"Deep Breath" written by James on estrip.org

01/25/08 03:21 - 23ºF - ID#43031

Deep Breath

So,

Now that I am out of student teaching I have to do a lot of work. I have a part time job that pays well enough and has a very flexible schedule. But the tricky thing is getting a career going.

I know next to nothing about technical writing. But I can explain things to people well and I love to write, so that might be fun. Jim is going to help me put some samples on a web site. I would do things like explain how to use a complex function on the flickr web site. Adding video would be awesome. I was born to be a star! A star who explains how to edit out the face of your ex-wife from photos. In a world full of podcasts why not aim for untold internet stardom and prove Warhol's axiom true.

Telling professional adults that I quit has been mixed. Most have told me it was a good idea, some have told me I should stick it out.

But I never did like to listen to authority figures.

boom

Permalink: Deep_Breath.html
Words: 181
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: fucking damn it

01/23/08 09:55 - 17ºF - ID#43005

Well, there goes that

I fucking hate student teaching.

We will see if I finish next week.

Then I will beat myself up for the next month and drink too much.

Then, I will do something else.

God damn it what a waste of time.

Permalink: Well_there_goes_that.html
Words: 41
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/20/08 04:47 - 13ºF - ID#42963

Sick Day

I have a horrible cold. The cold medicine got me through last nights lovely dinner with (e:pmt). I would have loved some sushi, but my palate has gone to hell with this cold. If we had gone to Korean House I am sure some pickled fish heads would have been able to penetrate the phlegm barrier.

Permalink: Sick_Day.html
Words: 59
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: health

01/15/08 06:40 - 29ºF - ID#42894

Stupid Fucking Doctor

There have been a lot of 'ZOMG my fucking doctor is the lamest lulz' posts over the past couple of months. You would think there are no competent doctors in Buffalo from reading it. So, when I do have a positive experience with a doctor I will let you all know.

But in the meantime...

what a fucking idiot doctor. I spent all of seven minutes with the guy. He walks in, checks my heartbeat and the sound of my lungs, asks if I need any scripts refilled and leaves to write them up.

I didn't have the opportunity to say something like "oh, and while you are here can you please check this giant infected gash oozing pussy slime" or "oh, I got stabbed last night and I stitched it myself, care to take a look?". Just wham, bam, that will be $20 for your copay ma'am.

He doesn't ask me about my diet but proceeds to tell me not to eat things I haven't had in years, like white bread or pasta. This would be like telling a vegetarian to cut red meat out of their diet.

But he pulled out a real show stopper at the end. Apparently, I am too fat and need to lose some weight. Yup, he looks at my height, looks at my weight, walks over to a BMI chart on the wall and declares me over-weight. He is using a useless metric that would declare the beefiest of body builders as obese as the chunkiest opera tenor. (Muscle = fat) = stupid metric used by stupid doctors.

This is the Keleida health place on Hertel. The last time I was there I got a lecture about the use of condoms. When I told the doctor I was monogamously coupled she said I should still use condoms. Because, you know, all gay guys sleep around.

grumph

chico writes at 11:32:15 01/23/08 - Comment #30812: That Body Mass Index is stupid (for the reason you identified) but many doctors and insurance underwriters treat it as if it were gospel truth. Why? Because it's easier to match up two parameters (height and weight) on a one-size-fits-all (forgive the pun) table than it is to make a reasoned judgement about whether a patient/client is overweight for his/her frame and specific situation (hmmm, that might actually require spending time talking with the patient/client. Blasphemy!).

james writes at 10:48:21 01/16/08 - Comment #30486: Felly: At least go to get blood work done. If they are just looking at numbers it is less liekly they will say something stupid.... right?

Zombar: *giggle snort*

Dragonglady: they start with fad diets and move on up to land speculation. It is all a horrid pyramid marketing scheme.

Jenks: I was going to use pustular, but your word is more subtle.

jenks writes at 10:31:25 01/16/08 - Comment #30485: @z- haha. Yes that is a trick we play on unsuspecting med students. Ask them to write out the word that means pus-filled. They do, and then turn bright red. haha.

