Slush Guzzler

In Absentia

2005-12-02T07:55:00.000-05:00

Lauren and I have had a Netflix account since we moved, and I can't recommend it highly enough. One thing it has led to, though, is me reading a lot more movie synopses than I ever have. The more you read them, the more you realize how truly ridiculous it is to try and summarize a movie in a sentence or two. Is Jaws really about a fishing trip? What if I said a movie was about "two friends and their wacky hijinks involving a corpse with a mind of its own?" Am I talking about Weekend at Bernie's or a faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, one that incorporates the Clerval storyline?

I also found this site called Ruined Endings. I realize it's stupid, but I get the idea of wanting to know the endings of movies that you'll never see. At the same time, is the ending of Hitch so unpredictable? (SPOILER ALERT: He gets the girl!) Most of the "Ruined Endings" give no background on who the characters are or the main plot points, so it seems more targeted at people who walked out of, say, Home Alone, and are now wondering if Kevin's parents ever return home (SPOILER ALERT: They don't. Kevin dies and the house goes into receivership.)

Perhaps the best spoiler is for Pearl Harbor: "The Japanese lose the war." Shut up, I haven't seen it yet!

T-giving

2005-11-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

A fan of the whole brevity thing, I'm wondering what the Slush heads think of the impending holiday of T-giving. Specifically, what's your favorite dish served at the holiday? For me, its definitely the side dishes, particularly the mashed potatoes and the stuffing (or dressing, depending on your culturally adherence). Turkey's turkey, but a truly good mashed potato or stuffing can be transcendent.

Thoughts?

Please Respect Us

2005-11-18T08:40:00.000-05:00

Have you seen this commercial on TV yet? The Dept. of Homeland Security issues a heart-rending plea to have its color code system taken seriously, but the whole thing plays like a Daily Show segment. Definitely worth watching.

Same Intelligence?

2005-11-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the White House brought an interesting charge against many Congressional critics of the war in Iraq: you saw the same intelligence we did, what are you complaining about now? I don't think the partisan attacks by either side on this issue is constructive, but I think the White House's assertion of "same intelligence" is laughable at best.

Our national legislature, unlike our executive (which has several), doesn't have an intelligence agency. Congress can only evaluate the intelligence given to it by executive agencies. Now, I have no doubt that in the run up to the war, the White House gave Congress all information it believed was necessary. But it is a stretch to say that Congress had all the information that the White House did. First of all, the White House is a natural filter between the intelligence agencies and Congress. Second, and I'm no expert, most Congressmen are not privy to the full extent of intelligence that the White House does pass on. The intelligence committees get the big picture and then decide what to pass on to the full 535 members. Now, I don't know, for instance, what committees Rep. Mertha (D.-Penn) sits on, maybe he is on intelligence. However, that doesn't negate my basic point: there simply isn't any way that every member of Congress receives the exact same intelligence briefing as President Bush. The offensive argument that the White House is using now doesn't hold up to even basic examination.

Fear Of Needles

2005-11-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

Here in Massachusetts, the House on Monday passed a bill that would legalize the sale of syringes through pharmacies without a prescription. Gov. Romney is opposed to the bill, and has not announced yet whether or not he would veto the bill if it passes the Senate. The story is here.

I don't understand the opposition to this bill, though I do like how it comically takes the argument against condom distribution or marijuana legalization and mercilessly stretches that logic beyond the breaking point. Laws like this already exist in 47 other states. They have been proven in states like Connecticut and Rhode Island to dramatically reduce the transmission of diseases like AIDS and Hep. C. So where is the problem? Does anyone really think that readily available hypodermic needles will create even one more new drug user? Give me a break. The drugs people use needles for are hard drugs. No one decides to become an addict, or dust off that old heroin habit, just because clean needles are available. The idea of a drug addict refusing to use a dirty needle, holding out for a clean one, would be funny if there was anything funny about a destructively powerful physical and psychological compulsion. But there isn't. If this country has a problem it's a drug problem, not a needle problem. So the least we can do is prevent the transmission of deadly diseases while we figure out how to get these people the help they need.

McCartney: Cute Beatle, Knight of the Realm and Space Explorer?

2005-11-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

Paul McCartney self-invited himself to perform minor Beatles' classic "Good Day Sunshine" as well as his new track "English Tea" for the crew of the International Space Station this morning. The publicity stunt, hailed as the first-ever concert linkup to space, served as the two-man crew's wake-up signal.

The AP-wire had this to say:

"The performance was beamed from the West Coast to the space station crew 220 miles above Earth and broadcast on NASA television, which showed live feeds from space.

[Astronauts] McArthur and Tokarev bobbed up and down and sipped from squeeze pouches through the show, getting a rousing cheer from the audience."

'I can't believe that we're actually transmitting to space!' McCartney said. 'This is sensational. I love it.'"

McArthur, who did a couple flips, noted McCartney's creative achievements and thanked him for playing the songs."

"'That was simply magnificent,' McArthur said. 'We consider you an explorer just as we are.'"

Putting aside Paul's traditional puffery, I'd like to focus on Astronaut Bill McArthur's decision to declare Paul McCartney an "explorer." The comment reads like the typical unfortunate exaggeration that someone not used to dealing with the press comes out with. I'm sure that McArthur felt the need to say something either quotable or profound and somehow found himself placing Paul McCartney on the same pedestal as John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. One wonders if he later slapped his forehead and said, "D'oh."

Still no word on which McCartney thought was more "sensational": the transmission or the sippy squeeze pouches.

Dover, PA Sleeps With The Fishes

2005-11-11T07:19:00.000-05:00

Pat Robertson has apparently appointed himself God's mafioso lieutenant, a sort of St. Luca Brasi.

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”
“And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there,” he said.

Indeed, as it says in Mario 1:15, "God never asks a second favor once he's refused the first, understand?"

Like a lot of things Pat Robertson does, trying to threaten and intimidate voters is beyond ridiculous. If God really wanted those candidates to win, he should have done more than quietly endorse them. Did he do any phone banking? Voter targeting? Where was his GOTV operation?

Happy Birthday

2005-11-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

I'd like to give a shout out to St. Mose on this anniversary of his birth....

Negative Jerry

2005-11-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

And so Jerry Kilgore lost his bid for the governorship of Virginia and by 6 points no less. How could this former attorney general lose a state that Bush won twice? Negative campaigning. If you don't already know, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. Less government, less taxes, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I didn't vote for Kilgore. I voted for his opponent, Tim Kaine and not for any particular attraction to him. I don't really know the first thing about Tim Kaine's policies, his leadership style or anything else of value about him. I do know one thing, however, he's not Jerry Kilgore.

I voted against Jerry Kilgore because he's a jerk. Or, at least, so I gathered from his commercials. He tried to trade on his western Virginia roots by dragging out his twin brother and talking in a fake accent (the guy's lived in Richmond for at least a decade). He used fearmongering tactics to accuse his opponent of coddling child molesters, trying to quadruple the gas tax and trying to eliminate school funding. However, the capstone of his attack campaign had to be his accusation that Tim Kaine wouldn't execute the laws of Virginia properly (specifically the death penalty) because he was a Catholic. Not since 1960 have I heard such blatant Catholic baiting. Kilgore did everything but claim that the Virginia state house would be moved to Rome.

If news reports can be relied upon, it was swing votes like mine that created Kaine's come from behind victory. While Kaine had a strong, motivated Democratic base and the benefit of an enormously popular outgoing Democratic governor (the ever smiley Mark Warner), Kilgore ran his own campaign into the ground with attack ads. I hope that's the lessons the 2008 presidential candidates take from Virginia's 2005 gubernatorial election.

