I'm taking my title from an article I read earlier today - How Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine Lost His Progressive Mojo. The author looks at "Kaine’s deft transition from ultra-liberal to solid moderate without blinking an eye."

It's an interesting analysis and points to a ubiquitous, ever-serious problem for progressive voters.

Living in Ireland one is constantly reminded of its recent history particularly of the horrifying years between 1845 and 1850, and for good reasons: it must never happen again. Though the Irish Famine is well over, famine continues to stalk the world.

To this day one of the greatest gift one can receive in my neck of the woods is a bag of freshly dug up spuds, lying in sweet smelling, soft dirt. I know, I got such a gift this morning and I can't help feeling overwhelmed at this unannounced kindness, knowing that only a few decades ago this would have represented food for an entire week for an average family.

I have been collecting information on how the humble potato is faring worldwide and there's some good news and some not so great but overall, it's mostly good as the acreage has increased in the largest potato growing countries. I hope my good friend from back West will read this.

This week's Sunday Puzzle Blogging (going up at some point Sunday morning, 7/27, depending on when I wake up) is the longest puzzle blogging feature I've ever done.  There are, at this point, eight puzzles on the way.  By way of promoting the puzzle blogging, I'm doing a mid-week special preview of this week's Sudoku puzzle:

Fill in the rest of this grid using only nine letters so that there are no repeats in any row, column or outlined 9x9 box.  The colors are irrelevant and used only for visual clarity.

Lots more on Sunday.  Enjoy, and be sure to check out the puzzle diaries posted so far, and feel free to consider this an open thread.

So, I'm taking all these foot pix.  And out at the Howard Dean bus launch, Thursday, I see George Lakoff.  "Can I photograph your feet?"  Done, but he says "You better photograph her feet, too."  Pretty woman in a dress?  Sure, why not?  "What's your name?"  Debbie Cook!  OK.  I like candidates as subjects.  And whups!

Turning to move on, a voice behind me says, "Hey!  Aren't you gonna photograph my feet?"  If ya wanna know who it was, you're gonna hafta click again...

Tonight's guests are:

The Daily Show: Will Ferrell
The Colbert Report: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

Each week, I try to post the entire list I've been keeping of published authors who happen to also be kossacks (or former kossacks, or close relatives of kossacks).  I'm sorry I missed last week, but I was on my way to this little shindig down in Austin you may have heard about.  I'm pleased to say that while I was there, I got the author of Devil's Tower to sign my copy of his book.  Unfortunately, I didn't happen to run into any of the other authors while I was carrying their books.

The book list below is so large, I've had to split it into sublists.  If any author feels misclassified by this system, just let me know and I'll be happy to move you to whichever section you think best describes your work.

As large as it is, I'm sure this list is not yet complete.  If you know of any any authors who I am missing, respond in the comments or send me email.  If you're an author who'd like to be added to the list anonymously, email me and I'll be happy to leave off your dKos ID.

Meet my younger nephew, Danny.

He is three and a half years old.  He is an amazingly cute and funny kid.

Update:  Little had changed when I went to sleep last night, but I'll talk with people this morning & hopefully update with news, in the next couple of hours.

THANK YOU to everyone who has posted a good wish to Danny or our family, or didn't post and sent that wish.  I responded to most posts last night (tried to do them all, but sometimes I miss).  This morning, I'm running behind schedule, so I'll have some catching up to do on responding to posts.  But thank you.  

Hey all!  It's Tuesday night and time for the DIDS, short for "Damn, I Did Something." It's a chance for all of us to offer up the cool and awesome things we have DONE in the past week.

Though I've been very busy and spent very little time at home last week (I'm taking a six-hours-a-day, four-days-a-week class for six graduate level credit hours AND last week was VBS for the pods), I don't have a sense of having accomplished anything specific.  Rather, I feel like I'm in the midst of many things, waiting to see what sort of DIDS will result.

Soooo....since I'm not feeling especially DIDSY at the moment, I'm hoping you all are!  Please share your DIDS wealth!

Let me reiterate what I say in the title.  This is one person’s perception.  

Let me put that into context.  I have attended all three conventions, and organized and led at least one panel at each.  I also write this as a long-time member of this community and someone who lives in the National Capital region and is somewhat politically active here.  That sentence is offered solely to perhaps help readers understand some of what I will offer.  While this is my perception, my observations, my analysis, I hope that this diary can provide an occasion of conversation, where others can provide evidence supporting or gainsaying what I have offered.  After all, I was but one of 2,000 attendees, and only saw a small fraction of the sessions.

So please join me below the fold.

Back to life, back to reality.

Tonight on The Daily Show: Richard Bitner, author of Confessions of a Subprime Lender. Tonight on The Colbert Report: Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Tonight's Sausage Grinder of Snark setting: exhausted.

Because you don’t have enough plants in your garden.  Because you don’t feel like ponying up money for seeds when other people have them free for the asking.  Because you want to spread a little joy.

•    The New York Times is reporting that a recent study of the American health care system, conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, has found that while the U.S. has the most expensive health system in the world, the quality it delivers is grossly inferior to other industrialized nations’ health care.  The report highlighted the fact that many of the improvements made in the U.S. health care system over the years, such as decreasing the number of preventable deaths, dwarfed in comparison to the greater achievements other countries made:

Well, the time is almost upon us.  We need to start thinking about C&J for 2008-09, which begins in October.  It's a crucial conversation.  How can the Obama administration expect to accomplish anything if plans aren't in place to provide the moral discontinuity of C&J?

I have an idea.  (Now's your time to escape.)

While it's fresh in everyone's mind, I thought it would be worthwhile for those who attended Netroots Nation - and even those who didn't - to toss in their $.02 about what was good, what was great, and what can be done to improve the convention next year.

Well, Adam B just beat me to it, so I'm scratching the "suggestions" part of the diary (I've instead posted that as an extra-long comment in his thread) - but let's have some fun with the trivial, insubstantial, juicy, scandalous time-wasting gossipy stuff from NN'08, shall we? Please, feel free to dish on whomever and whatever in the comments . . . - o.h.

All honor and respect to his Most Holy & Venerable Bill (not currently) in Portland, Maine.  Greetings and humble happy Monday to all who enter today, but with special flip-flops to C & J regular pool-goers (most of whom are by now at the office, with the kids, in the garden or Netting Roots and will never see this)!  

I’m a semi-frequent, wader into C & J, and today was just one of those days I had the time and inclination to dip my toes, but alas, that big, beautiful pool is "closed for maintenance" until tomorrow...  so, somewhat selfishly, I am posting this for today only as a self-supplicating facsimile!  If even 5 people splash a bit here with me I will be amazed, but pleased :-)

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UPDATED, I was... There is now a sub-pool I had not seen, that is officious in nature! h/t Cali Scribe ;-)
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The following is part of the litany used at the Multi-Faith Worship Service at Netroots Nation this morning:

If you know what that means, then it was a pleasure meeting you. I had one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time. And for that, I wanted to take a moment and thank my roomie, and the nicest guy I'd never met, John Hobbs. I'm glad I had a hand in fulfilling your lifelong, childhood dream of having the party room.

Last week, I told you the story of my dyeing adventure. This week, I'm sharing the photos.

Yesterday, we had our twice-monthly spinning get together, and my friend brought my dry and nicely braided rovings with her. I was still laboring away at my bag full of wool, but I'm getting through it. I'm ready for a change, though, so my newly dyed Rambouillet rovings will be a nice change.