I try to keep my political entries public, but if you look at my journal and you aren't on my friends list, it's probably going to appear pretty lame. Just an FYI. Maybe it appears the same way even if you are on my friends list. Who knows.
Comments on this particular entry are screened until I unscreen them. If you want to be added, feel free to request it. I may not honor the request immediately, because I'm really arbitrary.
*yes, i realize that there was a point when this entry was friends only. nevermind you that.
05:03 pm - new kitten funny story, I yelled at some developmentally disabled guy who was taking advantage of my also developmentally disabled stepsister, and after throwing his xbox and other tomfoolery, karma immediately awarded me a kitten, pictured here
#1 Mizzou and #2 West Virginia lost this past Saturday bringing #3 OSU back to #1 and sending them to the BCS National Championship to take place in January of 2008.
I really think it ought to have been OSU v UGA for the BCS title, but whatever.
I knew it would happen, I said it would happen, and I'm here now to tell everybody that it's official.
OSU is going to the BCS National Championship Game.
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan voters narrowly rejected a constitutional referendum that would have bolstered President Hugo Chavez's embrace of socialism and granted an indefinite extension of his eligibility to serve as president, the National Electoral Council reported early Monday.
08:28 pm - OSU loses their first game of the season to... I can't even say it... ohio state, why did you do that? you lost to a practically unranked team that represents the state I hate down to the core of my being. did everyone playing for the Buckeyes spontaneously have brain aneurysms after the first touchdown or what? not to take away from the fact it basically became the juice show in the end and you couldn't pull off getting the ball from the Illini if your lives depended on it, but come on guys, that was just careless. congrats to Illinois. at least I can take some pleasure knowing that the Illini are going back, albeit the winners, to Champaign, IL, a place which sucks to the highest levels of sucktivity. The bad news is, the land of sucktivity came out and represented against you, OSU.
two words OSU for next weekend, and I expect you to follow them to the letter:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ron Paul's head-snapping fundraising puts a new face on a campaign that the media, politicians and much of the public had relegated to the sidelines.
The Texas congressman is now the presidential candidate tugging at the establishment's coat.
Funneled through the Internet, Paul's one-day loot totaled $4.3 million from about 37,000 donors, considered the largest sum ever collected online in a single day by a GOP candidate.
Paul is indeed an online force who attracts support from people who do not fit easily into the standard Democratic and Republican political pigeonholes. His fame, as much as it is, stems from the political shorthand that has defined his candidacy: The only Republican opposed to the war in Iraq.
But Paul leans libertarian in his ideology and cites the Constitution as his guide. He opposes law enforcement or anti-terrorism measures that he believes encroach on civil liberties. His views on small government extend to weakening if not eliminating the Education Department. He favors limiting immigration and strengthening border security.
In that sense, he appeals to voters who may be happy mixing and matching their political views.
07:43 pm - misinformational headline: prince hates babies stolen from:
In the battle between record companies and Internet users over copyright issues, an 18-month-old baby dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" finds himself smack in the middle.
Stephanie Lenz posted a 29-second video clip of her son dancing to the Prince track back in February, according to ABC News. In June, she received an email from YouTube saying that her video had been removed at the request of Universal Music Publishing Group, and that she could have her YouTube account canceled in the event of any future copyright infringements.
In response to Universal's "takedown notice," Lenz filed a "counter-notice" and her video was restored six weeks later. For its part, YouTube told ABC that they are bound by provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to honor all takedown and counter-notices.
In a statement released to ABC, Universal said, "Prince believes it is wrong for YouTube, or any user-generated site, to appropriate his music without his consent ... It's simply a matter of principle."
11:00 pm From: "James Bell" Date: Wed, October 17, 2007 10:14 am
The New Dr. NO:
I had the privilege to visit Rep. Broun in his Washington office with a delegation of Georgia Libertarians. I was very impressed with Dr. Broun and plan to support him in next years campaign. I hope you will learn more about him. He is self described as a "Ron Paul Constitutionalist". To me that spells LIBERTARIAN! jb
Broun is far out, man July 27th, 2007 by Scott Henry
On his very first morning as the newest member of Congress, Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, managed to piss off a goodly number of his conservative constituents by being the only Georgia Republican to vote in favor of allowing medical marijuana use.
