Forrester for Governor?
So here we are 8 days from the New Jersey gubernatorial election and the Newark Star-Ledger endorsed republican Doug Forrester over Jon Corzine. This is a shock to say the least. Corzine is a successful United Stats Senator and frmer businessman. Forrester is a successful businessman (if ripping people off for perscription drugs and making millions of dollars doing it can be deemed successful). He was also the mayor of West Windsor, NJ more than 20 years ago.
However, the Star-Ledger endorsed Forrester because they feel that he would be able to better stand up to the GOP political as compared to Corzine's ability to stand up to the Democratic political machine. There is little doubt that NJ state Democrats have gotten caught up in the recent ridiculous operations of local Dem organizations. In fact Corzine faced no opposition in the primary in large part because he donated early and often to the local organization who supported him in return. This discouraged the most appealing candidate, Dick Codey, from running.
The Star-Ledger's endorsement was really just talking about Forrester as the lesser of two evils and few people pay attention to them anymore, but the best part of the editorial was the alternate: we wish we could vote for Dick Codey.
Brilliant Leadership
What a wonderful week for the Bush administration. I think this week perfectly demonstrates why people hate this man so much. His deception and stubbornness has now cost the lives of more than 2,000 brave Americans in Iraq and shattered the lives of tens of thousands of injured. But, still despite only one combat ready Iraqi battalion and a constitution ratified mostly because it will be significantly modified, President Bush continues to say we are on the right track. This isn't being consistent, this is being stubborn.
And I'm so glad that we elected Bush to bring integrity back to the White House. So Clinton got a bj in the White House and all the conservatives freak out. But Scooter Libby gets INDICTED for lying about outing a CIA operative, which could have cost Valerie Plame her life and the lives of who knows how many other sources and operatives. Can you imagine what might have happened if Bush didn't want to restore integrity to the Presidency.
And then we get to what has to be one of the worst nominations for the Supreme Court in history. Whether you agree with John Roberts most people would agree that he is a billiant legal mind. Harriet Miers on the other hand...not so much. This was yet another example of Bush nominating someone not because they were qualified, but because they were dumb enough to be loyal to his ridiculous ideals. Hey putting unqualified people in charge is very popular with the president isn't it Brownie? The ironic part of Miers withdrawing is that though she is not a great legal mind at all (she couldn't even completely fill out her questionnaire) we could now end up with an ultra-conservative Supreme Court nominee. Of course all that would prove is that Bush has no guts and really is controlled by the far right wing.
Hey don't worry President Bush, next week could be better.
The Econ Midterm and The Bravery
So I got my econ midterm back last week and didn't do nearly as bad as I thought I did. I got a B- which is pretty good. Well I actually got a 66% which isn't really a B-. Well I actually got a 53 out of one hundred which isn't even really an F. Yea so Econ is a hard class that no one really understands. In fact no one even finished the test. Hey professor you think that if no one finished the test and average raw score was about 62 that maybe you need a new approach to teaching? So she decides to make our next test, which is next week, into a cumulative test. Fine, not the worst idea ever. But since its apparent that no one understood the first six weeks of class, don't you think you spend some time reviewing that stuff. I guess that would be asking to much. Hey bet then again a 66% is a B-, so here we go 70%.
On a better note, check out the band The Bravery. I saw them last week at Sonar here in Baltimore. The venue wasn't that great because of crappy sound, but the band put on a great live show. They sound a little like the Killers, but also have a sound distinct to them. They really got into the performance and got the crowd really pumped up. I would definitely check out their CD, and not just because I know the lead singer's parents.
'til next time.
Baltimore
So a lot of people have asked me how Baltimore is and my answer is...I really don't know. I live in Charles Village which is adjacent to the JHU campus. Its a nice neighborhood with a lot of single family homes and a block of bars, restaurants, and a grocery store. The fact is that because of my busy schedule I don't often get out and I haven't been able to explore as much as I would like. We basically hang out in four neighborhoods. Charles Village, Mt. Vernon, Fells Point, and Federal Hill. Mt. Vernon is good because a lot of classmates live there and there is much more to do in the way of restaurants and bars. We have made a little home at a bar called the Brewer's Art which has microbrews and is very cheap. Actually, an overall theme of bars in Baltimore is cheap beer. The same beer that costs $5.50 in DC costs $3.50 here. Less money and more beer, nice combo.
