what? ANOTHER apology from the mostly reverend!

you know me: honest to a fault. always was; always will be. and when i'm wrong, i'm the first one to point it out. remember THIS apology?

well, i'm here to say it again: I WAS WRONG ABOUT SARAH PALIN. SHE'S NOT STUPID, VAPID, ILL-PREPARED, NOR WAY OUT OF HER LEAGUE.

she's OVER-PREPARED.

. . . . .

here goes: SORRY, REPUBLICANS!!

228-205

boswell, loebsack
braley, king, latham

mccain's fighting for US...

...and we're glad he's on the job. i figure he must've seen something in that bailout plan that would have hurt our future. ever since he suspended his campaign, things are looking brighter for us. i pray every night that he does the maverick thing and suspends it permanently.

veracity of mccain vacation account [from the horse's mouth, folks]

earlier, i posted a disturbing email account about john mccain's allegedly shameful behaviour while on a vacation on turtle island. it was written by a first-hand observer and participant. i contacted the woman who seemed to be responsible for the story. below is the response i received. nothing told in this sordid tale makes me believe any less that it is true. it confirms in my mind the many tales from a wide variety of sources about mccain's unpredictable, explosive, at times completely erratic and inappropriate behaviour in a variety of settings. it's bad enough that this guy is a united states senator; worse still that he is a major party candidate for president. but consider his actions just in the last month or so: palin, suspending his campaign not once but twice so that he could focus even more on his campaign of country first crap, his aversion of looking barack obama in the eyes, and on and on. whether it's post traumatic stress disorder or not, i don't care.

i just know that the man is NOT fit or qualified to be president.

not only that, this whole thing just creeps me out:

he's the uncle you wouldn't want to sit by at holidays.

Little did I think when I forwarded this account to four or five friends on 16 September that I would be identified as the author or receive so many questions. Some of you have clearly received the email without the preface attached. Most simply ask whether this really happened, some praise "my" courage, some angrily accuse me of distortion and lies.
I'm sorry that I did not check the story more carefully before forwarding it. I am paying for my mistake by sending this clarification to every person who contacts me. Here's as much of the truth as I know:
First of all, I did not write the account. Here is the preface as I received and forwarded it:

To: Mary-Kay Gamel Subject: Fwd: MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:13:22 -0400
----- Forwarded Message ----From: Kate Marianchild <katem@mcn.org>Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008
Subject: My Holiday with John McCain: a first-hand account
(Note from Kate: This shocking account was written by Ana Dubey, a friend of my cousin and her husband, who have known Ana for many years. Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San Francisco . My cousin's husband went to business school with Ana's husband, who has since started and sold a number of successful companies. Ana's husband is currently a Managing Director of a private equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political activists and don't have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might vote for John McCain. Also please post it on blogs and send it to newspapers and radio stations.)

I am not Ana Dubey (whose full name, I believe, is Anasuya Dubey, apparently the daughter of a former Indian Consul in San Francisco). I gather that Turtle Island costs $2000/day--I could never afford such a holiday. After the email was further forwarded and people wrote with questions, I wrote to Kate Marianchild.
Here is our exchange:
Dear Ms. Marianchild: I got your email with the shocking story and forwarded it. Some recipients are questioning it. I googled Ana Dubey and got a husband/wife team who run a bakery in Honolulu. Can you assure me that Ana Dubey really is a psychologist in San Francisco?
thanksMKG

Yes, I can assure you of that. She is a private person and psychologist. And perhaps you can send this on to your friends:
Dear Friends,
Everyone is asking to talk to Ana Dubey or receive a direct email from her validating the "Holiday with John McCain" story. I emailed Ana and asked her how to handle all the correspondence I was receiving. She didn't reply to me, which is understandable as we have never met and I am sure she is totally besieged with emails right now. I don't feel comfortable forwarding lots of emails to her or giving out her email address.
However, I did forward one email - one I received from Frances Moore Lappe (author of Diet for a Small Planet, Food First, Democracy's Edge, Hope's Edge, Getting a Grip, and etc, and founder of the Small Planet Institute - <>www.smallplanet.org ). Frances (aka Frankie), said she would like to pursue the story by talking to Ana, and that she would distribute it if she were convinced it was authentic.

