So, this post is mainly so I can say 'one'. And for one of those silly things that amuse me: the next post on my music blog will have the same title as this here post.
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One. There, I said it again.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Debate
I had written a longish post about the first presidential debate, but I scuttled it because there really wasn't much to actually say. Upshoot: no one changed or made up their mind based on the debate. It was for the most part dull :/
The dow dropped 770 odd points today. I won't claim to understand financial stuff but for the first time I'm actually a little anxious.
One interesting result of all this: United are belong to us. :) Sort of. AIG, primary sponsor of Premiership side Manchester United received a big bailout loan package from the US government.
Due to site restrictions at work this post is being written using my phone. MY PHONE!
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Two
The dow dropped 770 odd points today. I won't claim to understand financial stuff but for the first time I'm actually a little anxious.
One interesting result of all this: United are belong to us. :) Sort of. AIG, primary sponsor of Premiership side Manchester United received a big bailout loan package from the US government.
Due to site restrictions at work this post is being written using my phone. MY PHONE!
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Two
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Headline
Actual headline from news.yahoo.com:
'McCain, Obama Avoid Same-sex Marriage'
Glad to hear it. I mean, both are already married. There are Cindy and Michelle to think of. And the kids. Think of the kids. Not to mention come November somebody's gonna lose. AKWARD.
Then I read the article. Turns out the pair just aren't talking about the issue, not avoiding getting hitched. BORING.
The 'issue' seems a no-brainer to me anyway. Two people love each other and want to make a lifetime commitment. And this is bad because?
Oh yeah, that book. You know the one. The one that forbids eating pigs? The one that says 'love thy neighbor' is the greatest commandment of all? Seems to me someone is missing the forest for the trees ....
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Yes, I know the bit about pork is 'Old Testament' (as are, incidentally, many of the bits quoted to make a case for exclusively male/female marriages) and the 'love thy neighbor' bit is 'New'. And no one need point out that I myself choose not to eat pig corpse. Never said otherwise ...
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Just about the most explicitly political post I've made to this blog! At least until next week ...
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Seven
'McCain, Obama Avoid Same-sex Marriage'
Glad to hear it. I mean, both are already married. There are Cindy and Michelle to think of. And the kids. Think of the kids. Not to mention come November somebody's gonna lose. AKWARD.
Then I read the article. Turns out the pair just aren't talking about the issue, not avoiding getting hitched. BORING.
The 'issue' seems a no-brainer to me anyway. Two people love each other and want to make a lifetime commitment. And this is bad because?
Oh yeah, that book. You know the one. The one that forbids eating pigs? The one that says 'love thy neighbor' is the greatest commandment of all? Seems to me someone is missing the forest for the trees ....
-----------------------
Yes, I know the bit about pork is 'Old Testament' (as are, incidentally, many of the bits quoted to make a case for exclusively male/female marriages) and the 'love thy neighbor' bit is 'New'. And no one need point out that I myself choose not to eat pig corpse. Never said otherwise ...
-----------------------
Just about the most explicitly political post I've made to this blog! At least until next week ...
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Seven
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dreams
Folks ask me if I dream about walking without difficulty.
Well, actually they don't. But if they did I'd have to answer "not specifically". I don't dream about walking. But when whatever else I'm dreaming about doing involves walking around I don't use my walker or whatever. My dream self, that is.
This topic popped to mind the other day when I woke up in the middle of a dream. No steamy confessional here though. I was walking to a convenience store to get ... something. It was raining.
What, you thought I was gonna ramble on about the election every post until November?
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Eight
Well, actually they don't. But if they did I'd have to answer "not specifically". I don't dream about walking. But when whatever else I'm dreaming about doing involves walking around I don't use my walker or whatever. My dream self, that is.
This topic popped to mind the other day when I woke up in the middle of a dream. No steamy confessional here though. I was walking to a convenience store to get ... something. It was raining.
What, you thought I was gonna ramble on about the election every post until November?