Open Myke

2005-11-09T06:31:00.000-05:00

Scott Lingenfelter has earned political capital and now he's going to use it... that is his style.

What's on your mind today?

Kiddie Kadillac

2005-11-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

Though I want to hate this, I think I understand the reasoning behind it now. When these battery powered kiddie cars used to ape more sensible vehicles (ha) like Jeeps or monster trucks, it was frustrating that they would go for 5 minutes on a 24 hour charge. Rather than make a better battery, they've simply lowered our expectations! It still drives for only 5 minutes, but now it costs $60 to charge the battery.

Kerry Speaks

2005-11-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to Tufts University in Medford, MA for a grassroots meeting featuring John Kerry as the keynote speaker. There are a few accounts of the event here and here. Let me first say that in front of a small group (or perhaps not in front of a camera) Sen. Kerry is an inspired speaker. He has actually been addressing the "morals" issue that the D raised here a few days ago, both in a speech in New Hampshire on Saturday and a point from that speech that he echoed yesterday:

"There is not anywhere in the three-year ministry of Jesus Christ, any, that remotely suggests - not one miracle, not one parable, not one utterance -that says you ought to cut children's health care or take money from the poorest people in our nation and give it to the wealthiest. Nowhere."

That got some big applause. Sen. Kerry also highlighted the importance of local organization, claiming that Ohio had no local organization last fall and so people from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and elsewhere had to come in and try to get organized (though this study would seem to dispute that).

Finally, Kerry assured us that House & Senate Democrats will be releasing a unified agenda in January. I share his optimism that this will serve to attract some disenchanted Bush supporters looking for a reality-based plan for the future. One can hope, anyway.

A group picture was taken and its distribution was promised; if I get ahold of it I'll post it.

Advise & Consent

2005-11-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

I wanted to expand a little bit on Mike's post from last night. When I consider Supreme Court nominations and confirmations my head hurts, because I have no idea what my opinion is. From what I know of Judge Alito's record, he and I would disagree on a great many things. Does that mean I don't think he should be confirmed? Not necessarily. It seems to me that the Senate's role in the confirmation process has been inflated recently. Nominating Supreme Court justices is not a group activity; it is a spoil of victory. Certainly the founding fathers knew that politicians would nominate ideological allies and, from time to time, cronies; Alexander Hamilton spoke out against the latter but was conspicuously silent on the former.

From Federalist Paper #76:
To what purpose then require the co-operation of the Senate? I answer, that the necessity of their concurrence would have a powerful, though, in general, a silent operation. It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity.

No one should be surprised that George W. Bush has had the opportunity to put two people on the Supreme Court, nor should they be surprised that he would nominate conservatives. If it can be somehow demonstrated that Alito disregards the competing merits of a case to arrive at a predetermined result, I suppose he might be considered "unfit". But I don't think you can torpedo a nominee because you don't like his politics.

I would bet that many of the people most outraged by Alito are the same people who sit out elections and claim that there is no real difference between Democrats and Republicans these days. Is this, a justice who may be the deciding vote in eviscerating Roe, a big enough difference for you?

I don't want to see Alito on the Supreme Court, but I'm not willing to run roughshod over the Executive Branch in particular and the separation of powers in general to stop it. The time to do something about this was last November, or, if you're an optimist, November 2008.

Then again, does "consent" really mean "rubber stamp"? You see my problem here?

The Gang of 14

2005-11-03T18:25:00.000-05:00

There's be a lot on the news in the past few days about the so-called "Gang of 14." The Gang of 14 is a bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators who staved off the so-called nuclear option a few months back and have now, if you believe the media, been given single-handed control over the confirmation of Judge Alito. Now, I don't really care one way or the other personally, but I think if I was part of the so-called "Leftover 86," I would be insulted. Who decided that these 14 senators were the cool kids calling all the shots? The emphasis and pathos that the media places on these 14 chosen ones is just absurd.

Knights of the Roundtable

2005-11-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

So I was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion this weekend with none other than Sen. John Kerry. Supposedly it'll be a small group and I'll be able to ask him some germane questions, so I thought I'd turn this over to the general wisdom of the Slush G. What would you ask Sen. Kerry? Post your questions here and if I get a chance to ask them I'll report back with his answers.

Open Myke

2005-11-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

Sing it loud & proud...

Review the Reviews

2005-11-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

Nate's restaurant review seems to have gone over like Lingenfelter's proposals for Kent Memorial Library (good or bad depending upon your perspective). In that spirit, I was wondering how you the reader would feel about various other kinds of reviews here on Slush Guzzler. I'd be happy to throw out random opinions on DVDs, films, books, comics, and auto repair shops. Please do let me know your thoughs.

Swearing in Before the Bar

2005-11-01T12:26:00.000-05:00

Gas for 20-hour, 1100 mile drive from Newport to Richmond and back: $150
5 bad fast food meals: $30
Intermittent satelite radio reception: $12 a month
1 day of leave: $100

2 seconds saying "I do" in a crowded convention center before the Virginia Supreme Court: Priceless.

Wonders of the Modern World

2005-11-01T12:18:00.000-05:00

Slushheads-

Wow - I didn't even realize until today that my post of a week ago had even made it on to the board due to the slowness of my connection. Now that I know that the posts are making it through, I'll try to pick up the pace a little bit...

Thought for today: Does anyone else think it was odd that President Bush complimented Judge Alito on his taste in women yesterday when he nominated him to the high court? Talk about a ham-handed segue.

Doonesbury

2005-10-30T10:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post from Connecticut... my grandmother pointed out that RPI was mentioned in Doonesbury this week.

Friday Question

2005-10-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

What will you be for halloween this year?

If you answered "nothing", what WOULD you be if you weren't so lazy, busy, etc.?

The band is playing in Hartford tonight at the Hartford Independent Media Center's Halloween Party. Things are not looking good in terms of me getting together a costume by then, but stranger things have happened, I suppose. I had been thinking of being Buddy Holly, but I don't have a tuxedo. Damn formal 50's! Anyway, if you're going to be in the Greater Hartford area tonight around 9pm, why not swing by? I'll buy you a beer (and by that I mean give you one of the cans of beer I'll be bringing).

Open Myke

2005-10-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

Please keep the terseness to a minimum!

In Search of the Average

2005-10-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

The Courant had an article (and accompanying picture) today about a man who searched the country for the absolute average American and then wrote a book about that everyman. What he found may surprise you...

...but it probably won't. That guy is definitely average-looking, alright. He's a total 5!!! Anyway, it turns out that the author picked his old high school janitor, without even realizing it. In fact, the author used to have a T-shirt with the janitor's face on it, for reasons I don't understand now but would have undoubtedly found hilarious in high school. Let me be the first to say it: kids can be so cruel. Anyway, I thought this was an interesting search to undertake, and the story has a neat ending-- the author dupes the janitor (possessing an IQ of precisely 100) into changing his name to John Q Public.

After I read the article, I started googling for more articles about this "Average Joe." Instead, I found myself at the Average White Band's website. Remember them? They do that song "Pick Up The Pieces". True Story: one time I was at a town fair of sorts in Enfield, CT when all of a sudden the Average White Band appeared and started playing. Like an idiot, I stood there for a few minutes hoping they would play "Pick Up The Pieces" soon. It dawned on me that they (no doubt with rockstar hangups about the audience streaming towards the parking lot five minutes into their set) probably save that one for the end. Anyway, I started reading their old news posts, when I came across this excerpt from their Sept. 27, 2001 missive, delineating their response to Sept. 11:

The one thing that is unmoved, however, is my need to assure you all of the entire band’s shock and sadness at the scale of this atrocity, and its senseless waste of human life[...]

