Buh bye, Kenny-boy

Tim Johnson/Reuters

Lay and Skilling Guilty of Fraud and Conspiracy.

For once the bad guys are being held to account. I hope they get long, long, long prison sentences. I was living in Houston when Enron went under, and knew some people who worked for the company. They were given 30 minutes to vacate their offices, and dismissed without any severance. They found out that their 401K accounts had been wiped out overnight. They lost everything in a matter of days.

In subsequent months many of them found out that they were virtually unemployable, due to the stain of Enron. Some were retirees who had worked for 30 years or more for Enron. With their retirement savings wiped out, they found themselves back in the job market just to make ends meet. Many lost their homes.

The human wreckage that Lay and Skilling perpetrated on their employees was staggering. For that alone (never mind the damage they did in California), these asswipes deserve to rot in jail for the rest of their natural lives.

I'm sure the city of Houston is breathing a deep sigh of relief tonight.

Fat Bastard, I mean Denny, busted!!

ABC New's Brian Ross is reporting that Denny Hastert is being investigated by the FBI in the Abramoff corruption probe. Apparently there's a little letter that proves he was bribed.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI, which is seeking to determine his role in an ongoing public corruption probe into members of Congress, ABC News has learned from high level government sources.

Federal officials say the information implicating Hastert was developed from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government.

Part of the investigation involves a letter Hastert wrote three years ago, urging the Secretary of the Interior to block a casino on an Indian reservation that would have competed with other tribes.

Bwa HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

No wonder he's so freaked out about the FBI raiding Jefferson's office. As Atrios says, oh my.

More kitty

This blog has been all kitty, all the time. Sorry about that. He is cute though, right?

RIGHT?????

Bonus kitty

This is my neighbor's silly cat Rambles. He has most excellent white whiskers.

Plushy extra

Who is that debonaire kitty?

Watertiger's pipples

AP/Lu Linbo

Lion Kitty Maxx...

...is an excellent antidote to high blood pressure brought on by inside-the-beltway politics.

Spooky House part deux

More film stuff.... at the mortuary..... ooooooOOOOOOoooooo!!

Window kitty

He's always hoping a pretty girl will walk by and coo over him.

Yip Yip!!

Iraq has reached a turning point!! and the poodle is coming for a visit. Oh, joy. White House spokeslut Tony Snow said the two leaders will be "talking about Iraq and the next steps forward."

I have an idea, let's bitch slap the next WH flunkey who intones the phrase, "moving forward" or "the next steps forward."

Digby has more on the poodle's trip to the groomers.

sunflower

Taken at the film set.

sunday plush

Mr. Plushy is out prowling, so here's a photo from a few weeks ago. I love his whiskery little chinny-chin-chin.

New York is doomed

Let's see, the experts are warning that a hurricane could devastate NYC and seriously damage the american economy.

Forecasters are warning that a hurricane making landfall at or near New York City could cause catastrophic damage in the U.S.'s largest urban center.

While a storm is unlikely to make direct landfall on Manhattan, a nearby storm would cause extensive flooding and heavy storm surges, experts say.

Even a minimal hurricane could put the runways at John F. Kennedy Airport underwater, and the battering action of wind-driven waves could cause significant damage to buildings, says Stephen Baig, a storm surge specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

It's May, and that's plenty of time for a heads-up to the chimpy assministration. Which means a hurricane probably will hit Manhattan this summer, and the federal government will be taken completely off guard.

New Yorkers, run for your lives!!

Reality Check

The headlines are all about Iraq's new unity government and we'll hear lots of pronouncements from chimpy this week on "progress" and "staying the course," but let's not forget what daily life looks like for the Iraqi people.

AP Karim Kadim, Saturday, May 20th

AP/Kalid Mohammed, Sunday, May 21st

Just a side note- most of the photos you see coming off the wire services in Iraq these days are taken by Iraqi photojournalists who work, at considerable personal risk, for the Associated Press. American journalists simply cannot travel outside the green zone without a military escort.

GOP Vulnerable

While I'm not about to count my chickens before they're hatched, this article in the NYTimes makes me hopeful. In House Races, More GOP Seats Look Vulnerable:

WASHINGTON, May 19 — For months, even in the face of an avalanche of bad news for Republicans, Democratic ambitions for capturing Congress have collided with an electoral map created to protect Republicans from ouster. Despite polls showing rising support for Democrats and scorn for Republicans, analysts have said Democratic hopes for big gains remain remote, because so few seats are in contention.

