Albany, NY -- Welcome Here To Albany!
Did anybody else know that University at Albany's basketball team was so good? K-hole just told me to turn on ESPN2 to see UAlbany in its conference championship. Win today, and they're in the NCAA tournament. How did I miss this? They're up 11-4 right now.
I spent five years at the University, but this is the first time I've ever cared one iota for an Albany sports team. This is also, not coincidentally, the first time I have never heard Albany mentioned so many times on TV in a non-derisive fashion...
Donny Marshall: "A win today, and everyone in the country will know that Albany is serious!"
Go Great Danes!
Albany, NY -- Hillary's Past Ties To Wal-Mart Create Exposure for Tasini
An AP article that seems to be running everywhere today talks about
Hillary Clinton's reluctance to discuss her experience on Wal-Mart's board in the '80s and '90s:
Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors for six years when her husband was governor of Arkansas. And the Rose Law Firm, where she was a partner, handled many of the Arkansas-based company's legal affairs.I personally don't find this as big a deal as many other Democrats do. First off, back when Hillary was on its board, Wal-Mart wasn't nearly as politically radioactive to Democrats. It's only been in the last few years that Wal-Mart's major downsides have been documented in full force. Second, Wal-Mart is based in Arkansas, where Hillary's husband was governor at the time, so it makes sense that a member of the family would've been on the board. Third, it appears that she actually tried to shake things up while on the board:
Bob Ortega, author of "In Sam We Trust," a history of Wal-Mart, said Clinton used her position to urge the company to improve its gender and racial diversity. Because of Clinton's prodding, Walton agreed to hire an outside firm to track the company's progress in hiring women and minorities, Ortega said.
"These were things the company was not addressing and wouldn't have, had she not pushed them to do so," Ortega said. "She's somebody who could definitely get things done."
In fact, Clinton proved to be such a thorn in Walton's side that at Wal-Mart's annual meeting in 1987, when shareholders challenged Walton on the company's lack of female managers, he assured them the record was improving "now that we have a strong willed young lady on the board."
Clinton was particularly vocal on environmental matters, pressing the company to boost its sale and use of recycled materials and other "green" products.
Garry Mauro, who served with Clinton on a Wal-Mart environmental advisory committee, pointed to many successes, such as persuading the company to establish recycling centers and sell products like recycled oil and long-life light bulbs.
"Hillary had real impact — when she had an idea, things got moving," he said. "When she resigned from the committee, it stopped having any innovative ideas and stopped being effective."That actually all sounds pretty good, and something in fact for her to proud of, but of course she handles this in the most Clintonesque way possible, declining to handle the political hot potato:
Lorraine Voles, Clinton's communications director, turned down a request for an interview with the senator.
.
.
.
Hillary Clinton, who as first lady proposed a wide-ranging but ultimately unsuccessful plan to reshape the nation's health care system, has had little to say about Wal-Mart's health care record.
"That was a long time ago," she said recently when asked if she had done anything about the company's health care policies while she served on its board.Now, Jonathan Tasini, who was one of the first people to staft hammering Hillary's ties to Wal-Mart and her opponent in the Senate race, is getting some press:
That comment was met with disbelief from Jonathan Tasini, a longtime labor organizer mounting a longshot challenge to Clinton in New York's Democratic Senate primary.
"Voters would find it a strained argument to believe that the senator who prides herself on intelligence and knowledge of detail can't recall any details in this case. It just strains credulity," Tasini said.Of course, on the same day, Atrios demonstrates just how little (more correctly, none) of a chance the
blogosphere continues to give Jonathan:
If my goal in life was to support people who were "winners" I'd be writing checks to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Ted Kennedy. All 3 of those candidates will win their next election. All 3 of those candidates have far more money than they need to win their next election. All 3 of those candidates still have no problem getting people to line up to give them even more money for their campaigns. If there's wasted money in campaigns that's where it is.That's something the campaign is working on rectifying, and I hope to be involved. I'm just not sure I see eye-to-eye with it on this issue.
