Ok, what follows is perhaps one of the best news quotes ever. Bobby Jindal singled out $140million in the stimulus package appropriated for volcano research as an example of unnecesary spending. Of course, Portlanders and Vancouverites living within the footprint of Mt. St. Helens might disagree. The following is from the cnn.com article on the matter:

“Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington,” Jindal said.

But Marianne Guffanti, a volcano researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey, said, “We don’t throw the money down the crater of the volcano and watch it burn up.”

And that, my friends, is a badass response. Right on Marianne!

The way I see it, Democrats got almost everything they could wish for last night – and maybe even more. It was like a jolly old Santa Dean flew from house to house and stuffed little leftist, godless, tax-and-spend stockings full with most of the goodies on a Liberal’s list. But, some things didn’t make the cut. California appears to be passing Prop 8, rescinding the right to marry that gay and lesbian couples were granted just a short time ago. Florida’s own gay marriage ban passed. The congresswoman I voted for didn’t win. But two major things happened that we should all be ecstatic about. The first one’s obvious. We overwhelmingly elected Barack Obama to the highest office in this democracy, the significance of which I don’t think can be fully understood yet. Eight years of bad policy and complete disregard for the very things that make this a great nation (ahem, like the Constitution) have now been loudly rejected and we can all move on and make things better.

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Photo Courtesy: miamidade.gov

Here’s something everyone should do before Nov 4th (or earlier if you choose early voting) – make sure you’re registered before getting to the polls. From the New York Times, “For this election, voters need to be prepared to fight for their right to cast a ballot. They should try to confirm before Nov. 4 that they are on the rolls — something that in many states can be done on a secretary of state or board of elections Web site. If their state permits it, they should vote early. Any voter who finds that their name has disappeared from the rolls will then have time to challenge mistakes.”

If you live in the electionally-challenged Miami-Dade County, you can check your status here (all you need is your name, your DOB and your house number).

If you live elsewhere, Google your local or state elections board website. Go online, call, walk in in person. Just don’t show up at the polls and get turned away.

The New York Time’s advice if you find your name is missing?

“If voters find on Election Day that their names are not on the rolls, they should contact a voters’ rights group like Election Protection, at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, or a political campaign, which can advocate for them. They should not, except as a last resort, cast a provisional ballot, since it is less likely to be counted.”

That’s advice worth heeding. Happy voting everyone!

Well, I’m back from the rally. Not sure how all the “live posting” worked out, but it was fun to be able to share in real time. It took hours and hours to get in, but it was well worth it. Obama was really firing on all cylinders and had the huge crowd going. He touched on all the same points you’ve been hearing ad naseum on TV, but hearing the speech in person was really energizing. And the turnout was really inspiring too. I’m excited about this election, and I’m even more excited to be in Florida for this.

Death and taxes. Ah, the old saying. But hey, at least you can calculate the latter. So, how does all of this “95% of working Americans” campaing-speak really affect you? Well, granted, it’s a calculator from a campaign site, so it’s just a gimmick, but it does help to put into personal terms what the Obama camp is proposing. Check out the calculator in the right-hand sidebar and find out how much money you’ll save by voting Obama into office. And then feel free to donate any portion of it to yours truly.

Hilarious adj. /hɪˈlɛəriəs, -ˈlær-, haɪ-/ The notion that one can continue to trail in the popular vote and delegate count, while loosing pledged Super Delegates and making quasi-rational arguments for seating the Florida and Michigan delegates, as a means to receive the Democratic nomination. She sure is one Hilarious Clinton.

Who am I to weigh in on this? No one in particular. But I feel I can at least point out that today’s New York Times article, titled “For McCain, Self-Confidence On Ethics Poses Its Own Risks“, is crap journalism. The article is a multi-threaded account of McCain’s past improprieties and a thinly veiled allegation of infidelity and hypocrisy. It is largely unsourced, and whatever references are cited (notably regarding the juicy stuff) are conveniently anonymous. I’m irritated by this type of page-and-a-half speculation because it severely undermines the paper’s credibility and turns it into check-stand trash. Simply because the Weekly World News went out of print doesn’t mean someone needs to take its place.

