All second baseman Paige Sultzbach wanted to do was play in her school's state championship baseball game tonight.

But because she is a girl, that won't happen.

Sultzbach is a freshman at Mesa Preparatory Academy, which had been scheduled to play Our Lady of Sorrows Academy in tonight's Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship at Phoenix College.

But Our Lady of Sorrows, a fundamentalist Catholic school in Phoenix that lost twice to Mesa Prep during the regular season, chose to forfeit the championship game rather than play a team fielding a female player.

Oh religious fundamentalism, is there nothing you can't ruin?

MSNBC:

According to the North Carolina Board of Elections, only seven counties - including Wake, Orange, Durham, Chatham and Mecklenburg - voted against the amendment.

Those counties:
Wake = Raleigh
Orange = Chapel Hill
Durham = Durham
Mecklenburg = Charlotte

Though the article didn't mention it, the amendment also failed to pass in Buncombe county, home of Asheville: a wonderful, and very liberal, city up in the NC mountains. It also failed to pass in Watauga county, home of another liberal, mountain, college town: Boone.

Chatham county, where we'll be moving someday, is rural, but it sits between Wake, Orange, Durham counties. It's the suburbs.

A couple of other counties with a big college and/or a big city where the amendment passed:
New Hanover (Wilmington, coastal college town) : amendment passed by 198 votes (out of 43,904)
Guilford (Greensboro, big college town): amendment passed by 72 votes (out of 116,968)

In other words: most of the big central cities and the groovy college towns, the places where you're most likely to meet somebody with a different background from your own, places you might want to live, voted for civil rights. The rural counties voted against.

What a bunch of idiots you are.

...dies at 83.

His interview with Stephen Colbert was magnificent.

Anyone up for another Name That Tune?

I have an idea for a twist on the usual format. But I'm not going to bother if there's no interest.

Voting to prevent an amendment which would have no practical effect because the law already implements what the amendment would accomplish is not very satisfying.

Living in the city, it's easy to forget how conservative NC, as a whole, really is.

We're numbers four and five!

The Top 10:
1. Orlando, Fla.
2. Las Vegas
3. Wilmington, Del.
4. Raleigh, N.C.
5. Charlotte, N.C.
6. Minneapolis
7. Atlanta
8. Tampa, Fla.
9. Anchorage, Alaska
10. Austin, Texas

I was away at the beach last week, so there was nothing to post - "another sunny day next to the cold ocean, another 15 beers, another 50 rounds of cards" ?

But, it was a nice break, and it was fantastic to get off my normal routine. Not having to watch a clock is a wonderful thing.

And when I got to work, I learned that the company I work for will be dissolved and then absorbed by the parent company. Not the kind of thing I want to hear, when there's a new house on the way.

Joy.

Random five - Genius edition
1. T-Rex - Jeepster
2. Velvet Underground - Pale blue eyes
3. Bowie - Kooks
4. Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
5. Gang of Four - Damaged Goods

Your turn!