HIYAAAHHH!!!

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(Me and my niece, Stella.)

What a cutie! She said her first actual, coherent, intelligent sentence that day while we rode in the car to go day-after-Christmas-shopping. She was looking at the birds flitting by outside, saying, "Birds! Want birds!" So her mom said, "Get the birdy!"....to which Stella responded quite clearly: "I can't reach it!" Pretty good for a not-quite-2-yr-old. OK, enough braggins.

WHAAAA! I got an iPod Touch for Christmas...which is pretty damned sweet. It can do everything! But I won't bore you with the details. Go read the stinkin Apple website if you want to bathe in jealousy. I'm just happy I got one and I can actually listen to music while running, instead of my own labored, wheezy breathing.

Can't wait for New Year's celebrations! I'm gonna stay up all night gorging on pizza...and then I'm planning a Tactical Hike for the next day...but it looks like I'm going alone. Everyone else is pussin' out. It's only gonna be like 14 miles in 14 degree weather! Come on, people! Balls!

Alright, that's all for now. Stay tuned for mo.

----Blindy Pophetttttt

MINE AGAIN!

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(Final Three: Lesley, Paul, and Yours Truly!)

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(Me counting chips for a bet)

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(Me in blue, Paul in the hoodie)

That's right! This blog is officially mine again!...not that I minded sharing it, of course, of course. So in the spirit of winningnessity, I'm posting some pictures from my recent Poker Tournament, which I won. (I didn't win the prize, though, because since it's my tourney, I'm the one fronting the prizes. Too bad. I just get bragging rights.)

Well, that's it. I didn't get many pics early on in the tourney...next time I'll catch some more and throw 'em on here. Maybe. If you behave.

----B.P.

LOGROLLING Health Care?

(www.csparks.com/XMLWithoutTears/LogRolling.jpg)

LOGROLLING! That good, old-timed, ever-present political sport! Politicians cutting deals...trading votes and favors...killing each other's detractor's...etc, etc, etc. We all know that this sort of back-door dealing goes on in politics; in fact, it's known as "LOW" politics, an important part of American Democracy as it now stands. Without Low Politics, it would be difficult for politicians to remain in power in our current adversary system of democracy--making Low Politics a sort of necessary evil.

So where is the logrolling in the Health Care Bill? Granted, we aren't going to see much of the back-door dealing that goes on with such a disputed and important piece of legislation, but...it seems as though we aren't seeing the swift passage of the bill (despite announcements to the contrary) that perhaps Obama and the Democrats expected. Is it possible that Low Politics can't get everything done?

I hereby announced that I believe that most options for Low Politics have been exhausted for the Health Care Reform Bill. I think that by now, most deals have already been made and discussed--it looks like everyone has already, for the most part, chosen their side and are sticking to that side. Barring an epic power deal brokered behind the scenes, I believe that from here on out the Bill's existence depends upon "HIGH" Politics, or actual democratic representation and fair voting and debate. That's why the bill hasn't apparently been moving very much in recent days: The LOW Politics option has been exhausted, and legislators are now trying to sway each other's opinions through debate and dialogue (HIGH Politics).

So maybe Low Politics isn't the dominant force in American democracy! Perhaps High Politics does play an important role! Yay...I suppose!

----Blind 'Ol Prophety-boy