I feel betrayed and embarrassed to confess that I watched the Kentucky Derby today.

For those unfamiliar, Eight Belles – Hillary Clinton’s pick – came in second and was euthanatized on the track immediately following the race. After breaking both front ankles (per early reports) the vets felt it was too painful an injury and recovery.

The favorite, Big Brown, won the race and while I’ll personally fare well financially I’m left with an empty and disgusted feeling. "Are we not amused?"

It’s a bucket of cold water that we still prescribe to such classless, immature acts as forms of entertainment.

Horses are amazing – I own a thoroughbred by Distinctive Pro who was injured in the gate and is now happily doing dressage - watching them match speed in a track race (their drive to be Alpha is an instinctive propulsion to the front of the pack) is sheer thrill. But now I feel embarrassed and base. Like a citizen of Rome. Amused by suffering not my own.

I should know better. We all should.

The voiceover in the ad in question states:

"under Ted Kulongoski, Oregon gives drivers' licenses to illegal aliens who use them to get state services, and even vote"

But outside the cocoon of the editing room -- face-to-face with a reporter -- Saxton's staff suddenly ain't so bold.

The deets after the flip...

The Rev. Pat Robertson said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was punished by God for dividing the Land of Israel.
Speaking on the "700 Club" on Thursday, Robertson suggested that Sharon, who is currently in an induced coma following a massive stroke and cerebral hemorrhage, and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by an Israeli extremist in 1995, were being treated harshly by God for dividing Israel.

I have a simple little test now for such diaries.  I look at them. If they have little in terms of factual information, I replace the words "Bush", "Republican" or "conservative" with "(insert Dem leader's name here)", "Democrat", or "liberal".  After doing that, if they sound like something ... I would read in freerepublic.com, I move on.
"DKos" Diarist

That's a good start. But a bit limited as we quickly found out.

Make the jump...

They've been together for over four years but now Ian faces deportation. He's a native of Hong Kong and after 10 years in the States his visa options are running out. Because they are gay they're marriage options are limited.

They are not the only ones in this situation. They're writing letters to both R and D senators asking for help with the Permanent Partnership Immigration Act.

If you'd like to help, an example letter is in the extended section. Make it your own and send it along.

Some South Dakotan's have hit a vein in the vast gold mine that is religious credulity. They've created candles that smell like Jesus:

So, now, let's see if I got this straight...

Journalism nerds throughout the globe wet themselves as they had two chances in as many months to run with the hackneyed "man bites dog" headline.

We're probably all familiar with the old saw that "dog bites man" stories don't grab listners/viewers/readers (and, therefore, sell ad$) whereas
stories headlined "Man Bites Dog!" do.

Critics point out that this approach costs society as a whole: the news media focuses primarily on the unusual stories while the usual stories fall off the radar. Things like homelessness, unemployment, illiteracy, AIDS, unfair labor practices, civil war in Africa, and on and on, are sacrificed for time devoted to Scott Peterson and steroids in Major League Baseball.

What this means for the left

Happy shopping.

And now you get a chance to beat Karl Rove.

A wingnut alum from my college sent me this from the Catalogue For Philanthropy.

He claims that Howard Stern was circulating a hoax list of average IQ's with red states filling the bottom half and blue the top*.

The philanthropy list is the opposite: the generous states are painted red and the selfish ones are blue.

Here's what I'd like to reply with:

Kerry has conceded and it appears that things are going to have to get worse before they can get better. What makes me sad is the irreparable harm to the environment and the lives of military families that will now be done. Harm for the sake of making more money.

There are a lot of questions as, like 2002, the exit polls and actual vote counts didn't align in states using black box voting.  That the company that built the machines, Diebold, is a large GOP contributor is a conflict of interest in many people's minds and not something easily written off as mere "tinfoil hat" paranoia. The apparent Republican fear of letting people vote (by using challengers or by suppressing registrations based on technicalities) is curious.

Assuming everything is on the up-and-up ...