The Democrat-backed measure would have prevented the feds from busting pot clinics in California and 11 other states that have legalized doctor-prescribed spliffs. Broun joined home-state Dems Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson, John Lewis and David Scott. Harshing the buzz were nay-voting GOPers Nathan Deal, Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston, John Linder, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland, who were joined by Democrat John Barrow of Augusta.
Democrat Jim Marshall of Macon didn't vote. Perhaps he was out back having a smoke.
At any rate, the measure failed 262-165. It's worth noting that Broun is a medical doctor, but then so are Gingrey and Price.
Medical marijuana has been a controversial issue in Congress ever since 1981, when the very first federal legalization bill was introduced by — trivia alert! — another Georgia Republican. That's right, it was a young Newt Gingrich who first proposed letting doctors make reefer-als. Just a reminder of how the political world has turned.
A former high school student has lost his case in what is the US Supreme Court's first major ruling on students' free speech rights in almost 20 years.
At issue was whether a school principal violated a student's right to free speech by suspending him for displaying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus".
...
Mr Frederick, 18 at the time, said the words on his 14ft (4.26m) banner did not relate to drug use and were meant to be funny in an attempt to get on television.
...
Chief Justice John Roberts said in a written ruling that schools may prohibit student expression that can be interpreted as advocating the use of drugs.
Amendment 1 to the United States Constitution - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
So whose rights was the student infringing upon with the banner? John Roberts really thinks that the Constitution supports the assertion that individuals can't advocate illegal behavior or make jokes about drug use?
01:08 pm So... There was a big selloff in the bond market recently that prompted a substantial spike in mortgage rates. Towards the end of last week they started creeping back down - at least where I work. I read an article about the current climate regarding high-yield bonds that somehow managed to tie in a Sopranos reference and found it pretty amusing so I figured I'd share it with you guys before I spend the remainder of my day cracking the schoolbooks.
Clouds Hover Over High-Yield Bonds
Treasurys Selloff,
New Offerings Spur
Caution in Market
By MICHAEL ANEIRO June 16, 2007;Page B5
With many signs indicating that it is still the best
of times for credit markets, it could well be another summer of smooth
sailing for speculative-grade bond investors.
But a confluence of events this week -- including a
selloff in Treasurys and the announcement of about $11 billion in
junk-bond issuance -- combined with a lingering disbelief that
conditions have remained so good for so long, have many sounding
decidedly more cautious on junk or "high yield" bonds. And that doesn't
include mega offers on the horizon such as First Data Corp.'s $8 billion deal and Alltel Corp.'s $7.7 billion offering.
At the New York Society of Security Analysts' annual
high-yield bond conference this past week, the mood remained generally
upbeat, but market participants sounded a surprisingly uniform tone of
skepticism.
02:14 pm Suspect Arrested in Little Five Murder (WSB Radio) -- Atlanta police have a 19-year-old in custody, now charged in the murder of a man in the Little Five Points area of the city.
Terry Williams was shot as he was walking close to his home with a friend May 22nd. The suspect, now identified as Cory Williams, allegedly approached Terry Williams, asked for a light and then pulled a gun and demanded money. The victim was shot in the head.
Police are not elaborating on where Cory Williams was arrested or the circumstances of the arrest.
The shooting sent shock waves through the close Little Five Points-Inman Park community. The arrest is offering some consolation to residents there.
THIS IS GOING ON AT MY HOTEL, and a bulk of the participants are staying on my floor. Their Gold and Silver sponsor cocktail party is going on down the hall. Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano spoke tonight at the dinner while I was at the wedding.
Bob Barr speaks tomorrow morning, among others. Look at this schedule!
