Yankee Madmen

and the winner is

2005-03-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Cato institute released its Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2004 this week and Arnold Schwarzenegger received their highest score with an 84 out of 100, former contributor Liberal Blowhard mocked his candidacy but apparently he is making progress in reigning in California’s out of control state legislators. Other high scores given to Craig Benson (R) of New Hampshire 82

2005-02-28T09:12:00.000-05:00

I’m seeing more and more articles like this one in the Guardian, a British left wing rag, calling on the left to get in on Iraq so as not to let American cowboy “conservatives” define the new democracies that may emerge in the Middle East. I can’t help being optimistic about Iraq when politicians as opportunistic as Hillary Clinton start flocking to Iraq to declare success. At some campaign stop

2005-02-25T07:39:00.000-05:00

The Academy Awards are this weekend. You know the Oscars are the New York Times of Award Shows, old, tired, and less important every year.

See y'all later...

2005-02-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a lot of fun over the last few months, but now that the site is up and running, I've decided to turn it over to Libertarian Hack. I've decided to adopt the new handle "Outlier" and move to my new blog: Skewed Left. Don't be fooled by the name - I'm going to post on more cultural stuff and lay off the politics for a while.In my final act as Managing Editor of Yankee Madmen - I've

2005-02-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

"We're the new liberals of the Republican Party. Can you imagine that?" Barry Goldwater in 1996I noticed this by Ryan Sager writing for Tech Central Station being commented on by left and right wing sites. His report on the attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC shows how completely the social conservative wing of the party has taken over.

Even better than the Computer Relic Auction...

2005-02-22T12:46:00.000-05:00

There's an upcoming auction at Christie's for vintage documents related to the information sciences - computer science, telecommunication, etc...There is some pretty cool stuff - works by Alan Turing, Vint Cert, John Von Neumann...I personally like the original COBOL specification available for bids.Even cooler - the Vintage Movie Poster auction. The best thing are the Japanese posters for

The Real AARP Agenda - Come on, this is just plain stupid

2005-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

From Talking Points Memo: "Over the headline: 'The REAL AARP Agenda', the ad has, on the left, a picture of a soldier in desert fatigues with a big 'X' crossing him out and on the right a picture of two men (in tuxes and obviously just married) kissing each other. The gay newlyweds have a big green check mark over them." This ad is running at the American Spectator. Come on, is someone

Juiced - An Ad for Steroids

2005-02-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

From Slate: "'Steroids, used correctly, will not only make you stronger and sexier, they will also make you healthier,' Canseco crows. 'Certain steroids, used in proper combinations, can cure certain diseases. Steroids will give you a better quality of life and also drastically slow down the aging process.' Then he helpfully adds, 'I'm forty years old, but I look much younger.'" ... For Canseco,

The Public Mood of Tomorrow is the Television of Today

2005-02-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

From the NY Times: "L. Brent Bozell III, president of the Parents Television Council, criticized 'The Simpsons' for addressing the issue of gay marriage, though he cautioned that he had not seen the episode. A parental advisory preceded the broadcast. 'At a time when the public mood is overwhelmingly against gay marriage, any show that promotes gay marriage is deliberately bucking the public

HST R.I.P.

2005-02-21T20:11:00.000-05:00

"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls... But the only thing that worried me was the ether. There is nothing more

Housing - Too hot, too cold, just right...

2005-02-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

From CNN Money: "These were the conclusions of study by Richard DeKaser, chief economist for National City Corp., who ranked 99 major real estate markets based on how much they are under or overpriced relative to what he deems "normal housing values." ... His conclusion: 27 of the markets in his study are overvalued, 29 are undervalued and 43 are fairly valued, with prices no higher or lower

Is L-Hack really Rkkody?

2005-02-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

Check here My Older Member (Do), felt very strongly that recycling was imminent. How long do we have? Only the Next Level knows for sure. There are presently only a few individuals left on this planet who are faithful to the Next Level. While I am still here I am committed to sharing their information about the Next Level with any others who might want a chance of surviving the comming

The 3rd way

2005-02-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

With all the hullabaloo over creationism and evolution why isn’t anybody talking about what I believe? That human life came from outer space. In the past, people who believed in astrobiology and aliens were dateless weirdoes who sat in front of a computer in their underwear (hey, wait a minute). But now even legitimate publications like National Geographic don’t mock the idea. According to

Why we will never link to LittleGreenFootballs

2005-02-20T14:33:00.000-05:00

Elimination is the only solution; I know that sounds bad, but that's the way it is. Forced sterilization, and full occupation to keep them under control until the problem solves itself in about 50 years. At one time, I had this group in the blogroll. A darling of the right, including so-called moderates like Glenn Reynolds, this site's readership is disturbing, to put it mildly. Their comments

