Recently in Washington Category
I haven't been so excited about the results of an election... Well, ever.
Now, let's get to work.
I got in line this morning shortly after 6am, waited about 30 minutes, and cast my vote for Obama. Not too shabby for what's expected to be a huge turnout.
No matter who you support, get out and vote today.
I finally got around to uploading my GPS watch data, which included my hike up Old Rag while the rest of the family was out of town. Check out the elevation chart! Fun stuff.
This morning, I went downtown for the start of the Zipcar Low-Car Diet program. For the next month, I have to keep my Honda Civic parked and try not to drive it. For some of the participants, they're trying to avoid using any car at all, using only Zipcar and public transportation.
I threw myself right into the thick of it, taking the train downtown for the kickoff event. Then after the event was over, I had to figure out how to get to work. I took the train to the West Falls Church Metro, and just narrowly missed catching the shuttle to where I work. Instead, I hopped on the 3T bus and ended up walking about a mile to my office. It was warmer than I would have liked, but I succeeded. On the way home, I just have to walk .25 miles to catch the bus, then walk about 1.5 miles the rest of the way home. The best part so far is that I just started a new book this morning, and I'm 86 pages into it already.
Oh yeah, and if you click on the Zipcar link above, you can find me under the Washington, DC participant list. Mine is the third picture, the giant eyeball. They're supposed to update those pages when we send them emails about our progress. Mine should be interesting this week, since I have to pick up Lisa and the kids from the airport tonight. Unfortunately, the Toyota Matrix Zipcar isn't available when I need to pick them up, so we'll have to take Metro instead. Ellie will be thrilled: airplane AND train both in the same day!
A couple of weeks ago while browsing the Fatwallet forums, I stumbled across what seemed like a sweet deal: Sign up for the Zipcar "Car-Free Diet" plan. You agree to keep your car keys in your junk drawer for just one month, from July 21st through August 15th. In return, you get a loaded public transit pass, a free 1-year Zipcar membership, some driving time and more goodies that we'll tell you about a little later.
Seemed like a no-brainer, so I signed up and waited. And waited. Turned out, they only took 30 people from each area, not everyone who signed up. But, lo and behold, I was one of the chosen 30! Schweet! So on July 21st, I'll be downtown for the ceremonial key-relinquishing (they give them back, but I don't anticipate needing them). Coincidentally, that night, Lisa and the kids will be flying home from Detroit. Luckily, they are arriving at National airport, so we can take the Metro back. I could also potentially pick them up in one of the Zipcars, but the kids do love the train.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've done damn well riding my bike to work pretty much every day, so I don't think it'll be a big deal to keep doing so. The fun part will be the stuff I send in to them to document my experience. I'm planning on taking pictures of the receipt from my last gas fillup (June 26), my odometer which shouldn't move, and maybe some video of my ride to/from work, especially the part where I pass over the packed Beltway while on the trail. It should be a lot of fun.
I feel obliged to mention that yesterday, a young woman riding her bicycle was struck and killed by a garbage truck in DC. The driver apparently never saw her. There is also apparently a bike lane on this road, but it's not clear whether she was riding in the bike lane or not. Either way, it's certainly a wakeup call to everyone to pay attention when riding, driving, or walking. My heart goes out to her family. Ride safe out there everyone.
Politics really piss (pisses? what's the conjugation there?) me off sometimes. This picture of Barack Obama taking his kids for a bike ride has been roundly mocked as "nerdy" or "geeky." The reasons given: the helmet and the tucked in polo. What the hell is the guy supposed to do? If he wasn't wearing a helmet, he'd get absolutely blasted. No one looks good in a bike helmet. (Side note: it seems odd that he only has one strap going under his chin. All bike helmets I've seen have a triangle shape coming down from the helmet, meeting under the earlobe, then a single strap from there under the chin. Strange.) I suppose you could argue his fashion sense for tucking in a polo, especially into jeans, but damn people, I wear a freakin tucked in polo nearly every day at work. It'd look pretty sloppy if it wasn't tucked in.
It's unbelievable to me that this kind of shit is what people are focused on while the dollar is tanking, gas prices are through the roof, and soldiers are dying in Iraq. But please, let's go ahead and criticize the man for wearing a fucking helmet and tucking in his shirt instead of focusing on the issues.
Bike geek side note: some people have noticed that the bike didn't seem to fit him particularly well. I'm not totally sure on that, but I'm not an expert. In one of the pictures, his leg does seem to be almost fully extended at the bottom of the pedal stroke, so he might raise the seat only slightly. More likely, he probably just needed a slightly taller frame, and he would have been good to go.
Update: And yes, I am White and Nerdy.
As previously mentioned, last week there was a photographer for the Washington Post out taking pictures of people riding their bikes to work, myself included. And lo and behold, my picture did make it into the paper today!
Nearly four years ago, I posted about 3 separate cases of our legal system run amok. Today, I can report that the last of those cases has finally been resolved. Steve Kurtz, the artist who was arrested on bio-terrorism charges, then later on mail fraud charges, has had his case dismissed by a federal judge, after nearly 4 years of fighting.
This result follows Brandon Mayfield's successful challenge to his false arrest (based on erroneous fingerprint analysis) which resulted in a $2 million settlement and having 2 parts of the USA Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional.
Finally, Jose Padilla was finally tried and found guilty and sentenced to 17 years in prison in January after languishing for three-and-a-half years as an "enemy combatant," before the Supreme Court nearly had to step in (the Bush administration finally relented to avoid having the Supreme Court trump its authority).
In sad news for the residents of Vienna, Va., the Examiner reports that the city will swap out its traditional July 4th fireworks display this year for a laser light show. An accident at the Vienna fireworks last year injured about a dozen spectators, so city officials voted to spend $22,000 on a non-flammable alternative. No word yet on whether Vienna will also provide marijuana and a Pink Floyd soundtrack.
In other news, I noticed that Amazon had Guitar Hero 3 for Wii on sale today for $15 off the usual price, so I jumped at the chance to use my Amazon gift certificate (thanks bro!) and birthday money. No Pink Floyd on there though, only Poison and Guns N Roses.