(and fyi, the way to get around that is to say purulent, but that's not nearly as much fun.)

dragonlady7 writes at 09:35:26 01/16/08 - Comment #30482: For a second I thought this was the same doctor that did the same thing to me, but it was the Univera place on Sheridan instead.

I ranted about it on here, I know I did, last spring.
I went because my knees were bothering me. She listened to what I said about my exercise routine-- working as a waitress 40 hours a week, then another 10+ hours a week of roller skating-- and said oh yes, you are exercising too much.
Then she examined me, etc, did the normal thing, pretty cursory but there it was.

Then she looked at my chart, frowned, and asked me how tall I was. I told her. She looked at the chart taped to the cabinet, and said, "You're dangerously obese. You need to exercise more."
"But... but... you just said I was over-exercising..."
"Oh yes. Eat less."
"As it is, I only eat when I'm hungry."
"Then try not eating carbs."

That was it. My doctor told me to starve myself with a fad diet because the number of my weight compared to the number of my height was too large, completely regardless of the fact that she had just palpated my legs and determined they were pretty much solid muscle.

... I guess I'm glad to know they don't just do this to women?

zobar writes at 09:29:42 01/16/08 - Comment #30481: 'Pussy slime?'

- Z

fellyconnelly writes at 07:09:07 01/16/08 - Comment #30475: yup... i keep thinkin about how i need a trip to the doctor now that i finally have health insurance. Now i'm thinkin i'd be better off not going....

james writes at 09:36:02 01/15/08 - Comment #30441: Paul: true dat

Peter: It is better to be safe than sorry. I was just irked because she wouldn't offer the same advice to hetero couples, just the fags. But you have some good advice for sure.

Jenks: It must be frustrating for you to read this site sometimes, what with the rash of horrendously stupid doctors.

Libertad: I really truly want to go see a doctor too instead of these beef brisket brained idiot doctors.

And yes, I showed him my ring during the rectal exam.

libertad writes at 09:27:44 01/15/08 - Comment #30439: I really truly want to go see a doctor, but don't know where to go.

Did you show him your ring?

jenks writes at 08:26:52 01/15/08 - Comment #30438: sigh... :(

metalpeter writes at 07:42:00 01/15/08 - Comment #30433: See that last comment sounds funny to me (I'm not saying it is) because that doctor doesn't get it. See all guys sleep around. I'm not saying that you are being cheated on at all. But I do think that in terms of sexual health (depending on the act of course) that people who only see each other should all ways use condoms. People don't mean to cheat but sometimes it does happen once and never again so why take a chance at your health.

paul writes at 06:46:29 01/15/08 - Comment #30423: I am seriously having the most terrible feeling about doctors right now.

Permalink: Stupid_Fucking_Doctor.html
Words: 310
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: film

01/10/08 11:09 - 41ºF - ID#42829

I Bring Shame to my Snobbery

I love snobby movies.

I just finished a film noir kick and still can't get the zither music from The Third Man out of my head. A bunch of Hitchcock is due from Netflix soon, but I have my sites on something much different and somehow much more exciting.

so next time someone calls me a snob for hating Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, and every Rambo movie ever, I will just remind them that Neil Patrick Harris riding on a unicorn is way better than the words 'rosebud' whispered over a snow globe.

Permalink: I_Bring_Shame_to_my_Snobbery.html
Words: 96
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

01/08/08 11:14 - 52ºF - ID#42798

New Hampshire let down

Politics is my favorite sport.

Sadly, the New Hampshire primary did not go as I hoped it would have. Very sadly in fact. I started off well enough with a celebratory glass of wine. Then the numbers started coming in. So it went to glasses of gin, gritting my teeth as I drank. The polls disappointed me again.

It takes me back to November of 2004. When I assured all my friends that after months of reading polls America would choose cottage cheese John Kerry over insipid pepper jack Bush.

So I spent that evening at a bar, filled with drag queens and their admirers. Watching the numbers come back in ways they shouldn't have but somehow did.

