StudioGlyphic

Wow. This is one of the best Bush in 30 Seconds ads I've seen. Check it out.

Check out the Dec. 30 edition of This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow.

It sounds like I'm harping on about this, but it's Paul, not me.

t r u t h o u t - Paul Krugman | The Sweet Spot

George W. Bush is like a man who tells you that he's bought you a fancy new TV set for Christmas, but neglects to tell you that he charged it to your credit card, and that while he was at it he also used the card to buy some stuff for himself. Eventually, the bill will come due — and it will be your problem, not his.

Thanks, Paul.

CNN.com - Mark Shields: A little perspective, please - Dec. 29, 2003

The emerging conventional wisdom in both press and Washington circles is clear. Because the stock market is up, Saddam is in custody, and President George W. Bush's poll numbers have improved, the Democrats, without any prospect of victory next November 2 had best begin working on their election-night concession speech.

Presidential polls 11 months before an election have all the permanence of figures written in wet sand at the ocean's edge, waiting for the next tide.

Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose

The Tax-Cut Con

Krugman on supply-side economics, the starve-the-beasters, the real debate over the Bush tax cuts, and the long term outlook.

Dyeworks

It can be a little obnoxious and loud, though. Use caution.

Carl F. Worden: Howard Dean's Keys To The White House

What a bizarre article. Here's a self-proclaimed Christian conservative who voted for Bush in 2000 who is now predicting that Dean will win the presidency.

Uh... ok. Thanks, I guess. Tard.

Yahoo! News - FBI Issues Alert Against Almanac Carriers

They're fucking clueless aren't they?

Thanks to Glasstrack for alerting us to this farce.

New York Times: Op-Ed Contributor: In Search of the Swing Voter

It is a time-honored tradition in campaigns, this quest for the swing voter. But ask yourself: do you know anyone who really vacillates between the two political parties with each election? It's not common. The vast majority of people always vote the same party — when they vote.

That three-word phrase — "when they vote" — is the key to understanding swing voters. The most accurate definition of a swing voter is a person who swings between voting and not voting. No matter how defined, however, swing voters remain the most coveted, and most influential, demographic in American politics. And this year's swing voter could very well be . . . Young People.

First John Kerry gets quoted in Rolling Stone on his vote for the Iraq war saying he didn't "expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did," now...

Blunt-spoken Clark defends his patriotism

Moments after praising his opponents in the Democratic presidential race as worthy running mates, Wesley Clark said how he would respond if they or anyone else criticized his patriotism or military record.

The campaign's traveling press secretary, Jamal Simmons, said he heard Clark's answer but not the question. He called it "an unscripted comment from a blunt-spoken leader."

The New York Times: The New Republicans

Not bad.

Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law — stealthily

The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report in October detailing how Federal policies have impacted the states: Federal Policies Contribute to the Severity of the State Fiscal Crisis, 10/17/03

Here's a summary:

* Tax cuts have reduced state revenues

* Growth of Internet and catalog sales have deprived states of sales tax revenues

* Unfunded mandates such as homeland security, election reform, education of disabled children, and No Child Left Behind have imposed requirements on states without the funds needed to meet those requirements

* Shifts from Medicare (paid by the Feds) to Medicaid (43% paid by the states)

As you can see, some of this is a result of federal policy, while some of it is a result of a failure to enact policy in response to changes in society.

At the same time, analysis of state spending shows that spending increases were at historical lows, with spending increases higher during the Reagan/Bush, Kennedy/Johnson, and Truman/Eisenhower years.

State policies of cutting taxes in the last ten years have also contributed to the problem.

Attacks on Dean Just Slide Right Off

But others say Dean's ability to withstand attacks — and even gain strength as a result — speaks to a depth of partisan support that could make him formidable in a general election.

In the same way, Begala said, Dean's strength with core Democrats gives him the flexibility to reach out to swing voters should he win the party's nomination.

