sisu

What would Sarah Barracuda do?

Babe and the paw collection late afternoon down Goomp's.

"She's got all these capabilities, and she's raised five chiildren too," notes Goomp:

It makes men look pretty stupid.

What tail?

No, but it makes the Democratic ticket look pretty lame.

A perfect fall-type day, Northwest winds keeping the temps just right as late-season boaters ply the waters of the mouth of the York River, a fab floor show for us Labor Day revelers down Goomp's.

Toil and trouble with Goomp's computer what with the Spyware Preventer pop-ups popping up at will warning "Attack detected," and the only cure is to go to their site and buy  their product to make it all better. TOO annoying. "Activate now!" Bleh.

Goomp's totally awesome Purrky -- AKA Mr. Perkins -- on high alert as he catches sight of Tiny in the lower forty..

Goomp's excellent computer geeks are on vacation, so no relief till Tuesday. Tough  blogging when every other second unwanted trash pops up. But you gotta do what you gotta do. What would Sarah Barracuda do?

Update: Tuesday morning Goomp's geeks came and took his computer to the shop, where it took hours to remove all the junk. Everything fine now, but they advised him to avoid Google for the time being until the company gets up to speed on security, Much thanks to Teresa and Mog for your expert advice. Teresa: He uses Internet Explorer, and updates are automatic. Mog: We did try Lavasoft's Ad-Aware site, but the invader quickly attached itself to the URL.

Update II: What would the animals do? Row on over to Modulator's Friday Ark #207 for the latest on all things bright and beautiful.

W32MyZorW@yf

Sunrise at Camelot-by-the-Sea this morning, never the same twice.

Down Goomp's  for Labor Day cookout. All good things to eat on deck, weather divine and family favorites on the way, but the darned computer has been infected by some virus or other. W32.MyZor@yf if that means anything to anyone. Also aspch.exe. It sucks eggs. Bad mood, big time. Our blogroll has been terra incognita all  day. Snap out of it?

All Palin all the time and loving it

We're savoring the joy of bloggers, politicians and media types who think McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as running mate is the best thing since sliced sourdough bread, not to mention the bewilderment of their counterparts on the other side of the aisle, who, like the proverbial deer — moose? —  in the headlights, obviously didn't see it coming down the road to the White House.  Above, "This moose made it across safely, though several hundred other moose end up in collisions with vehicles on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, causing injuries, deaths and property damage." (AP Photo/The Peninsula Clarion, M. Scott Moon)

"My only worry about Governor Palin had been what I would call a hysterical misreading of her views regarding the teaching of creationism in public schools, but Charles Johnson has put my fears to rest," we wrote in the comments at Dr. Helen's totally excellent "My Thoughts on Sarah Palin." More on her thoughts below, but first, here's what Charles Johnson had to say about how some of our fellow citizens on the left side of the aisle have distorted and will attempt to distort Palin's views:

LGF readers are probably aware that I am no creationist; in fact, I am strongly opposed to the teaching of “intelligent design” or “creation science,” or any other name the advocates for creationism concoct in their relentless quest to promote pseudo-science.

So I was disturbed to learn of Sarah Palin’s apparent support for creationism. However, as I posted in a comment earlier, she does not appear to be the fanatical type who wants to force or sneak the teaching of creationism into public school science classrooms.

But this is going to be a point of attack for the left, as Wired Magazine’s Brandon Keim demonstrates in this article: McCain’s VP Wants Creationism Taught in School.

Looks like Palin made an off-the-cuff statement during a debate on a hot topic, didn’t really expect the criticism she’d get, and then softened her position considerably in a follow-up interview. But to quote just the first part of her statements on creationism and ignore the second is misleading; because in the clarification she’s describing a position that doesn’t cause me (a staunch anti-creationist) any discomfort.

