My Life as a Page
Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 02:29:58 PM PDT
In the summer of 1980 I was a sixteen year old boy, and I had the good fortune to be appointed as a congressional page in the House. I'd like to add my insights from long ago on the current situation.
Darcy Burner - WA-08 - first television advertisement
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 04:57:10 PM PDT
Darcy Burner released her first television advertisement today.
http://www.youtube.com/...
(I have only seen it online, and I have no idea about how frequently it is being shown on broadcast or cable.)
I have to say I think it is acceptable, and probably accomplishes its limited goal, but it isn't particularly inspiring.
Let's hope the ads get better over time.
More comments in extended.
Memorial Day Friday News Dump: Abramoff, Ney and Reed
Fri May 26, 2006 at 01:38:04 PM PDT
Details about the Abramoff trip to Scotland have emerged. Does it surprise anyone that these details have been released on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/...
Details after the jump.
Is the religious right getting marginalized?
Wed May 25, 2005 at 08:03:49 AM PDT
I'm sure many of us would be ecstatic if the religious right gets marginalized. Perhaps I am too quick to see evidence of such a trend. Nertheless, it is useful to watch for warning signs.
In this poll there is growing popular acceptance of gay marriage.
A school voucher program was defeated in the Texas legislature.
Stem cell research is gaining broad support.
Why is the right going after Anthony Kennedy?
Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 10:51:38 AM PDT
Anthony Kennedy is a 69-year old associate justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by Reagan. He is a mainstream conservative on most issues, although is thoughtful enough to disagree with the hard-core from time to time.
For example, he wrote the opinion that declared execution of minors to be "cruel and unusual punishment" - citing growing national and international consensus.
Why, then, is the right going after him?
Some guesses after the flip.
Federal veto of Florida court decision-making process
Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 12:51:49 PM PDT
In Florida a dispute arises. There is a disagreement about a series of facts and the laws that should be used to interpret them. The parties turn to the court system for resolution. Because the laws in question are state laws, the dispute is argued in the Florida courts.
The evidence and laws are presented to the court, which decides on a set of actions. The original outcome is appealed, and eventually the Florida Supreme Court is asked to decide. The Florida Supreme Court takes the case and makes a decision that is consistent with the law, but inevitably favors one party over the other.
Despite the absence of federal issues in dispute, important powers in D.C. want to overrule the decision of the Florida courts. It seems to legal scholars that there are no federal issues at stake, and the case should not be argued in the federal courts. The D.C. politcos are not going to let an "arcane" legal argument like this get in the way of their headstrong resolve to see this case decided in a way counter to their interests, and the case ends up in the federal courts.
I am, of course, describing Bush v. Gore case of Nov-Dec 2000.
Red States, Blue States, and Family Values
Mon Nov 01, 2004 at 08:57:09 AM PDT
There is a
great article from the Boston Globe on family values in New England as compared with the Bible Belt.
Summary: the Bible Belt has a higher divorce rate, and lower educational attainment (and income.)
For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry's home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the "blue" states, led led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation's leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment. The money they have invested in their future is known more popularly as taxes; these so-called liberal people see that money is their investment to help insure a compassionate, humane society. Family values are much more likely to be found in the states mistakenly called out-of-the-mainstream liberal. By their behavior you can know them as the true conservatives. They are showing how to conserve family life through the way they live their family values.
Newspaper endoresements: York Daily Record and others
Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:03:52 AM PDT
According to
Editor and Publisher, Kerry has a huge lead in endoresements from daily newspapers. His "circulation edge" is 3-1. One interesting piece of information from this list is the current endorsement when compared with the same newspaper's endorrsement in 2000. There are a number of papers that endorsed Bush in 2000, but are endorsing Kerry in 2004. There is only a single paper listed that endorsed Gore in 2000, but is endorsing Bush today, the
York Daily Record of York, Pennsylvania.
Ashe (VA-02) - heroism is a good thing
Tue Oct 19, 2004 at 06:15:07 PM PDT
I'm not an avid poll watcher, so I don't know if he has a realistic chance, but David Ashe did a very fine thing while at a campaign event in Hampton, Virginia.
Ashe is a democrat in a conservative district, but he does have some advantages - he is a veteran in a heavily military district (he was a Marine lawyer who worked on Iraq reconstruction) and his original opponent stepped down when he was caught soliciting sex through a phone chat line. So maybe, just maybe, Ashe can pull this one out.
Then last week Ashe is confronted with an actual emergency - a VFW member at a campaign event has a heart attack. Ashe does the manly-man thing and provides mouth-to-mouth until the paramedics arrive. Unfortunately his efforts were not enough to save the victim.
news article
Maybe this helps him - it sure cannot hurt. And furthermore, we should remember that no matter how "important" all these campaigns seem right now, in a time of critical need we should all be prepared to aid our fellow man.
Is your CPR training current? Why not?
