I know this is not news to most of you, but if I had a nickel for every time I've added "Barack" to a tag, I'd donate it to the DSCC. After all, there is also Michelle Obama, so the tag needs a first name.

McCain has a first name, too: John, if you're talking about the candidate. It's especially relevant lately since we seem to have a lot to say about Cindy McCain, who deserves her own tag.

Bush on the other hand gets a first name AND a middle initial: George W. Bush, to keep him clearly distinct from his father, George H. W. Bush.

Nobody gets a title: Hillary has been First Lady and Senator, Bush has been Governor and pResident (and there's a confusing Governor Bush, to boot).

More over the fold -

One aspect of McCain's presidency that I have not seen addressed is the precise form of his military experience. We have had good presidents with military experience - Eisenhower and Carter come to mind - as well as good ones without it - FDR and Clinton, to name two.

But military experience is not all equal. Slogging through the mud is not the same as calibrating a nuclear submarine. And of all the possible military experiences, that of bomber pilot to me is most suspect.

It can be argued whether bomber pilots are needed at all. Certainly some of their runs, such as the Dresden firestorm, are now seen as war crimes. But let us grant for the purpose of the arguement that there are limited appropriate uses for bombers in a just war. How does being a bomber pilot shape the person who experiences it?

I occasionally get email from Downsize DC, a small government group whose interests sometimes overlap mine (heck, Obama found common ground with Coburn, after all). Their latest email makes me suspicious though. They are promoting a bill called the "Enumerated Powers Act," aimed at requiring Congress to specify what constitutional authority lies behind any bill.

More over the fold ---

You all know about the devastation in Iowa - the "500 year" floods, the records broken by fifteen feet, the downtowns washed out.

Want to help? We're going to be cleaning up flood damage, mostly demolition work for anyone who needs help.

Join me over the fold ---

I have known few evenings more lovely in Iowa City. The sky is sapphire, with a handful of small lavender clouds to the west, the air is that delicious "just right" temperature on the skin, the trees are the deep fresh green of early summer and the birds are pleasantly manic. It makes waiting for the crest all the more poignant.

My husband and I took a bike circuit after dinner to see what is developing. The outlook is not good.

Action links, university updates and more over the fold ---

Senator Kennedy's stroke highlights that this is Stroke Awareness month. Take a moment now to learn a very handy reminder of the signs of stroke - the email that taught me this quoted a cardiologist as saying that one person in ten could save a life with this information. Join me over the fold ---

These folks will - and they won't even get to drink it!

They're going even farther - they are biking a thousand miles, to raise money for clean water in Swaziland and the Sudan. If you've heard of RAGBRAI (the Register's annual great bike ride across Iowa), these folks are going one better - they are biking around Iowa!

More over the fold -

Earlier today Govinda's diary gave a heads up that Iowa national delegate selection begins. Well, now it's done, and the results are:

Obama 16
Clinton 9
Edwards 4

Obama won all 5 alternates.

According to Govinda,

Obama is expected to take [at least - wee mama] 15 national delegates, Clinton 9, and Edwards at least 2.  Who gets the remaining 3 delegates may depend on whether the Edwards delegates hold together and attain viability, whether one campaign or another has a stake in keeping Edwards groups viable to keep their opponent from gaining a delegate, or where Edwards delegates will go if they fail to achieve the threshold for viability.

But, if I understand the commenters (and if they are informed),  Obama lost one delegate, and Edwards gained another delegate to distribute at the convention (or earlier?).

One of the Iowa blogs has more details on the maneuvering involved in tweaking delegates (over the fold) - helping Edwards blocked Hillary.

If you haven't gone to vote yet, go to Obama in thirty seconds and take a look at some great videos. Some are straight forward, some are whimsical, some are wildly creative. My favorite of all is one called Chance of a Lifetime, narrated by a woman who is one hundred years old.

This project by MoveOn has multiple benefits. Everyone who makes a video has to stop and think about why they support Obama. That makes them more committed and a better advocate when they speak to others. Everyone who goes and votes has a chance to see Obama from multiple perspectives - they may learn something new and at the least become more adept at explaining Obama's strengths. All the votes that people cast help MoveOn pick the most effective videos, for free without paying a focus group.

More over the fold ---

The news that Hillary is appearing tonight on Countdown collided with the news of her disastrous financial situation and made me fantasize. Wouldn't her appearance there be a wonderful venue for a public statement that she recognizes Obama as the choice of the people and asks her supporters to support him in the struggle against Bush III? A public and gracious withdrawal, with an explicit request to unify and fight the good fight together would go a long way toward healing the party and getting on with the job of turning this country around.

