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The Donnybrook
Monday, October 31, 2005
 
Great Minds Think Alike...

It seems that the Sports Guy agrees with my post about the possibility of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson moving the team to San Antonio with a nudge from the shitbag mayor of San Antonio...

My comment from October 20th:
In my mind, this is roughly akin to a guy boinking his best friend's wife while his best friend lays dying in a hospital bed.
Simmons' comment from October 28th:
The ongoing subplot of Tom Benson possibly abandoning New Orleans and moving the Saints to San Antonio, the equivalent of somebody's wife getting into a debilitating car accident, then her husband filing for divorce while she's still in the hospital.
Amen...Oops!...I almost forgot that I hate religion...

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What We Know About Judge "Scalito"...

He got that nickname because he's essentially a clone of Antonin Scalia. Nothing like a diversity of opinions on the Supreme Court, eh?

He thinks a woman's uterus is at least partially owned by her husband...

He thinks companies should have the right to deny jobs based on race...and disabilities...

He's in favor of strip-searching 10-year olds...

He hates the Family And Medical Leave Act..."Family values" indeed...

He's no Sandra Day O'Connor...

He's exactly what the right-wing nutjobs wanted when they stopped the Miers nomination...

He should be denied a seat on the US Supreme Court by Democrats and sensible Republicans...

UPDATE: Apparently, Scalito also feels that girls who are victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their fellow students should not be able to take legal action against the school for not protecting them. He's a gem, this one...

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Sunday, October 30, 2005
 
How Were Things In The Coffee Klatch?

It's funny that while I was away for the week in Ireland, some of the ladies around here decided it was a good time to badmouth and/or impersonate me on not one but TWO blogs.

What's the matter, ladies?

Upset about this? Or was it this that got your panties in a twist?

Get over yourselves, Martin and Winston. You exalt scum and cover for their every dangerous/traitorous/dishonest action, all in the name of party loyalty.

The wheels are coming off the Bush corruption machine, but somehow you think my daring to examine the record of a candidate for Wake County school board is beyond the pale. I love your priorities.

Say want you want about me, girls. Just do it when I'm not on another continent...

POG MO THOIN...

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Friday, October 21, 2005
 
One More Thing Before I Go...

Regarding the Wake County School Board races which will be decided on November 8th.

I've come across a couple of interesting factoids about Tillie Turlington, the hard-right Republican running in District 1.

From Ms. Turlington's bio in the News & Observer:
EDUCATION: Garner High School and received High School Diploma from Wake Tech in 1999

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Ran for Town Council in Wendell. Placed 3rd out of 5 and do not remember the year.
First, the GED thing: I don't have an issue with Ms. Turlington receiving a GED. However, this does strike me as odd, considering she received her degree outside of the school system she now hopes to reform. It's oddly familiar to the case of Horace Tart, who was just elected to the school board even though his kids go to private schools.

Now, the political thing. If you couldn't remember when you did something, would you honestly bring it up as a qualification for anything???

Do the right thing, consider supporting Turlington's more-qualified opponent, Democrat Lori Millberg...

While you're at it, check out Democrat Eleanor Goettee. She's running for the District 9 school board seat...

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See You In 10 Days...

This continent bores me, so I'm off to try a new one.

I'll be in Ireland all next week, so this is your last chance to let me know what you really think of me for a full 10 days.

Be kind, if you would please. My wife reads this shit, you know?

P.S. In lieu of a fantasy football post, I urge you guys to use this thread to hash out those snarls that may come up this weekend.

I feel good about both of my teams for once...

P.P.S. I hope this quote from Sports Guy's column today isn't an odd bit of foreshadowing:
This has nothing to do with Week Six, but to the person who kept farting somewhere around the 10th row of the 12:54 PM United flight from Denver to Los Angeles yesterday...may you burn in hell.

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Democratic Congressman Fights Bush's Gulf Coast Wage Cut...

Rep. George Miller (D-CA) is showing real leadership in attempting to overturn President Bush's Gulf Coast Wage Cut.
Representative George Miller (D-CA) and other House Democrats today employed an unprecedented parliamentary procedure that will force the House to vote by November 4 on whether or not to overturn President Bush’s Gulf Coast wage cut.

In September, the President issued a proclamation suspending the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act for workers in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Davis-Bacon requires federal contractors to pay construction workers the locally prevailing wage for their job function. Suspending the law, as Bush has done at the request of 35 House Republicans and Republican activist Grover Norquist, means that federal contractors can pay workers less than they would usually have to pay for the same work and with no obligation to pass any savings on to federal taxpayers.


Miller introduced legislation in September to overturn the President’s proclamation. Every single Democratic lawmaker in the House (as well as one independent) has co-sponsored the bill but not one Republican has done so.
Once again, President Bush takes action to help corporations at the expense of the people who actually do the work in this country.

