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As most of you recall I ran/walk/ran the Disneyland Half Marathon on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The above certificate acknowledges the finish – not a fast finish but a qualifying finish.

Alice and I stayed in Anaheim over the weekend at the Anaheim Marriott, attended the Run Disney Expo on Saturday, raced on Sunday, and went to the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure on Monday.

Here are some photos of the weekend:

The next photo is the day of the race. After grabbing the shuttle from outside the Anaheim Hilton, hitting the porta-potties, we made our way through the massive throng to our Corral.

Maria Elena, Cleave and Alice – Cleave was finishing his Coast to Coast Medal having run the Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon earlier in the year – Wow!

The slow walk to the Start Line:

Look it is Mickey and Minnie Mouse at the Start Line:

The race started and I run/walk/run with Maria Elena, Cleave and Alice for a while and then fell back into my pace. I felt fine during most of the race but it did get HOT at the end. Salt Sticks and my Camelback were definitely my friends this race day. I didn’t take any photos during the race (since I was racing) and the copyright provisions of purchased photos are unclear – so, I may put some of those up later – probably on Facebook.

Ok, so I finished the race. Here are photos of Alice and Maria Elena after finishing:

They finished 30 minutes ahead of me and promptly found a seat on the ground, since there were few chairs or benches anywhere.

After I finished I found a place to sit down near the AV booth for the center stage area. There were a whole row of chairs and I made avail of them.

Note to the Run Disney folks: Place some benches or places to sit at the finish line. Sitting on hot pavement in a parking lot is not too cool after 13.1 miles.

Anyway, here is the money shot:

The Disneyland Half Marathon Certificate and Medal

We all went to eat afterwards and happily replaced the lost carbs at Chubby’s – a fitting name for the post race meal.

Monday we went to Disneyland. Yay!

Space Mountain:

Will I race the Disneyland Half Marathon next year?

You betcha. It was loads of fun.

Well, we all knew that it was just a matter of time that Babs Ma’am Boxer was going to attack Carly Fiorina on California television. This is pretty standard for a long time POL who is pretty much tied or behind in the polls with the newcomer Carly Fiorina.

I mean, after all, President Obama has been out to California a few times to pump up the over $11 million campaign war chest of Boxer. Guess somebody is worried that Boxer is going down so spend the money, Ma’am. I mean Senator.

But, really, criticizing Fiorina on buying airplanes and a $ million boat (I think she has two actually) with money she earned. Kind of stupid, if you ask me but people do get envious, I suppose. Boxer doesn’t mention all of the money – hundreds of thousands of bucks her own family made on her campaigns for public office. Or the fact that Boxer is a filthy rich millionaire in her own right.

Oh well.

With regards to outsourcing of jobs and Hewlett-Packard during Carly’s term, this has been debated for years in business circles. Fiorina even wrote about it in her autobiography, Tough Choices. If anyone is interested in the facts about Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina has put up a new website that pretty much debunks the criticism. 

I like this graphic which pretty much sums up the success at Hewlett-Packard.

I am positive that the Fiorina campaign will be responding soon to Barbara Boxer’s attacks. My guess is that they will attack her abysmal record as a Senator while California’s economy has collapsed.

• On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears From View
  The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, "going ghost": moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She will no longer be publishing cartoons in our paper or in City Arts magazine, where she has been a regular contributor. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program—except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab. It's all because of the appalling fatwa issued against her this summer, following her infamous "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" cartoon.
  ++++++
  Wishing her well and what a damn shame.
  (tags: Molly_Norris)
• DE-Sen: Harry Reid: Coons, 'my pet,' will win
  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday predicted to The Hill that Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons will safely win the Nov. 2 general election against GOP nominee Christine O'Donnell.

  Reid talked up the New Castle County executive following a memorial ceremony on the Capitol's east steps to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. O'Donnell on Tuesday night won the GOP nomination to face Coons in November — a result that has split the national Republican Party.

  But Reid said Coons would have won even if Rep. Mike Castle (R) had prevailed over O'Donnell.

  "I'm going to be very honest with you — Chris Coons, everybody knows him in the Democratic caucus. He's my pet. He's my favorite candidate," Reid said.
  ++++++
  I would not be so sure, Dingy Harry

  (tags: harry_reid chris_coons)
• Obama to Name Elizabeth Warren to Special Advisory Role to White House/Treasury Dept to Form New Consumer Agency
  President Obama will announce this week that Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor who first proposed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will be named to a special position reporting to both him and to the Treasury Department and tasked with heading the effort to get the new federal agency standing, a knowledgeable Democrat told ABC News.

  Warren currently chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Assets Relief Program and has been seen by many on the Left as a force for greater accountability and transparency, and a check against the forces in the Obama administration more closely allied with the financial sector. Many officials in that sector eye her warily as too anti-business.
  ++++++
  An FOO – Friend of Obama and a lefty

  (tags: elizabeth_warren)
• Sen. Jim DeMint’s operation fires back @ GOP
  Jim DeMint's political operation is firing back at anonymous Senate Republican aides who criticized the conservative South Carolina Senator on Tuesday night for helping Christine O'Donnell capture the GOP Senate nomination in Delaware, possibly jeopardizing the party's chances of winning the seat in November.

  One unnamed senior GOP aide told CNN's Dana Bash: "I wonder who Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer are calling first tonight – Chris Coons for becoming the next Senator from Delaware or Jim DeMint for helping to make it happen.

  Another GOP leadership aide griped to Hotline On Call that "DeMint is not interested in a majority, he'd rather establish himself as the leader on the fringe."
  ++++++
  GOP Civil War starting

  (tags: jim_demint)
• Tea Party favorites win GOP primaries in Delaware, New York – CNN.com
• DE-Sen: NRSC's John Cornyn embraces Christine O'Donnell
  Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee – and I personally as the committee’s chairman – strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O’Donnell in Delaware.

  I reached out to Christine this morning, and as I have conveyed to all of our nominees, I offered her my personal congratulations and let her know that she has our support. This support includes a check for $42,000 – the maximum allowable donation that we have provided to all of our nominees – which the NRSC will send to her campaign today.
  ++++++++
  Now, it is up to O'Donnell to make this a viable race.

  (tags: christine_o'donnell NRSC)

California GOP Governor nominee Meg Whitman, former First Lady Nancy Reagan and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina

Photo Credit: Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library

And, the endorsement (from the press release):

U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina today announced having earned the endorsement of former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

“I enjoyed meeting and talking with Carly Fiorina yesterday. I believe she knows what needs to be done to move our country forward, and I am pleased to provide an endorsement for her campaign for U.S. Senate,” said Reagan.

Besides her career in Hollywood, Reagan is also known for her work with Vietnam veterans and senior citizens. As First Lady of California, Reagan was particularly involved in the Foster Grandparent Program, an effort she continued to promote as First Lady of the United States. Reagan was also a leading champion of the “just say no” campaign against drug use.

“I am honored and humbled to have earned the endorsement of Mrs. Reagan, whom I greatly admire and respect,” said Fiorina. “She and I share the same core values, and I am thankful to have her confidence and support behind my campaign for U.S. Senate.”

Fiorina and Reagan met yesterday morning in Los Angeles.

If anyone thinks now that John McCain has beat back a challenge by a Republican challenger in an Arizona GOP Primary election is not for illegal immigrant amnesty, I think they have another thing coming.

Watch the video above and see the REAL John McCain.

Think McCain will vote to filibuster the Dream Act when Harry Reid brings it to the Senate next week?

Nope.

I think the next group of GOP Senators that will be targeted by Tea Party activists for GOP Primary defeats will be those who support the Dream Act.