Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Friday, September 26th, 2008 |
I just wanted to let my fine and honorable readers know that I will be unavailable tonight from 9PM to about 11PM. I will be downstairs watching the first presidential debate of 2008.
Due to my unavailability, I will not be taking phone calls, unless they are of emergency in nature. Oh please, like anyone calls me. Haha.
Does anyone else care about politics like I do? I mean, I don’t like politics, I get frustrated as much as the next guy from the whole circus. I like the drama. I like watching each campaign’s strategy and how they try to outwit the other. I don’t know, it gets me all wound up and ready to fight.
Ok, bye.
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Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 |
Even the sun is getting lower in the sky.
I just read an article about “Lipstickgate.” I am sure you know what I am talking about. Obama said, “You can put lipstick on a pig…” and McCain is allegedly crying about it. Well, this is what it’s come down to folks. While a friend of mine is waiting to see if his house will be foreclosed on, we are arguing about pigs wearing lipstick, 55 days away from the presidential election.
Now, let me first tell you that I have mixed feelings about the whole mortgage issue. I don’t feel like getting in to them here. My point is, the mortgage thing is a valid issue that we can and should be discussing instead of beautiful pigs. Catch my drift?
I remember waaaay back a few weeks ago, right after the Democratic National Convention, I told my mother that I was finally proud to be a Democrat. I wrote an email to an old colleague the same day and ended it saying, “It’s a great day to be a Democrat.” Man, it felt great to say that. After eight years of cowering in our unpatriotic caves, someone with some guts was standing up to all the nonsense in this country. Sure, I wasn’t flying one of those ridiculous little flags on my car, but I still felt proud and (finally) patriotic. We had a good ol’ fight on our hands.
Oh well, I should have known that sort of pride and confidence in politics wouldn’t last long. Now we have the tit-for-tat that will bring us all the way to another election day. Anything to stay away from the real issues, I suppose.
I have already been to the tennis club three times since I joined. I took one lesson and went to two clinics. There were about twelve people in the first clinic and four in the second. The clinics don’t give me as much individual attention as the private lessons, but they do keep me on top of my game. I also get the opportunity to meet and play against a wide variety of people, which is important. I like the clinics, but I think I prefer the private lessons more. My goal is to go to both the Wednesday and Saturday clinics and have one private lesson per week. I hope to also get some matches, or just hitting, in too. Without a doubt, I am having a good time, I just wish I was there more.
If you have been sneezing or have felt allergies more than normal lately, that may be because of our good friend, the Ragweed. Our other good friend, the Goldenrod usually gets blamed for the allergies, but it isn’t the most likely culprit, due to its heavy pollen. Both plants bloom at the same time, so it’s hard to tell which one is causing the issue.
I took this photo in the side yard this afternoon.
I have been thinking lately that I need some more clothes. I probably have enough, but they are getting kind of old looking. I was actually on the Old Navy website yesterday with my shopping cart full, when I started having second thoughts. I remembered back to my disappointment every time I buy something other than jeans from that place. The clothes really aren’t quality.
I left that website and went over to L.L. Bean’s website. I found a few things I like and then changed my mind again. I looked at a few of their models and thought I would have to stamp a big “L” on my forehead to wear some of that stuff. Why do their models look like such herbs? They need some new ones (call me).
I decided that it might be best to go out and buy some clothes in person. Maybe tomorrow we can take a trip up to the Prime Outlets in Lee, MA. Those are usually pretty good and I find good stuff up there. It’s not too far from here either. With the crisper air now, it can make for a good day.
Other than that, I am not sure anything too interesting is happening. Any questions?
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Posted in Autumn, Politics, Ramblings, Recreation | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 |
Oh, how exciting. I always forget how thrilling it is to vote.
Tonight, Laura and I rolled down to the fire house to exercise our civic duty. We walked in saw a few people in line and the usual women working the polling station. They are very nice people. Usually, I wake them all up with my humor. Yeah, I’m the tall redhead.
