Going Stream of Consciousness Today ...

Here’s a shocker. In the wake of Maine DEP's ineptly conducted and illegally concealed negotiations with a paper mill, the Governor is really going out on a limb here. The negotiations, which would have allowed the mill to increase its pollution discharges in exchange for other environmental concessions, violated all kinds of public right-to-know laws despite arguably serving a public good. Don’t get me wrong, I generally support Baldacci and his reelection efforts. But this is another in a series of, if not “blunders,” at least moves that warrant eye-rolling. Poor.

Speaking of, the Gov expects to have some big-name help with his campaign stumping in the coming weeks. Also, a grumpy old railroad hack argues that conversion of a defunct railbed into a greenway, a la Rails to Trails, is a less financially advantageous use than leaving the rails to rust and ties to rot. In the words of the IM audible, "Well Played, Old Man!"

Oh, and a writer in Maine named Alan Ginsberg, presumably not the same one, is jumping onto the Gore + history = Oh yeah in 2008 theorem.

In case you missed it, I had a few things to say about Gore and history the other day

Meanwhile, Maine's junior Senator has again shown her willingness to throw the middle class under the bus in support of her beloved President. This same Senator who refused to go along with Bush's spending cuts to the Social Security entitlement programs, calling it "irresponsible" now seems to have dropped her hang-up with irresponsible governance. At least Olympia is consistent and attempts to honor her claim to the "fiscal responsibility" label:

"This cynical bill is not what the average American family needs to help them
confront the myriad of challenges they face each and every day," said Snowe, a
member of the Finance Committee that reviews tax bills.

Then again, she must stand before the voters this Fall … and otherwise risks only beating her faceless opponent by a 20-point margin. How blissfully convenient it is that Collins doesn't stand for re-election for another two years, before which she'll surely change her message.

My neighbors to the south in Thomaston are closing in on decision day in the on-going way between Midcoast Maine and Wal-Mart.

Fun with Google. Here's one. Conduct an image search for "wishy washy" and enjoy seeing how the folks at the CIA are getting their yucks with keywords on their website. That's image number five, if you can't do the math … And who said that conservatives have no sense of humor?

This is kind of heady, but I retain a lingering interest in the story of Bosnia's slow emergence from the horrors of its recent history. Here's one comment on the search for Ratko Mladic, the dude so bad he made Milosevic look like a conciliator. This story has long fascinated me, mostly because of the accepted truth that Mladic has been traveling in and out of the Bosnia all while the supposed search has been underway.

I remember reading a really good story in the Atlantic Monthly, Atlantic Monthly, "The Reluctant Gendarme," some time back, explaining how he long favored the French zone due to that country's troops' unwillingness to arrest him on the numerous occasions when they could have. I have no solutions or even suggestive ideas that might help. But I like the columnist's view that Western Europe shouldn't impose its value system on Serbia this early in the game. That seemed to be the mistake that the Hapsburgs made, and we saw the result of a few disenchanted Balkanites responding to that mistake.

As a sidenote, here is a 250-page official army view of the American role in the Bosnian clean-up. A little too much edification for me, but maybe you'll relish …

Quick hits:

E.J. Dionne picks up on an idea that "state's rights" is taking on a new, more progressive tint now that business regulation is devolving to the states . Slate speculates why Republicans seem to be warming to Hillary, as does Richard Cohen of the Post.

Joan Biskupic ponders Supreme Court sea changes through the tried-and-true "Top Five List" method. Scott Lehigh, of the Globe, says the same thing every other political columnist has said between 1-4 times over the past four months. Some dude from Metro Boston is pissed that someone watched Amelie and then stole his lawn gnome.

Red Soxborough:

Shaughnessy suppresses a few sinister laughs while likening Hideki Matsui's injury in last night's Red Sox-Yankees game to the leg-snap heard round the world. NY Post's George King says the Japanese are sad that Matsui won't displace Cal Ripken Jr. as holder of the most boring record in baseball. NY Daily News' Lisa Olson, still scarred by the naked image of Zeke Mowatt, says puts a smiley face on the Yankees' outfield woes. Her colleague Bob Raissman pines for a return of the good (evil) old Steinbrenner.

Chris Snow reports that nobody's saying nuthin' about Schilling's "medical issue." Oh, and have I mentioned, Papelbon is God! Jeff Horrigan agrees. Tony Mazz says last night's win was the (first of 7-8, probably) "turning point" of the season.

In other baseball news …

NY Post's Joel Sherman says that Brian Cashman is going to make a run to bring Alfonso Soriano back to the Bronx. Also, Bill Littlefield of NPR's "Only A Game" asks, "Can a decade of Red Sox/Yankees hegemony be broken by the rogue nine from the North?" and gets poetic:

The Yankees and the Red Sox, Oh, The Red Sox and the Yanks!
Throughout the world of baseball loony fans all howl their thanks
For this historic rivalry. But what if, in these days,
Of spring's eternal promise they're both beaten by the Jays?

And Josh from Buffalo Grove transmits this piece, reported by the Onion, that another player is in the running for Roger Clemens' services this summer.


Phenom Watch:
Jon Lester is beginning to impress, yielding one earned run on six hits, striking out six, walking none in five innings of work in Pawtucket. Lester pitched five scoreless on four hits on May 6. Craig Hansen pitched 3 1/3 scoreless in mop-up duty on May 8, but apparently "had no trouble hitting 96 mph on the radar gun, but did have problems hitting his spots" in his previous outing.