About it:
"The Future of Freedom Foundation’s conference, "Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties", features 23 speakers, consisting of libertarians, liberals, and conservatives. This will be one of the most important conferences in the history of the libertarian movement. For 3 ½ days we will be discussing the two most burning issues of the day - foreign policy and civil liberties, with the aim of raising people’s vision to restoring our nation’s founding principles of a limited-government, constitutional republic.
POLICE OFFICER CONFISCATES MARIJUANA, BAKES INTO BROWNIES, CONSUMES WITH WIFE, THEN CALLS 911 FEARING HE HAS OVERDOSED.
The officer was permitted to resign and coincidentally neither he nor his wife have been charged.
IS THIS EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW?
EDIT:
This just gets funnier... Small world I guess. minthoney's mother is a former Detroit copy who forwarded the following:
From minthoney's Mom: This is from Sue Le Valley regarding that Dearborn officer who called in dead after eating the brownies!
Subject: Re: (no subject) That officer was sworn in with Dana! He graduated the year before her from Divine Child. I don't know why he wasn't charged but Dana said he was a good officer with a good future in law enforcement. Who knows why people do what they do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love ya, Sue
05:02 pm - stamp prices to increase from $0.39 to $0.41 on Monday "Postal service officials said this increase -- part of a new pricing system that include other price changes -- is to cover increasing operational costs, including rising fuel and employee healthcare costs." -Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Reason # 12308125 why government should reduce drastically in size and scope: Terrible inefficiencies which naturally occur in a massive bureaucratic system lead to substantial monetary losses. Allow me to tell a story...
Working in the banking business, I see some odd things as we are often tasked with documenting the employment histories of borrowers in great detail. While I obviously can't and won't identify individuals in compliance with banking regulations, common sense, and personal ethics, I do want to share with you a little bit about a scenario I came across which made me stop and think.
A borrower returned from a civilian contractor job overseas and began to collect unemployment while looking for possible employment in the form of another more lucrative civilian contract. The borrower eventually found another civilian contractor job making very competitive pay and has since presumably discontinued receiving unemployment pay.
However, in the course of documenting the work history of this person, I discovered that the individual was actually collecting pay not from unemployment, but from a previous employer. The pay was received during a period of time while the borrower was still technically on an "excused" leave of absence from said employer, a leave of absence which was excused initially due to active service in the military that subsequently ended just three months after it began. Despite this absence, this borrower still was receiving paychecks off and on at strange intervals and - by this person's own admission - for no apparent reason whatsoever, for almost an entire year.
Later on in the work history, I discovered that despite still being eligible to reclaim their job at this previous employer for a competitive wage and great benefits, this person decided to claim unemployment for 5+ months while between contracts. After all, why reclaim a job that you don't even have to interview for if you can get unemployment instead, along with the possibility of occasional random pay for no reason from your past employer?
And who is this previous employer was who continued to pay their "employee" after they left for an excused absence, only for that employee to draw out the absence while making lucrative pay in a civilian contractor position overseas? None other than the US Postal Service. I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.
So when you hear that they are increasing stamp costs due to increased operational expenses, you'd better believe it's true. If my company still paid employees that weren't working without on a wide scale, thus necessitating the hire of new employees to fill their places, we'd have higher operational expenses as well... Only our stockholders would be wondering where the profits went and it would be the end of my employer's role in the banking world. The US Postal service may look like an independent company on the surface, but they still receive government subsidies and they still operate as inefficiently as most government entities who don't face the same accountabilities as free market enterprise. I wonder what steps they've taken to curb losses like this which prohibit them from maximizing value and profit, other than canceling the sponsorship of cyclist Lance Armstrong. While it may appear to be an increase of only $0.02 per stamp which only impacts those who buy stamps, the cost of big government is truly much higher and more widespread.
And on that note, when you consider the recent report in the Atlanta Business Chronicle about the huge increase in city and county jobs in Georgia which has outpaced private sector growth and even population growth in my state, it starts to get even more jarring... Particularly when you realize who gets stuck paying the check.
