Rex Kickass

I'd heard that the prosecution had done a really poor job on the case before the verdict came in, so I wasn't that surprised.

It sucks that he passed away. He had a heart condition, by the way, an enlarged heart and had been warned repeatedly by his doctor to lose weight. He didn't. Tim Russert was one of the few TV newsmen whose craft I genuinely respected. He'll be missed.

Jason, Thanks for your donation! It's hard to believe the ride is less than two months away now, and I still feel so unprepared. My weekly mileage is now in the hundreds and my "short" bike rides are now approaching 20 miles each. This is still such an intimidating thing. My goal is just to finish this. And to raise more money. You can help with that last part.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 06:51 PM) I agree with the fact that they need to be charged or let go, but I also have problems with non-citizens being covered by the constitution, even with Soxbadger's post. So you think that a Canadian citizen arrested in the United States for crimes in the United States that he may or may not have committed should be held to a different standard of guilt?

If these people are bad news for us, we should have a reason to keep them imprisoned. That would mean a charge of some sort that can be prosecuted in a court of law. Holding someone, anyone, prisoner for years upon years without a stated reason or charge is just not acceptable. If an American citizen ended up caught up in some sort of civil unrest in say China, and was treated this way, I get the feeling many of the people who support the Supreme Court's dissenters would have a different view.

OK, but there have been increases in inventories in gasoline and distillate fuels. Where is the lower inventories coming from? Is it coming from the refiners themselves - seeing slackening demand? Or is it because refining production shrank over the last month marginally? Or is it because of genuine usage increases and less supply?

Dumb question: why is a decline in crude oil inventories causing the price of crude to jump up? Would the decline in inventories reflect slackening demand in crude oil purchase? Especially given that there have been increases in gasoline and distillate fuel inventories?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 09:41 AM) Of course they do. I think I even hinted at that. But, with what appears to be a large Dem majority in Congress come 2009, I'd be afraid that Obama might actually implement a LOT of those things. And that could lead to one of two things - higher taxes (which could take a huge toll on the economy, depending on what they were), and/or more spend-and-spend BushCo policy. Neither of those are ideas I like. But recent history has shown us that there isn't a lot of ideological lockstep with the Democratic party. Clinton had good working majorities in Congress in 93 and 94 and still couldn't get much accomplished until the balance of power switched to the GOP in Congress.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 10, 2008 -> 01:24 PM) Assaults fellow union members because they dare to disagree: http://www.labornotes.org/node/1604 They use forced contributions for political causes http://www.blackvoicenews.com/content/view/41537/4/ And I can't find the video link anymore, but they are pushing a law to change the secret ballot voting for union membership in favor of card signing, so everyone knows what way you voted, leaving those who vote against open for intimidation. Very undemocratic. There used to be a cool video against it online featuring the guy who played Johnny Sack on the Sopranos, but for the moment, I can't find it. I will, however, grant you that there have been no murders. That we know of. Card signing is to reduce workplace intimidation by employers. One out of four employers who find themselves being organized illegally fires employees for working to get their seat at the table. The current means to organize a union is extremely difficult and involves both the same card signing procedure in addition to a secret ballot election. The SEIU organizers that I have worked with and almost worked for were most definitely not the intimidating types btw. SEIU is better than most unions actually in that it is one of the few unions that let their own employees organize.

I disagree. The wholesale destruction of the Chinese economy, which is something that a war with the US would cause, would force a near instant topple of the government IMO. Chinese government stability has more to do with keeping its burgeoning middle class fat and happy. Without the relative wealth they enjoy, there would be a rapid and serious disillusionment about what the Chinese government actually provides for them.

Per capita is really the only good way to look at it in my opinion. Should California get more money in projects than say New Jersey? Probably, given that it has a population that's much larger.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 7, 2008 -> 01:46 AM) McCain actually coined that expression a couple months ago on a WWE show somewhere. Whereas Obama's was "can you smell what Barack is cookin'?" Actually, it was quite commonly used by Bush supporters during the 2000 primary, including most notably, Mancow Mueller.

