Volume 1 Issue 33
January 3, 2003
Everyone's Getting Ready To Run... In 2004!
Football, Edwards being ugly, and hunting season
So yes, we've just started 2003, and already the talk is about 2004. Talk about short shifting the new year. But anyway, we have a whole year ahead of us before we get saturated in Presidential politics, we still have the new GOP dominated DC, as well as the February 13 war on Iraq, the pending destruction in North Korea. And of course, the Super Bowl is coming up. So let's talk football for a minute. First...the BCS. Starting now, I refuse to watch Division I college football until they junk they're stupid "help the corporations" bowl system and institute a playoff system...LIKE EVERY OTHER NCAA SPORT, AND EVERY OTHER FOOTBALL DIVISION. It's dumb and stupid, and just because it worked this year doesn't mean it won't fail spectacularly in the future.
The "super" bowl? So in today's Philadelphia Daily News, there is an article about that city joining DC and NYC in the "Northern cities that want to host the Super Bowl" club. Football is a northern sport, and a cold weather one, and personally, I think games in the snow are cool, especially when I'm watching them from the heated comfort of my home. So why won't the NFL allow it? (for the record, the Super Bowl is held in the North every 4 years or so, but only in a domed stadium...which means Detroit, maybe St. Louis...and I think Indianapolis has one too.) Because the Super Bowl isn't attended by fans, only by rich folk, politicians and other high-rollers, who don't want to sit in the cold and freeze. I say screw them, if they want to go, let them freeze. And its not a given it will freeze. I don't think anyone is talking yet about holding the Super Bowl in New England or Green Bay, just NYC, Philly, or DC. Having spent all of my winters in 2 of those cities, I can tell you that your odds are very slim of snow, and heck in DC, some of our winters lately have been with average temps in the 60's. But, having that chance...that's what makes it fun. Yes, the Super Bowl locations have been picked through 2006 or something, but let's start at least allowing outdoor stadiums in the North to bid for that quadannual chance to have the game.
Oh, and how crazy are the people in Philadelphia going over the NFL playoffs? The Phila Inquirer writes:
"On a scale of local news value, where 1 is a minor delay at the Walt Whitman tolls and 10 is a downtown conflagration involving Mayor Street's SUV and thousands of Fancy Brigades plumes, McNabb's return was about a 15. If William Penn had sailed up the Delaware River again yesterday, landing at Dave & Buster's for a quick plate of wings, his would have been the second most interesting comeback of the day." (1/3/03).
Bad Demographic Information. Not good news, boys...don't plan on getting married sometime soon...
"The Wall Street Journal reported that single, thirty-something men are experiencing a decrease in the number of available single women in the mid-20 to mid-30 range. According to U.S. Census data, "By the year 2010, men in their late thirties and early forties will outnumber women five to ten years younger by two to one."
Ok, let's start the insanity!
Look Who's Running For President: Bill Saletan thinks we're all going to be wrong about Edwards -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076280/
Daivd Montgomery isn't so kind, asking "What makes people like Edwards think they can lead?" -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3584-2003Jan2.html
Oh, and perhaps a new feature, as long as bad photos of him keep running...The Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day. I mean, he's supposed to be the cute one, right?
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I3981-2003Jan02
Look Who's Running For President 2: It appears an intern at Dick Gephart's office will be losing their job, after they accidentally faxed an invitation to a Presidential fundraiser for him around DC yesterday. I mean, it was a mistake of course, no one would ever do that on purpose to steal some of a competitors thunder on the day he announced, right? (Note...I suggested this today to Post columnist Lloyd Grove, who thought it was a stretch :)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4782-2003Jan3.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/02/gephardt/index.htm l
Look Who's Running For President - A Scorecard: To date
RUNNING
Gov. Howard Dean (Vermont)
Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts)
Senator John Edwards (North Carolina)
Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri)
CONSIDERING
General Wesley Clark (Ret.)
Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota) [Senate Majority Leader]
Senator Bob Graham (Florida)
Senator Joe Liberman (Conn.)
Senator Chris Dodd (Conn.)
Al Sharpton (NY)
LONG SHOTS
Senator Hilary Clinton (New York)
Governor Mark Warner (Virginia)
50 "favorite sons" under the Donna Brazille plan
And half the Democratic Party over the age of 35.
OUT
Former VP and President-Elect Al Gore
Governor Gray Davis (California)
The Swamp will continue to update, and eventually put on our website. (If I missed anyone, let me know...I do have to work sometimes, you know :)
Update from the Southland: Apparently Senator Trent Lott (R-Confederacy) has succeeded in obtaining the Chairmanship of the Senate Rules committee, displacing Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. This is still developing however, Lott may not take it -
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/12/news1223aaa.ht ml
The Fading Grey Lady Watch: The New York Times this week closed its hostile takeover of the International Herald Tribune, the largest international English language paper in the world. The Times had for 40 years co-owned the paper in partnership with the Washington Post, the owners of which are said to still be pissed at the Times. While Harold Raines and his ilk have "promised" no changes, one must wonder if the "Trib", which gave its start to great writers such as Art Buchwald, is destined for the same supposedly downward spiral as the Times. Also on that note, the Times now costs a dollar in NYC daily. A dollar for a daily newspaper? That's a little pricey, no? -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076277/
The most forged ID in America: is about to get a whole lot worse. NJ was planning to phase in digital drivers licenses over the next 5 years, but instead now must do it in 7 months. Polaroid, the instant-camera company which provides the state with film for its current paper licenses, has gone bankrupt, and has informed the state that it can't ship anymore film after March. So, despite having not done the computer and security upgrades necessary (the bill to fund them is still held up in the state legislature), the DMV will try to introduce a form of digital licenses by July, though many think that won't happen. Problem is that gap between March and July, but no fear, New Jersey doesn't require photos on driver's licenses, so now instead of a laminated Polaroid photo, NJ driver's licenses will soon be just pieces of paper with no photo until they get this fixed. Can't wait to renew mine in April! -
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-0/104157814238220.xml
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/4862802.htm
In Passing: Sydney Omarr, 76, died in LA this week. He was the best-known astrologist in America, where his horoscope column was featured in over 200 newspapers, including the LA Times and Washington Post. I often wondered a bit about Sydney, as my horoscope usually tells me I will be getting married soon at least 5 times a week (see Wall Street Journal excerpt above), and on occasion even gives horse tips for the track, but my mornings will definitely be less amusing now that I will not have his column to read. -
I'm Melting! New reports say that the ice cap over Antarctica has been melting for 10,000 years, and may be entirely gone in another 7,000. This is unrelated to global warming, although that may accelerate the process, or stop it, depending on your theory -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/03/ice.melt.ap/index .html
Happy Hunting: Muskrat season in Delaware has begun! I know where y'all are heading this weekend...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Muskrat-Season.html
And though the man who made the northwestern monster known as "Bigfoot" famous admitted in his will it was a fake, that hasn't deterred the true believers out there -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/national/03FOOT.html
Have a great weekend...bag a muskrat for me!
Gregory S. Gadren