City of Atlanta Municipal Code section 10-209 (c) (1)
(c) Sale of wine or malt beverages for on premises consumption. (1) Except as otherwise provided by O.C.G.A. § 3-3-7 and those licensees located within a special entertainment district as defined by Code Section 10-211, all other licensees for the sale of wine or malt beverages for consumption on the premises shall be authorized to engage in the sale of wine or malt beverages on Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. of one day and 2:30 a.m. of the following day and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. Wine and/or malt beverages may be sold on Sundays between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. midnight only in public stadiums, coliseums and auditoriums with a seating capacity in excess of 3,500 persons; and in restaurants (as defined in Code section 10-1). Wine and/or malt beverages may also be served on Sunday in conjunction with the issuance of both an outdoor festival permit pursuant to Code section 138-204 and a special event permit pursuant to Code section 10-8.
Yes that's right. You can get alcohol in restaurants on Sundays, but you've got to wait until after church!
At least the Sunday alcohol sales bill made it out of committee. We'll see how far it goes from this point. It simply blows my mind that some state legislators are still pandering to the far right. Of course, I must be drunk already to be surprised that any politician would be pandering.
05:33 pm - WHY, BEN FRANKLIN, WHY???? On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.
Beginning in 2007, most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.
also of interest:
The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.
Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Similar examples would be a mind expanding book or a man eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.
Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries.
Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable.
11:53 am - Another disgusting case of animal abuse Source: Babineaux Says Dog Mean reported on 11alive.com Reported By: Jerry Carnes Last Modified: 2/24/2007 10:55:45 AM
According to a source, Atlanta Falcon Jonathan Babineaux has told police he was attempting to train his girlfriend's pit bull mix not to be aggressive the day the animal was injured and died.
A preliminary examination indicated the dog, named Kilo, died from blunt force trauma to the head. Gwinnett County police have not revealed details of Babineaux's story, but have said his statements do not add up.
Babineaux, a defensive tackle for the Falcons, was arrested early Monday morning after the death of his girlfriend's pet. A police report states that the couple had a fight at their Lawrenceville home, and that Babineaux's girlfriend left to go to the movies. The police report states that Babineaux later called his girlfriend, telling her to come home to check on the animal. Kilo died on the way to an emergency animal clinic. A preliminary report indicates the pit bull died from blunt force trauma to the head.
A source told 11Alive News that Babineaux has told investigators that while at his home, Kilo became aggressive. According to the source, Babineaux claims he was taught to swing the dog by its leash when it acted aggressively so the animal would become disoriented. The source says that Babineaux told police that while doing this, he accidentally swung the dog against a wall.
A local dog trainer says she's never heard of such a method to quell an animal's aggressiveness.
You don't use aggression on aggression," said Susie Aga of Atlanta Dog Trainer in Alpharetta. "It's going to make the aggression worse. That's something that would be challenging the dog, plus it's going to hurt them."
Police are waiting for the full results of a necropsy that will tell them more about the animal's injuries. Investigators will compare those results with Babineaux's story to see if they add up.
Attempts to reach Babineaux and his attorney were unsuccessful.
I've had it with animal abuse. I can take Jonathan Babineaux any day of the week. Heck, we're the same age, and he's only got me by 120 or so pounds. Bring it on you dog abusing jackass.
A pair of teenage Atlanta brothers will soon begin serving a ten-year prison sentence for the torture killing of a puppy.
The Moulder brothers, 19-year-old Justin and 17-year-old Joshua, pleaded guilty to binding the puppy in duct tape, then cooking the dog to death in a gas oven.
The boys threw themselves on the mercy of the court, but the court had other ideas.
"Your actions are totally despicable; totally reprehensible," said the judge from the bench.
With that, the judge sentenced each of the boys to ten years.
Prosecutors said the case went way beyond animal abuse. They believe for the Moulder brothers, it was puppies first; humans next. And that the torture was little more than a rehearsal for murder.