Like many Americans, when I heard the news of the attacks my first thought was "This was the work of that band that does 'Pick Up The Pieces'." As time went by and it was determined that Saddam Hussein was solely responsible, I dropped my suspicion toward the 'Band, for the most part. But at the same time, I wondered what the band's reaction was to the whole thing. Were they neither shocked nor saddened? They certainly didn't seek me out and tell me otherwise. To put it bluntly, I was shocked and saddened that they weren't expressing their shock and sadness. Finally, after 2+ weeks of waiting and (one can only assume) vicious infighting and hand-wringing over the ramifications such a statement would have on their big jihadist following, the band came out firmly (courageously?) on the side of anti-terrorism. Alan Gorrie (vocals/bass) was tasked with writing the majority opinion.

If anyone is still reading, my point is that in the future I'm just going to assume that most restaurants, airlines, bands, babysitters, day care centers, dog grooming businesses, and hotel chains are against wanton acts of terrorism. Certainly I understand the need to grope with disaster in both public and private ways, but you don't need to release a statement about something so obvious.

P.S. Someone tell that guy who called the blog "terse" to come read this post.

Reviewed

2005-10-25T14:12:00.000-04:00

Colin McEnroe is teaching a graduate class on blogging at Trinity College in Hartford. I came across this review of the Guzzler by one of the students in the class:

Slush Guzzler looks sharp and has some interesting, if terse, posts, but it doesn't develop the strong blogging voice I expected from its tagline: "Pickles, Law, Beer and Politics." The semi-regular posts here often seem to fall back on the "open myke," which is another way of saying NOT MUCH TO SAY.

Man, and I thought our tagline cushioned and ensconced people in its soft bigotry of low expectations! In all seriousness, I consider terseness (or at least succinctness) to be an exalted virtue in any and all forms of expression. I'd hate to hear the blog was longwinded or blowhardesque.

American Joe's Just Average

2005-10-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

This is the first in an occasional series of irritating, mostly fictional restaurant reviews.

Slush Guzzagat's Survey
American Joe's Bar & Grill
** out of 4

Last night Mike, Lauren, and I went to dine at American Joe's Bar & Grill in scenic Providence, RI. It was nobody's first choice but somebody's second choice. This "boffo" room had a "dim" ambience yet a lively, boisterous crowd. The meal started, as they so often do, with our choice of potables. Mike and I quaffed a delightful brew hereafter referred to as Sam's Octoberfest. At $4.95 a pop, I was "nonplussed"; my dining companion was "underwhelmed". By contrast, the coffee service Lauren received was a tour-de-force of hospitality; our amiable server was unflappable, going so far as to deliver both cream and milk to the table with nary a raised eyebrow.

Our eager-to-please server raved about the clam chowder, imploring us to "try it before you knock it." Finding the request both "odd" and "off-putting", we nevertheless acquiesed and were each rewarded with a hot mug of creamy chowder that was by turns "exhilirating" and "uninspired".

The main course arrived in due time. Lauren got the Joe's pizza, no sausage; by all accounts it was "bland." Mike supped on the full rack of ribs; by all outward appearance he delighted in each "smoky" bite. I had the special, a choice cut of ahi tuna. Though I ordered it rare, I was wholly unprepared for the frozen piece of fish delivered to the table. The warm room soon brought the fish to a suitable temperature, and the sides of rice pilaf and brussel sprouts were an enjoyable accouterment of the culinary variety.

Bottom Line: A workhorse of the pub fare scene, American Joe's does it best when it sticks to the vernacular of the American cookbook.

I'm back...

2005-10-24T07:03:00.000-04:00

After months of mandatory military training, failed hard drives, and hotel rooms without internet connections, I'm back on the web and on the Guzz. Thanks to Nate for holding the torch up alone during my absence. More to come later...

Honorable Mention

2005-10-23T17:01:00.000-04:00

In today's Northeast section of the Courant there was a front page story about Connecticut blogs. It covered a bunch of interesting-sounding blogs I'd never heard of before. Then at the end it had a list entitled "blogs mentioned in this story." Sure enough, halfway down, is the ol' Slush Guzzler. Thing is, though, we're NOT mentioned in the story, at least not the online version. Oh well. Maybe the list was counting itself?

Newspapers mentioned in this post:
Hartford Courant
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Quoted Quotables

2005-10-21T10:37:00.000-04:00

I saw this quote in an MSNBC article today and it struck me how ridiculous this White House has gotten:

From the failed effort to restructure Social Security to the uproar over the Miers nomination to the Supreme Court, Bush's second-term operation has been far more prone to mistakes than his first.

Considering we accidentally invaded Iraq on false pretense in the first term, that's pretty bad.

My apologies for not blogging so much lately. When I have a free minute during the day I have been working on a new project I got involved with. I'm the town coordinator for 7 towns for Common Cause's Fair Districts for Fair Elections campaign here in Mass. I've been trying to get volunteers to help collect signatures for the ballot initiative, as well as trying to get a hold of Town Committee chairs to see if they will endorse the measure. So I've been spending a lot of time speaking to answering machines. If you live in Massachusetts (or nearby) and want to help, please let me know! Also, I've been trying to get a Young Democrats chapter started out here in Central Massachusetts. I've gotten a few responses from interested parties so far.

Finally, and perhaps most poignantly, I've apparently been battling severe hearing loss. You see, I work from home, and so either Lauren or I (or both) are usually here for 23 hours out of any given day. So naturally it came as some surprise when I found out from a letter on our door (reproduced below) that Rusty has been barking and running around constantly, "worse in the evenings." And here I thought he was sleeping on the couch all day! Let me tell you, not being able to hear a child's laugh, Christmas carolers, or a dog's incessant barking is torture. I will accept this letter's challenge and try to be a Lifesaver; in the meantime, to paraphrase the great Barney Gumbel, "don't cry for me, I'm already dea[f]."

(Belated) Open Myke

2005-10-20T10:22:00.000-04:00

It's been a week since the last post; you all must have something to say . . .

Happy Birthday

2005-10-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

...to Slush Guzzler stalwart the D. Have a good one, D!

Update: Congratulations are also in order to Slush Guzzler co-founder Mike, who has passed the Virginia Bar Exam!

Chances Are

2005-10-12T09:36:00.000-04:00

Anyone making any predictions on the Harriet Miers nomination? Will she be confirmed or won't she? As I said last week, I have no real beef with a non-judge being appointed. But Miers has never even argued a case before the Supreme Court, and has shown no philosophy towards the Constitution whatsoever. I'm not a conservative, but I can certainly understand why conservatives are so mad about the nomination, and why the Bush administration doesn't get it.

Even Bush's supporters will admit that the man usually relies on his "gut" feeling rather than thoughtful deliberation. And a quick glance at his approval ratings make it clear that this President is not very good at making the case for something he supports. This personality trait seems to have left the Bush administration unable to understand why whispered assurances that Miers is a real conservative aren't resonating with conservatives. Isn't it obvious? Miers can of course vote with the conservatives in every case if she wants to, but for her to really make a mark she will occasionally have to write opinions compelling enough to convince her fellow justices to sign on. Conservatives want someone who has already been through these ideological battles, and if I were on their side I would agree. Having a bumper sticker on your car, whether it says "Terrorist Hunting Permit No. 091101" or "Bush Lied, People Died" or "Nuke France" or whatever, doesn't mean you're convincing anyone to subscribe to your views. Likewise, holding the "correct" personal opinion on controversial issues is not enough for a Supreme Court justice. Look at Justices Thomas and Scalia; they almost always vote the same, but does that make them the same? Of course not. Justice Thomas often makes himself irrelevant with obscure textualist interpretations, whereas Justice Scalia at his best is THE dominant voice on the Court and almost impossible to argue with, regardless of one's personal views on the issue at hand.