Intervention - Recipe for Disaster

2005-02-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

From Pat Buchanan in The American Conservative: "The world has always been afflicted with despots. Yet America has always been free. And we have remained free by following the counsel of Washington, Jefferson, and Adams and staying out of foreign quarrels and foreign wars. Who is feeding the president this interventionist nonsense? ... In his inaugural address, Mr. Bush calls 9/11 the day “when

Smizik: Steroid stink doesn't taint records

2005-02-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

From Bob Smizik in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "The point to all of the above is this: Steroids are a blight on baseball, no question. But they have neither ruined the game nor made meaningless its cherished records. This column has defended Bonds in the past. It will not in the future. Still, what is the explanation for him batting .370, .341 and .362 in the past three seasons -- the

2005-02-20T06:57:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Rafik Hariri was killed last week? Not Rafik Hariri! Yes Rafik Hariri the former Lebanese Prime Minister who resigned last fall amid a sharp dispute with Syria and its Lebanese stooges. You see, Hariri had the nerve to reject Syria’s insistence that his old rival, President Emile Lahoud, remain in office as president for three more years. Pro-Syrian allies of Lahoud accused

Why it all fell apart...

2005-02-20T02:02:00.000-05:00

Bill Simmons as he so aptly does most of the time, sums up the NHL problem precisely: "This was a blue-collar sport for middle-class fans -- a quality dive bar with one good TV, a few solid beers on tap and a ballbusting bartender named Fitzy. Then they tried to retool into an upscale joint with $15 beers and bartenders in bow ties. Suddenly, the price of NHL tickets rivaled that of the NFL and

The Future of the NHL

2005-02-20T01:33:00.000-05:00

From ESPN.com: "Even with the two most influential hockey figures of this generation, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, at the table for the first time, the two sides could not get it right." Talking with my friend in Maryland tonight, the last remaining hockey fan in the U.S., he thinks the NHL is still going to salvage the season!. I think he's nuts, and if he ever wants to see hockey in

Yankee Madmen - Once Again, Looking for New Bloggers

2005-02-20T00:23:00.000-05:00

Let's be honest, keeping up a blog is a lot of hard work.Libertarian Hack runs his own business, Leftist Wonk is an attorney, and I work full-time and I'm a part-time PhD student.We don't have the time to keep this blog as vibrant as we'd like, so we're interested in bringing some new voices to our site. Obviously, we talk a lot about politics, but we also blog about other things (sports is my

A New Look at Yankee Madmen

2005-02-19T21:53:00.000-05:00

We've got a new look at Yankee Madmen - I've dropped the Google Ads, Election Timer, and Weatherbug because I'm having some trouble with JavaScript in the new template.You can see the old format here in the Google Cache.If you read our site, I welcome your feedback. Please comment or send us an e-mail here.UPDATE: I've brought back the Google Ads. After checking the accounts, we're actually

This is why voting and public opinion on some issues is worthless...

2005-02-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

From The Gallup Organization: "A recent Gallup Poll asking Americans to name, without prompting, the 'greatest United States president,' finds Americans most often mentioning Ronald Reagan." Don't think this is just Democratic sour-grapes. Bill Clinton finished second. Bill-f**king-Clinton, give me a break! This is just plain stupidity. I didn't realize American history isn't taught in schools

Oh no, a teenager might actually think about sex!

2005-02-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

From the N & O: "Wake officials say they believe in that goal, but they don't like some of the probing questions, particularly those about sex. The questions seem to assume that high school students are sexually active, they say, and that goes against the system's abstinence-only sex education curriculum. ... Of particular concern, all said, were the sequencing and wording of questions. For

In the Midst of Budget Decadence, a Leader Will Arise

2005-02-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

From David Brooks in the NY Times: "Before too long, some new sort of leader is going to arise, especially if we fail to reform Social Security this year. He's going to rail against a country that cannot control its appetites. He's going to rail against Republicans who promise to be virtuous - but not just yet. He's going to slam Democrats who loudly jeer at Republican deficits but whose own

This is just stupid....

