Sunday Fun-day

There are a few things that I want to get off my chest. Most involve politics, so if you are not interested this won't be fun for you.

1. As part of my complete technological overhaul I got a new cell phone. Its one of those giant Palm Treo deals. I got it because I wanted something that would also keep me organized. Since it has a scheduler function that beeps at me when I need to do things. However, it most impressed me when I discovered that I could sync it with my computer wirelessly through bluetooth. Shit is crazy man. I swear to god the robots are going to take over.

2. There have been a number of people that have asked me for recommendations on cheap wine. OK, it was one person, but I feel like I could provide this service for many readers. Here you go: Goats do Roam. $6-8 at Vons. Tons of flavor, good mouthfeel (not watery), and not too sweet. Big House Red: actually made by the Bonny Doon people who put out really good zinfandel. I know Pete has had this and I've seen others too. Good flavor, a little more on the sweet side, but not too much. Unknown wine: Trader Joe's is currently carrying this Spanish style blend that is really good. Its a mix of syrah, bobal, and tempranillo. $10 and they had a ton when I checked last. Trader Joe's also carries the Prosperity Red that I like a lot. None of these are "holy crap that is so fucking good", but they are good "bang for the buck" wines. There is one, Four Vines Zinfandel that I think is a pretty damn good bottle for $11-12. On the higher end, the Ravenswood Tedeschi Zinfandel has been getting rave reviews and is actually a value at $25-30 since its been scoring at the 94-95 range. Drop me an e-mail if you want more specific recommendations.

OK, that's it for the non-politics stuff.

3. John McCain is crazy. I could just refer to his singing "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" or him saying publicly that he hopes Fidel Castro gets to meet Marx really soon, but there is more to it than that. In the comments section of a previous post, I said that I was surprised to see my Texan friend Peter (as opposed to California Pete) say that he would consider voting for Hillary in the primaries because she would be "a slightly less worse president then Obama". He also said that McCain has not changed his mind on issues. First, the one thing that McCain has not changed his mind on is Iraq. I will 100% agree on that. Now, supporting Bush on Iraq is clearly not popular, but is also (in my view) not something that many people will want to vote for. However, here is a list of things that McCain has indeed changed his mind on:

A. In his 2000 campaign McCain called the confederate flag a "symbol of heritage". Why? He was afraid that he could not win the nomination without winning South Carolina. One person even said that this was an "act of political cowardice". Who was that person? John McCain himself.
B. In 2000 McCain called Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" but he gave the 2006 commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University. Yes, the same Jerry Falwell who said that blame for the 9-11 attacks should be placed on Americans because we took God out of schools and allow abortions among other things.
C. In 2003, McCain said that ethanol wouldn't exist if it weren't for Congress. Once he was considering his run for 2008 he changed his mind. Amazingly, Tim Russert called him on it.
D. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to gain legal status once they graduate high school. Now? He opposes it. Weird, could it possibly be because he needs to win over conservative voters?
E. Bush's Tax Cuts. McCain in 2001: "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief". Today? In favor of Bush's tax cuts.
F. McCain on abortion in 1999: "in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade." McCain on abortion after being called on it by conservatives: "I share our common goal of reducing the staggering number of abortions currently performed in this country and overturning the Roe vs. Wade decision." Looks like he changed his mind.
So, as it turns out, McCain changes his mind on important issues quite a bit.

4. Hillary Clinton. I've already called the race for Obama and I think it will be more or less official come March 5th (day after Texas and Ohio primaries) However, I really want to say something about her campaign: it stinks. First, she pulls out the attack ads in South Carolina. Then she calls Obama a plagiarist for using, with permission and encouragement, two sentences from his friend and endorsers speech. However, her campaign would not say that they had never done the same thing. Finally, yesterday, she busted out the "shame on you Barack Obama" because he was sending out fliers that she said were not true. #1: They were pretty much true although they are designed a little bit deceptively. #2: These things have been out for 2 weeks now. Where was the "shame on you" then? Well, it was in a conference call where one of here supporters compared it to "having Nazis march through Skokie, Ill". A little overboard? Yes, especially since she sent out mailers in New Hampshire, Nevada, and Wisconsin that were not arguably false, but completely false. So I guess it should be "shame on you Hillary Clinton".

Bush is a dirty spy, Part 7

Decision '08

The Evil Twin of William Jennings Bryan has looked at the numbers and we are able to make a call in the race for the Democratic nomination for President:

I'm not just being a dick about this either. According to the numbers, there is very little chance that Hillary can catch Obama. Here's why: Obama currently leads in the pledged delegate (not superdelegate) count by a little more than 120 or so delegates. Not an insurmountable lead - or is it? This idea makes several assumptions: First, there are certain states (i.e. Wisconsin) that Obama is likely going to win. Second, there are states that Hillary is likely to win (i.e. Texas and Ohio). If we assume that Obama wins by no more than 10% in the states that he is likely to win than it Hillary would need more than 60% of the vote in both Texas and Ohio - a feat that current trends show is not probable. (look about 2/3 of the way down to see the numbers)

OK, granted, I am being a little presumptuous, but things are looking pretty good.

Today's List - 2/11/08

1. Happy Birthday Mom!! (She's way younger than you think for having twin sons that are 30. I had the unfortunate pleasure of hearing that we were "too much wine at Thanksgiving" babies.) In any case, I will be bringing presents to the 909 this weekend.