We have also started hanging in Fells Point which is down on the water. A lot of young professionals live down there which makes for a good time. We have been going to a bar called Max's which is like Brickskellar, a bunch of beers on tap. Its a good place but because of our schedule and the dearth of public transportation in Baltimore, the time commitment to go down there basically limits it to a Friday/Saturday night trip.
We have only been to Federal Hill once and I would describe it as Baltimore's Adams Morgan. A lot of bars, a lot of frat boys. It was fun, but again not easy to get to.
The fact is that the lack of time and especially the lack of significant public transportation limits where we can go. What's the point of going out drinking if you have to drive? What is really frustrating is that I haven't had a chance to discover any of the great museums or tourist attractions in Baltimore. One of the reasons that I left DC was to explore a new city so hopefully that happens in the future.
Ok time to go to bed...I gotta get my econ midterm back on Wednesday morning. Probably doesn't bode well that the average score was a 50.
Game of the Century and Good Night, and Good Luck
Saturday's matchup between Notre Dame and USC was billed as the game of century. USC was #1 and brought a 27 game winning streak into Notre Dame stadium. Notre Dame was #9 and resurgent under Charlie Weis. Rarely has a game ever lived up to the hype, but this game not only lived up to the hype, it exceeded it. The game went back and forth and Brady Quinn certainly made a pitch for the Heisman trophy. The game showed showed just how good Reggie Bush is. You could literally hear the 80,000 people that packed in Notre Dame stadium gasp every time he touched the ball and with good reason. He scored three touchdowns and was just electric with the football. When Brady Quinn ran the ball in from 5 yards out with 1:58 left, the Notre Dame faithful exploded and victory seemed within reach. But on a fourth down play with 1:34 left, Matt Leinart audibled at the line of scrimmage (no small feat considering the volume of the fans) and connected on a huge pass for 30+ yards, bringing USC within the 10 yard line. On a subsequent play Leinart ran left and went into the air to try and score, but was met short of the goal line by Notre Dame defenders. As he was on the ground the clock ran out and Notre Dame stadium erupted as fans and players rushed the field. But then all hell broke loose as the officials met and determined that while Leinart had been tackled short of the goal line, the ball had been knocked loose by a Notre Dame tackler and knocked out of bounds. The clock should have stopped when the ball was out of bounds. The officials rightly put 0:07 back on the clock and Leinart ran the ball in on the next play thus giving USC a victory in what could go down as one of the greatest college football games ever played. The game was so hard fought and so close that Notre Dame stayed at #9 in the rankings this week. The past three years USC has blown Notre Dame out, but this year Notre Dame had the game won within the last two minutes. Notre Dame football is back.
On another note, everyone should see the new George Clooney movie Good Night, and Good Luck. The movie stars David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow and is the story of Murrow challenging Joe McCarthy at the peak of of McCarthy's power. While the movie and the actors are wonderful, it is most poignant because of how much the message translates today. What a difference 50 years doesn't make. McCarthy would charge people that questioned his authority as being communist. Unfortunately, not much has changed today, except if you question President Bush and his underlings you aren't called communist, you are called unpatriotic. We live in a country that reelected a president because he scared us into believing that we were going to be attacked and that only he could protect us. We now live in a culture of fear, something that Joe McCarthy exploited and now President Bush has exploited. Who will be this generation's Edward Murrow? Who will challenge President Bush to instead of exploiting our fear, exploit our will to sacrifice and our will to help?
Memos, Mike Piazza, Tom Delay, Dane Cook, and the Weekend
So last Thursday, I found myself editing a five page memo so that it would only be three pages. Then a sense of irony swept over me. I was paying a ton of money to go to school and further my education -- at least that's what people told me. Just two months ago I was getting paid at a job, where my main responsibility was editing memos. My what a difference two months makes.
