Rex Kickass

Hackett is running against DeWine. And the Ohio GOP is so damaged from funding pensions with collectible coins that a Dem win in the Senate is feasible.

Yeah, and I'm still under 30

Paul Hackett, the guy who almost beat Mean Jean Schmidt in one of the most republican districts in Ohio for Congress last year, is running for Senate this year. The Republican party, expectedly, got upset at him for saying this. He also called gay marriage amendments un-American. They asked for his apology. This is what he said instead. Say what you want about what he believes. But he ain't shying away from his statements. He stands for what he stands for.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) You mean like his belonging to a club that bans women from joining... And just now vowing to get out of it? http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics...rticleid=121646 Thank you. The man is a wealth of comedy!

There's a big difference between joining a mens club and joining an organization that seeks to ban women from a University. So Knights of Columbus > CAP.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2006 -> 04:25 PM) I hope you just forgot the green on that one... otherwise that is a stretch that Hawk wouldn't even call No more than using the whereas clause in a law authorizing military force to justify wiretapping hundreds or thousands of people without a warrant.

Doesn't he mean, before the tech bubble burst? Americans pay in either case. Wal-Mart's medical plan is poor enough that a lot of these same Wal-Mart employees who choose to work there (and I love the smugness in that phrasing - as if a lot of people are beating down Wal-Mart's doors for a job in the highpowered industry of sorting women's clothing by size and color) often have to rely on state or federal aid to cover their health care costs.

The Gorelick story has been debunked. He did argue that case, but it was rejected and the Clinton administration did not act on it. And there's also a big difference between Aldrich Ames and eavesdropping over thousands of random citizens who might be tied in to someone who might be tied into someone. In either case, if the Ames case is true, the Clinton adminstration was just as wrong. The question would be who in the FBI authorized that search. Did that go up all the way to an executive order? Because the administrations actions regarding wiretapping did. I love the "They all do it" defense, because it's so four year old in nature. It's OK for you to do the wrong thing, because everyone else did!

I believe it was a West Virginia Republican elector that had been at one time, a Democrat and had some reservations about the legitimacy of the Florida election. He did consider throwing his vote to Gore.

In 1976, Ronald Reagan got one electoral vote. in 2004, one elector didn't fill out his ballot properly and did NOT vote for Kerry like he was supposed to. In 2000, one of the D.C. electors chose not to submit a ballot as a protest for statehood. And there was fears of the "rogue elector" who would shift the electoral process into a tie.

Plus the founders created the electoral college so that the President wouldn't be elected by direct mandate at all, but rather - in most cases - by the state legislatures of each individual state. What if your state decided to determine its electoral votes that way again? Would that also be acceptable to you? Before you say "that'll never happen," it almost did. One of the hidden stories of the 2000 election was that if the recount had turned out that Bush had indeed lost the state, the Florida legislature was ready to pass legislation that would bypass the popular vote and assign its electors itself.

The Al Gore speech had been hyped weeks in advance. And his speech was damn good. At least it read well. But co-ordinated? I doubt it. Al Gore isn't a part of the mainstream Dem party leadership anymore, and if he joins back into the fray, its to run for the oval office again in 2008 against Hillary, if she runs. And if so, who cares?

I worked for a large company where the same thing kept happening too. The enrollment meetings kept getting cancelled, delayed, whatever. Only the ones where matches weren't offered did it ever just happen on time.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jan 16, 2006 -> 05:54 PM) Porter felt the refs were cheating them. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/n...tory?id=2294214 Say hello to a big fine!

That's a good point. When was the last time a Presidential candidate actually considered Hawaiian issues? Besides Dennis Kucinich? Beyond that, so many of these small states vote so reliably in one direction that they are ignored to begin with. Who campaigns in Montana? Who listens to the issues of Nebraska?

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Jan 17, 2006 -> 08:02 AM) um, I didn't want to say it, but two men can't get pregnant. so, unless I don't know something, that opinion seems a little too "what we're supposed to say". The only way I can picture being in a wedded relationship with someone, man or woman, is if I love them totally and completely. And if I did, things like this probably wouldn't matter.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jan 16, 2006 -> 10:34 PM) I remember buying two very different albums for my first purchases, The Beetles Hey Jude, and Led Zeppelin 4. Technically, Hey Jude was an EP and not an album.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2006 -> 08:26 AM) Doesn't anyone remember their history? Remember the Great Compromise? Small states rights? The system was set up this way to ensure that large states didn't completely dominate this new union. In today's world, it wouldn't necesarily be large states, but large urban areas would become the only thing that matters. I know someone already alluded to this, but the United States wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for this system that recognized the power of majority rule on one hand, yet gave a nod to the minority rights on the other hand. Also remember that it isn't JUST the electoral college that gives this kind of credence to minority rights... ahem filibuster anyone? Think about it, if you were trying to win only popular votes, why would you ever leave the 6 county area around Chicago? How many rural issues would ever get heard when urban areas would be the only ones that mattered? Some would argue the real intent behind the great compromise was to allow some states to not allow direct suffrage in most cases.

Every employer has made it difficult to join a 401k or SimpleIRA or whatever they have. One of my fellow employees has been eligible and interested for a year in her SimpleIRA with the 3% match. Yet, the owner can never seem to find the person or forms to get her enrolled. Last winter, when sales were doing well, I was able to put about 20% of my income into savings. Did that for four months, then left for another job and things went south quickly. I'm trying to put a little away every paycheck now.

Chappaquiddick is so played out. Honestly, Ted Kennedy is a person who gives you so much material to work with, and nobody can seem to get past 1969. The nose one was my favorite.

I think I'd do whatever my partner felt to be the best. She's the one violated, ultimately it's her call. I'd just support her decision and love her no matter what.

First tape: "The Silver Beatles" (Pre 1964 beatles bootleg thing that I got) First records: "Revolver" - Beatles, "Live In New York" John Lennon, "The Joshua Tree" - U2 First CD: "Magical Mystery Tour" - Beatles

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 16, 2006 -> 04:29 PM) Right now something like 40-50%. Thats going to change whenever I get married but for the time being Im plowing as much as I can into my savings while getting everything I need and most of what I want. It's because of that gov't housing handout you take

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 16, 2006 -> 04:42 PM) I don't think I've had this next thought run through my head before, but .... Al Gore is right. Since he left politics proper, he's actually developed a conscience - or so it seems.

Social Security is a government program. It can't go bankrupt unless the whole government does.