I hate drag queens. I hate George Bush. And most of all I hate being wrong.

cheers

edit*

No, I wont let this set back discourage me. For, while I do not want to spend yet another election night drunk and surrounding by drag queens there is a shining glimmer of hope.

For Bill Clinton lost both Iowa and New Hampshire and still came out on top!

And there is but one drag queen who still bestills my heart with her grace and talent.

The one

The only

Dina Martina

cheers

Permalink: New_Hampshire_let_down.html
Words: 217
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

01/08/08 04:15 - 65ºF - ID#42792

comment, comment, journal, journal

Is America ready for a black or woman president?

This is the most banal question of the campaign. It is also the most over asked question of the campaign.

Why wouldn't be ready? Because there are some drooling yokels who think the darkies should go back to Africa and women make babies, not decisions?

For months we heard people question the authenticity of Obama's blackness. Perhaps because he was raised by his white mother and Indonesian step-father. Maybe it was because his father was Kenyan, not African-American. His bio-father left when Barack was 2 and didn't play much a roll in his life, if I understand the story. This means he isn't black enough. The black man in public life is either a preacher, a pop/rap musician, or what ever the fuck Allen Keyes is. Since Barack does not fit in any of these characters he is not black enough. Um.. what? It is a non-issue.

Hillary is criticized for being too butch. She is cold and stony. For years people have called her a lesbian because her belly isn't perpetually full of babies or has spells of the vapors. She is too manly, accused of being a megalomaniac and authoritarian. It is classic Freud. Male anxiety fearing castration by vagina-dentata.

Yet, when she merely choked up yesterday the media and John Edwards jumped on her for being too weak and feminine. We dislike her for being to masculine and then deride her for being famine.

America is and has been ready for a black or woman president. But the media is still dragging its knuckles on the ground, asking stupid questions for stupid people.

Is America ready for intelligent media?

fellyconnelly writes at 10:02:30 01/08/08 - Comment #30083: intelligent media? hahaha silly james. that is the craziest thing i ever did hear!

brit writes at 08:38:56 01/08/08 - Comment #30081: looks like Hillary may have the edge! 40% at the last count

james writes at 07:41:15 01/08/08 - Comment #30079: Mr.Mike: we confuse too easily about what? I forgot what we were talking about. ^_^

Jason: Yahoo does post only relevant news, so it must be important then. And you are right, there is plenty to hate Hillary for without going into the fact she has a vulva.

Joshua: that was your answer to the last question, right?

Peter: Oh ya, I wouldn't want just any old black man or woman elected any more than I would want any old white person elected. Which is why this whole talk of race and gender is silly.

metalpeter writes at 07:20:58 01/08/08 - Comment #30075: Are you saying No to both or to what question there where two of them.

President wise I think that the country would vote for someone black and or a women but it would have to be the right one. I think that before all the trouble Colin Powell would have had a chance. He looks black but is still light skined, he was well educated and a miltary general he would have at least been a good VP. The first two people I will mention aren't in politics but a lot of whites who hate blacks still like them Oprah and Bill Cosby (granted not like when he was on his show but still). If we in this country had presidents who are like the ones on TV and in the movies who have a spine and don't do favors for the people who got them elected then our country would be much better. Lets assume that we could get someone like that though with our flawed system. Then lets say there was a real David Palmer (from 24) he would win just like he did on the show.

I think America has been ready for intelligent media and Media used to be that way. The thing is that now news programs and written news is all about the profit. I'm not saying profit shouldn't be important but it shouldn't be a factor in the news. So many things are sound bites or they aren't in depth because that requires time and if someone isn't interested in that thing then they will flip the channel (or at least that is how it is precieved). The news is about statements and sound bites and if you don't agree you are an idiot . I know the news is just supposed to facts and then there are editorals and those two are seperate and then some places people can comment with there thoughts about what was said also. But those bias should be left out of how the news is reported or the story should be told twice by two different people. An easy example of this is sports. Most stations show the highlights that they think are important that tell the story. But often in hockey they don't show the big saves. Or in football they don't show the drive that is about to win the game for the other team where the gust of wind makes the ball fall stright to the ground and the field goal is missed. If you where watching the game the big time saves are sometimes a bigger story and most exciting part of the game and during the field goal you are praying to the whom ever you prey to that the ball hooks to the left. Now if they are leaving that stuff out of sports imagine what get left out of the stories we hear and don't hear about.

joshua writes at 06:24:25 01/08/08 - Comment #30069: The answer is no!

jason writes at 04:39:32 01/08/08 - Comment #30062: And, I should also say, calling Hillary "butch" or "too feminine" really is not necessary, let alone calling someone a lesbo as a pejorative. Yuck.

