Archive for May 2008
The monthlies.
DNC Rules Committee
This actually makes good television. The Clinton camp wants Obama to receive no delegates from Michigan (a very extreme view), and wants those delegates to go as “uncommitted.” Hillary was unopposed on the day of the Michigan primary, with the known fact that the primary was unbinding, and would not count. Forty percent of the [...]
Gas Trials And Tribulations
I didn’t even try to make this happen; it just did. I topped off my gas tank yesterday evening with 17.356 gallons of gas (or so the machine tells me), and priced at $4.319 per gallon, resulted in a total bill of $75.00. Exact.
McCain’s YouTube Problem
The Los Angeles Times: “[The YouTube video] might be dismissed as partisan hype but for one thing: It’s true.” The video…
In the News
- I live in a new urbanist neighborhood in the bay area, so I am biased on the subject, but it seems that my hometown (and the surrounding Buffalo region) is having a difficult time accepting the concept of walkable communities, which is a shame. – Hillary Clinton won California — somewhat handily — in [...]
Tumblr Redux
Tumblr has made a series of “improvements” to its blogging system in the last few months. I put the term improvements in quotes because improvements is relative. The popular blogging tool has introduced new permalink URLs and tags. The reason I’m poking fun at their expense is that Tumblr was supposed to be for people [...]
Dear Matt Simpson
This is an email I really wish I sent… Dear Bart, er, Matt Simpson (I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t know you didn’t like it): I have been meaning to ask if you had ever considered hair implants. You may not have realized this, but you are bald; and you are not just balding, [...]
Yellin
This is another example as to why you cannot trust journalists, even left-leaning ones… On last night’s edition of Anderson Cooper on CNN, reporter Jessica Yellin stated that she was encouraged by news executives to only report good things about the president during the run-up to the Iraq war. This is exactly what Yellin said [...]
Ph.Ph.D.
Here’s a thought… What do you call a person who has a Ph.D. in philosophy? I know what you are thinking — (a) waste of space, or (b) seven years lost — but that is not what I am getting at. But you are close. Since a Ph.D. is a “doctor of philosophy,” having a [...]
Fill’er Up
I wanted to re-thank everyone who has taken the time to write me well-wishes regarding the California gas-pump prices. It finally happened today. I paid $4.22 (and nine-tenths of a cent) per gallon this morning. And since my tank wasn’t completely empty at fill-up, I did not pass that total purchase price threshold of $70. [...]
McClellan
I hope Scotty McClellan continues to wear a flag pin on his lapel as he tours the press circuit this week, plugging his new book and responding to the myriad of questions, or the White House will add “terrorist sympathizer” to the disgruntled former press secretary’s legacy.
Disgruntled
Following the release of his revealing memoirs as White House press secretary, Scott McClellan has been regarded as simply “a ‘disgruntled’ former employee” by the Bush administration. I guess that is the door-prize treatment for being thrown under the bus during the Libby-Rove-CIA-leak-case fiasco.
Stimulus Spam
The only crack in the spammers’ plan is their choice of URL. It seems so authentic. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) United States Department of the Treasury IRS-2008-66, May 27, 2008 The Internal Revenue Service has begun to transfer economic stimulus payments to millions of Americans, some of whom will see payments in their bank accounts [...]
Payroll Parity
Baseball junkies need to start tracking this. As of today, the top two teams in baseball are the Tampa Bay Rays and the Florida Marlins, the two teams with the lowest payrolls. How long will this last? (The Marlins’ payroll — the lowest in baseball — is one-tenth of the New York Yankees’ payroll, a [...]
Growing Pains
There are those tangible signs that you are growing older, ones that you are reminded of while you listen to the radio, read the news or watch the television. First — Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Dave Matthews Band playing on classic rock radio stations. And second — Willie Randolph, Mike Scioscia and Joe Girardi are [...]
Moving Abroad
“I seem like an idiot saying this, but somehow, I kind of overlooked the complexity of moving to another country for four months. I don’t know why I didn’t think this was going to be a bigger problem.” — Chuck Klosterman, from Wednesday’s BS Report with Bill Simmons, discussing his “cavalier” decision to move to [...]
Clinton’s Exit
The vice-presidency is an historically weak position in government. And then came along the Cheney-Bush administration. If Cheney-like power is what Hillary Clinton is looking for as a potential VP nominee to run with Barack Obama, then the Obama campaign should be cautious. No presidential nominee should guarantee unlimited power to the vice president, an [...]
Bay Area Voter Guide
In February, California had its primary for the presidential election, moved up from the typical first Tuesday in March — “Super Tuesday” — which ironically resulted in an even lesser influence in the nominating process. Pennsylvania, who had looked the fool for not moving up its primary along with seemingly every other state, had a [...]
Hulk
I keep telling myself that it’s because Edward Norton is a part of the project, but I am oddly excited about the new Incredible Hulk film…
Kentucky Voters Redux
Some background on the mindset of Kentucky democrats… “‘I ain’t gonna vote for that colored guy, he ain’t pretty,’ said Willie Jessie Littleton, 70, a retired sawmill worker and lifelong Democrat who said he’d vote for McCain if Obama’s the nominee. ‘I don’t like the way he talks.’” Fair enough. Hillary Clinton’s argument should be [...]
Checked Bags Should Not Be Punished
A major airline will now charge for a traveler’s first checked bag, not just their second bag. Unfortunately, the direct result of this will be more people trying to bring more bags on-board, meaning harder to find room in the overhead compartments — which reminds me, items in the overhead compartment may have shifted during [...]
older »