Voting AAR

Five Wookies, one Republican of known hairy tendencies,  two Democrats,  and three write-ins in local races. "No" on all judge retentions. "No" on a con-con. "No" on a  very expensive sales-tax hike to hire more bureaucrats to say nice things about "protecting the environment."

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Voting around here is a pleasant experience. The level of cordiality and civility makes the campaign  bullshit seem even slimier by comparison.   Folks smile and say, "How ya doin'?" They come closer to meaning it than any  professional pol I ever met.

P.J.: "Don't vote. It just encourages the bastards."

Yeah, Mr. O'Rourke, but I gotta do it anyway, even though someone else recently noted that if voting made a difference, it would be illegal.

So I'm off to my polling place.  The little gasoline-soaked rag under my nose helps deaden the stench.

Alaska's Corrupt Television Bastards

They're probably no more corrupt than your average Joe Sixpack. What they probably are is a gaggle of rather young teevee journalists who got only a quick steep in the tea of of journalism ethics. (Sardonic comments on oxymorons are duly noted.)

Moreover, they cling bitterly to  that notion that drama is good for the ratings, and ratings are everything, so what's a little fomenting among friends? In the newspaper business it would be called something like reaching for a headline. "Miller Pulls a Rand, Stomps Defenseless Girl at Far Right Rally."

Good news rooms recognize the reporter's  lust  to be above the fold, or lead the Six O'clock News. They hire dictatorial editors (the only kind worth having)  to stomp down hard on the over-reaching field man.

We don't really know the full context of that telephone conversation about KTVA  helping instigate some skulduggery at a Miller rally, and perhaps it was partially or mostly  joking banter.  

Nevertheless, I do not criticize Ms. Palin's characterization. Plain language tends to bring important questions into sharper focus, and the media have their  full,  fair share of corrupt bastards.*  All that remains is the need to get our political celebrities to apply the term to, for instance,  about seven out of ten bureaucrats and politicians, teevee preachers, lobbyists, and mortgage brokers. 


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*Along with some sterling exceptions.

Technology

If a guy is looking for one more excuse to hate his cable company, he finds in his internet connection which has been working -- at best -- five minutes each hour for three or four days.

On the other hand, the audio/video sewer pipe works fine, so he can see Halloween, Part 13 if he wants. And a thrilling documentary on ancient aliens inventing Roller Derby on the large asteroid which smashed into our planet, triggering the extinction of sentient life. 

It's Mediacom, in case you're interested.