Why I’ll Be Growing Back the Beard

Sat   2 Jun 2007   14:17 by Kevin McGehee 77° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Asides]

Check out the chin on that guy. That’s my great great grandfather, who served in the Civil War and was probably past 60 when this picture was taken; he lived to be something like 84. But look at that chin. I seem to have inherited that chin, even though I’m only 45. Then again, I doubt the old man ever weighed 376 pounds, and with me it isn’t so much the chin as the saggy baggy throat—even when I shed 50-odd pounds in my 20s my throat never really tightened up, and gaining it all back plus an extra 125 pounds didn’t help matters. I’d been wondering whether having lost something like 35 pounds since growing my beard, would have changed all that, and today I’ve discovered that, no, wonder of wonders, it hasn’t. So it will be a while longer before the picture of me on the sidebar is replaced by one more up-to-date. Gotta let the chin whiskers grow back first. Yeah, I do happen to harbor a touch of vanity. When I was diagnosed with Type 2 I was wearing Size 48 pants (“comfort fit”), a shirt in XXL, and something else (not a shirt) in XL. Today my pants are Size 42 (still “comfort fit”), I have three new shirts in XL, and the other thing is merely L. The rate of weight loss has slowed considerably since I started changing my eating habits, but it hasn’t stopped altogether. I noticed yesterday I may have room for another hole in my belt. And I think if I get my pants size down to 38 or 36 I’ll see how a less forgiving fit suits me, since the legs are already looking baggy. As for striking oil in the backyard, maybe I need to start, like, drilling holes or something. Afterthought: Come to think of it, ol’ Great-Great-Gramps wore a beard when he was about my age… Update: Well, okay, maybe I can live without growing back the beard after all. Having been looking at G-G-Gramps’ picture I took another look at my own chin and decided it doesn’t look all that bad after all. But the day I have to look at this guy (without the prosthetic lower jaw) to feel better about my chin…

BeaverBrook Renaissance?

Sat   2 Jun 2007   12:12 by Kevin McGehee 73° and mostly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Alaska]

Even now, going on eight years since moving away, I remain something of a North Pole partisan. So I’m glad to read about this: In the late 1980s, BeaverBrook Mall was the biggest mall in the Interior, boasting more stores than even Bentley Mall. Across the way, North Pole Plaza was also bursting at the seams. Then, everything just sort of fell apart. Business after business closed its doors. North Pole Plaza became barren enough to echo and most retail spaces in BeaverBrook were dark and empty. In the years since, North Pole Plaza seemed to hang on but BeaverBrook continued to decline until it became an empty hulk, housing — on one end — just a pull tab joint, Dalman’s Restaurant, and, on the second floor, offices for Rep. John Coghill and Sen. Gene Therriault. But BeaverBrook’s future is changing. While the 40,000-square-foot building might look the same on the outside, the inside is undergoing a $1 million overhaul. In a little over a month, it will be the new home of North Pole Worship Center. » News-Miner:  Church prepares to fill empty BeaverBrook Mall One thing about the description of the mall today concerns me, and that’s the apparent absence of the auto parts store that operated in a side wing of the complex throughout our years in Alaska; the Fairbanks area’s M&O Auto Parts chain affiliated with Schuck’s, a branch of the same outfit that operates Checker and Kragen auto parts stores, in the late 1990s. New store spaces were opened in Fairbanks, and the existing store at BeaverBrook underwent a fairly extensive renovation to come up to the bigger chain’s standards and seemed to be doing quite well. I thought it was still there when we visited the area in September 2004. It’s possible, I suppose, that the side wing is for some reason not being considered part of the mall—but American Tire (explicitly described as absent farther along in the article) was even farther out on that wing than M&O Schuck’s was, which means that wing is where the new church space is going in. When we first moved to the North Pole area from Fairbanks, there was a restaurant in the other end of BeaverBrook called Santa’s Tortilla Factory, where Chris first discovered that spicy Mexican-style soup is even better than traditional chicken soup for relieving the congestion of a cold or allergies. We were quite sad when the restaurant closed after too brief a run. Update: Well, after reading further I now understand that the church group bought the entire building—which would explain why the tire store and parts store are both gone. I hope they’re still operating in North Pole, at new locations.