I think this man has made it onto my hero list multiple times in the past year. Let's hope this economist turned thorn-in-Bush's-side keeps it up.

New Year's Resolutions

During the 2000 election, many journalists deluded themselves and their audience into believing that there weren't many policy differences between the major candidates, and focused on personalities (or, rather, perceptions of personalities) instead. This time there can be no illusions: President Bush has turned this country sharply to the right, and this election will determine whether the right's takeover is complete.

But will the coverage of the election reflect its seriousness? Toward that end, I hereby propose some rules for 2004 political reporting.

Continue reading.

SM 488: Summer Code

I always liked Story Minute, though it was never political. Now it goes after the Bush administration at every opportunity. I like it even more now.

Now It's a Scandal - New evidence that a House GOP leader offered a bribe. By Timothy Noah

He outlines the case for investigation, and even gives Attorney General Ashcroft some pointers on how to conduct it. Nice.

Click to see a larger version.

Hold'em

Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Bandur
Seat 2: Me
Seat 3: Eris
Seat 4: Cory
Seat 5: Jay
Bandur posts small blind $0.05
I post big blind $0.10

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Eris calls $0.10
Cory calls $0.10
Jay calls $0.10
Bandur calls $0.05
I check
Pot is $0.50

*** FLOP *** [7h 5s 3c]
Bandur bets $0.15
I fold
Eris folds
Cory folds
Jay raises $0.15 to $0.30
Bandur calls $0.15
Pot is $1.10

*** TURN *** [7h 5s 3c] [5c]
Bandur checks
Jay bets $0.20
Bandur calls $0.20
Pot is $1.50

*** RIVER *** [7h 5s 3c 5c] [Ac]
Bandur bets $0.25
Jay raises $0.50 to $0.75
Bandur raises $0.50 to $1.25
Jay raises $0.50 to $1.75
Bandur calls $0.50
Pot is $5.00

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Bandur shows [2c 4c] (straight flush)
Jay shows [5d 5h] (four of a kind)
Bandur collects $5.00 from the pot and wears a shit-eating grin for all of five minutes
Jay goes outside to smoke a cigarette

I think that's right. Pretty sure it's right. The numbers add up, at any rate. The river action is definitely right.

You may or may not know it, but Google has lots of extra features that go beyond pure search. For example, it has a calculator that can do "basic arithmetic, more complicated math, units of measure and conversions, and physical constants." Its Search By Number feature lets you look up UPS tracking numbers, FedEx tracking numbers, Patent numbers, FAA airplane registration numbers, and FCC equipment IDs. Woah.

I've been playing a hell of a lot of poker the past few days. On Saturday I played down at Hollywood Park and made $47 on top of the $100 I started with at the $2/$4 table. Saturday night I played at PokerStars at the .25/.50 table and lost about $14 or $15. Sunday I played again on PokerStars at the .50/1 and made about $11 on my $34. Today before our weekly game I played on PokerStars (.25/.50) and lost about $6. At the weekly game I made about $5. After the weekly game I played on PokerStars (.50/1) and made $17.

So... I guess I'm up. But when you compare this amount divided by the number of hours, it doesn't really seem worth it. Especially when I've got other shit to do.

The entries are in for the Bush in 30 Seconds contest. Go to the site and log in to view and rate the ads. I've seen 3 so far, and 2 of them were stinkers! But 1 was ok, though not very original.

The New York Times reports in "New Snowmobile Rules Roil Yellowstone" that a federal judge has "overturned rules established by the National Park Service under the Bush administration and returned the park to more restrictive rules established under the Clinton administration" regarding the use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park. This highlights the importance of fighting these appointments which seek to install idealogues in the judiciary.

