There is great pleasure to be had in rereading a favorite book, or watching again a great movie, or visiting one's parents and the home grown up in. If with a joyful temperance we acknowledge our attachment to the formative movements that govern our lives we can appreciate the shape of that which we are and perhaps glimpse a shape of things to come.

Recently while reading I came across a passage that put me in mind of a thought that my grandfather relayed to me. Not in so many words, but in so many words, and gestures, and in his presence. He's been gone for quite some time. Yet the thought endures that he was a gentleman whose manner was preserved in his conduct. This it would be well to emulate.

If you want to look at a microcosm into what ails education in the United States you could start by looking into the labyrinth at LAUSD. The Dailey News has done much of the yeoman work in this area , and today they have a story on a plan that LAUSD plans to eliminate 500 administrative jobs.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_5981505?source=most_viewed

It is always unfortunate when someone is laid off and I certainly don't wish that on anyone. Fortunately, according to Naush Boghossian, at least some of those jobs will be retired by attrition.

Finally, if you want to know what's wrong with Los Angeles City hall The Dailey News is a good place to start.

By any other Name: Christians as we all know aren’t human. Everyone! Everyone?

Gasp! Four hands clapping.

Decency: What? Who’s not human.

Applause

By any other Name: Christians are just like terrorists who are just like state sponsored terrorism who are just like presidents. Everyone. Everyone?

Gasp. Boo. Two hands clapping.

Decency: What’s the matter with you! How can you sit there and say those things!

Applause

By and other Name: Decency you spite. You like and say spiteful things, Republican things. Are you talkin to me, are you talkin to me, callin me a terrorist. I mean that me, saying I’m callin troops terrorists. Decency you spite.

Boo. One hand clapping.

Decency: You are just spewing venom, why are you so malicious, you need help. Just say you don’t mean it. Just say you don’t believe what you said, what you insinuated.

Applause

By any other Name: I need help, I need help, decency you spite, talk to me like I’m sick, I mean six. You tell me what I mean. I don’t know what I mean. I’m just mean. You tell me.

Boo

Decency: You’re delusional, you aren’t six. And no way am I going inside your head. I value my person. You can keep your mental bile.

Applause

And now for a station break.

So just exactly when is Arlen Specter going to retire? Not soon enough apparently.

http://www.newsday.com/search/bal-te.immigrant25may25,0,5969534.story

How come if France can be serious about illegal Immigration the US can’t. First of all that's weird. Second of all, umm.

http://www.suntimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=471624

Exactly when did supporting the troops come to mean de-funding them as Obama and Hillary assert. When you're netroot sock-puppets.

http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm

 Admadnutajob believing not in the Holocaust promises to invent one. Is it to late to say, no thanks, I’ll pass. http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0705246444100916.htm

I see that Edwards is positioning himself for a new class action law suit. Gitmo inmates being positioned for Court TV appearance. http://johnedwards.com/news/speeches/20070523-cfr/

Hmmm. What to make of this: Turkey poop to power 55-megawatt Fibrominn LLC. Where? Minnesota. Okay, I admit, I wonder what PITA’s take is on this. And if we shift to chicken poop and have a power outage what will we call it? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18847427/

Good news: Glacier growing on Mt. Shasta. Oh wait, um, glacier growing due to global warming. Yes, me too, I’m confused. http://dwb.sacbee.com/

And in the correction department: In the more reassured than I ever thought I could be, or the survey says; it turns out that not 20% of American 20 to 30 something Muslim males think that suicide blow ups can be good, but rather 25%. Now I really do feel good. http://corner.nationalreview.com/ Note you’ll need to scroll down.

* Proving that evolution, by way of mutation, can make mistakes: I offer exhibit a and b: Rosie O’Donnell and Michael Moore.

* Marching in support of law and order, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa locked himself arm in arm with illegal immigrants. Thanks.

* Paraphrasing John Edwards, yes he was giving us more kernels of his wisdom, likened Osama Bin Laden to the tooth fairy. I never thought I would say this, but I would give anything to shoot the tooth fairy.

* Ted Kennedy, gurgling at Boxer for some reason, said the whole point of immigration reform was to make illegal immigration, legal immigration. I’m confused.

* And finally, from the reassuring file, I take comfort from the tact only 20% (give or take a percentage point) of 20 to 30 something Muslim males believes that suicide bombing can be a good thing.

 

• Lifting the Man-hole: The left denounces retreat, defeat, and surrender. No not the Democrat strategy of retreat, defeat, and surrender in Iraq, but of Democrat leadership for dropping time limits (no not term limits; what would we do without Kennedy? Do a little dance...and so on). Thomas de Zengotita at Huffington Post calls it Judo?  Many of his artful commenters don't exactly agree.
• I heard it first on Rush's show. The Clintons are not satisfied with redefining Health Care, or endlessly reinventing themselves (how do you do that anyway), but now they’re redefining nuptial bliss. How you ask? By hanging out with your spouse only 70 nights a year.

