Actually, I Did Expect This. Or Something Very Much Like It

Dorothy Wickenden offers a commentary (Never, Ever Land) in the coming week's edition of The New Yorker that nicely summarizes the US Attorney Firings scandal and goes on to sum up the Bush administration:

Bush’s Presidency has been defined by the war on terror, but not in the ways that Rove intended: nonexistent W.M.D.s, Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Gonzales’s acquiescence in memos condoning forms of interrogation outlawed by the Geneva Conventions, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation. Today, Gonzales has the support of few Republicans except the President. Rove, who once boasted of a permanent Republican majority, is facing a subpoena from a Democratic Congress. The Bush Administration is struggling to regain the trust of the American public and to avoid a constitutional showdown over executive power—something it never, ever expected.

Wow: Great Blog Skin

Dina Hakimi has an excellent blog skin. Where it says "Pull?" You should pull.

Grazing in the Grove of Ethics Legislation

The National Conference of State Legislatures offers a new State Legislation Database on Ethics Issues. This is a database of ethics legislation in State legislatures since 2004. It can be searched by state, topic, sponsor and status and in several categories and includes bills in state legislatures and Executive Orders.

A quick search on "Ethics Oversight" for 2007 found 87 different bills. Of the total, 82 are "active," one has been withdrawn, and four have been passed.

In Idaho, Executive Order 2007-01 includes members of the Governor's staff "as executive officials for purposes of reporting of lobbyists on activities with executive officials."

In Iowa, Senate Bill 40 adds to the standards for when government officials sell things to the government or accept gifts.

And in Missouri and Delaware, there were House Resolutions setting rules and procedures for their Ethics Committees. Missouri's was House Resolution 267. In Delaware, it was former Representative Smith's House Resolution 4 which was passed on January 9, the day the 144th General Assembly convened.

It seems like that was just in time. I did a quick search on the News Journal web site and found a report on January 9 from Patrick Jackson (archived and for sale, so no link). Here's the lede:

State Rep. John C. Atkins' legal troubles in Maryland and Delaware may be resolved, but the Millsboro Republican may have some political problems ahead of him as he gets sworn in for a third term today.

That does seem to have foreshadowed the way things have gone on the Atkins matter over the last few months.

Wind in Trees

I took a walk on Sunday. Back in Cape Henlopen State Park. It was windy and cold, so I went inland a bit, on the trails through the back dunes and marsh areas.

The wind was blocked by the trees. It was blowing strong in their tops. The tallest trees were swaying and knocking against each other like huge claves.

OK. This is Weird

Apparently my youth is still out there. It appears to have moved to California.

When I was a youngster, I played guitar in a band called The Ramblin' Beach Guys. We were never famous, beyond a small radius around our high school. But we were loud and fast and fun and being a part of the RBGS, as we called ourselves, was a hoot.

Tonight, I find another young Mike Mahaffie playing guitar in another small band. This Mike is 18 "and goes to some college with a really long name." He plays guitar for The Benefits, out of Campbell, California. The other fellows in the band are all in High School. They list their influences as punk, ska and hardcore. We were similar, though more influenced by the 1960's-era Stones and early punk than by hardcore and punk.

What do they sound like? According to their MySpace profile, The Benefits sound like "a basement of frustraition! [sic]"

Two Stupid Thoughts

They say that in any dispute, it's always better to take the high road.

It occurred to me that that is because clearly it's much easier to throw things down at the other guy from up there.

And.

My daughter's class is making anonymous support cards for each other during mandated state testing just now. These are anonymous cards of encouragement to make each other feel better and keep up their spirits during testing.

I suppose it's a "Secret Pollyanna" program.

That's all.

Don't Even Try That Line of B.S. on Us, Young Taxpayer...

The IRS has published a list of "frivolous positions that taxpayers should avoid" when filling out their returns.

When I first saw the title "IRS Identifies 40 Frivolous Positions for Taxpayers to Avoid," I thought it referred to jobs that had somehow been deemed as beneath the dignity of an American taxpayer.

Not so, according to the "Purpose" section of IRS Notice 2007-30 (PDF).

Positions that are the same as or similar to the positions listed in this Notice are identified as frivolous for purposes of the penalty for a “frivolous tax return” under section 6702(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and the penalty for a “specified frivolous submission” under section 6702(b).

