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It’s the first day of October, the beginning of the Federal fiscal year when we celebrate the fact that the Republican President and Republican Congress can’t get their act together and produce a budget, so we have another “continuing resolution”. Running the government like a business indeed! All these MBAs, CEOs, and corporate attorneys and they don’t seem to be able to plan anything, so everything is done by “emergency bills” to hide the huge deficit they are running while looting the pension funds – just like their corporate sponsors.

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My local K-Mart is advertising Flu shots for $25, free to Medicare participants. It’s probably a national plan and a good deal. I don’t normally get one, but this year I’m going to give it a go because the price is right and the location is convenient.

Some dogs in Florida kennels have come down with a form of influenza that is normally found in horses, and there is a danger of the bird flu mutating into something worse. With some many people coming in from other places, it can’t hurt. [Okay, it does hurt, but not for long.]

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I hear that Tom DeLay’s attorney is applying for a change of venue to a different space/time continuum because everyone in this universe knows he’s guilty which will prevent Mr. DeLay from getting a fair trail before they execute him. Normally he’d only get a couple of years in prison, but there’s an election year coming up and everyone has to get tough on crime. The current governor is way behind on executions, so I’m sure the Bug Man will understand.

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In a slight change of wording the Securities & Exchange Commission is no longer “looking at” Bill Frist’s stock sale, they are now “investigating” it. They have stopped “asking for” and started “subpoenaing” records.

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Let’s see, top aides to both the President and Vice President are “people of interest” in the Plame investigation. The majority leaders of both the House and Senate have legal problems. The head of contract oversight at OMB has been arrested. Obviously we have a slightly different definition of “integrity” with Republicans in charge. They are so bush league.

I wonder if the Shrubbery will push for tax breaks for convicted felons?

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Currently Tropical Depression 19 doesn’t look like it will amount to much, but Tropical Depression 20 seems ready to become hurricane Stan in the Bay of Campeche after passing over the Yucatan Peninsula. It looks to be headed for Veracruz state in Mexico, but you can’t trust them.

Oh, well there are only two months left in the season.

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While it starts out sounding like good news, Evacuees trade shelter for hotel, there seems to be a certain lack of planning. While providing some privacy, you can’t cook in a hotel so they are having these people eat at the Waffle House.

I have nothing against the chain, but the menu is limited, and anyone who forgets to include milk as a drink choice when there are children needs to perform a reality check.

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Some background the following item: gasoline is still in short supply, is priced at $3.20/gallon, and a roundtrip from Fort Walton Beach to Pensacola is 80 miles

Rita Victims Still Seeking Red Cross Assistance talks about the trials getting help after evacuating to the local area. Assuming that you will have to make one trip to apply for help and a second trip to receive assistance, victims are paying the price for the “efficiency” of centralization.

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Red Tide Stretches Westward Into Walton County is not something you want to see if you enjoy fishing or have respiratory problems. This is going to kill a major portion of the life in local waters and hospitalize asthmatics and those with emphysema.

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Early Morning Brawl in Destin Lands Three in the Hospital is actually a good news story.

Why, you ask? Because from today forward in the state of Florida this would have probably resulted in autopsies of some of the four people involved as the “OK Corral” bill is now in effect. No more fists or pocketknives in these disputes – now we go immediately to guns.

You have to understand that it is not what the law actually says that is the problem, it is what people think the law says: mess with me and I can shoot you without worrying about getting arrested.

What the law did, removing the requirement to avoid conflict when possible, is a bad idea. You always had the right to defend yourself and when at home you could gun down just about anyone, but now you have a state sanction to gun people down over parking places.

This is part of the Republican Culture of Life™?

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