Any thoughts?

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-10-12T09:22:00.000-04:00

Enter comments here.

Friday Question

2005-10-07T14:29:00.000-04:00

Every fall, the TV networks gear up for the fall season with loads of new shows. Are you watching any of them?

The only new show we watched when it premiered was "How I Met Your Mother." Mike predicted the ending of the show and we haven't watched it since. Are there any new, good shows out there?

Open Myke Wednesday

2005-10-05T06:55:00.000-04:00

Hey, it's an Open Myke! What's on your mind today?

Nominee Opinions?

2005-10-03T16:27:00.000-04:00

You all must have an opinion about today's nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Do we care that she's not a judge and doesn't have a record?

Friday Question

2005-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

What's your favorite sport to play?

Lately mine has been softball, I got into a men's league just this week. The first game was fun, I even got one of the team's three hits (a single into shallow left). Needless to say, we lost.

Busy Day

2005-09-29T10:55:00.000-04:00

Sorry, busy day today, feel free to use this as an Open Myke. Also, if I remember correctly, we all owe e.reed a happy birthday today, so Happy Birthday!

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-09-28T07:09:00.000-04:00

Que?

New Poll

2005-09-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

Does global warming cause super hurricanes? You decide.

Oops

2005-09-23T09:47:00.000-04:00

On June 26, Globe sports writer Dan Shaughnessy wrote an article boldy predicting that the Red Sox would win the AL East by a landslide. It also featured other nuggets of wisdom that haven't exactly been borne out in the intervening time period, such as "it gets even better for the pitching staff" and "[Mike Timlin] should be an All-Star." The article stopped just short of predicting a Golden Glove for Edgar Renteria (I'm a big fan of his and have a shirt with his name on the back, but even I've lost patience. Bring on Hanley Ramirez already.)

Today Shaughnessy (tragi-)comically retracted his predictions in a column entitled "On Second Thought." Have a read if you're so inclined.

Friday Question

2005-09-23T06:47:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been coveting these new DVD definitive versions of the old Twilight Zones, they look really cool but expensive. They run a couple of them each night at 1 a.m. on the Sci-Fi Network, but Lauren and I follow Ben Franklin's advice on being healthy, wealthy, and wise, so we're usually deep asleep by then.

Anyway, my Friday question is this: What's your favorite old Twilight Zone Episode? Is it the one where the guy wakes up and he's the same, but everyone else is different? They were all like that!

Mine is the one where the Earth has inexplicably left its orbit and is rocketing towards the sun, so the planet is slowly burning up. A young painter decides to stay in her apartment for Earth's final days, and a kindly old woman lives across the hall. The woman paints a picture of a beautiful waterfall, but the heat makes the paint run, then the woman sort of goes crazy and passes out. Then you see that it was just a fever dream (big surprise, huh?), the old woman is taking care of her. Also, the Earth is actually rocketing away from the sun, and everything is dark and cold.

Hey Jealousy

2005-09-22T08:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I got my new Massachuetts (Red Sox) plates... My car and I are official residents now! It figures that right away something cool is happening in Connecticut, for once, in the form of the Gin Blossoms playing at the Durham Fair this Sunday. Ok, go ahead and laugh if you want. But I liked the Gin Blossoms and I'm not alone. They even got a favorable review in Rolling Stone. Besides, liking something uncool makes you that much cooler, right? Right? Hello? Guys?

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-09-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

You were saying?

Don't Make Me Laugh

2005-09-20T19:52:00.000-04:00

There is a funny article in the Onion this week called "Bill Introduced As Joke Signed Into Law." The fact that there is something funny in the Onion is not in itself newsworthy, but I thought I'd point out that something very similar happened when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. During debate on the act, Rep. Howard Smith (R-VA) thought he would poke fun at what he considered the absurdity of legislating equality on the basis of race. So he jokingly proposed an amendment to the Act that would prohibit governmental discrimination on the basis of gender, too. (Get it? hahahaha! Me neither.) However, women's groups and the Johnson Administration (LBJ sought to grab some of John F. Kennedy's base, namely women voters) got behind the amendment and the Act passed. Gender equality (as far as the federal government is concerned) is certainly no joke, but in some ways it started out as one.

New Poll

2005-09-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

New poll up today, about the return to New Orleans.

Vote and then comment here, if you like.

UCONN Commercial

2005-09-16T07:09:00.000-04:00

Remember that UCONN commercial I auditioned for a while back? Well, as you probably know I didn't get the job. But some other guy did. Here is the commercial, in all its horrible, can't look away from the trainwreck glory.

Great pick, indeed.

At least this person and this person love it.

Open Myke

2005-09-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

What's on your mind?

Wage Cutting

2005-09-12T14:44:00.000-04:00

The President on Thursday suspended the Davis-Bacon law in the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. The law requires federal contractors to pay the prevailing local wages. What valid reason can there be to underpay already poor people trying to rebuild their devastated region? Unbelievable. I guess the religious right is so busy fighting gay marriage and contraception that they didn't notice this distinctly un-Jesus-like maneuver.

Bush In The Way

2005-09-12T08:43:00.000-04:00

President Bush seems to continuously find new ways to hinder the relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His near constant visits to the region are obviously politically motivated; as he ruins each trip with inappropriate jokes, meaningless platitudes ("hang in there") and a complete lack of compassion, another trip has to be scheduled to fix the previous one. But I wish some of the media traveling with the President on these photo ops would report on the intrusiveness of such visits. Obviously, the President of the United States doesn't just stop by. I'm sure that each visit has entailed halting the search for victims (alive and dead) and forcing rescue workers to go through a security screening. All police activity probably stops for fear of gunfire. Look at any picture of Pres. Bush with firefighters, relief workers, local politicians, etc. Every single person in those pictures looks distracted-- he/she would rather be rebuilding a levee, searching a house for victims, or consoling constituents, not posing for photographs with a man who only rolls up his sleeves when a camera is present. To waste these skilled workers' time by drafting them in the desperate effort to save the President's image is unconscionable. The best thing the President can do is stay away, do his job, and let relief workers do their jobs.

Friday Question

2005-09-09T10:47:00.000-04:00

Seen any good movies lately?

Last Sunday Lauren and I held an accidental Dennis Quaid movie festival-- we unwittingly bought two of his movies. We celebrate his entire catalog. The first one we watched was Cold Creek Manor. It was so-so. A lot of it is Stephen Dorff doing his Jack Nicholson Shining impression, which is annoying. At the end he even starts talking in that voice and chopping a door down with an axe.

The other one was In Good Company-- very good movie! I highly recommend it.

Barbara Blunders

2005-09-07T11:14:00.000-04:00

My friend Jenny told me about this last night; she saw it on AOL.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-abarbara07sep07,0,5907768.story?coll=sfla-news-nationworld

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."

Oh goody! We lost our home and personal belongings but we get to live in Texas now! We can start over in Texas and our lives will be SO much better!

Unbelievable!

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-09-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Can we tawk?

Le Subway

2005-09-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

What do people think of this new ad campaign by Subway? Calling the French chickens seems a little edgy/offensive for a major restaurant chain. I think it's stupid and pandering, but what do I know?

