![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
HUGE tracts of land!
Sep. 12th, 2008 05:55 pmI'd like to suggest a more qualified Palin than Sarah Palin:
http://www.michaelpalinforpresident.com/
http://www.michaelpalinforpresident.com/
Running for Office, XKCD Style
Jul. 16th, 2008 09:18 pmThis is one of the coolest campaigns I've seen come along in awhile. Sean Tevis is running for State Representative in Kansas, and is has an XKCD style comic that explains what he is doing and why.
The rest of the comic can be found here.
The two issues that made me take the most note him are his interest in turning around Kansas schools and adding transparency to the government. I believe that both are good investments in the future and will ultimately help the state as well as society in general.
I've added his weblog to my RSS reader and intend to check back and see how he's doing in the future.
The rest of the comic can be found here.
The two issues that made me take the most note him are his interest in turning around Kansas schools and adding transparency to the government. I believe that both are good investments in the future and will ultimately help the state as well as society in general.
I've added his weblog to my RSS reader and intend to check back and see how he's doing in the future.
Where do these people come from?
May. 28th, 2008 07:47 pmAn actual piece of campaign literature that arrived in someone's mail:
This Cheyrl Guthrie person makes me want to projectile vomit.
This Cheyrl Guthrie person makes me want to projectile vomit.
Caption this picture!
May. 21st, 2008 03:43 pm
Captions for the whole thing or just for individual stills are acceptable. Personally, I think the upper right picture looks like she had some sort of misfiring of her bowels or something.
And no, I'm not voting for her. I don't want to see the above for the next 4 years.
Here are the total election results from last night:
It gets more interesting when the results are broken down by country. Lisa barely won in Delaware County, which has her "home" township of Radnor:
In Montgomery Country, her opponent pretty much destroyed her.
So, what can we learn from this? For starters, character really does matter. When you employ sleazy campaign tactics, people are going to call you on it and talk about you. And when your response to the criticism is to whine about your opponent's "harassment". Holy crap... do you even know what "harassment" is, Lisa? It's repeated unwanted contacted by another individual with the intent to annoy. Criticism != harassment. Good lord.
Actually, just to wander offtopic a bit here, we've been dealing with some pro-Lisa trolls on the Save Ardmore Coalition website on and off over the past few months. And they spewed out phrases like "harassment" and "cyberstalking" when complaining about the criticism of Lisa. Similar tactics to what Lisa used in her blog? Hmm. This makes me wonder just how closely the trolls may have been connected to Lisa? After all, it'd be yet another scandal if Lisa Paolino was found to be involved with trolling a civic group....
It gets more interesting when the results are broken down by country. Lisa barely won in Delaware County, which has her "home" township of Radnor:
In Montgomery Country, her opponent pretty much destroyed her.
So, what can we learn from this? For starters, character really does matter. When you employ sleazy campaign tactics, people are going to call you on it and talk about you. And when your response to the criticism is to whine about your opponent's "harassment". Holy crap... do you even know what "harassment" is, Lisa? It's repeated unwanted contacted by another individual with the intent to annoy. Criticism != harassment. Good lord.
Actually, just to wander offtopic a bit here, we've been dealing with some pro-Lisa trolls on the Save Ardmore Coalition website on and off over the past few months. And they spewed out phrases like "harassment" and "cyberstalking" when complaining about the criticism of Lisa. Similar tactics to what Lisa used in her blog? Hmm. This makes me wonder just how closely the trolls may have been connected to Lisa? After all, it'd be yet another scandal if Lisa Paolino was found to be involved with trolling a civic group....
Lisa Paolino's Legal Letter
Apr. 14th, 2008 09:59 pmSince folks have been asking, I have finally published the letter that Lisa Paolino's attorney sent me. It can be found on the Save Ardmore Coalition site at:
http://www.saveardmorecoalition.org/node/2202
I have a bit of a rant there, but I'll add a little here. It just boggles my mind that she would do such a thing. What was she thinking? Is she really that ignorant of First Amendment issues to think that she could force someone to take down content that she doesn't like?
And yes, she is currently an elected official. She sits on the Board of Commissioners in Radnor. Isn't this like... some sort of misconduct on her part? Any legal types out there who can comment? Quite frankly, I have serious concerns about someone like her being responsible for running a township when she is pulling stunts like this.
http://www.saveardmorecoalition.org/node/2202
I have a bit of a rant there, but I'll add a little here. It just boggles my mind that she would do such a thing. What was she thinking? Is she really that ignorant of First Amendment issues to think that she could force someone to take down content that she doesn't like?
