catching up

A few notes to catch up on some odd topics:

OK, so Hillary won in Pennsylvania, despite my prognostication to the contrary. She was ten points ahead going in and ten points ahead at the end, and all that sound and fury didn't signify much. She's still treading water. If Obama can shake loose from that lunatic minister who appears devoted to sinking Obama's candidacy, he will win.

I think it would be only fair for a lunatic NOW leader to resurrect the Equal Rights Amendment over the next few weeks. By lunatic I mean strident and obnoxious, the kind who would love Hillary to death by conjuring up all the old Uppity Women fears that some people still have. My wife was a NOW member and we were disappointed the Florida Legislature wouldn't ratify the ERA, but that was 30+ years ago. It is time to trot out those ERA demons again, like the fear of unisex bathrooms. Believe it or not, that was an actual "talking point" by ERA opponents. If that were to happen now, Hillary would hate it.

I'm glad she's still a contender. I think the party ought to make its decision at the convention, not months ahead of time. This infuriates the former "news" media, which should now be called the entertainment media, because they want their talking-head pontificators to preside over the selection process. I don't smoke but I'm not a delegate either, so I say, let 'em decide in smoke-filled rooms like they have for two hundred years.

Changing subjects: My daughter in California is now paying $3.999999 cents a gallon for gasoline. It's no mere coincidence that the gas prices are going up just as the federal tax rebate checks are going out in the mail. How clever that the U.S. oil cabal, who have friends in high places in Washington, jacked up the prices in time to siphon off the tax rebate checks. This is clumsier than a direct subsidy from Washington but just as effective, and it is better than having those federal rebate checks going to the Chinese suppliers of goods at Wal-Mart. (My check will go back to the bank account from which I paid my income tax this year. You can't get more patriotic than that.) Prediction: Gas prices will stabilize and come down after the rebate checks have been spent to pay off gasoline credit cards.

Changing subjects again: I just dropped a bundle on a new Nikon digital single-lens reflex camera, and a telephoto lens. The telephoto has an image stabilization feature that works nicely. From the upper deck at the Tropicana Dome, I shot some pictures of various Rays and Red Sox pitchers and batters . . . available light, hand-held telephoto . . . and stopped not only the batters but the ball in mid-flight. In one shot, I got the ball as it made contact with the bat, or vice versa. I'll post that photo here, later.

Speaking of the Rays: They now have a winning season going for them, which they've never had so "late" in the season during their miserable franchise history. They swept the Red Sox 3-0 here, then took the Orioles 2-1 in Baltimore. Now they face the Red Sox again, in Bahston, and we'll see what kind of team they really are. I think they are a VERY good team this year. Their infield is near-perfect, their batters score when they need to, and the pitching staff finally has the talent to win.

I'm happy to see the Rays beat the Red Sox because it happens so seldom. Just as long as the Red Sox stay ahead of the Yankees.