That seems clear enough. In other words, "Yeah, right. Nice try, Sparky."

Persons who file a purported return of tax, including an original or amended return, based on one or more of these positions are subject to a penalty of $5,000 if the purported return of tax does not contain information on which the substantial correctness of the self-assessed determination of tax may be judged or contains information that on its face indicates the self-assessed determination of tax is substantially incorrect.

Wait... what?

I have no idea, but I'm guessing that this means that trying any of the listed lines of ... stuff in a tax return is a bad idea.

There really are 40 frivolous arguments listed, several with corollaries and related claims. It reads like the mass of bumper-stickers on the back of a ratty old pick-up driven by a bitter, grizzly, glowering tax-protester.

The final words of the Notice, on page 13, are somehow appropriate (and emphasized [by me] just so you don't miss the irony):

For further information regarding this notice contact the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure & Administration), Administrative Provisions & Judicial Practice Division, Branch 2, at (202) 622-4940 (not a toll-free call).

It Was a Different Time

I found my way to a YouTube posting of an early Johnny Cash performance. He's singing There You Go on the television show Ranch Party. This is from the mid or late 1950s. Just Johnny, a bassist, and an electric guitar player (the Tennessee Two). It made me realize how different music on TV has become.

Look at Johnny Cash here. He's so darkly slicked-back. He looks rather like Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo. Dig the gold jacket. And he's soooo restrained.

Meanwhile, the bass player, Marshall Grant, is just boppin' and poppin' back there. You can't tell from this still shot, but he's chewing a big 'ol wad of gum; out of time with the tune.

And then, there's Luther Perkins, the guitar payer. He's playing a classic country-style Fender Telecaster. I played a Tele in my youth, and I always focus-in on them when I see one played.

Perkins is playing a very restrained "plunkety-plunk" lead-line throughout the song. This still is from his solo (you know, the part where the guitarist usually grimaces and poses and wrings the poor guitar's neck).

There's not a note out of place in his solo. There's not a lot of flash or fire, either. It's perfect, but it's so under control. There's a moment just at the end of the solo when Cash leans back and, I think, calls a chord change out to Perkins.

This is classic stuff, but it is also remarkably stiff and the players, with the exception of a happy, bouncy Grant, seem oddly uncomfortable.

(Via Mr. Dante Fontana's Visual Guidance LTD)

I Wonder if There's Going to be an "Open Fort?"

Each summer, either going to or heading home from The Tyler Place, we pass Fort Montgomery. It is a weathered 19th-century military installation that juts out into Lake Champlain on the New York side just south of the Canadian border.

I've often thought it might be cool to visit, but it doesn't look like it is "open."

It turns out that, for just the low, low price of somewhere between 3 and 9.95 million dollars, it could be ours! The fort, and some additional land, is on sale on eBay, according to the web site The Lay of the Land:

365 acres with frontage on, and under, Lake Champlain is for sale in northern New York. The property comes with a 19th century fortification, Fort Montgomery, that while in need of some repair, is still largely intact. Furthermore, the property abuts the Canadian Border, making this an excellent opportunity to add to the defense of the nation.

I could be tempted. Ever since we started visiting in Vermont, both Karen and I have thought about moving there. It's a lovely place and that far upstate part of New York is nice too.

But Colleen and Christina won't hear of it. They want to stay here in Delaware where they have life-long friends.

I can respect that. But a fort on Lake Champlain would be pretty neat. And maybe we could get some cannons. (Via BLDG BLOG)

At Herring Point

I found a spot of local beach I'd not been on before on Sunday.

I took advantage of the bright sunshine and warmer weather to go in search of a few benchmark locations in Cape Henlopen State Park. I found that the Parks folks have opened up some new beach access points, making it easier to get onto the beach at Herring Point, near the Great Dune.

This is an interesting spot. The beach has eroded enough to uncover old tree stumps from when there was a coastal forest here. There are old jetties and breakwaters and birds and shells and dunes and grasses.

I also took some time to climb to the top of the coastal gun emplacement bunker at Fort Miles. It gives a fine view of the Point of the Cape and of the Harbor of Refuge.

Please don't tell anyone, but this time of year is really the best time of year to see Cape Henlopen State Park.