Stumbled across this video and noticed that one of the organizations they donated to was Shane's Heifer International. I seriously HATE Sally Struthers and her commercials, but this video made me bookmark their donation page for future charity giving. Stay tuned, as I have the feeling there is something in my head that will come out of this.
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some
It should come as little surprise to anyone who has thought about it, but now there is scientific proof: daylight savings time wastes, not reduces, energy.
In Indiana, daylight savings was previously observed by 15 of the 92 counties, creating a lot of confusion when your neighbor's clock was an hour off from yours. The legislature thus passed a law mandating daylight savings throughout the state, and researchers took the opportunity to study the law's effect on energy usage. The result? Residential electricity usage increased between 1% and 4%, amounting to $8.6 million a year.
Many people have never seen this during their visits to DC, as it's definitely off the beaten path, on Hains Point. I ran by it during the Marine Corps Marathon way back when, but I don't remember too much about that time.
The Awakening is a large sculpture that looks like a giant trying to claw its way out of the ground. They dug it up and moved it to a new location yesterday, which much have puzzled quite a few drivers along the moving route.
Yesterday's Washington Post had a slew of great articles that I wanted to bring to your attention.
First, two related opinion pieces on American literacy. The first by Susan Jacoby nearly brought me to tears.
In 1982, 82 percent of college graduates read novels or poems for pleasure; two decades later, only 67 percent did. And more than 40 percent of Americans under 44 did not read a single book -- fiction or nonfiction -- over the course of a year.
...
That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge. The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth); it's the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place.
The next by Howard Gardner is slightly more optimistic: "[W]hatever our digital future brings, we need to overcome the perils of dualistic thinking, the notion that what lies ahead is either a utopia or a dystopia."
The final article on literacy by Randy Sulzman talks about the lengths to which people in oppressed countries like Iran go to read, which should inspire you to read as well.
Then there is this series on helping military families get out of debt. Of course, the stories are predictable, as they are not unique to military families. The Bathiches make $65k/year and have $27600 in credit card debt. But the military pays for their housing, and gives them a food allowance as well. Yet they somehow rack up the debt, despite the two biggest spending categories being essentially taken care of for them. Worse, they borrowed money from the man's father to pay off credit cards, only to get right back to the same amount of credit card debt a short time later.
The Colons make $191k/year. The article doesn't say whether they have their housing and food paid for by the military, but it does say they have three houses. They also have three very expensive cars. His BMW Z3 costs $700/month, and he foolishly traded in a Ford Mustang (on which he still owed $10k) for a Ford Explorer, making his new loan balance on that one almost $50k, making payments of $853/month! Yes folks, over $1500/month on two cars. No wonder they're in trouble. Then tack on an expensive wedding, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Finally, the Holmeses make $135k/year. They have two houses themselves, one of which they are renting out for $1000/month LESS than the mortgage costs. They put a lot of money into their Thrift Savings Plan (government equivalent of a 401(k)), but they also took $20k in loans on the retirement account. Ugh. So many mistakes, so little time.
At least these people recognize that they have made mistakes and they are willing to put a giant spotlight on their problems to try to dig their way out. Americans across the country make similar mistakes every day, getting in trouble with credit card debt, fancy cars, and things they can't afford. I just wish it was so easy to predict their stories before even reading them. The solutions for most of them are simple: cut down on unnecessary spending, cut up your credit cards, sell the fancy things you bought that you can't afford (those cars!), and stop trying to live beyond your means.
Who should you vote for?
| Mike Gravel |  | 21 | ||
| Barack Obama |  | 10 | ||
| Hillary Clinton | -19 | |
Your recommendation: Mike Gravel
Party: Democratic
Born: 1930, Springfield, Massachusetts
Family: Married twice. Two children and four grandchildren
Career: US Army; Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps; taxi driver; barman; brakeman; property developer
Political career: 3rd Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, 1965-6; US Senator from Alaska 1969-1981. Environment and Public Works and Finance and Interior Committees; chaired the Energy, Water Resources, and Environmental Pollution subcommittees
Hot topic: Fair tax
Did you know? Born to French-Canadian immigrant parents, Marie Bourassa and Alphonse Gravel; Mike spoke only French until he was seven years old
Supported by: Ralph Nader
"This demonstrates, at least for now, that the United States is fully capable of prosecuting terrorism while affording defendants the full procedural protections of the Constitution."
- MICHAEL GREENBERGER, who teaches terrorism law at the University of Maryland law
school, on the conviction of Jose Padilla.
About all I have to add there is: What took them so long? If these guys are really bad, just about every American will convict them if placed on the jury. So why stonewall to avoid a trial? It just doesn't make sense. I'm glad to see that justice, such as it is, has finally been done.
Last night, the Republican Presidential candidates had their first "debate" at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The candidates waxed nostalgic about Reagan, while it was clear that none of them could hold a candle to him. John McCain has lost just about any "maverick" status he once had, as he has turned into a wishy-washy pandering politician like the rest of them. Front runners Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani did nothing to hurt themselves while the rest of the candidates did nothing to distinguish themselves. Oh wait, yes they did. Three of them raised their hands and said they did not believe in evolution.
The moderator posed the question to John McCain, as it was the top vote-getter in MSNBC's poll of what to ask the candidates.
Moderator: "They want a yes or no: Do you believe in evolution?"
McCain: "(Very slight pause) Yes."
Moderator: "I'm curious, is there anybody on the stage who does not agree and does not believe in evolution?" (I think the moderator is surprised that this was thought to be an interesting question to ask) Two candidates, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Huckabee from Arkansas, immediately raise their hands. Tom Tancredo of Colorado appears to look over and notice that they raised their hands, and realizes that if he is going to pander to the Christian Right, he needs to raise his hand as well.
It boggles the mind.
Just to lighten things up a bit, here's the Final Jeopardy from last night, which I got correct. This person is next in the current Presidential line of succession after Robert Byrd. I was psyched that I got it right over my International Relations majoring wife, who didn't recognize Robert Byrd.
I should have mentioned this earlier, but it slipped my mind after I got to work. Molly Ivins, the scathing columnist who wrote several books about George W. Bush and his baffling rise to power, passed away at the age of 62 after a battle with cancer. We often complain about the media not standing up to our idiotic politicians, but Ivins was a constant thorn in Shrub's side for years. I'l definitely miss her wit and wisdom. I'm putting Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush on my reading list.
