From the monthly archives: December 2007
Despite being a “hard-core” liberal, I’m not a party “loyalist”. I don’t agree with every plank, and I like to look at candidates as individuals. Up until today, there was one permutation of the GOP candidates versus the Dem candidates where I might well have voted for the GOP candidate. The GOP candidate in question was Ron Paul. Yes, he has nutty glibertarian views about abolishing all kinds of government departments. Yes, he has a fanatical, almost fundamentalist army of hard-core supporters. I was able to look past that stuff because he seemed quite principled, honest, and reasonable.
Then I [...]
Full Story... →Here is an absolutely hilarious article about the 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007. A healthy dose of sarcasm aimed at virtually everybody who didn’t have their head down in 2007. I wish I could pick a favorite entry, but it was just too difficult.
Full Story... →the AP is reporting that “The U.S. military is giving the Ohio National Guard its biggest call-up since World War II this week.” Ohio will be sending another 1,600 troops to Kuwait and Iraq to fight George Bush’s highly unpopular war.
Let’s just hope Ohio doesn’t face any serious state emergencies this year that would require the help of the national guard- because they won’t be here, where they belong, to help.
In a related story- CNN is reporting that 2007 was the deadliest year in Iraq for US troops- with 899 deaths.
Full Story... →The PD is reporting that a new charter middle school is coming to Columbus this fall. And this time- it looks like it might actually be a good thing for a change.
That’s because this school will be opened by The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP)- a non-profit charter-school chain often called the nation’s best.
The Gates Foundation lists KIPP-operated schools as high-quality model schools:
KIPP schools are open enrollment, college-preparatory, public charter, and contract schools that seek to provide educationally underserved students in urban and rural communities with the knowledge, skills, and character needed to succeed. Students [...]
Full Story... →A clever FoxTrot cartoon yesterday skewered Congress over 1998′s DMCA. I can’t inline the image here, so head over to the website to read it yourself. Very funny.
Full Story... →There are only a few more days left until Iowa- and I’m still undecided on my choice of candidates.
So I thought I’d try out another online candidate matching tool- this time one from WTXF- a FOX affiliate in Philadelphia called MyFox Candidate Matchmaker.
It’s only 20 simple questions- so I recommend you try it out of you are still trying to decide.
Supposedly, I am a match with the following candidates:
43% John Edwards
40% Bill Richardson
38% Chris Dodd
38% Dennis Kucinich
Funny thing is: Both Barack Obama and Ron Paul returned a match [...]
Full Story... →I generally don’t agree with the liberal-bashing action over at The Politically Incorrect Gazette, but the person they honor in this year’s Steaming Load of the Year post is a choice I can really support.
That’s because it’s our favorite christfascist asshat Phil Burress!
According to PIG…
Phil Burress is a man with a plan and, when he?s finished, the Buckeye State will be a Cross Cult theocracy under his direct control. Under Ayatollah Phil, Ohio will be indistinguishable from Afghanistan under the Taliban, Iran under Phil?s hero, Ayatollah Khomeini, or the Sandbox with its religious gestapo.
Congrats [...]
Full Story... →According to an article in today’s Baptist Press, John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute wants to take the National Football League to court because the NFL won’t let churches violate copyright laws for their Super Bowl parties.
In short: copyright laws forbid anyone from showing NFL content, like the super bowl, on screen larger than 55 inches. And the laws forbid people or groups- including churches- from charging people to see televised programming produced and broadcast by the NFL.
For some reason John Whitehead thinks churches- organizations that already get out of paying taxes- should be able to break [...]
Full Story... →Congressional Quarterly has been running an interesting online series about the history of U.S. Presidential Primaries. They posted Part 6 today covering the 1996 primaries- probably one of the first primaries that I actually remember following.
Then-president Bill Clinton was, of course, the Democrat’s presidential candidate so the Dems were able to avoid a primary. But the Republicans had just won back the House and the Senate in 1994 with their “Contract with America”- so the win was certainly not guaranteed for Clinton. Actually- it was looking pretty good for the GOP in 1996.
You can read more about [...]
Full Story... →The White House announced today that Bush will veto the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support at 90-3.
Bush is going to veto the bill because the Iraqi government didn’t like a provision it contains- a provision intended to ensure that “victims of state-sponsored terrorism their day in court”
By vetoing the bill the president is also delaying a 3.5 percent pay raise and other benefit improvements for the troops.
It looks like Bush has made his loyalties and priorities clear: it is more important to protect his friends from lawsuits than [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
My journey into firearm ownership
We’ve been talking a lot about firearm regulation here at Plunderbund this past year, and I even mentioned in passing I was taking a CCW/handgun safety course earlier in December. Last week, I purchased a handgun. As of today, I’m licensed to carry that handgun concealed. I wanted to relate my impressions of the process.
The good:
The training course I took. The state mandates certain minimum training requirements to apply for a concealed carry license, which this class met and exceeded. It was fun and informative. Frankly, I wouldn’t be disappointed if state law were amended to make the [...]
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