Once again Democrats step up to fight his efforts to further weaken the middle class...

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Thursday, October 20, 2005
 
The Mayor Of San Antonio Is A Carpetbagging Scumsucker...

To find out why, you need look no further than this sentence:
Mayor Phil Hardberger reiterated his resolve to bring the Saints to San Antonio permanently, saying he wanted to close the deal before next season begins.
How despicable is that???

The people of New Orleans haven't suffered enough, let's take away their football team for good measure!

In my mind, this is roughly akin to a guy boinking his best friend's wife while his best friend lays dying in a hospital bed.

Classy move. I guess there's simply not enough football teams in Texas...

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Wednesday, October 19, 2005
 
Money's Best Places To Live Is Out...

Considering what most of the country thinks of New Jersey, it's sort of refreshing to see 2 NJ towns in the top 10:
1. Moorestown, NJ (A suburb of Philly, no less!)
2.
Bainbridge Island, WA
3.
Naperville, IL
4.
Vienna, VA
5.
Louisville, CO
6.
Barrington, RI
7.
Middleton, WI
8.
Peachtree City, GA
9.
Chatham, NJ
10.
Mill Valley, CA
On a local note, North Carolina had 4 towns place in the top 100: Cary, Clemmons, Huntersville, and...DURHAM!!!

That's right! In another case of perceptions being skewed by the general population's unfounded biases toward a town, Durham came in as one of the 100 nicest places to live in the U.S.

I dig Durham, and it's nice to see a great town get it's due, in spite of the misguided notions of many Triangle residents...

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How Well Do You Know The Geography Of The U.S.?

Take the test and find out...

I got 92% with an average error of 15 miles in 198 seconds. It's tough when one of the big empty states comes up early in the test. You'll see...

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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
 
7 States Approve Of President Bush...

Thankfully, I don't live in one of them (UT, WY, ID, AK, NE, OK, ND), and probably never would.

SurveyUSA continues it's 50-state approval polling with more bad news for a bad president.

Continuing a recurring theme, Bush is in big trouble in several states with GOP Senate seats on the line next year.

Rhode Island: 29% approve/70% disapprove
Pennsylvania: 36/62
Ohio: 37/61
Missouri: 39/59
Tennessee: 40/57
Arizona: 40/55
Montana: 49/49 (Not upside down, but pretty bad for Montana...)
On a local note, Bush is in the midst of a serious tailspin in North Carolina, where only 41% approve of the job he's doing...

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Monday, October 17, 2005
 
Is Cheney In The Crosshairs Too???

Oh, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease let this be real...
A special counsel is focusing on whether Vice President Dick Cheney played a role in leaking a covert CIA agent's name, according to people familiar with the probe that already threatens top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis Libby.

The special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, has questioned current and former officials of President George W. Bush's administration about whether Cheney was involved in an effort to discredit the agent's husband, Iraq war critic and former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, according to the people.

Fitzgerald has questioned Cheney's communications adviser Catherine Martin and former spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise and ex-White House aide Jim Wilkinson about the vice president's knowledge of the anti-Wilson campaign and his dealings on it with Libby, his chief of staff, the people said. The information came from multiple sources, who requested anonymity because of the secrecy and political sensitivity of the investigation.
Here comes the sun!!!

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Thursday, October 13, 2005
 
What Songs Can Turn Your Day Around?

I've had an absolutely shit morning.

Yet, as soon as I threw on the ol' iPod and "The Promise" by When In Rome was on, baby it set me flyin'!!!

How about you people?

UPDATE: Allow me to add "Hold The Line" by Toto and "One Night Love Affair" by Bryan Adams to that list...

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Free Fallin!

President George W. Bush's job approval rating has fallen to a new low of 39 percent in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Bush's approval rating dipped in the poll below a mid-September ranking of 40 percent. The survey also found only 28 percent of respondents believed the country was headed in the right direction, NBC reported.


But wait, there's more...

With the 2006 congressional elections a year away, 48 percent of respondents said they preferred a Democratic-controlled Congress, compared with 39 percent who said they preferred Republican leadership, NBC said.

The 9-point difference was the largest margin between the parties in the 11 years the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll had been tracking the question, NBC said.

Go free fallin' with Dubya!!!

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
 
Ol' Fidgety Rides Again...

I love this breakdown of Bush's interview on the Today Show yesterday:

"The fidgeting clearly corresponded to the questioning. When Lauer asked if Bush, after a slow response to Katrina, was 'trying to get a second chance to make a good first impression,' Bush blinked 24 times in his answer. When asked why Gulf Coast residents would have to pay back funds but Iraqis would not, Bush blinked 23 times and hitched his trousers up by the belt.

"When the questioning turned to Miers, Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer -- along with a lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling."

