Silflay Hraka

More on the South Carolina effort to raise beer alcohol limits.

Remind me to keep the guns away from Charlie this year.

And no pissing off the deck for the Scotsman.

Tideland EMC is saying that the flooding on Ocracoke is substantially worse than what the island experienced during Isabel.

Fish kill off Delaware–thermal shock is thought to be the cause. (login available at bugmenot)

Am never drinkink again Boris.
Da, Natasha. Am seeink things.

I’m the happiest girl in the the whole world!

Some Hurricane Alex pictures here. One of the best doesn’t appear there, though.

Meanwhile, it looks like Ocracoke may have taken a harder hit than it did from Isabel, as far as flooding goes.

Alex returned to almost the same spot but did not deliver a full force blow to the Outer Banks, a fragile chain of islands that is known for its miles of undeveloped beaches where the population swells with thousands of tourists in summer.

Massive sand dunes near the road, which were reconstructed after Hurricane Isabel, also were destroyed, Davenport said.

Update: Alger Willis looks to have made it through.

And, as some of the subordinates of a man-of-war captain are apt to invoke his good wishes and mollify his conscience by making him friendly gifts, it would perhaps have been an excellent thing for him to adopt the plan pursued by the President of the United States, when he received a present of lions and Arabian chargers from the Sultan of Muscat. Being forbidden by his sovereign lords and masters, the imperial people, to accept of any gifts from foreign powers, the President sent them to an auctioneer, and the proceeds were deposited in the Treasury.–from White Jacket, by Herman Melville.

When they attend this year’s memorial services for the victims of the 3rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I wonder if President Bush and his family will be wearing the some of the almost $130,000 dollars worth of fine jewelry they accepted from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince in 2003? (login available at bugmenot)

While it’s true that the Constitution (Article I, Section 9) prohibits anyone in the US Government from receiving a personal gift from a foreign head of state without the consent of Congress, the First Lady and daughters aren’t members of the Government.

So the only thing preventing Laura, Jenna and Barbara from pocketing their blood-covered baubles is the type of moral sense Rudy Guiliani displayed when he told Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal to shove his $10 million dollar check where the sun doesn’t shine. Since such an act isn’t described in the above article, I can only assume that such a sense is not possessed by the Bush family, and that they accepted the Saudi gifts with all the alacrity of a nest of magpies pouncing upon some scraps of tin foil. Perhaps when W talks about “family values” what he really means to say is “family value,” as in the price it takes to buy his.

Somebody should let Kim Jong IL know that the best way back into the good graces of Washington isn’t through negotiations, it’s via the open palms of the Bush administration. Why should they turn up their noses at his 30 pieces of silver, when they’ll happily take those offerered by the equally despotic House of Saud?

Perhaps we’re not the policeman of the world after all. Perhaps we’re its bellhop instead. No wonder the French are pissed. Accepting money from despots is their main line of business, and now George Bush is crowding their territory.

“I’ve turned down your bedsheet, Monsiuer Aziz, and some of the staff who object to your presence in the Hotel U.S.A. have been removed from the premises to a free speech zone where they won’t bother anyone. Would Monsiuer like a whore? I can have Miss America brought to your room, or perhaps a nice boy?”

Mind you, nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong, and I’d like to think that if Kerry was President he would have the common sense to throw gifts from despots back in their faces, but I don’t think either will happen.

Update: Edited for clarity.

Postscript: Thanks to reader Kevin M, a complete list of the 2003 gifts.

The Democratic National Convention is now over and the Republican National Convention will be here before you know it, and I have begun wondering what the point is of even having them. While watching bits and pieces of the DNC, I was struck by how these conventions do little to persuade voters to switch from the party they have already chosen. It is just like preaching to the choir. The minister stands before the congregation and tells them that people should believe in God and attend church??..which does little to improve church attendance or bring in new members.

I guess the point is to simply get exposure and encourage those already within your party to support your candidate and get out and vote, because surely the speeches don?t sway enough people to make it worthwhile. I caught myself several times during last week thinking, ?I agree with that,? or ?He is a good speaker,? while I?m sure Republicans sat in their homes thinking, ?Jackass,? or ?He is lying through his teeth? while watching the same presentation. The conventions are just glorified pep-rallies, and while I may watch your team celebrate, I sure as hell won?t pull for them just because they had a bigger bonfire and chanted cooler slogans.

In politics we often get into one party and never even look at another party, all-the-while telling ourselves that it is the members of the other party who are unwilling to look at their candidate in a critical manner. Those voters who really are undecided will most likely vote based on whatever ?crisis? has occurred closest to election day. Perhaps Kerry will admit that he stole one of his purple hearts and people will vote against him. Or maybe a secret document will surface proving that Bush lied to the American public in order to lead us into war and the tide will sway in the other direction. As of today, I believe the election is close, and it could be determined by who demonstrates the greatest amount of damage control in the days leading up to the election.

For now I guess we will continue to have these conventions in the same manner as in recent years, even though I believe it would be more useful to have debates 4 nights in a row instead of a parade of speakers telling people how great their political party is. However, I wasn?t asked, so I guess I will just sit back and wait to see what cheers the Republicans will yell at their convention. I?m sure the congregation will love it, whatever the hell it is.

Alex is now a Category 2 hurricane–same as Isabel was last year. Things aren’t looking good for Hatteras Village.

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression #2 is taking a familiar path.