Dyre PortentsDyre PortentsThe Political Rantings and Raving of a Radical Moderate. Speaking truthiness to power since February. 
Articles
A Sign of the Times
2008-10-21 06:03:00 Something that hasn't been seen since The Great Depression... Tent Cities. More About: Sign , Times , The Times , Sign of the Times
Pinching Pennies
2008-10-15 08:12:00 In tough economic times one of the first luxury items to go is eating out. Fortunately thanks to Restaurant.com that doesn't have to be the case. Essentially the site allows you to purchase gift certificates at a reduced rate usually a 25$ gift certificate for 10$ (conditions may apply) with normally a 35$ minimum purchase . Normally that would be a great bargain. However for this month they are having an 80% off sale. Just drop by their site, do a quick zip code search, find eateries that you like or are curious about, select them, and then enter the word EIGHTY in the coupon code field and you're paying 2$ per 25$ worth of food. Needless to say you get better results in cities than you do in small towns. H/T to The Cheapskate
So What?
2008-10-15 00:39:00 CNN's Campbell Brown gets a gold star for calling BS on the Obama is a Muslim meme...H/T Below the Beltway
On Hiatus (Sort of)
2008-10-14 18:06:00 I'm taking a week off from political blogging. Having covered this election season since the first candidate announced I find that I'm just a little burnt out when it comes to finding new things to say. So I'm just going to talk about other things for a few days and see what happens. More About: Sort , Hiatus
Second Debate Reax
2008-10-08 07:26:00 Boring. Literally the same talking points from last debate were repeated. Bourbon didn't improve this debate one bit. I think McCain did better than his last debate. He worked the floor and crowd well from the get go. It took Obama about half an hour to get properly warmed up. As for the winner I have to say Obama eked out a win. Not because he said anything different or substantive but because his performance improved from the last debate and again he held his own against McCain. Anything less than a clear victory on McCain's part helps Obama and tonight McCain again failed to achieve that.McCain is going to have to go for broke in the final debate and truth be told I don't see him doing it. I don't think he's actually capable of going negative on someone while they are in the same room. Its one thing to sign off on negative ads but its another thing entirely to besmirch someone's character when they're just a few feet away from you. I honestly don't think McCain's conscie... More About: Debate
The Candidates on the Environment
2008-10-07 23:53:00 The National Wildlife Federation asked both presidential candidates the same questions on conservation issues. McCain's and Obama's responses are available here. What's interesting is that the last question was just for fun "If you could be any animal what would it be?" McCain chose jaguar and Obama dodged the question. In writing. Weird. More About: Environment , Candidates , The Environment
If You're Going to Lie
2008-10-07 06:26:00 At least lie well enough to respect the intelligence of the person(s) you're lying to.From ABC's The Blotter: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate. Not quite, according to a review of the public record and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments. "The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.... In Thursday's debate, Palin said she had advocated ...
I've Been Nominated
2008-10-07 00:37:00 For a Love! This Site Award. The weird part is I wasn't the one that did the nominating. It is worth noting that they actually give out a monetary award. I've added the nomination badge to the site in case you feel like voting (registration required). I'm up against some tremendously huge blogs (Huff Po, Wonkette, Treehugger) but I'm holding my own so far. So if you love the underdog or just hate some of the other nominees drop by and vote for yours truly. Thanks. More About: Nominated
Presidential Debates Take Two
2008-10-06 22:48:00 I'll be covering them live on Twitter. Feel free to join me. More About: Debates , Presidential
VP Debate Reax
2008-10-06 22:16:00 First let me start off by saying Palin did a lot better in the debates than she did in her Couric interviews. Biden did pretty good. He made it through the night gaffe free which counts for a lot in his case. I thought Palin pushed perky to the limit in the opening of the debates and that she answered the first few questions well. However after that she, as well as Biden, dodged several questions. Personally I though she was much clumsier at it than Biden. Biden you actually had to pay attention to in order to notice the dodges. Palin was pretty obvious about it. Palin's energy level seemed to start flagging about forty five minutes in and she started relying heavily on talking points. One hour into it and Biden seemed to have the upper hand both on energy level and mastery of the subject matter particularly in regards to foreign policy. She seemed to be operating from a script wheras Biden was clearly explaining the facts as he knew them. In the end both of them accomplished w... More About: Debate
Vice Presidential Debates
2008-10-03 03:02:00 I'll be covering them live on Twitter. Feel free to join me. More About: Debates , Presidential , Vice
Biden's Best Bet
2008-10-01 21:55:00 As I have mentioned before Biden should focus on the issues and refrain from attacking Palin so he doesn't risk coming off like a bully. Andrew Halco who ran against Palin for governor and debated Palin a dozen times lays out the other stumbling block for Biden. If Palin has her way the denate will be about personality rather than policy:Palin is a master of the nonanswer. She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she's met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges. All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges....And when she does answer the actual question asked, she has a canny ability to connect with the audience on a personal level. For example, asked to name a major issue that had been ignored during the campaign, I discussed the health of local communities, Mr. Knowles talked about affordable healthcare, and Palin talked about th...
