this video might be a bit long, but this should be essential viewing for anyone voting this november - especially if you’re not sure what the “keating five” scandal was all about. find out how mccain helped a close friend embezzle money from a major savings & loan back in the 80’s, ultimately costing taxpayers over $3 billion dollars when it collapsed…

the washington independent and keatingeconomics.com have more, plus, don’t miss rolling stone’s article on the “make believe maverick”.

don’t be fooled, what mccain did should be criminal, and he got away with being a party to swindling thousands of people out of their life savings. this man is a liar, and his self-serving politics don’t deserve to be anywhere near the white house. -h

over the weekend, the desperation in the mccain camp reached new highs(or would that be lows?) as sarah palin went on the attack against obama by saying he “pals around with terrorists” - a charge debunked by the associated press, and one that had already been brought up and discarded during the democratic primaries.

the accusation was based on his very loose affiliation with bill ayers, a former member of the weather underground - someone who is no longer involved in terrorism. ayers now lives near obama, serves with the same charity obama does, and who once hosted a “meet the candidate” for obama back in the 90’s. ayers’ terrorist acts were committed when obama was only 8 years old, and he is now a private citizen whose kids go to the same school as the obama children. furthermore, obama has already denounced the radical views and former actions of the weather underground.

and so, mccain/palin throw yet another hail mary, showing that there is no low too low for them, especially when there’s only a month until the election and they are sliding even deeper in the polls after palin’s poor debate performance and mccain’s last hail mary of “suspending” his campaign.

as palin stated, “the heels are on, the gloves are off,” and apparently so is her intelligence if she thinks the american people don’t see this for what it really is - a desperate smear to try and distract people from the fact that the mccain campaign has absolutely no solutions for the true issues that face america this election season. -h

taken from inside a popular chain coffee shop near dupont circle in DC back in may… -h

this has to be one of the funniest things i’ve seen from letterman in a long time… john mccain cancels his appearance on the late show to “catch a plane to washington” then gets caught in yet another lie. letterman and his guest keith olbermann have PLENTY to say about that.

by the way, if mccain’s “suspending” his campaign, does that mean he’s no longer running? if only it were so… -h
[found via crooks and liars]

tonight, i’ve begun work on bringing white shirt, philosopher - the comic strip i originally launched late last year - back to life. for those who don’t remember, the original series focused on a character named white shirt, with modern philosophy and characteristics, but placed back in old testament biblical times - more specifically right after moses announces the 10 commandments. sort of. actually, it more or less explores what would happen if moses brought the 10 commandments down from the mountain in current times… exploring mankind’s reactions and attitudes to the new laws.

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here’s a great performance of last rites from one of my favorite singer/songwriters damien jurado in the back of a london cab, with his bandmate jenna conrad as part of the black cab sessions series. they’ll be in p-town on the 12th of this month at the doug fir lounge. don’t miss it. -h

edit: also, don’t miss his new album caught in the trees which comes out on september 9th. this song will be on it, and i’m sure plenty of other beautiful music as well…

i was out smoking a cigarette on my front porch this afternoon as i often do, when i noticed up the street from me a little girl started yelling “LEMONADE… LEMONADE!!!”, so i finished smoking and went to put sandals on so i could go check it out.

as i was walking up to the stand, she was still yelling “LEMONADE” so i called up ahead and asked “how much for a glass of lemonade?” she waited till i was closer and replied “it says on the signs,” and pointed to her cardboard signs saying it was 50 cents. i told her i only had dollar bills, so i’d just pay her a dollar if that was ok, and she looked puzzled for a second like she was considering it and then said that it would be ok, and i was only her fourth customer. she only had a couple of martini glasses to serve it in, and she asked if that was ok, and i said sure.

while she was pouring me a glass i asked her what her name was. “trinity,” she said in an adorable english accent, and i said “hi trinity, my name is stephen” but when i said her name, apparently i didn’t enunciate to her satisfaction, so she said “no, it’s trini-TEE” so i smiled and said her name back to her making absolutely certain to pronounce the T on the end strongly so she’d know i got it.

as i drank the lemonade from the martini glass, she asked me to tell my friends to come buy some lemonade from her, so i told her i’d let my roommates know if they are home. i pointed up the street to show her where i lived, and she pointed at the house she was in front of and said “i live there,” then pointing over her shoulder at the house next to hers she said “those are my neighbors. i don’t like them cause they’re mean to us” like she was warning me and i couldn’t help but smile.

she asked me if my roommates like lemonade, so i remarked “i think everyone likes lemonade” but then she made a sour face and said “not me! it’s too sour for me.”

it didn’t take long for me to finish my martini glass of lemonade, so i wished her luck and headed home. if you happen to be in my neighborhood today, go buy some lemonade in a martini glass from trinity. i’m pretty sure she’ll make you smile.

-h

at the meeting
i slurp my coffee
and click my pen.

i turn her hair colors
and spin wildflowers
from the carpet.

take hardwood and
turn it to clay that
i sculpt into a sweater.

it’s cold and it’s heavy,
my gift to the boss.

so when i fold this paper
into an elevator
he stays here stuck to the ground…

and we go up up and away.

-h

here’s another one from the old sugar mill outside sacramento… -h

of all the traveling and photo-capturing i’ve done this last week, this one somehow makes it into the upload folder first - a camera-phone image of a newspaper vending machine here in town. -h

this was taken earlier today during a wine tasting at the old sugar mill just outside sacramento.

if you’re ever in the area, make sure to check it out… especially don’t miss the solomon wine company’s tasting room. i especially liked their rosado, carnivale, and genie wines, plus they have a couple of top-notch port wines as well. other wineries there have some great wines as well (like todd taylor’s primitivo) but solomon’s wines really wowed me.

-h

the post above was cross-posted from http://stephenh.net/aytch/2008/07/07/obvious-substitute/

i hope all of you had as nice of an evening as i did… the columbia river was nothing short of GORGEOUS tonight, and the wind was perfect for sailing. just check out the pictures for proof(one more after the bump). make sure you click the image above to view the larger size… it’s even better full-size! -h

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the post above was cross-posted from http://stephenh.net/aytch/2008/06/25/counting-on-out/

i must be on a picture-taking frenzy, because i’m out taking more and more of them lately. here’s another one from this afternoon. -h

the post above was cross-posted from http://stephenh.net/aytch/2008/06/23/county-seat/

here’s a new image i took this afternoon while on a walk through my neighborhood. -h

the post above was cross-posted from http://stephenh.net/aytch/2008/06/22/ensign-five/

another old favorite… this one from 2005. slowly but surely i’m finding all these old portfolio images and re-releasing them if they’re not already in my flickr account. in the meantime, sorry if you’ve seen some of these before. -h

going through my archives today, i found some old images i no longer have represented online… here’s a few taken back in 2004 with my old nikon sq. (remember when 3 megapixels were considered a lot?)

-h

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this image was taken of a patron inside kramerbooks, near dupont circle on my recent trip to washington, dc. -h