Regarding the whole God/religion issue that has been discussed a lot here lately, here is an interesting piece on NPR that I heard a few months ago by Penn Jillette (the tall one in Penn and Teller) on his belief that there is no God. It is interesting not in that it has some deep philosophical insight, but in how this belief that there is no God informs his approach to life.

The world is a crazy place.

Saturday I got three packages from amazon.com that were addressed to my apartment, but I had never heard of the person.

Not knowing what to do, I was going to take them back to the post office on my way to class and have them return them to sender. After I got on the shuttle to campus, a guy sitting behind me asked if I had gotten some packages for "John Smith." I said I had, and he said that he was John Smith and use to live in my apartment and had acidentally sent them to his old address. I checked his ID to be sure and then gave him the packages.

Seriously, what are the odds that he would be riding the same shuttle as me when I was going to return his packages.

It reminds me of another crazy coincidence when I went to a Latter Day Saints Church. I thought I had posted about it but it looks like I hadn't, so maybe I will post about it some time soon.

Seriously, how can there not be someone/thing controlling this show

Jesse

P.S. so much for my regular posting. That lasted all of one day

I am back at Maxwell and have just completed a full week of school. This semester will be good in that I am taking three classes that I am actually interested in, State and Local Finance, Metropolitan Politics, and Urban Policy, and I don't have a single test. The bad part about this semester is that I am taking five courses and as none of them have tests, it means I get the pleasure of writing papers. Getting back into writing papers will be annoying as I didn't write anything over 4 pages all last semester (the joy of being in an MPA program is that they are preparing you for a job, so you just write lots of memos instead of long papers). Also, last semester I only had 4 courses, now I have 5, but I don't have an internship anymore.

As I do at the beginning of ever ysemester, I have to start getting organized, and this time I am trying to do it right off the bat rather than later because with the writing I will have to do, I won't have time to jerk off for the first few weeks (in previous semesters, I had done jack shit for the first month or so as evidenced by the fact that my last two internships started more than a month into the semester). I am trying to firm up a good routine, especially with my sleep cycle. Part of this routine will try and include a nightly posting of 15mins on (e:strip) to better keep track of my life. This semester, two days I have 8:00 classes and two days I have 12:45 classes. Hopefully I will wake up at the same time each day and exercise or something else that is good for myself. I am not there yet but I should be soon. OK, my 15 mins is almost up. I'll see you tomorrow.

P.S. My hair is all now gone courtesy of (e:maureen)'s beauty salon and I now have a beard courtesy of my mother's genes. I'll post the pics (e:maureen) took soon.

It has been a while since I've posted. The last few weeks of classes were a bit rough but I am done now and enjoying doing as little as possible in the B-lo

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the party on Saturday night. Thanks (e:PMT) for throwing the party. Happy bday (e:hodown), I hope you had a good night, and it was nice meeting and hanging out with all the (e:peeps).

Also, I found out that one of my friends from the year I went to Starpoint died. I was just flipping through the news and happened to be reading the obits and there was one for him there. He died the other day in a car crash cause of the weather. I haven't spoken to him since 9th grade. It is weird when I find things like that in the news because I rarely read the obits and just happened to be flipping through.

Well that is all.

-Jesse

Last night my friends here threw me a birthday party. It was really nice. I was kind of a surprise in that it was originally going to be an 80s teen movie night (it still was an 80s teen movie night too). So I didn't know until my friend picked me up and asked me to hold my birthday cake. I am really glad I came here. Though I cannot go on the racist tyrades I could at AU, I am feeling more comfortable with and really like the people here, even if some of them drive me up the wall sometimes. (thanks for talking me out of that one (e:maureen)).

At the party we watched Pretty in Pink and part of another movie (Say Anything?). This was the first time I have watch Pretty in Pink and I was pissed. I really related to duckie in the movie and felt he got fucked. He was the only one with real balls. Fuck the pretty boy. Plus the pretty boy broke the number 1 rule of friendship - bros over hos. I am very bitter in how the nerd gets screwed in these 80s teen movies. Like at the end of Breakfast Club when they all pair up except Anthony Michael Hall who has to write the paper. That's fucking BS. Fuck you John Hughes. At least we have revenge of the Nerds.

For all of those who think that evil big businesses are the only ones who buy politicians should read this article in the Buffalo News.

Unions donate $108,000 to Brown (11% of his campaign fund) and the first thing Brown does is ask for the resignation of the nonpolitical commissioner that heads the civil service who still has three years left on his contract (this is due to state law that staggers the appointment of the commissioner so they can't just hire all of the newly elected mayor's cronies). This commissioner is who negotiates the union contracts and has been very unpopular with the city's unions lately.

Guess you get what you pay for.

-Jesse

Hello All,
Thank god its the weekend and thank god for veterans day 11-11. I was so ready to get done with this week. I had two midterms. The stats midterm I took today was really rough. After working on it for a while, I opted to not be graded on it and have its points be shifted onto the final. I really need to pay more attention in the class. I just kept getting confused over what formulas are used for what. Oh well, it is done.