The only way the punishment for these boys could fit the crime would be if they were sentenced to the same death that the pitt bull puppy had to experience at their hands. Then again, I hear prison can be pretty rough.
call me a kook, but i love the national geographic show "the dog whisperer." watching the dynamics of dog behavior has allowed me to take further steps in getting my son of a bitch (hey, it's true) dog truman's behavior under control. it's been a slow process and there's more to do, but i've made huge strides just in the past week.
today i was up by towne lake in woodstock meeting with some clients. this is also remarkably close to where my mother currently resides. by sheer happenstance, i was driving right by the vet clinic where a rescued dog named howie was rehabilitated by the aformentioned "dog whisperer" cesar millan. howie was a victim of one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that had been seen at that time in cherokee county. it was a really moving episode.
cesar millan with rapper redman's dog, "daddy," a frequent star on the show
just in the month of january, i've seen three different instances of visits to the metro atlanta area. in the same episode as the woodstock visit, cesar visited a couple in marietta and helped them with their miniature schnausers. the breed and misbehavior documented on the show paralleled truman's own to an uncanny degree. when duplicated in principle by colleen and i throughout the course of the last week, the techniques used to correct the behavior have produced notable and surprising results.
the third instance was an episode i had on the DVR that i am watching as i write this. cesar visited the roswell, ga post office and counseled postal workers about aggressive dogs. roswell is practically where i grew up from 4th grade through age 18, being directly south of the city of alpharetta.
roswell and alpharetta: suburban neighbors
atlanta's gotten a lot of attention from the dog whisperer. and since i just can't seem to resist the urge to wrap all of this in a mortifyingly trite double-entendre, i'll simply close by saying that all this attention seems to have hit pretty close to home.
check out The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan on the National Geographic network, and for your own sake please watch it in HD. new episodes air fridays at 8pm eastern and pacific.
10 Credit Card Myths that put your credit scores at risk.
MYTH #1: You Should Avoid Using Credit Cards - FALSE!
This is just unbelievable! Click here to read an article in the January 10, 2007 issue of American Chronicle that actually advocates that consumers stop using their credit cards, pay off everything, and go to an all-cash plan. That may be a good way to get rid of debt, but it's utter destruction to your credit score. Why? Because per Fair Isaac, the creator of the credit scoring system, there are 5 factors that make up your credit score, one of which is how you use and manage your credit card debt-a factor that makes up 30% of your score. That's 255 points!
In order to prove to the scoring system that you know how to manage revolving debt, you MUST have active credit card accounts. Use your cards every month, for groceries, gas, etc. and pay them off every month. If you do not have a credit card at this time and your scores are under 650, immediately apply for an on-line secured credit card at one of the following banks: www.orchardbank.com or www.firstpremierbankcards.com. If your scores are high enough (ask your bank what the score requirements are), you may want to consider going to your bank to apply for a card. Exception: Do not apply for credit of any type when you are about to enter into or have already entered into a loan transaction. New Credit temporarily brings down your score due to the debt and the new account.
Click here to read another article advising consumers not to use their credit cards.
Click here to read yet another article advising consumers to use cash instead of credit cards.
08:30 pm - strange things sunday and monday in Stockbridge Shoplifting suspects create explosion at Wal-Mart as diversion (link) - Associated Press
STOCKBRIDGE, Georgia: Four men evading arrest for shoplifting at a neighborhood Wal-Mart triggered a small blast in the store using swimming pool chemicals in an incident that left four others hospitalized, authorities said. ( It's just hard to believe they did something like this to shoplift something as insignificant as a toy. ) Bolton said the men turned a shoplifting misdemeanor into more serious charges, including "one of terroristic acts."
I agree with Lt. Bolton- It is a bit hard to believe that this was all over a toy.
Strange Smells in an Empty Office
In other weird news, a strange noxious odor was detected at my work today, and in the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic that occupies the space at the end of our shopping center. I didn't smell it at all, but outside of my office I was told that the air smelled like sewage, or as though someone did a very bad deed in the bathroom (although the bathroom itself did not smell).