2005-02-19T17:58:00.000-05:00

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Under the new Pitt arrangement, season-ticket holders are contributing blindly. They don't know what it will take to give them the same seat they currently have or the same caliber of seat. They won't know where they stand until all contributions are in and all prospective season-ticket holders are ranked. Furthermore, it's possible to make a contribution and

Random Musings on a Friday Evening

2005-02-18T19:41:00.000-05:00

I went to lunch today with a friend from work. Since he's a vegetarian and I don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent, we decided to get out of our cafeteria because the options were quite limited for us today. We found an out-of-the-way Mexican restaurant and figured, rice, beans, cheese - we're bound to find something to eat here. Walked in and asked the waitress for a table. She just stared at

Lunch with a Liberal

2005-02-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

There's a write-in contest on the News-Talk 680 WPTF website - "Lunch with a Liberal". Bill LuMaye, the drive-time guy on this conservative talk-radio station, will take a liberal out to lunch each month based on their essay. I've criticized LuMaye for some of his comments on the air, but a couple of Fridays ago, he said something that was pretty telling. A whole bunch of people had called to

WeatherClown

2005-02-17T17:37:00.000-05:00

From WRAL.com: "Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel is convinced that a system will bring measurable snow or ice to RDU International by Feb. 28 or he will go in WRAL's fountain." To which I say... Big f**king deal First of all, I'd rather that you had accurately predicted the snowfall last month that turned Raleigh into something out a cheesy disaster movie. (Interesting sidenote: When I was

Pitt to buy University Club's historic building

2005-02-17T16:51:00.000-05:00

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "The University Club has agreed to sell its historic Oakland building for about $3.5 million to the University of Pittsburgh, according to sources familiar with the talks"When I was a graduate student at Pitt, my sponsor was a University Club member. I always liked the "U-Club" and it's old-school charms. The library, the dining room where men had to wear a

What do you know...

2005-02-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

From today's Washington Post: "Americans dislike deficits but dislike them less than the alternatives -- higher taxes or lower spending. There's a quiet clamor for hypocrisy and deception, and pragmatic politicians respond with massive borrowing schemes that seem to promise something for nothing. Please, spare us the truth. " This is practically a restatement of what I wrote last night.

L-Hack, I know you think professors are useless

2005-02-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Maybe not all professors, but certainly Leftist Wonk and I.1 Check out these pictures from Ann Althouse. I don't know what the heck any of it means, but it sure looks complicated. I'm sure it's full of liberal bias and anti-American rhetoric. 1Disclaimer: I am not currently a practicing academic. I'm just in training.

It has very little to with ideas, it has to do with the agenda.

2005-02-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

L-Hack takes the Democratic Party to task for not proposing "new ideas" and being the party of opposition. I'll agree with some of the argument, but it's not as clear-cut as the Republicans would like it to be. First, on some issues, there is no "idea" besides "leave it alone." How do we deal with "abortion" problem in this country? There is no abortion problem in this country, so leave it alone

Dean offer’s up new ideas.

2005-02-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for," former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Okay maybe not so new, look 2 posts down.With Howard Dean’s ascension to DNC Grand Poobah, the Democrats, once the party of ideas have been fully, if only temporarily, transformed to one of reflexive and strident opposition. What are the needs of the country and where are their constructive proposals to

Back to the Future - A Shaving Story

2005-02-15T15:30:00.000-05:00

Shaving is a nightmarish ordeal for me, always has been. First, my ancestry is Italian and Eastern European, and I have thick coarse black hair that grows very quickly and it takes its toll on razor blades. Secondly, I don't exactly have the best skin in the world - when I was a teenager, I had a horrible case of acne, and I'm still prone to the occasional breakdown from time-to-time. My skin is

Why I hate the Christian Right...

2005-02-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

Pretty much, it's why I hate the Right in general... From the Daily Daily Kos: "Simply put, the Republicans hate you. ... To the Republican party, you are immoral, you are corrupt, you are evil. To the Republican party, simply by identifying yourself as a Democrat, you are just the latest incarnation of The Enemy. They'll say their enemy is Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Sadr, Khatami,

Christian Revolt

2005-02-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

From Dr. Robin Meyers, Senior Minister of the Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City (complements of the Maryland Connection) "This country is bankrupt. The war is morally bankrupt. The claim of this administration to be Christian is bankrupt. And the only people who can turn things around are people like you -- young people who are just beginning to wake up to what

With all the ads, I had to check this out...

2005-02-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

About every two minutes, there's an ad for "Because of Winn-Dixie" on TV. I knew it was based on a pretty popular kids' book, but there was something that seemed a little odd to me. Then it hit me: From the Christian Examiner: "Lasting impact is the blueprint of the Walden Media vision. Formed in 2001, Walden’s foundation is a film production team backed by billionaire entrepreneur Philip

I think this about says it all...

