To mark the anniversary of 9/11, the Pentagon is planning a march from the Pentagon to the National Mall where a Clint Black concert will be held. No, this is not a joke. You are not reading the Onion. Ah, what better way to celebrate, er, commemorate, er, use the victims of 9/11. The war is going bad in Iraq and now we know the Pentagon's solution is to get some hillbillies together for a concert.
Also, and again I have to say, I'm not joking. Registration is required to participate in the march, and there is no same day registration. It's unclear whether or not marchers will be impressed into the military.
The march is called the America Supports Your Freedom March, too bad we don't support ours.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Iran
Iran has restarted their nuclear facility at Isfahan. Negotiations broke down on Saturday with Iran refusing the Europeans final proposal for incentives to keep the reactor closed. The Washington Post has a lead editorial about it today. I'm not sure I buy the Post's take on this.
The Post claims that this rejection is tantamount to Iran choosing bombs over jobs. I think the Iranians are trying to get the Europeans to sweeten the pot. After all, if they were going the bomb making route, why would they invite additional IAEA inspectors and install cameras to monitor their activities? That doesn't mean the world community should coddle the Iranians though. The IAEA should refer this matter to the UN Security Council, but the Europeans should continue negotiations. It is unclear whether sanctions could be legally imposed, but carrots always work better when backed up with sticks.
The Post claims that this rejection is tantamount to Iran choosing bombs over jobs. I think the Iranians are trying to get the Europeans to sweeten the pot. After all, if they were going the bomb making route, why would they invite additional IAEA inspectors and install cameras to monitor their activities? That doesn't mean the world community should coddle the Iranians though. The IAEA should refer this matter to the UN Security Council, but the Europeans should continue negotiations. It is unclear whether sanctions could be legally imposed, but carrots always work better when backed up with sticks.
Shut Up, Chavez
Hugo Chavez, speaking at the World Festival of Students and Youth had the following to say, "If someday they get the crazy idea of coming to invade us, we'll make them bite the dust defending the freedom of our land." Shut up! I've been to Venezuela before and this just isn't true.
It does show another Bush foreign policy failure, though. When world leaders who should be our friends are standing in front of crowds ranting against us, you gotta wonder what the fuck the administration is thinking. Here is a non Middle East source of oil that we are alienating and oil going for the mid sixties these days.
Also, not looking for a CITGO boycott here in the US, so Chavez, please shut up.
It does show another Bush foreign policy failure, though. When world leaders who should be our friends are standing in front of crowds ranting against us, you gotta wonder what the fuck the administration is thinking. Here is a non Middle East source of oil that we are alienating and oil going for the mid sixties these days.
Also, not looking for a CITGO boycott here in the US, so Chavez, please shut up.
Hogweed
The giant hogweed has invaded Ohio. This stuff grows to be fifteen feet tall and can cause 2nd degree burns or splotches that last for years if touched. How can something this caustic be in the carrot family?
The plant, from the Caucasus Mountains in Asia was imported to the US at the beginning of the last century as a garden plant. I'm sure the locals had a pretty good chuckle as some dumbass packed this stuff off.
The plant, from the Caucasus Mountains in Asia was imported to the US at the beginning of the last century as a garden plant. I'm sure the locals had a pretty good chuckle as some dumbass packed this stuff off.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Whining About Wine
The NYT has a story today about Leo McClosky, a chemist that specializes in the wine industry. His company, Enologix, analyzes the chemical make-up of grapes to inform vintner how to get their wines to score in the nineties. The net result is wine become more homogeneous, and lose their sense of terroir. It's an interesting read.
Sexism
In the post below this one I take a shot at Bush with a sexist joke. On another website, one that get a hell of a lot more traffic than this one, I was called out on that fact. That's fine, it is a sexist joke, and I, as the author, am in the position of being absolutely sure of my intent. One reader said that despite being a feminist, it made her laugh. There was some mild criticism and one bizarre defense. kn74 posted this in my defense
The joke was about coming of age and (Bush's lack of) maturity.Wow, talk about reading a lot into something fairly straight forward. I am clearly simply calling Bush a little girl as a way to portray him as weak.