Anyone out there actually watch the State of the Union? Really, what's the point in listening to a lame duck president trying to sell his policies to a hostile opposition-controlled Congress? So no, I didn't watch a minute of the speech.
Instead, I watched "Heroes" on my PC in HDTV. As I mentioned before, I bought a cheap HDTV tuner card, added the Philips Silver Sensor antenna, and I was able to tune in all the major networks with no problems. The only remaining issue was the software. The NVidia PureVideo decoder was the only one that allowed smooth playback of the HDTV. I tried a bunch of different PVR software packages (the one drawback of the cheap HD tuner card is that it did not come with any bundled software, which might have made this step easier), before settling on GB-PVR. It could stand to be prettier (downloading a different "skin" may help in this regard), but it does have a decent interface, and was the only one that I was able to use to download a program guide in order to schedule recordings. So I scheduled Heroes to record a "season pass," and waited for it to start airing again.
On Monday night, my PC recorded Heroes without a hitch. Last night, I watched the episode during the State of the Union address. At two points during playback, there were some glitches which I attributed to the fact that I was doing other things on the computer while it was recording. But these were very minor blips, all things considered. The other drawback is that the 1 hour episode of Heroes took up about 8 GB of space on my hard drive. Until I'm able to get a second, bigger hard drive, I will really only have space for about 5 hours of HD recordings at a time. That's not too bad, as I could probably record Prison Break, Heroes, and Lost in HD and watch them each before the next episode airs. It would also be nice to have a real HDTV to watch them on, but I realize that's a long ways off.
Part of the point of this exercise was to see if it would eventually be possible to wean myself off of basic cable/satellite TV: Sci-Fi, cooking/home shows for Lisa, Ellie's kid shows and ESPN (noooooooo!). With cable TV shows being released on DVD not long after their seasons are over, I could definitely see myself catching up on Battlestar Galactica in the summer. The other ones are a tough sell, but it might be possible to get a different tuner card that has QAM (unencrypted cable) tuning capability and stick with the most basic cable possible. Or just read more books!
So, about 36 hours ago, Evan William was born. But 24 hours ago, the polls in Virginia were 4 hours from closing, and obviously we hadn't made it there yet. We were on our way to Evan's first doctor's appointment, and Lisa was adamant about voting. So we called up the local Election Board, and after they got over their shock, they said we could go to our polling place, and park in the handicapped spot and have someone get a ballot to Lisa. So we arrived at the polling place just after 5pm, and the place was dead. I walked up and presented my ID and said my wife wanted to vote in the car. After they got over their shock (12 hours ago?!?!?), they told me to vote first, and then lead the poll worker to our car. They grabbed the umbrella, and one of the electronic voting machines, and went outside. Lisa gave them her ID, and they hand her the machine, in the car. And she voted.
Oddly enough, our votes actually mattered this time. While the moronic anti-gay marriage amendment passed, the George Allen-Jim Webb Senate race is too close to call, with Webb slightly in the lead in one of the two remaining key races for control of the Senate. Less than 7,000 votes separate the two, so our votes definitely mattered. And yes, my wife is slightly insane for making voting a priority. Of course, this is Washington, DC, and she used to work for Vice-President Gore, so I guess it shouldn't be that surprising. Lisa's "I Voted" sticker is going right in Evan's baby book.
Just when I was at my wit's end, and typing up this rant last week, along comes a new poll by the Washington Post that says that the majority of Virginia Catholics are opposed to the ridiculous "gay marriage" (misnomer) amendment. Not only that, but a whopping 60% say that gays should be allowed to form civil unions that would allow them to have legal rights similar to married couples. This is so frightening to the Church that the bishops in Richmond and Arlington have sent letters to the parishes urging support for the amendment. There's not much I dislike more than political homilies in church. (The one thing I dislike more is fundraising homilies.)
This quote from the end of the article sums up the argument pretty well (although I disagree with banning gay marriage myself. There goes my political career):
"'What's important to me more than anything is fundamental fairness,' said Scott Peters, a personal trainer in Sterling. He said he disagreed with the church's stance on abortion as well.
"'If this amendment just banned gay marriage, I'd vote for it. But I do believe in civil unions, and I just don't think I can support something that obviously is trying to go after those arrangements. Honestly, I just believe the church is wrong on this one.'"
On the ballot this year in Virginia is one of those anti-gay-marriage amendments. Not only is it to ban gay marriage, but the language is so broad that it requires all government agencies to refuse to recognize any contractual arrangement that carries with it any right, benefit, obligation, quality or effect of a marriage. It's a huge deal that isn't getting nearly enough attention here, and when it does, it's framed as the "gay marriage ban" rather than the odious language that it truly is. Gay marriage is already banned by law in Virginia, and Virginia certainly does not have one of those "activist" courts that would dare overturn such a law.
Like they did in New Jersey. It's amusing that the media is framing the New Jersey decision as similar to that of Massachussets a while ago. What the NJ court said was that "Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this State, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our State Constitution." So, they're not mandating that gay marriage be allowed, just that two people who care about each other be allowed to be at each other's deathbed. Update: Andrew Cohen weighs in on Bench Conference, basically confirming that my reading is fairly accurate.
One of the people who works in my office, not the sharpest pencil in the box, was watching the CNN ticker that scrolled the announcement by and remarked "That's just scary." [And then she voted: Scott Adams reference] How? How is this remotely scary? The divorce rate in this country is at all-time highs, and you're worried about two people of the same sex getting married? They're already living together, probably own a house together. They married in every way but the stupid paper that says they are. Why is it scary? I just don't understand how this affects anyone who is already in a "traditional" marriage. You're still married. If you want to get married to a person of the opposite sex, you can still do that. And most of all, your kids aren't going to "catch" gay-ness. It's not a disease that the gays are going to pass on to more people just because they're married.
It bugs me when our "leaders" feel the need to impose their morals on me. Sanctity of marriage? Hello, Kettle? This is Pot. You're black. How many of our Congresspeople are divorced? I know my own Representative is (Hi, Tom Davis! Are you seriously trying to tell me that you and Jeannemarie didn't get together until after the divorces were finalized?). It bugs me when the spin doctors don't care about the people, the human beings, who are affected by their brain-dead vote-getting schemes. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's crap like this that makes me embarrassed to call myself an American sometimes.
