Greetings
Welcome to another Baja Kossacks Open Thread. I haven't done one in a long time but there hasn't been that much to talk about. There is now. We're planning another Meet-Up. Saturday, Feb. 8 has been suggested. Unless we get a flood of requests this evening for a different date, we'll consider it set. The venue has not yet been chosen; that's the purpose of this diary.
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Of Cats and Dogs
How 'bout those 'Cats ? 20-0, 7-0 in conference and ranked #1 in the nation. They play tonight at Stanford and since I still refuse to pay for TeeVee, I'll be listening on the radio. On the subject of dogs, you can probably guess that I'm referring to that breed known as Blue Dogs. Even as Congressional Progressive Caucus has grown to be the largest caucus in the US House of Reps, the Blue Dogs have been losing membership and had dwindled to a measly 15 members. Not to worry, the Blue Dogs are trying to regroup, aided by two Arizona Reps, Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09) from up north and Baja's own Ron Barber (AZ-02). While the Feathered Bastard at Phoenix New Times offers the conventional wisdom that we've all heard so many times before, Good Ole' Ron will likely continue to be a source of irritation to Arizona progressives as long as he keeps making lists like this one or this one or this one. I guess Ron figures he can't go wrong as long as he's getting mentioned at Daily Kos and I'm sure we all have something we can add to the discussion. Now on to business.
The Venue
We've had some preliminary discussion on the message board. The most important requirement, besides a liquor license, is that we have an open seating arrangement so that we can mill around and talk to folks besides the ones we happen to be sitting next to. This means outside seating, it looks like the weather will be warm enough. I'd like to have Wi-Fi as well. Other groups are live-blogging their meet-ups and I want to try that too. We'll have first-class tech support. So, the candidates are: Rocco's Little Chicago on Broadway. They have a small outside seating area on the west side of the building and they have Wi-Fi. I've had their pie and it's very good. Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant (Warning: annoying auto-play at website). Cushing Street is in an historic old adobe on the south side of the Community Center. They'll have live jazz and no cover charge,. They do not have Wi-Fi. And La Cocina. Like Cushing Street it's in an old barrio, north of the courthouse in Old Town Artisans. They'll have music of some sort and they don't charge a cover. They have Wi-Fi. So there they are, vote for your favorite and let's have a Meet-Up.
7:26 PM PT: 43-39 Stanford early in the second half. Uh oh.
8:11 PM PT: 'Cats Win! 'Cats Win! 60-57, 21-0 !