On My Mind
I've got a lot of shit floating around in my mind today, some of which I will post here in the next few days. First of all, I would like to throw shout outs to Cindy Sheehan, Gary Berntsen, and Peter Jennings.
Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, is currently holding a vigil outside Bush's Crawford ranch, where our CIC is currently in hiding. I think we can all concede now that when it comes to manliness, Bush is still waiting to get his first period.
Gary Berntsen was the field commander for the CIA's Jawbreaker team in Afghanistan. These are the guys that had OBL pinned down in Tora Bora. He cuts Rumsfeld's throat in an upcoming book that is awaiting clearance from the CIA.
Finally, RIP Peter Jennings. He was one of the few telejournalists that could actually think.
Update: Cindy Sheehan has been told her group will be arrested starting Thursday as a national security threat.
Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, is currently holding a vigil outside Bush's Crawford ranch, where our CIC is currently in hiding. I think we can all concede now that when it comes to manliness, Bush is still waiting to get his first period.
Gary Berntsen was the field commander for the CIA's Jawbreaker team in Afghanistan. These are the guys that had OBL pinned down in Tora Bora. He cuts Rumsfeld's throat in an upcoming book that is awaiting clearance from the CIA.
Finally, RIP Peter Jennings. He was one of the few telejournalists that could actually think.
Update: Cindy Sheehan has been told her group will be arrested starting Thursday as a national security threat.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps has found some new venues to hold his anti-homosexual demonstrations. Phelps, who previously demonstrated at the funerals of 9/11 firemen and policemen, is now picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers. He claims that their deaths are proof that God hates homosexuality and is punishing America for allowing it to continue. I tlooks like Phelps is coming to picket the Marine Base in Brook Park on Tuesday. What a fuckwit!
Phelps is a dumbass old man who will find out shortly there is no God so fuck him. What I want to know is who funds this asshole. Going around the country doing this costs some serious coin.
Phelps is a dumbass old man who will find out shortly there is no God so fuck him. What I want to know is who funds this asshole. Going around the country doing this costs some serious coin.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Delusions of Grandeur
Apparently, frequent steroid use will enlarge your head. Jose Conseco on Hardball last night
CANSECO: I took a lot of heat when the book first came out. Nobody believed that it was the truth. But, definitely, if you look at the timing of it all, it seemed like Congress knew this book was coming out. Congress waited to see what the content of the book “Juiced” were to actually take action.Too bad he doesn't know anything about insurgencies.
Once they read the book, they saw that some of the contents actually matched what their investigation had said in the past. Certain FBI individuals have been investigating Major League Baseball for, I think, 10 years now. Congress took action once they saw the combinations matched.
Contest
I've decided to hold my first contest with a prize. The winner will get an official Phlip's Rants™ T-shirt. Keep in mind, this will not be a commercially silk-screened or anything like that. It will simply be an Old Navy Tee that I'm going to write on with a magic marker.
So, riddle me this, what will be the last day CNN puts up a Natalee Holloway missing day ________.
Fill in this blank correctly to win the crappy prize I'm offering. Use the comments to reply.
So, riddle me this, what will be the last day CNN puts up a Natalee Holloway missing day ________.
Fill in this blank correctly to win the crappy prize I'm offering. Use the comments to reply.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Cincinnati Enquirer
The online version of the Cincinnati Enquirer gave this blog a mention yesterday in a tracking the blogs thing about the OH-02 race. Too bad they picked up on such an inconsequential post.
I'm still stunned that Blogger's spell checker doesn't recognize the word blog.
The Next Election
With the special election behind us, I thought I'd run down the people and causes I'm supporting in November. They are Sam Herd for Cincinnati City Council, Maryellen O'Shaughnessy for Columbus City Council, Mary Jo Hudson for Columbus City Council, Kevin Boyce for Columbus City Council, and the Reform Ohio Now amendment to the Ohio Constitution.
OH-02, What Does It Mean?