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Eight
Monday, September 22, 2008
Surrender
There has been much talk about the Republicans surrendering the 'experience argument' by picking Sarah Palin for the VP nominee. The idea was McCain has years of experience, Obama doesn't, choose accordingly.
All that commentary makes a key - and apparently incorrect - assumption. The experience argument assumes the public is primarily interested in actual issues. The public is doing a fair job of suggesting otherwise.
But even in this issue-lite world Sarah Palin's selection surrenders an argument. The 'unusual name' argument.
A certain portion of the electorate will not vote for Obama because of race. Some won't vote for McCain/Palin because of gender. And some folks won't vote for Obama because he has what is to them a strange sounding name.
'Barack'. It sounds like something you'd call an Orc in Lord of the Rings. 'Obama' sounds just a bit like 'Osama'. Scared yet?
The Republican alternative was 'John'. Good old-fashioned hardworking name, John. The Dems tried to soften things a bit by pairing Obama with a guy named 'Joe', but you know what they say. Putting lipstick on a pig ...
Then the GOP go and put Palin on the ticket. 'Sarah' is a common enough name. But the kids. My God look at the kids.
The girls get off fairly easy. I've seen both 'Piper' and 'Willow' used by folks before. 'Bristol' is new to me, but it's kinda pretty and sounds like it COULD be a name.
The boys, though ... 'Track' and 'Trig'? Maybe it's just me, but I find a person named after a branch of mathematics frightening. The name, that is.
On the up side, perhaps the issues will get more play with the stupid stuff being rendered moot ....
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Nine
All that commentary makes a key - and apparently incorrect - assumption. The experience argument assumes the public is primarily interested in actual issues. The public is doing a fair job of suggesting otherwise.
But even in this issue-lite world Sarah Palin's selection surrenders an argument. The 'unusual name' argument.
A certain portion of the electorate will not vote for Obama because of race. Some won't vote for McCain/Palin because of gender. And some folks won't vote for Obama because he has what is to them a strange sounding name.
'Barack'. It sounds like something you'd call an Orc in Lord of the Rings. 'Obama' sounds just a bit like 'Osama'. Scared yet?
The Republican alternative was 'John'. Good old-fashioned hardworking name, John. The Dems tried to soften things a bit by pairing Obama with a guy named 'Joe', but you know what they say. Putting lipstick on a pig ...
Then the GOP go and put Palin on the ticket. 'Sarah' is a common enough name. But the kids. My God look at the kids.
The girls get off fairly easy. I've seen both 'Piper' and 'Willow' used by folks before. 'Bristol' is new to me, but it's kinda pretty and sounds like it COULD be a name.
The boys, though ... 'Track' and 'Trig'? Maybe it's just me, but I find a person named after a branch of mathematics frightening. The name, that is.
On the up side, perhaps the issues will get more play with the stupid stuff being rendered moot ....
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Nine
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sites
I checked out the two major presidential candidates' web sites today and was a little disappointed. I was primarily looking for agricultural policy information (not because I don't already know how I'm voting, but it is one of my bigger concerns ...) McCain doesn't seem to mention it at all. Obama mentions it under the heading 'Rural Issues'. Uhhhh ... Senator Obama? Us folks in the city eat food too. So we have an interest.
Nice there was mention of the issue, though. Obama also gets points for mentioning cellulosic ethanol. I prefer a biodiesel solution myself, but its nice to see something beyond sloganeering ...
But of course he looses points for pandering to the hunting lobby. I'm realistic about not wanting to alienate those folks, but ...
McCain gets minor bonus points for highlighting NASA and space science. To be honest this is a very minor issue compared to trade or something, but still nice to see some attention to it. The counterweight is Palin's stated desire to have the Christian creation story studied alongside Darwinian evolution in science class. (That whole deal is a blog post of its own!)
Over all I didn't see anything earthshattering. Nice break to see mainly issues discussed though. I can only stand a certain amount of outrage and thin-skin before I just sort of tune out ...
