Palin's outrage over Bill Maher
Yes, I read Sarah Palin's facebook rant about her wanting the Obama Superpac to return Bill Maher's money.Yes, Mr. Maher did call her a *unt. I was there at a performance where he did that (December...
View ArticleIllinois Democrats: vote for Santorum?
Illinois has primaries on the 20'th of March. Yes, some locations have competitive Democratic races down-ticket. Not all locations do. So, is there a case for voting for Rick Santorum?Of course,...
View ArticleI couldn't make myself vote R. in the primary.
Yesterday I went and blustered at how I was going to take a Republican ballot in the primary and vote for Rick Santorum:http://www.dailykos.com/...I even made a video:Then it came time for the...
View ArticleI shook Mitt's hand yesterday and Saw Rick..
Cross posted at my personal blog....Yesterday Mitt Romney came to Bradley University in Peoria, IL and then Rick Santorum came to a Pizza restaurant (parking lot). I decided to take in both rallies....
View ArticleKomen 5K Race For the Cure: Do it or not? Poll included
I admit that I've been conflicted as to whether or not to do the local Komen 5K race for the cure. Note: I regularly run (or powerwalk) races of various distances.On one hand, I've enjoyed this race...
View ArticleIf I were a climate change denier
One of my hobbies is to run and walk long distances. I am also interested in human performance and so I've studied my slow down as I've aged from 36 to 52 years old.I did a regression analysis on one...
View ArticleMitt Romney's book: No Apology (hardback)
(cross posted in my personal blog) I finished Mitt Romney's book No Apology (hardback edition). I'll give a brief summary and then follow the summary with specifics below the fold.Brief SummaryIn many...
View ArticleRecovery from Morbid Obesity: 17 years and counting
Reading this diary inspired me to gather my thoughts on this subject. This interests me because I struggled with overeating and morbid obesity; I reached my top weight of 320 pounds (size 52 pants; I...
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Obama's Remark and Long Distance Walking/Running
We've seen Mitt Romney "pounce" on something President Obama said:We know that Mr. Romney was doing something like this:But let's turn to what President Obama actually said. (excellent diary by...
View ArticleToday's Republicans: Prima Donnas? Or something else?
Yes, I expect politicians to lie. When Mitt Romney clipped President Obama's speech and quoted him as saying: " If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.", it didn't surprise me. When Mitt...
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Religion does not lessen violence
It seems as if every time there is a mass murder incident, the religious right comes out of the woodwork to say that things like this happen because our society is too secular or that we teach...
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Genteel Bigotry is Still Bigotry
I am still facebook friends with a few of my Naval Academy classmates (class of 1981). Most are very conservative.The conversation started when I posted this:More below the fold....
View ArticleAkin's Rape Remark: shades of Willams v. Richards?
Yes, Todd Akin made an incredibly stupid remark:Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights...
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Mitt: I am one of America's "most notable Republicans"
I live in Illinois and therefore have been spared all of the "vote for me" literature from the Presidential candidates. Of course, I routinely get Obama campaign mail; that is not a surprise since I...
View ArticleFact Checking the Journalists: the Slate "Republican Party Racist" article
I have to admit that a diary on the recommended page angered me. I agree with the general premise of the Slate article that was quoted:http://www.slate.com/...But basic, BASIC factual inaccuracies...
View ArticleHow Romney Fools the Gullible
Facebook has been an interesting place for me. True, most of my friends are liberals but on occasion I'll discuss politics with a conservative, the type of person who sees me as a corporate sell-out...
View ArticleRepublican Dirty Tricks in IL-17
IL-17 is a redistricted Congressional District in Illinois; it was redrawn after Illinois went from having 19 Congressional Districts to 18. Historically: Lane Evans won it in 1982 and represented it...
View ArticleOur Republican Friends Who Think that Mitt is Ahead
Ok, some of us have Republican friends, spouses, family members and bosses. Some think that Romney is way ahead; or so they say.They are really acting a bit like this:Let them enjoy the next few...
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My Open Letter to a Sore Loser
We got back from a day trip to watch an NFL game (Rams vs. 49'ers). We enjoyed the game. But when we got home to Peoria, IL, my wife noticed something under the windshield wiper blade of her car...
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D'Souza's film 2016: evangelical style entertainment
Since Mr. D'Souza spends much of his time interviewing talking heads who either provide little data or misleading data...I'll go ahead and give my summary opinion on his movie. Then I'll follow with...
View ArticleFreedom From Morbid Obesity
I've noticed the recent obesity diaries; presumably they started because of the diary about Governor Christ Christie and his reaction to a doctor saying that he ran a non-trivial risk of dying while in...
View ArticleNo, UNC doesn't "like rapists"
This is a classic tale of "jumping the gun". Though I was going to write a diary about this based on my Facebook encounters, I got the title from another Kos diary. What generates this post: it is...
View ArticlePinker's The Better Angels of our Nature
This is a brief "review"...ok....a brief "why you ought to consider reading this book note" on Steve Pinker's The Better Angels of our Nature: why violence has declined. What I have to say is below...
View ArticleThe Ryan Budget: why I envy it (politically)
(Cross posted on my personal blog)I've read many reactions to the Ryan budget. Since I tend to "hang around" political liberals, the reactions are mostly negative. But his budget actually means...
