He's good enough, smart enough & dog gone it.....

The Minnesota State Supreme Court has ruled against Norm Coleman's appeal!
He's good enough, smart enough & dog gone it..... people voted for AL FRANKEN.

I've said it all along-- if the Senate needs anything, it needs a comedian.

By the way- Norm Coleman deserves the Minnesota Douche Bag of the Year Award, for dragging this out for half a year.
What a waste of time & money.

How much money?
Huff Po reports: "Republican Norm Coleman must pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs for his appeal of Minnesota Senate election results.

Minnesota law required Coleman to cover some of Franken's court costs because the race's outcome didn't change. The judgment excludes Franken's attorney fees.

The men have spent $50 million so far on their campaigns and legal fight over the November election. That's more than double the cost of the 2002 race when Coleman captured what had been a Democratic seat."

Why such a fight?

"With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters."

Before we put on party hats.....

Oh Crap! That means we are relying on @#%#@%# JOE LIEBERMAN (Stood @ the podium of the Republican Ntl. Convention endorsing John McCain) & Bernie Sanders.
Also the likes of turncoat Arlen Specter, who recently joined the ranks of Democrats, because he figured the GOP is the losing party at this time.

Looks like this dog & pony show will continue after all.....

the heartbeat, the drum

They don't call them *festivals* for nothing.
The Salem Oregon World Beat Festival is an amazing event.
It does the soul good to go to a place where all cultures are embraced, honored & celebrated.
This is all that is *right* with the world.


A cart full of drums Obo Addy brought along for his drumming workshop

The Drum workshop
"I could drum all day, but they tell me we've got 5 more minutes for this workshop"


Obo Addy takes a moment in the sun for a picture w the cart of drums.




Just back from the World Beat festival.....

What better thing to do than go drum with drum master Obo Addy!
Got to sit in on a drum workshop with him.

More photos later....

Swine Flu update

The CDC posted this weeks #'s

Last week
21,449 cases & 87 deaths

This week
27,717 cases & 127 deaths


6268 new cases in 1 weeks time & 40 additional deaths. These are confirmed stats for the US only.

This bugger is still around!

States w highest fatality rates:
New York- 35
California- 16
Illinois- 12
Texas- 10
Utah- 10

Most # of cases~
Wisconsin 4273 (4 deaths)
Texas 2891
Illinois 2875
New York 2272
California 1492

Scroll down to listen to some music!

Celebrity Death Fixation!

ABC is working on a new show in the Fall called *Celebrity Death Fixation*.
No more worries about the airwaves only being flooded for a day or two with old dredged up footage of the now deceased stars file archives!

Highlights include:

• Old footage of Barbara Walters interviews
• Recaps of hard times & controversies in their lives (no rest for celebrities).
• Up to the minute autopsy reports
• CD's & DVD's can be purchased for a 20% discount for obsessed fans
• Vague comments by Network Medical consultants
• Brief references of criminal behavior, overshadowed by Sequined garb & glitz

• Tearjerking glimpses of stupid things Celebs did in the past
• Unrelenting on the street mourning scenes, where dedicated fans show their love, by selling t shirts & stuff.
• Commentary by the venerable Reverend Al Sharpton

techno wonderland & sexy scandals

Yea baby.... for those who gotta have the latest/greatest.
It does seem weird the new iphone has a compass-- is the GPS feature that unreliable?
If the GPS is not working, neither would the compass..... right?

*WARNING: LAME SEGWAY TO A DIFFERENT TOPIC AHEAD!*

Speaking of compasses..... maybe the GOP should get iphones-- maybe the compass feature can help them find their *moral compass*. Either that or they voted to have an elicit affair of the week outing as a planned/ regular event?

SC Guv Sanford leaves the country , wife & 4 kids on Father's day weekend no less, to get it on with his mistress Maria.
Yes, he wins for creating a memorable Father's day for his family, they will NEVER forget.

