~~~

I suggest everybody read this. RDG puts some things I didn�t say the other day into some mighty fine words. Plus, you should just read her diary on a regular basis anyway, cuz she is just entirely too groovy.

~~~

On a more cheerful note, the following is from today�s NY Times:

Kentucky's Brawny Defense Makes It the Team to Beat

By JERE LONGMAN

�Kentucky (29-3) enters the N.C.A.A. tournament as the top-seeded team in the Midwest Regional, having won 23 straight games and having swept undefeated through the Southeastern Conference, the country's deepest league. The Wildcats' first-round opponent Friday is Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (20-13), which is likely to find Kentucky's man-to-man defense as impenetrable as its own initials, I.U.P.U.I.

"No question, Kentucky is the best team in the country," said Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury, whose team lost to the Wildcats, 64-57, in the final of the S.E.C. tournament here on Sunday.

While other contenders' seasons have risen and fallen like juggled balls, Kentucky has been as consistent as a heartbeat since mid-January�

Why yes�yes it has! :) And I am going to kick the collective ass of all the guys in my office in our NCAA pool (um�done purely for entertainment purposes only, of course, since�uh�gambling is illegal and I am nothing if not a law-abiding citizen).

~~~

And�

Republicans Resigned to Defeat on Alaska Wildlife Refuge Drilling Plan

By DAVID FIRESTONE

WASHINGTON, March 17 � Senate Republican officials said today that they had been unable to muster enough votes to begin oil drilling in the Alaska wildlife refuge, probably dooming the signature energy plan of the Bush administration.

A vote on the drilling plan will probably take place by Friday or early next week, and lobbying groups in favor of oil production in Alaska say they have not given up hope of achieving a slim Senate majority. But Republican officials say they are not counting on more than 48 votes for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"At this point, we don't have the 50 votes, and I don't think we're going to get them," a Republican official said. "So the Democrats will probably be able to strip it out."

Such a vote would be an embarrassment for the Bush administration, which came into office in 2001 vowing to reverse President Bill Clinton's refusal to permit drilling in the refuge. It was unable to get the measure through the Senate last year, when it was controlled by Democrats. After the Republicans took control of the Senate in January, administration officials hoped for a different result, but they said at least eight Republicans and most Democrats remained opposed to the plan.

Supporters of drilling said they had hoped to take advantage of rising oil prices and a potential war with Iraq to argue that the United States needs more domestic oil production to free itself from sources in the Middle East. In Congressional testimony on Wednesday, Gale A. Norton, the interior secretary, called the area "flat, white nothingness" and said it represented the nation's greatest potential for future oil.

"Our reliance on foreign oil has impacts on the lives of American families, farmers and workers as the current gasoline price increase shows," Ms. Norton said. "As long as we have planes, trains and automobiles powered by oil and gas, we will need a homegrown, stable, reliable source of supply."

But drilling in the refuge remains highly unpopular in public opinion polls, a result of years of efforts by environmental groups to depict oil production as disastrous to an unspoiled and fragile area that is home to many wildlife species. Opponents also say the refuge would not produce enough oil to justify the effort, and oil companies have not been nearly as enthusiastic about the prospect as the Bush administration or the government of Alaska.

"It has never made sense to drill for oil there, and citizens from around the country have made their views on that clear to their senators," said Gene Karpinski, executive director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, an advocacy association that has lobbied heavily against the plan�.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Man, we can only hope�

~~~

Alanna, the newest gal in our department, and I went to the market at lunch. I purchased lots and lots of yogurt, as my supply has dwindled. It is so beautiful outside, but I must say it is extremely windy. This is the windiest season I can remember ever experiencing in S. Cal. It�s been wacky this year.

Last night was wild. The banana tree in front of my building was felled before I got home. Walking through the front entrance was something akin to hiking through a rainforest; where�s a good machete when you need one? Driving home was actually almost scary, it was so windy. And among all of the debris littering the streets was the hugest tumbleweed I have ever seen. I am not exaggerating when I say it was approximately the size of my motor vehicle. My question is�where the hell did that thing come from? OK, I used to live out in the boonies, where one would expect to see such a thing. I now live in Long Beach. This is a big city. There hasn�t been a vacant lot from which would spring a tumbleweed in probably twenty-five years, I�d hazard to guess. There is nothing in this town but streets, car dealerships, traffic lights, concrete, buildings and a rather large body of water called the Pacific Ocean. Where the hell did a tumbleweed the size of my Nissan come from?

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~~~~~~~~~~~peace, love and smooches~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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