Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

I was gonna let someone else do the yeehah....but what the hell?

didn't Bush 43 give up golf for his sacrifice after 911? Seems I remember that. But then after a bit he continued playing.

Maybe that's what Bush's clearing brush was all about, looking for lost golf balls.

Patsi,

LOL good one!

Thank God I won't live to see it. But don't count out another Bush as president. I almost wonder if Jeb married a Latina for that reason.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-25/george-ps-battle-plan/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL1

"First of all, I think Drupal is a perfect match for President Barack Obama's push for an open and transparent government -- Drupal provides a great mix of traditional web content management features and social features that enable open communication and participation. This combination is what we refer to as social publishing and is why so many people use Drupal. Furthermore, I think Drupal is a great fit in terms of President Barack Obama's desire to reduce cost and to act quickly. Drupal's flexibility and modularity enables organizations to build sites quickly at lower cost than most other systems. In other words, Drupal is a great match for the U.S. government.

Second, this is a clear sign that governments realize that Open Source does not pose additional risks compared to proprietary software, and furthermore, that by moving away from proprietary software, they are not being locked into a particular technology, and that they can benefit from the innovation that is the result of thousands of developers collaborating on Drupal."

flatus, would you be so kind as to translate and give your opinion of what the above excerpt says from don1's link posted last night at 7:45?
morning cobwebs are causing brain freeze on a mego level and can't seem to process the above. like reading an insurance policy or how-to-assemble manual for your kid's starwars kit.

craig, just to be fair and balanced (as murdoch's minions say) how does golfing obama compare to golfers ike, ford, clinton et al? and has he encountered any mishaps on the links as did they?

golf schmolf.....the phones work on the golf course as well as on the oval office desk........

flatus, sorry, forgot to include don1's post with the link:

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/5-lessons-for-obama.html#comment-268202

from an old caddybytes article:

"Of the 16 presidents beginning with the first golfing president -William Howard Taft, 'at the turn of the century, thirteen of those next sixteen presidents played golf with some degree of seriousness.' The three who did not play are Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Jimmy Carter. Those presidents who did play golf were Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., and now Jr. and Bill Clinton."

http://www.caddybytes.com/golfing_presidents_Bill_Clinton.htm

W wasn't a golfer; he was a runner and a cycler. I think he golfed because daddy made him do it. (But what he really loved was hiding out in Crawford.) Obama golfs because he can't smoke in the WH.

Glad to see the media is focused on something important like how much golf he plays.

My asthma medicine was only $10 thanks to a manufacturer's coupon for $50. Yep, it would've been $60 to breathe this month WITH insurance (and that's not counting the cost of the co-pay for the trip to the doctor or the cost of the insurance to me and my employer). Without insurance, I don't know what a doctor's visit and Advair would cost, but I'll bet would've been at least double.

Pat, open source is great, but...

I've used Linux as an operating system and have tried Open Office for general computing. And, I use Firefox and lots of freeware if it has a good reputation and passes security muster.

My experience in the government is that we fell into three or four categories.

The first major category would be be whether or not the system had to be secure for national security reasons. Use of open source software has all sorts of security implications that take lots of systems analyst hours to address.

The second category would be is the system a vertical application used only by specific organizations. In that case, open source might or might not work depending on specific requirements. We used a mix of cobol, fortran, simscript, and other things to make it all work. We had in-house coders working over our shoulders. Very, very costly.

The third category would be systems involving money, medicine, privacy, logistics, air traffic control, etc.. These systems are so critical that in-house coding is required to insure that everything fits together. When people try doing it on the cheap, they end up with tremendous messes like the VA has been plagued with over the years.

By far the biggest category in terms of numbers of users is the general applications category. Things like Windows. Here, the government buys nothing at anything approaching list price--it's all done by worldwide license with the government picking up responsibility for internal support of the applications. By having everyone using the same software, support requirements are minimized. And by having everyone using smartchips in accessing their systems, security is enhanced.

Now, I know I've over simplified and lots of my information is dated. So, that's where you need One to clean things up.