So Tom Delay, an architect of the Contract with America got indicted last week. Oh happy, happy day. What a douchebag this guy is. I love that he had to resign from the Majority Leadership under a rule that he had fought against and gotten revoked. At least some Republicans came to their senses and reinstated that rule. Even better is all the Republicans that are saying he can come back and that Ronnie Earle always indicts people but can never support it. Being an indicted politician is like being a teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student. The conviction doesn't matter. You've been indicted and that's all people care about. But, the Republicans do protect their own much better than Dems. Within hours leading Republicans, including Delay, were on TV criticizing Earle and changing the story. You have to admit, its quite impressive. So let's see, Bush screwed up with Katrina (though Mike Brown that Arabian Horse Official that is an expert on disaster management says it was local officials -- who just happen to be Dems -- that screwed up), Frist made a ton of money by dumping stock before it tanked, Delay just got indicted, and oh somehow we now have only one Iraqi batallion that is combat ready as opposed to the three we used to have. How does a battalion lose its combat readiness? Now if I just had confidence in the Democrat's ability to actually capitalize on all of this.
Recently I heard this comedian Dane Cook. This guy is absolutely hilarious. If you get a chance check out his CD "Retaliation." I was laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. You also have to see him on Comedy Central cuz you will laugh just from watching him. The funniest thing is when he does his thing about "no whammy, no whammy, stop" and telling a girl or a girl looking for the car door handle or stupid fights couples have. Check this guy out, just great.
This was a great weekend because I got to know Baltimore a little. On Friday, a few people went to an Irish Bar Mick O'Sheas and I really realized how cheap this town is. A beer that costs $5.50 in DC cost me $3.75 out here. Doesn't mean I'm gonna spend less money. Just means I'm gonna get drunker. Then Saturday, by some miracle, I woke up in time to go the Farmer's Market which was great and cheap. Then my roommate and I biked down to the Fells Point Festival, which is about 4 miles each way. Yea all of you that know me our wondering how I could do that. Not sure at all but I've been riding my bike a lot so maybe that's why I didn't have 6 heart attacks on the way back. The festival was huge, taking up about 10 blocks . Spending most of my time with the same 28 people, its nice to be around other people. Though the ride back after eating a sausage, cream of crab soup, chili and half a funnel cake wasn't that pleasant. Then today we had flag football practice today. Our program is going to play in a three day tournament later in October and we figured practice was a good idea. Just a tip: the option does work in flag football.
On a final note, this was the end of the baseball regular season and quite possibly the end of Mike Piazza's career as a New York Met. This is a guy who was drafted in the 66th round as a favor to his father and turned into the greatest offensive catcher of all time. For years, with virtually no help he was the Mets' offense. He accepted his diminished role with class and he totally would have kicked Clemens' ass all those times they almost threw down. He had so many famous homeruns, including capping a 10-run two out rally in the 8th inning to beat the Braves in 2000.
But the most amazing homerun he ever hit didn't come in a playoff game or in the World Series. The first game played in New York after September 11th was the New York Mets hosting the Atlanta Braves. Needless to say it was an emotional night, as the Shea Stadium parking lot was still be used as a staging ground for relief efforts. In the eigth inning the game was tied when Piazza strode to the plate. He hit a thunderous homerun to left center field that cleared the bleachers. The whole stadium erupted and literally shook. Fans were crying and cheering like nothing I've ever seen. It was like the whole city just letting loose all the emotion that had been pent up the last six days. It was one of the longest standing ovations I have heard in my life. Just when you thought it couldn't get louder, Piazza came out for a curtain call and Shea erupted again. Watching the game you could literally see the whole stadium shaking. Just an unbelievable moment and a perfect demonstration of the healing power of sports. The Mets do have to move on but the team will just not be the same without the leadership and heart of this future Hall of Famer.
