Time Bush Is Removed From The Endangered Species List

As posted previously, this pox on our country's administrative history (aka: George W. Bush, Jr.) just won't go away quietly. Hasn't he already "gotten" the loud, clear and distinct message that the majority of voters in this country think he royally effed up these past eight years and the best thing he could do for the entire country (and Bush-supporters, too) is to at this point just keep as low a profile as possible (like he did during the campaign which didn't do squat for McCain anyway), say nothing, do nothing...and get the hell out of that big white building?

Yet, like some vengeful little kid who feels he's been unduly punished or rejected by his classmates because he wanted all the bats, balls and ownership of the field, he's pulling a "I'll show them...heh, heh, heh" . Read about Bush's last hurrah before slinking off into the Texas sunset.

For a listing of this sociopathic, paranoiac's last-ditch efforts to push through enough deleterious legislation - to the human, animal and environmental arena - check out ProPublica. Make sure to click on all the headings in the left-hand side bar for complete descriptions of each "Midnight Regulation" as they're called.

Just when you thought you knew how much disdain this man holds for the welfare of this country, he goes and pulls another pile of Bushshit out of his 10-gallon empty hat.

One More Bush Disaster For The Road

Some people just don't know when they've overstayed their welcome. Especially when you consider that according to the majority of voting voices November 4th, Mercifully-Soon-To-Be-Former-President Bush wasn't welcome in the first place.

In yet another one of his last-ditch efforts to hurriedly push through even more invasive and damaging legislation towards our natural resources MSTBFP-Bush and The U.S. Fish & Wildlife are seeking to once again overturn a ruling to delist delist the gray wolves of The Rocky Mountains from the endangered species' list.

The fact that mining companies in the area have their own agenda of expansion into those sensitive areas might have something to do with MSTBFP-Bush's urgency. (By the way, anyone who's naive enough to think the U.S. Fish & Wildlife's mission is to protect our natural resources and is uninfluenced by special interest groups and politics, probably also pushed the lever for McCain this November and laments Palin's retreat to the Alaskan tundras. You betcha.)

As if his legacy as this country's worst environmental president wasn't bad enough. His almost pathologically-intentional disdain for our country's natural resources, environment and threatened wildlife populations will forever be written in history books as well as the hearts & minds of concerned Americans. At this point, we can only hope and work with the new Obama administration to not only enact more protective legislation, but to overturn and undo the damage caused by MSTBFP-Bush.

Even the most lame sociologist, therapist or penny-ante,talk-show pseudo-shrink would be fair and accurate interpreting this man's last-minute actions as nothing short of vengeful. Or revengeful. Or borderline sociopathic in my humble, lay opinion. The urgency of these and many other down-to-the-wire measures seem to indicate his intentions to weigh down the new administration with so much legislation that most definitely will need to be overturned, it will bog down in Congress or languish on the new president's desk at the dictates of other pressing priorities, like the economy and Iraq.

Bush will be gone - soon. But the stench left in his wake will fill the air across our land and pervade foreign countries long after his physical presence is finally beyond the confines of the Oval Office. It would almost be worth any ozone layer holes, which may very well have been exacerbated during his eight-year debacle in the White House, if his malodorous legacy could escape through one and into outer space. If nothing keeps the "alien invaders" away, that surely will.

I will never be so glad to see The White House door hit someone in the ass come January 20, 2009. With the possible exception of Nixon.

HAIL TO THE NEW CHIEF!!!

God Bless America. God Bless President Obama, and God Bless the People of This Country Who Made It Possible!
I have never been so proud and unbelievably filled with joy that this has happened in my lifetime.

Election Hopes

Normally, whenever I get one of those automated or as they're referred to now, RoboCalls, or even if it's from a live person soliciting whatever, I'll either hang up, say no thank you or tell them to call back later. Much later.

However, this afternoon I received a call from a real live person at my county's Democratic headquarters asking first that I vote on November 4th and secondly (in his words) "We'd like to encourage you to vote for Barrack Obama"

I smiled thinking that this was one of the few types of calls like this that I was more than glad to respond, and I did.

"Thanks for all the work you all are doing and, believe me when I tell you that you don't have to encourage me one bit to vote for Mr. Obama!"

I'm watching MSNBC at the moment and Nancy Pfotenhauer (that's a mouthful), who's Chief of McCain's Campaign is being interviewed. The sounds off if that's any indication of what I think of both her and her candidate.