Of course, the things that people already know about her, well....there ain't much scrubbing it. Attack her for those things, not because of a wrinkled face or because she shed some tears one day.

jason writes at 04:32:45 01/08/08 - Comment #30061: Ironic how I just read your question after surfing past Yahoo, where on the front page they tell us Victoria Beckham is on Mr. Blackwell's worst dressed list. Ouch!

mrmike writes at 04:32:21 01/08/08 - Comment #30060: Nah, we confuse too easy.

Seriously, well said. One of the folks I work with insists on listening to Bauerle, who seriously wouldn't shut the fuck up about the fact that the schedule, the sleeplessness of campaign got to her briefly. I'm sure all the manly men collapse like lawn furniture as well.

Permalink: comment_comment_journal_journal.html
Words: 281
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

01/07/08 05:57 - 60ºF - ID#42782

My poor girl Hilly

Wow,

I am not a Hillary hater. She isn't my candidate of choice but I still like her well enough. But she is having a rough, rough day.

Between thursday and tomorrow she has gone from the inevitable candidate to barely alive. Obama leads her by double digit numbers in New Hampshire (tomorrow's primary) and South Carolina (the next big, important show). This means he has gone from distant second place to the clear front runner in four days. Let me say that again in a new paragraph for full emphasis.

In four days Hillary has gone from the Democratic candidate for a presidential election she was sure to win to a hail mary strategy to win a few unimportant primary states.

You have to feel some compassion for her. It is different from Mitt Romney who is an empty suit that tried to buy the election. Hillary was a genuinely good candidate with a very good chance at winning.

Today she choked up with tears when a woman asked her how she stays so upbeat.

Then we had her husband Bill, doing his best borscht belt comic impression, say "I can't make younger, taller, male. There are a lot of things I can't do. But if you want a president and need one she would be by far the best". Is that the best you could do Bill?

But the worst thing to happen to her campaign happened today. She played the race card in the worst way in the history of the game. Here is what she said

Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act. It took a president to get it done."

So, she likens Obama to Martin Luther King, Jr. and her to Lyndon Johnson. She says MLK's contributions to American civil rights were less than President Johnson's. She likens her self to a one term president with a mixed legacy. Who is running her campaign and why are they still working for her? That is not how the race card works. You do not liken your opponent to one of the most beloved and respected of Americans and then try to say you are better than them. That is setting the bar absurdly high.

Well, at least she has her Senate seat.

joshua writes at 06:47:03 01/08/08 - Comment #30072: It became everybody's message because it worked. Now we have politicians arguing about who is more an agent of change. If I didn't know better I would ask what the fuck gives.

I'm actually stunned by the fact that Obama managed to trump Hillary with the black vote in Iowa. The Clintons have taken the black vote for granted pretty much forever so I suppose she was ripe for the picking, but nevertheless the early indications were that Barack wasn't "black enough" for a lot of people. I think SC will be intriguing and if the vote is now swaying like you say it is Hillary's swan song may be the day of the SC primary.

As for Edwards - he's done. He is merely picking over Hillary's corpse at the moment.