Who the hell is Alexis Gomez? You can't tell me the Tigers aren't a team of destiny when a guy, who is only in the lineup because a) Sean Casey is hurt and b) Marcus Thames is struggling, equals his career homerun output in one game, and knocks in 4 runs.
I had a frustrating night last night. I was supposed to go to a focus group. Normally, these are in Alexandria, not terribly far from where I live, and one that has more than one route to get to it. But this one was in Maryland, with only one way to go, across the American Legion Bridge. I sat in traffic for 45 minutes getting over that damned bridge. I should have just turned around and gone home, but there was $100 waiting if I got there in time. I arrived about 5 minutes late, after an hour in the car, and parked at a meter, thinking I would just be going in only to get turned away. (can you see where this is going already?) Much to my surprise, they actually let me in, and we talked about education reform for over 3 hours. Feel free to check out the link. Some interesting ideas from a group founded by smart guys Bill Gates (college dropout) and Eli Broad (Michigan State in da hizzouse!). At any rate, it was a typical group of loud-mouthed opinionated idiots and more rational quiet people. I knew it was over when the DC/Prince George's County woman got offended when someone suggested that the DC School Board was overrun by bureaucracy, spending a lot more per capita than most school systems but still failing the kids. The woman started into a tirade about growing up in slums, which had no bearing on this guy's comment, and it all just got worse from there. Worse, when it came to the end, and people had to choose whether to sign a pledge stating that they would not vote for candidates who didn't support some fundamental school reform platforms, almost no one would (I did). They ranted all night about how it's messed up, but when the rubber meets the road, education was not in their top 3 election issues (terrorism, the economy, and something else were inevitably top 3), and they would not commit to making changes starting with themselves. Like I said, idiots.
Naturally, after I grabbed my $100 check, I went to my car and found a parking ticket. $35, which meant my effort was a $65 net, minus pain and suffering spent in traffic. No more Maryland focus groups for me. Then, on the way back home, it took me 40 minutes to drive the two miles on I-66 from the Beltway to the first exit, because they took off two lanes for construction. A 40 minute traffic jam at 10pm with a $35 ticket lying next to me did not make me happy. Oh, and to top it all off, I got home so late that I didn't have a chance to watch Lost. Don't spoil it for me, 'kay?
Of course, all this pales when you learn of Cory Lidle's sudden and tragic death in a plane crash yesterday. Just the other day, I was debating whether Lidle was worth keeping, and which pitchers the Yankees could sign in the free agent market. Events like these serve as a stark reminder that it's just a game.
From today's Washington Post chat with Howard Kurtz:
Rochester, N.Y.: Do you think the media is overplaying the North Korean nuclear tests, perhaps in part because it makes the president look bad? After all isn't it better for them to test their nuclear weapons in the mountains of North Korea than in the streets of our cities?
Howard Kurtz: Overplaying the testing of a nuclear bomb by a closed Communist state run by an erratic dictator? Are you serious? The North Korea issue has bedeviled a number of presidents, including Clinton, and whether it makes Bush look bad or not is not the driving issue here.
Yes, the liberal media is overblowing a NEW NUCLEAR POWER! You freaking moron. It's not about politics or timing, it's about a crazy dude with a Napolean complex having access to the most dangerous type of weapon known to man!
The FDA finally announced last week that fresh spinach is "as safe as it was before the [E. coli] outbreak."
But if the FDA couldn't detect the E. coli before the outbreak, that means they still can't, and now we're back to the old Russian Roulette method of food safety. Good thing I have a strong stomach.
I'm doing my best to ignore all the 9/11 stuff today. The fact that the Earth has orbitted the sun 5 times since that particular date seems arbitrary to me. I remember what happened every day, because of the kind of work I do.
On 9/11, I was in Amman, Jordan. Feel free to check a map, but here's a hint: Jordan is neighbors with Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. My wife was here in DC, trying to get home amid the chaos in the streets. She eventually walked out of the city over one of the bridges and managed to get home somehow. Lisa was actually in Michigan for her brother's wedding (the walking over the bridge thing was due to the more normal Metro fire fiasco), and she spent the day trying to call my co-workers in DC, which was tough because all the phone lines were jammed. I managed to fly out of Jordan the next day, only to be stranded in Paris until flights were allowed back into the US. Since those crazy days where we didn't want anything but to go home and hug each other, we've moved on, and we do our best to not live in fear or cower in the memory of that time.
If it's important to you, feel free to remember and do whatever seems right to you. But I'm just going to treat it like any other day, no disrespect intended.
The light is at the end of the tunnel, not above ground on 35-foot high stilts.
Virginia's governor has given up on a plan to run the newest Metro line through a tunnel underneath Tysons Corner. Instead, bowing to pressure from two Virginia Congressmen (who will be receiving stern letters from me shortly, and will NOT be receiving my vote this November) and Federal Transit Administration officials, the tunnel plans have been scrapped, and the line will be built above ground in the medians of existing roads. Not that I'm bitter because my "back road" commute will be directly affected by this boneheaded plan. Nope, not me, not at all.
Idiots. I just can't find a better way to describe these short-sighted morons. If they were hoping this portion of the Metro would get people to take a train to their jobs in Tysons Corner, I have a feeling they are going to be disappointed. I'm having a lot of trouble imagining this plan being a success. Of course, my vision of success is that the makeup of Tysons would actually change from a traffic-choked maze of streets and boring office buildings and car dealers. But hey, if they're going to be dicks about taking away $900 million in federal money (while billions are wasted on a Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska) over the maximum $200 million extra this MIGHT cost, and which would have not have cost the federal government one extra dime, I guess that's their prerogative. But they're still idiots.
Interesting reading. Basically, less than a year after he lost the presidential election, he was able to get himself appointed Chancellor, and then got the German congress to grant him "emergency powers" that essentially made him dictator of Germany. Definitely worth checking out the article to see how it happened.
What was that I was saying about the wisdom of dumping the confiscated liquids into a giant vat? Oh yeah, it's not very wise! 19 airport workers in Minneapolis were hospitalized after getting sick from the fumes from one of those vats. They think it was from someone's Mace or pepper spray. Brilliant!