2005-02-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

From the Comments at DailyKos

Missile shield test fizzles out (but the program still has value)

2005-02-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC: "A test of the national missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program."There are a lot of people that attack this program as a waste of money, a boondongle that will never work and useless exercise in the face of a diminished

2005-02-12T19:55:00.000-05:00

Fidel restricts smoking in Cuba! What’s next forcing an adult to wear a helmet while biking? According to the CNN article the ban was based on the health concerns of tobacco use, the “It’s for Your Own Good” reason.In the U.S. “It’s for your own good” (IFYOG) people have been waging a war on smoking based on the health risks of tobacco. This outgrowth of Nanny Statism has been expanding since

2005 Triangle Blogger Conference

2005-02-11T14:31:00.000-05:00

2005 Triangle Blogger Conference Triangle Bloggers Conference to gather area bloggers, journalists and activists to discuss community building Journalist Dan Gillmor to give public presentation on grassroots journalism Chapel Hill, NC – Local writers, journalists, politicians and activists will gather at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Saturday, February 12th for the Triangle

Proverbs 16:18

2005-02-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

From PBS: "Columnist George Will told The American Experience, 'the stricken fields of American politics are littered with the bleached bones of those who underestimated Ronald Reagan.' " I'm not saying I'm buying into it, but could a crazy little former governor from a crazy little New England state change the world of American politics, to the great surprise of the VRWC? I don't feel good

Fear and Loathing: no politics, no sports, just sick desperation.

2005-02-10T18:09:00.000-05:00

Here’s an amusing (or pathetic) story from last night. Now this women is not my normal type, well she is my type in the sense that's she's a women whose breathing and willing to share a pitcher with me but I don't usually meet too many redneck women. She was very attractive and looked to be around 30-35 years old but mentioned something about her adult children. We met at a bar in Raleigh but

Too Late for Katie, Town Tackles a Drug's Scourge

2005-02-10T17:17:00.000-05:00

From the NY Times: "John Neace forces himself to pass by the run-down apartment buildings every day. Inside, the police say, Mr. Neace's 10-year-old daughter stumbled on someone with methamphetamine last month. Her drowned body was found five days later at a nearby creek, small hands tied tightly behind her back. ... 'If we had a brothel move into town, people would close it down instantly,'

North Korea MIGHT HAVE Nukes

2005-02-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

The world is a-twitter about the possibility that North Korea has a nuclear weapon. Keep in mind, they did not conduct a successful test, and no one has seen it. I'm not suggesting that it should be ignored, but I wouldn't take this at face value with out some more investigation. Of course, the right-wing blogosphere blames Bill Clinton. Assuming the DPRK has a nuke, it is possible that they

California Revolution - It's about time for Pay-for-Performance

2005-02-10T12:01:00.000-05:00

California Revolution (washingtonpost.com): "One initiative would empower school districts to award teachers merit pay based on performance as the districts decide to measure that. Merit pay pits Schwarzenegger against the 335,000-member California Teachers Association and other teachers unions. " It's about time that someone gives some serious attention to pay-for-performance for teachers, but

Bubba in Raleigh

2005-02-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Bill Clinton Daily Diary: "I forgot to say earlier how much I like Raleigh. I’ve been there many times, both in public and in private. I’ve also been to Durham and Chapel Hill. With a bus. There is this Tri-State bus service connecting these three towns." ... "I haven’t been in Raleigh in a long time. What I mean is, I haven’t been there walking around town for quite a long time. As president

White Flag

2005-02-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty fired up over the last couple days, mostly because it's been a slow news cycle and I'd rather do anything than re-read Pivotal Politics. It's making my head hurt. That being said - L-Hack, I've been taking a lot of shots, but rather than let this degenerate in the online equivalent of "Crossfire", I propose a cease-fire. Effective at midnight, Friday - no more personal attacks.

Stem Cell Research - A Reasoned Defense

2005-02-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

From A letter to America: "It should be understood that the stem cell research debate is different from the abortion debate. Human embryos are the by-products of in vitro fertilization, which is one of the many medical procedures developed out of compassion for childless couples to remedy infertility. The process of in vitro fertilization is inexact at this time, and often that procedure

Leftist Wonk - See, I told you...

2005-02-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

From Wizbang: "Ellsworth [Kansas], along with other small Midwestern towns, is running a modern day Homestead Act-like program to attract new residents; giving away land for families to build houses on." Rock on! Funny that this is applauded on a Right-wing blog. Shouldn't the market really be deciding who lives where - what is government doing? Oh yeah, working in the community's interest.

Scumbags

2005-02-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

From the Baltimore Sun (via Daily Kos): "A longtime campaign operative of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. resigned his state job yesterday after admitting he had been spreading rumors on the Internet about the personal life of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley." Of course, this is nothing new, with the so-called "research report" the RNC released on Sen. Reid. I'm a big fan of O'Malley, and in a

Cut that man a check

2005-02-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

The republicans have got this Churhill guy all wrong. The RNC should pay him for the kind of publicity he gets. It would not surprise me if he was planted by Rove himself. Be loud and proud Ward.