Here's what I just received from Frankie (Frances) Lappe. If you still have doubts perhaps you can contact Frankie, as she is a more public person than I believe Ana to be.
Kate Marianchild

Kate,
I just spoke with Ana, who was wonderful.
Sounds like NBC is on it. Sure hope an interview gets aired.
Thank you so much for asking her to call me. I admire Ana very much.
Frankie
Frances Moore Lappé
Small Planet Institute
25 Mt Auburn St., Suite 203
Cambridge MA 02138
617.441.6300 x 115

I have not contacted Ms. Lappe, and the story is still quite uncertain. As a reader of texts I think it has the ring of truth (especially given McCain's well-documented temper). Some have questioned the idea of McCain shopping and pushing his then no longer infant adopted daughter in a shopping cart, but those could have been references to earlier times. Presumably the holiday took place in December 1999, and some have pointed out that the US was not at war with Iraq then, but bombing raids based on the sanctions were being carried out. The NEW YORKER portrait of Cindy McCain attests that the adoption of Bridget was indeed her idea. And so forth.
There are various sites where the story is being discussed. There is a lot of corroborating information at
http://thebruceblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/my-holiday-with-mccain-oh-lord-i-cant-wait-till-this-gets-verified/
I sent an inquiry to Snopes.com; no response yet.

IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE PASS ON MY CLARIFICATION TO ALL WHO MAY HAVE SEEN THE STORY. At some point I will have to stop responding to the flood of emails; I've got work to do!

In sum, the story may be true, but we'll never know unless Ms. Dubey sees fit to come forward at some point. I hope she will. I also hope that all of you know the unquestionably true story of McCain's shameful abandonment of his first wife, which is far more revealing than this anecdote.
MKG
--
Mary-Kay GamelProfessor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater ArtsCowell CollegeUniversity of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California 95064831-459-2381 (office); 831-429-8803 (home)mkgamel@ucsc.edu

plan ahead? MOI?

yup, it happens, every now and again.

here's why this time:

time putnam, promoter of the wonderful clear lake blues and bbq series, is going to be in town wednesday, october 15. got some bidniz to do later on, it seems. i suggested a gravel ride, leaving maybe 200 pm?

give it some thought, and if you feel a sick day coming on, pencil one in for wednesday, october 15th, 200 pm.

you're looking a bit pale and wan. some fresh air would do ya a world of good.

tuesday's renegade cross menu

tuesday, september 30, 2008

greenwood park

[turn south off grand avenue at the art center]

hot laps @ 500 pm

"racing" @ 530 pm

el bait shop to follow

. . . . .

special shout out to the rassy's "elite" team:

hey, did you ALL sell your cross bikes?

. . . . .

the action shown above:

Championnat parisien de cross cyclo-pédestre, 18 Feb 1930

Valentin Tondeur, who was to win the championship of Paris thanks to Cornez rolling a tubie, takes a run-up in the bois de Biscorne.

the REAL mccain--UGLIER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE

courtesy of Kit Reed:
This comes from a friend who teaches at Columbia:
This shocking account was written by Ana Dubey, a friend of my cousin and her husband, who have known Ana for many years. Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San Francisco . My cousin's husband went to business school with Ana's husband, who has since started and sold a number of successful companies. Ana's husband is currently a Managing Director of a private equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political activists and don't have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might vote for John McCain. Also please post it on blogs and send it to newspapers and radio stations.

MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).

It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.

He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was "if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of this yet?" I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his "readings" which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.

Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.

McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.

Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: "Oh, that was Cindy's idea -- I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No, it wasn't my idea at all."

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said, "If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson". Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII -- but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, "Don't you know who I am." I looked him in the face and said, "Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met" and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

--
Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts
Cowell College
University of California , Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz , California 95064
831-459-2381 (office); 831-429-8803 (home)
mkgamel@ucsc.edu

cut the obfuscation!!

folks, click on the image, and tell me again why you think obama will raise your taxes?

