Greetings loyal minons. Your Maximum Leader is pleased that the California Recall election is now finished. While it provided hours and hours and hours of entertainment for him, it is good to put behind us. Why? Too much electoral shenanigans would eventually grow tired and would cause people to return to their normal disaffected-by-politics selves. While millions of diaffected voters are just what your Maximum Leader wants to start the MWO, my plans do not call for beginning world domination just yet…

So what are my parting thoughts on the recall? Well, I do believe that Arh-nold will be better than Jesse Ventura. While it appears as though Governor-Elect Arh-nold is trying to move quickly to form a transition team, there are serious problems in California that are unlikely to be solved if the Democratically controlled state legislature doesn’t try to work with their cyborg-enhanced Governor-to-be. The budget will be vexing to say the least. I am not familiar enough with the intricacies of the California budget to say that spending cuts alone will do it. But I am confident that spending cuts will go a long way towards getting the state where it wants to be. Additionally, repealing some of the silly laws driving work out of California should act as a long-term booster. Above all, Arh-nold has to show that he has a level-headed plan and is willing to try and work with the legislature. If my predictions are correct he will be met with a number of very upset legislators who don’t want to compromise. In that case, Arh-nold should be on TV night and day and take his case to the people. Demonstrate how he is trying to be reasonable, but is being thwarted by the Democrats who are unwilling to accept the udgement of the people.

Anyway…

Has it gotten so bad that we are reduced to bickering over for which baseball team a candidate roots? Frankly, your Maximum Leader is a Braves fan. (But, he would be willing to entertain the possibility of swtiching his backing to a NL team based in the Washington DC area.) So, as far as I am concerned the real story is the Braves choking (yet again) after clinching their 5 millionth Division title in a row. (But that story was reported about 4 million Division titles ago.) As it stands now, your Maximum Leader would like to see a Cubs v. Red Sox World Series. Why exactly? (Especially since Mrs. Villain has - historically - liked the Yankess. Or should I say, the New York Yankees - brought to you by Lucifer and the denizens of the ninth circle of hell.) I would like to see a Cubbies v. Red Sox World Series because there will have to be a winner and there will have to be a loser. For the winner, it will be the lifting of a “curse” and there will be rioting the likes of which will make the residents of Watts sit up and take notice. For the loser, the loss will be that much more painful, and the “curse” will survive another season. (And frankly the riots in the losing city will be worse than the riots in the winning city.)

In other news, aides say Arafat hasn’t had a heart attack. Too bad really.

It seems men really are children. At least German men…

More proof that British scientists are bored. Or just really into useless science.

Maryland’s First Lady learns it is bad to cross Britney. Unless “cross” means kiss her at the MTV Music Video Awards show…

Elvis’ guns cause stir in Britain. I wonder if there are any other guns going to other British museums? And if there are, are they causing a stir too?

Only two more days until Kill Bill Volume One opens. Uma… Lucy… Sword fights… I can hardly stop the drool….

Once again, check out the Big Hominid’s artwork. A great addition to the home or office.

And with that…

Carry on.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, while not Jewish, has been spending some of today thinking of things for which he should atone and ask forgiveness. Yes, every once and again, even your Maximum Leader does things he regrets. And although Yom Kippur is over (as it is after sundown), it is still on my mind. We should all take time out fro time to time for thoughtful reflection on our lives and actions. Not to regret things we have done, but to recognize that our choices have consequences for which we take responsibility.

In case any of you are wondering, the wedding was wonderful. Your Maximum Leader has been to a total of 5 outdoor weddings in his life. Of the five, this is the first during which it did not rain. (Congrats again Lori and Andy.)

Some Items from the news wires…

Text messaging, and by inference, blogging are addictive.

Atoms for Peace and Atoms for War. Just Atoms to the TVA. Actually your Maximum Leader firmly believes that nuclear power plants should have either military or civilian clients. I would like to learn more about this, but I do not approve of dual use plants. (In this case I believe dual use to mean civilian power generation, and weapons grade fissionable material production.) While your Maximum Leader is not, by any stretch, an anti-nuke person (indeed I agree with some elements of the current administration who believe we should start researching the next generation of nuclear weapons). But, I firmly believe that we should not mix civilian and military goals at a single nuclear plant.

Check out the Poet Laureate’s drawings. They are cool.

The Minister of Agriculture and I had a good talk aboaut immigration tonight on the phone. I am too tired now to write it out, but hope that one of the two of us will have a chance to blog it out tomorrow.

That is about it for tonight….

Carry on.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been quite busy the past few days and hasn’t blogged as much as he would like. There is so much to blog about. Rush’s stupid, but mostly just ill-informed, comments. There is so much being blogged about this, your Maximum Leader doesn’t really feel the need to pile on. I see that the Air Marshal has written some stuff about this, and I will defer my comments to him.

As Annika writes about Arh-nold, So we’re to believe him to be a Nazi now? (And frankly, who isn’t writing about this story now? Here is pretty good analysis by the Washington Post about the whole “behaving badly” issue.) This appears to be just another scandal-before-the-election tactic of the LA Times. I will not get too conspiratorial and say the story was planted by Democrats, but who knows? Weirder things have happened. Your Maximum Leader was watching the Today show this morning (BTW, congrats Matt on the new baby girl.); and Campbell Brown started off her reporting on the Arh-nold = Adolf Lover story very strong. But by the end of her segment was going on and on about the questionable provenance of the comments attributed to Arh-nold. Your Maximum Leader wonders if this is all going to be shown to be a falsification…

All in all, the Arh-nold story doesn’t appear to be hurting him in the polls. He still seems to be holding at around 40%.