New Poll

2005-09-06T09:39:00.000-04:00

New poll about John Roberts' chance for confirmation as Chief Justice. Vote to the left and explain yourself here!

Happy Labor Day

2005-09-05T08:04:00.000-04:00

From the U.S. Dept of Labor website:

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Happy Labor Day, hope you are all NOT working today! I am laboring at Legal Aid today in order to get Sept 16 off for Mike's graduation.

Remember: no more white shoes after today! (Actually, for Mike's OIS graduation, the uniform of the day is service dress whites so he'll be wearing his white shoes. A fashion faux pas!)

Friday Question

2005-09-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

What's your jam? In other words, what CD(s)/artist have you been listening to a lot lately?

I've been listening to John Coltrane's My Favorite Things because it's already in the CD player, and I'm too lazy to go open my new binders and find something else. Also, I downloaded a song I heard on MTV2, called "Sugar, We're Going Down" by Fallout Boy. It's emo to the max.

FEMA's priorities

2005-09-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

I heard something on the NBC Nightly News tonight that really surprised me with its ignorance. Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, spoke at some length about the "thugs" that were looting in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina (and in the absence of federal organization, supplies, or evacuation). While I agree that walking off with new sneakers and televisions is not the best response to a national tragedy, what the hell do I (or Michael Brown) know? These people are hungry, thirsty, hot, overtired, and angry. They are surrounded by water and corpses and have no doubt lost family members and close friends. Not to make a Bill Frist-style long distance diagnosis, but many of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina are probably suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Meanwhile, while Michael Brown sits at home shouting at the looters on TV the federal government is being harshly criticized by people from across the political spectrum for failing to respond quickly enough. As the days pass I tend to agree. Our country launched a massive airlift into Berlin; why can't we do one out of New Orleans? I guess my point is that Michael Brown should be spending his time spearheading a massive evacuation of the area, not carping about (albeit selfish) survivors of a national tragedy. Though looting electronics and other non-necessities is obviously the wrong response, it's at least as good as anything FEMA has come up with so far.

Donate

2005-09-01T09:51:00.000-04:00

I'm sure this struck most people as obvious, but if you want to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina please send your donations to the Red Cross. The Red Cross donation site seems to be bogged down at the moment, which gives a palpable sense of how caring people can be. You can give your Red Cross donation at Amazon, too. Though donations of bottled water and food are well-intentioned, they're hard for relief organizations to transport and cost you more than the Red Cross. The most helpful thing that you can give is money.

FDA Official Quits

2005-09-01T08:58:00.000-04:00

It's nice to see that someone at the FDA still values science over politics. Susan Wood, Director of the Office of Women's Health at the agency, quit over the FDA's cowardly quibbling and indecision over Plan B, the morning-after pill. The FDA is caught between good science on one side and the hysterical "moral" majority on the other. One would think that an organization devoted solely to evaluating the safety of food and drugs would know which way to run, but apparently not. Wood put it best.

"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled."

Amen.

New Blog!

2005-08-31T20:07:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd let anyone interested know that I have started a blog dedicated to Massachusetts politics, it's at http://masspolitical.blogspot.com. Do not fret, I will of course be devoting the same energy and fervor to this blog that you have come to know and love, or possible mildly like. Any rants, policy discussions, Connecticut-related topics (which I am still following like a resident), and pictures of Rusty will continue to be posted here; the new blog will be a (mostly) dispassionate analysis of Mass. politics. I figured that most people who read this blog probably don't care about a gubernatorial primary that's months away, with the exception of Mass. native Melissa; I expect you to be a regular reader!

The name of the blog is a cold and calculating "Massachusetts Political Blog"; will Google not eat that up?

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-08-31T08:50:00.000-04:00

Let's Hear ye!

New Poll

2005-08-29T08:45:00.000-04:00

Over to your left. Will the Iraqis come to an agreement on a constitution anytime soon?

I don't see it. The issues of federalism and the role of Islam in everyday life are going to require a bit more horsetrading than has happened so far. Let the compromising begin!

Something You Don't See Everyday

2005-08-29T08:24:00.000-04:00

Missy, Rob and I attended a college friend's wedding this weekend in DC. The above two photos show Ithaca College's president Peggy Williams dancing to House of Pain's "Jump Around" with Jay and Matt, more IC alum.

Though she didn't know the lyrics, you can see she certainly knew how to "jump up, jump up and get down."

To The Right

2005-08-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

This is interesting... Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), widely believed to be considering a run for President in 2008, spoke out yesterday against both civil unions and gay marriage in the state of Massachusetts. It was a strange flip-flop from the Romney of two years ago, the one that actively tried to get a civil unions bill passed. These days he apparently feels that the best way to the Republican nomination is by appeasing the vocal anti-homosexual faction of the national party, even if that means ignoring the fact that a majority of Massachusetts voters have consistently supported civil unions. How does trampling over the will of your home state give you a solid base from which to launch a national campaign? I'm not sure what the strategy is there. At any rate, as so many other Republican hopefuls rush to distance themselves from many of President Bush's wildly unpopular, irrelevant, and often failing policies, it's refreshing to see someone so willing to flip-flop down with the Bush/Cheney ship.

Congratulations

2005-08-26T12:14:00.000-04:00

Lauren's "lame duck" comment reminded me: I'd like to publicly congratulate her for winning a spot in this fall's first year class at the New England College of Optometry! She starts in about a week. It was a last minute thing but we're both very excited about it!

Friday Question

2005-08-26T08:12:00.000-04:00

What do you eat for breakfast? I'm a toast and coffee guy myself. When I'm really motivated I'll make some cheese grits.

Eat It Whole Day

2005-08-25T14:47:00.000-04:00

This is a bizarre story, for any number of reasons.

Got milk? Batboy takes dare, drinks gallon

Brad Penny of the Dodgers offered a Florida Marlins batboy $500 to chug a gallon of milk without puking. The batboy was suspended by the Marlins but the batGROWNMAN, who one would think should know better, was not. Apparently the Dodgers saw the situation differently than the Marlins. Either way, what a shining example of the way athletes are often treated as man-children in our culture.

Are you ready for some football?!

2005-08-25T10:11:00.000-04:00

Football season is upon us down here in Lexington, Virginia. By mid-August, our local high school teams have begun practicing, articles have been written about the upcoming season-the key players and new coach (who's a mere 27), season tickets have been sold at the county fair and I've blocked off each Friday night until November to shoot the Rockbridge County Wildcats' games.

Football is big down here, probably not as big as in Texas but very close. The entire county comes together for the Wildcats, there's banners and face painting, posters in store windows. We're excited when a star player becomes eligible (academically) a week before the first game and we worry when the quarterback has a limp in his step when he's sacked.

I love football and I love being a part of Wildcat football. This is my fourth, and last, season shooting these games. I love standing on the sidelines, being so close to the action. There's an adreneline rush when a player runs right past you, a single white chalk line the only barrier, trying to get the shot and trying to protect both yourself and the camera from being hit. I've been hit in the stomach by a football, I've had sweaty gloves accidently thrown at my head, I've had a lump in my throat when the team lost a huge game.

Football has always been part of my life. Growing up, I watched NFL games with my father. In high school, I went to the Friday night Woburn High football games (though I hardly paid attention to the game). In college, I shot Bomber football almost every Saturday afternoon. I watch the Superbowl every year, though I rarely watch regular season football anymore-I'm not close enough to the action and I get bored.

I look over at my Favorites list and I see Beat the Streak. I stopped picking hitters weeks ago-baseball season is dead to me, it's pigskin time!