. . . . .

gee, i guess i'm NOT the only person in the country who thinks maybe old johnny might have put "johnny first" last week.

we'll miss you, sarah!!

but after you get booted from the ticket this upcoming wednesday [the day after you suspend YOUR campaign], you can stop by my house and watch huckabee debate biden with me. we can see russia from my front porch, too. white russians, that is...

just the same, i'm gonna enter this pool.

oops!

uh-oh.

do you folks actually BELIEVE this shit?

seriously: do people actually think mccain is a saviour?

acting presidential, mccain agrees to debate

Brian Rogers, the campaign spokesman, put out the following statement:
Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.

governor, protect thyself !

i wonder if old johnny boy got himself protected before finally agreeing to head back to mississippi for tonight's debate?

i also wonder if sarah can get herself protected from media scrutiny?

be sure to watch this video before you settle in to view tonight's debate, which NPR now--at 1030 am--assures me WILL be held.

our ship of state will be in very good hands with this woman at the helm.

i THINK this should have been captured by my spam filter

MY DEAR FRIEND--

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE. I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD A CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRASNFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANFER IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU. I AM WORKING WITH MR PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR THE UBS WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS SENATOR YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990s. THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE. THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. OUR SOON TO BE DEPOSED PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH HAS SAID SO IN A PUBLIC SPEECH. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. I AM PERSONALLY AT RISK OF BEING PLACED UNDER HOUSE ARREST BY THE MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY. MY FAMILY LAWWER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRASNFERRED. AS CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR SMALL EFFORTS IN THIS MATTER YOU WILL BE RICHLY REWARDED BY SHORT TERM GAIN FOLLOWED BY GENERATIONS OF INCREASED REGULATION AND OF INCREASED TAX BURDEN ON YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION I WILL RESPONDWITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS. YOURS FAITHFULLY, MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON, IN SERVICE OF GEORGE W BUSH

why i love letterman

let sarah be sarah!!

in the midst of one crisis after another . . .

i think i've found my true religion!!

[please delay your personal rapture until AFTER the dance segment]

. . . . .

and while you wait to hear whether mccain buys more time to let the dust settle on the latest disclosure about his latest campaign manager [can you say $15,000 a month for his lobbying firm from freddie mac and fannie mae while johnnie mac says he's NOT] all in the name of trying to get his grubby little hands around this deregulation regulation of wall street shit, watch THIS:

"remember when i said . . ."

"last Sunday night that my campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years? well, i didn't mean he had NO involvement at all. what i meant was that he didn't have any involvement that paid him more than $15,000 a month. you know, what the missus and i call 'chump change' or 'travellin' money.' "

. . . . .

[i was going to post a youtube of britney doing "ooops, i did it again" but i actually started watching her video, and i just couldn't do it. man, that chick SUCKS.]

what to do this weekend?

[click on poster to enlarge and read the fine print]

Capital City Cross is THIS WEEKEND!

Saturday Sept 27 racing starts at 2 PM

Sunday Sept 28 racing starts at 11 AM

. . . . .

Come out and enjoy Iowa’s first weekend of CROSS in ’08! McRae park is easy to find in the heart of Des Moines. This is a fantastic opportunity for all levels of racers. For first-time racers….BIKEIOWA.COM will cover part of your entry fee! You can’t go wrong. By the way....Mountain Bikes are legal for cross! Just remove bar-ends!

On Saturday night, following the races, we will have an AFTER PARTY at the Bike Collective in downtown Des Moines. BEER will be provided by one of our generous sponsors, Olde Main Brewing Company! Bike Collective is located at 617 Grand Ave. is Des Moines.

For out of towners, there are ‘capital cross’ room rates available at Quality Inn and Suites, 929 3rd St., also in downtown. Their phone number is 515-282-5251.

Please go to bikeiowa.com for a full flyer with any additional information you might need.

OR, contact us at one of the following:

rversteegh@mchsi.com

biker@bikeiowa.com

HELP WANTED

heiress

must be sitting upon multi-millions;

blonde preferred, but not required

. . . . .

why, you might ask? look what it did for a certain maverick who famously formerly didn't even have a kitchen table:

[clicking will make the items in the above image larger, but clicking WON'T make them yours!]

idiot + road rage + glock + group ride = ???

what to do when your group ride encounters an upset and armed motorist:

let me begin by stating the obvious--this is WAAAAAY fucked up.

but here's just a snippet:

We followed him, because that's the way we were planning on going. The guy was in front of the group and started brake-checking and stuff and being weird. Then he pulled over to the right side of the road at the next turn. I was in back, waiting on riders, seeing what was happening, so I rolled up to the car when he stopped. I asked him, "SIR! What is your problem?!?" He responded, "YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM!" and proceeded to reach in his passenger seat, pull out a Glock handgun, and stuck it in my face!

. . . . .

to read the entire entry, click here. there's a lesson or two in there for all of us. what lessons did YOU learn from reading this?