From the International Herald Tribune:
At Dulles International Airport near Washington on Thursday morning, one traveler reported that screeners were also making passengers remove all food items from their carry-on luggage for inspection, and one passenger was told to peel her banana.
Zefrank: "The government's responsibility is to make sure that fear and terror are not disproportionate to the reality of the situation."
I won't even go into how they are now dumping the liquids out into giant vats, thus mixing the potential liquid explosives for the terrorists!
The TSA has raised the airline threat level, and is banning all liquids on flights.
NO LIQUIDS OR GELS OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED IN CARRY-ON BAGGAGE. ITEMS MUST BE IN CHECKED BAGGAGE. This includes all beverages, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, tooth paste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency.Exception: Baby formula, breast milk, or juice if a baby or small child is traveling; prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket; and insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines.
First big trade for the Nationals before the July 31 deadline just went through.
Nats get RF Austin Kearns, SS Felipe Lopez and RHP Ryan Wagner for RHP Gary Majewski, LHP Bill Bray, IF Brendan Harris, SS Royce Clayton, and RHP Daryl Thompson. Wow.
My first thought is: where are they going to play Kearns? He's a right-fielder, and I don't think he has the speed to play center. That leads to the second thought: Jose Guillen is going to be getting some time off, one way or another. He hasn't been hitting the ball at all, and it's supposedly because he's banged up.
I'm leaning toward liking it, if only because they are all young guys. Lopez and Kearns are offensive upgrades over what Clayton and Guillen were giving us right now. But damn, why'd they have to throw Bill Bray in there? I really liked him. Majewski had some rough patches this season too, as did a lot of the bullpen, but Wagner looks to be a solid prospect.
Hmm, good looking lineup for the next few years, pending future trades: LF Soriano, 2B Vidro, 1B Nick Johnson, RF Kearns, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, SS Lopez, C Schneider, and we still need a CF. Of course, this will all be moot when they deal Soriano tomorrow.
That reminds me, I need to get to a game or two next week while Lisa is out of town...
The new owners of the Nationals announced their Grand Reopening plans yesterday. It actually sounds like they are going to be pretty good owners. First off, they are cleaning up RFK from top to bottom. Hopefully that means no more sticky feet syndrome. They're also upgrading the food choices to include things like cheesesteaks, bockwurst, knishes, all-beef hot dogs and brown mustard. They've pledged to get the food vendor's act together too, making sure that lines move quickly and efficiently. Good luck with that. They are also supposed to put micro-brews back in the stadium. Huzzah! I do love my Guinness, but it's not really a baseball beer.
In addition, they're kicking off the festivities with the Cubs series July 21-23. I'm fairly certain that the tickets for that were selling pretty well anyway, in spite of their "premium" pricing, but they're going to go like hotcakes now. Each day, there's a different red giveaway: Friday is red caps, Saturday is red t-shirts, and Sunday is red rally towels. There's also live entertainment before each game, including the "Godfather of Go-go" Chuck Brown on Saturday. I am so there.
Did I mention that for the rest of the season, 1000 tickets that used to be $11 will be $5, and 1000 more at $7 are reduced to $3, for every game (not including the Cubs series). At that price, you can definitely afford to take the family. And trust me, I will.
What is this bright yellow light I see in the sky? What? The Sun? Haven't seen that in a week! National Airport reports over 12 inches of rain since the deluge started. Unbelievable. We probably got more like 10-11 inches, but that's still substantial. It's going to take days before the lawn dries out. Thankfully, no problems in the basement, and everything is intact, if not a bit soggy. And now that it's sunny again, we're leaving for Chicago for the weekend, which, naturally has the chance of thunderstorms in the forecast for the whole time we're there. We'll just have to make do with what we're given. At least Ellie will get the chance to get outside today. She's been more than a little bit stir crazy being stuck inside for a week. Even Superman (movie comes out today) would have had his powers drained by the extended absence of our yellow sun.
We're packing up tonight for the drive to Chicago that starts tomorrow. If anyone knows someone who can loan my their XM Radio (the only way to listen to the World Cup while on the road), let me know. Gotta cheer on my Deutschland!
Look, I'm far from an expert here, but doesn't it seem like if we just killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who we essentially elevated to such a high position by having Colin Powell mention him in his speech to the UN, we should avoid putting yet another figure out there who will become the next martyr? Oh wait, the war on terror is never-ending, that's right. My bad. Go ahead and tell everyone who al-Zarqawi's successor is, just in case they weren't sure. Abu Ayyub al-Masri, come on down!
But like I said, I'm no expert, and no one asks me about these things.
FishBowlDC has the list of Washington Post employees who accepted the Post's buyout offer and are "retiring" early. Of course, for some, much like at my job, this just means they are now contract employees who will stay on for a while. For others, they get a nice wad of cash and move on to another job. My thoughts on the list:
Tom Shales: staying on for a while, I will miss his curmudgeonly take on TV, but I hope they will find someone who, say, actually likes watching TV.
Courtland Milloy: also staying for a while, I always enjoyed reading his column because it came from a point of view that was a complete 180 from my own: an inner-city African-American. I will miss him.
Al Kamen: Nooooooo! Don't take away my "In The Loop!" I will miss him most of all, but thankfully, he's not just satying for a while, but "working under contract for the foreseeable future." Hooray!
There are a bunch of other names I recognize, especially from the Business section, but no real thoughts on any of them. Well, one more. I have to say I probably will miss Leslie Walker the least. She was sort of a tech reporter, but I was never really interested in her columns, whether because of the subjects, or just the really basic newbie tech level she brought to them. I hope that the person who takes over the ".com" column will bring a smart fresh approach.
I know, most people aren't paying attention to hockey right now. I'm only watching the occasional Sabres game because MSU alum Ryan Miller is their goalie. But a couple of weeks ago, the Edmonton Oilers were playing the San Jose Sharks in San Jose. As is tradition, when a Canadian team is playing, both the US and Canadian national anthems are sung. Sharks fans booed the entire time Annmarie Martin was singing 'O Canada.' Seriously, how lame do you have to be to boo Canada? What a bunch of losers.