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Thirteen
Nice there was mention of the issue, though. Obama also gets points for mentioning cellulosic ethanol. I prefer a biodiesel solution myself, but its nice to see something beyond sloganeering ...
But of course he looses points for pandering to the hunting lobby. I'm realistic about not wanting to alienate those folks, but ...
McCain gets minor bonus points for highlighting NASA and space science. To be honest this is a very minor issue compared to trade or something, but still nice to see some attention to it. The counterweight is Palin's stated desire to have the Christian creation story studied alongside Darwinian evolution in science class. (That whole deal is a blog post of its own!)
Over all I didn't see anything earthshattering. Nice break to see mainly issues discussed though. I can only stand a certain amount of outrage and thin-skin before I just sort of tune out ...
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Thirteen
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sexy Librarian
The post title is redundant, I know.
I can't seem to escape that phrase nowadays. A fair amount of the coverage of Republivan VP candidate Sarah Palin uses it. Much to the (phony sounding) outrage of the McCain/Palin campaign.
A television ad from that campaign calls Democrats to task for "dismissing" Palin as "good-looking". An issue was made of Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden using the word "pretty" to describe Palin.
First off, how is that dismissive? Second off, does no one in that campaign have eyes? Palin is good looking. The folks that have caused a run on the brand of eyeglass frames Palin wears aren't thinking "gee, I like Palin's ideas on energy policy and thus must dress like her". The folks googling (no, Senator McCain, 'googling' is not an alternative lifestyle choice) for "Palin bikini" probably are not primarily interested in her views on foreign policy.
I don't know of anyone dismissing Palin because she is attractive. Except for in the claims in the complaints of outraged Republicans doing a poor parody of 30-year old feminism and media outlets looking for a controversy, I haven't heard anyone say "Palin is attractive, therefore we need not pay attention to anything else about her".
If I made a list of things I find physically attractive in women, Palin has many characteristics that would appear on that list. Which means absolutely nothing when it comes to the election (remember the election, folks?) Because I don't vote on the basis of who I like looking at.
POSTSCRIPT: In poking around doing research for this post I stumbled across an interesting fact. According to sex professionals (I'm not sure who that entails exactly), 'librarian' is the second-most common role they are asked to play in domination role play. I don't quite get it myself. "These books are due in 3 weeks ... you naughty boy"?????? I know why *I* think librarians are sexy. Someone who devotes their entire life to books? Drooool.
I guess them other guys must be some kinda freaks. Or something. :)
POSTSCRIPT 2: 'Teacher' was #1.
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Seventeen
I can't seem to escape that phrase nowadays. A fair amount of the coverage of Republivan VP candidate Sarah Palin uses it. Much to the (phony sounding) outrage of the McCain/Palin campaign.
A television ad from that campaign calls Democrats to task for "dismissing" Palin as "good-looking". An issue was made of Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden using the word "pretty" to describe Palin.
First off, how is that dismissive? Second off, does no one in that campaign have eyes? Palin is good looking. The folks that have caused a run on the brand of eyeglass frames Palin wears aren't thinking "gee, I like Palin's ideas on energy policy and thus must dress like her". The folks googling (no, Senator McCain, 'googling' is not an alternative lifestyle choice) for "Palin bikini" probably are not primarily interested in her views on foreign policy.
I don't know of anyone dismissing Palin because she is attractive. Except for in the claims in the complaints of outraged Republicans doing a poor parody of 30-year old feminism and media outlets looking for a controversy, I haven't heard anyone say "Palin is attractive, therefore we need not pay attention to anything else about her".
If I made a list of things I find physically attractive in women, Palin has many characteristics that would appear on that list. Which means absolutely nothing when it comes to the election (remember the election, folks?) Because I don't vote on the basis of who I like looking at.
POSTSCRIPT: In poking around doing research for this post I stumbled across an interesting fact. According to sex professionals (I'm not sure who that entails exactly), 'librarian' is the second-most common role they are asked to play in domination role play. I don't quite get it myself. "These books are due in 3 weeks ... you naughty boy"?????? I know why *I* think librarians are sexy. Someone who devotes their entire life to books? Drooool.