The Ohio special election for the 2nd congressional district is over. Jean Schmidt has defeated Paul Hackett by a slim margin. So, what does this all mean? Let’s take a look at some of the numbers and the consequences of the race.
Schmidt won by 3,573 votes with 112,375 votes cast. That puts voter turnout somewhere in the mid twenties. I had thought before the election that a twenty percent turnout was probably the breaking point for Hackett, and I correctly predicted the 52-48 victory for Schmidt. This may turn out to be a plus for the Democratic Party hinging on whether or not a statewide election reform amendment passes in November.
If Paul Hackett had won, even with incumbency on his side, he would have surely lost next year with an expected 45-55% turnout. There are simply too many republicans in this district. If the election reform passes this fall, redistricting will take place in 2007. It’s unlikely the republican party will try to take her out in 2006, so Schmidt will be sitting as a vulnerable candidate in 2008. I’d rather have a weak Schmidt sitting in that seat when redistricting is done rather than some other republican.
Even if election reform doesn’t pass this fall, having a weak Schmidt in office prevents the republican party from using this office as a bench builder. Schmidt is never going to be able to run statewide, and should keep republican up and comers out of this seat for a few terms.
I don’t have a breakdown of voter turnout yet so I don’t know how much vote leakage republicans suffered in this race, but it really doesn’t matter. The conventional wisdom is that this race was much closer than expected due to voter backlash at the corrupt republican party. This should do two things. First, it should make it a little harder for the republicans to fill out their statewide ticket next year with quality candidates. Secondly, it should embolden some of our better candidates to run. I’m talking to you, Sherod Brown. Get off your ass and into the Senate race. If you do, Dewine is toast.
Lastly, let’s take a look at the role of the net roots in this campaign. The blogosphere was in full celebration last night and this morning, and rightly so. We made this election a close race. It does, however; show that the net roots is still in its infancy. This was one special election, and I doubt we could have gotten Hackett this close in a normal general election of which there are 438 next year. We are making great strides though, and we are gathering power. Where do we go from here? Much discussion is needed to decide that.
As for myself, for now I personally believe we should steer clear of D.C. funded races. We should use our efforts to fill in the gaps left by providing money and manpower to races discarded by D.C. Sure, D trip, and the DNC et al will take the plums, but we will pick from the pits to plant the trees that will be the future of the Democratic Party.
Schmidt won by 3,573 votes with 112,375 votes cast. That puts voter turnout somewhere in the mid twenties. I had thought before the election that a twenty percent turnout was probably the breaking point for Hackett, and I correctly predicted the 52-48 victory for Schmidt. This may turn out to be a plus for the Democratic Party hinging on whether or not a statewide election reform amendment passes in November.
If Paul Hackett had won, even with incumbency on his side, he would have surely lost next year with an expected 45-55% turnout. There are simply too many republicans in this district. If the election reform passes this fall, redistricting will take place in 2007. It’s unlikely the republican party will try to take her out in 2006, so Schmidt will be sitting as a vulnerable candidate in 2008. I’d rather have a weak Schmidt sitting in that seat when redistricting is done rather than some other republican.
Even if election reform doesn’t pass this fall, having a weak Schmidt in office prevents the republican party from using this office as a bench builder. Schmidt is never going to be able to run statewide, and should keep republican up and comers out of this seat for a few terms.
I don’t have a breakdown of voter turnout yet so I don’t know how much vote leakage republicans suffered in this race, but it really doesn’t matter. The conventional wisdom is that this race was much closer than expected due to voter backlash at the corrupt republican party. This should do two things. First, it should make it a little harder for the republicans to fill out their statewide ticket next year with quality candidates. Secondly, it should embolden some of our better candidates to run. I’m talking to you, Sherod Brown. Get off your ass and into the Senate race. If you do, Dewine is toast.
Lastly, let’s take a look at the role of the net roots in this campaign. The blogosphere was in full celebration last night and this morning, and rightly so. We made this election a close race. It does, however; show that the net roots is still in its infancy. This was one special election, and I doubt we could have gotten Hackett this close in a normal general election of which there are 438 next year. We are making great strides though, and we are gathering power. Where do we go from here? Much discussion is needed to decide that.