This Just In: Black People Want the Same Things Everybody Else Wants

Sat   2 Jun 2007   12:02 by Kevin McGehee 73° and mostly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Our Times]

“We are more diverse, but less black and white than we were 30 years ago,“ [Atlanta Mayor Shirley] Franklin said, noting the influx of Hispanics and Asians and the migration of blacks to surrounding areas. “African-Americans are choosing to live outside the city for the same reasons everyone is, which is bigger house, so-called better schools.“ » AJC:  Franklin: Black Atlantans may lose power Remember when it was called white flight? When urban elites focus their efforts on demanding more money from federal and state taxpayers, and on selling solidarity instead of trying to address real problems, it’s inevitable that their constituents—seeing the lack of progress up close and every day—are going to start questioning their leaders’ priorities. And while more and more of Atlanta’s black population decides that maybe Whitey knew what he was doing when he moved away, what’s Mayor Franklin’s concern? A decline in political clout. The sheer idiocy of liberalism in a nutshell.

Bankrupt

Sat   2 Jun 2007   11:49 by Kevin McGehee 72° and mostly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War]

It wasn’t all that long ago, or at least it doesn’t seem that way, that I was berating Bush for being unwilling to part with his then-vast reserves of political capital to achieve worthwhile policy ends. Now that he wants to spend some, it’s on an utterly bad idea—and he doesn’t have any. President Bush yesterday renewed his attack on Republicans who oppose his immigration bill, again charging that they are trying to “frighten people” and calling on supporters to rally around the compromise. The president pleaded with senators to “show courage and resolve” to withstand outrage from voters in their districts. “It is right to argue for what you believe and recognize that compromise might be necessary to move the bill along. And it is right to take political risk for members of the United States Congress,“ Mr. Bush said in his second impassioned plea this week on the issue and the second time that he has accused Republicans of trying to scare voters by labeling provisions in the bill an “amnesty.“ But many Republican senators say the bill is both an amnesty and unworkable and argue that Mr. Bush’s barbs are off the mark. “I’m not going around frightening people. People are frightened, and they’re trying to scare the politicians into voting the way they want them to,“ said Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, whose opposition to the bill has earned him standing ovations at speeches and events back home during the past week. » Washington Times:  Bush scolds balking GOP Republicans in Congress need to bear in mind that in large part their present minority status is due to Bush’s stance on this very issue. DeMint is right—opposition to this bill is from the grass-roots. There are a lot of people in this country right now who are politically stronger than Bush and who could demagogue illegal immigration, but they’re all in favor of this bill. And that right there would make people suspicious, if they weren’t already.

Still Not Worth Giant Headlines—but Funny as Hell Anyway

Sat   2 Jun 2007   11:38 by Kevin McGehee 72° and mostly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Media Ochre]

The story from last week has reappeared: Memo to Hillary Rodham Mrs. Bill Clinton: Your deputy campaign manager was right. An internal campaign memo late last month urged the Democratic front- runner to bypass first-up and momentum-generating Iowa because of Clinton’s lackluster showing despite drawing large crowds—a memo she immediately disavowed. Yet, the reality from Des Moines to Dubuque lends credence to deputy campaign manager Mike Henry’s assessment that for Clinton, Iowa is “our consistently weakest state.“ » AP:  Iowa Presents Problems for Clinton Even so, the history of the Iowa caucuses is that failure there is eminently survivable in the long run. If she, or any candidate, regards the political downside to skipping the state altogether, to be greater than the political downside to campaigning there and losing, there’s ample basis for making that judgment. In fact, I would almost suggest that if she thought she were going to win in Iowa she might be better off skipping it.

A Couple of These Would Look Great in Our Front Yard, Don’t You Think?

Fri   1 Jun 2007   11:16 by Kevin McGehee 75° and partly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Our Times]

The original pink flamingo lawn ornament, the symbol of kitsch whose obituary was nearly written after its central Massachusetts manufacturer went out of business, is rising phoenixlike from the ashes and taking wing to upstate New York. A manufacturer that bought the copyright and plastic molds for the original version plans to resume production in Westmoreland, N.Y. HMC International LLC will pick up where Union Products Inc. left off last year when it shuttered its Leominster, Mass., plastics factory after 50 years of flamingo making. » Washington Times:  Endangered kitsch migrates to New York Nothing like a little “curb appeal” to raise those property values, eh?

