A project that has become synonymous with "infrastructure debacle" has finally, officially, come to an end. Boston's Big Dig is now officially complete.  Having lived in Boston during the heyday of this mammouth construction project, I join fellow Bostonians in a collective, heavily accented, sigh of relief.  

Al Gore caught much flack earlier this year for the news that his Tennessee mansion was somewhat less than a beacon of environmental sensitivity. Granted, the source of the news was a hit piecefrom a Tennessee right wing group. But to me it stung, because the Right had finally managed to push a hit piece that actually had a kernel of truth to it.  For all his admirable advocacy of sustainability and small carbon footprints, Al Gore had not yet implemented many such practices in his new home (note this diary has been edited to acknowledge that Gore has lived in the home only since 2002). Well now he has finally achieved many of his stated upgrade goals, and I sincerely say good for him.  

The man who held hostages Friday at a New Hampshire campaign office of Sen. Hillary Clinton alleged in a 2002 lawsuit that he was raped by a parish priest.

The anger came flooding back to me. I was baptized, confirmed, and raised in the Catholic Church.  Like many of us, I drifted away due to laziness and convenience.  I became the classic "twice-a-year" church goer; once on Easter and once on Christmas. I occassionally defended the Church against my friends' derision, stating how it was one of the primary forces for good in the Latin American dirty wars of the 1980s. I hated the Church's opposition to birth control in AIDS-ravaged Africa, but that opposition didn't completely drive me away. We had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. Then I moved to Boston... and everything changed.

Well, it looks like I misunderestimated good ole George W. Bush. Just when I think he can't be any more heartless or indifferent, he issues an 11th hour pardon to the White House Thanksgiving turkey.  This warm-hearted gesture underscores his compassion and love of life.  So in celebration of George's bedrock Christian values, here is a list of the top 153 people who wish they were the White House turkey.

Today I was tooling around on MSNBC.com, and I came across one of those human/animal interest stories with little actual news value.  Many such stories involve acts of canine valor, as Fido drags his master out of a burning house.  There also are frequent monkey stories, like a few weeks back when primate pranksters attacked an Indian man, causing him to fall to his death. No doubt some sort of gang initiation rite. But this story on MSNBC genuinely fascinated me.

Hahahahahahahaha!

Read this, in the main stream media, no less:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Yet another Republican lawmaker caught with his pants down, or in this case with his skirt up. Now I am the first one to say that the private lives of public figures should not be the focus of front page news or policy discussions.  And I am absolutely opposed to government intrusion into people's sex lives. But the Republican Party has worked so hard over the last several years perfecting the politics of divisiveness and intolerance, that highlighting their hypocricy has become fair game.  Not to mention quite a bit satisfying. These people have more self loathing than is even fathomable.

Yeah, I know this doesn't satisfy the length or content requirements of a diary. But in the interest of getting this humorous tidbit out there, don't I deserve a little slack?

What has become of our collective memory?  Congressman Peter Stark recently took George Bush and Republican congressmen to task when he said:

"You don't have money to fund the war or children... But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

More civilians killed by mercenaries in Iraq. This just in via the BBC:

I despise Bill O'Reilly.  He is an ignorant blowhard who works in a media establishment that is helping to destroy civil discourse in America. Having said that, I think the reaction to his recent comments on Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem is detrimentally overblown.

Something doesn't pass the smell test. Hillary has announced the details of the her proposed healthcare plan.  It looks much like the Edward's plan in many regards, which is good.  But one critical skill I learned many years ago as an engineer is to not get lost in the details. Sure you need the details to get a precise answer. But sometimes it pays to step back and ask a few broad questions that can make or break an argument.  

By now, we all know of President Bush's recent verbal gaffes at the APEC Summit in Sydney.  Much has been made of his reference to "Austrian" troops serving in Iraq, when very clearly he intended say "Australian." Nevertheless, the partisan vultures swooped down to tear a chunk off of Mr. Bush's still-warm political carcass. This shocking lack of deference has motivated me to dedicate my first ever diary to the defense of my Commander in Chief. Well, actually, I am not in the armed forces.  And, technically, it is therefore legally and constitutionally impossible for me to have a commander in chief. But don't tell a Republican that.  Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, verbal gaffes.