I just wanted to add some more pic from Halloween. On the first set of pics, my friend Jess commented that I reminded her of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the lambs. Unfortunately, I never saw the movie though I have read the book and seen both the sequel and prequel (Remember seeing Red Dragon (e:Maureen)) and I couldn't find an image of him on the internet, so I guess I will just have to rent it to see. Here are the pics:







-Jesse

Get out and vote. Polls are open today from 6am - 9pm. Make your voice heard.

Today I filled out my absentee ballot for the electing this Tuesday and will give the rundown of who I voted for and why. If you have any comments, questions, or would like me to justify or debate my choices leave a comment or email me. No matter who you support or don't, you should get out and vote this tuesday. Polls are open until 9 at night. Make your voice heard.

Before I get to who I voted for, I will address the Buffalo Mayor's race. Regrettably, I cannot vote in the race yet as I do not yet live in the city proper. But the importance of the Buffalo mayor's race cannot be overlooked. For the first time, in a long time, we will get a chance to have a choice and elect someone who is not an incumbent (I still think the Republican were cowards for not running anyone against Masiello last time). This race will determine the direction of the city in the next critical 4 years when it is undergoing the changes of the control board. It is vital we elect someone who sets out a strong vision for the city.

It is for this reason that I made my first ever political contribution this month to his campaign and why I strongly support Kevin Helfer for mayor. Buffalo has been plagued by mayor after mayor with no strong vision or strong stances on issues. They all have been spineless cowards who do nothing but hold a press conference on how bad something is after the Buffalo News runs a story on it. Brown follows that tradition of status quo. He plays it safe and doesn't want to shake things up. Buffalo needs someone to shake things up and Kevin Helfer will do just that. For more info, here is a Helfer podcast on Buffalo Rising which has done a good job covering the race if you want to read up more about it. Nancy Naples has also endorsed him as has the Buffalo News. )

On to the other races. I voted for the following and on which party line:
Justice of the Supreme Court:
Write-in: Blank. (New York State's system of electing supreme court justices is corrupt and requires candidates to suck up to party leaders and make donations. I will not vote for any endorsed candidate until it is reformed)

County Judge:
Independence: Shelia A. DiTullio (co-endorsed by all parties. I like to vote for judges on the independence line. I know it is a party. Maybe I should just write in for judges next time)

Sheriff:
Independence: Charles T. Fiermasca Jr. (co-endorsed by Democrat. Many of Tim Howard's top administrators have take home vehicles and recieve lots of money over their base salary. Fiermasca on Howard's policy "Four or five chiefs at a Buffalo Bills football game getting nine or 10 hours overtime is absolutely theft as far as I'm concerned." I have to agree and support his fiscal responsibility. For more info here is the buffalo news story on their debate )

County Comptroller:
Republican: John J. Canavan (co-endorsed by Reform. A position near and dear to my heart. Canavan said the magic words that got him my vote - performance measures. What the system does is require that departments be accountable for what they spent with results. It is something that I am study and working on and is a great idea, so I strongly support it. For more info on the race: )

County Legislator:
Republican: Brian H. Krauss (co-endorsed by Conservative and Reform. I am proud to be in a district with one of the more visible county legislator races and as Erie County's fiscal crisis has shown, these legislators are vital to the success or failure of the county. I intially was going to vote for Marinelli because she gave the unheard objection to the adoption of the bs budget, but once I read that Krauss is an accountant, he had to get my vote. I am a technocrat fan and the county could clearly use someone who knows how to add and subtract. For more info on the race )

Town of Tonawanda Councilman:
Republican: Joseph M. Shiah, Raymond E. Sinclair, and David H. Rider (co-endorsed by Conservative. On town elections I tend to support conservative candidates, especially in a town like tonawanda where there are few social services, in an effort to keep the government small and with no reason to not vote for them, they get my vote)

Town of Tonawanda Superintendent of Highways:
Republican: Bradley A. Rowles (Co-endorsed by Independence and Conservative. There is no other candidate, so he wins)

That is all. Remember to vote.
-Jesse

The Public Administration, International Relations, and Law School departments/schools at Syracuse had a halloween party at a club. It was a lot of fun. I don't have a camera so I stole these pics from others. I am also a narcissist so they are all of me.

Note on the outfit, the jacket was mine, but I had to buy the skirt and tank top. It is very awkward going into dressing rooms to try women's clothes on. Especially at old navy, when they insist on taking the clothes from you and hanging them up in your changing room. They also kept walking by when I was in there asking if I need another size. Good customer service.

-Jesse

Getting ready for the ball. Look at those legs.


Looking hot even though the frame went with someone else's costume. The person next to me is in my program and an alderman in Ithaca



Still looking hot


The belles of the ball


Partying


Partying (or rape)