Depends Who You Ask

2005-08-25T09:18:00.000-04:00

Jeff Jacoby writes today that "Iraq is no Vietnam". Whether that is true may remain to be seen, but his rationale for saying so, one I've heard from others as well, strikes me as faulty and dangerous. He claims that since some troops (at least the ones selected for the story) are fully behind the mission in Iraq, the mission is valid and proceeding apace.

''When I was in Vietnam," retired Army Colonel Jack Jacobs, a 1969 Medal of Honor recipient who had just returned from a fact-finding trip to the Sunni Triangle, told NBC News in May, ''if you asked anybody what he wanted more than anything else in the world, he'd say: to go home. We asked . . . hundreds of soldiers, low-ranking soldiers, in both Afghanistan and Iraq . . . the same question. And the response, to a man and a woman, was, 'To kill bad guys.' . . .

Jacoby and others who advance this theory are well aware that most people in this country do not want to contradict soldiers who are fighting on our behalf. But more importantly, they are completely missing the point. The fact that our country is fortunate enough to have a dedicated and disciplined military is not a reason to stay in a conflict. No matter if a war is supported by "low-ranking soldiers" or even five star generals, the foreign policy of the U.S. is not determined by the military. If our soldiers come to question our role in a conflict then certainly that role needs to be seriously re-evaluated, but Jacoby seems to have made a mistake somewhere in forming the contrapositive of that statement.

Party of Lincoln

2005-08-24T15:50:00.000-04:00

There was a real eye-opening article in the Globe the other day about how more and more African-Americans are voting Republican. Author Kaitlin Bell highlights a trend where younger blacks as a group are tending to make the choice on the basis of future opportunity that they see offered by the Republican Party, as opposed to loyalty to the Democratic Party for its part in the civil rights movement 40 years ago. I can't blame anyone for asking "What have you done for me lately?"; loyalty must be constantly and repeatedly earned. Though as a Democrat I believe the grass is greener on THIS side, I agree with the mentality with which the decision is being made.

Though not mentioned in that article, another factor in the movement to the right by some African-Americans stems from social issues-- many religious people, no matter their color, have a conservative outlook when it comes to gay marriage, for example.

This quote by Ken Mehlman, chair of the RNC, struck me:

''The question people are going to have is, who wants to build on the civil right movement's success -- closing the wealth gap, closing the health gap, offering people real access to opportunity?"

What do you think? Will one of the Democratic Party's core constituencies defect? What are Democrats doing wrong here, if anything?

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-08-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

Say what?

Vacation Pics

2005-08-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

I got a CD of photos that Karen C. took during our Outer Banks vacation 2 weeks ago. The above photo shows Mike floating by having inflated his pants. It was quite a sight to watch but it works!

And here we are, flying a kite.

Monday Poll / Connecticut

2005-08-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Hicksy we have a new poll this week, down and to your left!

Today we packed, tomorrow Lauren & I move... thanks for all the wishes of good luck! I'm renting a 27' truck from U-Haul. I plan on being a trucker for the day, maybe I'll go get my CDL or ingest large amounts of amphetamines. We'll see.

Melissa asked me what I will miss about not living in Connecticut. Below is a partial list. To answer your other questions, Melissa, we will indeed become Massachusetts citizens, but I will certainly continue to follow and rant about Connecticut politics!

I will miss:
The phrase "Tag Sale"
The Hartford skyline
Blue license plates
Dick Blumenthal
The phrase "Package Store"
Jodi Rell
Rt. 9 (The best highway ever)
My mom
The Bruce & Colin Show
West Hartford
The uneasy conflux of Red Sox & Yankees Fans
Knowing how to get everywhere without a map

I will not miss:
The cynical word "Corrupticut"
Bob's Discount Furniture Commercials (because they run in Mass, too, luckily for me)
Rt. 84 (The worst highway ever)
Jodi Rell
Being unable to buy beer after 9pm
Laurence Cohen
Buckland Hills Mall

Week One

2005-08-21T19:55:00.000-04:00

Mike was able to use his cell phone for an hour today. Of course, when he tried to call me this afternoon, my cell phone was shut off. I was at the movies and rules are rules, although I now wish I had been a rebel and kept my phone on. He was able to call me for 15 minutes tonight; it was so nice to hear is voice!

Anyway, so he's been in OIS for a week. He was made division leader, which is a big responsibility b/c he's in charge of 29 other people. He has to make sure those 29 people are doing what they need to do while doing what he needs to do. There seems to be a lot of homework and memorization that goes along with the physical training.

He did pass the swim test (we had practiced while on vacation at the Outer Banks) and the dress blues he got for his commissioning in May '04 passed uniform inspection. He has a new roommate, a bio physicist also named Mike. He says it's been hard but there are a lot harder things he could be doing.

Kinky

2005-08-21T10:54:00.000-04:00

Just watched CBS Sunday Morning. They had a profile on Kinky Friedman-a politically incorrect but interesting guy who plans to run for Texas governor (his campaign slogan-"Why the Hell Not"). I also enjoyed perusing his website, www.kinkyfriedman.com.

"If you elect me, I’ll be the first Governor in Texas history with a listed phone number."

I'm assuming the more political-savvy Guzzlers have heard of him and have some opinions about him and his politics.

How important is political correctness? Does the importance of political correctness vary by state? (Kinky believes political correctness must be abolished-“We didn’t get to be the Lone Star state by being politically correct.")

If Arnold can be governor of CA, does Kinky have a chance?

Lt. Gov. Sullivan Responds

2005-08-19T17:28:00.000-04:00

As you may remember from last week, I was engaged in a heated argument with some other people on the campaign blog of gubernatorial hopeful (and current Lt. Gov.) Kevin Sullivan. Since then, the tenor of the conversation has mellowed a bit into a reasoned discourse, though admittedly I'm still not in agreement on a lot of issues with some of the conservatives on the site. Someone called for term limits, a topic on which I have mixed feelings (and questions about their legality), and we (well, I) urged the Lt. Governor to respond to some of the public comments he invited us to leave. This afternoon he responded. Here's the relevant part:

And then there's the "Nate and J.M. Chronicles." Actually a mostly decent dialogue to which I would only add few comments:

Thanks Nate for urging some balance. Government is, or should be about priorities, so knowing what's "good" is as important as what's "bad." For my money and my family, I'll take Connecticut's quality of life, education (in fact, by every measure, students are working harder and doing better against more challenging standards compared to almost every other state in the nation), health care access and a new economy that continues to ramp up here if way too slowly because our vision of the economic future is still too much based on the past.

Major downside: A tax system that falls heaviest on those less able to pay, both individually and in terms of business taxes, and relies too much on property taxes.
Flat rate, across the board income taxes are just as unfair, regressive and anti-economic growth as property taxes and sales taxes.

The founders of this country got it right when they rejected so-called "direct democracy." Want to see the results of term limits in other states? More power to the longterm bureaucrats and less accountable Governors. Initiative and referendum: More powerful special interests posing as "citizen" groups, more campaign spending, less consensus and less stability.

Last, give me a break about the Blog itself. One of the reasons folks in government don't try new things is our quick to criticize response. We're new at this and I do not want to just leave it to staff so it's more current but not really me seeing or joining the conversation.

KBS 8/19/05 at 5:01pm

No, YOU give ME a break, Mr. Sullivan!

Just kidding, I appreciate his comments and couldn't agree more with his assessment of what's good and bad with Connecticut. And of course I thank him for taking the time to respond. Further, he and his wife are swell people, they came and spoke with Lauren and me for a few minutes last Election Day as we stood outside a polling place holding signs.

