Friday Cat Blogging - June 6, 2008

Buddy Impeachment enjoys his time in the sun - literally. Every sunny day we have, campaigning comes to a screeching halt for about three hours, and he takes a sunbath under the skylight. Pity the mere human with designs on kicking back in the LazyBoy and enjoying a midday movie - such felicitous pursuits can wait for him to vacate the throne, thank you very much.

But his brother is going to cause him problems, I just know it. Charges of "elitist" are sure to be made, especially when Charlies fondness for satin bedding gets out. Thank goodness his opponent is an overweight suburban kitty from Irvine! At least an inner city cat from KC has some street cred, even if he does have a brother who is a bit on the precious side!

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And I'm out for the afternoon - we'll be keeping our antennae raised for the newsdump, and we will of course have the roundup tonight, but if I am going to have a four year old working this hard, I gotta help out, or there will be trouble with child welfare, I just know it...(Yes, that is Method™ pink grapefruit non-toxic cleaner...)

Housekeeping Note

Just a couple of notes on what passes for light posting in these parts over the past few days. In between bouts of weather that messed with my wireless connection, summerizing this place and installing the AC units and a schedule that would have been pretty busy without those things going on the last few days, I just haven't had the time to generate the content that you are accustomed to. And I hate to say this, but it might be this way for a couple more weeks.

Casa Blue Girl is getting a facelift. The walls are that horrible builders-grade beige that every vacant apartment in the country gets painted between occupants, and the woodwork has been painted white. While the woodwork is not likely to get stripped, it is going to be painted a more pleasing color, and the walls are going to be two tones when we're done. Anyway - that is going to take some time, because we are on a budget and doing the work ourselves. We plan on getting started just as soon as we figure out what the hell we're going to do with the ceilings.

Anyway...I promise that quality won't slip - just the quantity. There probably won't be very many days with ten posts for a week or two.

Oh - and go vote for me...I want to go to Austin, and that pesky budget means I need a scholarship for that to happen. Ten votes overnight would be totally awesome!

--BG

Impressions of the Democratic AG candidates (and Friday Housekeeping Notes)

The debate moderator, and the candidates. Left to right: Margaret Donnelly, Jeff Harris and Chris Koster

Of particular interest to Missouri readers, I attended the Democratic AG candidate debate yesterday evening at UMKC and I have great pictures and audio to transcribe. What I saw on that stage was a deep bench. Three capable lawyers with impressive resumes took questions from four local journalists for an hour and a half, and every one of them presented a compelling case. Damn, but Democrats are looking good these days. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a couple of strong Democratic candidates.

Mike Mahoney and Steve Kraske both let their masks slip, of course, but that is to be expected of those two, and everyone in the KC media market knows it. I wanted to rush the stage and the people around me groaned audibly when Mike Mahoney started shilling for Voter ID "Why shouldn't voters have to prove who they are?" (We already do. We just don't have to overcome the onerous burden of showing a government issued ID and producing a notarized copy of a birth certificate, and if you are a married woman, your marriage license - which is what the latest attempt would have mandated!) I heard the subtle implication that he liked the option of amending the constitution to make people prove citizenship and name changes every single time they cast a vote for anything - we already identify ourselves in an effective and non-burdensome manner and there have been no instances of voter fraud to justify their draconian measures. Kraske needs to be the press secretary for some republicanor other and be done with it. Ah jeez - ranting about the sorry state of the local media again - sorry.

At the reception after the debate I had a lovely 15-minute chat with Chris Koster's mother and she is a hoot! She also confirms that he was always a "weird republican." He has the strongest courtroom experience - he was the only person on the stage who has tried a serial killer. He also said some very reasonable things about the application of the death penalty. He has tried cases where he asked for it, and is grateful they all ended in pleas of guilty in exchange for a sentence f life in prison. I was impressed with that answer. I also heard something I wanted to hear from him - I heard him say that he cast votes as a republican that he regrets. Full marks for that, in this age of accountability coming back into fashion.

Jeff Harris is a witty guy - he did get the laugh lines, and frankly, the ability to engage a crowd like that is a very strong asset when one is campaigning. It has been proven over and over that that people vote for people who are likeable, and Harris certainly is, and he is strong on consumer protections. He was the only one on the stage who has worked in the AG's office, for our current AG and future governor, Jay Nixon. I like that he is willing to go after CAFOs.

Margaret Donnelly has a strong background in family law, and served on the Budget Committee in the House. She has overseen staff and budgets larger than the AG's office and has the management experience to hit the ground running.

Like I said...Deep bench. We Democrats seem to be cursed with them these days. Innit great? [/gloating]

Anyway - more on the debate later. I'll transcribe, you can decide. Deal?