In other news… Britain appears to lead the world in useless scientific studies.

Talk about a case that really could have set more than one precedent. Your Maximum Leader, in his Solomonaic wisdom, would have had to really mull this case over had it been appealed to him (the highest authority) in the MWO. A man gets a sex change, gets married to a woman, die and leaves the wife most of the estate? Could he (”she”) have been married? If you get a sex change, does that mean your offical legal sex status (for practical purposes) changes too? I am inclinded to say if one was born a man, you are a man regardless of how you change your genitalia. And vice-versa. (I know my just declared standard does not cover hermaphrodites.)

Your Maximum Leader just bought an Elvis Costello greatest hits CD. It is great. I highly recommend it. (Although I linked to the CD on Amazon, I bought it in a Best Buy store. Where it is cheaper than listed at Amazon. On the Best Buy website, it is a higher price than at the store. Humm…)

Your Maximum Leader was watching a re-run of Booknotes on C-span with Victor Davis Hanson when he was talking about his recent work, Mexifornia. It only made my appreciation for this great scholar greater. Read his latest.

And lastly, your Maximum Leader will not be blogging over the weekend. He is going to go to a wedding of a friend in Virginia Beach, VA. (Congrats Lori!) So, while visiting, he will see how much hurricane damage remains…

Carry on my minions.

I’m a big Rush fan. The intricate rythms, athletic bass playing, Alex Lifeson’s skillful guitar, and the cool and quasi pretentious lyrics… Who wouldn’t like it. But it wasn’t Geddy Lee who mouthed off on ESPN, so I won’t talk about THAT Rush except to say that Vapor Trails was a pretty decent album for Rush of Late. Sorry I missed them on tour. First tour I’ve missed since ‘89 I think.

However, the OTHER Rush… the big fat blowhard… does merit talking about now. His comments about the Eagles QB opened up a whole mess for ESPN. Some random thoughts.

- The NFL was right when they said that ESPN knew what they were getting into by hiring Rush. Well, at least ESPN should have known

- Rush seems to hate accountability. He doesn’t give interviews, and he won’t defend or back what he said. Neither will he retract or apologize. He crawls back to his Amplitude Modulated cave and goes back to ranting.

- His comments show that he’s clueless about football.

- I find it funny that as a media personality, his favorite target is the media itself. When his is a very successful AM radio show, isn’t that a bit hypocritical? Bite the hand that feeds you, Rush. Maybe that’s why you lost weight.

- Rush seems to have no concept of facts or reality. Much like Michael Moore on the left, he sees reality through the lens of his political agenda, and his inane blather reflects this. Under the aegis of “telling the truth” they both pour out a constant stream of crap, and when challenged, they retreat behind the first ammendment, or call themselves entertainers. Wouldn’t a little bit of accountability be nice once in a while?

Tom Boswell from the Washington Post has an excelent column about this in todays paper.

And, of course, Rush Limburger has to go and fire up the Eagles the week they play the Redskins. Thanks a bunch, Rush. If my Skins lose, I’m blaming you, you fat racist pig.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader thanks the Poet Laureate for contributing something to the blog site while he was busy tending to Maximum Leaderly things. To be honest with you all, your Maximum Leader is a bit tired and is not sure he is fully up to blogging. But, knowing his responsibilities, blog he shall.

First. To contribute (possibly) to the nettlesome issue of genetic predisposition versus free-will/nurture argument that has been brought up a number of times in this space. More studies from scientists saying that men are programmed to not like housework and conversation.

Second. South Koreans outsource feeding ancestors. North Koreans continue to starve.

Third. Irrational object of your Maximum Leader’s interest is safe from stalker. However, if you read to the bottom of the article, her career may suffer by lending her talents to a “Garfield” movie. (Yes, as in the cartoon strip cat Garfield.)

Fourth. You mean she wasn’t in it to save California? I’m shocked. Shocked!

Fifth. A real “Richard Crainium.” And some “happy crabs.”

And now some general commentary….

At the suggestion of the Poet Laureate (the Big H himself), I did go over and read the Robin Burk and Tony Foresta articles on Winds of Change. Here is a quick thought, and only a quick thought because at this moment I am not capable of much else. I am more inclined to agree with the general thrust of Robin Burk’s article and commentary on the Saudis. But I have a thought I will throw out, and have to give more consideration to later. The world is a complex place. It can take decades to figure it all out. And sometimes our (American) genuine concern or other nations, cultures and people cause us to want to get to know all about a problem before we act. But that thoughtful contemplation can be paralyzing. (To get a dig in where I can… Just like foreign policy in the Clinton Administration. Too much prevarication and thought. Too little action.) Sometimes getting a “quick feel” for a situation, and then taking action can help simplify a situation. I would posit that our action in Iraq could fall into this senario. We may not have had a fully thought out plan when going into Iraq for what we would do once there. (A point we have discussed here before.) But, now there are far fewer choices out there, and the situation is simplified.

I also read Bill Whittle’s essay on Power. I have some comments I am now too tired to type out. Will have to do so tomorrow.

Final thought. Best line your Maximum Leader read today: Oh, to be young, rich, vapid and in love.

Carry on.

Big Hominid here, once again breaking my promise to post only on North Korea.

Had to point out a great screed over on Winds of Change re: dealing with the Saudi question. I consider it a must-read. The post, by Robin Burk, is a response to a column written on that site by Tony Foresta. Check both out. You might want to read Foresta first.
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