Belated "Friday Cat Blogging". That's Babie back in Brooklyn. I couldn't resist!

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Just a quick update on the job situation, for those keeping track.

I'm currently working for both the City of Mission Viejo Library and the Orange County Public Library system, in a part-time/on-call capacity. It's nice to be back doing something in my field, but having some money coming in is pretty good too. In addition, I'm still working twice a month for the Southern California Institute of Technology, getting their collection organized and cataloged.

Resumes are still going out and I have a third interview with a city library system this coming Monday. I'm going to the keep that location mum since I don't want to jinx it. I've felt close before, but nothing came of those so why say anything.

Depending on when the city inspects and approves the building, Donna may be starting within the next couple of weeks. The contractors screwed up the plumbing in some fashion and things had to be pushed back almost a month.

There were some medical scares back in Brooklyn with some of Donna's family, but we can report that things are improving on that front as well.

Finally, if you haven't been reading Shot's Shack, I just want to mention here also that I plan on attending the San Diego Comic Con International this year. If you have plans on going let me know and maybe we can hook up.

It’s sort of sad, but I suppose predictable, that one of the most vocal voices against the President’s ‘surge’ policy is a Republican. Granted Senator Chuck Hagel may just be positioning himself in the Republican race for the nomination in ’08. However, he is making himself heard over several of the Democratic hopefuls.

One of the interesting things is how in touch Hagel appears in contrast to his fellow Senator Joe Lieberman. Maybe they should switch parties? Oh, right…. Lieberman is an
Independent.

Perhaps a Hagel/Webb ticket might prove interesting.

I probably should wait until I get home from working this evening and actually watch the “State of the Union” to make any comments. However, sight unseen I do want to mention a few things.

I get a kick out of the fact that several websites are posting ‘drinking games’ to play while listening to the President be all bi-partisan and stuff. There have been rumors that he was going to keep his comments re: Iraq short and then go on to other issues, but I think the American people really want to hear him justify his current policy. We all know that he has little support, even within his own party, to get anything on his agenda very far.

I think that the Democratic response this year will get a bit more air-play than it normally does. Let’s see if anybody besides C-SPAN actually carries it?

Something I always enjoy following these things are the ‘applause counts’ that the news anchors always mention. As if those phony moments have anything to do with what is actually presented.

Before I’m asked let me get out in front of one issue. I’m not a big Senator Clinton fan, so don’t expect me to come out in favor of her run. Personally, I don’t dislike her, but feel that she has enough baggage (her & Bill) to keep her from making a successful bid for the Democratic top spot. Randi Rhodes, over on Air America Radio, makes the point that you really shouldn’t expend all your emotion on the primary since then you’ll be disappointed if your particular fave doesn’t get the nomination. It also makes it difficult to then say all those wonderful things about the winning Dem, who you spent the last six to twelve months bashing.

I’ll probably have a few things to say, either tomorrow or the next day, about the actual speech and the response, so stay tuned.

I want to say a few words about Leah Adezio, who is spending her last few hours in a Pennsylvania hospital. If you go over to Elayne's site you'll find much more about Leah. She and Elayne have been friends for years, so my ex-wife can write far more eloquently about Leah's life and accomplishments.

I was fortunate enough to be friends with Leah during the last few years of my marriage to Elayne. She was always fun to be around and a more talented lady you couldn't hope to meet. I can't begin to tell you how many hours I spent in her company before, during and after dozens of conventions and fan get-togethers.

I'm sure over the next few days folks like Elayne, Peter David and others in the blogosphere will have their own tales to tell. My condolences go to her sons, family and the many friends (in & out of fandom) who shall truly miss her. She was one of the good ones!

Donna and I have been battling colds the last couple of weeks, but we both seem to have recovered. Donna may have picked it up initially from Kristina and then passed it along to me, although our symptoms were a bit different. Fortunately, both of us have had out flu shots so it didn't get to be as bad as it could have.

I've also been training at the Mission Viejo library out here, along with the on-call position with Orange County. Over the next few weeks I'll be working in both systems, plus dropping by SCIT to continue cataloging the library collection. Finally, I have an interview coming up this week for another full-time position. I'd like to think that by early February Donna and I will both be situated in permanent positions.

If you're keeping track on the Weather Channel, you'll have noticed that the OC is going through a bit of a cold spell. Actually had to wear jackets the last few days and snow is visible in the highest peaks. Big story is naturally the damage being done to the citrus groves. Appears millions of dollars (if not more) in damage is already being caused by overnight frost on the trees.

On the political front, I wonder what my friends back in Connecticut (who decided to vote for Joe Leiberman, because "he really has been a good Senator") are thinking now. Scary to think he could throw control of the Senate to the Republicans at any time. He will, no doubt, use this to keep any Democratic movement towards stopping the war from gaining ground. I think we can also imagine a McCain/Leiberman ticket in '08 as a distinct possibility.

This past weekend was an embarrassment of riches for the cable news channels. Any one of the three major stories (the deaths of James Brown, and President Gerald Ford, or the execution of Saddam) would have been enough by themselves. CNN, MSNBC & Fox News were falling over themselves trying to cover each one, plus get to other events like the war and New Year’s Eve.

I found it fascinating that all three were often identified by a certain catch-phrase. Brown was "The hardest working man in showbusiness" or "The godfather of soul", Ford was the "Great Healer" or the "accidental President", while Saddam was almost continually referred to as "The Butcher of Baghdad." We can only ponder what the current resident of the Oval Office will be known as to later generations.

Admittedly I’m not a regular viewer of Fox News (big surprise there, huh?) but I have to give them credit for generally doing a respectful job on the Ford funeral & memorial services. Donna and I spent much of the time tuned to CSPAN, which covered the events and appeared to be the folks in charge of the pool feed. It was nice, at times, to not hear the various commentators and simply see and hear what was happening in ‘real time.’ To be fair though, each of the cable networks had some wonderful guests talking about the late President and his brief term in office. CSPAN also allowed folks the opportunity to call in and offer condolences or their own remembrances of the man and the era.

CNN did a good job with those parts of the James Brown services we caught, during a rather hectic weekend. It was good to hear Keith Olbermann, during the Ford services this morning, setting the pace rather than co-host Chris Matthews. I also thought Brian Williams was excellent on MSNBC whenever we were able tune in. Speaking of which, we’ve switched to watching Williams’ nightly NBC newscast over from CBS, where I have trouble taking poor Katie Couric seriously.

Just to jump into the Saddam execution debate for a moment.

If you had asked me even ten years ago about the “Death Penalty” I would have quickly told you that I was against it. While I think it is generally not a deterrent and often little more than something politicians love to debate to gather votes, I sometimes find myself thinking that in some situations it might be the only ‘punishment’ suitable. In the case of Saddam it might have been the right thing to do, but not in the fashion in which it was carried out. I believe that there was truly a rush to judgment in this case, with more than a little push from the current administration. Perhaps, there were things the former dictator and one time U.S. ally knew that certain folks didn’t want to get out. Of course, nobody loves a conspiracy theory more than I do.