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Hey all - It's Friday, so we are keeping our eyes and ears open for the Friday News Dump™, and the cats are coming soon, but I have some stuff to do that is going to take some time, including a trip to Target for gadgets. (Yippee!) Then I need to spend two uninterupted hours with a new software package that I have been meaning to learn for weeks - literally. Both the gadgets and the software will enhance your blog reading experience, so I must find the time...

I have had a very busy week, following two weekends in a row that I was away attending gatherings of Democrats, and both of my to-do lists (one for the cyber world and one for the corporeal realm) have become practically overwhelming.

Thanks for your patience. Kitties and the news dump - and more debate blogging - are coming along as time permits. And of course there will be the nightly newswrap for the Nightowls - but don't be surprised if over the weekend you only get three or four posts a day besides the roundup and quick hits, because my partner is busy, too. Or there is the alternative - and in my case that would be spinning my tires for another two weeks, and I don't need that aggravation, and you deserve a better quality of blogging than that would produce.

Saturday Housekeeping Notes

It's Saturday, and I have a list of stuff to do as long as my arm.

Blogging is prominent on that list, but it is also the thing that is going to take the most time and attention, so I am going to hustle off for a bit, and return with undivided attention later this afternoon.

What is on my prep table, you might ask? Spreading violence in Pakistan, American-armed and funded Sunni militias in Diyala on strike, Putin ramping up a new Arms race, and Phillip Roth, who has some pretty bold things to say about the war criminal thug currently trying - and failing miserably - to pass himself off as an American president.

Back this evening - with attitude, focused anger and posts on anything Pale Rider doesn't tackle first. But it is Saturday, and we both have families and homes.

Catblogging Update:

Friday catblogging will return next week. I can't find the disc that will let me download my pictures from the camera. I have to go to the basement - but I have no illusions - a lot of people contributed an amount equal to a bag of premium cat food. I can read between the lines. The cats are fine and will return next week.

Subscription Drive Update:

I would never presume to classify a fundraiser so successful as the one I just had a couple of weeks ago as ever having a downside - thank you each and every one from the bottom of my grateful, thankful, bursting heart - but with all those generous donations, very few people took the subscription challenge - I asked for 20 subscribers at $5.00 per month, and in return, I would take down the Google Ads.

We didn't get close, so I am doing something that, if I were Hillary Clinton, would be derisively classified as "triangulating." I have taken down the top banner ad as a thank you to those who have subscribed, and to provide incentive for new subscribers. And as soon as five more people make that pledge, I will take down the one between the first two posts. And as always, once subscribers reach the magic number of 20, I will pull 'em all down.

Year-end housekeeping update

[UPDATE: The changes I have made so far look terrific in Firefox. Anyone running another browser, Safari, IE - I would appreciate it if you let me know if it looks good, or if it's a garbled mess? But then again, if it's a garbled mess, you can always download Firefox for free...]

If you have any powers of observation at all, and you have been here before, you know that the blog has been tweeked over the last day or so. However, yesterdays changes were subtle - today's, not so much. I'm going to be doing some more housekeeping, both here and at WTWC between now and some time tomorrow. There is a handful of stories that have been stuck in my inbox for a while, and I intend to address them before the year rings out. We also lost a few icons I want to take a moment to remember. Molly Ivins, Kurt Vonnegut and David Halberstam leap immediately to mind.

And here is a teaser for ya: I have selected a video to close out the year that I will be posting right before midnight, and a few minutes after, I have one selected to start off the new year.

You may have noticed that there are several new additions to the blogrolls on the right, and there is a completely new blogroll on the left that lists this years recipients of the much-coveted Golden Monkeyfist Awards. (I'm still in shock. My jaw hit the floor so hard that I thought I might set off the New Madrid Fault.)

As I stare down the beginning of a new year and look back at the one that is drawing to a close, I realize that the True Golden Monkeyfist Award is a huge red cherry on the triple-scoop sundae of a damned good year for me. Before that, I got tagged twice for blogging circle awards, first as a Thinking Blogger, and again just last week with a Roar for Powerful Words.

I also went to Federal Court - and won. And I wasn't even a defendant!

That led to an interview with the New York Times (who I'm mad at now...) and that NPR interview I've already mentioned this week. And something of a snap-fight with a Kansas City Star political reporter over pseudonymous blogging. (I won that one, too.)

Anyway, I have set a pretty high standard over the last year for myself to live up to in 2008. I'm terrified of the sophomore slump. I want to start the new year fresh and focused and do more at Show Me Progress. In preparation for the new year ahead, I am cleaning my physical house and both of my electronic ones. I don't know if I'll post again before tomorrow afternoon or not. Maybe my gallant horseman will ride to the rescue and put up a powerful post or two. In the meantime, keep an eye on the sidebars for changes and spiffy new widgets, and perhaps the occasional update!