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wPuri sermonis amator |
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Politics and Pop Culture.
And occasionally informative, amusing, or bizzare non sequiturs.
Matt's in charge here, others can post.
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wWednesday, November 24, 2004 |
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Also, Brand Democrat sounds like a fairly good idea. If anyone wanted to do print these out and flyer some area near me, I could be convinced to help.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 1:56 AM
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wTuesday, November 23, 2004 |
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Here's a decent reason for buying dolphin safe Tuna...Lifesavers Rob Howes, his 15-year-old daughter Niccy, Karina Cooper and Helen Slade were swimming 300 feet off Ocean Beach near Whangarei on New Zealand's North Island when the dolphins herded them -- apparently to protect them from a shark.
"They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Howes told the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA).
Howes tried to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back just as he spotted a nine-foot great white shark swimming toward the group.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 9:16 AM
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wWednesday, November 17, 2004 |
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Time to start the ole blog up again. I pretty much shut this thing down when we entered serious campaign mode last year. Now it's all over, my candidate lost the primaries, and my party lost the election.
Well, let's start off by examining why: LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT UNDECIDED VOTERS
I must say, after canvassing for Kerry, I pretty much agree with everything in this reflection. At least it gives me a reason to drink more.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 11:00 PM
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wWednesday, October 29, 2003 |
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Well, it seems I'm still on the list, so I might as well post this blantant use of racism to further his stance in the polls: Sharpton Calls Dean's Agenda 'Anti-Black'
This is the most pathetic attack I've seen in a while, aside from the "rats" subliminal messages from the last election.
Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's [National Rifle Association's] agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country,"
Uh... right... because, you know, wanting to make affirmative action based more on poor people of all races rather than based on race itself is such a bad idea....
He said his comments were in response to a news report yesterday that Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) plans to endorse Dean, the former Vermont governor and presumed front-runner for the 2004 Democratic nomination
Ah... it all makes sense now. Jackson, a black man, is supporting a white man, and not Sharpton or Braun. 'Cause, you know, all white people are eeeeeevil KKK members out to kill all black people in some ethnic clensing frenzy.
Fucking racist bullshit. Why is this acceptable in our society? It doesn't make any sense. Doesn't he realize he's furthering BUSH in the polls by attacking his own team?! Is he really THAT stupid?!
Hmm... I don't think I'll make too much of a case about the Tawana Brawley thing, acutally... I don't know if I want to open that "kill whitey" can of worms.
::waits for the 'but white people really are evil' flame messages::
posted by
Anonymous at 6:15 PM
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This is just disgusting: Full Metal JacketSuzanne Werfelman is a mother and a teacher who has been shopping for individual body armor. This is not in response to threats from her elementary-class students in Sciota, Pa.; it's a desperate attempt to protect her son in Iraq.
Like many other U.S. service members in Iraq, her son was given a Vietnam-era flak jacket that cannot stop the type of weapons used today. It appears that parents across the country are now purchasers of body armor because of the failure of the military to supply soldiers with modern vests.
Werfelman's son, Army Spc. Richard Murphy, is a military policeman in Iraq. He was also one of my law students last year before being sent off for a 20-month stint. Upon their arrival, members of Murphy's unit were shocked to learn that they would be given the old Vietnam-era vests rather than the modern Interceptor vest. (They were also given unarmored Humvees, which are vulnerable to even small-arms fire.) Military officials admit that the standard flak jacket could not reliably stop a bullet, including AK-47 ammunition, used in Iraq and the most common ammunition in the world.
Developed in the late 1990s, the Interceptor vest is made of layered sheets of Kevlar with pockets in front and back for ceramic plates to protect vital organs. These vests — one-third lighter than the old ones — have stopped machine-gun bullets, shrapnel and other ordnance.
They can mean the difference between living and dying, which was made all too clear to Sgt. Zachariah Byrd, a soldier with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who was shot four times with AK-47 bullets (twice in the chest and twice in his arms) when his unit was ambushed. The vest protected his chest and he survived. Byrd had been issued a standard flak jacket and, if he had been wearing it during the attack, he'd probably be dead. However, at the beginning of the patrol, his buddy who was driving that night gave his Interceptor vest to Byrd — a passing kindness that saved Byrd's life.
Others don't have the Interceptor option — including some of the soldiers in Murphy's unit who are still wearing flak jackets. Congress has received reports of soldiers killed while wearing the old flak jackets. One from a mother related how three soldiers in her son's unit were killed while wearing the outmoded vests. The unit reportedly had only 30 modern vests for 120 men. Army Staff Sgt. Dave Harris wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes that related how his friend, Mike Quinn, was killed in Fallouja. Quinn's unit didn't have enough vests, so he gave his to a young soldier. The decision saved the young soldier's life, but resulted in Quinn's death when he was shot. (via Brad DeLong)
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 10:49 AM
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Wesley Clark: Rhodes scholar, four-star general, NATO commander, time-travel fanatic? : During a whirlwind campaign swing Saturday through New Hampshire, Clark, the newest Democratic presidential candidate, gave supporters one of the first glimpses into his views on technology.
'We need a vision of how we're going to move humanity ahead, and then we need to harness science to do it,' Clark told a group of about 50 people in Newcastle attending a house party -- a tradition in New Hampshire presidential politics that enables well-connected voters to get an up-close look at candidates.
Then, the 58-year-old Arkansas native, who retired from the military three years ago, dropped something of a bombshell on the gathering.
'I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go,' said Clark. 'I happen to believe that mankind can do it.'
'I've argued with physicists about it, I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative.' Clark's comment prompted laughter and applause from the gathering. " Hmmm. Isn't this fellow interesting?
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 10:07 AM
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The Plame affair continues - my favorite blogging is coming from Billmon, and JMM keeps coming up with new tidbits (he interviewed Ambassador Wilson a few weeks ago, and seems to be in contact with him now)...
That smell in the water is blood.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 9:17 AM
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wMonday, September 29, 2003 |
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Candidates and Religion
I learned this weekend that Howard Dean switched from Episcopalianism to Congregationalism because his local Episcopal church opposed building a bike path around Lake Champlain. Easy enough to understand - I've heard Dean mention before that his faith is of a personal nature and not dependant upon sectarian doctrine. Heck, his wife's Jewish and they raised the kids Jewish.
More complex is Wes Clark's switch from Southern Baptist to Catholicism. I've read a few times that he switched during Vietnam (although no reason was given) and I've seen elsewhere that his wife is Catholic and he converted for her. Again, easy enough to understand, especially if he wasn't too engrossed in the theological differences between the two. But the differences are pretty stark, even for the casual theologian.
One of the fundamental differences between Protestantism and Catholicism is the latter's belief in the intercession of the Saints. When I was a child I'd pray to Jesus, or through my sister (who, dying before she could know sin, is technically a non-canonized Saint), or through the Apostle Matthew (the only literate Apostle, the nerd of the early disciples).
I'm reading Clark's book now, and gaining an appreciation of the fellow you don't see on TV. And Wes Clark prays through St. Michael.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 4:43 PM
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If you want to listen to Howard Dean on the telephone tonight, be over at my house around 6:30.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 3:12 PM
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This is kinda fun to watch - the Plame Affair is exploding in the left side of the blogosphere.
I don't have much to add, and wouldn't want to show excessive glee at finally catching these bastards at doing something. After all, there's still a very real danger that some CIA assets got burned because of this.
Full rundown from The Horse.
posted by
Matthew Carroll-Schmidt at 11:38 AM
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