You’ve Got to See This
Thu   31 May 2007   23:58 by Kevin McGehee 74° and partly cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Humor?]	It’s destined to become an internet phenomenon.

It’s Official

Thu   31 May 2007   11:10 by Kevin McGehee 74° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Alaska] [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Wackadoodle]

I would now rather be represented in the Senate by a Democrat, than see Ted Stevens returned for yet another interminable term as the Senate’s senior Republican. Of the numerous black and white posters chronicling the life and career of Sen. Ted Stevens at his campaign kick off in Fairbanks on Wednesday, one showed Stevens as a young athlete, crouched in a football stance, one hand blocking the imaginary linemen in front of him and the other clenched in a fist. As Stevens sets off on another re-election campaign for U.S. Senate, the image is still accurate, because although Stevens is the longest serving Republican in Senate history, he hasn’t had major opposition since his first campaign nearly 40 years ago. As of yet, he has no opponent in this still-early race, and he views himself as ready for a fight. “I really do at times feel like a warrior,” Stevens said. » News-Miner:  Even without an opponent, Stevens ready for a fight I know it won’t happen—Stevens is too popular up there, a fact that more than anything else erodes my esteem for Alaskans—but I wish somebody would defeat him, or prevail upon him to retire. Anything short of tying him to a railroad track in front of an oncoming train. Though on that last one, ask me again in six years.

An Iron Curtain Is Descending Across South America

Thu   31 May 2007   10:59 by Kevin McGehee in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War]

The leaders of Bolivia and Ecuador are moving with Cuban encouragement and in concert with their mentor, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to restrict press freedom in their countries. Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa both announced steps to crack down on independent broadcasters within days of Mr. Chavez’s closure on Sunday of Venezuela’s main independent television station, RCTV. Speaking before an international gathering of leftist intellectuals in Cochabamba last week, Mr. Morales proposed creating a tribunal to oversee the operations of privately owned press and broadcast outlets. Mr. Correa announced over the weekend that he would order a review of the broadcasting licenses of opposition news channels in his country. Both leaders have drawn support and inspiration from Mr. Chavez’s increasingly authoritarian government since coming to power in the past 18 months, and both are drafting new constitutions that would greatly increase their own powers. Mr. Correa has ousted 51 opposition deputies from his nation’s Congress and Mr. Morales this week ordered the arrests of four high court judges after they issued rulings that challenged his government. » Washington Times:  Morales, Correa target TV foes This—especially in the face of ongoing troubles with our southern border, is profoundly disturbing. I remember when Chavez first rose to power, his apologists on the internet insisted he couldn’t possibly be a dictator—after all, he was elected—overlooking the fact that Hitler and Mussolini first achieved power in their respective countries by election as well. Anyway, now those of us who expressed concern over Chavez have been vindicated. Not that the leftist fringe will ever admit it, of course. To them, it must surely be Bush’s fault.

...and I’ll try not to get too enthusiastic

Thu   31 May 2007   10:54 by Kevin McGehee 74° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 1 comment [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Media Ochre]

Fred Thompson is giving up his post as D.A. on NBC’s “Law & Order.“ Thompson, a former Republican senator from Tennessee who has flirted with the idea of running for president but has yet to announce his candidacy, played District Attorney Arthur Branch on the long-running crime drama for the past five seasons. “I’ve spoken to Fred today, and although he told me he has not made a firm decision about his political future, he felt that given the creative and scheduling constraints of the upcoming season, he asked to be released from his responsibilities to the show,“ “Law & Order” creator/executive producer Dick Wolf said Wednesday. “I will sincerely miss working with him on a regular basis, and I obviously wish him the best of luck with whatever the future holds.“ The statement came hours after news reports indicated that Thompson will form a presidential committee this week. » Hollywood Reporter:  Thompson leaving NBC’s ‘Law’ I’ve had reason to get really leery of supporting candidates whom I find exciting in the early going. Fred Thompson is precisely the kind of candidate I’m talking about. I hope he surprises me.

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