Memos, Mike Piazza, Tom Delay, Dane Cook, and the Weekend
So last Thursday, I found myself editing a five page memo so that it would only be three pages. Then a sense of irony swept over me. I was paying a ton of money to go to school and further my education -- at least that's what people told me. Just two months ago I was getting paid at a job, where my main responsibility was editing memos. My what a difference two months makes.
So Tom Delay, an architect of the Contract with America got indicted last week. Oh happy, happy day. What a douchebag this guy is. I love that he had to resign from the Majority Leadership under a rule that he had fought against and gotten revoked. At least some Republicans came to their senses and reinstated that rule. Even better is all the Republicans that are saying he can come back and that Ronnie Earle always indicts people but can never support it. Being an indicted politician is like being a teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student. The conviction doesn't matter. You've been indicted and that's all people care about. But, the Republicans do protect their own much better than Dems. Within hours leading Republicans, including Delay, were on TV criticizing Earle and changing the story. You have to admit, its quite impressive. So let's see, Bush screwed up with Katrina (though Mike Brown that Arabian Horse Official that is an expert on disaster management says it was local officials -- who just happen to be Dems -- that screwed up), Frist made a ton of money by dumping stock before it tanked, Delay just got indicted, and oh somehow we now have only one Iraqi batallion that is combat ready as opposed to the three we used to have. How does a battalion lose its combat readiness? Now if I just had confidence in the Democrat's ability to actually capitalize on all of this.
Recently I heard this comedian Dane Cook. This guy is absolutely hilarious. If you get a chance check out his CD "Retaliation." I was laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. You also have to see him on Comedy Central cuz you will laugh just from watching him. The funniest thing is when he does his thing about "no whammy, no whammy, stop" and telling a girl or a girl looking for the car door handle or stupid fights couples have. Check this guy out, just great.
This was a great weekend because I got to know Baltimore a little. On Friday, a few people went to an Irish Bar Mick O'Sheas and I really realized how cheap this town is. A beer that costs $5.50 in DC cost me $3.75 out here. Doesn't mean I'm gonna spend less money. Just means I'm gonna get drunker. Then Saturday, by some miracle, I woke up in time to go the Farmer's Market which was great and cheap. Then my roommate and I biked down to the Fells Point Festival, which is about 4 miles each way. Yea all of you that know me our wondering how I could do that. Not sure at all but I've been riding my bike a lot so maybe that's why I didn't have 6 heart attacks on the way back. The festival was huge, taking up about 10 blocks . Spending most of my time with the same 28 people, its nice to be around other people. Though the ride back after eating a sausage, cream of crab soup, chili and half a funnel cake wasn't that pleasant. Then today we had flag football practice today. Our program is going to play in a three day tournament later in October and we figured practice was a good idea. Just a tip: the option does work in flag football.
On a final note, this was the end of the baseball regular season and quite possibly the end of Mike Piazza's career as a New York Met. This is a guy who was drafted in the 66th round as a favor to his father and turned into the greatest offensive catcher of all time. For years, with virtually no help he was the Mets' offense. He accepted his diminished role with class and he totally would have kicked Clemens' ass all those times they almost threw down. He had so many famous homeruns, including capping a 10-run two out rally in the 8th inning to beat the Braves in 2000.
But the most amazing homerun he ever hit didn't come in a playoff game or in the World Series. The first game played in New York after September 11th was the New York Mets hosting the Atlanta Braves. Needless to say it was an emotional night, as the Shea Stadium parking lot was still be used as a staging ground for relief efforts. In the eigth inning the game was tied when Piazza strode to the plate. He hit a thunderous homerun to left center field that cleared the bleachers. The whole stadium erupted and literally shook. Fans were crying and cheering like nothing I've ever seen. It was like the whole city just letting loose all the emotion that had been pent up the last six days. It was one of the longest standing ovations I have heard in my life. Just when you thought it couldn't get louder, Piazza came out for a curtain call and Shea erupted again. Watching the game you could literally see the whole stadium shaking. Just an unbelievable moment and a perfect demonstration of the healing power of sports. The Mets do have to move on but the team will just not be the same without the leadership and heart of this future Hall of Famer.