Oh the bottom line; although a particular open source product may appeal to, and be used by, a single agency, I think such usage should be on an exceptional basis because it tends to be quite costly after all the incremental costs are tallied.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268252

I don't recall any anecdotes of FDR golfing.

FDR was more into water sports.......

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268244

he may have been looking for balls but they weren't golf balls.....

mornin'

Golf - the road to perdition, I tell ya. I've spent too many hours trying to make that damned ball fly straight instead of to the right, and now LP has become obsessed with the game. Whoever called it a good walk spoilt had it right. And if you (well, Dumya) couldn't hit a golf ball worth a crap, hacking at brush would be a pretty fair alternative. And I'll bet he even had a couple of undocumented Mexicans to clean his clubs, errrrr, tools.

Just as long as Obama's not bowling anymore!

When I went to Kenyon it was all male. Golf was a required part of phys ed. Not my cup of tea.

Maybe Obama is just golfing because it's easy to find doctors at the golf course and he can discuss his health care plan with them over a round of golf?

GOLF!??...... booooooooring.....
I wanna know how many games of basketball he's played and how many
3-pointers he's shot....

Golf is definitely boring - at least as a spectator sport - of course you'd never know it if you went and saw the huge crowds following the top players at a PGA event. As a sport, it's not a bad way to spend 4 hours FRUSTRATING THE HELL OUT OF YOURSELF. I don't care about Obama's game - he ain't no pro. And aside from occasionally watching guys do things that I wouldn't believe were possible with a golf club and ball, the only golf games I give a crap about are mine and LP's.

So ol' Harry decided to give it a run with an opt out public option? Will wonders never cease?

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/5-lessons-for-obama.html#comment-268239

Ivy, good question. Does KGC's neighbor count as the first? That was at the beginning of all this last winter and remember how scary it all sounded, felt for her.

His fever broke! Poor kid was up in the middle of the night taking a shower as he had sweated buckets. Medical folks here- this is good? Guess it doesn't necessarily mean it won't come back?

Milbank isn't impressed - at least I don't think he is.

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602782.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Would that Obama would listen to the Mathew Hohs of the world as well as the Stanley McChrystals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/matthew-hoh-resigns-state_n_334840.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/matthew-hoh-resigns-state_n_334840.html

the word redundant comes to mind

"Scientology centres convicted of fraud in France"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/27/scientology-church-fraud-france

sea, that's good news! but stay vigilant til we're past the possible relapse stage. probably no worry and clear sailing in a day or two.

flatus, thanks. agree on tekie diversity. all eggs in one basket can end up in a pretty messy omelet.

again, with the pirates

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/27/somali-pirates-british-yacht

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268265

Sea, based on what you've said, he should be good for school tomorrow (24-hrs with no fever).

Put him on light-duty until next week. If symptoms reemerge, straight back to the doctor with him.

Now, your job is disinfecting everything he's contaminated. And, you should spend a significant amount of time congratulating yourself on an excellent job of nursing!

OSH

Definitely stay on bed rest. If it is H1N1, the pneumonia is a possibility until the virus has been completely evicted.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268266

Pogo

Milbank is just practicing his "High Broderism"
It is amazing to me how kissing Snows butt is Ok but addressing concerns within your own coilition is caving in.
I believe that the progressive caucus balked and the sacred goal of any health plan at any cost was in trouble.
Burris was very amusing, he knows how to play the game. He made himself important and he is as low as one can get in the Senate.

Jack

Apparently Tim Pawlenty is a political moron.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/tim-pawlenty-goes-off-on_n_334277.html

"The governor explained his sudden harsh turn against the president by claiming Obama ran as a centrist and then betrayed voters. "President Obama has governed in an extremely liberal way, and he hasn't accomplished many major initiatives, but the few that he has have been almost exclusively partisan. That defies what he said during the campaign and doesn't live up to that promise."

