Friday, September 29, 2006

Links: Better than 35 Vicodin?




Mel v. Dennis – Dennis Leary has an opinion on Mel Gibson. Watch for Jerry Remy’s very subtle reaction to Leary’s riff.

Checking Out In Style – “Steve Irwin lived a rugged, manly life and died a rugged, manly death. Not many men have the good fortune to die when an ocean beast skewers their heart with a venomous spike. Irwin actually pulled the murderous barb from his chest before checking out.” Click the link for more on manly deaths from Cold, Hard Football Facts.

Defend Yourself! – Keeping with the manly theme that I’ve got going, here’s a link to a site that uses illustrations to demonstrate the many ways to fight off an attacker with a cane. If you’re concerned that there are many different types of walking sticks, like ones with hooks, don’t worry. They’ve got ALL the possibilities.

How do you like your Jesus? – Great site that has various takes on Jesus. There’s Fat Jesus, Jesus Preachin’ to Ladies, Pal Jesus, and many more. Above, I have posted 1998 Power Home Run Hitting Jesus. Find the Jesus that’s right for you.


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Thursday, September 28, 2006

T.O.'s Lesson


The hot story of the day is the T.O. and his attempted/alleged suicide. It’s a big topic of discussion down here in Philly and there has been a fairly good amount of level-headed discussion on the issue. One of the elements of the discussion which annoys, but doesn’t surprise, me is how people can’t fathom that a rich person would want to kill himself. As Gregg Easterbrook, ESPN’s TMQ, has written, money does not equal happiness. Here’s what he wrote in his most recent column.

I'll add another suggestion on why time is more important to happiness than money: Because time is far more precious. Money that has been used up can be replaced; you can always get at least some additional money, and in principle can get huge amounts of additional money. Your time on Earth, on the other hand, is limited and irreplaceable. You might add somewhat to your time on Earth by taking care of your health -- and that's an excellent idea, but there are no guarantees you won't be hit by a bus anyway. We all must surrender some of our time for work to acquire income. But those who obsessively chase maximum material possessions give up something precious and fleeting, namely time, in order to acquire something that cannot make them happy, namely money.

One final note before I sign off. Recently, in a class titled “Law, Justice & Society”, the discussion was focusing in on how, in a just society, it would ever be possible to ensure that every citizen would be able to have access to an adequate sense of self-worth. Most people in the class thought that this would require “honoring” an almost infinite amount of superlatives. (i.e. “Best Dressed” X the number of people in the society.) Some, however, believed that, in a capitalist society, the only true superlative would end up being actual wealth.

The heart of the matter is that money can not be relied on to make one happy. TO’s story shows how those dissenters from my class are wrong. Enrichment can be found in many, many forms. Often money, of course, can make that enrichment easier. But having cash is only a facilitator, not the end.


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Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Laffey v. Chafee -- My Long Last Word on Rhodey Politics

Senator Lincoln Chafee’s victory this past Tuesday’s was a fascinating experiment in Rhode Island Republican politics. Cannon and I spent some time talking about this race on the eve of the primary and I believed that the determinative factor would be the total number of people who would vote in the primary.

I argue that Mayor Laffey lost this primary when Matt Brown’s own bid failed. For the uninitiated, Matt Brown is the current Secretary of State in RI and was challenging Sheldon Whitehouse to be the Democratic Senate candidate. Because his campaign hemorrhaged money like a horny, 23-year old guy in bar with a $9 cover, Brown was forced to fold his tent and back out of the race. When he did, Whitehouse was basically given a free pass to the general election.

The advantage to the Whitehouse camp is obvious. While his eventual opponent was getting the crap beat out of him by someone from his own party, sucking away resources and goodwill from their own base, he was able to hang back, walk in parades, and drink appletinis. Brown’s withdrawal also significantly aided the Chafee campaign as well.

