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| Author: |
matt |
| Dated: |
Monday, November 03 2008 @ 09:58 PM EST |
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303 times |
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 The word "tomorrow" has always, within my lifetime, been optimistic. I'm not sure if it's due to having grown up knowing that song from Annie or a latent association from 1950's science fiction, but it has a connotation both of wonderment and of potential that is yet to be realized. Even in cases where the glass is half empty, and it's likely to become even less full, there is still the possibility that tomorrow will change everything.
Needless to say, this particular tomorrow has more than the usual gravity and potential for change associated with it.
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| Author: |
matt |
| Dated: |
Tuesday, August 05 2008 @ 09:53 PM EDT |
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294 times |
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| Author: |
matt |
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Tuesday, August 05 2008 @ 09:20 PM EDT |
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274 times |
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I'm not a fan of Paris Hilton. On the rare occasions that I'm even aware of her, I inevitably conclude that she should use the opportunities that have been given her to work on something worthwhile, and in the meantime have a sammich or three.
After watching this video, I have to admit that my respect for her has increased slightly.
Didn't see that coming.
For context, if you haven't been obsessing about the campaigns like I have, you can watch the McCain ad, and Obama's response ad.
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| Author: |
matt |
| Dated: |
Thursday, July 24 2008 @ 10:15 PM EDT |
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327 times |
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...on citizens' arrest again?
Regular readers will no doubt recall times when I effectively said, "Bring me the head of John the Ashcroft."
According to this interactive chart on Slate, Alberto Gonzales (Ashcroft's replacement) is implicated in every current scandal.
I guess that, under Bush, being the epitome of illegal and unscrupulous activity is part of the job description - for the ATTORNEY FUCKING GENERAL.
Ahem.
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| Author: |
matt |
| Dated: |
Friday, July 11 2008 @ 02:38 PM EDT |
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379 times |
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Check it out: FreeGovernment.org
On the positive side, it's a pretty good idea based on an interesting blend of idealism and pragmatism, and they're being entirely transparent about the process. On the negative side, the voter verification aspect seems a little ambiguous, and the concept as a whole requires buy-in from a hell of a lot of people in order to work properly (even within one district).
Of course, the saddest part is that it's taken 219 years to figure out a remotely plausible way to enforce what's really supposed to have been happening the entire time.
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| Author: |
matt |
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Friday, June 13 2008 @ 03:10 PM EDT |
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251 times |
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| Author: |
matt |
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Wednesday, June 04 2008 @ 01:15 AM EDT |
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197 times |
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| Author: |
matt |
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Wednesday, January 09 2008 @ 06:11 PM EST |
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309 times |
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I'm not going to get into the whole debate about whether or not the border restrictions that have come online in the past year or so are worthwhile - that's a rant for another day, but in the meantime, I'd like to ask the government to be a little more careful when picking the names of their programs.
For example, there's the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Spelled out it sounds fine, but the government, as is their wont, tends to refer to this program by its acronym: WHTI.
As of January 23, 2007 all people, including infants, entering the United States on an airplane from Mexico (among other places) are required to have a passport according to the rules set forth by WHITEY, I mean, WHTI.
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| Author: |
matt |
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Friday, October 05 2007 @ 01:31 AM EDT |
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385 times |
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I apologize if things around here have taken a decidedly political turn in the past week, but in the course of working on the Terror Scoreboard site, I've been reading a hell of a lot of political stories, and most of them don't fit the theme over there.
Here are three candidate stories from today that stood out:
Obama Dropped Flag Pin in War Statement
Clinton Assails Bush's 'War On Science'
Finally, not so much a story as an interesting page: God-o-Meter
It's interesting to me how similar the overall format of that God-o-Meter site is to my Terror Scoreboard site.
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| Author: |
matt |
| Dated: |
Tuesday, October 02 2007 @ 03:27 PM EDT |
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370 times |
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Defense bill provides home for earmarks
"Boeing says the aircraft manufacturing project pumps about $1 billion annually into the state's economy. Officials with Vought said that 650 jobs in Texas were directly tied to continued production of the jet."
$1,000,000,000 per year
650 jobs
That works out to $1,538,461.54 per worker, per year.
We know, of course, that the manufacturing workers aren't making nearly this much - let's be generous and say that each of them makes $100,000 a year. Let's also be generous and say that it takes a year to complete each aircraft (in reality this funding only extends the program by a total of three years.) Ten years at $100,000 per year is a $1,000,000. If we just gave each of the 650 workers a million bucks, they would presumably be happier and we'd save $1.75 billion dollars on the deal.
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Buy an overpriced, marginally clever shirt and help support my sanity. [how?]
Here's how:
Proceeds from sales go directly to help maintain the place in Maine that I go to regain a grip on reality.
It's an old cabin in an area that's close enough to be almost convenient, and far enough that there aren't massive swarms of other tourists about. I've been going there three or four times a summer for over ten years, and it's always fun and relaxing. It's an old place though, and it needs all the help it can get. [ hide this]
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