As for the particular case, there are two issues here: pollution and noise. When the Clinton administration rules were drafted, snowmobiles were primarily powered by two-stroke engines, the same kind used in lots of motorcycles, smaller boats, and lawnmowers. These engines are notorious sources for pollution--I think they're about 20 times worse than a 4 stroke engine. The topography of Yellowstone traps and concentrates the emissions, so much so that park employees have had to wear respirators on bad days. Phasing out 2 stroke engines in favor of 4 stroke engines would help the pollution problem, though you would still have to have limits on the number of vehicles.

While the 4 stroke engines are usually quieter than the 2 stroke engines, they're still pretty noisy. I don't think most people think of National Parks as areas where they'll be confronted with the noises of gardening day. The restriction on numbers and the guides requirement should be a decent compromise between those who want quiet, and those who want noise. A full phase-out of snowmobiles probably wouldn't be such a bad thing. Noise is very stressful to wildlife, and could affect birth rates and lifespans if unchecked. At any rate, it's not as though the area immediately surrounding the park is dense development. There's plenty of space outside the boundaries that could probably be turned into a snowmobile run. For those who insist on being able to spew carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic chemicals, oil, and particulate matter in one of this nation's greatest natural reserves, well, you can't always get what you want....

Strindberg + helium

Weird, weird, shit.

Fun!

fan_and_ball

Mr. Picassohead

U.S. News: The Bush administration is doing the public's business out of the public eye. Here's how-and why. A secrecy timeline(12/22/03)

Good read.

ABCNEWS.com : Woman Gets Bank Deposit With Breakfast

"ordered a bagel and a Diet Coke for breakfast"

What a dumbass.

This is the guy who swore to fix California's budget problems without cutting education spending or raising taxes; all this would be accomplished by finding and eliminating billions of dollars of waste. For some people, one out of three ain't bad.

Having come up short in his waste investigation, Schwarzenegger's proposed billions of dollars of new debt, which will end up costing taxpayers nearly double to pay back. Generally speaking, public debt should be taken on for investments such as schools and infrastructure, not to bridge structural gaps in the budget. This follows, of course, the lowering of California's bond rating (makes borrowing more expensive) by several credit agencies in response to the "repeal of the car tax."

Now he's declared a state of emergency so he can unilaterally cut education funding. Public universities have been hurting as it is. Tuition rates have gone up across the board, and for some people, getting an education is becoming a financial impossibility.

So let's take a look into the FutureScope (TM) and see what's coming down the pipe: hmm... a workforce that is less educated, saddled with more public debt, with access to fewer services. Lovely.

They say everything is a spiral--it's either going up or down. If that's the case, then let's get the fuck off this Voter Initiative/Prop 13 spiral and start moving back in the right direction with investments in education (K-12, universities), health care (stop saddling businesses with this expense!), and infrastructure (information, people, and freight).

Oh, and Arnold? Gesundheit!

Salon.com News | What did Bush know and when did he know it?

Surprising, get-tough comments this week by the Republican chairman of the independent commission investigating 9/11, suggesting the World Trade Center terrorist attacks could have been prevented had it not been for administration failures, mark a significant change in the committee's public persona. The comments by former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean could spell trouble for the Bush White House, which for the past two years has insisted it was powerless to stop the deadly al-Qaida strike. The commission, combing through millions of 9/11-related documents, has scheduled several public hearings for early next year that will put the White House's claims to the test.

This, coupled with the lack of WMDs in Iraq and the Yellowcake incident (in the context of an occupation going badly), could have a big impact on the administration. Also watch for survivor protests of the Republican convention in New York in late summer.

Chief of U.S. Weapons Search May Quit

WASHINGTON — The chief of the U.S. team searching for weapons of mass destruction may soon quit his job, officials said today, raising new questions about the future of an effort that the Bush administration hoped would corroborate its arguments for invading Iraq.

In his initial interrogation by military officials last Sunday, Saddam Hussein denied, as other top Iraqi officials have, that his regime had banned weapons.