Caseless

2005-08-19T12:55:00.000-04:00

As I prepared last weekend to move for the sixth time in five years, I felt the familiar dread of having to take my hundreds of CDs off their racks, put them in boxes, lug the boxes to a new place, and then put them back on the racks. Then periodically pick them up when Rusty's wagging tail knocked one off the end as it went by. Most people I know keep their CDs in binders these days, but I have never felt ready to let go of the jewel case. I have always enjoyed looking at the cases, especially the new cardboard style (popularized by such bands as the Screwdrivers). They feel like miniature records in your hand. I remember in my teens when I would get a new CD I'd take it home and read the booklet as I lay on my bed and listened to the whole album. Last weekend I finally realized that I'm no longer a teenager, and that in fact a quick look at my driver's license would have informed me of that over 7 years ago. I rarely look at CD booklets anymore. Sure, I might read them once, but I don't stare at the pictures inside like I used to. In general, the CD case has stopped serving its purpose for me.

So I went to Big Lots and bought some binders for my CDs. I loaded them up with the CDs and even managed to cram some of the booklets in with the CDs. Then I hauled all of the jewel cases over to the dumpster. What a weird feeling, to be dumping a large part of the physical portion of a music collection built over 13 years! I wish I had saved the case for Van Halen, it was my first CD, I bought it when I was 14. I didn't think to save it until just now, oh well.

Do people here keep their CDs in the jewel cases still? Or have you moved to the binder, like me?

Before

After

Guv'nuh

2005-08-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

Over on the Connecticut Local Politics blog a few days ago there was a discussion about the "Incumbency Rule" in Connecticut politics, and specifically how a Democrat could beat Jodi Rell, who currently enjoys an approval rating that hovers around 80%. Never short on opinions, I of course posted, but the thread is a few days old already so I doubt anyone will even see it. I've pasted my thoughts here in an attempt to stir up some argument/debate whatever from my fellow Slush Guzzlers!

Since Rell is so popular, I think she needs to be taken on head-on, early and often. I firmly believe a challenger cannot win just by offering an alternative to such a popular incumbent such as Rell.

I think a Dem could beat her by targeting her as out of touch with the realities facing the state, and showing how that hurts us all. A few examples:

*Traffic problems snarl I-95, and she instead wants a busway connecting New Britain and Hartford.

*People outside of gov't knew Rowland was crooked; did it never occur to his second in command to question whether there were truth to those rumors in 9 years? We got neck deep in an ethics hole (and stuck with things like the Juvenile Detention Center) because she didn't ask questions earlier.

*The state is dead last in the country in job creation. The governor reacts to job losses after the fact with her "stern aunt" routine, saying how "disappointed" or "unhappy" she is about it.

Of course, these all need to be backed up by a Dem challenger with solutions. Many of them are already being offered, including ethics reform, campaign reform, better public transportation (in the right places!) to ease traffic, and aggressively marketing our state's highly educated workforce (top ranked in the country/world) to emerging industries like biotech, computing, etc. The solutions are the most important thing, but a Dem challenger needs to relentlessly attack Rell on her record and do it on a consistent theme ("out of touch" or whatever) and not with piecemeal complaints. If a Dem can develop a message with substance, but, just as importantly, one that can be summed up in a sentence, he/she will have a definite shot at Rell.

Just my opinion.

Stampede!

2005-08-19T08:53:00.000-04:00

$50 laptop sale sets off violent stampede

Haha. What is wrong with people? (Not a rhetorical question.)

Friday Question

2005-08-19T07:57:00.000-04:00

What's the most unusual job you've ever had?

I'd have to say mine is working tobacco. In the Connecticut River Valley, shade and broadleaf tobacco are big business. You can work in the fields once you've turned 14, and considering that you have to wait until you turn 16 to work any non-farm jobs, those of us industrious youths looking to make some money and get out of the house ASAP spent at least two summers working tobacco, chopping, weeding, picking, etc.

I got the idea for this Friday Question when I was driving the other day, and I saw one of those flagger pseudo-cops at a construction site. It reminded me of how Mike did that at one point, I think there was some big thing that ended in him quitting abruptly, I wish he were here to tell the story! Anyway, I hope he's doing well at OIS.

No Photo

2005-08-18T13:02:00.000-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050818/ap_en_ot/national_geographic

(Sorry, I've been trying to do the "click here" again but I've been getting error messages.)

I was a photojournalism major and I still shoot part-time. I've always thought a picture is worth a thousand words. It's the cover photo or the photo above the fold that gets people's attention and makes them buy that publication. But, after reading the above article, this cover makes sense.

DeStefano DVD

2005-08-18T10:26:00.000-04:00

Last week I went on CT Gubernatorial hopeful John DeStefano's website (www.DeStefanoforCT.com) and requested his campaign DVD. I got it on Saturday and Lauren and I watched it. I have to say I really enjoyed it. There are some requisite scenes with him walking around schools and hugging people, but the middle part is really well done. It features him driving his car around New Haven (he's currently the mayor), pointing out landmarks and talking to people he knows and/or meets along the way. DeStefano does focus on a lot of the real problems facing the state (property taxes, traffic, etc.) but like many Democrats he also ignores the many polls that show people don't/won't link Rell to Rowland. At any rate, it's still too early for me to pick my candidate (since I'm moving it's probably all hypothetical anyway!), but DeStefano seems like a nice enough guy with some good ideas. I'd urge any CT voters to get the DVD and decide for yourself.

...And A Dollar Short

2005-08-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

This morning I got an email from Colin McEnroe inviting me to be on (call in, not go to the studio) the Bruce & Colin show on WTIC, for a segment on Connecticut bloggers.

Too bad the email (and the show) were yesterday.

Damn, I love that show, too! What a bummer. I'll be checking my email every 5 minutes from now on.

Eminent Domain's Revenge

2005-08-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

This is sort of a funny story... as we've discussed here before, the Supreme Court ruled this year in Kelo v. New London that the government can take private property essentially for commercial use. Justice Souter was part of the majority in the close (5-4) decision. Now, in a bizarrely humorous form of payback, some guy is trying to take Souter's New Hampshire farm by eminent domain in order to build a hotel on the land. Read the story here in the Concord Monitor.

Exclusionary

2005-08-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

I wish someone would ask Supreme Court nominee Roberts about his views on the Exclusionary Principle, the precedent set in Weeks v. U.S. that says evidence obtained during an illegal search and seizure (as defined in the 4th Amendment) cannot be used against a defendant in court. Roberts wrote some memos during the Reagan administration advocating a move away from the principle. Of course, it's hard to know what his own views are, or more importantly how he will decide such cases if confirmed.

We discussed the Exclusionary Principle a bit in the class I took this summer, and a lot of people were against it on the grounds that it "protects criminals." I completely disagree. First and most pointedly, since we presume innocence until proven guilty in this country, the Exclusionary Principle by definition protects the innocent. Also, as I've heard it said, it doesn't protect criminals, it protects a principle: the idea that the government does not have the right to search you, your house or your effects without a good reason. And the only way to prevent such searches is to make them completely pointless by making anything found during an illegal search useless. Some people advocate allowing the use of such evidence but fining or otherwise punishing the police for an illegal search; this ignores the idea that, if the 4th Amendment had been followed in the first place, the evidence would not be available. In effect by using such evidence in court the accused's rights are violated a second time.

Further, this is an issue of separation of powers. The Constitution gives the judicial branch sole power to issue warrants; in bypassing the warrant-issuing process the executive branch conducts itself in a manner the founding fathers specifically prohibited.