But would she do it? Could she face the fact that she has lost? Then it occurred to me; we can help her make that decision. One of her biggest problems right now is paying off her campaign debt. She is riding a unicycle and can't stop or she will fall down. So let's help her stop - over the fold.

We all get those emails: huge fonts, bright red type, and breathless, sometimes vile language. But this one came from someone I like and respect, and with whom I agree on probably 90% of important questions. Even worse, he had copied it to more than twenty people we work with that I like and care for. Silence was not an option. For the vile original and my response, see over - you may be getting one just like it soon, to judge by the various viral garbage we've seen in this campaign.

Here's what was crucial -

I sent this to: the person who had sent it to me, and to the 20+ he had carboned.  cc: to the five or six who had forwarded it. bcc: to all other recipients.

My response was prompt, courteous, factual and did not try to address the various vile characterizations of the Democratics. My hope (there's that word, again) is that some recipients will read either the summary or view the video. All of them will see that there is a response, one that embraces them and takes their opinion seriously, and that doesn't resort to fear to take action. Doing this takes a little time, but not much.

There are much deeper issues, touched on below.

Obama's greatest strength may be one that has gotten the least attention. He is a teacher, and by all accounts an excellent one. Why does that matter? At their best,

• Teachers are audaciously hopeful.
• Teachers know that life is a positive sum game.
• Teachers know that even apparently lost students can turn things around and find themselves.
• Teachers are patient.
• Teachers know you never reach the whole class, and can live with that.
• Teachers are humble.

More over the fold -

With all the current kerfluffle, I wanted to contact the Clinton campaign and make my "more in sorrow than in anger" case for why it was time to step out of the race. When I called yesterday, I spoke with a pleasant-voiced patient representative, who was dumb-founded when I tried to talk numbers but otherwise courteous.

Today? How a day can change things.

I began by calling her national campaign as I did yesterday. To hear the outcome, join me over the fold.

My best friend when I was small was a Friend. Her parents were birthright Quakers active in prison reform and nuclear disarmament. As a child I saw the homelier side of Quaker practice - the silent meetings, the delicious treats at the annual bazaar and an early introduction to the three-fold sieve.

THE THREE SIEVES

A LITTLE boy one day ran indoors from school and called out eagerly: "Oh, mother, what do you think of Tom Jones? I have just heard that ——"

"Wait a minute, my boy. Have you put what you have heard through the three sieves before you tell it to me?"

"Sieves, mother! What do you mean?"

"Well, the first sieve is called Truth. Is it true?"

"Well, I don't really know, but Bob Brown said that Charlie told him that Tom ——"

"That's very roundabout. What about the second sieve — Kindness. Is it kind?"

"Kind! No, I can't say it is kind."

"Now the third sieve — Necessity. Will it go through that? Must you tell this tale?"

"No, mother, I need not repeat it."

"Well, then, my boy, if it is not necessary, not kind, and perhaps not true, let the story die."

Join me over the fold -

There are some . . . diaries . . . so-called today that give me pause. No, they give me the dry heaves. I'm not going to link to them - they don't need publicity, they need . . . compost. So what I can turn to?

Pooties! Lovely, laughing, silly, transcendent pooties! I need pooties tonight, and I need them badly. I'll share some of mine (just pictures, I'm afraid - Big Papa is allergic) and I hope you'll share yours.

More over the fold (caution to dial-up - picture intensive)

It's been heated here lately, with many folks making some mighty strong assertions. I'm just a low level midlister (in ek's terms) but in the next few days I invite anyone who cares to join me to act intentionally as a moderator, in the sense that boron or lithium moderate in a nuclear reactor. I will be asking for evidence. Don't take this as a personal attack. It is not meant as one. Rather, we are about to dive into one of, if not the, most crucial elections this country (and the world) will face. I do not want to see the right wing noise machine armed with mud by us. Facts are fine. Assertions need evidence. I have changed my sigline to reinforce the need we so acutely have now to stay focussed even more on facts, not supposition or invention.

Take the poll!

We know from the earlier diary today that cats and dogs can be friends:

but it can go much further than that!

More below the fold (warning - photo intensive)

If it bothers you that Christmas carols begin before Halloween -

If you just plain don't like the fixation on buy, buy, buy -

If you'd like to recapture quiet and reflection -

Join me and others in keeping Advent.

Advent is sometimes called the "little lent," but it is a joyful time. If you've never heard of Advent, or you'd like to learn about some Advent customs, join me over the fold (and for the coming attraction)