September 28, 2004
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another hiatus
personalSorry this is coming so quick on the tail of the previous break, but I am riding my motorcycle down to my sister’s wedding in Tennessee. I’ll be back next week.
I won’t be able to keep up with events, and I’ll have to skim most of my regular sources and web logs. If there’s anything I absolutely should not miss, please leave me a comment to let me know.
Thanks.
I kinda hope my favorite candidates lose this election!
national/international politicsThis next presidential cycle is going to be rough on who ever is in office. There is almost no way they are going to come out of it looking good, and by the way our system/society works, that means what ever party they are backed by will be seriously hurt.
See, there is a silver lining to the fact that we’re going to end up with Bush or Kerry in office…
foisting the flip flop fallacy
national politicsThe Daily Howler has spent plenty of time on this general topic. A recent Bush-Cheney ad specifically attacks Kerry as fequently changing positions on the topic of the War in Iraq. Fact Check specifically shreds the whole ad.
Sometimes, it really does seem like “Politics” is simply a euphemism for “lies and deception”.
Note that Fact Check does not address the $87 billion issue. Check the Daily Howler archives for a thorough shredding of that one.
IP back on the ballot
state politicsFrom TwinCities.com:
The State Supreme Court has ruled that the law that threatened to keep the party’s candidates out of the election was unconstitutional.
Incidentally, I had the mechanics of the law slightly wrong:
The statute made nomination by a major party contingent on at least one of this year’s candidates tallying 10 percent of the votes that the party’s four top statewide candidates averaged in the previous general election in the district that the current candidate is seeking to represent.
For Independence Party candidates, a very low voter turnout in this year’s primary, coupled with the fact that the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Tim Penny, ran strong in 2002, meant none of the party’s candidates met the 10 percent threshold this year.
So, I can now vote for Dems and Repubs, but individual candidates are still going to need to give me a compelling reason to vote for them, implicitly supporting their party.
Hatch did an interesting switch of position during the hearing. Featherly discusses it in more detail.
As an interesting note, Hennepin and Washington counties made a bold decision last week. They decided to print their ballots with the Independence Party candidates included.
fall down go boom
societyCheck out Emporer Norton’s discussion of child safety. Personally, I have a sneaking suspicion that going too far in protecting children from risks decreases their development of risk assessment.
As an interesting pain/instinct/damage: Have you ever heard someone say that hearing fingernails on a chalkboard makes their teeth hurt? One theory is that the sounds is very similar to the sound made when we bite down on a small pebble.
Since our teeth are quite important and do not heal, we need to understand, on a very basic level, that we’d better not bite anything harder than them. When we hear the sound of that happening, we cringe, slightly open our mouths, and freeze. Interesting, eh?