I went first…signed my name in the book and pulled the big red handle. Then, I made my vote and pulled the handle in the other direction. Laura was right behind me. She did her thing and walked out of the booth. We made a bit of small talk with the ladies and left. What a fun thing to do.
Unfortunately, for Laura or me, we canceled out each others vote.
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Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 |
33 Cent Plastic Bag Tax Causes 94% Drop in Use
Reusable cloth shopping bags, like this one at a Superquinn grocery checkout in Dublin, have replaced those stretchy, crinkly plastic shopping bags, which are subject to a 33-cent tax per bag. Ireland introduces 33 cent plastic bag tax. 94% drop within weeks.
Yahoo needs Microsoft’s help
Now we know it wasn’t just a rumor all these months. Microsoft (MSFT) has been seriously thinking about swallowing up Yahoo (YHOO) since way back in 2006. In what would be by far its largest acquisition ever.
Microsoft and Yahoo: Perfect partners?
Certainly, a Microsoft and Yahoo joint search engine would in theory give Google some competition in the search and online ad business. But even a combined Yahoo and Microsoft search proposition would still be a long way behind Google.
The Nation: MoveOn Endorses Obama
The Nation is reporting that MoveOn will endorse Barack Obama, who got 70% of the votes in their online balloting.
80% Efficient Solar Panel?! Works at Night?!
The most expensive, carefully designed, and complicated solar panels in the world operate at about 40% efficiency. That means that, for every bit of sunlight that hits the panel, only 40% of it is turned into electricity.
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Posted in Business, Current Events, Environment, Politics, Technology | 1 Comment »
Sunday, January 20th, 2008 |
You always know it’s political season when you start hearing words that you have never heard before. Today’s word is “Kingmaker.” I must’ve heard this word about ten times last night, during the Nevada and South Carolina primary battles. That’s fine, I understand the media. They like this kind of stuff.
In this case, John Edwards was being referred to as the Kingmaker. I think they were saying that he is going to inadvertently help Hillary Clinton get the Democratic nomination. Ummm, kind of like Ross Perot helped Bill Clinton get elected president…twice. Hmmmm, genious. Only this time, I think it is nothing more that John Edwards’ ego that is doing all the work. You have to admit, the guy likes to hear himself talk.
Kingmaker or no kingmaker, I love politics. I was telling Laura last night that the political season is like my football or baseball (or whatever you are into) season. The only thing is that the political season seems to be lasting for an awful long time this time ’round.
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Saturday, January 19th, 2008 |
I have to keep looking this up online, so I decided to make a quick post with some links as a reminder. Here is the 2008 Democratic and Republican Primary and Caucus schedule.
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Friday, January 18th, 2008 |
I have been hearing a LOT of news lately about a recession. I think they (the media) have been talking about this for some time, but yesterday, they really hit hard.
If you didn’t hear about it, the Dow dropped around 300 points yesterday. Actually, the market has been sucking all week. Since yesterday, this is all the news in the news. It is beginning to make me wonder if it is actually the media that is making things worse.
I kind of know the way things work over at Wall Street. After all, I did answer one out of the six questions on my finance final in grad school and managed to pull off a B- in the class. I am not saying I even answered it correctly. That’s not bad. Anyway, the way things are supposed to work is by using plenty of data to make buying and selling decisions. I am sure this actually is the way things work most of the time, but day to day trading is heavily influenced by the media. I mean, perhaps if they didn’t talk about the flames at the bottom of the endless pit of doom so much, there wouldn’t be so many drops in the market. It’s almost like the trading floor is blasting CNN over some loudspeakers. The reason I am saying this is because I happen to listen to CNN all day as I work. I must’ve heard the same story about the impending mess of the economy about fifteen times today. Then of course, our President, George W. Bush, had to come on the gool ol’ television to promote a economic stimulation plan. I ain’t sure what another whoppingly huge $300 rebate check is going to do.
I must confess, when I was listing to our President, George W. Bush, I did agree whole-heartedly that we should cut taxes. I would like a flat tax, just like Mike Huckabee is proposing. I don’t care if these brilliant politicians can’t figure out how it is going to work…they are the ones who got us in the tax mess in the first place. I believe that if we weren’t shelling out 33% of our earnings to pay for wars and $4000 toilet seats, perhaps there would be some sort of restraint. I apologize, I got off track there.