The Rude Pundit - Spewing Truth from Every Orifice

2005-02-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

The Rude Pundit in three new posts admirably defends Ward Churchill and exposes more Right-Wing hypocracy from Bill O'Reilly and PNAC. The capstone - Bush as degenerate gambler, China as loanshark. A must-read.

Deception and Lies Tour '05 - Promotional Tour or Show of Force?

2005-02-09T13:48:00.000-05:00

From the News & Observer: "In picking North Carolina for his visit, Bush chooses a state that voted for him twice. He picks a state where the two Republican senators support his wishes to change what some consider the country's most sacred public program. But he picks a state where five of the seven Republican U.S. House members are lukewarm on the idea -- at best." They're certainly not in

More Right-Wing Hypocracy, and a Frightening Trend

2005-02-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

From Samantha Bennett's column in today's Pittbsurgh Post-Gazette: "The Bible Belt has the highest divorce rate in the United States, according to federal figures. The national average for divorce is about 4.2 per thousand people. Nevada's rate, as you might expect, is more than eight per thousand (many probably drive-thru), but Tennessee's is 6.4, Arkansas' is 6.1, and Alabama and Oklahoma

Yankee Madmen - A Shot Across the Bow

2005-02-08T23:23:00.000-05:00

Leftist Wonk - Where the hell are you? I have to fight off the Hannity clone all by myself, when he's backed by the right-wing conspiracy and getting new material each hour from his press office, Fox News Channel. Your laziness is giving the left a bad name. L-Hack - you were worried about this becoming a far-left blog; it's the same old tired stuff. Even worse, the news cycle sucks right now.

Finally - a Conservative Blog that doesn't make me want to puke

2005-02-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

Cathy's World is from Catherine Seipp, a contributor to the National Review Online. I say "Conservative", but it's not really. She comments on TV a lot, and I like TV a lot, so that's all right by me. Same with Ann Althouse. She's claims to be moderate, but I've found anyone that calls themself "moderate" is typically anything but. Nonetheless, she makes some thoughtful posts and from what I

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but...

2005-02-08T22:32:00.000-05:00

From Kausfiles at Slate: "We shouldn't rule out the possibility that some of Jordan's charges, as applied to individual U.S. soldiers, are true. I know one journalist, embedded in Iraq, who says he was later physically intimidated and threatened (i.e. temporarily kidnapped) by U.S. military personnel unhappy with what he'd written. He decided not to make a big stink about it. Truth should be an

More bait & switch from GOPers

2005-02-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

From The Corner on National Review Online: "SCIENCE DOES NOT KNOW ANY BOUNDARIES. Unfortunately law doesn't all that many, either, when it comes to human embryos. BBC: The creator of Dolly the sheep has been granted a licence to clone human embryos for medical research. Every one of these news stories should be a nudge to the U.S. Congress. As science goes to work unhampered in California

Bamboozlepalooza Comes to Raleigh

2005-02-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

From WRAL.com: "Bush will make a policy speech on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Meymandi Concert Hall at the BTI Center. The White House has not commented on the trip. Bush is expected to talk about his plan to reform Social Security." Don't miss the Deception & Lies Tour '05 - "Social Security Collapse", with opening acts, "Iran will have Nukes Tomorrow" and "America doesn't Torture Prisoners"

Hunger for Dictatorship

2005-02-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

From The American Conservative: "But Rockwell (and Roberts and Raimondo) is correct in drawing attention to a mood among some conservatives that is at least latently fascist. Rockwell describes a populist Right website that originally rallied for the impeachment of Bill Clinton as “hate-filled ... advocating nuclear holocaust and mass bloodshed for more than a year now.” One of the biggest

No wonder you need prayer...

2005-02-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

From Daily Kos:: "The percentage of 10th grade boys reporting sexual activity 'jumped' from 24% to 39% after participating in abstinence education" I hope the President's supporters are praying because if they fall for nonsense like "abstinence-only education", God help them. The stuff doesn't work, period, but people still keep buying into it. There's no spin or marketing here, right? It's

Who's really f**king America

2005-02-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

You're just so clever, pulling out the same hackneyed act that Hannity does every night from 6-9. "America Hating" - how fresh. I'm surprised you didn't follow it up with "Take my Wife, Please." Get that act on the road. Have you ever wondered why Hollywood is overwhelming Democrat -they're actually entertaining. I don't claim to be clever, so I won't try to be, but if you want to know who's f**