View ArticleRepublican NIT 2013
Like many college basketball fans, I was miffed when my favorite team didn't make the NCAA. Ok, not really; my favorite team is a Mid-Major with a 16-16 record; ooops, make that 17-16 as we won the...
View ArticleKenneth Miller at Bradley University: science/faith
(Cross posted at my personal blog). It is no secret that the acceptance of evolution in the United States varies by region: in general, it is most accepted in the bluest, least religious states and...
View ArticleConservative Mailer airbrushes out minority voters in their flier
This is cross posted at my personal blog. I saw this Think Progress article posted on Facebook:A conservative group connected to Colorado’s Secretary of State has been sending political mailers —...
View ArticleMy Letter to President Obama about the teenager who is facing jail time over...
Mr. President, this article caught my attention:http://news.msn.com/...While this young woman made a mistake and deserves some discipline, she did show some intellectual curiosity.She belongs in a...
View ArticleAccomplishment: it matters where you start
This is meta; an internet friend relayed a story to me and I found it a nice springboard to discuss some modern topics.In a nutshell, she was looking at high school graduation cards and told her friend...
View ArticleThe Company Store Enters the 21'st Century
Do you remember reading about "Company Stores"? The idea was that workers could get paid in a script (a cash advance on a paycheck) which was good only at the "Company Store", where workers could buy...
View ArticleAnn Coulter quote: must be read to be believed
http://townhall.com/...Perhaps, someday, blacks will win the right to be treated like volitional human beings. But not yet. Unbelievable....and she is a mainstream conservative who is welcome at CPAC?...
View ArticlePresident Obama's remarks: not scolding nor attacking anyone
I watched the President's Trayvon Martin remarks. I also saw the large amount of vitriol directed at the President on the social media. So, I wrote this response on my personal blog; the idea is...
View ArticleNate Silver's: The Signal and the Noise: a review
Nate Silver used to publish at Daily Kos under the handle "Poblano". He gained fame via his spot-on political forecasts and now writes the blog fivethrityeigh.com for the New York Times. He recently...
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Heritage Foundation "Defund Obamacare" meme
If you are on Facebook, you may have seen the following:So, is this true? Well, technically "yes", provided you read the fine print at the bottom. I'll talk about what is going on before the...
View ArticleHeritage Foundation: Lying while remaining factual
I have to admire the Heritage Foundation: they are experts at staying (somewhat) factual while, well, lying. Here, I discuss a Heritage Foundation meme.Note: for those who are unfamiliar, the Heritage...
View ArticleRefuting a dumb argument against having a minimum wage
This is cross posted on my personal blog.Frequently, one hears the following argument: "if raising the minimum wage from, say, 8 dollars an hour to 10 dollars an hour, why not make the minimum wage 50...
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IL-17: Bustos joins the Blue Dogs. Bad move?
This is cross posted at my personal blog. The "meat" of the post is below the fold. The background is this: IL-17 is a recently redistricted US House district brought about by Illinois losing one...
View ArticleMy one question to creationists
(cross posted on my personal blog)My "bubble" of the bloggosphere was buzzing about the Nye vs. Ham creationism debate. It has been covered on Daily Kos (e. g.here) and on some blogs that I read (e. g....
View ArticleIL-17, IL-Gov, IL-Senate 2014
This is just a summary of my current half-baked thoughts concerning the political races I am interested in. I've yet to begin my self-educating process in earnest though. I'll talk about IL-17...
View ArticleA strange racial (racist?) fan reaction at a basketball game (1990)
I like college basketball, even though my team (Bradley Braves) hasn't been spending a lot of time playing in the post season lately.But I do follow the tournaments and I noticed that former Arkansas...
View ArticleCarter: White House Diary. My take.
This is my brief review of President Carter's book: White House Diary. I can recommend the book, IF one is a political junkie. Note: it is not a comprehensive review of the time period, and it is a...
View ArticleThe US has always "negotiated with terrorists"...from day one
This will be brief. I can recommend reading this article about the early United States versus the Barbary Pirates.Yes, we indeed paid tribute and ransoms.True: Thomas Jefferson spoke out about that...
View ArticleOne change in general elections in my lifetime
I have not done enough research to make a conjecture as to why this data is as it is. But what I note is that, in some sense, general elections appear to be more predictable than they were a long time...
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My take on Cantor's loss
Yeah, I know: immigration reform was the issue. But this Horsey cartoon isn't too far off, is it?Expect the deadlock to get worse, not better. Republicans in the house need to worry about challenges...
View ArticleIL-17: Bobby Schilling's dishonesty continues unabated
Back in 2012, then Rep. Bobby Schilling did some very dishonest campaigning. The classic was the "Illinois Democrat" ad he sent out on his behalf, under the guise of being a newspaper of some...
View ArticleA tale of two maps
I got a message from the Southern Poverty Law Center that allows for one to view past and scheduled Confederate flag rallies.Seeing this reminded me of the 2008 "Presidential vote shift" map which...
View ArticleObama's "Third term" remark: Media misses the point!
President Obama once remarked about "silly season". Well in his speech to the African Union, he made a remark about being able to win another election if the law allowed it.Of course, that is what the...
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