Ummmm, I don't think that there is anything other than adopting Repug positions that Obama could do to become "post partisan", and unless Repugs plan to vote for him in 2012, I doun't think that would be in his his political interest, particlualrly considering where repug positions took the country during the Bush admin. And governed in a liberal way? Really? With TARP and the Recovery Act? Is that why the liberal wing of the party is so happy with Obama? And this is a governor who would aspire to be President? Idiot.

Pogo

The Pawlenty quote points out how out of the mainstream the Republicans have made themselves.
The Democrats problem is that the Obama administration is still acting like Republicans had relevance.

jack

Sea, LP got his seasonal flu shot last week, as he was coming down with a cold - 2 days after the shot he was running a fever as high as 103.3, with headaches and mild flu symptoms (none of the intestinal ones, thank god). It came and went in about 3 days. His fever broke with ibuprofen and a cool bath (you would have thought we were forcinghim into an Icee from the way he was complaining). Anything like that?

To show how idiotic Milbanks post was.

Reid isn't compromising because he is in trouble at home. (which he is)He doesn't need liberal interest groups campaigning for him in Nevada. Think of the trouble they can stir up in a state like Nevada with its moderate to conservative voter base.
Reid is compromising because Reid is in trouble in the senate. He could very easily lose his leadership position if he screws this up. So his fellow senators have have a lot of pull where as team Obama , not so much.

Jack, you could be right on all counts above. I'm not sure why the Senate ever came up with the filibuster crap and single senator hold nonsense, but I would like to see Reid grow a pair and consider making the senate rules rational.

And yes, out of the mainstream is a pretty good description of the modern republican leadership if not of the party as a whole.

Jack it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a Chuck Shumer or (god forbid) a Chris Dodd challenge Reid for majority leader in the next congress.

10 for 10?

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003230572

I can't wait to see what BS is in this. The dems should counter with a response knocking off each one of the points, coming up with the counter position that they have been done before and came up with 0 for '00.

Now, as the token Republican turncoat has rejected the Senate proposed version, it's time to head straight towards Single-Payer. Get it over with, already.

This morning's Journal had a healthcare section with stats closely matching what we've been presenting around here. It's actually a pretty good read. It looks like the numbers of Cat scans and MRIs are two of the things that really drive up our costs; many times more than the other surveyed countries.

Separately, the Journal now says they're out-selling the McDaily and all the other newspapers in the country. I can see why; except for the editorial pages, it's a very decent newpaper.

The official poop on recovering from H1N1:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance/exclusion.htm

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268265

Oldsea --
"Wishing Will Well"...lol
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http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268278

Pogo --
Are you counting your son's flu as regular flu or swiney hiney? We need to start collecting data here to determine if TM's percentages are in line with national statistics.

What number can we use as our "membership base?" Anybody care to count heads?

There is nothing bad I'm permitted to say about golf. It is a religion here.

Ivy, I'm counting it as neither - I (and his doc) think he had a severe cold AND a reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine. I do have a friend who was teh 2nd confirmed swine flu case in MA, though - back in April I think.

OK, politics - I love it when the repugs show what post partisanship is really about -

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/nyregion/27upstate.html?hp

- killing those of your own who are impure.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268285

My broken ankle occurred on a golf course even though I do not play.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268249

Patd, This article is from last December, and was comparing Obama's golfing 'skills' right before shortly before in went into office (but not related to the topic of how many times he's golfed since being in office)

PRESIDENTIAL GOLF | Obama ranks 8th among 15 who played -- JFK atop leader board
"In the January issue of Golf Digest, which hits newsstands next week, the president-elect is No. 8 on the list of golfing presidents. "Yep, Obama is a golfer, too," is the headline.

In fairness, not all of the 42 men who preceded Obama played golf. Golf Digest says Obama, when inaugurated, will be the 15th.

John F. Kennedy and his 80-stroke average tops the list. Calvin Coolidge, who left his golf clubs behind when he departed the White House in 1929, is ranked 15th.

Bill Clinton is just in front of Obama at No. 7 -- although Golf Digest flags Clinton's use of the score-improving "Billigans."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1310955,CST-NWS-golf03.article

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268286

Should we count friends in our record-keeping, or just ourselves and household members?