That appears to be changing.

Over the past week, a handful of once-safe Republican Congressional seats have come into play, and other Republican incumbents are facing increasingly stiff re-election battles, according to analysts, pollsters and officials in both parties. The change amounts to a slight but significant shift in the playing field, and a potentially pivotal change in the dynamics of this midterm election.

I pray that this is a sign that the american public is finally coming to their senses.

Plushypalooza!!

To celebrate Sallyh's new grandchild, we shall have a plushypalooza party!!

I need a bigger cube

"And please stop flashy-thinging me!!"

Hollywood

Eli asked to see some of my movie photos. So here's a movie photo.

The Big Dog speaks!! woof!!

Wingnuts tremble.

For those of you interested, Clinton is giving the commencement address at the LBJ School of Public Affairs tomorrow. I'm not certain if c-span will carry it, but the LBJ school is webcasting it live, here:

Watch it live , at 11:00 am CST, Saturday, May 20th

Sadly, I was unable to obtain a ticket.

friday plushy blogging

Lion kitty Maxx finally decides to try out his new kitty-cube. I think that expression means, "ummm, thanks... I don't really fit in here, but the thought was nice."

The missing link

Okay, just go check out the link.

The Wonders of Science


I PROMISE it will be worth your while.

Oh, and Billmon? if you do decide to become a travel writer, I volunteer to take some neato pictures for ya!!

Fuck you Senator

Senator Pat Roberts (R- Douchebag) said today, again, "you have no civil liberties if you're dead."

Hey Senator! In my opinion, if you have no civil liberties, you have no freedom. And you'd might as well be dead.

So come kiss my centaur ass. Then go fuck yourself sideways with a rusty chainsaw, you constitution hating asswipe.

Go Russ Go!!

From the WAPO, Feingold, Specter Clash Over Gay Marriage, with Specter and Feingold getting into a shouting match.

I say, hit'em with the chair, Russ. Specter claims he's a defender of the constitution, but he's never hesitated to cave when chimpy and his minions came calling.

He's a defender of the constitution like I'm a monarch butterfly. Asshole.

Still on baby watch

It appears to be tiring.

Spooky house

A spooky picture of the spooky set I took while on set last week. I don't know what caused the light anomalies- UFO's maybe???? ghostices?

ooo-OOOOO-ooooo!!

lion kitty is on baby watch!!

Okay, so this is a re-run. I'm sure Maxx will be willing to share his peep with Sallyh's new grandbaby when she arrives.

Late night Maxx

Another outdoor shot.

More spring

Taken a couple of weeks ago at the Zilker Botanical Garden.

Monday afternoon lion kitty

It's a beautiful, unseasonable cool day here in Austin, and Maxx is enjoying some daylight hours outside.

More spring

Because I never get tired of looking at cannas.

Saturday jungle kitty

Here's lion kitty relaxing on the front porch.

Sally got tenure plushy!!

Lion kitty Maxx sends many, many purrrrrrs in his Aunt Sally's direction. He loves him some girls who understand higher math.

The general names his deputy

He sure didn't waste any time.

Sunday night relaxing lion kitty Maxx

We should all have his life.

Texas at sunset

I snapped this shot while on location on Friday evening. The Texas hillcountry is beautiful in the late spring.

Near Pflugerville, Texas, May 5th, 2006.

Mr. Plushy returns!!

Maxx caught sticking his tongue out at his aunt Flory.

No burritos! the horror!!

Fred Greaves/Reuters

Okay, this guy has the right idea. Being objectively pro-burrito, this sign is enough to strike terror into MY heart.

Snacks are delicious!!

Lion kitty Maxx luvvvvs him some delicious paté.

About Colbert and his muchos huevos grandes

I haven't weighed in on the ballsalicious appearance of Stephen Colbert at the WH Press Association dinner last Saturday yet, because, frankly, the whole affair is just baffling to me.

I keep reading about how "Bush stole the show" and how "Colbert just wasn't funny" or "he crossed a line" or "he was inappropriate for the room." And worst of all, I read somewhere that "Bush is president and he deserves our respect." Huh?