To vote in a Rhode Island primary, you must be registered as a member of the party which is having the primary or be an unaffiliated voter. If you are registered as a member of a party, you can’t vote in any other party’s primary. This becomes troublesome since the vast majority of the municipal races are settled in that municipality’s Democratic primary. To avoid being shut out of a primary, a lot of RIers remain unaffiliated, even though they probably associate themselves with one party.

Enter Laffey and Chafee. The last statewide primary for Republicans drew about 25K voters. People thought that this was a high number at the time, especially in the context of a heated Democratic primary. The largest Republican primary, Almond/Macthley in 1994, drew about 50K voters. The current race drew well over 60K voters. If Brown had managed to hold on and challenge Whitehouse, the number of voters on the ‘R’ side of the ledger would have been substantially less. This favored Senator Chafee in big way. Every unaffiliated voter who came into the primary diluted the conservative base that Mayor Laffey geared his entire campaign to.

The final results bear out that Mayor Laffey ran a very good campaign. In spite of the large number of voters who turned out, he managed to keep it very close. His campaign’s biggest flaw was probably relying too heavily on polling numbers that told him what he wanted to hear. If he had expanded the net of his campaign earlier on, he would have been able to capture a larger number of the unaffiliated voters and possibly even solidify his chances going into the general election.


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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

What? No Myrth York?

My thoughts on Chafee v. Laffey to come tomorrow. Until then, here are my thoughts on the upcoming general elections. Incumbents are in caps.

Governor: DON CARCIERI (R) v. Charles Fogarty (D)

I absolutely love this race. You have a well-heeled, incumbent against someone who has been in elected office since he was in grade school. (NOTE TO SELF: Check if that’s true.) We also have candidates whose strengths are not exactly prototypical for their parties. Governor Carcieri is particularly strong in Providence, where the official city motto is “Where Statewide Republican Campaigns Come to Die.” The Lt. Governor is strong in the western, more conservative part of the state due to his ties to Glocestor. All in all, I’d rather snag Providence. Although I’m torn because Charlie does look like Mr. Potato Head, I gotta go with the Gov on this one.

Lt. Governor: Reginald Centracchio (R) v. Elizabeth Roberts (D)

I was pretty surprised when General Reginald “Call me Reggie” Centracchio made the jump into this race. I have no idea how he’ll do and don’t especially think that it matters all that much. The Lieutenant Governor doesn’t do all that much and only serves the purpose of being a statewide, elected official who can stump and raise cash for lower offices. If Gen. Reggie is committed to that sort of party-building, he could be a valuable asset to the Republicans, but this benefit is mitigated by the low prestige of the position. As a side note, even if he does win, there isn’t a lot of upward mobility for an old guy. I’d rather have a younger gun (say a Laffey or an Avedisian) be in this slot and ready to run for Senate or Governor down the road. Bonus side note: if Gov. Carcieri and the General do win, he will be the first LG to be of the same party as the Governor since Bernie Jackvony was appointed to the office in ’97.

Secretary of State: Sue Stenhouse (R) v. Ralph Mollis (D)

Pass. For now.

Treasurer: Andrew Lyon (R) v. Frank Caprio (D)

No real thoughts on this race other than an anecdote. When Andrew Lyon came forward to run for Treasurer in 2002, he was a complete unknown. No one really expected him to do much, but he did put in a lot of effort. In RI, one of the requirements to get on the statewide ballot is that you must get a thousand signatures from registered voters. It’s a time-consuming task and very tedious and most candidates view it as an afterthought that’s the volunteer coordinator’s problem. Mr. Lyon, on the other hand, feverishly worked Smithfield to get as many signatures as he could for the Republican ticket. It doesn’t really do anything for his ability to win this race, but it is encouraging to see a guy off the street do all that he can to affect change in his community.

Attorney General: Bill Harsch (R) v. PATRICK LYNCH (D)

Pass.

1st District US Rep: Jon Scott (R) v. PATRICK KENNEDY (D)
I really don’t like Patrick Kennedy. The best argument that democracy is bound to fail is that this guy is a congressman. On the good news front, since he oversaw the Dems getting beat down while head of the DNCC, he isn’t in the mix for Speaker if the Dems do take the House this year. So, as a groundskeeper might say, I’ve got that going for me.

