Mike

“Autumn in New York, why does it seem so inviting?”

...from the song Autumn in New York, music and lyrics by Vernon Duke.

Five weeks ago Delta had a last-minute seat sale on flights to New York.  I didn't go because Briar's work schedule meant that I wouldn't see much of her.  They had another sale this week and this time the stars are aligned.  Other than eating myself into a stupor, the only thing on the agenda is to see Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men), and Tony nominee Raúl Esparza (Company) in a revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow.

The forecast for the long weekend says that it will be perfect Autumn in New York weather.

My first meet-up in a while

I missed the last meet-up at Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ but made it tonight.  I'm ashamed to admit that it's the first time I've eaten there, especially since it isn't that far away from my house.  Excellent pulled pork BBQ and slaw!

He didn't say it but our governor kicked off his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination today

Mark Sanford testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the merits (or, rather, the lack of them) of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call for an additional $150 billion stimulus package.

...Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina shot down the merits of supporting a proposed stimulus for cities and states from the National Governors Association, doubting whether it would work, and decrying the notion of putting the nation further into debt.

"In fact, if this $150 billion stimulus package is passed, this year's budget deficit could top $1 trillion - adding to the over $10 trillion national debt and making it 70% of a roughly $14 trillion economy," said Sanford. "That would be the highest level since the early 1950s when the nation was still paying down the accumulated costs of World War II."

It makes sense to me.  If you haven't noticed, the last stimulus package didn't stimulate anything but the national debt.

I agree

Conservative author, editor and scholar Gerald Russello explains why he won't be voting for any candidate for federal office:

I will not be voting for any federal candidate and will probably be writing in third parties for local elections, if I even step into the voting booth.

There is a strong heritage among some New Yorkers—both aristocratic WASP Republicans and ethnic progressive liberals—that voting is a civic duty that cannot be avoided, even if you prefer none of the candidates. Try as I might, I cannot make any sense of this position. If you believe that none of the candidates presents an attractive option, why vote at all?

In this election, we face choosing between a “maverick” with a penchant for militarism who has been part of the Washington power structure for over two decades, and an inexperienced figure who wants to save us from ourselves, or, as my friend Gene Healy puts it, “the Messiah vs. the prophet of doom.” The only thing they agree on is that Washington is where the power is. Add to that a supine Congress busy giving away its war-making power to the executive, what’s left of the economy to the Treasury secretary, and the decision over any controversial issue to the courts. It is hard to see why voting for one rather than the other would make any discernible difference.

To say that this system has nothing to do with the original constitutional order is a laughable understatement. The candidates trade talking points, but their common assumptions about the centralization of power, the omnipotent power of the president, and the use of American power abroad remain unchallenged. The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once wrote, “when offered a choice between two politically intolerable alternatives, it is important to chose neither.” That advice is well worth taking.

HT to Hit & Run, a libertarian group-blog every American should be reading.

Oh NO! She di'nt! *Finger snap*

Phone call to the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration

Anonymous Employee:  Charleston County Voter Registration!
Me:  Hi!  I sent in an absentee ballot registration form, and I haven't received any notification that you've received it.  Is there any way to check?
AE:  I have no idea what you're asking me.
Me:  Ab...sen...tee... Ball...ot Registration
AE:  What's your social?........... Justine Courtney?
Me:  Yes, that's me.
AE:  Nope.  It doesn't say we've sent out a ballot to you.
Me:  So... does that mean you never got my registration form in the mail, or just that you never sent out the ballot?
AE:  No.  We've never received your registration.
Me:  So, what are my options at this point?
AE:  Well, you're going to have to come in and fill out a registration.
Me:  I can't!!!!!!!!  I'm in  Ausssssssstraaaaaaaalia... hence the absentee ballot registration!!!
AE:  Well, it's too late now.
Click.  [Don't worry.  I hung up... not her.]

I'm not even shitting you.  That totally just happened to me.  I want to scream!!!  [Ask dad how I get when I'm on the phone with stupid people!]

Fortunately for my sanity, I'm well aware that McCain will take SC regardless of who I vote for, and letting my head explode over stupid people isn't going to change that.

-- Justine

I want them

Hey, if they had them for McCain I'd want those, too.

These, though, are my favorites:

Charleston makes another list

Charleston is #15 on the National Geographic Traveler list of 110 historic destinations worldwide, as rated by "a panel of 280 well-traveled experts in a variety of fields— historic preservation, ecology, sustainable tourism, geography, travel writing and photography, site management, indigenous cultures, archaeology."  The only US city ranked higher than Charleston is Columbus, Indiana at #11.  [Huh? Where?...ed.]  My hometown, Lexington, KY, comes in at #45.  The best Savannah could do was #33.  *chuckle*

You never want to see this parked in front of your house...

...or this piled behind it.

Three Charleston police officers were patrolling the area.  Evidently I look too nice to be a looter.  They all said "Hi" and walked on.

This is some of the damage at the townhouses that I photographed yesterday from my side of the lake.  A photographer from the paper was more willing than I was to wade through the water to take a better photo from the bridge near the far end of the lake.

It looks better today, at least from the lake side.  My house is just behind the round mound of trees to the right.

It doesn't make up for the flooding but it's a start

Almost back to normal

Just some raking and sweeping left to do.

I still hear pumps running over at the condos.  There was a foot of water in the ones next to the lake.

The golf course is slowly getting there.

At its peak the water was about a foot over the red hazard stake (mid-right).

Update:  Champ is excited.  We went on our first walk since Thursday evening.  He wouldn't go out in the rain yesterday and although he wanted to swim down the street this morning, I didn't.