Phew. Now back to Dr. Helen (cross-posted at PJM), who thinks "Palin would focus on helping Americans achieve their dreams by staying out of their way":

For me, Sarah Palin represents many right-leaning libertarian ideas that I personally support: low taxes, gun rights, and smaller government …

While Democrats want to expand government programs to “help women,” I believe that smaller government and the policies of the libertarian right help women in many ways that are often ignored …

It seems that more and more women are going into business for themselves; in fact, a recent study shows that women are emerging as a fast-growing sector of new small business owners. That matches my experience: I hear women at my gym all the time talking about their start-up home businesses, such as working with Ebay selling furniture and other items. Some are making a very good living at it. A living, I am afraid, that will be eaten up by regulation and taxes if they are deemed “too successful” by the Obama camp. I hope Palin has more sympathy for entrepreneurs and those who run their own businesses, for they are the backbone of this country. Their success should be rewarded — not discouraged.

Lots of good, commonsense stuff. Plus, a great punchline: "And unlike some female politicians such as Hillary Clinton, Palin made it herself without the help of a career politician husband to give her an added advantage." You go, self-made woman!

We owe it all to Hillary

He loves and she loves. Presidential candidate John McCain embraces Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as he introduces his running mate to the nation midday.

"Wow, an incredible pick! I am so excited, I am going to donate time, money and enthusiasm to the Republican ticket this fall. And I say this as a registered Democrat," writes Ramona in the comments to our previous post. Lots of good comments by old friends and new readers following the link from Instapundit, who has this to say about the effect McCain's surprise move is having on the distaff side of his own household:

The Insta-Wife is ecstatic, which may bode well for that demographic. [Update: Dr. Helen's "Thoughts on Sarah Palin"]

If the demographic fits, wear it! And we owe it all to Senator Hillary. Unintended consequences and all that. Had the former First Lady not reached for the stars and fallen to earth, the P.U.M.A.s — Party Unity My A** — and other Democratic and Independent women who "feel that Dean, Obama and the media gave Hillary (and women) a raw deal in this election" wouldn't be looking for something beyond the Democrats' offerings this year. The P.U.M.A.s explain:

Love it or hate it, P.U.M.A.s are “The Demographic” that will deliver this election to the eventual winner.

John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate to primarily appeal to the P.U.M.A voters out there …

Now, Palin IS NOT Hillary Clinton, and can never be Hillary Clinton, but this is a good sign of faith on McCain’s part that a sweetie’s (to use Obamaspeak) place is not merely in the kitchen.

Our man John's decision to choose a woman — and such a woman! — to run with him all the way to the White House is being celebrated by the first woman to run for national office on a major party ticket as Walter Mondale's running mate way back in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro, now a Fox analyst. In her remarks, Palin praises both Ferraro and Miss Hillary for having put all those cracks in the glass ceiling.

"She has the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today," McCain said of his running mate, who returned the compliment, saying McCain is the kind of man she wants commanding the nation's armed forces, Her son, who joined the Army on September 11 last year, will deploy to Iraq in September.

"I could only choose one," said a beaming McCain, extolling the virtues of "Sarah Barracuda":

… and I have found the right partner who can stand up with me against those … who would put power over principle and put their interests before your needs … Someone with executive experience who has tenacity and toughness and skill … with strong principles, a fighting spirit and deep compassion …who has been a union member and is married to a union member … I am especially proud to say in the week that we celebrate the anniversary of women''s suffrage, a devoted wife and a mother of five … [She] is exactly what we need in Washington DC today. She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down.

"I've been hoping he'd pick Palin for weeks," writes Meryl Yourish in the comments:

I watched John McCain come out in front of the cameras in Ohio, and I thought, "Wow, Sarah Palin has managed to make me feel excited about this boring old man."

I mean, I was going to vote for him anyway, but now, I'm going to VOTE! for him.

We felt it too, a certain frisson at the thought of it all that we hadn't seen coming. Or maybe it was the Instalanche. Either way, Thank you, Hillary.