RENEGADE CYCLOCROSS

tuesday night

500 om

mccrea park

HOW TO GET TO MCCREA PARK

mccrea park is located on sw 9th street,

just south of the raccoon river:

1--south on sw9th:

a--turn onto bancroft street;

b--turn immediately into mccrea park.

see the little "pond" there? you're at mccrea park.

OR

2--south on fleur drive:

a--turn east on thomas beck road;

b--turn right onto bancroft street.

ride into the park.

. . . . .

i can't make it any easier that this.

beers at el bait shop will follow this fun...

bush hits a new low

is it still really that high?

vote early and often [it's good practice]

today's poll question:

is sarah palin REALLY qualified to be vice-president?

read here first, and then go here and cast your cyber-vote.

. . . . .

[if sarah palin was swine flu, there'd be mass hysteria until the antidote was available nation-wide. well? where can we get our shots?]

. . . . .

http://www.grizzlybay.org/

. . . . .

http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm

PUT YOUR DONATED GOODS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

[click image to enlarge]

hey, folks, the obama folks in waukee are having a HUGE garage sale to help elect baack obama president.

among other things, i'm helping by designating the orphanage as the official des moines donation drop and collection site. simply bring your stuff to the orphanage at 1527 48th street sometime between now and october 3d, and i'll see to it that it gets to the sale in time to help.

or you can take your donated goods directly to the waukee drop off site at 144 laurel street, waukee, monday through fridays between 1000 am and 800 pm.

then, october 4th, go to 140 laurel street, in waukee, and BUY some stuff.

better yet, contact the folks to volunteer to help.

go here for more information.

. . . . .

Email: ObamaramaSale@yahoo.com

Phone: 515-669-7861 or 515-210-2135

lipstick voters

Lipstick Bungle
By CHARLES M. BLOW [NYT]
Mr. McCain, on Monday you repeated your delusional notion that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Now, the federal government is working on a deal to save that economy from collapsing. You have admitted that the economy is not your forte, so you could have used a running mate with some financial chops. (Remember Mitt Romney?)
But no. Who did you pick? SnowJob SquareGlasses whose financial credentials include running Wasilla into debt, listing (but not selling) a plane on EBay and flip-flopping on a bridge to wherever. In fact, when it comes to real issues in general, she may prove to be a liability.
In what respect, you may ask?
It turns out that the Republican enthusiasm for Sarah Palin is just as superficial as she is. They were so eager for someone to cheer for (because they really don’t like you) that they dove face first into the Palin mirage. But, on the issues, even they worry about her.
In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted this week 77 percent of Republicans said that they had a favorable opinion of Palin. But when asked what specifically they liked about her, their top five reasons were that she was honest, tough, caring, outspoken and fresh-faced. Sounds like a talk-show host, not a vice president. (By the way, her intelligence was in a three-way tie for eighth place, right behind “I just like her.”)
When those Republicans were asked what they liked least about her, they started to sound more like everyone else. Aside from those who said that there was nothing they didn’t like, next on the list were: her lack of experience, her record as governor and her lack of foreign-policy experience.
Also, most Republicans think you only picked her to help with the election, not because she is qualified, and a third said that they would be “concerned” if for some reason she actually had to serve as president.
And Palin is proving to be just as vacant as people suspected. In her interview with Charles Gibson last week, she didn’t know what the Bush doctrine was. At your first joint town hall meeting with her in Michigan on Wednesday, in front of an invitation-only crowd of Republicans no less, she dodged substantive questions about the issues as if they were sniper fire, while issuing a faux challenge to the audience to play a game of “stump the candidate”. Seriously?
Many of your supporters will no doubt cry sexism. Fine with me. But that defense rings hollow. I find many of them to be sexist. Fresh-faced? Delegates on the floor of the Republican National Convention wearing buttons like “Hoosiers for the hot chick”?
Seriously.

tuesday night cyclocross rides

autopsy of a cross ride:

last night, about 20 to 25 men and women came to the sledding hill on the south side of the iowa capitol complex for 45 minutes of bike riding fun. there was a fantastic loop set out, with one nice, long run-up [jingle cross?], lots of ridge riding, tricky downhills, a nice little stone ridge jump, trees to ride in and out of, and some flats for good measure. following the ride, we all rode to el bait shop for heavy, in-depth analysis of world events. i recommend that more of you show up next tuesday at 530 at mccrea park on southwest 9th. plan to have your ass kicked. then plan to come along with us to el bait shop. i heartily recommend you try "mackesson triple stout," which bruno assures me they WILL have in stock by then.