I guess them other guys must be some kinda freaks. Or something. :)
POSTSCRIPT 2: 'Teacher' was #1.
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Seventeen
Friday, September 12, 2008
Patriot Day
[Obviously wrote this yesterday. Pretend it is still 9/11]
I was going to write about the real advantage McCain gave up by choosing Palin as his running mate (commentators are focusing nearly exclusively on McCain surrendering the experience argument, but that's not the big advantage if you look at the campaigns as a whole). But that will have to wait. See, today is Patriot Day.
Patriot Day is apparently the official name for the rememberance of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Even though I remember the attacks every year I didn't know there was an actual official day of rememberance until just a few days ago.
There should be. But I absolutely hate the name. 'Patriot Day'. Not only will it be too easy to forget just what it is we're remembering, it really clashes with my experience of that day. On September 11/12 the heads of many nations expressed their condolances. Whatever goodwill was generated has been pissed away over most of the last 7 years. 'Patriot Day', the words, bring to mind 'Freedom Fries'-style 'rah rah' jingoism. September 11 deserves better.
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Twenty
I was going to write about the real advantage McCain gave up by choosing Palin as his running mate (commentators are focusing nearly exclusively on McCain surrendering the experience argument, but that's not the big advantage if you look at the campaigns as a whole). But that will have to wait. See, today is Patriot Day.
Patriot Day is apparently the official name for the rememberance of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Even though I remember the attacks every year I didn't know there was an actual official day of rememberance until just a few days ago.
There should be. But I absolutely hate the name. 'Patriot Day'. Not only will it be too easy to forget just what it is we're remembering, it really clashes with my experience of that day. On September 11/12 the heads of many nations expressed their condolances. Whatever goodwill was generated has been pissed away over most of the last 7 years. 'Patriot Day', the words, bring to mind 'Freedom Fries'-style 'rah rah' jingoism. September 11 deserves better.
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Twenty
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Stuff The RNC Talked About
- The word 'maverick' isn't just for cigarette ads and gay porn any more.
- Sarah Palin is the most experienced and qualified person to ever run for public office. EVER
- John McCain fought in a war.
The rest was really just sideshow stuff.
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Twenty one
- Sarah Palin is the most experienced and qualified person to ever run for public office. EVER
- John McCain fought in a war.
The rest was really just sideshow stuff.
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Twenty one
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Frustration
Blogger just crashed my system. Dang it.
I was all set yesterday to sit back and watch some NASCAR yesterday, but due to weather concerns (tropical storm Hannah), the race was delayed until today. Which meant no broadcast coverage. Dang it.
I had sort of planned my weekend around relaxing and watching that race, so I ended up not relaxing in addition to not seeing the race. Now what do I do with the Fritos I bought to eat while watching? Dang it.
The Republican convention frustrated me more than it should have given that I don't really care much about those folks. So I went in to the weekend already a little agitated. Dang it.
I should talk more about the convention before it is news so old that it is irrelevant, but I have to try being unfrustrated enough to get something done right now. :)
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Twenty four.
I was all set yesterday to sit back and watch some NASCAR yesterday, but due to weather concerns (tropical storm Hannah), the race was delayed until today. Which meant no broadcast coverage. Dang it.
I had sort of planned my weekend around relaxing and watching that race, so I ended up not relaxing in addition to not seeing the race. Now what do I do with the Fritos I bought to eat while watching? Dang it.
The Republican convention frustrated me more than it should have given that I don't really care much about those folks. So I went in to the weekend already a little agitated. Dang it.
I should talk more about the convention before it is news so old that it is irrelevant, but I have to try being unfrustrated enough to get something done right now. :)
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Twenty four.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Politics
I was going to blog about things political, given the Republican National Convention is just up the road from me, but things keep happening! Interesting things. So I keep writing new stuff.
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Twenty-nine.
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Twenty-nine.
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