The second coming of MTV2

2005-02-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

This article on CNN describes how MTV2 is trying to remarket itself to 12-24 year-old guys. ""We want Green Day to be a kind of house band for MTV2, the way people feel about MTV being the Eminem Network," says Tom Calderon, executive vice president of talent and music." Problem is, for tween guys, they want the "Eminem Network". They love that guy. Indie-rock plays to the older high-school/

The Southern Strategy

2005-02-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of liberal blowhard(about half way down with the fuck middle america sign), showing off his new marketing campaign slogan. This kinder gentler approach is meant to influence red staters into voting democratic. As we all know, conservatives have not been winning elections for 25 years on ideas but on the way they sell their ideas. A new way for liberals to package their beliefs

Maryland's Perennial Disgrace (washingtonpost.com)

2005-02-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post: "LET'S SAY YOU have the good fortune to be elected a state senator in Maryland. Well, here's the first perk you need to know about: Over the course of your four-year term, you will be handed $552,000 in state scholarship money -- $138,000 a year -- which you may dole out to the college-bound children of your constituents nearly any way you like. Want to award four-year

American Dad - Wasn't Impressed

2005-02-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

First, let me start by saying, I'm a huge fan of Family Guy, and typically, anything that pokes fun at the Right is A-Ok with me, but this wasn't that great. It's too close to Family Guy - talking alien and goldfish swapped for Stewie and Brian...ehhh...but, the 19-year-old dog was pretty funny. As for the Simpsons - I hate when famous people are on the Simpsons as themselves, unless it's an

Super Bowl - Wrong Again

2005-02-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

After the Steelers lost, I pretty much stopped watching football, but I did make a Super Bowl prediction, more on an ideological basis than a football basis, but a prediction nonetheless. Like the majority of my football picks this year - wrong again. In about 1:55, I suspect I will have been "on the wrong side of history". Coming off a year where I picked the most correct college bowl game

Raleigh City Manager Releases Snow Report

2005-02-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

The Raleigh City Manager has released his report (PDF via N & O) on the snow disaster a couple of weeks ago that basically crippled Wake County, NC Communication and better citizen education about how to handle a wreck and use the cell phone in a storm...blah, blah, blah... The meaningful recommendations - police escorts for plows and pre-salting of the roads on a "flurries only" forecast. Boy,

Eason Jordan - Give it a Rest

2005-02-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

The Right-Wing Blogosphere really wants this story to catch fire, and I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of a link. (I don't think my two readers care or they'll miss my traffic). I'll give you the gist - a CNN executive said at the Davos Economic Forum that the U.S. military deliberately killed 12 journalists in Iraq. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here since no one's seen

"Wrong Side of History" - Worst Phrase Ever

2005-02-06T20:22:00.000-05:00

Whenever you read the blogosphere, there's certain terms or phrases that you'll see over and over. While I'm not great fan of the very overused term - "meme", the one that really gets my goat is "wrong side of history". This is a favorite of the Right, as in, "Democrats are on the 'wrong side of history'", particularly in terms of Iraq, but I've seen it for gay marriage and Social Security too.

Cheney - Not Running in 2008

2005-02-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

From CNN.com: "'I will say just as hard as I possibly know how to say ... 'If nominated, I will not run,' 'If elected, I will not serve,' or not only no, but 'Hell no,' ' Cheney told 'Fox News Sunday,' making clear he intends to retire from politics at the end of his current term." Thank goodness. I'm not shocked by this, but I'm still pleased to hear that the Dark Lord of the Sith is bowing

AcomData HD = Ulcer

2005-02-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

A little over a year ago, I bought an AcomData External HD. They were on sale at Best Buy, I needed something quick, and I was low on cash. This morning, it stopped working and I was in a panic. I use it to back up my laptop, and I also keep electronic copies of my papers and drafts from past semesters on there. I thought it was all gone - I was terrified. I hadn't heard a clicking or grinding

I've Dumped Outlook in favor of Thunderbird

2005-02-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

Everyone has been touting Mozilla Firefox as a browser alternative to IE, but I've been really interested in using Thunderbird as an alternative to Microsoft Outlook. I have about 6 different e-mail accounts, including an IMAP account through NC State and a Hotmail setup in Outlook, so it's not a simple configuration or setup for me. After a few hours of configuration, mail import, address book

Chris Matthews Show - Making My Skin Crawl

2005-02-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Hugh Hewitt and Katrina vanden Heuvel - I can't imagine two people I'd less like to spend 30 minutes with - possibly Gilbert Gottfried and Sean Hannity. It's like a race to see who can be more pompous. Memo to Hewitt: Dude, I know you think blogs are going to change the world, but they're like "Sex and the City" - trendy and self-absorbed. Does anyone know how to pronounce NUCLEAR correctly?