Obama Solidly Leading in Electoral Polls
2008-10-01 20:50:00 Despite the fact that the first Presidential debates changed almost nothing pollwise Barack Obama is extending his lead in the electoral college. Real Clear Politics has Obama leading McCain 249 electoral votes to 163.Its seriously starting to look like the worse the economy is perceived the worse off McCain's campaign does. Given the fact that the first presidential debate is the most watched McCain's failure to take Obama to the woodshed may cost him. He'll have to be perceived as a clear winner in the next two debates and prove to the minds many that his economic policies are sound. That is of course provided that Palin doesn't totally tank during tomorrow's debate. More About: Polls , Leading , Electoral
Before I Forget (again)
2008-09-30 19:23:00 The International Medical Corps emailed me (repeatedly) to ask if I could help them out by letting my readers know that they are in the running for a generous donation from American Express. The catch is that the amount they receive will be based on who has the highest number of votes.IMC's mission is to:International Medical Corps (IMC) is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide.By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated h...
Debate Reax
2008-09-30 01:54:00 I watched the debates (and covered them on Twitter). I was surprised at how little actual debating there was. It seemed to me to mainly be a recitation of the policies listed on their websites. Both candidates gave decent performances. Personally I thought it was a draw. However that may be all Obama needs to win over a chunk of swing voters. By not losing to McCain Obama may have proved to many that he at least has the chops to keep up with him. For some independents that may have been just enough to tip the scales. More About: Barack Obama , Debate
Back from the Grave
2008-09-26 23:32:00 The whole family has been under the weather this past week. Strange thing is everyone had something different. However everyone seems to be on the mend now. Regular blogging will resume as scheduled. Meanwhile tonight I will be covering the Presidential debates on Twitter. If my history from the nomination acceptance speeches is any indicator that'll pretty much be me alternating between heckling the candidates and complimenting them on their more astute answers. I can be found here on Twitter. More About: Back , Grave
The Carter Poll
2008-09-24 02:31:00 I've seen a few comparisons between W and Jimmy Carter over the last year in regards to which one was the worst president. However given that the current financial crisis happened on W's watch I think a few opinions might have changed so I thought I'd test the wind with a completely unscientific poll.Is George W Bushthe worst president since Carterworse than Carterstill better than Carter(View Results)Create a Poll I'll leave it up for a week.
Familiarity, Meet Contempt
2008-09-24 02:08:00 I thought the flavor of McCain's recent ad campaigns seemed familiar. Looks like his campaign is now primarily being run by W's old campaign staff....From the WaPo:a handful of McCain's longtime allies -- including his closest aide, Mark Salter, and two former lobbyists, Rick Davis and Charlie Black -- continue to hold senior posts in his campaign, many of his advisers from his first presidential bid now play tangential roles at best. In addition to Weaver, McCain's 2000 campaign manager, Michael Murphy, and press adviser Todd Harris are largely out of the McCain circle. The housecleaning, aides said, has been conducted largely by Schmidt, whose own Bush credentials run deep: He helped run the communications shop in the 2004 campaign and went on to work for Vice President Cheney and to shepherd the president's controversial nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. Schmidt then ran California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful reelection campaign before with... More About: Meet , Contempt
Fall
2008-09-24 01:23:00 Fall always makes me homesick. As I have mentioned before I'm originally from Virginia. And if you haven't seen the Blue Ridge Mountains during the peak of fall you are truly missing something.Pictures don't really do it justice because they have borders. If you get back far enough in the mountains the view is like that for as far as the eye can see in all directions. And if you get that far back before sunrise it almost looks like the world is completely ablaze. More About: Fall
Time to Upgrade?