The response of the fans in Edmonton was admirable. They didn't boo the US anthem in their next game. Presented below, for your viewing enjoyment, is a video of the fans singing at Tuesday's game against the Mighty Ducks, the Oilers first home game of this series. When was the last time you heard US fans singing their anthem so loud?
Watch
The NSA has been collecting your phone records, apparently for quite some time. And 63% of Americans think it's fine. I just don't know where to begin to be outraged.
Don't drive 126 mph on the George Washington Parkway.
And if you do, don't get off at the CIA exit. You won't get very far.
Whoa! C.I.A. Director Porter Goss resigns. I didn't see that one coming. I wonder who will replace him?
Our first baseball game of the year was on Saturday. For a while on Friday, it looked like it was going to get rained out, but all the rain passed by south of us, and we had great weather for baseball. I had a lot of trouble sleeping on Friday night though, maybe a bit of nerves before the first game, and that probably carried through onto the field a bit at the beginning, but it definitely got better as the game went on.
We were missing at least three of our players Saturday, include two of our big bats and one of our catchers. I actually ended up starting at shortstop, not my best position, but one I can play well enough to get by, I suppose. Of course, I missed a few plays there - trouble getting a ball out of my glove to throw, a little popup that fell in front of me and the third baseman that I should have taken charge of, and an easy grounder that I plain muffed. The grounder was the worst, as it led to a 4 run inning for the other team (the runs are capped at a maximum of 4 for the first 6 innings to ensure that teams have enough time to play an official game). Luckily, we came right back in the bottom of the inning with 4 of our own. I later switched to third base, and felt more comfortable there.
In the batter's box, I started off tentatively, like I said. My first at-bat, I duck-snorted another one into shallow left field, then stole second, only to get stranded there. My second time up, I got more aggressive, but went after a bad pitch that was high, and popped it up to third base. My third time up was where I started to feel more comfortable. I worked the count to 3-1, and looked for my pitch. I got it right where I wanted it, and drilled it right back to the pitcher, who barely managed to get his glove on it, and the ball deflected toward the second baseman. I beat out the throw, driving in a run from third base that was important at the time, making the score 13-9. The following defensive inning, I tracked down a foul ball for an out, and fielded a bad hop grounder to third and made a solid throw to shut out the opponents and keep the score 13-9. In my last at-bat in the 7th inning, I drove one over the shortstop's head and into the gap in left-center for a double. I may have gotten a triple out of it, but our oldest player was on the bases in front of me, so I settled for two. We eventually scored 9 runs in the 7th inning, and the umpires called the game as we had run out of time to play with the score 22-9.
3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs, a shaky start in the field, but a good comeback later on. Not too shabby for my first time back out there in a while.
I came home and decided to mow the lawn while I was all sweaty and dirty anyway. Then it was time to head out for the Easter Egg Hunt. Our neighbor is a member of the Kena Shriners, and gave us tickets, as well as tickets for basically all of Ellie's friends. What a guy! The event was supposed to start at 2pm, and when we pulled in about 5 minutes till, they were getting ready to start the hunt! We ran up and got Ellie there just in time. She managed to get two eggs before the older kids swarmed all the others. They had cookies and ice cream and a puppet show for all the kids afterwards too. The Easter Bunny was there for pictures, but Ellie was too scared. They also had those sweet mini-Corvettes that they were giving the kids rides in, but Ellie was too scared for that too, and they were pretty loud, in all fairness.
We actually had a fairly quiet Sunday. We went downtown because the Phillips Collection was free for the weekend, as they were celebrating the return of their most famous piece, Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. It was an impressive collection for one guy to have assembled, but with all the free museums we have, I'd have trouble paying for it. It was fun, but very warm as it was extremely crowded. There was a huge line after we left, so we were lucky to get in when we did.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at Dupont Circle and outside at home. Ellie just loves being outside, so it's good that the weather has been largely sunny on the weekends. Today is very rainy, so hopefully Lisa and Ellie will find stuff to do inside. They're off to Michigan for cousin Colin's Thomas the Train birthday party this weekend, so I'll have the bachelor pad all to myself. Most likely this means I'll be working on the basement though. Exciting times for me!
The owners of the Star Market, in Southeast DC, near where the new baseball stadium will be built, were holding out for $1 million+ for their tiny 770 square foot rowhouse. Finally, the developer gave up and decided to build around the holdouts. Check it out:
That little sliver of a building at the bottom middle of the picture is Star Market, butting right up against that new hotel and co-op. Oops. Maybe you should have taken that offer after all.
Anyone else think it's just weird that a guy named Josh is the new White House chief of staff, since the deputy chief of staff on "The West Wing" is named Josh too? I'm just saying...
Following up on the "accidental" shooting of an alleged bookie back in January, the Post has the story that the officer will not be charged or reprimanded for the shooting. I'm still trying to figure out how it went off "accidentally."
Culosi was standing next to the officer's car, on the passenger side, when the officer gave the sign for two SWAT officers to move in. They headed toward the car, one to arrest Culosi and one to protect the undercover officer, Horan said.One officer pulled up in a car behind the undercover officer's. "As the officer came out, he was bringing his weapon up," Horan said. "In the course of bringing his weapon up, it discharged. He has no real explanation how."
Horan said the officer shouted the word "police" at Culosi. "Right after "police,' " Horan said, "it went pow."
Horan said the officer was aware that he should not have had a finger on the trigger and that he should not have had his .45-caliber H&K handgun pointed at anyone. "As he says, you keep your finger straight," Horan said. "He felt his finger was straight . . . but obviously his finger is not straight up. His finger has to be on the trigger."
I'm not a SWAT team member myself, but even I know that you never have your finger on the trigger, especially not when you're pointing the gun at someone, unless you are preparing to shoot them. Remember that photo of the Swat team grabbing Elian Gonzalez that had everyone going ballistic? If you look at it, you see the SWAT team guy in that picture has his finger straight, not on the trigger, and the gun is not pointed at anyone. That's the way to do it, and it seems to me this officer didn't do it right. In spite of this, he faces no reprecussions, and it just doesn't seem right to me.
The family has set up a website to keep interested parties up to date with what's going on.
