Volume 1 Issue 44

January 21, 2003

Ouch

New Swamp Delay due to injury, Romance's slow death, and Canadian got your tongue?

Ok, ok, I know we were supposed to have all the new stuff rolled out today, and it is ready to go. But...then yesterday evening I took a nasty spill on the ice on my back stairs in a spectacularly stupid move after being lured into thinking all the ice had melted during our above-freezing day yesterday, and since it hadn't snowed in a few days. So...it was either finish the set up for the new swamp, or actually DO a swamp today, so you get the latter, although a bit shorter than usual. And, its obviously early, as I'm off to the doctors to get checked on to make sure I didn't seriously injure myself. Nothing appears to be broken, thanks, just a lot of muscle pain mostly, so it could have been a lot worse! So remember...always assume the ice is there! Today's 2 inches of snow should be a reminder it is there though :)

And speaking of that 2 inches...two interesting things today. First, of course this was never mentioned in any weather forecast until at least 9am...the idiots at the radio station were reading the old forecast even as it was snowing out their DAMN WINDOW! Secondly, no real crazy reaction from DC people...could they actually be used to it now! Wow! I even drove in today (what, you think I was going to go walking through that after falling on my ass yesterday?) and the traffic was good...people weren't driving like maniacs or geriatrics. I'm impressed...

Finally, this week we will make the conversion. Sometime this week you will get an e-mail telling you we have subscribed you to the new list. It will also erroneously tell you that you can post to said list. Sorry, that's a mistake, you can't, don't get confused. You don't have to respond or anything (but if you're a new subscriber signing up from the web site later this week, you will have to confirm that it was really you signing up.). Wait until you see it folks, its going to be fantastic! Sorry about the growing pains and my pains delaying it :) Time for the insanity...

Greg's Pick of the Day - The Death of Romance, continued: Continuing on one of my favorite topics, the Washington Post had a great article on the latest development in relationships and sex...the "*uckbuddy" (once we're free of the gov't server, the profanity will fly, don't worry...). What's interesting is how some are claming this is the ultimate triumph of feminism...I don't totally agree with that, but it you're a regular reader you know this is a often re-visited topic. (We'll put some of it on the web page) -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6351-2003Jan17.html
And an abstence program in Texas is getting mixed results -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19148-2003Jan20.html

It's baaaaaaaaaaack! The "tax the poor" movement is back, led by its creators, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. -

http://slate.msn.com/id/2077201/
Krugman is pissed as usual -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/opinion/21KRUG.html

Yes, George, North Korea is still there - The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof continues his look inside North Korea. If you haven't read these yet, go and read his last few columns on the subject. Having been one of the few reporters allowed into North Korea, he has some great insights into the crisis. Today, he again makes the point that hasn't been heard enough. If we are ignoring N. Korea and invading Iraq because Korea has nukes and we don't want Iraq to get them...aren't we sending a signal to our enemies to get their hands on nuclear weapons by any means necessary? -

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/opinion/21KRIS.html

Whoops: The Washington Post uncovers why we didn't catch Bin Laden. We weren't chasing him, we were chasing his cell phone. And we got it! -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19238-2003Jan20.html

Longest Government Subsidy Ever - This weekend, at 93, Gertrude Janeway died in her home in Tennessee. This is notable, because she was the last widow of a Union Solider from the Civil War, having married her then 81 year-old husband when she was 18. You may remember her and her Southern counterpart, Alberta Martin, who were featured at the re-internment of a solider in Gettysburg a few years back. The neatest thing about this is that until her death, she continued to receive an annual $100 war pension from the Federal Government as a war widow. This has to be the longest government recipient ever, though I have no proof to back that up with. I'm also pretty sure the Confederate widow doesn't get anything, but maybe Trent Lott sends her a check every now and then -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2677095.stm

Look Who's Running for President - Dick Gephardt may be in trouble in Iowa -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15541-2003Jan19.html
But an early Iowa poll (one year out!) says Gephardt still has the lead by 2% over Lieberman -
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=668

Look Who's Running for President 2- Gary Hart is keeping his name in the papers -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76040,00.html

