For Lent!

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Green Apple Splatters

That got your attention, didn't it?

Apple, Greepeace . . . get it? I was always a fool for clever wordplay. Or immature wordplay. Anyway, should liberal-leaning members of Generations X and Y be surprised that the "think different" company's environmental record isn't squeaky clean? I've been a satisfied Apple computer user since I was a pup, but the bottom line is that corporations exist for one purpose: to make money for their shareholders. Watch The Corporation if you don't believe me. So it's going to take a big consumer, shareholder, and media outcry to get Apple to green up. And I hope it happens!

It's feeling like spring, at last. Temperatures in the high 20s-low 30s. I even ran wearing only one layer last night (and no facemask)! I always did love this time of year.

If I had a boat/I'd go out on the ocean/And if I had a pony/I'd ride him on my boat

Had a lovely weekend in Anchorage. Enjoyed The 300--all style and no substance. Didn't try to read any current political themes into it--Frank Miller is no Thucydides. But anyway, it was nice to get out for a couple days! Friends, shopping, and places to go--what a change. Clearly, I gotta get out more often. Perhaps to points even further south!

I can't believe Stanford lost to Louisville in round one of the Men's NCAAs. Actually, I can. But the Tournament Gods are cruel to pit the Cardinal against the Cardinals, and to have the game in Kentucky. Now I'd love to see UCLA win it all. Or Oregon--I admire their pluck.

"But Country Lawyer", some of you may ask, "don't you have a degree from Kansas?"

"That may be," I would reply, "but I have no loyalty to those suckaz."

Wouldn't it be funny if the author of the famous "Torture is O.K." memo lost his job as Attorney General for the relatively minor offense of firing some U.S. Attorneys for their lack of faith to The Cause? Don't worry Alberto, a lucrative Republican sinecure awaits you in the private sector.

Again, Russia can't catch a break. First this, then this. Not to mention this. Tragic, just tragic--I'm dead serious. I wonder what the Russian equivalents of OSHA and NTSB are like? My guess: underfunded, overworked, and corrupt as all get out. But what do I know? They could be shining beacons of government competence.

Interesting rumblings between Russia and Iran, with Iran late on its payments for the Bushehr reactor and Russia coincidentally supporting sanctions if Iran doesn't suspend uranium enrichment.

Smoove out.

All about the things

Well, dear readers, it's still cold--at least for someone who's spent most of the last decade in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. +1F/-17C (-16F/-27C windchill) as I write this, but I still gotta run 17 miles today--I suppose it could always be worse. And spring is coming soon, I hear. If climate change works its magic, it should be coming earlier and earlier.

Work is awesome--every day I get to do things that no rookie attorney I know has ever gotten to do! But it's also time for a pleasure junket/shopping and movie-watching trip to Anchorage, which happens next weekend. Just in time to celebrate my Irish heritage . . . and everyone else's.

Ann Coulter crossed a line. Yet again. In a just world, she'd have faded into obscurity 10 years ago. I'd rather listen to, and disagree with, William F. Buckley any day.

The once mighty Stanford men's basketball team made it into the tournament as an eleventh seed--fingers crossed. The women's team continues to be a perennial powerhouse, and gets an automatic bid as conference champ--hope they are well seeded.

Rigged elections in Russia? I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

I have a hot cup of coffee and a cat at the foot of my bed. Life is good. End transmission.

Accentuate the Positive

Leave it to Fox News:















From BoingBoing. Way to see the glass as half full, or one charge out of five full, as the case may be. It's technically true: Libby was found guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of obstructing justice, and only one of the two counts of lying to FBI agents. But on that second count, he was totally not guilty!

Television (the band, not the medium)

After hearing for nearly 2 decades what an amazing album Television's Marquee Moon is, I finally picked it up and listened to it. It's amazing! As faithful readers know, I seem to have my finger on the pulse of what was popular in decades past. Anyway, the title track is especially good, and I can hear the beginnings of the sound that countless new-wave era bands would develop.

This is great--like discovering a new author and then looking forward to reading their whole catalogue. Except Television has put out, what, 3 albums in the past 30 years? Maybe I should treat this as a standalone masterpiece, like A Confederacy of Dunces, unless you, dear readers, have different advice.

I ran 16 miles yesterday, and I'm less sore than I thought I would be. Ha--maybe I need to train harder.

"The Bush team begins new diplomatic initiative with Russia"--good luck with that. Should give Condi a chance to brush up on her Russian, anyhow.

Confidential to Panda: those pumpkin biscotti really hit the spot with my morning coffee!!!