I found a good, long article on the Exclusionary Principle here; well worth reading.

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-08-17T08:17:00.000-04:00

Talk amongst yourselves...

Here, I (actually, the D sent this to me) will give you a topic.

Take Me To Your Leader

2005-08-16T10:23:00.000-04:00

Lauren showed me this article today, pointing out this quote:

For Trisha McAllister, a Republican from Grenada, Miss., Bush's willingness to ignore public opinion wins her over.
'I may not approve of every single thing he does,' McAllister said, 'but he's a true leader because he's not leading by the polls.'

Is President Bush really a "true leader" because he ignores what a majority of the people in this country think about a war being fought by their family members and friends?

Here's another quote that struck me:

“I voted for Bush,” said Jerry Fleming a GOP-leaning independent from Athens, Ala. “I feel like he’s pretty much a straight-shooter as far as his religious background. I respect that part of him.

If I read that right, this guy is an independent who was won over by George Bush's "religious background." Should it make a difference that President Bush does not go to church regularly? Or that he doesn't even belong to a congregation? I'm not particularly religious myself, so I don't know that I'm one to answer that. But I wonder how many people who support George Bush because of his religiousness are aware of the fact that he's not even observant.

It's funny that this country, with its growing religious presence in public life, saw fit last fall to choose a man who "talks the talk" over a man who "walks the walk" (John Kerry is a church-going Catholic).

Paul Isn't Dead

2005-08-16T08:39:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that Greek airliner text message ("Farewell Cousin -- Here, We're Frozen.") was a hoax. That was the big lead-off part of the story for most of the news outlets.

I'm always fascinated by people who would take the opportunity presented by a tragedy to pull off some hoax. Maybe it's like giggling at a funeral times a thousand.

On a related note, here's a gallery of the "Tourist Guy" from the top of the World Trade Center (another hoax) at many of the world's tragedies. My favorite is when he's riding with Kennedy in Dallas. Or taking in "Our Country Cousin" from President Lincoln's private booth.

Live Free or Die

2005-08-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Gosh, I love New Hampshire!

click here

I hope this link works . . . .

OIS Begins

2005-08-15T10:27:00.000-04:00

Just an update on our fellow Guzzler contributor for those who may be interested:
Mike left for OIS training on Saturday. Flew into Providence and stayed over at Captain Jack and Admiral Sue's (aka the Casey's) that night. Mike checked in around 0900 yesterday at the Newport base, was told he needed to be outside his dorm room at 1830. So, he had quite a number of hours to hang out. He unpacked, met some classmates, ran around the base, perused the " stores" (I don't yet know the difference b/t a PX, Exchange and Commissary) and tried to memorize the Sailor's Creed and Anchors Aweigh. The first person he met was a fellow JAGer named Nate (good omen) from Minnesota. His roommate is an older guy named Todd. He's been in the Navy for 17 years, was a diver and is now in the health profession. Mike says the galley food isn't that great. There was some confusion about when they needed to report for their first "meeting" so I last spoke with him minutes before 1800.

Today should begin the 2 weeks of "no contact with the outside world."

Funny Stuff

2005-08-12T17:39:00.000-04:00

If you're so inclined, check out this thread in the blog of Lt. Gov. (and Gov. hopeful) Kevin Sullivan (D-CT), I'm mixing it up with a bunch of people. They're convinced that I'm a) incredibly naive and/or b) affiliated with Sullivan's campaign (I'm not) because I refuse to admit that CT is the worst place ever in the history of the universe.

Scroll WAY down. Join the fray! have a good weekend.

Hurricane Andrews

2005-08-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

There is a neat article in this week's Middletown Press about Hurricane Farm, an organic operation in East Hampton run by my friend and bandmate Chris Andrews and his wife Erica. We practice in one of the buildings on the farm... the sheep can be heard "baah"-ing (and occasionally booing) in between songs. Also, the article fails to point out that the farm was christened by Slush Guzzler's own St. Mose. Perhaps he would like to shed some light on the topic?

There are no pictures in the article, which is a shame. So here's a picture of me at the farm last fall, getting ready to slaughter a chicken (kidding!).

Friday Question

2005-08-12T08:45:00.000-04:00

What's your favorite game, board or cards or otherwise?

Mine is Hearts, I also like Spades/Setback (I forget which is which).

Please note: I'm not asking about The Most Dangerous Game, which, according to the high school English book used by at least 3 or 4 of us here, "you may have thought was football or ice hockey."

Keep Your Eye On The Ball

2005-08-11T08:56:00.000-04:00

Who knew that this trick worked anywhere but in my parents' backyard?

I wonder if the "Indian Rubber" rule is in effect? (Bonus points to the first person who remembers what that means.)

T-Shirt

2005-08-10T13:55:00.000-04:00

There have been four robberies in less than a week in Plainville, CT (between Hartford and Waterbury), and the police think it is the work of one group. They have a surveillance video from one of the stores, and they are asking for people's help in identifying the design on the T-shirt. I can't for the life of me figure out what this design is, and it's got my goat. Can anyone tell what that is?

Wednesday Open Myke

2005-08-10T08:21:00.000-04:00

Speak Out!

Google Anti-Google

2005-08-09T13:06:00.000-04:00

Google has apparently blackballed the technology site CNet for a story they did on Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Specifically, Google did not like the fact that CNet googled Schmidt to get information for their story. Strange, indeed. I can completely sympathize with Schmidt. Look how easy it is to find out, for example, that I found the dining hall food at college "not bad, it is all right." Not bad? It is all right? Google has stolen that which is most private-- the sweet, articulate musings of my soul.

Any thoughts?

Bush v. Bush

2005-08-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this? They made a special version of the video game "Madden 2006" featuring Dubya (pictured) vs. Jeb Bush (playing for the Dolphins, of course). It doesn't look like they're going to sell this version; that's too bad.

At least he's finally figured out which finger means #1!

Out Of Touch

2005-08-08T14:08:00.000-04:00

There is an amazing and sad story of a mother of a slain soldier who has camped outside the President's "ranch" in Crawford. Cindy Sheehan refuses to leave until President Bush comes out to speak to her. She has met with Bush before at a private meeting for families of dead soldiers. The way she tells it, the President apparently gets through these meetings by employing his annoying jocular habit of calling people by nicknames and behaving in a non-serious manner.

The White House has released few details of such sessions, which Mr. Bush holds regularly as he travels the country, but generally portrays them as emotional and an opportunity for the president to share the grief of the families. In Ms. Sheehan's telling, though, Mr. Bush did not know her son's name when she and her family met with him in June 2004 at Fort Lewis. Mr. Bush, she said, acted as if he were at a party and behaved disrespectfully toward her by referring to her as "Mom" throughout the meeting.

What a jerk. Talk about being completely inappropriate. I realize the President is a spoiled son of wealth and privilege, but can't someone at least train him to mimic an empathetic human being?

CNN Creates Swear Jar

2005-08-05T12:57:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this? Bob Novak flipped his wig live on CNN, responding to a jab by James Carville by saying "That's bullshit" and storming off the set. He knew he was going to be asked about his role in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity, so some people theorize he just staged this outburst to avoid the whole thing. Either way, the video is hilarious. If a liberal had done this right-wingers would be saying he was "crazed", "unhinged", "childish", and whatever else people called Howard Dean when he let out a hoot at a rally (not an expletive on live TV). I'm sure Carville induces apoplexy in many right-wingers; still, people usually don't get this mad unless the comment strikes a nerve, as it apparently did in this case.