I would vote for just us and family members - I was just mentioning my friend as one of the first members of the pandemic family :-)

After reading the article about the efforts of Palin, et al. to defeat Scozzofava, I'm thinking I might just join them and try to organize the Conservative Party nationwide, opposing the Repug candidates and putting up a real conservative to run against them. Can't think of a better way to deliver more seats to Dems.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268259

Once again, Corey shoots and scores.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268279

I think you may be right, Jack...

good grief, I missed hearing GWB give his speech yesterday at a motivational rally in downtown Ft Worth. Tickets were $15 or there abouts. Oh well.

Economic news is not good.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/27/business/business-us-markets-stocks.html

And just who does this surprise? Certainly not me.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268290

Pogo --

I agree. So far, then, we just have Oldsea's son with a swine diagnosis unless I missed someone? We need to estimate how many TM'ers and household members we have here.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/10/handicapping-obama.html#comment-268294

$15? RFLMAO. I paid twice that to see Leslie West.

Obama, would have had a hole in one: If he has gone for single player as soon as he got into office. He spent all of his P. capital on paying back his corp. buddies.....I agree with Flatus...Snow gives him another swing at the ball.....only someone that (mostly) doesn't play golf a lot, can get lucky enough to make a hole in one.....I love to play...but it's very expensive.....thinking about getting the game on my big screen tv...but won't be the same...

The road to perdition, Solar. No other pursuit that I know of can teach a youngster how to cuss better than golf. The road to perdition I tell ya.

*L___h*

Dooty...
you could have seen W speak just for the price of some lousy pepperoni pizza and you didn't do it.... now you have to pay for our club's lunch.... :0)

Solar.... my new nickname is "broomzilla".... I'll be buzzin' you frequently...

Pogo.... I just heard on NPR that consumer confidence is still not good.... makes me wonder why the hell I'm weaving so much at the moment trying to get as many scarves as I can out to my galleries....

Caramba.!!

Pogo. That laughing emoticon was a little tweaking the nose, and it looks like a raspberry pthewwwwwww tweak also.....Ok no more Mr. Nice Guy.....hahaha (insert a CountSolar laugh here). It did make me laguh tho....cool.

Renee,

"Solar.... my new nickname is "broomzilla".... I'll be buzzin' you frequently..".

Huh, What did I do? I will just repeat what ....Teach...says about me (Bethy) He is innocent she tells ya......U still go out with costumes on, door to door for some Candy little girl.....jejeje

Me168,

I just thought of something.! I have dibs on you for Halloween...we going to go door to door and fill up a few bags of loot...what do you want to wear for a costume....Im going to go as a TM'er: A suit that is half red, and blue..with a little bit of white being squeezed in the middle...and it will have Craigs and Helen's pic on it......that should scare em into giving us the good Chocolate Candies:

Now that....SEA'S young will is on the mend (happy-happy) lets go see her for some spellbinding candy...(she is one of them, like Patsi, and Renee) we even have one that teaches them all. We have others also.... Oh and watch out for Chloe...she a low flier that-one, on her sweepermobile. now that I have stirred (I always say steer) the pot...gotta go I think...hahaha

Patsi, You might like this one:

Element Name: WOMAN

Symbol: WO

Atomic Weight: (don't even go there!)

Physical properties: Generally round in form. Boils at nothing and may freeze any time. Melts whenever treated properly. Very bitter if not used well.

Chemical properties: Very active. Often unstable. Possesses strong affinity for gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones. Violent when left alone. Able to absorb great amounts of exotic food. Turns slightly green when placed next to a better specimen.

Usage: Highly ornamental. An extremely good catalyst for dispersion of wealth. Probably the most powerful income reducing agent known.

Caution: Highly explosive in inexperienced hands.

Solar --

The trick-or-treaters who solicit at my door on Saturday may be disappointed to discover I'm giving out Trail Mix bars instead of candy... (^_~)

...now, on to the new thread...