Milbank also touches on Bush's habit of making inappropriate facial expressions. At one point, he writes, Bush "seemed to lose control of the timing. He smiled after observing that Iraqis are 'paying a serious price' because of terrorism."
Check out the video of the interview at CrooksandLiars.

Bush looks like he's auditioning for the lead role in a remake of "Awakenings"...

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I Wish I Had Paid More Attention To This...

I now have my proof that no election should slip under my radar from now until the day I die.

I didn't vote yesterday because there were no races for me to vote in. My town's elections are next month and my district's seat on the Wake County Board of Education is currently held by a right-wing lunatic until 2007.

Just as soon as I let my guard down, another right-wing lunatic made his way onto the School Board.

My wife and I watched a small piece of a debate where Horace Tart was giving his opinion on something. It was hard to stay engaged, since he had the charisma of a shrimp fork. We changed the channel and didn't give it a second thought.

Big mistake...

A quick look on Mr. Tart's website would've turned up a list of endorsements that looks like a who's who of Republican inanity in North Carolina.

An even quicker Yahoo! search would've led me to Mr. Tart's "other" project, "Wake Up America, Inc."

Oh boy...

Take a look at their mission statement:
Wake Up America, Inc. Wages War

Wake Up America, Inc. seeks to educate, equip and call to action individuals, churches, and other like-minded organizations to Reclaim America's Godly Heritage. We are passionate about this mission because we believe that a war is waging for the souls of our nation and her people. God is calling His people to action. Respond and get involved! Begin by reviewing the Ministry Message section of our site to see how you can make a difference.
No, I probably couldn't have made a big difference in keeping an anti-busing theocrat off the School Board, but I should've done something.

I didn't, and I'm very sorry for it...

UPDATE: DrFrankLives has a good point. I shouldn't let my concerns about Mr. Tart cloud the fact that yesterday was a very good day for Democrats in Wake County, and that there is more work to be done in the District 1 and District 9 School Board races...

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005
 
One Quarter Of Americans Still Disapprove Of Interracial Dating...

I know Gallup has titled this piece "Americans Now Support Interracial Dating", but does anyone find it more than a little distressing to know that one out of every four people you encounter every day is against interracial dating???

Somewhat fewer whites than blacks accept interracial dating, but their acceptance is still strong. By age, the breakdown ranges from the 95% in the younger group to about 45% of those 65 and over.

There is no longer even a double standard on the gender involved, with 71% of the entire sample approving a black man dating a white woman and 75% backing a white man dating a black woman.

On the bright side, 95% of those surveyed between the ages of 18-29 approve of interracial dating, but I honestly thought we were farther along than this...

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Another Texas Republican Runs Afoul Of The Law...

Won't someone please think of the children?

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady was arrested and charged with driving under the influence while in South Dakota, according to a published report.

The Texas Republican was pulled over by a state trooper Friday night for a problem with the tail lights of his vehicle, The Dallas Morning News reported.
As AmericaBlog points out, the last prominent Texas GOP'er with a DUI on his record became president...

Brady/Janklow '08: If You Don't Like The Way We Drive, Get Off The Damn Sidewalk!

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Monday, October 10, 2005
 
Joe Lieberman Celebrates 50 Years Of The National Review...

Remember what I said about liking the conservative Ben Nelson (D-NE) more than the sometimes liberal Joe Lieberman (D-CT)?

I've never meant it more than I do right now...

Lieberman not only attended the 50-year anniversary of the uber-conservative rag, he sat at the head table with William F. Buckley and Rush Limbaugh.

In celebrating all 50 years of trash put out by the National Review, Lieberman also celebrates passages like this one unearthed by Brad DeLong. Click that link and take a quick trip back to what many people would consider "a better time".

For a civil rights crusader, Lieberman certainly keeps some odd company...

P.S. Give me Arlen Specter (R-PA) over Joe Lieberman any day of the week, too. It's always heartening when a Republican has the balls to step up against insane Religious Right zealots like James Dobson.

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Friday, October 7, 2005
 
Friday Fantasy Football Talk...

Since it seems to be one of the few topics that unites most of my readers, let's make this a regular thing. Every Friday, let's hash out those tough scenarios you may have on your fantasy teams.

My problems this week are three-fold:

1.) Do I start the somewhat-injured Rudi Johnson or the healthy Thomas Jones at RB?

2.) Is Ahman Green worth starting this weekend considering his quadriceps injury and the fact that he sucks now?

3.) Will Joe Horn be good to go this weekend?

Let's get through this thing together. And remember, spending time managing a non-existant team doesn't necessarily make you a dork, but it probably doesn't help either...

P.S. How about that Wolfpack? No team knows how to snatch uncertain victory from the jaws of certain victory better than the Pack...

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Thursday, October 6, 2005
 
Senate Does The Right Thing, Condemns Torture...