Holy fucking moly. Have people gone mad? I watched the video, and I didn't find chimpy funny at all. And while admittedly, I am pretty much a Colbert fan, I thought he was hilarious. So maybe I'm not an unbiased observer.

But here's the rub. Just what did Colbert say that was a surprise to anyone? You can argue about his delivery, but Colbert was dead on in the facts. And that appears to be the problem. Just pointing out the facts is the real sin inside the beltway. Apparently saying the obvious is considered borish and rude. Or worse, uncivil. I'll say this for Colbert, he didn't water down his act to make the boffins in the room more comfortable, and I give him props for that.

And can we please dispense with this "Bush is preznit and he deserves our respect" nonsense? The man has wrecked the country, lied us into an unneccessary war that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, embarked on a policy of torture and secret rendition, spied on American citizens, flouted congress and the rule of law, outed a CIA agent, and other transgressions too numerous to mention.

He. Does. Not. Deserve. Our. Respect.

He never did. I love my country, and the office of the president has my respect. The man occupying that office has to earn it. I want to ask the media, if after all this, you're still too timid to go after this man, what will it take? if not now, when?

Stop being such a bunch of pussies. Grow your own set of muchos huevos grandes. The country will thank you.

Colorific plushy

He's like a rainbow. And he wants me to get the fuck out of the way so he can go outside for a prowl.

Watertiger

Watertiger seems to be all over the net today.

Sigh

AP/Mark Baker

A surfer on the beach in Sydney, Australia.

At last!! some plushy

Somewhere, a pretty atriette is sighing with relief. Mr. Plushy has not deserted them.

Thursday Night plushy

I wish I were so relaxed.

This bird is smarter than chimpy

Study: Songbirds can learn basic grammar.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The simplest grammar, long thought to be one of the skills that separate man from beast, can be taught to a common songbird, new research suggests.

Well. Who says dinosaurs didn't evolve?

Finally! some plush.

I'm certain atriettes everywhere will cheer.

Snow job

I'm sorry, but tell me this guy doesn't look like a complete and total asshat? So naturally he's going to be the next press secretary.

It's a plot to drive Holden mad. I'm certain of it.

Little baby Arthurs!! teh cute!!

AP Javier Galeano

Shar-pei puppies at the Havana Dog Show. Teh wrinkly!

The London Eye

Reuters/Luke MacGregor

It's gorgeous photographs like this that made me want to be a photographer. Shot on April 19, 2006, on the banks of the Thames, London, U.K.

Happy Sweet 16 to the Hubble Space Telescope

NASA and the European Space Agency are celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope's 16th birthday with the release of this trés fabu photograph of a starburst. Photo in the News: Hubble Marks Sweet 16 With Starburst

April 24, 2006—This is one sweet 16 that calls for more than just a first driver's license photo.

NASA and the European Space Agency today marked the 16th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope by releasing a brilliant new image captured by the orbiting observer.

The composite picture, taken last month, depicts the starburst galaxy Messier 82, a hothouse of rapidly forming stars some 12 million light-years away. The image features the long blue disk of the galaxy's core laced with fiery tendrils of hydrogen gas (shown in red). The image is the sharpest wide-angle view ever obtained of the galaxy.

Interstellar eye candy like this has been part of Hubble's stock in trade over the past 16 years, but the telescope has much more to show for its service than an album of cool images.

Since it was launched into space on April 24, 1990, the Hubble has contributed to some significant astronomical studies, from measuring the effects of mysterious dark matter to helping scientists determine the age of the universe itself.

NASA has tentatively cancelled missions to maintain the Hubble, citing safety concerns for astronauts after the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

If Hubble goes dark, it will be 2013 before its replacement is up. That's not just stupid, it's criminal.

An answer to the gas problem

Via Space.com, it appears that black holes are actually green. Black Holes are Actually Green:

A new study finds that the supermassive black holes at the hearts of some galaxies are the most fuel efficient engines in the universe.

"If you could make a car engine that was as efficient as one of these black holes, you could get about a billion miles out of a gallon of gas," said study team leader Steve Allen of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University. "In anyone's book, that would be pretty green."

The finding, made using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and announced in a media teleconference today, is giving scientists insights into how supermassive black holes generate energy and how they affect the galaxies where they make their homes.

A beeeelion miles per gallon! whoo hooo!! I would like a black-hole powered Acura, please.

Monday plushy fix

Another busy, busy day. Maxx will keep you company.