Mmmm...delicious kidneys

I see a hearty handful of stories making headlines this morning that I expect will become bigger and bigger in the all-too-near future. I'll try not to linger on any one of them too long, even though they all merit extensive discussion.

• The White House is now formally refusing to release photos of Dubya and Jack Abramhoff. There are around a dozen out there. Five of which Jack bragged to have kept on his office desk. Within a week, I'm sure we'll see at least one.
• The WashingtonPost scoops a story on how pharmaceutical industry lobbyists garnered a $22 Billion Medicare discount for their clients in this latest round of Congressional "budget cutting". That's Billion with a B. Nice work if you can get it.
  
• Katrina's forecasted destruction was spot on, and reached the White House 48-hours before the hurricane made landfall. The Bushies even saw a slideshow presentation that compared it to models of a smaller fictional storm. So Dubya's "I don't think anyone could have predicted the extent of the damage" was either an outright lie or an indication that he was not in the White House "Situation Room" when the presentation was offered by the Department of Homeland Security.
  
• Alito got through the Senate Judiciary Committe on a straight party-line vote of 10-8. I expect his full Senate vote will go 56-44 based on the reporting I've seen thus far (the only Dem to indicate he'll vote for Alito is Ben Nelson of Nebraska). That would be the second least bi-partisan confirmation vote since the 1880s. By the way, the LEAST bi-partisan since the days of James Garfield was Clarence "Is this a pubic hair on my Coke can?" Thomas (52-48).
  
• The newest misleading euphemism offered up by Dubya - "terrorist surrveillance project". The newest concern for the Bushies - "impeachment" - according to overly pessimistic reports surfacing yesterday. Alberto Gonzales tried to defend the program today by saying that even George Washington read intercepted mail during the Revolutionary War. I've seen overreaching before, but this one was pulled from the upper deck on an obviously foul ball. Let the rumblings begin - impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, uh, uh, uh...
• The oddsmakers for the Super Bowl have made the Steelers 3 1/2 point favorites. Seriously? Talk about blindly getting on the Bus. I'm currently in the Seahags camp, even before seeing this bit of silliness. But I suggest you wait for a serious adjustment of that line in the next 12 days before you drop your hard earned bling on one side or the other. Personally, I believe that gambling should be limited to wagers with friends. Like the kidney I won in college from a roommate on the Giants over the Bills.
  

I haven't mentioned yet a lifelong goal (actually two) achieved last Thursday. I was at a neighborhood Shell station, gasing up before hitting the road for Yosemite the next afternoon. As I was shocked to see my tank fill up by the automatic nozzle shut-off PRECISELY on $45.00, a driver at another pump drove off with the nozzle still lodged into her gas tank. No explosion, just crazy visual excitement. I should have bought a lottery ticket there. Hope your own random events are equally inspiring today. Rock on.