Somerville, MA -- The History of Burgers
My first post away from home in a couple of weeks... I'm in Boston en route to DC; so why not a piece from New England? A Maine editorial on FEMA and Iraq.
British MP George Galloway is going toe to toe with British liberal-turned-conservative/asshole Christopher Hitchens on a speaking/media tour this week in the States. Here's an article about the first stop. Wednesday will be Democracy Now and Friday will be Real Time. Should be good stuff.
Ooh man... NPR had a great story on the history and cuisine of the burger genre.... check it out; it's yummy. But no ketchup, please!
Albany, NY -- Abortions for Some, Little American Flags for Others!
Leo Mazzone for the Hall of Fame, definitely.
Bill Maher: "If men got pregnant, you could get an abortion at SuperCuts!"
Albany, NY -- Bush Arrested
NEWSFLASH: Bush arrested!..............no, not that one. :( But he should be -- look who he put in chage of the reconstruction effort on the Gulf Coast!
Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort, which reaches across many agencies of government and includes the direct involvement of Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development.
Some members of the GOP don't want the federal government picking up the tab:
One fiscal conservative, Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, said Thursday, "I don't believe that everything that should happen in Louisiana should be paid for by the rest of the country. I believe there are certain responsibilities that are due the people of Louisiana."
That Coburn -- always good for a quote, whether it be about rampant lesbianism or letting people suffer. Not a big fan of taxation, to be sure.
IBM is doing their part to stem the tide of outsourcing of jobs. It's a start, albeit a token one.
In technology news, Apple may be gearing up to introduce a Video iPod. I'm not sure I'm be so into that. Nintendo looks like they're going to be simplifying the controller when they introduce their new gaming system, Revolution. It's about time!
When did games start to look like this? I just can't enjoy them anymore, with their new-fangled graphics and ... I'm so fucking old. The only time I ever play video games is when I get a new one off eBay for my Super Nintendo!
From South Carolina: What's a "yard ape?"
A Romeo and Juliet story from the Middle East -- might be funny.
Albany, NY -- Dunk Like Me
Completely sick...
could this dude be for real?
Albany, NY -- Nano Battery Life
I should get back to posting a bit more over the next couple of days; between being sick and a volunteer project getting out of control, it's been hard to post.
Finally...
My little Nano is getting some very favorable reviews, including this one:
In my tests, I found that the nano's battery lasted a bit longer than Apple claims -- 14 hours and 18 minutes... Overall, in my tests, the iPod nano performed as advertised, or better. I found no significant flaws or downsides. The only quirks are that the headphone jack is on the bottom, because there isn't room for it on the top; and to make room for the jack, the standard iPod connector port that hooks up to many accessories has been placed off-center. But neither of these oddities matters much. In fact, the bottom-mounted headphone jack makes the optional lanyard earbuds possible, and keeps the screen oriented properly when you're wearing them.
Albany, NY -- Election Day
Still sick... ugh...I went to vote in Albany's Democratic primaries today. I'm not particularly familiar with any of the candidates, so I kinda just voted against the establishment. On the way in, I walked past my councilman, Joe Igoe who recognized me before I recognized him. He asked me how my parents were, and congratulated me about ehe work I've done on my house. He insinuated that I should vote for him for reelection, which I don't think he's allowed to do, given that we were on the voting premises.
Well, not really knowing much about his opponent (who is the son of a former mayor), I still voted against Igoe. Why? I never received anything from his opponent, who was probably underfunded, and the materials I received from Igoe told me NOTHING about him, other than that he was a good family guy. That means crap to me in a candidate.
Albany, NY -- The Duct Tape Guy?
Maybe Paulison's not the right guy to lead FEMA, after all... he's the duct-tape guy!!! (Thanks to J.Chris Parson)
To which I say... BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHA.... crap.
Albany, NY -- What's the Matter with Kansas?
I'm sick as a dog today; it's a shame, it was a beautiful, sunny 90 degrees out today, so this wasn't the way I wanted to take a day off from work. Well, between naps, I did quite a bit of reading today, starting by wrapping up a pretty great book by Thomas Frank called What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Using Kansas as a microcosm for the U.S., Frank discusses why working-class people have become conservatives, in bed with the wealthy who worship supply-side economics. It's a great book, chock full of information, but to me, it never manages to unequivocally answer the question it sets out to. Or maybe it's just me?
Newsweek has a pretty thorough recap of the events surrounding Katrina to date, which have today resulted in the resignation of FEMA director Michael Brown. His replacement, R. David Paulison appears to be a step in the right direction.
Albany, NY -- FEMA Podcast by John Kocurek
It's been a long time in the works, but it's been worth the wait. I've received podcast of a commentary by John Kocurek, A Texas native who has a lot to say about FEMA's role in dealing with Hurricane Katrina. John's one of the most insightful guys I've ever encountered, anywhere, and I think many of you will enjoy this and will learn a lot. Click here to listen.
Here's some support for what my stepdad had to say yesterday about the Astrodome:
The entire "Reliant City" (the Astrodome and surrounding athletic facilities) is scheduled to be emptied of refugees by September 17, 2005. The Astrodome has no other current use, aside from a handful of conventions, and originally the Astrodome was planned to be used to store refugees until December. However the surrounding parking lots were needed for the first Houston Texans home game. Arrangements have been made to help refugees find apartments both in Houston and elsewhere in the United States.
Great.
Albany, NY -- Ah, Nano...
OK, I lied... just didn't get around to the news much today; I was expecting to visit my mom tomorrow, but went today, so I didn't have time to do much else. One thing I did do is pick up my iPod Nano! The thing is friggin' incredible... color screen, great battery life, great sound... just awesome. I'll post some pictures at some point tomorrow.
I was on a real roll today... I was driving down with my sister when a story came on NPR about Bush's suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, a law instituted decades ago which declared that government agencies must only hire contractors which pay the prevailing wages in their localities. So, normally, if FEMA were to contract Halliburton to serve food at the Superdome, normally Halliburton would have to pay the workers a normal Louisiana wage for their work. Not for now, and if Republicans have their way, not anymore. Who profits from this? Halliburton. When don't they?
Anyway, I spent the next seven hours discussing Katrina, labor laws, capitalism, Marxism, feudalism, trust busting, and God knows what else with various family members. During the course of one conversation with my stepdad, a psychiatrist for New York State, mentioned that next week he will be doing trauma counseling at an old National Guard base in Peekskill, NY, where 2,500 evacuees are being shipped in from Houston. He also said that in the efforts to move people from place to place, families are being separated, with some children sent to one city while others or their parents are sent to another. Appalling! Why are they leaving Houston, anyway? Because they can't stay at the Astrodome anymore because in Texas, football must go on!!!
The San Jose Mercury news discusses Bush's well-documented isolated management style:
Bush allies insist he is engaged and pressing the government to fix all hurricane-related problems. But the public isn't much impressed, judging by his plummeting polls. One new survey by independent pollster John Zogby shows Bush would lose a hypothetical election to every modern president, including the much-maligned Jimmy Carter.
And NPR has an amazing timeline of the events to date. Take a listen when you have 20 minutes.