If you wanna say France caves to Islam, you're kind of ignoring a lot. France is one of the worst countries in Europe to be anything but white European, or American of any color. There was a reason why Paris burnt last year, and its more similar to the Watts uprising than anything happening in Pakistan or Syria.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 02:03 PM) So improvement doesn't matter to you? I guess your small, prefect world is pretty lonely. How do you feel about countries where the unions try to take away secret ballots, so they can intimidate those that vote against unions? How do you feel about countries where anti-union workers are routinely harassed and assaulted? How about countries where unions make back room deals with companies, and sometimes even governments, without the membership knowing? I would wager that on an evil scale, the SEIU has done worse to workers by sheer volume than any supposed attacks against union people in Columbia, which is still not proven to be by the government. When you are killing fewer union members because there are fewer union members, that doesn't seem like the definition of improvement to me. Just eradication. And please, tell me what evil the SEIU does. I'd really like to know that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 5, 2008 -> 02:55 PM) The problem with that strategy though is that it can easily backfire. George W. Bush, on Rove's advice, spent the last couple days of the 2000 campaign in California, trying to give the impression that they were so confident they'd win that they could contest there. Had his brother not been the governor of Florida, spending his time there instead of doing one or two more stops in Florida might well have cost him the election. It's a difficult balancing act. Contesting states doesn't mean appearances necessarily. It does mean staffing offices, operating an active GOTV program everywhere, forcing McCain to spend money on TV and Radio ads. This is actually good for the Democrats on more levels than just the Presidency. McCain + RNC has a bigger edge than Obama does. But the RNC's funds will also be needed to help marginal seats in the House and Senate, because the national coordinated campaigns for House and Senate are broke. On the other hand, the DNC has less money by far than the RNC, but Obama has a great fundraising apparatus and the DCCC and the DSCC are flush with cash, letting the DNC focus both on party building and helping to staff the state offices that Obama needs to have to force McCain to spend more money in safe states. This frees up less funds for difficult seats for the GOP to hold in November and could turn a 5 senate seat pickup into a 6 or 7 seat pickup.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 02:45 PM) It would have been hard to imagine a world war fought over an archduke's assassination too, but it happened. For me the energy that Iran holds is key to China's futures. Its not hard to see them getting involved if the US went in and cut off China's supplies. Especially if the US cut off food exports to or imports from China trying to influence China's role there. It would really force their hand. What you forget is that there is a lot more money to protect this time around.

Now that there's a nominee, I signed up to volunteer with the Democratic Candidate for the General Election.

No concession, even though it's over. Stay classy!

Here's some interesting trivia. Puerto Rico has more delegates than 27 states, yet doesn't have a single electoral vote.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 04:40 PM) While I love that it helped Obama win the nomination, caucuses are NOT democratic and do not TRUELY represent the will of the people. The need to go. I think the Democrats ought to get rid of primaries and instead, do caucuses. The most democratic? No. The best way to build a party? Absolutely.

Honestly, I think that most people wearing that scarf in the manner that Rachael Ray was wearing it seems to be somewhat disrespectful to the customs of the people to begin with. So I don't think wearing what is a traditional headdress in a nontraditional manner is honoring anything.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 28, 2008 -> 03:26 PM) Except for me. I always felt threatened by his asskickingness. You're just jealous because my name looks better on a business card.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 28, 2008 -> 11:55 AM) Depending on the extent, yes. Seems to me, at least from the reading I have done, that most people that weren't in the inner circle were told things that made it all seem logical, even if it was some seriously poor judgement. Now, one could say that people like McClellan may have intentionally turned a blind eye, just going on what they were given - probably true. I'm not saying he's golden on this, but, I think his sins pale in comparison to the decision makers. If I was able to figure it out and I was working in the basement of a radio station in Michigan, a dude running the White House press office should have been able to figure it out too. I just don't buy this argument.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 28, 2008 -> 11:44 AM) Both of your posts are exactly right historically. 1st generations never really bothered to learn English, or leave their own neighborhoods. Its usually the 2nd and 3rd that assimilate. But its also very true that the government made no accomidations for other people. If you wanted governmental service, usually the kids were brought down to the local office to translate. Actually, that's not entirely true. It was common practice in the US in the mid to late 1800s to print legal notices in German in German language newspapers.

They actually are really nice and keep you surprisingly warm in the winter.