[personal note: when i was able to look at my heart monitor, my heart was at and above 183 bpm, or 92% of max.]

daffy-nitions, circa 2008

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, yours is a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

makes sense to me. questions? leave 'em in the comments section.

"my friends"

samfa

75.3

democratic october surprise?

Powell still undecided, says Obama win would be 'electrifying' click to read more...

RENEGADE CYCLOCROSS

tuesday night

530 pm

state capitol sledding hill

. . . . .

bring your dancing shoes!!

a little floyd to help you through the day...

founding pink floyd member richard wright died today of cancer. among many many other things, he wrote these two songs. if they get stuck in your head, be glad. be very, very glad.

i hear ya--"too much sarah"

so here's some johnny mac!!
go here for a little insight.

and go here for a little more.

i feel better already. thanks for complaining!!

is the honey moon over already?

a midday anti-palin protest was held in an intersection outside a city library organized by a group of women who wanted to counter the perception that "everyone in alaska loves palin." here are examples of some of the signs that were seen: "bush in a skirt," "palin: thanks, but no thanks," "candidate to nowhere," "smearing alaska's good name one scandal at a time," and "sarah palin, undoing 150 years of american feminism." read all about it here.

and to learn more about palin's extensive world travels, read here. well, let me clarify that: to learn more about her trip to "almost iraq," read here. [hint: the girl has one HELL of an imagination.]

and finally, to learn how YOU can get a job in a palin administration, read here. [hint: make sure she's your friend on my space.]

john mccain is a big fat liar!

did you hear that, mainstream media? that's right, i called that old piece of poop a LIAR.

need proof? read this:
52 Days: Action Edition
by georgia10
Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 08:26:09 AM PDT
The media is almost there in terms of calling McCain what he is--a habitual liar, who, as the Barack Obama campaign pointed out, would "rather lose his integrity than lose an election".
As DemFromCT showed us in Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up, McCain's daily and deliberate distortions are not getting a free pass in the press anymore.
Today's New York Times uses every word but the "l" word:
Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama's record and positions.
And user VirginiaDem brings us a scathing video debunking McCain's lies (video below the fold)
But a smattering of articles and a great video calling out John McCain on his lies isn't enough. How many email forwards have you received from your right-wing family and friends that are filled with lies? The conservative right has perfected the art of spreading lies via email networks. And now it's our turn to spread the truth via the same method.
So today's action item is relatively simple, and it's tied to a new Newsweek poll. In that poll, McCain and Obama are tied, 46%-46%. But let's dig out the key numbers for today's action item:
On a signature Obama issue, the war in Iraq, the Republican nominee now leads his Democratic opponent 51 percent to 41 percent, a marked change from an April NEWSWEEK Poll, which had Obama leading McCain on the issue, 54 percent to 34 percent.
That's a ten point lead for the candidate who wants a U.S. presence in Iraq for 100 years, who has no exit strategy, and who has promised "more wars." In other words, it's a ten point lead for the man who is lying about his ability to handle that conflict in a responsible manner.
So today's action item is to forward either the New York Times article or the viral video to ten of your family members and friends. Preferably, target both Obama supporters but also those very people who send you those hideous right-wing chain emails (which are usually sent out of ignorance). Tell them to pass it on to 10 of their friends and family as well.
Check out previous daily action posts here for ideas on how you can help get Democrats in the White House, and post what you did to get Democrats elected today below.

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There's more... (118 comments)

"but that's not fair!"

"that's the kind of crap WE run," complained a mcsame spokesman. "do you know if they intend to do more of these?"

OFF the table or ON?

my, oh my! what CAN we talk about with republicans?

apparently NOT the messy consequences of drug abuse and efforts to conceal it;

and apparently NOT the messy consequences of troopergate;

and apparently NOT the messy consequences of "abstinance only" as a form of effective birth control;

and apparently NOT the messy consequences of the truth about palin's love of earmarks.

geez, does this mean we can finally talk about the messy consequences of mcsame's marital track record?

probably not.

jebus, folks--what took you so long to figure THIS out?

from the new york times this morning:

Gov. Palin’s Worldview If John McCain seriously thought Gov. Sarah Palin was qualified to be president, it raises profound questions about his judgment.

.....