Update: More good stuff at Meryl's blog:

American history changed today every bit as much as it changed with Obama’s nomination — but this one means more to me, for obvious reasons.

We know what she means, and as we mentioned above, our own reaction caught us slightly off guard. Meryl continues:

It tells me that politics are forever changed in America, and love her or hate her, you have Hillary Clinton to thank for the choice of Sarah Palin.

Didn't we just say?

Update: We owe our tenuous grip on mental health to Dr. Sanity's Carnival of the Insanities.

It's a girl?

"I think [John McCain's] going to evolve into eventually supporting ANWAR," Sarah Palin told Larry Kudlow (above) recently, adding that "Obama is way off on all of that."  Watch and listen here, and see what you think. She's Governor of Alaska, a mother of five and only 44 years old — younger than Obama! — and John McCain is rumored to want her for VP. Like Aldo Cella and Elisson, John McCain knows what women like.

"Going back to the dynamic of the McCain campaign, they want to shake it up, and this is definitely something that will shake it up," Karl Rove is telling Fox & Friends midmorning as rumors fly that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is Johnny's pick:

She is very smart. She is very personable. She's one of these people who's very approachable. People are going to like her.

You go, girl!

Fun fact update: Biographical snippet from Wikipedia re the Idaho-born Sarah, who moved with her family to Alaska when she was an infant:

Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school.

While pampered liberals slept.

More fun facts from Wikipedia:

She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense [high school] basketball play …

In 1984, Palin was first runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant … winning a scholarship to help pay her way through college. In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality …

She hunts, eats moose burgers, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane … holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association … admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not like it.

Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics. She briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd [a Native Yup'ik Eskimo], her high school sweetheart.

You want audacity? This gal is soakin' in it.

Update III: Charles Krauthammer on Fox is saying McCain should pick someone "safe" like Fred Thompson. We LOVE Fred, of course, and our sis will remind us that we have a heart too soon made glad, but the Governor of Alaska gets our girls-just-wanna-have-fun juices flowing. Sarah, get your gun!

The Mother of All Updates: Sarah's the one!

The Father of All Updates: Instalanche! Thanks, Professor. More on all that in the next post.

Update VI: "She's real," raves Amy Kane of Atlantic Ave, tossing us a link:

Genuine, bright, articulate, confident, striking all the right notes (for me) and no teleprompter.  That's my assessment of her first speech as McCain's running mate.

Lots of women I know are going to identify with her and like her, whatever their politics and ultimately their vote in November.

As Amy says, "Oh yeah!!!"

Watch behind you; remember you are just a man!

"When in Rome, do what feels comfortable. Women generally try to look good, while men try to look stupid," says Ron Turner of How to Make a Toga, whose photographs and sketches were used in a McCain Team memo on "Proper Attire for the Temple of Obama."

”Watch behind you; remember you’re just a man!” Victor Davis Hanson — Pajamas XPress blogger and scholar of ancient warfare — tries to warn Barack Obama, asking rhetorically "Isn’t there one sane person on his staff who can stop this divine madness?"

Hubris is a sort of fit, a haughtiness steeped in delusions of grandeur and divinity that takes over a weak individual, and soon encourages recklessness and overreaching (atê), all culminating in ruin and divine retribution (nemesis).

It's O Day, 28th of August, 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech, and the Democrats' presidential nominee is waiting in the wings, poised to wow 'em as he steps center stage to deliver an "I Am the Dream" acceptance speech to 75,000+ assembled guests at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver and to the immediate world via TV and the internet. Meanwhile, a snickering New York Post reports that the "Temple of Obama" where the much-anticipated event will take place was "built by the same cheesy set team that put together Britney Spears' last tour":

John McCain's campaign mocked the massive neoclassical set created for Obama's speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field. Some Republicans have dubbed it the "Barackopolis," while others suggested the delegates should wear togas to fit in among the same Doric columns the ancient Greeks believed would stroke the egos of Zeus and Athena …

But the set is designed to evoke the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, not the Acropolis, said staging supervisor Bobby Allen [of RDA Entertainment, which doesn't appear to have a web site], a Spears set vet.