And yes, she is currently an elected official. She sits on the Board of Commissioners in Radnor. Isn't this like... some sort of misconduct on her part? Any legal types out there who can comment? Quite frankly, I have serious concerns about someone like her being responsible for running a township when she is pulling stunts like this.
Fire Chief John Fallon is not very happy with Lisa Paolino right now.
It seems that earlier in the month, she sent out campaign literature (pictured on right) in the mail which featured a photograph of Chief Fallon standing behind Lisa in full uniform. The implication here is that Lisa had his support, except... she didn't. Not only did he not support her, but he never gave her or anyone from her campaign permission to use his picture in her literature. What was Lisa thinking?
What's even worse is that this has had consequences for Chief Fallon, namely in that is caused his friends and neighbors to think that he supported Lisa, when just the opposite was true. I can only imagine how awkward that must have been, seeing your picture plastered all over some random candidate's political mailing and having to explain that to people.
Did I say Chief Fallon was not happy? Maybe that's an understatement, since he pulls no punches in his letter to Lisa. Here is an excerpt:
I have proudly served as a volunteer firefighter for 36 years. I have served as the Chief of the Penn Wynne-Overbrook Hill Fire Company for the last 7. As Chief, it has been my honor to lead a group of dedicated men and women who selflessly serve their community. Perhaps for a politician like you, the event memorialized in the photograph you hijacked was unmemorable. For me it was not. This image was taken at a memorial for the 343 firefighters whom lost their lives on September 11, 2001. It is truly heartbreaking that a politician would exploit this national tragedy to advance her political ambitions -- all for a good "photo op". Your conduct tells me all I need to know about your lack of respect and lack of understanding of the daily sacrifices made by volunteer firefighters, police, paramedics, and other first responders. Your campaign literature says what you want us to believe, but your conduct, in politicizing this memorial, has shown me the truth about you. You are unworthy of our support.
Wow. Nobody messes with Chief Fallon. Not even For the curious, the full 2-page letter can be viewed here: [Page 1] [Page 2]
How's that Google PageRank, Lisa?
Apr. 8th, 2008 10:09 amI think this is a prime example of how Google's PageRank has a bit of a democratic bent to it:
Generally speaking, when you type in someone's name, the very first result in Google is the person's website. Do it for just about any politician, or even people with individual blogs, and you'll see this happen. It also works for corporate entities and non-profits. So for Lisa Paolino's official site to NOT come up when people search for her name is quite significant. I think it's rather telling when a candidate's scandal comes up higher than their campaign's official website.
Moral of the story: Lisa Paolino can get all the monetary donations she wants, but money won't buy a higher PageRank.
In related news, it seems that lawn signs for Daylin Leach and Lance Rogers have been disappearing, yet Lisa's remain untouched. Random acts of vandalism? Or an attempt to sabotage her opponents? I guess we'll find out soon enough on this one.
Generally speaking, when you type in someone's name, the very first result in Google is the person's website. Do it for just about any politician, or even people with individual blogs, and you'll see this happen. It also works for corporate entities and non-profits. So for Lisa Paolino's official site to NOT come up when people search for her name is quite significant. I think it's rather telling when a candidate's scandal comes up higher than their campaign's official website.
Moral of the story: Lisa Paolino can get all the monetary donations she wants, but money won't buy a higher PageRank.
In related news, it seems that lawn signs for Daylin Leach and Lance Rogers have been disappearing, yet Lisa's remain untouched. Random acts of vandalism? Or an attempt to sabotage her opponents? I guess we'll find out soon enough on this one.
I'm not talking about presidential elections. I'm talking about local elections.
Here are the keywords from a candidate for state government's recent press release:
So, you'd think she's involved with the Save Ardmore Coalition, right? Well, not so much. In truth, she had a lawyer send me a cart00ney legal letter over this blog post about her possible involvement in a grade fixing scandal. He actually had the balls to demand that I remove the offending blog post and reveal the identity of the person who wrote it. I'll leave it to others to guess what my response to that little gem was.
So, yeah... is Lisa still butthurt over that? Or just trying to misrepresent herself as being involved with our group? Who knows? Either way, I think this election is going to get real exciting before the ballots are cast.