As for "change," while what you say at the moment is true (its a buzzword driving the Dems at the moment) the election will eventually focus on substantive issues which I guarantee will have to have some sort of definition if Obama or anyone else expects to get elected. This was the ABB crowd's downfall in 2004. To your point though, in 2004 when President Bush was re-elected, many voters suggested that likeability and "moral values" were integral to who they chose. Barack Obama will not be able to rely solely on spouting rhetoric about change all the way to the White House. Eventually he will have to answer questions he doesn't have good answers for and somewhere Hillary Clinton will be cackling... because that is who she is. Now will people stop arguing with me about that? =D

james writes at 12:02:59 01/08/08 - Comment #30048: Josh: Obama won more black votes than Clinton did in Iowa. The Clinton's were very good to black Americans in their administration and Obama did not seem very electable at first. But now the black vote is swinging to him at a very fast rate. New polls in SC, where blacks make up nearly half the population, Obama has gone to a commanding lead in the polls.

It is horribly the way democrats are treating other democrats, but that is the name of the game. Clinton is suddenly Bush-lite. Obama is a swaddled babe who doesn't know NAFTA from NAMBLA. And Edwards... well, Edwards has always been a greasy pretty-boy trial lawyer whose working class appeal is anchored only in his miner father, and not his multi-million dollar home and hundred dollar hair cuts.

And the hope and change rhetoric. This election is not about policy, it is about change. Hillary is running like Al Gore did against Bush. There is a sense of entitlement, a sense that her being right should overwhelm Obama's message. Looking down at Bush didn't get Al elected and it wont get Hillary elected either. Notice how after Iowa everyone's message became Obama's messege?

brit writes at 12:00:08 01/08/08 - Comment #30047: Hilary get more support from blacks who are registered to vote, they are hardcore democrats and have voting patterns similar to democrats of other ethnicity. The ones that aren't registered are an unknown quantity in terms of voting behavior which is why he will be appealing to them.

He has pretty much the same stance as the rest of the candidates only he is fresh and wildly charismatic so he is using that to get through the primaries, it will be at this point that he reveals his 'not much different but change where change is due approach' and he will debate the Republicans...be patient....

I don't see the problem in playing to cult to win, after all, at some point he will potentially have to show his leadership and if he fucks ups terribly they will kick him out of office...electoral elasticity is a great democratic invention

joshua writes at 10:47:18 01/08/08 - Comment #30046: Hillary gets more support from blacks than Sen. Obama does, which is mystifying to me. As to Obama's electability, I think that voters should not confuse response to a cult of personality with electability. Right now Barack Obama is saying fairly little, and while I loathe to admit to Hillary being right about anything, she is right about the fact that Barack Obama won't survive without answering tough questions. "Voting for change" is nothing but sloganeering and I'm not really amused with it. I think Barack Obama is faaaarrrr too green to be President of the United States - by far the least qualified of the candidates. He's an inspiring speaker and has a great story to tell, but I'm not interested in the BS - I want to hear him debate Republicans (or even Democrats...) on issues like immigration, GWOT, healthcare, the economy and the like. If I'm wrong about my assertion that being POTUS is too far above Barack Obama's head he just may earn my vote, but I'm not interested in the melodramatic references to "hope" and "change" right now. I like the fact that Obama is optimistic but I need more substance from him.

To be honest the most amusing thing to me thus far is listening to Obama supporters treat Hillary Clinton... well... the same way the GOP has for 15 years. I've never seen so many lefties accuse her of being dishonest, untrustworthy, bitchy, self-serving and nakedly ambitious before.

I'm not really inspired by any of the GOP candidates and have a feeling that I probably won't be, but right now I'm never been more open to a third party candidate.

brit writes at 11:50:23 01/07/08 - Comment #30037: no, there was a group started to try and get him to run but I think Al is quite right in thinking, "I've won an Oscar, an Emmy a noble peace prize, and been the Vice President of the United States... so I could carry on being adored or run for President and be vilified if it all goes to shit"...plus, the pay is shit!

jenks writes at 11:29:52 01/07/08 - Comment #30036: yeah, my parents are pretty big-time republicans, so I was surprised when mom said she likes obama. but I think even they are admitting that things need to change. But she hates hates hates hillary. She kinda likes McCain. Kinda, not really, sorta maybe. But admits that huckabee and romney are so wack that she might have to cross party lines. GASP!

p.s. I know I live under a rock and I don't know as much as I should about politics and current affairs. But is Al Gore even in the picture at all?! I didn't think he was.... but lately I've been seeing all these pro-Gore bumper stickers.

james writes at 09:56:46 01/07/08 - Comment #30032: Obama is very electable. He performs better in polls against every other GOP candidate in the field. HIlly on the other hand gets her ass handed to her by McCain and is really, really close in numbers with Mike "I seriously have nothing going for me except I hate gays, abortions, and Darwin" Huckabee.