Citing Obama advisor David Axelrod, the Post continues:

Standing on this temple podium, Obama will recall Rev. Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech [Didn't we just say only yesterday?] while mourning the victims of Hurricane Katrina when he accepts his party's nomination tonight — fusing two events central to the African-American experience into his call for national unity and change.

When in doubt, the boys of National Lampoon's Animal House always knew what to do: Throw caution to the winds and throw a toga party. Above, John Belushi's Bluto, whose "Toga, toga!" has become a rallying cry for Republicans.

Too clever by half? Even as Obama audaciously hopes to appropriate some of MLKs gravitas tonight, a mocking McCain campaign memo offers "Suggested Toga Styles" for ticket holders, and "toga" chants are in the air. "Watch behind you; remember you are just a man."

This just in: McCain upstages Obama hours before the house lights go up with a new ad congratulating his rival on this momentous occasion on this momentous date:

Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. You know, too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed, so I wanted to stop and say "Congratulations!" How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day. Tomorrow we'll be back at it, but tonight, Senator, job well done.

Go, Johnny, go! 

Update: Screenshot of the "Temple of Obama," pretty in blue. In the run-up to Obama's appearance, the listening is easy as Stevie Wonder warms up the paying audience and a swooning CNN commentariat with body-swaying custom compositions. Then came an inconvenient former vice president, and we were out of there.

Obama has a dream

Martin Luther King, Jr. chose the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver his audacious message of hope, "I Have a Dream," August 28, 1963, exactly 45 years ago tomorrow, when the nation's first major-party black presidential candidate will give his acceptance speech from the podium of a set designer's mini-version of the Great Emancipator's memorial set in a football field.

The Republican Party's Audacity Watch — "a website keeping track of Barack Obama's audacious behavior" — is calling it the "Temple of Obama," and the blogosphere was abubble all day with conjecture about the symbolism behind the white-columned stage set where the Democrats' presumptive will deliver his acceptance speech tomorrow night at the home of the Denver Broncos, Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Rumors started with this ABC/Reuters report headlined on the Drudge Report:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple …

[They] said the theme for the evening is "Change We Can Believe In," which has been a consistent message of Obama's presidential campaign.

"When I finally saw the picture, it seemed to me that it looks like the Lincoln Memorial, a classic Greek Doric design," wrote Ann Althouse commenter mcg:

Fine. Like I said, can we get him to skip the presidency if we build him a memorial now?

We like the way mcg's mind works, but we're guessing it's not a memorial per se but a particular event that took place exactly 45 years ago tomorrow on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial whose karma Obama's after, Martin Luther King Jr's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.

As we blogged yesterday, "Where is the humility"?

Where is the humility?

"A podium "that puts American voices center stage," the Democrats are billing their dazzling Pepsi Center Podium in Mile High City. We admit we're smitten, by the medium if not the message. What ever happened to "ask not what your country can do for you"?

"I like the Republican one better. It's more straightforward," pronounced Tuck re the dueling convention podia of the two parties (Democrats' above and below, Republicans', near bottom of post):

The Democrat one looks like a rock show.

As indeed might be expected, given the credits of the man behind the screen, set designer extraordinaire and founder of Tribe, Inc, Texan Democrat Bruce Rodgers, whose project list includes Madonna, Sting and a Super Bowl Halftime with Prince. "I think people from the West get their inspiration to do great things from each other and from nature, Rodgers told a DNC interviewer last winter:

People help us learn and strive, and nature keeps us humble and hopeful.

We love the words, and we love the work. But where is the humility? The Democrats hired Rodgers, knowing that glitz and glamour are his stock in trade. McCain's brilliant "Celeb" ad —the one that got under Obama's skin — comes to mind.