2008-09-23 00:12:00 If you anything like me then your computer probably isn't a top of the line recent model gaming system. My machine is a five year old HP that despite having a 2.4ghz processor has been seeming a little slow lately despite the fact that have my computer configured to use as little memory as possible. So I decided it was time for a few upgrades. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how cheap it was to upgrade 512 megs of Crucial brand RAM 29.99 , a new ATI video card with 256 megs of RAM 39.99, and a Turtle Beach 5.1 surround sound audio card (I had on board sound) 29.99. I got free shipping on eveything by Googling (website name) coupon codeI just thought I'd share my bargains with you in case your puter is acting a little pokey too. More About: Time
I Take Exception
2008-09-20 02:59:00 To Fred Thompson's last comment in this video...KalturaI believe that distinction belongs to Teddy Roosevelt. More About: Exception
Palin: Email Hack Attack
2008-09-20 02:53:00 By now you have no doubt been made aware that Gov. Sarah Palin's personal email account was account hacked. But what you may not have heard is how it was done. So here are the gory details of how exactly her email account was hacked:The perpetrator logged into the proxy server Ctunnel.com to cover his tracks.Then he went to yahoo.com clicked the "Forgot your password?" linkOnce Yahoo asked the security questions he then Googled the answersThat's all it took. The full story is posted over at Wired including the panic that the "hacker" went into after he realized how stupid his actions were (for doing it and for not covering his tracks better) It is however worth noting that someone from the message boards he posted to did go into the account reset the password and then emailed Palin's office about the "attack".By now its patently obvious that anyone with enough will could have broken into Palin's email account at any time. Additionally since Yahoo doesn't actually encrypt your m... More About: Email , Hack , Attack
Happy Constitution Day!
2008-09-18 00:55:00 Today is the anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution . It officially became a holiday back in 2004 "the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day" Not exactly a replacement for Civics class but its a step in the right direction. If you'd like to refresh you memory of its exact contents a downloadable version is available here. More About: Happy , Constitution Day
Beating a Dead Horse
2008-09-18 00:23:00 It looks like I'm not the only person who thinks that Andrew Sullivan's attacks on Sarah Palin have gone overboard. Over at The Debatable Land occasional Daily Dish stand in Alex Massie thinks so too.Personally I think his "vetting" of Palin has become so weird and harsh that I'm starting to wonder if she didn't fly from Alaska to Sullivan's house batter his door down with a frozen moose carcass and then proceed to personally pee in his Wheaties. Sullivan had the following to say in his defense...All I am doing is exposing as many facts and arguments about this Manchurian candidate that I can find. I am committed to putting the truth out there, especially when it debunks my assumptions and have done so promptly on the sole occasion when some clear evidence rebutted a question I was raising. I am airing all sides of the issues. But I will not relent until we have a better idea of who this person is. And I offer no apologies or regrets for persistence. If you really think you n... More About: Dead , Horse , Beating
Facebook vs Porn
2008-09-17 16:57:00 Facebook wins.From Reuters:Bill Tancer, a self-described "data geek," has analyzed information for over 10 million web users to conclude that we are, in fact, what we click, with Internet searches giving an up-to-date view of how society and people are changing....Tancer, in his new book, "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters," said analyzing web searches did not just reflect what was happening online but gave a wider picture of society and people's behavior. "There are some patterns to our Internet use that we tend to repeat very specifically and predictably, from diet searches, to prom dresses, to what we do around the holidays," Tancer told Reuters in a telephone interview. Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, an Internet tracking company, said one of the major shifts in Internet use in the past decade had been the fall off in interest in pornography or adult entertainment sites. He said surfing for porn had dropp... More About: Facebook
The Cavalry Arrives
2008-09-17 06:08:00 Look like at least one PAC has answered the Obama Campaign's call...Pretty tame compared to some of McCain's ads. Its more of a shot across the bow than an actual attack comparatively speaking. Odds are the real heavy handed ads won't be rolled out till a few weeks prior to the election. Just in time to have an effect but close enough to the election that by the time the fact checking is done the votes will have already been counted.H/T TPM
Weird Fact
2008-09-17 05:38:00 Texas is one of few states that doesn't allow its citizens to carry handguns unconcealed in public.That kinda blows the stereotype out of the water. More About: Weird , Fact , Texas
I've Got the Blues
More articles from this author:2008-09-16 04:32:00 I've got them low down dirty working seven days a week because of Hurricane Ike, wife is sick, and the big screen TV crapped out blues. More About: Blues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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