Rumors are that Al Gore (he of the green thumb) is rumored to be riding a 22 ft. wave in a dingy to save all of us. Oh, joy.

What to make of this? California, John Edwards gives speech on poverty, Public University, 55,000. I'll have to get back to you.

I'm going to apply for amnesty. I understand that I can get one hell of a tax brake.

On a personal note, my wife asked "are you in your head again?" I said, "yes." But I thought, I'm not doing anything in there.

Harry Reid says Immigration Bill has moving parts. So it does. http://www.rube-goldberg.com/home.php

You've probably heard there are two whales in the delta, the Sacramento Delta, that would be about 90, give or take a few, miles east of the Pacific Ocean, which is the normal swimming pool for these majestic mammals.

The two whales, a mama and a calf, are slumming near the Port of West Sacramento. Now I can hear some of you thinking, Sacramento has a port? I'm assured that it does, though I have never seen it. I can attest though that there is most definitely a Sacramento Delta. I have even been boating on it.

Clearly if crowds in the thousands can take advantage of the opportunity to see these leviathans (that's what Melville calls them) up close and personal in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, better known for its produce, cattle, peculiar smell, and unflagging heat in the summer, then surely I can build around these misguided swimmers an allegory, or find an analogy, or at least take advantage of the symbolic meaning.

But my mind being not half so fertile as the San Joaquin Valley I am a bit stumped as to what to do with these humped leviathans.

I mean obviously they're lost because no one, or at very least very few, have West Sacramento high on their must see itinerary.

And with this the experts agree, noting that there isn't any suitable cuisine for the marvelous Cetaceans. I didn't say that they did. I do wonder what effect it would have on the populace if say a prophet sprang forth, but I think that might be pushing our luck.

I have noted the concern of the experts that these massive megaptera are lost, but we and they have a somewhat different take on what to do about it. The Sacramento solution is to bang pipes, play music and otherwise make a general nuisance of oneself by doing stupid human tricks.

Official Sacramento is notoriously habituated to just that response. For instance SB 22, which might be a grand thing, would provide for, "expansion of the breast-feeding peer counseling program at local agency WIC (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0001-)." What is the WIC? Well of course that's the department of Women, Children, and Enfants. Dooh! I'm not sure but that might be the agency outlawing light bulbs and spanking. I'll have to get back to you on that.

This is after all about whales. Two to be specific. I note in passing that mama whale doesn't seem to have access to the WIC, and nor does she seem terribly concerned, what with all the breaching and what not going on.

Anyway, as I was saying, I don't see much utility to banging pipes and playing the violin in an effort to get said whales to turn around and go out to sea. I think they like taking a break from the daily hassles offered by killer whales and great whites. I know I would. And further more, I think that once they get hungry they'll go get food, after all Cetaceans aren't as challenged as officials in Sacramento.

Wait, wait, wait! Now there are some, I think, that have noticed that I have a fondness for all things caesura. This probably gives the impression that I, yes me, have some kind of natural tendency for herky, jerky, and could I say, abrupt thought. Hmmm, I'll have to ponder on that.

Now you might be wondering what all of this has to do with the Amnesty Bill, or not. Well on the issue of cloture for the Amnesty Bill I can only say to our good Republican friends, caesura! And I mean caesura for a vary vary long time indeed.

Much is made of President Bush's low approval ratings and how this bespeaks of the current troubles of Republicans.

To be sure this amnesty bill that is being pushed down the throat of the United States does as much as it can to push down his approval rating, but I do think there is something more systemic going on.

If I recall correctly, there was a bit of controversy in Clinton's, Reagan's, and Nixon's second terms. Without touching upon the various controversies, it still may be possible to remark the mere fact of their existence and inquire as to whether there is something more going on than merely discrete unique controversies.

My thought isn't fully fleshed out, but I think there is a dynamic of clearing the field that goes on in second terms so that the next president has a clear field on which to develop his, or God preserve us, her policies.

Now not so long ago, in geologic time, long after Yellow Stone had blown its top the last time, cultures, societies, had very dramatic ways of clearing the field: off with his head puts it nicely.

Obviously, we are a bit removed from such dramatic expressions of renewal. Unless of course, you live under some sort of tyranny, then unfortunately, it appears the old tried and true method is the only one that avails. How else does one explain Fidel Castro or Kim Jong-il (by the way how is that reactor shutting down thing going? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270397,00.html?sPage=fnc.world/northkorea ).