All I am trying to say is that I think television, radio, the internet and everything else out there gets everyone so damn paranoid that they hide like a pearl in a clam’s mouth. Well, that’s not good.
Ok, bye.
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Posted in Current Events, Politics, Ramblings | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 14th, 2008 |
Everything You Know about Eco-Friendly Cars is Wrong
Setting the Record Straight on Hybrids, Electric Vehicles and the Smart
$1 per Gallon Cellulosic Ethanol from Waste!
General Motors and Vinod Kohsla have invested in a new company promising to produce ethanol from any organic substance (grass, newsaper, tires, agricultural wastes) for as little as one dollar per gallon.
Breaking News: Greenpeace win battle against Japanese fleet
Greenpeace activists are claiming that they have managed to chase the Japanese whaling fleet from its hunting grounds in the Southern Sea (for now)…
Even Republicans Agree Rush Limbaugh Is Obsolete
Particularly when it comes to his head-in-the-sand stance on global warming, Rush Limbaugh is part of an old, tired machine that even conservatives are growing tired of.
Newsflash: Time May Not Exist
Physicists are confounded about how time actually fits into the universe. One theory is that “time may be an approximate concept that emerges at large scales—a bit like the concept of ‘surface of the water,’ which makes sense macroscopically but which loses a precise sense at the level of the atoms.”
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Posted in Animals, Current Events, Environment, Politics | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 29th, 2007 |
So I watched the Republican debate last night, live on CNN.com. I am not sure why I watched it…I guess I was interested in what they had to offer.
I have to say, some of it was interesting. They touched on some good issues, such as the war and fiscal policy. I was slightly pleased at that. They also touched on some really annoying things. The problem was that the candidates seemed to be trying to “out conservative” each other.
In the beginning, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney got in a little (way overblown) tussle about illegal immigration. While the topic is legitimate, I am not sure how having a few unknown illegals doing some landscaping for you affects your judgement as president. Well, I suppose it all matters in Republican debates. There were a few ridiculously idiotic questions, such as, “Do you believe in every single word of the Bible?” and “What does the Confederate Flag mean to you?” I have to admit that I am disappointed that I will never get those few minutes of my life back. I guess I have to blame CNN for letting those questions through.
So people, there you have it. While the earth’s temperature steadily climbs, glaciers melt and wars rage, American television is asking potential presidential candidates whether or not they believe in every word of the Bible, verbatim.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot a really good one…”How many guns do you own and what kind are they?” Now that one was fabulous, just fabulous. What intellectual and stimulating conversation. I think even the candidates were rolling their eyes at that one.
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Friday, November 16th, 2007 |
I heard there was going to be another Democratic debate last night in Las Vegas. I was pretty excited, because I like debates.
We sat down to start eating dinner when Laura got up to see if she could find which channel the debate was on. For some reason, we couldn’t seem to locate it. I hopped up and walked into the other room to do some research online. I discovered that the debate was going to be aired on CNN. I went back into the living room to find CNN on the TV. Again, I couldn’t find the debate, nor CNN for that matter. Hmmmm…
We finished up dinner and I visited CNN.com to get some more information. I discovered that I could watch the debate live online, right there at CNN.com. I was thinking to myself…”Yeah right, like it’s going to come in smoothly, without breaking up to buffer ever few seconds.” I clicked the player, downloaded the plugin for Firefox and off I went.
I couldn’t believe it. There I was, sitting at my computer two hours later watching them finish up the debate. About half way through, I noticed that I could enlarge the player window to fit the entire twenty two inches on my monitor. It was like watching a television. Everything was smooth and there were no commercials. During the times the commercials were airing on the television, they flipped over to live coverage of the debate on the CNN.com channel. It was so cool.
I guess things are changing quickly. By the way, Hillary did much better and was quite impressive.
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Posted in Current Events, Politics | No Comments »