Tags:
Tasini,
Clinton,
Wal-Mart
Albany, NY -- Who Needs Florida When You Can Have Albany?
I was supposed to spend yesterday and today in St. Petersburg, but had to cut my Florida trip short because I've just got too much to do back home. (Sigh)
Here's one of the neater ideas for a commercial I've seen lately: A
live-action Simpsons introduction.
And speaking of TV, has anyone else noticed that Boston Legal has gotten a lot better since Michael J. Fox showed up a few weeks ago, even if he's no longer on the show? The first few episodes of the season were pretty mediocre.
Orlando, FL -- Clubbing Is Not Good for My Self-Confidence
In my two days at Disneyworld, I really didn't do much of anything "Disney." I didn't go to the Magic Kingdom, nor to MGM, nor to Epcot. I didn't meet Mickey or Goofy, nor did I ride Space Mountain.
One thing I did do, at the behest of a colleague who accompanied me, was go to Pleasure Island. It's a small downtown which features several clubs, mostly oriented to people in their 20s.
Before going to dance clubs, I really need to remind myself that they're not really for me. I'm a white Jewish kid from Albany, I can't dance, and I'm the only one in the club wearing a tie. Try as I might, I just can't make it my scene. I've got nothing to offer the girls there, and they've really got nothing to offer me. The colleague I went with tonight is 37 and married, and intellectually I'm probably a lot closer to him than I am to anyone else in Pleasure Island.
It could be worse, though. I may be a bit too old and stiff for clubbing, but I have to at least make sure I never become this guy:
All in all, I should've stayed in tonight. Actual series of text messages from me to K-hole this evening:
JB: You would not BELIEVE the girl I think I'm about to hook up with tonight!.
. (Five minutes pass)
.
JB: You would not BELIEVE the girl that just ditched me while I was in the bathroom!
K-hole: LOLEmblematic of my social life these days, no?
Orlando, FL -- Worldwide Suicide Premiere
I've been meaning to do a music post for a couple of weeks, and now seems to be as good a time as any, as Pearl Jam has released its new single, "Worldwide Suicide."
Click here to download it.
A pretty good song, but not really single-worthy... not very catchy. I like it, though. Album comes out May 2nd.
Speaking of music that I really like, I've been listening to
Pete Yorn's second album,
Day I Forgot, pretty much nonstop for the last two weeks; I've given it at least twenty-five spins, and it's great. I bought his first album,
Musicforthemorningafter last year and liked it a lot, but Day I Forgot is a lot better. Tracks of note include Burrito, Carlos (this one rocks a lot!), Crystal Village, and Come Back Home. The album is basically electric-folk, something to the effect of what Pearl Jam has been doing for its last few albums.
I was listening to
Le Show last weekend, when I heard a familiar riff, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Funk guitar, horns... a strange arrangement, but I knew I knew the song. When the lyrics kicked in, I realized that it was a cover of Radiohead's "Just" from The Bends. It was done funk style, and it was apparently put together by a DJ named Mark Ronson. Worth checking out. You can find it
on his MySpace profile.
If you'd like to broaden your musical horizons a bit, visit
Pandora. It allows you to enter your favorite artists, and it then returns music by artists it deems similar to that artist. Pretty neat, though it's rather limited.
Tags:
Pearl Jam,
Worldwide Suicide,
Pete Yorn,
Radiohead
Orlando, FL -- We Will Not Be Silenced!
Check out
this clip from Huffington Post. Pretty powerful. (thanks, Kos)
It expresses the anti-war sentiment pretty darn well.
I'm actually in Disneyworld for the first time -- I think it's about 20 years too late. A bit tacky, if you ask me. Had drinks with some colleagues tonight, but haven't really done anything. Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to try to check out Magic Kingdom, and we're supposed to go to Pleasure Island tomorrow night. I wouldn't been too disappointed if I didn't make it to either of those places.
I am taking pictures, and will post some this week or over the weekend.
