ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. Carole Moseley Braun has quit the presidential campaign trail and endorsed Howard Dean after failing to muster more than 3 percent of any vote. CMB is the one term senator about whom it was once said "her middle name is campaign finance irregularity".

In July 2003 she said "I can win the Democratice nomination." (Chicago Sun Times by Steve Neal).

Not.

Here is my other favorite CMB quote: Your librarian now has to turn you in if you check out the wrong book.

Not.

CMB as leader of the country? Not. The voters evidently agree. It is interesting, though, that black voters are not voting for black candidates. Braun is gone and Sharpton has not done well. He did finish second in the D.C.beauty contest. But Blacks appear to be voting for the one guy who may not know any Black people. Howard Dean appointed no Blacks and said basically there were none in Vermont to appoint. Do they find that comforting. Or is the real crux that Dean has staked out the far left and that is where most Blacks land?

"DT's". For every MADD commercial against drinking and driving, there is a celebrity arrested and lightly punished for it. Diana Ross is the latest DUI star. They should form a group of their own. I suggest calling it Drunk Thespians, the DT's for short.

THE SAGA CONTINUES II. We are also trying to get back to normal, whatever that is, after the death of Joy's father. It has been hard to do. It looks as if it will take a great deal of time to handle his estate also. I guess it is just part of life, but not a part I care for. You could call this the leaving stage. Your kids are leaving you to go out on their own. Your parents are leaving you for heaven. You, sir, are now holding the rope. There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven...

THE SAGA CONTINUES. Computer woes still abound. I retrieved the Compaq from Best Buy's service department to find that the drivers to the ethernet card do not work and I cannot access my cable internet. You'll be proud of me. I did not throw the unit threw the window at Best Buy. Mike came over to help, but even he could not straighten it out. We decided to buy a new card and driver and install and see if it works. Mike graciously agreed to pick it up and install it. Thanks my good friend. My patience is exhausted. This is why I neve pray for patience, because this is how God gives it to you.

ARE YOU SURE THAT'S MARS? That picture looks suspiciously like the view from my old house in Odessa, Texas.

PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. In addition to a death in the family, blogging has been hampered by the crash of the family computer. After making a hotel reservation, the computer was infected with viruses, worms, and a trojan horse. After working on it for four days, I finally took it in for help. It is finally ready to pick up.

On the more serious front, the good news is that we found the Army discharge papers for my father in law so that we can arrange the funeral in the national cemetery. The funeral will be Friday at 11 a.m. It is a shame this is so difficult to arrange. The Government should make it easy for veterans' families to arrange their funerals. It is hard enough to deal with without this obstruction. One friend said it took her two weeks to get approval. So, Veterans Administration, get your stuff in one sock and move into the 21st Century. You should have all these records on computer and be ready to go when someone calls. Shame on you.

HIATUS OVER. Pardon the lack of blogging. Sometimes life intervenes. We had a death in the family and it has been difficult.

I could not resist blogging, though, as news flashed that the federal court ruled that the Texas redistricting plan was ok. Bad day for all the Dems who pranced around saying it would never survive a court challenge. It is not over, as they will appeal to the Supremes, but it is a good win for the Texas Republicans.

They guy hurting the most is probably Martin Frost who has prospered in a gerry mandered district for years, staying in office despite the changing political climate because of it. Well, live by the sword, die by the sword.