Court: Bush Can't Detain 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect

WASHINGTON — In a rebuke to the Bush administration, a federal appeals court in New York ruled today that the president had no authority to arrest an American citizen on U.S. soil and jail him in a military brig as an "enemy combatant."

The judges did not say Padilla must go free. Instead, they say the government must charge him with a crime if it wants to hold him.

Senator, Have You No Shame? - John Kerry attacks Howard Dean from both sides. By William Saletan

"Dean Supported War Resolution. … Until recently, Dean has been able to pull the wool over the eyes of voters in New Hampshire, Iowa and across the nation on his position on the war. The facts are now clear: Dean supported giving the President the authority to go to war. Only when he determined it to be politically advantageous, did he take an anti-war stance."—John Kerry campaign "media alert," Dec. 12, the day before Saddam Hussein was captured

"Governor Dean and some other people didn't even think it was great. They didn't even know that it was good to get rid of Saddam Hussein. … I personally have said all along that saying 'no' is not a policy. And Howard Dean has only basically been saying 'no' and been angry about the war."—John Kerry, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 14, the day after Saddam Hussein was captured

Giving aid and comfort to the enemy:

OpinionJournal - The Campaign of Hate and Fear:
Some of my fellow Democrats are unpatriotic.
By Orson Scott Card.

I like his books about Ender and all that, for the most part, and also like the fact that he likes to put away shopping carts at the grocery store.

But he must be an idiot if he thinks that a) we can win a military victory against terrorism and b) Iraq was a necessary component of that military campaign.

And he's definitely an idiot if he's going to vote for Bush.

Saddam Hussein Captured by U.S. Troops

Huge event. This should have a big impact on the situation in Iraq, since there was probably always this fear among Iraqis that Saddam would come back and kill their families, an idea reinforced by attacks on so-called collaborators. Whether thus has an impact on the "resistance" or not is hard to say; their operations were likely to be decentralized with relatively autonomous groups carrying out their attacks. Either way, we're still in it for the long haul.

Gored!

Following Al Gore's announcement this week that he is endorsing Howard Dean for president, mainstream news coverage generally cohered into two major story lines.

Neither story line withstands much scrutiny.

That Ryan. He's a smart one.

WorldNetDaily: Howard Dean is no George McGovern

I walked precincts for George McGovern in 1972. George McGovern is a friend of mine. Howard Dean is no George McGovern. Here's why.

Compare that Keystone Cops operation with the well-oiled Dean machine. They are night and day. Howard Dean has run the most effective and impressive campaign in modern politics. He was the first to challenge President Bush on both the war in Iraq and the economy.

Leading in the polls

A national Newsweek Poll shows Dean leading the pack of Democratic candidates after the Gore endorsement (previous numbers in parentheses):

Dean - 24 (16)
Clark - 12 (15)
Lieberman - 12 (8)

Nationwide polls don't mean a whole lot since the contests are won state by state, but it's still nice to see. We'll see what the pollsters say about Iowa and the February 3rd contest states in the next week or two.

Whither Kerry?

The headline reads, "Kerry Argues That Gore Backed 'Wrong Howard Dean'," which sounds like Kerry's saying he's the right Howard Dean. How about trying to be the right John Kerry for once?

Under attack from ... ?

The anti-tax wingnuts from the Club for Growth have already run ads against Dean in New Hampshire, calling him a tax-hiker like some of the past Democratic losers. Now a new attack ad calls Dean too inexperienced to deal with the threat of terrorism. If you watched the ad, you'd think it was a Republican ad. Except if you're paying attention, they say that Dean isn't the one to take on Bush. Turns out it's a shadowy group made up of former Gephardt and Kerry supporters. Watch the ad, it's awful. And with Democrats like these, who needs Republicans?

Nothing like going through one of the toughest two weeks of your academic career to give you a newfound appreciation for partying. This will be the weekend of the 48 hour party people. You've been warned.

Road test: Porsche - Carrera GT

I have never driven better.