Yankee Madmen Adds a New Madman

2005-02-06T10:59:00.000-05:00

Yankee Madmen is happy to introduce a new contributor: Leftist Wonk.

Tim Russert is Really Earning his Money Today

2005-02-06T10:55:00.000-05:00

Meet the Press is like a Murderer's Row of Washington blabbermouths. Donald Rumsfeld and Ted Kennedy. Rumsfeld brought his own transcripts to the show and I don't think Kennedy stopped talking the whole time. They must have read the Slate article on how to beat Russert.

G7 sticks to currency policy, China doesn't budge

2005-02-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

From CNN: "China, invited to Group of Seven talks, came under renewed pressure to ease its currency peg to the dollar but said it had no timetable for action on G7 complaints that it keeps the yuan too low, making life hard for other trading nations." Yeah, they're only interested in free and fair trade...When will someone stand up to these guys?

The Real Republican Vision of America

2005-02-04T20:56:00.000-05:00

From Daily Kos: "Every Republican's dream: helping to execute people whose lawyers slept through their trials; reinterpreting the Constitution to allow monarchist powers; and helping to set up offshore prison camps for the torture of foreign nationals." You know what's always been my dream? I'd like to see smeone with the IQ of a child put to death by the state. We don't get that much here.

Best Legislative Act - EVER!

2005-02-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

From Petey, in the comments at Matthew Yglesias: "And I've said it before and I'll say it again. The word 'clawback' is one of the greatest gifts the administration could have possibly handed us, short of calling their plan the 'Make Granny Eat Dogfood Act of 2005'."

Greenocons - Marriage of necessity

2005-02-04T13:19:00.000-05:00

Bush, the former oilman, may have packed his administration with veterans of the oil and coal industries but energy conservation might become a conservative issue. Embracing conservation for national security reasons may not get a neocon invited to a Phish concert but some leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war, now seek a reduction in the flow of American dollars to oil-rich

No One Wants to be an Engineer, and No One Will

2005-02-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

From the National Intelligence Council report, Mapping the Global Future: Policy Implications: "The number of US engineering graduates peaked in 1985 and is presently down 20 percent from that level; the percentage of US undergraduates taking engineering is the second lowest of all developed countries. China graduates approximately three times as many engineering students as the United States.

Right and Left - A Case of Mutual Dependence

2005-02-03T23:51:00.000-05:00

This is a thought-provoking post byAnn Althouse on the discourse of the blogosphere. As a ranter, I'm prone to yelling, name-calling, and vulgarity, but that's because as graduate student and in my profession, I have to engage in civilized, defensible rational debate as a my day job- this is my hobby, the equivalent of throwing back a few and watching a hockey game. That being said, it's

Little Sister Gives the Straight Dope on the SOTU

2005-02-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

My sister calls me tonight and starts talking about the SOTU: "How about the exploitation of that soldier's family for the cameras? What a tool." I'm the cynical one in the family?

MSNBC - Donors to DeLay fund put on ethics panel

2005-02-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC: "Two donors to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's defense fund were named Wednesday to the House ethics committee, which twice last year admonished the Texas Republican. advertisement In a shake-up of the bipartisan panel that critics called part of a purge and a 'shutdown' of ethics enforcement, Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, also replaced the ethics chairman, Joel

The Axis of Oil

2005-02-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

From the Weekly Standard: "SO PICTURE THIS WEB OF INFLUENCE that is being woven by countries eager to constrain American power. Canada and China become joint venturers, as do Venezuela and China. Canada is America's largest source of imported oil, and Venezuela sells us the light, sweet crude oil that our refineries are best equipped to handle. This means that a significant portion of the

Pulling More Pints

2005-02-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC: "In contrast to European countries like France or Italy, where alcohol consumption has decreased, the per capita drinking rates in England and Wales have increased by 50 percent since the 1970s. Not only do the British drink more; they're drinking at a younger age and consume more at one sitting- they've become, all too often, binge drinkers. And nobody quite knows how to explain it.

Rod Nordland -- Telling it Like It Is

2005-02-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC (via Wonkette). Rod Nordland, Newsweek Iraq Bureau Chief takes reader questions: "Hopatcong, NJ: Do you, Masland and Dickey mean 'F---ing Murderers' when you say 'insurgents' and 'fighters' in your STUPIDITY? I've grown sick and tired of you 'politically incorrect' reporters. Why don't you have the gumption to call a spade a spade? Rod Nordland: OK, you're an idiot. How's that?"