Chasity walked throughout the office with air freshener from the bathroom, spraying it in the air to attempt to mask the smell. Joe, my boss, returned from lunch and said, "the fire department is here," rather matter of factly. Not thinking much of it, I continued interviewing the client I had on the phone. Perhaps ten minutes later, I was startled when a firefighter outfitted in full gear walked into the hallway outside my office, fully masked and equipped with an oxygen tank. I continued to interview the client on the phone and made no mention of my unexpected visitor while this masked firefighter, whose dark colored uniform looked more like military fatigues to my overactive imagination, peered around my office silently from the doorway emitting only darth vader like breathing sounds before he wandered off in search of the source of the olfactory assault.
I later found out from the shopping center's owner that the fire department had tested the air for an array of substances including gases indicative of sewage, and that all tests were reportedly negative. All gas and sewer hardware in the building was reportedly in working order and with no indications of prior malfunction, and the source as well as the nature of the odor has yet to be identified.
03:03 pm - real estate humor from an email I received...
> New Orleans residents are challenged often with the task of tracing home > titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with > history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along > through generations of family, making it quite difficult to establish > ownership. > > Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client > that I thought was absolutely priceless!! > > You've gotta love this lawyer....... it's too good not to share! > > A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the > loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of > property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated > back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending > the information to the FHA, he received the following reply. > > (Actual letter): > "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we > note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we > compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the > application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the > proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be > accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin." > > Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows: > > (Actual letter): > "Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note > that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by > the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this > country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know > that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S., from France in 1803, the year > of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed > FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained > from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land > came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 > by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the > privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella. > The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about > titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the > Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus' expedition. Now the > Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son > of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, > I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world > called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His > origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know > it AND the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory. > Now, may we have our damn loan?" > > The loan was approved.
11:33 pm It's a sad day when "due process" in this country can be represented by no-knock warrants from "reliable police informants" in place of actual police work.
They came looking for a crack dealer and they found a granny with a stash.
02:13 pm I've been insulating myself from the outside world until I got a chance to watch some of the OSU Michigan game from Saturday. Thankfully, I've managed to avoid finding out who won since gameday.
So here I am about to leave the office, and I'm watching bits of the game on iTunes. I got curious to see who won so I looked online and I would just like to say to all of the Michigan and OSU fans on my friends list...
Republicans said Monday during their House caucus meeting that the time is ripe for restructuring the state's tax system. The GOP maintained its lock on the state House of Representatives, Senate and Governor's Mansion and picked up the lieutenant governor's office.
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) received a standing ovation at the meeting when he pitched the tax cut. "As we dismantle the current tax code, let's put it back together in a simple, fairer, flatter manner," Keen told the GOP lawmakers moments before they re-elected him House majority leader. "And when it gets to that portion on personal income tax, maybe we will leave that section out and we won't have that anymore in this state."
The issue now goes to the House Ways and Means Committee for a study. Keen said he wants to see a resolution within two years. But House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) suggested it may take up to four years.
-i'm pissed that i didn't vote. i printed out the voter registration form like 50 times, but never sent it. i should have voted by mail. if you tell me that this gives me no right to complain, i'm going to hit you in the face. at least i'm not this lady.
-electronic voting machines with proprietary source code should be removed. the mechanism used to input and count the votes should be public knowledge.
-chris low, chief economist at FTN Financial just sent out an email with some quick thoughts on the mid-term elections:
-No exit polls this year.
-Turnout is unusually high – much higher than expected – in many states, including Maryland and Virginia, where senate races are very close. As to who benefits from high turnout, both sides say it benefits them.
-Final polls predicted Democrats would take House, but not Senate. But pollsters also expected low turnout.
-Many of the Republican seats in contention are on the East coast, meaning control of the House should be decided before West Coast polls close. Senate control may not be known until tomorrow or later, according to DC pundits.
-All reporters who have contacted me today are working on gridlock-is-good-for-the-markets stories. They all figure that whichever party wins, neither will have a mandate.
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