Anyway, it seems to me a metaphorical clearing of the field is part of second-term dynamics so that the nation can have its renewal moment. My suspicion is, depending upon ancillary conditions, that President Bush like many others in their second terms will begin to see a bounce in his approval the nearer we get to his actual stepping down. Caveat: knocking down the Amnesty Bill so that it is long forgotten as an open sore will greatly aid in supporting a bounce. That is lets put the issue where it belongs: in the renewal process.

So there you go.

 Now I have been for the better part avoiding politics today. It just seemed seems like a rational thing to do from time to time. But sometimes politics find you. Take this little item that caught my eye while watching the local news (no watching the local news is not the same as politics--for the most part). In between stories about a big fire in Gorman, and a local teenager from Long Beach, who has more gumption than I ever had, climbing Mt. Everest there was this story and quote by the most undignified ex-President of all time.

Note: For Pittsburgh Steelers fans and other geographically challenged individuals if you look on a map, California is really really big, not Texas big mind you, but really really big nonetheless.

Anyway, I was quoting the most undignified abominable ex-President of all time.

Carter: “Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient.”

“And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.”

Who was he speaking about? Prime Minister Blair.

Now of course he couldn't help but bare his kitty cat claws and snarl at the President, either.

Him again: “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”

http://cbs2.com/national/topstories_story_139135924.html

And of course Jimmy Carter should know about adversity, having had the last 444 days of his presidency held hostage by a bunch of rag tag nutters in Iran. Apparently, unknown to the rest of us, he contracted the chronic disease known as "clueless about all things decent and reasonable syndrome." This same disease is suspected to play a prominent role in the bombast blatherings of Dr. Howard Dean, Al Gore, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosie. People with a genetic fallacy seem much more likely to contract this frontal lobe debilitation.

Research on cures are sketchy, but it has been shown that listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, and Dennis Miller, to name just a few, can put the disease into remission, and overtime, cure it. Patients have also found that reading National Review and the Weekly Standard can quicken the pace of the cure.

But those who know say that ex-President Carter is far too gone for any hope of a cure, and experts say that he should permanently retire to his peanut farm so that healthy people will not be exposed to his abominable mutterings.

On the front page of one of our newspapers--the Daily News--there's the headline, Mayor's Gang Plan Criticized.

Now I don't know much about this stuff except that gangs have been a problem since I can remember, and as I remember, the problem has never even come close to being remotely fixed.

The criticisms of the mayor's plan run from woeful under-funding to the little funds available being eaten up by salaries and such. LA's infamous city unions seem to be getting their digs in the money pit, but of all this I am just a casual observer shaking my head.

If only Rudy Giuliani weren't running for President and he would actually consent to relocating. Yes, I know he already fixed one dysfunctional city, and besides he has his eyes on a much bigger prize. But a man can dream can't he.

******

Thankfully California is a larger place than LA. Does Eureka have any newspapers? Just kidding. And that there is more to California than just politics. But see, it is so easy to find dust-ups that you don't even have to go beyond the front page.

Saturday in overcast California. I woke up and thought hey I should create a blog.

If some of you stumble across this modest isle in blogoshpere I thought perhaps I would take a shot at explaining my audacity before moving on to other topics of moment.

Now some of you may be somewhat familiar with me through my postings at my favorite blog Hughhewitt.com. Where, by the by, I'll continue to post, well at least as long as my presence is suffered.

And though Hugh's place is a great place there are at times issues or topics I have found myself wanting to comment on, this or that, but which for this or that reason don't quite meet the subject-matter topics as posted for the day's discussion. So having my own place will afford me that much more freedom.

Not less, and let this be a warning, I do have at times the goofy tendency to ramble. So in this regard by setting up my own blog, and finding myself in the irascible urge of rambling, ta da, I now have a place I can go and ramble to my own heart's content, or for that matter discontent. This I consider not only a boon to my own good self, but perhaps an act of mercy as well, not least of which to my own good self, with the added attraction that I can delete said goofy ramblings at my own good heart's content.

As to the content I hope to emphasize here, it will of course span the skies and go where my own good imagination has gone and never gone before. But more specifically, at least initially, I'm going to focus on things California. Now some of you may feel this is cheating because California is a daily dust-up offering endlessly rich material. To this I plead guilty.

But there is a bit of a drawback to this whole blogging thing. It would now seem I have to read a whole bunch of tom foolery that previously, gleefully, thankfully even, I skipped over.

Oh Well.

And yes being new to this whole thing, I can't wait to meet the technological frustrations attendant with learning the procedures of any new technological undertaking.

P.S. Next post will be on some matter or other of moment.