Alfonso Soriano was supposed to be in the lineup for the Nats last night, in left field. He didn't take his position to start the game, so we are headed for a collision course. As it stands now, if he's not in left field by Thursday, the Nationals will take it to the commissioner, and they believe that Soriano will be in violation of his contract.
This cannot end well.
I'm glad that the head of the National Archives is coming out against the "reclassification" project that has recently come to light. How can you honestly expect people to just forget what they have read in these documents? Are they supposed to take them out of their papers and research now? It just seems silly.
An analysis of Washington traffic came out today, and, here's a shocker, it's getting worse. Lucky me, on Mondays when I head up to curling, I have to go through the worst congestion in the area, the inner loop from I-270 to Connecticut Avenue (route 185). It's only about a four mile stretch, but it can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to get through. Most times, it will start backing up well before I-270, at River Road, and extend further, to Georgia Avenue. My problem is that there's no way around it. Maryland has talked for ages about building another east-west commuter route, but they still haven't done so.
The one saving grace about the commute is that I recently discovered that there is a Chipotle on the way, so I always have that to look forward to as my reward. Yum!
It seems that the DC City Council finally decided to stop shooting themselves in the foot (you would think they would see how much it hurts after a while), and voted to approve the baseball stadium lease. Now we just need to see if they didn't mangle it too badly, otherwise MLB might yet kill it. The bizarre vote was to reject the cap the mayor proposed (which had the, ahem, "loophole" of the developer ont being held responsible for cost overruns due to terrorism or acts of God), then approve a different cap which places responsibility for cost overruns mainly on the new ownership, which doesn't exist yet.
In totally unrelated news, but of interest to me, a CIA employee was arrested for robbing 17 homes in the area over the past few months. The CIA also said he was responsible for the faulty data on Iraq's WMD and the NSA wiretapping program. That's a joke people.
"The world has never had a good definition of the word 'liberty.' The American people just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty. But in using the same word, we do not all mean the same thing.
"What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling seacoasts -- these are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosom. Our defence is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own door.
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow?
"Never.
"All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer that if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers.
"As a nation of free men, we must live through our times or die by suicide. Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in the schools, in the seminaries and in the colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice; and in short, let it become the political religion of the nation. And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly at its altar. And let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security.
"Let us not be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves.
"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."
-- Abraham Lincoln
(from Ronald Moore's Battlestar Galactica blog)
Marion Barry tested positive for cocaine use. Again. He should win the next mayoral election in a landslide, assuming he's not in jail.
Bruce Schneier, security expert, is definitely someone smarter than me. He's now weighed in against the NSA surveillance program with an editorial in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In it, he argues that President Bush has now established a dictatorial rule in the United States. My favorite chilling quote: "If the president can ignore laws regulating surveillance and wiretapping, why is Congress bothering to debate reauthorizing certain provisions of the Patriot Act? Any debate over laws is predicated on the belief that the executive branch will follow the law."
President Bush continues to assert that his authorization of an NSA progam to spy on people inside the US without a court order of any kind is legal. The Attorney General Alberto Gonzales points to the resolution authorizing force passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying it "implicitly" allows such actions. But then there's also this quote from the Washington Post article:
"This is not a backdoor approach," Gonzales said at the White House. "We believe Congress has authorized this kind of surveillance." He acknowledged that the administration discussed introducing legislation explicitly permitting such domestic spying but decided against it because it "would be difficult, if not impossible" to pass.
So Congress implicitly authorized it, but if they had to vote on explicitly permitting it, it would not pass? Sounds to me like he's admitting that Congress intended no such thing, and the fact that they're scheduling hearings on the program confirms that.
The DC Council again postponed a vote on the stadium lease for the Washington Nationals. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to call them the Washington Nationals. They may not be around much longer at this rate. Frankly, it shouldn't be a surprise. The council managed to push through a preliminary agreement before the newly elected members took office. Now, those new members are likely to vote against the lease agreement, scuttling the whole deal. Faced with this pressure, Mayor Williams asked to postpone the vote to change the lease language, AGAIN. Good lord man, if you couldn't get 7 votes up until now, I'm not sure what makes you think any changes you make now will matter.
The Nationals are already on the verge of turning into the Expos again next year. The novelty of having a team again is wearing off, and the team is not able to sign free agents without ownership or a stadium deal in place. It's a far cry from a year ago, when I was celebrating baseball coming back to DC. I only hope they can salvage something quickly and keep it here.
Target is now apparently selling "Holiday trees". I understand some points of political correctness, saying Happy Holidays, having holiday sales, etc. But you don't see them selling menorahs and calling them "holiday candelabras", do you? So why call a Christmas tree a holiday tree? It's pointless.
That said, that is the extent of my agreement with the zealots fighting the war on Christmas. Target and everyone else should run holiday sales, not Christmas sales, if they feel like it. As the Washington Post article indicates, much of the criticism leveled by Bill O'Reilly and the like is horrendously misplaced. A children's play did NOT change the words to Silent Night, the play says Christmas several times throughout, and the song just uses the tune of Silent Night that a lonely Christmas tree sings. There are plenty of other examples, but any apologies from the "fair and balanced" host? Not a chance. It's all about the anger.
Well, here's something that should make them angry: Christmas is a made up holiday that the Christians set at December 25th so that they could usurp the pagan festival of Saturnalia. Early Puritans in America even banned the holiday because of its link to the pagan holiday! There's lots more in the article, so I highly suggest reading it.
And none of this will stop me from celebrating Christmas this year, and I don't think it'll stop anyone else either. But it's darned close to driving me to celebrate Festivus instead. "A Festivus for the rest of us!"
A article in the New York Times today says the NSA spies on US calls, and that emails are intercepted without warrants. Apparently the President said they could do this without getting approval from an already secret court, in the interest of speeding things along so that no bad guys got away. Stuff like this is exactly why I argued that Congress should have killed the Patriot Act.
Update: The Senate picked a bad day to schedule the vote on renewing the Patriot Act. The expiring parts were rejected 52-47 today.