She’s Not Ready By BOB HERBERT

With Gov. Sarah Palin, it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with her on the issues. It is that she doesn’t appear to understand the important issues.

.....

what have i been SAYING for the past two weeks? christ, if a half-rate interviewer like charles gibson can make her flaws so unavoidably apparent, what would a SERIOUS interview reveal?

illustrated highlights, 2008 TOM part 1

steve fry, of fry guy photography, snapped what is one of my all-time top-ten favorite cycling photos ever, on the plaza in kansas city during the women's criterium and before the conclusion of stage one of the 2008 tour of missouri.

if you know me, and if you know the cycling legends shown, you'll know why. if you don't, then you NEED to listen to the kim west radio cycling show. curiously, that's one of the things we all talked about that day. an upcoming episode of the show will cover that topic.

from my intertubes sources

Bored Man To Participate In 2,200 Mile Bike Race

[the onion]

sounds intriguing, eh?

sent by my brother

Having already downed a few power drinks, she turned around, faced him, looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Listen here good looking, I screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, your place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked or with clothes on, dirty or clean.' 'It doesn't matter to me. I've been doing it ever since I got out of college and I just love it.'

Eyes now wide with interest, he responded, 'No kidding. I'm a lawyer too. What firm are you with?'

early thoughts about the 2008 tour of missouri

last saturday, steve fry and i drove to kansas city to begin what turned out to be a quite interesting and thoroughly enjoyable experience covering the 2008 tour of missouri. with the cooperation of brook watts and his amazing crew at medalist sports, and the missouri department of tourism, as host of the kim west radio cycling show, i was given insider's access to this remarkable race, still now in its sophomore edition as i type this.

i have hours of recorded conversations with racers, support people, race fans, and more; fryguy shot scores of photos from the start of the first couple stages, from the women's criterium in kansas city, and from along tuesday's route. we're both going through our work, editing, and trying to make sense of it. fry already has a couple files posted. i'm going through recordings, notes, and scribbles i accumulated.

it's amazing stuff, and i can't wait to get it polished and either posted here and on the radio show blog, on the radio show website itself, or to use it in upcoming episodes.

i broadcast sunday's show, episode 20, live from the penthouse suite of the embassy suites on the plaza in the historic plaza district of kansas city. i was excited to talk with liz hatch of vander kitten racing team during the first half of the show, and i finally got to chat face-to-face with previous guest ally brandt, of cheerwine racing team. immediately following the live show, we all rushed downstairs to the gala woman's team presentation. race announcer extraordinaire dave towle was emcee for the women, as he was the night before at the men's presentation, a $250/head shindig up the street a few blocks.

.....

without giving it too much thought, here are some highlights [several full reports will follow]:

1--meeting in person--and talking at length--with the many cyclists who have appeared on the radio show in the weeks leading up to the tour;

2--going on saturday's team training ride with the kelly benefits team;

3--many meals with a variety of teams in the team dining rooms;

4--talking at length with recent radio show guest and cycling legend john howard;

5--talking again with current cycling menace steve tilford, who seemed rather edgy and puzzled why a race would be taking place withOUT him;

6--appearing as a guest live commentator on missouri radio station KRWP, 107.7 FM, "the lake" during and following the edward jones sprint competition in stockton [watch out, liggett!];

7--talking with recently retired race legend gord frasier;

8--serving as inspiration for both tom zirbel [stage 1] and mike sayers [stage 2] shortly before their day-long race-leading breaks about the importance of racing aggressively [coincidence? i don't think so!];

9--nearly being killed as i was a part of the garmin chipotle team train tuesday morning driving from the airport hyatt to the start of stage 2 in clinton, missouri;

10--meeting rory mason, an old friend from my ames cycling days, who has for the last four years served as global sports marketing manager for cannondale europe. b.v. in this capacity, rory works as liason for all of the pro teams who ride cannondale bikes, giant bikes, and more. look for an interview with rory in the coming weeks, and look for the return of someone who WILL challenge lance in france next july.