As a congressman, Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for “moral legitimacy.”

A big Boo Hoo to Sanford.....

His self proclaimed “The odyssey that we’re all on in life is with regard to heart.”

Yeaaaa right! Guvnah Sanford was thinking with his *heart*.

Sanford is so busted-- he was exploring mountains & valleys alright.... but they had nothing to do the Appalachian Trail.
You can kiss your career goodbye dude. Now you'll have all the time in the world to take that hike you were thinking about.
Just be careful... that moral high ground is surrounded by slippery slopes.

I checked out Sanford's voting record (a new habit I am forming!) apparently Sanford does not just screw Maria in Argentina!

Veterans Affairs appropriations bill - NO
Minimum wage increase- NO
Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation & Management Act- NO
Flag Desecration Constitutional Amendment-YES
English as the National Language- YES
Here is the icing on the cake:
Display of the Ten Commandments- YES

Ok Sanford----

VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house;
nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any of his cattle,
nor whatever belongs to thy neighbour.

I don't know if Argentina Maria is somebody's wife, maid, or just "ass", but I'm pretty sure you crossed the line here a couple of times.

Psycho squirrel

We usually think of squirrels are bushy tailed critters that live in our neighborhoods, as nut gathering neighbors that frolic by our homes, we peacefully coexist. Like the critter pictured to the left.

Yesterday morning, however, a trio of frisky, perhaps hyper squirrels came scampering through my yard. As I sat at the table eating breakfast toast, the biggest of the three spotted me- and charged towards me, running. Me and or my breakfast were not safe! But what the psycho squirrel did not know, was there was a sliding glass door between us. That sucker charged at top speed & smacked right into the glass! Oh if only I had film footage of this incident.

It's squirrel face was pushed right up to the glass & kind of distorted it's face. As it bounced off the glass it kind of shook it's head, and then scampered away. A few minutes later, the smaller squirrel did the same thing, as I heard another loud bang at the door.

Often in the morning we open the door & run a fan to let in cool fresh air in the summer.
I gave the husband the warning about the psycho squirrels-- to be careful not to let in fresh squirrels in the morning!

Socialized Medicine ~ and other horrors

As Congress plays out their discussions of Health care reform, they are "shocked, shocked" by what the costs will be.
Self admitted "hothead", RNC spokeslunatic Michael Steele says the claims by the democrats are all lies.
Maybe he thought the GOP had sole rights in the lying department?
No one ever seems to be shocked when hundreds of billions bail out greedy Wall Street tycoons, or even the Auto industry, when they shot themselves in the foot by dragging their knuckles when it came to fuel efficiency & alternative options.
They got a stern lecture about private jets.... but they also got hefty bailout money.

Congress wields the APPROVED stamp for war funds (check out the side bar & watch those cost of war numbers spin).... careful though, it might make you dizzy!!!

Bottom line, all that money would have been a tidy sum in which to fund healthcare.
Congress are like the Zombies in this sci-fi horror movie, giving out money to every other entity, but health care for the masses, is just too much.

Cue blood curdling scream.

Song of Hope

Dixie Chicks ~ The song & video say it all....

Lots of dark & destructive things going on in the world these days.
The kids are watchings us, trusting us.

See if you can find some hope today.
Take the time to smell the scent of a rose.
Do something healing.
Send love to your, and other nurturing Dads of the world.
Sometimes we have to look harder, and reach deeper to find hope, and light- but it's there.

A Public Service Announcement

The CDC posted this weeks #'s


Last week
17,855 cases & 44 deaths

This week
21,449 cases & 87 deaths

3594 new cases in 1 weeks time & 43 additional deaths. These are confirmed stats for the US only.

Seems like the Swine Flu has faded from the news lately, but the fatality rates are up.

Keep up that heightened germ consciousness!

Fly Above

Blue Herons love the river trail

They draw us near to see

Beautiful wings fly above

What we call humanity