My hope is that their 'sounds' will be permanently off after November 4th.

At Least McCain & Obama Can Agree On Darfur

I pray to God that whoever assumes the mantle of Presidency of this country, they keep their word.

Bush Says "Okay" To Rocket Fuel In Drinking Water

Adding yet another stone to his 'grave' legacy, The-Still-President aided by pressure from the sabre rattlers at the Pentagon, have pressured the already impotent EPA to back off on setting limits for percholate in drinking water, ground water & wells.

From THE WASHINGTON POST STORY here is a quote:
"Some perchlorate occurs naturally, but most perchlorate contamination in U.S. drinking water stems from improper disposal by rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. A nationwide cleanup could cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, and several defense contractors have threatened to sue the Defense Department to help pay for it if one is required."

This "rocket-fuel-laced percholate" occurs predominantly in states like California and the Southwest where much early aeronautic experiments were conducted. But it is pervasive throughout the country in varying degrees. It's those 'degrees' which the EPA sought to cap limits for drinking water.

But, despite overwhelming scientific and medical evidence to the contrary The-Still-President in his infinite wisdom (?) agreed with the Pentagon - which would have to compensate the Defense Department's contractors for cleanups as well as take ethical (?) responsibility for the egregious amounts of percholate in our drinking water - and strong armed the EPA into concessions favoring the Administration and the Pentagon.

Yessiree! "Country First" as usual. Which really means: The first one to get screwed is the Country.

So Just Who Won That Veep Debate?

Well, it depends on whose criteria was followed.

Apparently , Biden's and Palin's criteria were different. Afterall, she stated at the outcome that she was only going to answer the questions SHE wanted to. So right there, her guidelines were drawn a bit crooked.

Biden's criteria was to enunciate and support the Obama ticket and administration. His intelligence, capability and experience was never in question, nor an issue predicated on his success in this debate. So I'd say he not only met the challenge and qualified the criteria, but, overall...won the debate.

However, because the expectation level of Palin's performance was so low to begin with, her criteria to "win" the debate wasn't just to prove how qualified, capable, knowledgeable or smart she was. No.

All she had to do was prove just how stupid she WASN'T. And on that point, you betcha, by golly, at least that lil *wink wink* maverick managed to score at least one Not-So-Stupid goal in the soccer net. Of course, one goal does not a full game make. One puck rattling around in an empty net means there's still a lot of loose pucks in play, on the rink and in the empty locker room of her Tina Fey-doppelganger head. But, at least her Republican handlers could breathe a bit easier for a few moments...until the latest polls came out and it was time to strap on the oxygen tanks once again. Still, ya gotta give the good ole boys (and gals) credit. It was sure some awfully long, torturous 90 minutes, by golly, for those poor ex-Bushies to hold their breath. You betcha.

*Stu-pi-di-ty*: Constant Repetition Of The Same Thing In The Same Fashion & Expecting Different Results Each Time

I have had an amazing epiphany these couple of months: I am tired of talking to or communicating with idiots. I have - Tah-Dah! - finally realized the futility of it all. For someone who would rather relish a good conversation, I have resigned myself to (for as long as I can hold out) turning the other "silent cheek", so to speak.

Perhaps some of this was exacerbated by the current political debacle. I say "debacle" because in my heart of hearts I fear the overwhelming stupidity of so many of the American people will out. The lemming sheeple will in lock-step cast their votes for the same-o-same-o and President McLame and Vice President Pinhead will reign this November. Too many people base their opinion and votes on unfounded, unsubstantiated and unopposed sound-bites from a talking head and don't bother using their own.

Perhaps it's the unbelievable watching-paint-dry boredom & futile waste of time engaged in alleged 'open-minded' conversations. Perhaps it's the underlying hostile or outright dumb-as-a-post idiocy of the persons who 'populate' some gatherings I've confronted lately. Oh, I'll still masochistically attempt to volley a few words or raise my hand amongst people who usually prefer to sit on theirs. But I'm earnestly trying to strengthen my focus to cease and desist wasting words on the illiterate or on the opinions on the narrow and closed-minded.

Maybe, if come November 4th a spark of intelligent life is seen flickering on our horizon, and my pathetically indomitable hope for intelligible conversation manages to surface from beneath the sea of stupidity in which so many slog....maybe I might join the fray more vocally once again. Maybe I might consider that watching that paint dry really is more boring and futile. Maybe. But right now, that wet paint has higher prospects of garnering my attention, time and effort.