On national polls Obama just tied Hillary who has consistently been 20 points ahead of him. This is frickin exciting, exciting stuff.

brit writes at 08:50:38 01/07/08 - Comment #30031: people are right to think that he is unelectable based on polling in every presidential election since FDR, however, the complacency is misplaced because no one candidate has ever mobilized African Americans and the young in a way that he looks capable of doing (run to the base, mobilize the undecideds...it's almost impossible). Given that the young and African Americans famously don't tend to vote and we have seen both groups engaged in caucasses and primaries which they even more famously turn a blind eye to combined with the help of what I am sure will be an enormous ground swelling registration push amongst these groups by the DNC if he wins the nomination you are potentially adding another twenty per cent (pissed off) electorate who will swing Blue. Also, Obama is a Conservative Democrat, sure he is socially more to the left but I am certain there will be massive emphasis on his Senate voting record to sure up the moderate and slightly off center voters. I am so fricking excited I can barely waits The only problem is John BS 'I'm a maverick..please don't look at my Conservative voting record' McCain but the people won;t be fooled again...will they?

jenks writes at 08:33:29 01/07/08 - Comment #30030: yeah, my mom just told me "i like obama... but I doubt he's electable"
I told her he's way more electable than she realizes, I think.

brit writes at 08:28:59 01/07/08 - Comment #30029: I like Hillary but unfortunately she is finding out that America is more sexist than it is racist. They want a strong, decisive and clinical president but when she acts that way they call her a bitch...they want to see compassion but when she shows it she is accused of being weak and overemotional. Also, she gets mad too easily in the debates and has a tendency to shout back at people like she cannot quite fathom how they had the impunity to question her at all. A sense of entitlement and extremely good qualifications do not a president make I'm afraid and the bandwagon plus cohort effect that Obama seems to be establishing has enormous potential to derail her. I would be beyond excited at the prospect of an Obama/Huckabee race (not that it will happen) but, with the rest of the world watching, The US people would be forced to choose between a well spoken, intelligent African American and an evangelical nut job...people who have never voted would be mobilized on both sides and the results would be an unpredictable clash of the two basic ideologies that shape this nation....like lord of the rings or star wars, good Vs evil, never fails to be a box office smash...I can but dream.

Permalink: My_poor_girl_Hilly.html
Words: 385
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

01/03/08 02:14 - 14ºF - ID#42737

150,000

So, it is show time tonight!

The pre-election season has been running since November 2006. And tonight we finally start to get this over with.

Iowa has been the first state to nominate a candidate since 1972. Which means there will be no sensible farm bills passed as long as it remains first, but that is a rant for another post.

A candidate has lost Iowa but gone on to the presidency 25% of the time. A candidate has lost Iowa but got their party's nomination 25% of the time(GOP) and 33%(Dem). So, it is a state that is not to be missed.

So, at worst you have a 66% chance of picking the next president of the USA. And who picks that candidate? Only about 150,000 people.
In 2000 31,000 people chose George Bush to be president. In 2000 31,000 people chose to fuck everyone up the ass an administration with horrendous policies that have been known to inflame rhetoric.

yikes.

Media pundits are saying that there will be record turn out! Just like they did in the 2004 general election. Oops, the kidos who didn't know who John Kerry was but knew they hated Bush because John Stewart does and that dude is fuckin' funny bro, didn't show up to vote... again. Some are saying it will double, or triple. Well, if there is a huge turnout at all it will be the Dems and asshat independents, not the GOP. I certainly wouldn't miss CSI: Juno to decide which empty suit is more viable.

So, America, this is what you do if you don't live in the anointed state of Iowa. You throw rocks at them. You throw rocks at them and pull their hair.