Still, having the Carrera out of my reach is not the end of the world. Because the Ford GT is not. And while one is a fantastic engineering achievement, the other is just a great car. Look at it this way. The Porsche is like a dentist's drill. Precise, fast and silver. The Ford is like the latest hammer action 'Wall Basher' from Black & Decker. I admire one hugely. But I love the one with stripes on it.

---

Road test: Ford GT

You may respect the Porsche 911 Turbo. You may like the Lamborghini Gallardo and you may love the Ferrari 360. But the Ford GT is a car you want.

But what matters most is that as it disappeared off the motorway, I craned my neck for one last look at that phenomenal rear end. I never do that. Normally, I leave a car thinking only of the review to be written. But the GT was different. It had been a brief encounter. And the effect was just as powerful. Even now, weeks later, I simply cannot get the Ford GT out of my head.

Glasstrack can attest to the hours I put in. It all came down to last night's presentation before a critical jury of the professor and three economic development professionals with a century of experience between them. We stood up, we presented, we kicked ass. These are the things you remember; despite, or perhaps because of, your long suffering.

Two take-home finals in 23 hours to go until the end of the first semester.

More news about Gore's endorsement of Dean.

Call by Gore Does Little to Soothe Lieberman

More importantly, check this out:

Scion Life - Scion tC Home

• The release will coincide with the final nationwide release of all cars
  
• The tC will be Scion's volume sales unit
  
• Primedia reports that the Honda Civic coupe is the primary target
  
• Power will be sourced from the Camry 2.4L via FWD
  
• The car will appear to be a coupe, but will be a hatchback
  
• Side views show a profile similar to the RS-X or Hyundai Tiburon
  
• Insiders have likened it to a cross between the Audi A4 and Acura RSX

Tallahassee Democrat | 12/09/2003 | Howard Dean's rage doesn't look good on John Kerry

Jonah Goldberg makes some good points.

Gore Will Endorse Dean (washingtonpost.com)

Awesome.

Can I say that again?

Awesome.

I've been very happy about Gore recently. His two MoveOn.org speeches were great, and it seems that he's done a lot of soul-searching after the 2000 election, and really lets his best qualities come through. He's no longer the stiff, smarmy politician he once was. I bet the fact that he's not in office or running for office has really given him the freedom to be himself. The tragedy of it all, of course, is that he really ought to be the President. Oh well.

As I said, the speeches I've seen were great, and he seemed to underscore a lot of the same points that Dean has made since early on in his campaign. In fact, I wrote a letter to Gore telling him that he ought to endorse Dean. I think that may have been the deciding factor. Unreliable sources say that the former vice president is an avid reader of this blog, and so my opinion carries a lot of weight.

The former vice president's call for Democrats to challenge Bush dovetailed with what Dean was saying on the campaign trail since the beginning of the year. Also, Dean's use of the Internet to build his grass-roots support may have impressed Gore, who is an enthusiast of the new technology. Gore also has formed a relationship with the liberal Internet group MoveOn.org. The organization recently sponsored Gore's Washington speech in which he denounced Bush's policies on civil liberties and called for the repeal of the USA Patriot Act.

Yup. Let's not forget that Gore invented the Internet (this, by the way, is not a claim he actually made, but the so-called liberal media distorted his statements).

At any rate, this is great news. Bill Clinton has largely devoted himself to his foundation projects, so Gore has filled the role of the elder statesman in the Democratic Party. This, along with his association with the DLC, makes his endorsement of Dean particularly effective. Dean's campaign now shows strength in nearly every area that matters. His nomination is, if it hasn't already been, virtually assured. All this despite his recent protectionist pandering.

And here's my dirty little secret... based on what I've seen of Gore in the past year, I wish he were the nominee. Then again, part of the criteria for selecting a candidate is the ability to deliver results. Dean's campaign blows Gore's 2000 campaign away in every way. Either way, things are looking great for a Bush defeat in 2004.