. . . . .

as you can tell, without giving this any thought at all, and without checking my notes, i have a lot to talk about. and i was only there for four and a half days.

i can't WAIT for the tour of california, man.

thanks, brook!!

central iowa trail updates

how about THIS?? there actually exists an estimated timeline of construction and repairs. thanks, lori. read and weep--or laugh, but DON'T hold your breath:

Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee
City of Des Moines Parks Department
Polk County Conservation Board

Project Updates -- September 2008

Trail Closures Due to Flooding
Neal Smith Trail – The trail is back open, but users should use caution near the Kiwanis Nature Island where the trail surface is gravel for now. Plans are to place hard surface back in sometime this fall. [no reason to resurface, is there? this thing is smooth as silk. RIGHT. --kim]
John Pat Dorrian Trail – Trail is closed south of the Des Moines Police Station all the way to Crivaro Park due to several sink holes in the levee and cannot be repaired until levee repairs have been completed – No estimated completion date.
Trestle Trail – The trail has a temporary levee placed on it west of the County building and cannot be opened until the levee is removed. PCCB and Des Moines Parks are working to establish a temporary access around this area. Plans are being drawn up to replace the trail segment. Construction will start next spring and be completed in the spring of 2009. [any thought given to a complete redesign and reconstruction to the underpass on lower beaver, maybe, or perhaps to installing a rain and water diversion system? --kim]

Land Trail Projects
Walnut Creek Trail Segment 3 – Construction should be completed by the end of September.
Walnut Creek Trail Segment 4 – Asphalt paving is scheduled for the week of September 11-18
Waveland Trail Phase 1 – Preliminary design has started on trail. Construction is slated to start in June or July of 2009.
Waveland Trail 40th St to 42nd St – Trail design is nearly complete, working with property owners to purchase necessary easements for trail construction. Construction estimated to start April or May of 2009.
Trails Signage - Maps and design specifications for trail signs is nearly complete and should be ready for bid within a week and construction will likely start late Fall 2008 and be completed by May of 2009.

Water Trail Projects
Safety Cabling Across River – Center Street Dam emergency cable across river was destroyed by flooding. New cable will be installed. Cable across the Des Moines River upstream of Scott Street still needs to be installed. Installation is expected to be completed by the winter of 2008.
Water Trail Kiosks – Installation should be completed within 2 weeks.

Bicycle Projects
Indianola Avenue Reconstruction – Designs are starting on the roadway with trail, bicycle and complete street elements. Staff will bring designs to the committee at a later date.
Complete Streets – Des Moines City Council will be asked to approve a complete streets policy at the second Council meeting in September.
Inductive Loop Detectors – Subject to approval and installation by Traffic and Transportation Department and the next two will be 31st and 42nd Streets at Kingman Blvd.
Bicycle and Trail Master Plan – Proposals from consultants expected to be received by the City around October 1 with the master plan likely starting around the end of November. [suppose we can get access to this? --kim]
Application for Bicycle Friendly Community – Application was submitted August 15, 2008
Bicycle Parking [see my earlier post on this. you know, maybe if they would work on changing institutional attitudes they might stand a better chance of getting their blessed designation. why doesn't someone ask ME what i think? --kim]
Installation of bike racks – Approximately 50 installed to date, 150 remaining to be installed by the end of October. [would somebody PLEASE tell them simply to buy and install old school bike racks? THESE FANCY SCHMANCY ART RACKS SUCK!!! my mama always told me, "kim, don't EVER lean your bike on a piece of art--even BAD art.]
Bicycle parking ordinance – On hold [oh, THIS should be good. --kim]
Installation of bicycle parking on private property – On hold [you mean like that piece of shit "bike rack" at beaverdahl's? that thing is older than john mccain! --kim]

Greenway Projects [nothing is included here--the mostly rev]
. . . . . .
Trails Update from Polk County Conservation
September 5, 2008

Ankeny to Woodward Trail. Anticipate Ankeny to Sheldahl will be open by October 1. Friends of Central Iowa Trails is working on an opening celebration for this segment of the trail. Fundraising continues in earnest. Still hoping for a December letting on the Madrid-to-Woodward portion that includes the bridge across the Des Moines River.

GET THIS:
Great Western Trail. September letting expected for the repair work South of McKinley with construction completion expected by November 15. [wanna bet? november 15th my ass! --kim]

Trestle to Trestle Trail. A pier snapped during the flooding on the trestle bridge at Johnston (Beaver Creek). Working with FEMA to prep for repair. Working with NRCS on debris removal under this trestle bridge. 1800’ of trail between MLK and River Place (just N of Euclid) remains covered in roughly 3’ of dirt from the city’s efforts to raise the levy during the flood.

Gay Wilson Trail West (Neal Smith to Ankeny). Should be receiving contract documents from DOT any day now, allowing engineer to begin design work. Hoping for spring letting and summer construction.