That is all, my little Davids.

james writes at 07:26:21 01/04/08 - Comment #29926: He is only half black, so you could go back if you had a really good lawyer. But Barack is the most handsome presidential candidate since Martin Van Buren. Meow!

fellyconnelly writes at 07:21:19 01/04/08 - Comment #29923: haha yes (e:libertad)!

libertad writes at 06:21:14 01/04/08 - Comment #29920: Once we go black will we never go back?

fellyconnelly writes at 09:45:39 01/04/08 - Comment #29891: looks like we are about to have a black president huh?

james writes at 05:10:36 01/03/08 - Comment #29873: It is just wrong for IA and NH to always go first. I like the rotating regional model best, that way Californians and New Yorkers can continue to influence politics with their money and not necessarily their vote. A dem first primary in Wyoming would be good television. I bet Fred Phelps would be available to picket. ^_^

I love the Daily Show. I think it is great that people get their news from parody news than not at all. I am a news junky, but I can't watch Wolf Blitzer for more than a minute without throwing up in my mouth. Parody news makes it accessible. Not ideal, but works for me.

My point with the mentioning GWB's win in Iowa was that a very, very small number of people decided who would be president next. Week field of candidates or not, it is still a tiny corner of America that becomes king makers, and that is undemocratic. Again, I mention the rotating regional primary system as a more democratic alternative.

Iowa Dems have picked the candidate 6/9 times. Undecided may have had more votes in '72 and '76 but undecided didn't win, just came in first. So, my numbers turned that into a victory.

joshua writes at 04:44:00 01/03/08 - Comment #29872: I'm ok with Iowa having the first caucus. Otherwise these flyovercountryphobic politicians would be tempted to simply ignore 2/3s of the population and anything between San Fran and New York. In a weird way Iowa and NH preserve balance that is absolutely essential, ESPECIALLY for Democrats.

Not knowing who John F-ing Kerry was is no crime for Iowans - the ABB (anybody but Bush) crowd was pervasive throughout Democratic circles that year. The Daily Show crowd are now the vast majority of young Democrat voters. Getting news from a comedy show is sort of like giving your kids heavily sweetened yogurt in tubes (ever seen Gogurt?) and pretending that you've fed your kids nutritional food.

GOP Iowans correctly picked GWB in 2000, but you've neglected to mention who he was running against. He was the weakest of a group of weak candidates and ran against the likes of Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer. At the time he was the obvious front runner so I don't think it was any surprise. For Democrats, the only candidate that was correctly picked via majority and became the eventual President in the past 35 years was Bill Clinton - the Dems in the state have rarely correctly picked the eventual winner in the general election. Even Jimmah Carter was beat out by 11 points by the collective "undecided" vote in 1976. Also take into consideration in all of this hypothetical chat that in general over the past 35 years Democrats have rarely won the general election and to suggest that had Iowa chosen differently that some of the elections may have been different is wildly speculative.

Permalink: 150_000.html
Words: 283
Location: Buffalo, NY

12/31/07 09:18 - 32ºF - ID#42698

New Year's Resolutions

If you don't read Rehabilitating Mr.Wiggles you are either not aware of this fantastic comic strip or are a descent human being. Knowing many of you, I am going to bank of the former.

This, however, is not an intro to Mr.Wiggles for the uninitiated, for that requires several paragraphs explaining that AIDS, child molestation, genital mutilation, and homicide are no laughing matter, even if spoken by a teddy bear.

So, in that spirit is the New Year's strip, without apologies.

Edit*

Christ, you can't read that. Go here to read it

wise words indeed.

My resolutions are

1) to pirate music a little less and pirate ships of bounty a little more.

2) help propel cybernetic crime fighting by injuring a police officer

3) not laugh so hard when people tell me The Bionic Woman is a good TV show.

4) don't necessarily drink less, but drink better.

5) write more and be less picky. I haven't updated my poetry blog since april (the site has been down for a month *cough*) because I am still wrestling with spacing and punctuation on three dozen pieces.

see you cats and kittens in a bit.

Permalink: New_Year_s_Resolutions.html
Words: 193
Location: Buffalo, NY