Go Dean.

style.org > Mapping Votes by County

County maps and the 2003 California Statewide Special Election.

Unless the population of a state is dispersed evenly in proportion to the size of each county, there is no direct relationship between the physical area of a county and the number of people, registered voters, or votes cast within it.

Chicago Tribune | Bush faces credibility showdown

The failure to find those infernal weapons, however, doesn't seem to have changed any hawkish minds. Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer ridiculed the doubters even after the regime fell. On April 22, he said that chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix "had five months to find weapons. He found nothing. We've had five weeks. Come back to me in five months. If we haven't found any, we will have a credibility problem."

That was six months ago, and Krauthammer can claim vindication: The administration and its supporters do have a credibility problem.

Why Smith Can't Recant - They've got him on tape. By Timothy Noah

Not "the corrupt-but-legal nexus of money and power" but the actual stuff. Wow.

Talking Presidents: Ann Coulter Talking Action Figure

Union Leaders Warned by Gephardt Aide

Joyce Aboussie vowed retaliation if officials aided Dean in her boss' state, Missouri. The hopeful 'knew nothing about it,' his camp says.

McEntee and Stern called Aboussie's threat of retaliation "an unconscionable and outrageous act."

To be honest, my support for Dean stems more from my disagreement with the current administration than enthusiasm for Dean's policies. Dean is the candidate who can win, and one of the reasons he can and will win is the way in which the campaign is run.

From the beginning, the Dean campaign has not focused on one or two key states; it is a national campaign. Candidates like Gephardt and Kerry, on the other hand, spend much of their energy on Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively. However, I believe that beating an incumbent "wartime" "president" who has no primary challenger really requires the Democratic nominee to focus on November 2004 far in advance of the first primaries. This is exactly what Dean has done. His campaign has been all over the country, including Bush's home state, and has been building support nationwide.

Furthermore, the Dean campaign understands that the prize is not just the White House. The prize is wresting control away from the Radical Right. By reaching out to people who haven't voted or stopped voting, the campaign has the potential to make some major changes in the Congress. Today, the Dean Campaign has explicitly called on us to work toward this larger goal:

Blog for America : Take Back Your Congress | December 02, 2003

Today Congressman Leonard Boswell—the only Democrat among Iowa’s five U.S. Representatives—needs our help. Boswell has fought many years for Democratic values—and as a result he has been targeted by Karl Rove and the RNC for defeat in 2004. The lies and distortions that we saw last week are just the beginning of what will be a hard and expensive battle for the state of Iowa.

http://www.boswellforcongress.com

I've said before that the Republicans have been extremely well organized and effective in getting their people elected to offices low and high. Though the Democrats have thus far been unable to counter the Republicans with their own organization, we are now seeing the Dean campaign spread its network out to include its first Congressman.

I can't wait to see how this support campaign for Boswell turns out.

Op-Ed Columnist: Hack the Vote

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Inviting Bush supporters to a fund-raiser, the host wrote, "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." No surprise there. But Walden O'Dell — who says that he wasn't talking about his business operations — happens to be the chief executive of Diebold Inc., whose touch-screen voting machines are in increasingly widespread use across the United States.

For example, Georgia — where Republicans scored spectacular upset victories in the 2002 midterm elections — relies exclusively on Diebold machines. To be clear, though there were many anomalies in that 2002 vote, there is no evidence that the machines miscounted. But there is also no evidence that the machines counted correctly. You see, Diebold machines leave no paper trail.

Take one healthy cat, put it under the knife, and pump it full of drugs. Three days later, you will have one very unhealthy cat.

Actually, she's dead. It's pretty obvious in hindsight that she was in trouble, but I don't think we knew what to expect after the surgery and drugs and whatever. My point is, the cat was doing just fine before and maybe we should have left it alone. I don't even know what you're supposed to do with a dead cat.

Update.

So it gets worse. She was already spayed and was cut up for no reason. That's just awful.