Halloween, Indeed.

So, I come back from seeing a play, and when I opened the gate, I see a black cat sitting in the middle of the walkway. He came right up to me for a scritch. No collar, he's very skinny, but no fleas or anything. He followed me up to my door, maiowing. He looked into my apartment, but made no move to come in (although he did peer in). I scritched him some more, then went inside. I peeked out, he was still there.

So I fed him. He launched right into the tuna. Very hungry cat. He came back for a scritch, then sat with his back to the building, looking out. He seems to be waiting for someone, although no one in the building has a cat.

I said good night, and he looked mildly disappointed.

I have no idea if he'll be there in the morning: the people at either end of the building have dogs.

Happy halloween!

John McCain: Just call him "Tovarisch!"

According to CNN:

At the first stop on the tour, McCain touted his plan to use a portion of the $700 billion financial bailout package passed by Congress to buy up the mortgages of distressed homeowners so they can "stay in their homes."

"That's the American dream, and I'm going to protect it," McCain told supporters in Hanoverton, Ohio. "This administration isn't doing enough."

OK, first he's mad that Obama isn't using federal handouts to run for President, and now he wants to put Americans into state-owned homes.

And he's calling Obama a socialist?

I thought it was an accident that the Republicans are the "red" party; turns out they really are the Red Party!

Privyet, Tovarisch McCain!

Isn't it Ironic?

John McCain has made a career of fighting against unnecessary government funding. He has long tried to get rid of "pork barrel spending," where federal dollars are spent on projects that benefit only a few people.

So I find it ironic that he is accusing Barack Obama of not taking federal money to fund his campaign. The affront of it: Obama has found willing citizens to give him money to run for president, instead of taking a government handout!

I'm not saying that McCain is wrong about Obama's promise. He's right. Obama did say that he would use public financing, which would have severely limited his campaign budget. It's unlikely he'd be in the lead if he'd followed through on that promise.

McCain, on the other hand, DID apply for funding, and he's already exceeded the spending limits it imposed. Or maybe he withdrew from the program that he also promised to use; that's what his lawyers are saying, anyway.

In other words, McCain also promised to use public funding, actually applied for and was accepted, and now doesn't want to be limited by the rules that were imposed upon that acceptance.

McCain is accusing Obama of not getting involved in the program that he, McCain, is trying to get out of.