"We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him," quips Greg Pollowitz of National Review's Media Blog re this totally awesome digital rendering [via Bird Dog] of the Democrats'' podium at "the manger Pepsi Center in Denver."  Politics aside, Rodgers's artful composition of daybreak orange and Parrish blue half made us wish we were Democrats [Just kidding. —ed] (Lynn Sweet photo)

"It was heartfelt and deeply personal — and many are saying she rivaled Barack's famous 2004 convention speech in the way she moved the crowd," says Obama's website re the candidate's wife's performance (click here to watch) on the Rodgers-designed podium last night. We have to admit that had we not already gotten Michelle Obama's America-bashing number awhile back based upon many unscripted moments, her breathtaking beauty, grace under stress and supreme acting ability might have fooled our foolish heart.

"I often joke with (foreign interviewers) and say that our level of human performance is second in the world," former dissident filmmaker Zhang Yimou — the man responsible for the dazzling Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies — told a Chinese newspaper, reports the London Telegraph. The dark side of Zhang's stagecraft and pyrotechnics resonates not without irony in the theory and practice of the Democrats' dog and pony show:

Number one is North Korea. Their performances are totally uniform, and uniformity in this way brings beauty. We Chinese can do it too. After hard training and strict discipline, Chinese achieve that as well.

Now dissed by some critics as — in the words of an International Herald Tribune profile a couple of weeks back — "a kind of Chinese Leni Riefenstahl, creating "beautiful backdrops for iron-fisted rulers," Zhang "also showed little concern for the few critical voices who found the mass organisation of thousands of performers reminiscent of the Soviet era," notes the Telegraph:

By contrast, he found working in the west, where he has been artistic director for a number of opera performances, something of a shock.

"It was so troublesome," he said. "They only work four and a half days each week. Every day there are two coffee breaks, and no-one can suffer any discomfort because of human rights."

"This caused me no end of worry. One week, I thought everything had been rehearsed completely without any problems, but in fact they could not even stand in straight lines.

"You couldn't criticize them either. They all belong to organizations — some kind of institutions, unions. We do not have that. We can work very hard, and can put up with a lot of pain."

Those pesky human rights. Just ask Barack "Their ports, their train systems, their airports are vastly the superior to us now" Obama.

The Republicans' convention podium — Digital rendering, above — to be mounted at Saint Paul's Xcel Energy Center for their September 1-4 event appears suitably conservative compared to the Democrats' "progressive" staging. Click here for larger image.

"The intimate setting will be a fitting backdrop for Senator McCain’s acceptance speech," says President and CEO of the 2008 Republican National Convention Maria Cino re the GOP stage set:

The design of the podium continues under the auspices of Executive Producer David J. Nash. Nash, a veteran of Broadway and television award shows, is back for his fifth-consecutive Republican National Convention.

Nash has also served as executive vice president of production at New York's Radio City Music Hall and director of technical operations at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C.

"Get Stupid" Madonna probably wouldn't get it, but we think it looks pretty classy.

Cool as a cucumber

Peaches-and-cream Tiny strikes a thoughtful pose out back atop the woodpile early morning.

At first we thought this sprawling vine crawling over the Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy' in the border along the base of the retaining wall was Wild Grape. But no. That's a squash-type flower, our Plant ID-ometer told us. A quick check with Newcomb's Wildflower Guide's key system led us gently down the garden path:

Vines Clinging by Tendrils

There are only three local plants that fill the bill, Grapes, Passionflowers and One-seeded Bur Cucumbers, and only the latter's description matched our own specimen's:

One-seeded Bur Cucumber (Sicyos angulatus) Stem covered with sticky hairs; small clusters of greenish-white flowers in the axils. Staminate flowers in long-stalked clusters; pistillate flowers in short-stalked clusters. Leaves broad, 5-lobed, heart-shaped at the base. Fruits prickly, 1/2" long, stalkless, in a small cluster. Riverbanks and moist thickets. Summer and fall. Gourd Family.