....And The 2008 Rubber Dodo Award Goes To....

None other than the Governor of Alaska, Sarah "I-see-Russia-from-my-house" Palin.

The Center for Biological Diversity has awarded its Annual Rubber Dodo (after the extinct bird) to the republican vice presidential-candidate-in-hiding for outright falsifying statistics from the Alaska Bureau of Fish & Wildlife on the shrinking polar bear populations in Alaska. The Bureau has linked their decline to global warming and urged, in its report, to keep the polar bear on the endangered species list. All three issues which Gov. Palin disputes and, apparently, decided the only way to discredit those findings and substantiate her dispute was to falsify the statistics when reporting them to Washington. What? Not enough wolves to murder from the air?

When describing Mrs. Palin's stance on global warming, the executive director of The Center, Kieran Suckling, said:
"Governor Palin has waged a deceptive, dangerous, and costly battle against the polar bear. Her position on global warming is so extreme, she makes Dick Cheney look like an Al Gore devotee.”

She had actually filed a lawsuit with the Bush Administration utilizing falsified statistics as grounds for removing the bears from the endangered species' list. Lies and falsehoods to which she subsequently admitted and a lawsuit she summarily withdrew as well.

The following are some highlights from the article which can be read in full HERE

"Palin repeatedly has asserted that Alaska Department of Fish and Game scientists found fatal flaws in the sea ice models used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the polar bear is threatened. When challenged, Palin refused to release the alleged state review. Independent scientists eventually obtained a summary through the federal Freedom of Information Act, revealing that Palin had lied: The state mammalogists concurred with the Fish and Wildlife Service determination that Arctic sea ice is melting at an extraordinary rate and threatens the polar bear with extinction.

Somehow, I don't think that's the only Dodo Award Sarah will win before this perfect example of The Peter Principle (look it up) is banished back to the frozen Great White North. I'm sure someone could round up another one for her "interview" with CBS News anchor, Katie Couric...


***Shivvvvverrrr*** Makes me cringe every time I watch this. If it wasn't so scary, it'd be hysterical. In truth, it's just plain pathetic and sad. I almost feel sorry for her here. Almost. No. Not really.

Canadian Peat Bogs In Crisis

Despite the positive outlooks and press from some industry manufacturers of peat moss-based potting mixes and soil amendments, The Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Council has released updated warnings that the peat bogs of Canada are shrinking and not renewing as fast as anticipated.

Although peat bogs are renewable, even the most liberal minded of peat-product manufacturers and consumers will - and should - agree that it's an extremely slow renewal process. A slow rate which is exacerbated by both natural and man-made causes. *see: Global warming. It's because of that caveat, so many horticulturalists (both professional and lay) consider it non-renewable, and that may become a definite classification according to this cautionary press release issued by The Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Council in September, 2008. The innate slow renewal rate, combined with over harvesting and the aforementioned global warming implications, forebode an even more precarious future for the bogs and increased scarcity of peat moss.

Canada is, one of the largest suppliers of peat moss outside of The British Isles and Siberia. While peat is organic in nature, it adds little in the way of nutritional value to the soil. Shredded and half-decomposed leaves add more nutrients, improve soil conditions, retains moisture yet enhances drainage and makes for generally happier, fatter and more productive earthworms. Plus for many people, leaves are free and abundant, which certainly can't be said for peat moss considering the current (and possibly future) conditions for bogs such as the ones in Canada.

I still prefer minimal use of peat moss, however, in small quantities as part of my own potting soil formulation. Despite the consistent rise in peat moss prices, I've found combining it with compost, perlite and kelp meal is still more cost efficient than purchasing pre-mixed potting soil or seed-starting mix. But, like many other gardeners who rely upon peat moss for such applications, and for those people who do not have access to an abundance of leaves and/or compost, alternatives to peat moss must be sought. Right now - at least as far as a potting soil or seed-starting mixes are concerned Coconut-Fiber Coir is a very acceptable alternative. It is still more costly for those gardeners like myself who use either a great deal of potting soil or start a large number of seeds. But as more people purchase it and if peat moss prices predictably continue to rise (especially in light of this latest report out of Canada), the cost difference between alternatives and peat may be a wash.