I'm probably the only one who finds this interesting, especially since the story was not on the front page of the paper, but tucked away on page 2 today. Anyway, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday expressed skepticism at approving Jose Padilla's transfer to the Justice Department. As I previously mentioned, Jose Padilla was held for three years in a military brig under the "enemy combatant" rules, accused of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb in the US. Recently, he was charged in a civilian court when it became clear that the Supreme Court might rule that the administration couldn't do stuff like that. But the charges had nothing to do with dirty bombs. The appeals court is now asking why "the different facts that were alleged by the President to warrant Padilla's military detention" are so different from "the alleged facts on which Padilla has now been indicted."
The plot thickens.
I've written about the Jose Padilla case before, arguing that the government should charge him with a crime if they believe he did something wrong. Faced with the threat that the Supreme Court might rule against their "enemy combatant" strategy, they finally moved him to a civilian prison and charged him with conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim.
I've said all along that he's not a good guy, but that he deserves his day in court. I'm glad to see he will finally get it after three years of being locked up incommunicado in a military brig.
They also didn't come from the CIA, if you got that version of the scam email.
'The FBI on Monday said e-mails made to look like they come from the agency are warning computer users that the FBI is monitoring their Internet use. "These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal Web sites," the FBI said in a statement. "The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions."
'"These e-mails did not come from the FBI," the statement said. "Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner." The agency said it was investigating the matter and urged anyone who received such an e-mail to report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. '
Proving once again, that people are soooo gullible.
We managed to get tickets to see Butterstick, aka Tai Shan, aka the baby Panda, by furiously clicking away at the up and down website yesterday morning. I started off the clicking and got through to the date page, and when I had to leave for work, Lisa managed to actually get the tickets and print them out. They were free tickets, but apparently some unscrupulous types are already putting them up on eBay for up to $500. Jerks.
Our curling team won again last night. Not my best game throwing rocks, but I did pretty well sweeping. The rocks were curling quite a bit, and more than once our teammates mentioned that we held the rocks straight (that's the point of sweeping: keep rocks straight, and/or make them slide further). A good game, very close and competitive.
The Spartans beat D-II Chaminade, thank goodness, with a burst at the end of the first half, and to start the second, and cramps never came into play. A bit tougher tonight at 7 on ESPN against Gonzaga.
In the days after 9/11, Congress understandably passed the PATRIOT Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that pruported to allow our law enforcement officers to more effectively investigate and catch terrorists before they strike. As I say, this was completely understandable at the time. We were scared, and we didn't want it to happen again. The FBI and other agencies said that they needed these expanded powers, and we trusted that they were telling the truth and they actually did. Knowing what we know now though, why is Congress even considering renewing these powers?
We now know that the FBI knew that "Middle Eastern men" were interested in learning to fly big planes, but not necessarily how to land them, but this information was never acted upon. We also know that the "Able Danger" team had identified Mohammad Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers by mid-2000 but were prevented by military lawyers from giving this information to the FBI. Even the 9/11 Commission that was created to uncover what was known about the attacks has ignored the "Able Danger" findings.
Knowing all these facts, why is Congress even considering renewing the expanded powers that law enforcement claimed they needed? They had the information they needed and were unable to do anything about the attacks. What makes us think that they would be more competent if they kept the expanded powers? The worst part is that the law as it exists now says that the FBI doesn't even have to tell us what they're using the powers for, or if they are effective. Indeed, we often end up getting more scared at the vague terror alerts that shut down our subways or tunnels. Thankfully, a small group of legislators seems to realize that these expanded powers should not be given out willy-nilly, and are standing up to try to change the legislation. We can only hope they succeed.
Just when you thought the Senate might actually be doing good things (they recently voted in favor of John McCain's "no torture" bill and gave up again on drilling in ANWR), they do something stupid. This time, they voted to strip enemy combatants of their "habeas corpus" rights, so detainees would not be able to challenge their detentions in US courts. Naturally, this comes after the actual authority on the US judicial system, the Supreme Court, ruled that they DO in fact have that right. So, if you happen to get caught up in a US terrorism sweep because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, you're screwed. Sorry about that.
The most dismaying part of the legislation is that it was attached to a military budget bill. It's a favorite tactic for legislators who want to sneak something though, but don't want any actual debate on the matter. And it's just appalling. If you want to do something like this, grow some balls and introduce it as its own bill, and let it pass or fail on its own merit.
Newsweek this week has a chart of Supreme Court decisions that could be affected by the nomination of Samuel Alito, who will replace "moderate" Sandra Day O'Connor, and lumped the Supreme Court Justices into "Liberal", "Moderate", and "Conservative" blocs. So, pop quiz: I give you the names of the Justices and their "bloc", you guess the President that nominated them. I'm including Rehnquist just because I would hope everyone knows who nominated John Roberts.
William Rehnquist (Conservative)
Sandra Day O'Connor (Moderate)
Clarence Thomas (Conservative)
Anthony Kennedy (Moderate)
John Paul Stevens (Liberal)
David Souter (Liberal)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Liberal)
Antonin Scaila (Conservative)
Stephen Breyer (Liberal)
You should be able to get the answers by hovering your mouse over the names. The nominating president will pop up. I'll leave discussion as to whether or not the Justices are the labels they are categorized as for another time.
Something's wrong. The people I vote for never get elected. And yet, in yesterday's election, it appears I voted for the winners in at least 3 of the 4 races, with the attorney general race still up in the air. I'm speechless.
After a year of "debate", which included ignoring a 26-member science committee, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association, the Kansas Board of Education voted yesterday to teach ID in classrooms as an alternative scientific theory to evolution. So very many things wrong with this, I don't even know where to begin. In other news, the Dover ID trial just gave their closing arguments, and a ruling is expected in January. I don't want to say it's a slam dunk against ID, but it's not looking good for them. Regardless, it appears that those board members have all been voted out of office in yesterday's elections.
Oh, and to the people I know in Kansas: 4 of the 6 Board of Education members that voted for this are up for reelection next year. Let's make sure they are voted out, okay?
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Things in New Orleans are still not going well. The Mayor, in what was probably mostly a publicity stunt, gave a tour of devastated parts of the city to musicians who performed in benefit concerts for the area. Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, took a bunch of photos as a good reminder of what's happened and happening down there.
The Washington Post has been publishing a series of updates on the Larche family, who moved to the DC area after Katrina. The latest update finds them deciding to stay here for a while. Did I mention they just had a baby? It really hits you to hear such a personal story.
So now that Harriet Miers is out, Pre