Look Who's Running for President 3 - Warning sign for John Edwards? If the election was held today, Bush would beat Edwards in his own state! (N. Carolina). Remember that if Al Gore had won his home state, we wouldn't have had that whole Florida fiasco. He should win that primary easily though. -

http://www.newsobserver.com/edwards/candidate/story/2108704p-2008834c.html

Look Who's Running for President 4 - Bob Graham defends the diaries -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/4993332.htm

Look Who's Running for President 5 - Wesley Clark Update. Doesn't look good for backers of the General -
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/20265841. html

Look Who's Running for President 6- Al filed the paperwork today. No, not that Al....Al Sharpton. -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21831-2003Jan21.html

Look Who's Running for President - The Numbers: ABC and the Washington Post have a poll coming out tonight on World News Tonight, and of course here tomorrow :) Also, word is that DC Councilman Jack Evans will introduce a bill making DC's primary first in the nation, before New Hampshire. (This is in Roll Call, which has gone subscriber only BOOO! so I have to summarize here). New Hampshire has a law that says they must be the first primary (not caucus) and DC isn't a state so...stay tuned. Having a key early primary in DC could be interesting for the Democrats, considering that two of the parties biggest constituencies live here: African Americans, and Rich White Liberals.

Look Who's Running For President - A Scorecard Update (1/21):
RUNNING
Gov. Howard "Jed Barlett" Dean (Vermont) - http://www.deanforamerica.com/
Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) - http://www.johnkerry.com
Senator John Edwards (North Carolina) - http://www.johnedwards2004.com/
Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri) No Known Website Yet...
Al Sharpton (NY) - http://www.sharptonexplore2004.com/
Senator Joe Liberman (Conn.) - http://www.joe2004.com

CONSIDERING
Senator Bob Graham (Florida)
Former Senator Gary Hart (Colorado) - www.garyhartnews.com
Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois)

LONG SHOTS
General Wesley Clark (Arkansas)
Senator Joseph Biden (Delaware)
Senator Chris Dodd (Conn.)
Governor Mark Warner (Virginia)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
Ralph Nader
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)
Former Senator Bill Bradley (New Jersey)
Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota)
Senator Hilary Clinton (New York)

Card Movement Today: Gary Hart now has a website.

Electioneering gone bad: A Indiana Candidate found a nasty surprise from his opponent this weekend: a frozen sheep's head was left in her car. -

http://www.local6.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-192199420030121-090125.html

Government gone bad: While DC is famed for its Metro subway, the bus service, well, stinks. Here's an article that describes why. Turns out that if you run buses on a regular basis, and on routes people use, they're even profitable! -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12087-2003Jan18.html

Medical Miracle of the day: Holy...a Phoenix teen who was injured by a drunk driver is alive today due only to a miracle. His head was actually ripped off, and doctors were able to reattach it, and his long term prognosis is good. Wow. -

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/DrJohnson/GMA030121Reattached_head.html

German War Victims? A new book and a few essays in Germany have ignited a new/old battle...how to discuss the German civilian casualties of World War II -

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/18/arts/18SCHN.html?pagewanted=1
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/019/focus/The_fire_last_ti me+.shtml

Sports "development" of the weekend: The coach of the NHL Edmonton Oilers got a bit pissed at the Calgary Flames mascot when he leaned over the bench to taunt him...so he ripped his tongue out. Great video too. -

http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2003/0120/1496188.html

Botox! Apparently Botox injections will make your armpits smell better. A side note, I saw this item on the local news yesterday, and as the woman read it, you could tell she was pissed she had to read it. She had the look and voice that said "I can't believe I'm reading this damn story...I'm calling my agent as soon as we go to commercial..." -

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/01/21/offbeat.botox.armpits.reut/index.html

The French are at it again: This time pissing off the EU by running too large a budget deficit. Great headline on this one from the BBC -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2680573.stm
And they're still bickering over why Napoleon died -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15537-2003Jan19.html

Calling God: A Bible School in Kentucky is trying to get the Phone Company to take way its phone number, which begins with the prefix "666" -

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/01/18/offbeat.mark.of.the.beast.ap/index.html

Gregory S. Gadren