2. This is my first post on my new computer.
2.1 I got a Mac Mini. We are now a 1/2 Mac and 1/2 PC household
2.2 I'm digging the mac, especially now that it has the "mighty mouse" which has a left and right click.
2.3 It doesn't have solitaire. That makes me sad.
2.4 It does have chess. However, when I make superior, yet confusing, moves it just stops playing. No check mate, just freezes.
2.5 The keyboard is way space-age.
2.6 When at the Apple Store I looked at the "Air" and its really thin.
2.7 Its nice to have a computer at home that works so the wife can take hers to school. So really its more like a gift for her, which means I'm off the hook for Valentine's Day.

3. Things are looking pretty good for Obama. There should be a couple more victories tomorrow night.

4. Remember that really cool Obama video? If not, go here. Here is a funny one about McCain.



Cheap shot? Whatever. The guy is bonkers.

5. Best album Grammy went to Herbie Hancock. Only 2nd jazz artist to win the award.

6. The Clinton camp was offended by the MSNBC person that said that they were "pimping out" Chelsea. Today she had breakfast with a 21 year-old superdelegate from Wisconsin. She may not be trading sex for votes (and I emphasize may), but pimping seems like the right term for it.

7. I left the TV in the other room on ABC when I came in here. Now I am hearing what I believe is Miami Sound Machine which leads me to believe that there is some sort of reality dance competition on... just checked and confirmed. Dance War. Turned it to American Gladiators for Pete.

8. Before Pete makes any comments like "Whatever Jeff, I know you were watching Dance War" I want to remind him that he was watching a dog show.

9. Went to Ruth's Chris the other night. That shit is good.

Today's Short List - Super Tuesday

1. Go vote. People all over the world kill and are killed over voting. You don't have to do either so there's really no excuse. Polls are open at 7am and should remain open until 8pm.

2. I think its clear who I am voting for, which means this is a very nervous day for me. I don't completely buy into polls, but all of them are showing tremendous gains for Obama in all states and in the head-to-heads. Either way, I don't think the Democrats will have a candidate picked tonight. The Republicans might though. Here's a hint: he's fucking nuts.

3. U.S. vs. Mexico tomorrow night at 6pm. Pasadena locals whould head to Lucky Baldwin's if you want to experience a good soccer environment. That's where I'll be. Prediction is easy: 2-0 to the U.S. as usual.

4. I am approaching visitor #9,000. Disturbing. I usually offer up a prize for landmark visitors and then never actually give the prize. This time I will do the same.

Today's List - Super Bowl Sunday

1. My Super Bowl prediction wasn't too far off. Although I picked the Pats to win I did say that the Giants would cover (they won so that counts) and I called the under on the over/under. Also, I predicted that it would be an ungodly boring game, which it was until the 4th quarter. It was close all game, but it got pretty slow in the middle.

2. My cousin commented on the previous post about a package that was sent to me. Here are the contents of said mysterious package: various jerkies, all in small ziploc sandwich bags, labeled on blue masking tape: beef (made in Brady), buffalo, turkey, and young fawn venison. If you are ever looking for a random Labor Day trip, check out the World Championship BBQ Goat cook-off in Brady, Texas - where my uncle and cousin live. Its honestly a good time and I have never seen more Coors Light consumed in my entire life.

3. This video has been burning up the net for the last day or two. It features the speech that Barack Obama gave after the New Hampshire primaries. It was created by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.



Now, I know that there are many that would call this corny, but I think that those who consider it corny may not be used to the idea that our leaders don't just have to be talking heads full of policies and statistics. They used to give us hope. Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and even Reagan. Why mention Reagan? Because even many right-wing blogs are reacting positively to this video. I may not care for many of Reagan's policies, but I still get chills when I hear his speech honoring the crew of the Challenger. I'm constantly getting more and more excited about the possibilities that this election is bringing.

4. We start a new semester on Tuesday, which means I start teaching Econ again. It has become my favorite subject to teach. This year I am going to do a lot of work talking about Economics and the environment. I'm pretty amped about it.

5. I generally get pretty excited about World Cup, Champions League, and even the Olympics when it comes to soccer tournaments. Well, I am beginning to get excited for another tournament, as are soccer fans all over the world - the African Cup of Nations. There were tons of exciting games in the group stages and the two big favorites (in my view) - Ghana and Ivory Coast, have already booked their spot in the semis. Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, who also stars for FC Barcelona in Spain, is the tournament's leading scorer. Africa may soon be producing national teams completely capable of winning a world cup. Its not there yet, but they are certainly producing a buttload of major world stars.

6. Super Tuesday is coming. You should go vote. Normally I would create some form of voter's guide on the propositions, but I'm too busy to do that. My brief synopsis: Prop 91 is moot so vote NO. 92 looks pretty good so I'm voting yes, and then a big NO on 93. It sounds OK on the surface, but its really a big sham created by members of the state legislature to allow them to keep their jobs longer through a loophole. Most of the sponsors of the bill are scheduled to be removed soon through term limits and this law would let them stay longer. I call bullshit. I am also voting NO on 94-97 simply because I think we can get a better deal and that this bill gives the tribes tons of room to manipulate how the fees they pay us are determined. However, its more money than we are getting now so I could see someone voting YES with the thought that its OK for now.