2nd District US Rep: No One (R) v. JIM LANGEVIN (D)

It’s pretty tough to dislike Jim Langevin and I don’t. At the same time, the fact that he has run unopposed for all intents and purposes since he got into office is a big indictment of where the Republican Party is in Rhode Island.

US Senate: LINCOLN CHAFEE (R) v. Sheldon Whitehouse (D)

This one is the Daddy Race. It has the potential to have serious implications on a national level, but I’d rather focus on the local side of it. (Tip of the hat to Tip.) Having a U.S. Senator that’s a Republican is absolutely huge for the state party. My rough guess is that having Linc Chafee on the team is worth about $100K to other candidates in each cycle where he isn’t running. That number, which is a very conservative guess, includes every statewide office and every candidate underneath them right down to the city council level. There is almost certainly the same advantage with having an active, Republican governor as well.


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Monday, September 11, 2006

Classic Fall

With the onset of the NFL’s season, autumn is right around the corner, which happens to be my favorite season. Without further ado, here is my list of things I love about the fall and football.

· Because of football, it is socially acceptable to for me to drink beer early in the day. The importance of this needs no further explanation.
· Campaigning in the fall. The happiest moments in my life came while driving around Rhode Island, going from campaign stop to campaign stop. I always had a blast and making those trips, which usually went from about 7am to 10pm, helped me fall in love with the Ocean State. I’ve been out of that world for two election cycles and it surprises me how much I miss those experiences, especially this year. On the bright side, the cube I’m working in now is green.
· TV. I love TV. The leaves falling means that new episodes of my favorite shows will soon be broadcast directly into my brain. There are so many questions left unanswered. Will Earl finally assuage karma? Will Denny Crane finally succumb to Alzheimer’s? Will Pam finally realize that both Jim and Roy are wrong for here and that her dream guy is some blogger in a green cubicle? Um. Moving on.
· Aside from Sunday afternoon libations, watching a whole slate of games makes for a pretty awesome way to kill a Sunday. Yesterday, I spent the entire day at The Ultimate Weapon’s house. Sure, there was a lot of football, but there was also a lot of other good stuff going on as well. For instance, TUW’s sister brought some saltine’s down into the basement. Cannon challenged me to see how many saltines I could eat in a minute. This lead to Cannon and myself spending the next 15 minutes or so furiously shoveling crackers into our mouths. This would not happen during a hockey game.
· Tailgating. You’ve seen the pictures. It’s a real good time.


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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Links: Almost as Good as Bacon

(FYI: Normally, once you click on the links, a new window will pop up. Since I'm at work, I don't have the handy code that allows that to happen. So if you start a clickin, TPB will be replaced with a pirate's or some grandma's website. Just wanted to let you know.--Iconoclast)

Pirate for Congress – He doesn’t accept money from anyone and promises to rid the world of “make-up wearing robots.” He also has two months of college. (He left early to work in a horse stable.) Surprisingly, I guess, he is also for gay marriage. (The government doesn’t belong in two places: your gun cabinet and your bedroom.) If you are looking to kill some time, read thru some other policy stands in his blog. Chiclet with the assist.

Elder Wisdom Circle – If you’re like me, you’ve got problems. There’s school, work, life, love, and all that fun stuff. If you need a sounding board, how would an old person do? This website will have an old person respond to your queries about life. Try it out.

Great American Passes – Guy Gabaldon, a veteran of World War II, died over the weekend. Using only candy bars and smokes, he tricked over 1000 Japanese soldiers to surrender at the battle of Saipan. As he succinctly puts it: “My actions proves that God takes care of idiots.” Yes, he does.

NEWS FLASH: LIMBAUGH ON KATIE COURIS – Reportedly, Katie is only suffering from broken ribs and what her producers call “a slight limp.”


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