...Death of a Naturalist...We are greatly saddened to learn today of the death of Seamus Heaney, the pre-eminent Irish poet and Nobel Laureate for Literature...Seamus is widely considered the greatest Irish poet since Yeats, but just as important he was also a great human being and was a singular force for reconciliation in the North of Ireland...he stood for the best in all of us, and all sides of the conflict in that still-troubled land respected him hugely...I was fortunate enough to attend a State dinner in Belfast City Hall in 2007 that was one of the first major civic events after the two sides had agreed on a government...to my utter amazement the crowd consisted of all the grand poo-bahs on all sides - Orangemen, Unionist politicians, Nationalist politicians, former IRA activists -- all having a virtual love-in...and at the center of it all was Seamus Heaney, the star of the night whom everyone tried to claim as their own...I was also fortunate to meet him at the same time, and he graciously posed with his wife Marie while I took their picture with Jon Stallworthy and Edna Longley...

For any of you who have not yet discovered Seamus Heaney's poetry, do yourself a favor and "dip in" to it...for those who are familiar with his work, go back and refresh your memory on what a superb talent he was......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_Heaney;  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/seamus-heaney.. 
 

...this case really is a dog...on a lighter note from Ireland, the Mayo Advertiser reports that a court hearing on a drunk driving case has been suspended because the main witness is a dog...Judge Mary Devins adjourned the case noting that "this is the first case a dog is the main witness"...the pooch had awakened its owner by barking at the sound of a car crash near her house, but no one else could testify that the drunk in the car had actually been driving it...
 

...anything you can do I can do too, or, no fool like an old fool...closer to home, San Diego Democratic Mayor Bob ("Filthy") Filner showed again that Democrats can be and are just as disgusting as their Republican counterparts...Filthy Bob has finally resigned after eighteen (18!) women came forward that he made ungentlemanly moves toward them at work...this 70-year old creep's favorite target was his female chief assistant whom he badgered to come to work without panties...Mayor Filthy had refused to resign for weeks but finally came to his senses, leaving Anthony ("That Is So My") Weiner as the Dem's top contender for Pervert of the Year...but then again it's only August and Congress will be back in session soon...

...and hold the Mayo...while I was in County Mayo, Ireland, the past several weeks, the Mayo Irish football team (it’s a crazy cross between soccer and football, with dribbling, gouging and knee-capping also allowed) won the semifinal for the All-Ireland Championship...leaving just one game to go for the coveted “Sam Maguire" Trophy (affectionately known as “Sam”) ...it would be hard to overstate just how big a deal this is for County Mayo...Mayo has not lifted Sam  since 1951...now, local legend has it that since the 1951 team’s convoy passed a funeral on the way home, a curmudgeonly priest visited the full fury of the Lord on them by cursing the team until all its’ members were dead...and of course two of those lads from long ago are still alive – presumably with 24-hour bodyguards...so no one in Mayo is betting on their team, but  the whole County is now decked out in green and red, the Mayo team colors...here are some shots I took of the locals...

 

 

 ...and of course Mayo has its own fight song which is ubiquitous on the airwaves these days...with such complicated and catchy lyrics as these how could this year's team not be destined by the gods to carry Sam back to Mayo...well there are may ways actually but for now its...

Oh Sam Maguire
My heat's on fire
You know where you've got to go
You've been out on the run
Since 1951
This time you're coming home to Mayo.

...how could I possibly top that?...anyways, Labor Day weekend is upon us so without further ado or boo-hoo, delay or sa-shay...we sign off in time to draw a cold one before the sun goes down in America...

…deja view all over again…It is with delight that we report that Anthony (“That is my”) Weiner has “inserted” himself, so to speak, back into the raunchy headlines…shortly after announcing his candidacy for mayor of New York, new images of Anthony’s privates surfaced… Weiner has been exchanging sexting messages with not-so-sweet young things constantly since his last apology in 2011…his latest correspondent is the aptly named Sydney (“I love”)  Leathers who revealed that Mad Anthony called himself “Carlos Danger” in their sexts…

 

…in response to calls for him to resign his candidacy, Weiner Campaign folks have demonstrated their class by demonizing everyone from Bill and Hillary Clinton to a young former intern….by comparing their boy to Bill Clinton, Weiner’s PR team has infuriated Hillary, who was the political mentor to Weiner’s clueless wife Huma (“Who’m I”) Abedin…The NY Times reported that Hillary’s chief advisor Philippe I. Reines (“them in”) was “enraged” and said he would “reach through this phone” and “pull out” Weiner’s throat…this culminated in a private “woodshedding” of Abedin by Reines in a Washington restaurant last week… Mr. Reines advised Ms. Abedin against participating in Mr. Weiner’s newest campaign video, which was being filmed at the couple’s Park Avenue South apartment, itself owned by a longtime Clinton donor…Reines and Ms. Abedin “agreed” that she should leave her home to avoid even appearing in the background of any scene in the video …meanwhile President Clinton told CNN “We are a hundred miles from that race”…
…but even this mess did not stop Weiner’s campaign from stepping up its desperate attack posture…his classy campaign spokeswoman Barbara (“Hatchet Woman”) Morgan publicly described a former campaign intern as a “f***ing slutbag”, a “f***ing twat”, and a “little c**t”…now tell us how you really feel, Barb…nice words for a fellow woman…

…from the sublime to the ridiculous…in important religious news, The Guardian reports that the Vatican is offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' tweets…the faithful have been informed that the indulgences reduce the time Catholics will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins…the Church has come a long way since John Tetzel...