Three cheers for the Gourd Family (Cucurbitaceae), Mother of all Squashes! Smitten with its beauty and grit, we begged a determined Tuck not to weed the Bur Cucumber from atop the Lamium. He is right, of course. Give invasive species an inch and they demand a mile. Check out what they can do to a stand of corn:

Bur Cucumber in a field of corn. (Sikkema, Ridgetown College photo)

Who's the prettiest girl kitty ever was?

The Bur Cucumber's sprawling growth habit along the top of the Lamium, with Tiny front and center for scale.

The Bur Cucumber's tendrils called to mind that computer-generated image of leptin, the substance that signals to the brain the body has had enough to eat, or satiety, blogged here. Somebody stop us before we animate gifs again.

The flowers (x 4) of Lamium — Deadnettle by common name — are real show stoppers.

Did somebody say stop the show? Enter Babe, center stage, a scene stealer from way back.

Update: A boatful of show stopper's at Modulator's Friday Ark #206.

"Beware of Google Hijacking"

Shortly after we sent a special-pleading email to Google genius Matt Cutts (see below), a Google Image search for "spongebob" appeared in the stats, linking to the hijacked Google results (above) we've been tearing our hair out over the last couple of days. The searcher's IP address was 74.197.204.66 (Suddenlink Communications) in Tyler, Texas. What goes on here?

Tedium alert to our readers. This piece is mostly on the technical side — we barely understand much of it, ourselves — and could produce yawns:

"This problem shouldn't exist and need not exist. Finding out that your site has suddenly lost most of its traffic because of an HTML trick is a lousy way to start the day," wrote Brian Livingston in a November 2005 Datamation article — much thanks to commenter quieti for the link — "Beware of Google Hijacking." Exactly what happened to us a few days back, as blogged here. Livingston explains:

If you come to work one morning and find that your company's traffic from Google has fallen to nothing, a competitor may be redirecting traffic from your site to his. Amazingly, there may be little or nothing you can do to stop this blatant rip-off. The cause is an obscure HTML command that is interpreted poorly by Google but correctly by Yahoo and some other search engines [including MSNs Live Search]. Knowing about the trick at least gives you some hope of understanding it — if it happens to you.

"If you think your web site's traffic is flowing to some other party, Google has a form you can fill out to report it," notes Livingston:

Matt Cutts, a Google search quality engineer, links to the form in his blog and says complaints that are submitted there "will get the same level of investigation" they would if he personally was notified. You'll have to try it to find out if that's so.

We clicked on over to Cutts's Gadgets, Google and SEO blog, where salvation seemed so near and yet so far:

What do you do if you suspect a “302 hijacking” but don’t have my email address? … Go to http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py and click “I’m a webmaster inquiring about my website” then select “Why my site disappeared from the search results or dropped in ranking” and click continue.

The promised options were no longer available at that Google support link, so we rolled up our cybersleeves and dived back into the fray. Somewhere along the way in Google Webmaster Help we extrapolated the email address to Google's webmaster and sent off a message headlined "302 hijacking, Attn: Matt Cutts":

I’m a blogger whose #1 spot from a Google Web Search and Google Image Search for "spongebob" — for my post "How to get a zillion hits on your blog" — has apparently been hijacked by something called SquidWho.

Type in "spongebob" in a Google search, and you arrive here.

Click on the top left image on that page, and Google directs you to a link to my post — a link responsible for about 300-400 extra hits daily for the last period of time — but as of a couple of days ago, the searcher is then automatically redirected to the hijacker's page. Also, once you are at the hijacker's page, you can't go back to Google.

I have blogged about the issue in my post "How to LOSE a zillion hits on your blog."

'Am hoping you, Mr. Cutts, will be able to help me right this wrong. I read about your work in your post "Bacon polenta" via Brian Livingston's post "Beware of Google Hijacking."

We're just looking for credit where credit is due.