As for myself, for now I personally believe we should steer clear of D.C. funded races. We should use our efforts to fill in the gaps left by providing money and manpower to races discarded by D.C. Sure, D trip, and the DNC et al will take the plums, but we will pick from the pits to plant the trees that will be the future of the Democratic Party.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Bill Moss Dies
This afternoon, Bill Moss died at Riverside Hospital. The long time Columbus School Board member was recovering from a stroke suffered last week while on vacation in Pennsylvania. Moss will mainly be remembered for his crazy antics at school board meetings.
He often wore camouflage fatigues to school board meetings, and once brought a meeting to a halt with a Khrushchev style shoe banging. Whether you hated him or liked him, he did make watching school board meetings fun, and that is virtually impossible.
He often wore camouflage fatigues to school board meetings, and once brought a meeting to a halt with a Khrushchev style shoe banging. Whether you hated him or liked him, he did make watching school board meetings fun, and that is virtually impossible.
Paul Hackett Day
Today is the day. OH-02 Democrats, get out and vote. The Hackett campaign is reporting that they have around 800 volunteers in the district. That's simply amazing for a house race. For more on what's going today check out Tracy Joan's diary on KOS
Monday, August 01, 2005
Ski Ohio
Wax up your skis, it looks like we are now fully on the slippery slope that leads to the jackassery that is California state politics. Last year, the state of Ohio passed the asinine ban on gay marriage. This year it appears we will have three statewide referendums. One for the Third Frontier project, and two competing redistricting programs.
Hey, ballot initiatives and amendments for everyone! This is going to lead to the clusterfuck that has infected California, where the ballot is full of popular initiatives that are terrible for the state. While these three seem to be solid ideas, though I don't trust the republican led election reform amendment, what will inevitably follow are usually disasters.
Look for unfunded state mandates, and goofy tax reforms to follow. If you're looking for forced state funding for your pet project, put together a flowery sounding state wide initiative today. Oh, and don't bother with providing a way to fund it
Hey, ballot initiatives and amendments for everyone! This is going to lead to the clusterfuck that has infected California, where the ballot is full of popular initiatives that are terrible for the state. While these three seem to be solid ideas, though I don't trust the republican led election reform amendment, what will inevitably follow are usually disasters.
Look for unfunded state mandates, and goofy tax reforms to follow. If you're looking for forced state funding for your pet project, put together a flowery sounding state wide initiative today. Oh, and don't bother with providing a way to fund it
Ask And You Shall Receive
Bob Brigham sent out a plea to the blogging community today to raise $30,000 to fund Paul Hackett's GOTV for tomorrow. It looks like that mark has been hit. This race is going to be very close so if you happen to live in OH-02 get out and vote for Paul Hackett tomorrow.
This race should have never been this close. OH-02 is around a 64% republican district, but in the primary the two leading republican candidates nuked each other allowing Schmidt to sneak in the backdoor. She is a fairly weak candidate, so we caught a break there. Hackett has also done a great job in this race.
If you want to throw Hackett some coin go here.
This race should have never been this close. OH-02 is around a 64% republican district, but in the primary the two leading republican candidates nuked each other allowing Schmidt to sneak in the backdoor. She is a fairly weak candidate, so we caught a break there. Hackett has also done a great job in this race.
If you want to throw Hackett some coin go here.
Palmeiro Suspended
Rafael Palmeiro has been suspended 10 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. I just heard a prepared statement read by the Orioles announcers. Palmeiro now say he never knowingly took steroids. I don't know what drug he failed for so I'm going to withhold judgment for now.
Weekend Roundup
I played golf yesterday at Darby Creek near Marysville. I had the best ball striking day in several years, but bad luck and a piss poor short game conspired against me. Despite hitting the ball very well, I threw up a huge number. Can't believe I hit it like that and threw up a trip digit. What a frustrating game.
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