Here are the keywords from a candidate for state government's recent press release:
KEYWORDS: Lisa Paolino, Paolino, Pennsylvania State Senate, 17th District, Republican, Connie Williams, Save Ardmore Coalition, SAC, campaign, state senate
SOURCE: Lisa Paolino for State Senate
Now, here's the funny part. Not only does Lisa Paolino not live in Ardmore, she's not even a politician in Ardmore. She's on the Radnor Board of Commissioners, several towns away.SOURCE: Lisa Paolino for State Senate
So, you'd think she's involved with the Save Ardmore Coalition, right? Well, not so much. In truth, she had a lawyer send me a cart00ney legal letter over this blog post about her possible involvement in a grade fixing scandal. He actually had the balls to demand that I remove the offending blog post and reveal the identity of the person who wrote it. I'll leave it to others to guess what my response to that little gem was.
So, yeah... is Lisa still butthurt over that? Or just trying to misrepresent herself as being involved with our group? Who knows? Either way, I think this election is going to get real exciting before the ballots are cast.
CNN reports that Senator Larry Craig of Idaho recently plead guilty to a charge of Disorderly Conduct based on an incident that occured in a men's room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. (Roll Call has a write up too, with additional details from the arresting officer.)
The description of what went down is almost comical in and of itself:
An interesting thing to note here is that when the arrest was made, the officer did not know who he was arresting. So no personal bias can be claimed.
CNN then goes on to discuss the Senator's voting record over years past:
For the younger folks, the Family Research Council is a "pro-family" group that has a history trying to establish a "Christian standard of morality" in our country's foreign policy, is against the "homosexual political agenda", and wants the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians. These people are so whacked out that they've even gone off on George W. Bush for appointing two openly gay men in his administration.
So let's put this all together. We have:
- A Senator caught trying to engage in lewd conduct with another male in the bathroom
- Who also has a history of being very anti-gay
Sounds like Senator Larry Craig is one big bowl of crazy to me.
Of course, I could be wrong.
The description of what went down is almost comical in and of itself:
Minnesota law defines disorderly conduct as brawling, disturbing a meeting or engaging in "offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy conduct."
According to Roll Call, the arresting officer alleged that Craig lingered outside a rest room stall where the officer was sitting, then entered the stall next door and blocked the door with his luggage.
According to the arrest report cited by Roll Call, Craig tapped his right foot, which the officer said he recognized "as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."
The report alleges Craig then touched the officer's foot with his foot and the senator "proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times," according to Roll Call.
At that point, the officer said he put his police identification down by the floor so Craig could see it and informed the senator that he was under arrest, before any sexual contact took place.
According to Roll Call, the arresting officer alleged that Craig lingered outside a rest room stall where the officer was sitting, then entered the stall next door and blocked the door with his luggage.
According to the arrest report cited by Roll Call, Craig tapped his right foot, which the officer said he recognized "as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."
The report alleges Craig then touched the officer's foot with his foot and the senator "proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times," according to Roll Call.
At that point, the officer said he put his police identification down by the floor so Craig could see it and informed the senator that he was under arrest, before any sexual contact took place.
An interesting thing to note here is that when the arrest was made, the officer did not know who he was arresting. So no personal bias can be claimed.
CNN then goes on to discuss the Senator's voting record over years past:
In recent years, Craig's voting record has earned him top ratings from social conservative groups such as the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council.
He has supported a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, telling his colleagues that it was "important for us to stand up now and protect traditional marriage, which is under attack by a few unelected judges and litigious activists."
In 1996, Craig also voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and prevents states from being forced to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples legally performed in other states.
Craig has also opposed expanding the federal hate crimes law to cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias and, in 1996, voted against a bill that would have outlawed employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, which failed by a single vote in the Senate.
He has supported a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, telling his colleagues that it was "important for us to stand up now and protect traditional marriage, which is under attack by a few unelected judges and litigious activists."
In 1996, Craig also voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and prevents states from being forced to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples legally performed in other states.
Craig has also opposed expanding the federal hate crimes law to cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias and, in 1996, voted against a bill that would have outlawed employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, which failed by a single vote in the Senate.
For the younger folks, the Family Research Council is a "pro-family" group that has a history trying to establish a "Christian standard of morality" in our country's foreign policy, is against the "homosexual political agenda", and wants the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians. These people are so whacked out that they've even gone off on George W. Bush for appointing two openly gay men in his administration.
So let's put this all together. We have:
- A Senator caught trying to engage in lewd conduct with another male in the bathroom
- Who also has a history of being very anti-gay
Sounds like Senator Larry Craig is one big bowl of crazy to me.
Of course, I could be wrong.
The Immigration Problem - Circa 1621
Mar. 14th, 2007 02:54 pmThe immigration debate blows up when the Pilgrims protest limitations to their rights in America.
Plus, there's an anthro buffalo!
Plus, there's an anthro buffalo!