 

…reefer madness…on a more serious note, a panhandler in Time Square with an “I Need Money for Weed” sign has been arrested for stabbing a rival holding an “I Need Beer” sign -- with a pen…witnesses said the two principled beggars began brawling around 10:15 P.M. on 42nd St. near 7th Ave. just as dozens of Broadway shows were letting out…“beer” guy’s injuries were said to be minor…New York’s finest grilled an office colleague of the two at the scene:

                                         New York's finest quiz "Predator and Alien."

According to the NY Daily News, others who share the same workspace as the dueling duo, inlcuding Buzz Lightyear, Mario, Luigi, Hello Kitty and an assortment of Elmos and Cookie Monsters, seemed puzzled to hear about the violence:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/weed-guy-stabs-beer-guy-times-square-article-1.1379660#ixzz2XSI3gQBS

… Say what?...Republicans continued to show their new-found sensitivity toward women when their Senate leader, Mitch (“Our most important job is to make sure Obama doesn’t serve a second term”) McConnell (Loser-Kentucky) told a conservative conference that the 2016 Democratic field was ‘a rerun of The Golden Girls’, continuing a GOP story line that Hillary Clinton will be old and decrepit by the time she runs….in related news, McConnell and the Republicans offered no comment on their colleague Peter King’s age when he announced his intention to run…King is 3 years older than Clinton…apparently “Golden Boys” doesn’t have the same cache…

…But McConnell only placed second in the Republican Humiliate Women Sweepstakes…we cannot begin to adequately describe the tweet sent out by a Republican County ChairMan about Republican(!) primary candidate Erika Harold, who just happens to be a) a woman, b) Aftican American, c) a Harvard Law graduate, and 4) a Miss America…so we’ll let this Neandrethal speak for himself (and his party):

“…the love child of the D.N.C. will be back in Shitcago by May of 2014 working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires…miss queen is being used like a street walker and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS…These pimps want something they can’t get….”

…so if we understand correctly, Miss Harold is a “love child”, a “street walker”, a “miss queen”, and is controlled by “pimps”….hmmm….couldn’t have anything to do with her skin color, or gender, right?....Naaahhhhh!

http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=12708

    Erika Harold-some street walker!


…some guys just find it hard to retire…demonstrating that his life-long work ethic has not waned even while his trial for 19 murders occupies his days, Whitey Bulger has apparently added another notch to his proverbial pistol…a victim of Whitey’s extortion schemes and potential witness against him in the trial has been found dead and dumped beside a road outside Boston…Stephen Rakes had been scheduled to testify that Bulger and members of his Winter Hill Gang forced him at gunpoint to sell his liquor store to Bulger…but it seems that Whitey wanted to be remembered in the same company as the gunslinger Texas Red that Mary Robbins sang about: “and the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more”…note to Whitey: Texas Red was gunned down by his next target, the new sheriff in town…

…Southern manners…in a strategy straight out of Richard Nixon’s playbook, Virginia Guvnah Robert (“Sleaze”) McDonnell has finally apologized – well, sort of – for getting caught…The Washington Post reported that the governor and First Lady Maureen McDonnell had promoted Star’s Dietary Supplement around the time that Star owner Johnnie Williams picked up the $15,000 catering tab at June 2011 wedding of one of their daughters, a $15,000 Bergdorf Goodman shopping spree for the first lady and a $6,500 Rolex for the governor…Williams also provided the McDonnells with a $70,000 “loan” to a real estate corporation owned by the governor and his sister; along with $50,000 to the lovely Maureen and $10,000 to another McDonnell daughter before her wedding this year…the quid pro quo for these gifts was for Maureen and Robert to actively promote a drug for Alzeimers peddled by their benefactor…nothing like preying on old folks and their desperate families to shore up the family’s coffers…the Rolex gift was particularly touching – Maureen spotted Williams’ Rolex  and told him she’d love one for the Gov…how romantic…Maureen and her lovely daughters also regularly swiped taxpayer funded food and utensils from state banquets and receptions…Virginia – the state that just keeps on giving…

Richard Millhouse Nixon, Nov. 17, 1973:

“I am not a crook.”

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M
 

Robert F. McDonnell, July 23, 2913:

I am not a crook (but my wife is).

…and finally this from our intrepid correspondent “Slick” Mick from Hampshire…Scott Enstminger, a lifelong fan of the Cleveland Browns (motto: “Rebuilding since 1964”) passed away without ever losing hope that his dreadful hometown team would give him something to appreciate…so his obituary requested that six players serve as his pallbearers “so the Browns can let him down one last time”…Scott didn’t quite get his last wish, but the Browns have presented the family with a team jersey with Scott’s name on it…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2358744/Browns-fans-obituary-Scott-Entsminger-requests-players-act-pall-bearers.html

…did someone say it’s Friday afternoon…I had no idea…darn…that means it must be time for a frosty…

- the Brewmeister -

...We're live....Welcome to the 21st Century edition of Pete's Brew - still an irreverent blog from the left side of the Capitol, but now it's a real blog (as in the genesis of the term: "web log")...I've made this move with several ideals in mind, one selfish, two others to make it easier for our growing fan base...the selfish one is that I am forcing myself to finally catch up on all the great media and techno gadgets available today...so I have taken a blogging class to get me started...the two reader-centric reasons are that it will be easier for most of you to access whenever you want, and I will now post on a regular basis that you can rely on...so starting August 30 I until I decide to change my mind I will blog on the last Friday of every month by 6 PM (Washington DC time of course so all our readers across the pond can use it to cure their insomnia and our West Coast friends can use it as an excuse to take off early on Friday)...see you again soon...