Baseball season is upon us, and for those of you who have too much time on your hands, and who require an escape from reality, I am offering two alternatives . . . well really, two versions of one alternative:  The Kossack Baseball leagues . . .

There are two leagues that you can sign up for . . . one is NL-only and the other is AL-only.  Information below the fold:

Impeachment is of course off the table in Congress, and in the Media.  But reading through the comments in Buddydharma's diary about Wexler, I came across an inspiring comment by bustacap showing how each and every one of us, every one of our children, can add our voices creatively to the debate.

An interesting comment in the Harriet Miers diary got me thinking and researching the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (aka RICO).  What I knew, but didn't remember was that this law authorizes private parties to bring civil actions and recover treble damages.  Who can do this?  Well let's look below.

18 US Code 1961 et.seq.

My supposedly progressive Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown voted to give George W. Bush a blank check.  I am stunned.  I suppose I shouldn't be given the way he muscled himself into the Senate race in 2005, but I thought Ohio for once had a decent and humane voice in the United States Senate.  Instead what we have is a snivelling pathetic rubber stamp for the George Bush regime.  

Not one more dime you bastard. Mike DeWine would have done about as much.

Well, it appears that our fearful leaders are about to betray their principles.  No timeline.  No benchmarks.

WASHINGTON (AP) - After weeks of refusing to back down to President Bush on setting a timetable on Iraq, House Democratic leaders face having to explain to their party's rank and file why they've now relented.

Party officials said Monday the next war spending bill most likely will fund military operations and not demand a timeline to bring troops home, although it will contain other restrictions on Bush's Iraq policies.

On May 1, Bush vetoed a $124.2 billion bill that would have paid for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan through September as Bush requested, but demanded that troops start coming home this fall.

Democrats say they hope to send Bush a new bill by the end of the week he will sign, and troops in combat will get the resources they need without disruption.

"

Sad but true.  It is a diversion and an amusement. And a good time.  If you feel the same way that I do, I am starting a league exclusively for interested Kossacks - - a NL-only roto league - - 11 teams maximum - - maybe 12 if there is a lot of interest.  Details are below the fold:

It's getting to be about that time:  Baseball season is nearly upon us.  So I am taking the bull by the horns and reviving the legendary kossack AL-only rotisserie baseball league.  11 teams maximum for now.  Given the size of the league and the relatively shallow talent pool, one winds up breathlessly waiting for the Kansas City Royals to call up their hot prospect pitcher.

Details below:

If this has been diaried before, I will delete this . ..  but I think it is important to keep track of these things.

Yesterday, Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado introduced an amendment to eliminate the federal minimum wage. This means that instead of making $5.15 per hour, which is the current federal minimum wage, workers in Kansas would make $2.65 per hour. Workers in Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina and a couple of others would be unprotected.

http://www.dol.gov/...

The amendment was defeated, 69-28 - - here is a list of the votes on this issue.

http://www.senate.gov/...

I am a midwesterner, born and bred. My wife put me through school working at Chrysler Motors;  my first job out of college was working for an auto parts manufacturer.  A good part of my professional life has been spent in assisting automobile-related companies in staying open and expanding.  My state, Ohio, is shuddering as the automobile industry slowly dies.

Bad news is rampant of course . . . the most recent news:

DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006 _ an average of $4,380 for every car and truck it sold.
The company that invented the assembly line and whose name was a byword for the auto industry warned it will bleed cash for two more years before it has a shot at making money.

. . . .

I don't know.  Maybe it's just the season.  And yes it's old news.  But there are a lot of fine people serving in the armed forces.  A lot of them are giving their life and limb.  I thought we were a country at war.  100 dead in Iraq this month. 657,000 dead civilians in Iraq.

And so this is how members of the President's family serve their country.  Here is a photo of Pierce Bush, the 20 year old son of Neil Bush (the President's Brother) having a great time.

Do you know who this man is?

Me neither.

Does this photo help?

 

Just another Korean War vet with movie star good looks? Not quite. Pat Tiberi, the Republican Congressman from Ohio's 12 th District, is making quite an effort to educate the people of his district to this man's name. Thanks Pat!

There isn't much time left . . . Speaker Hastert is going to have a new conference tomorrow . . . what will he say?  Well, Kossacks, it depends on us . . .

On the comedy front, here is a chronicle of Mark Foley's investigation and meeting with the lobbyists for nude youth beaches . . .

Spent some time over at little green footballs, checking out their links to Iraqi blogs.  The first one I clicked on - by Hammorabi - discusses a raid by American forces on a Baghdad mosque and a massacre conducted by U.S. forces.  The story itself is shocking, and I haven't seen it described here.

The American forces in Baghdad committed a criminal act by a raid on a mosque (Al-Mostafa Hussiayniyah) in Ur district in Baghdad. These forces invaded the mosque during the Sunset prayer. The worshipers were armless doing their prayers. The American forces were heavily armed and supported by helicopters. They collected the worshipers in one room and open fire on them!

At least 37 worshipers were instantly killed by the American soldiers while arresting others.

More below.

A little bit has been made about the fact that the Republicans have proposed ethics legislation that would permit lobbyists to pick up lunch and travel expenses so long as they make a political contribution.  Unfortunately, it would appear that the Democratic ethics bill before the House has the same defect.  More below.

So what's going on here?  It looks like the wingnut crazies are calling the dogs off of Senator Voinovich.  Has he caved in?  This from their website:

http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/DailyFile/anti_voinovich_ads_halted/

My gosh, this is pretty over the top crazy stuff! And ham-handed to boot.  Guess Senator Voinovich, by not playing politics is a back-stabbing traitor.   I sent my letter to him thanking him for standing up the other day.  I would urge other Ohioans to do the same.

http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/DailyFile/ad_targeting_voinovich/

The text below.

This just in . . . Blackwell, the far right secretary of state of Ohio just announced a deal with Diebold to replace optical scan voting systems with touch screen systems.

SECRETARY OF STATE GIVES COUNTIES GREEN LIGHT TO BUY TOUCH SCREEN VOTING MACHINES WITH PAPER AUDIT TRAILS

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell today lifted an order that would have required all county election boards to replace their current voting systems with precinct-count optical scan devices. He announced an agreement under which boards now have the option of switching to touch-screen voting machines with voter verified paper audit trails (VVPAT). Diebold Election Systems is the first Ohio-approved vendor to meet federal and state requirements for VVPATs. Negotiations with the company brought the price of touch screens to within the state's available federal funding. Counties have until May 24th to either reconfirm their selection of optical scan machines or choose the Direct Recording Electronic devices.

So now the elections are to be in the hands of the Diebold Corporation.