Rude Pundit: Speaking Truth to Power

2005-02-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

From The Rude Pundit (via Eschaton): "It is not 'bold' to target gays for isolation and denigration in the Constitution; it is not 'bold' to cut domestic programs that mainly help those in poverty so that massive tax cuts can be made 'permanent;' it is not 'bold' to say that you want to create a Social Security system that no longer guarantees a retirement benefit for seniors and that cuts

Ned Flanders - Bush Supporter

2005-02-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

From CNN: "Before on 'The Simpsons,' Ned was a secondary figure -- Homer's cloyingly pious next-door neighbor. But the values he embodies in exaggerated form now monopolize the political scene. In fact, one might say that Homer is Ned's next-door neighbor, not the other way around, so clearly does Ned bask in the mainstream." Hey-diddily-ho L-Hack, it's a nation of Ned Flanders! I know you're

Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard

2005-02-03T10:50:00.000-05:00

I got a little swept up in the grandeur of the SOTU last night, but this morning after reading the papers, I remember why I don't like the President. The Federal Marriage Amendment is about the single stupidest thing I've heard in my life. Honestly, how can you sit there with a straight face and talk about the "sanctity of marriage" in a country with a 50% divorce rate? A country that brings you

A Real Culture-of-Life

2005-02-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

This isn't some typical Democrat nonsense - "a culture-of-life doesn't include war". We all know what the President's talking about when he says "culture-of-life", but he's wrong. A culture that values life doesn't outlaw abortion but still have thousands of dangerous abortions going on in secret, like what would happen today if abortion was banned. A culture that values life has legalized

SOTU: Maybe I'm just trying hard enough

2005-02-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not a drooling boob and I just couldn't sit through the end of the SOTU. I understand that there was real nice stuff about a serviceman and his parents at the end, but once he started off on "Global War on Terror", "Iraq", "Palestine"...zzzzz... Maybe he lost me at stem-cells, Federal Marriage Amendment, and culture-of-life and just couldn't get me

It's like Buying a New Car

2005-02-02T21:51:00.000-05:00

From CNN's Transcript of the State of the Union: "All these ideas are on the table. I know that none of these reforms would be easy. But we have to move ahead with courage and honesty, because our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics. I will work with members of Congress to find the most effective combination of reforms. I will listen to anyone who has a good

Yale law school can ban military recruiters, but shouldn't be able to.

2005-02-02T20:45:00.000-05:00

From WFSB: "A federal judge has ruled that Yale Law School has a right to bar military recruiters from its job interview program without risking the loss of federal money. The decision means that the law school will be able to turn military recruiters away for the first time in two years, to protest the government's ban against gays serving openly in the armed forces." L-Hack and various

The Case for the Common Good

2005-02-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

From the National Catholic Reporter: "Concern for the common good, a concept that seems to recede further and further each year from our political conversation, is as much in need of rescue as Social Security. The matter of saving Social Security is invariably cast in the context of whether or not to enact tax increases. Just a few years ago, the budget surplus would have secured the fund

Sometimes I could almost be a Republican

2005-02-01T23:52:00.000-05:00

From The American Conservative: "Only one in nine economists predicts a recession in 2005, and two of nine by the end of 2006. This points to clear sailing for the economy, but the political question remains: will working America share equitably in Wall Street's prosperity?" Why is Pat Buchanan the only Republican that ever seems to ask this question? Yeah, I'm leery of the current obsession

The Long-Term Fiscal Challenge : Highlights of a GAO Forum

2005-02-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

Read this GAO Report. I'm at a loss for words after reading this. I won't cherry-pick quotes out of it - it's too important. This is the GAO - not an ideological think-tank, a leftist college economist, a crack-pot apocalypse theorist, a talk-show host, a TV commentator, or a newspaper reporter. The nation's non-partisan accounting firm issued this report. Read it closely and carefully.

An Exciting Time for Economists

2005-02-01T13:19:00.000-05:00

Ideally, I'd love to see a public debate on Social Security Privatization. Congressional hearings about what will work, what won't. Different plans and a national discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of proposed pieces of a solution. Unfortunately, I suspect the President doesn't want this to happen (see: Shinseki, Eric; Powell, Colin; O'Neill, Paul) but it would be great if it did.

Krugman: A Challenge Issued

2005-02-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

From today's NY Times: "Schemes for Social Security privatization, like the one described in the 2004 Economic Report of the President, invariably assume that investing in stocks will yield a high annual rate of return, 6.5 or 7 percent after inflation, for at least the next 75 years. Without that assumption, these schemes can't deliver on their promises. Yet a rate of return that high is