John McCain (R-AZ) deserves a lot of credit for taking this issue head-on when many of the conservative grassroots whom he may be asking for votes in 3 years can't differentiate "anti-torture" from "pro-terrorist".

Kudos also to all 43 Democrats present, 1 Independent, and 46 Republicans that voted for McCain's anti-torture amendment.

Big fat boos and my utter contempt for the 9 GOP Senators that publicly announced their support of torture by voting against the McCain amendment:

Wayne Allard - Colorado
Kit Bond - Missouri
Tom Coburn - Oklahoma
Thad Cochran - Mississippi
John Cornyn - Texas
James Inhofe - Oklahoma
Pat Roberts - Kansas
Jeff Sessions - Alabama
Ted Stevens - Alaska


Even bigger and fatter boos for our worthless President, who likes torture so much, he may veto the bill completely.

The best explanation for condemning any and all torture practice comes from the Senator who learned about it first-hand, Sen. McCain himself:
"Mr. President, let me just close by noting that I hold no brief for the prisoners. I do hold a brief for the reputation of the United States of America. We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. To do otherwise undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation. We are not simply any other country. We stand for something more in the world - a moral mission, one of freedom and democracy and human rights at home and abroad. We are better than these terrorists, and we will we win. The enemy we fight has no respect for human life or human rights. They don't deserve our sympathy. But this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are. These are the values that distinguish us from our enemies."

Bravo...

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Casey Widens Lead Over Santorum To 18 Points...
Robert Casey, Jr. (D) 52%
Rick Santorum (R) 34%

--Quinnipiac Poll, 10/6/05
Is this really possible? Can an entrenched incumbent who's the 3rd ranking member of his party actually get frogstomped by over 15 points? I know Daschle lost, but at least that was a close race. This one, not so much...

Call it the "Bush Effect". The magic that Dubya brought to Republican candidates in 2002 and 2004 has all but vanished.

In Pennsylvania, Bush is completely upside-down:
Voters disapprove 61 - 37 percent of the job President Bush is doing, his lowest score ever and down from a 53 - 44 percent disapproval July 13.
But Pennsylvania isn't the only state with major Bush fatigue. As I've mentioned before, plenty of states with Senate seats on the line next year are sick of the fake cowboy from Connecticut.

Chuck Todd of National Journal has a great breakdown of how all of next year's Senate races are shaping up...

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Wednesday, October 5, 2005
 
Any Great Ideas For Halloween Costumes?

I'm still thinking about mine, but I think this guy's got an interesting idea...

P.S. Since Halloween is on a Monday this year, will the trick-or-treating be taking place over the weekend or on Monday night?

P.P.S. This post is all screwed, so it looks like I need to add more stuff to it. Here's a question for you:

What's your favorite horror movie of all-time?

I'd go with the original Halloween. Still scares the crap out of me, and it set the standard for every horror flick since...

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Indiana Republicans Regulate The Darndest Things...

This comes from Pandagon, and it's just so creepy.

Republicans in the Indiana legislature are looking to delve rather deeply into the privacy of their female constituents...VERY DEEPLY...

Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana, including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse."

Wait, it gets better...

Only women who are married will be considered for the "gestational certificate" that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the pregnancy. Further, the "gestational certificate" will only be given to married couples that successfully complete the same screening process currently required by law of adoptive parents.

Beware, women of Indiana, Big Brother is watching your uterus!

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005
 
Let's Talk About Beer...

I'm feeling rather pedestrian today as the GOP's 2006 Congressional election hopes disappear, so let's talk about something we all enjoy: BEER!!!

I'm getting geared up for the weekend's World Beer Festival in Durham, so I've got beer on the brain.

In that spirit, here are a couple of great websites for researching and discussing different brews and brands:

Beerinator.com: North Carolina-based beer forum.

Beer Advocate: A national site for beer enthusiasts.

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Monday, October 3, 2005
 
Bush Learns Nothing From FEMA Fiasco, Nominates Political Crony To Supreme Court...

Oh, and she's never been a judge, either. Even if that has happened before, that's very weird...

It seems like her duties for the past several years have mostly been keeping Bush from getting in legal trouble.

Does that qualify anyone for a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court???

UPDATE: Atrios has pin-pointed the reason why hardcore conservatives (like you, Tull) are disappointed with the Miers nomination:
They (conservatives) wanted Bush to find the wingnuttiest wingnut on the planet, fully clothed and accessorized in all the latest wingnut fashions, not just to give them their desired Court rulings, but also to publicly validate their influence and power. They didn't just want substantive results, what they wanted even more were symbolic ones. They wanted Bush to extend a giant middle finger to everyone to the left of John Ashcroft. They wanted to watch Democrats howl and scream and then ultimately lose a nasty confirmation battle. They wanted this to be their "WE RUN THE COUNTRY AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT" moment.

Whatever kind of judge she would be, she doesn't provide them with that.
Spot on...

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