Easter Lake Trail. Working to incorporate portions of this trail as part of the Summerset Trail extension to the North. One section of the proposed route requires WRA easement. Awaiting legal description from the engineers and then will proceed with trying to acquire that easement.

Chichaqua Valley Trail. While this trail was damaged during flooding, it has so far been able to remain open during repairs. Will keep you posted as work continues.
. . . . .
PLEASE post comments, complaints, and suggestions, and i will pass them along.

DUH

Iowa
State Rank: 21 out of 50.
Reasons for Ranking: In Iowa, bicycle enforcement is included in POST standards and police academy training, and there are good education efforts for cyclists and motorists. However, the state has no bike master plan.
Iowa's Bicycle Friendly Communities

Currently there are no cities in Iowa that have been designated as bicycle friendly communities.

source

repugs: can't they get ANYthing right?

who's in charge of song selection?

who's in charge of obtaining photo permission?

who's in charge of controlling the spin at the source?

i won't even get into home-schooled birth control education!

which do YOU prefer?

cast your votes in the comments section

an open apology to pete basso

over the years, pete basso [and others] and i have sparred about the veracity of fox news. in the past, i would have put "-" around "news," but no longer. the national nominating conventions of the democratic and republican parties has helped shape my new opinion, and new-found respect for fox news. i have been experiencing a declining respect for cnn [the station of the white-haired god of the airwaves, cooper anderson, or something] for several months now, but the unbelievably fine work by the team at fox news has finally won me over.

i have long said that when i am wrong, i expect people to call me out on it: "show me that i'm wrong, and i will freely take my lumps. you folks deserve such a public flogging."

most recently, i've been issuing that challenge regarding mark wyatt and his continuing failure to own up to his lack of honest and open leadership of the iowa bicycle coalition, now relating to his less than honest portrayal of his role in the hardin county ordinance #43 affair.

but now, i am flailing myself, for your enjoyment:
I AM WRONG ABOUT FOX NEWS.

all it took was this little piece of video:


they're better than me.

sorry, pete. you're right.

. . . . .

by the way, did you know that john mccain used to be a p.o.w? i love the humility of the republican party. just as with religion, they prefer to let their ACTIONS speak louder than their words. such a christ-like approach to politics--and life--is remarkably refreshing. i applaud this way of leading by example. they've earned my vote!

i need to watch more fox, i guess.

republican DREAM TEAM introduced

karl rove, of course, is in the secret tunnel, and not shown

music flash!!

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart announced today that they will join together again on October 13th to headline a benefit concert for the Presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama, at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA.

Also appearing will be the Allman Brothers Band, plus opening act to be determined.

Last February, Weir, Lesh and Hart performed together for the first time since 2004 at the hugely successful “Deadheads for Obama” show at The Warfield in San Francisco. Now founding Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann joins his musical brethren in service of this historic cause, with Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti rounding out the band.

Stay tuned to dead.net for further details, ticket information, etc.

just re-released!! NEW director's cut of the sleeper cult fave!

renegade cyclocross tuesdays

PLEASE join us for Renegade Cyclocross Races in Des Moines starting THIS coming Tuesday, September 9, as well as each Tuesday thereafter through the end of November. At between 5 and 5:30PM we’ll start doing warm up laps, with a 45 to 60 minute ‘race’ starting shortly after. This week, the 9th, we’ll be racing at Union Park. At the conclusion of each weeks’ race, the venue for the following week will be announced/decided. The ‘courses’ will be pretty simple, and not marked as though it’s a UCI event, so if you’re looking for something PRO, you’re gonna be upset. We’ll do your best to get some tight turns, off cambers, pavement, etc. These events will be AT YOUR OWN RISK!Please understand the word ‘race’ is used loosely. This will be a training race, bike practice, or whatever else you kids want to call it. No entry fees, no prizes, no official results. What it WILL be is a great opportunity to get some intensity in, practice barriers, run-ups and other cyclocross skills and ride against guys of varying abilities-this makes it a GREAT chance for newer riders to gain some confidence and have some fun, while the experienced guys get a good workout and pass on some knowledge. Above all, it’s a good reason to ride cross bikes with friends. Cool? Questions? rversteegh@mchsi.com

deja vu all over again

ST. PAUL — A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.
On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.
Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin’s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice. The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin. read more