clinton people are starting to realize that Joe Biden is really the most electable candidate, the one guy who can take on the Republicans on national security. And I think with Edwards, you know we compete with John Edwards for the Iowans, you know the traditional Iowa caucus-goers and I think at this stage we've really opened up the field. They find Joe Biden is more authentic, and closer to them in terms of their philosophy."
Still, there is no doubt that Biden faces a serious uphill battle. Overall, he has 5.2% support in the polls, according an average of Iowa polls by Real Clear Politics, much less than the 15% he needs to gain viability in all of the 1,781 caucuses. If he fails to get that 15%, his supporters are redistributed to other candidates. But Biden is betting that he will reach that magic 15% number in his eastern strongholds and in enough rural caucuses — he has personally visited 94 or Iowa's 99 counties — to place fourth even though New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is currently polling ahead of him.
Ultimately, Biden thinks enough Iowans will make a late decision to throw their support behind him that he'll be able to go to New Hampshire with a fighting chance. "People are coming up handing me their Hillary buttons, handing me their Edwards buttons. Last night two Obama precinct captains walked up to me and said 'You know, we're switching.'"

a new year's resolution

. . . . .

i no longer make new year's resolutions.

i quit smoking cigarettes twenty years ago today, oddly enough--i seriously hadn't thought of that until i was halfway through that first sentence, in fact--but even that wasn't a "resolution."

i just quit.

but when i ran across this photo, i changed my mind.

i hereby resolve to find a woman--in DES MOINES--who will do this;

who will ride her bike in a dress, heels, and fake fur coat

to a new year's eve party.

or, hell, to ANY party, for that matter.

.....

wish me luck!

naturally, i'll keep you posted.

oh, and happy new year's and all that shit.