With some digging around, I have come across some interesting assertions regarding the history of the story. Hot Air points back to a Drudge Report article from December that tells of the Times mounting a McCain investigation. There’s a suggestion that The New Republic strong-armed the Times into publishing the piece by threatening to expose their “foot-dragging” on the story and the internal politics in the newsroom about whether or not to publish. Quite frankly, foot-dragging and debate about whether or not to publish doesn’t seem like news, but rather smart journalism – if you can’t back a story, keep it out of the paper until you can. But, the New York Times hates that kind of criticism. It appears that it’s the McCain camp that is accusing The New Republic of forcing the story, which I think lends merit to the theory. Regardless, this is all speculation – and I’m somewhat out of my element to speculate on such matters (plus, I don’t usually give much credence to anything Hot Air, or Drudge has to say).

All of this aside, it looks like McCain is getting taken for a bit of a ride. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t vote for him (or any Repub I’ve ever seen, for that matter). I’m more upset with the Times than I am sympathetic with their victim. This is soap opera politics at its finest, and I’m sure there are sinister goings on.

I don’t know. Thoughts? Do you think we’ll be hearing about this until November or do you think it’s no news/dead news?

UPDATE – It looks like the TNR story about the story is online. It’s an interesting read.

Hello all. I realize I have done a terrible job of keeping things tidy and up to date around here lately, and for that I sincerely apologize. Of course, it would be ridiculous to completely fill you in on everything that’s been going on, so I’ll condense the key points and present them in the form of bulleted briefs.

• Happy Super Tuesday, first of all. The latest I heard was that Obama’s pulled to an early 13 point lead over Hillary in California, but it’s not even 12pm PST right now and there’s a long way to go. Fingers crossed for the big day, though.
• Secondly, Happy Fat Tuesday. Because I’m in Miami, and not in New Orleans or Rio, there’s not much for me to say on the subject. For my British friends, enjoy your pancakes.
• I’ve been dating an absolutely wonderful girl for about a month now, and I have to say I’m very happy and excited. There are more remarkable things about her than I could reasonably fit in here, but I will say that she speaks Japanese (way cool), has a razor-sharp sense of humor, and is gorgeous. I’m a lucky dude.
• I made it back to Portland a couple of weeks ago for a weekend ski trip with Julie (the absolutely wonderful girl). It was an awesome, impulsive, thrilling and relaxing thing to do. I’m now a particular fan of last minute trips. I’ll post some photos at some point.
• Speaking of photos, I’ve been trying to shoot more recently. I got a new lens a while ago and I’ve really been trying to step it up a bit. I had a day in the Everglades recently where I got some nice shots, but not much. Then I had the chance to shoot Rachel (see the post below) a week and a half ago. There’ll be more to come. I’m working on moving most of my stuff to Flickr, so that’s where you’ll find any new stuff I post.
• The MINI is doing great – almost ready for it’s 2nd Level I inspection. And I recently noticed my tags are good through February 2009 – so take that Florida, I’m keeping my salmon plates.
• Work is great! Thanks for asking. I’m transitioning from the buying side to the planning side and am coming up on my one year anniversary (that blows my mind). Maybe there’s a new pair of agency flip flops in it for me?
• Oh, and, Comcast can go suck an egg. I’ve had it with them.
• That is all.

I wrote about this same thing a while ago, and I found the same compelling argument in the Oregonian. Here’s what they wrote:

Whether illegal immigrants contribute more in taxes than they use in public services is open to debate, but here’s a general breakdown of taxes they pay and services they can receive:

Taxes: Workers pay taxes depending on how they get around the rules. Workers paid in cash pay taxes on gas, cigarettes and alcohol in Oregon, and on other consumer items in sales tax states. They pay property taxes, as a share of rent or as homeowners. If they use a Social Security number that doesn’t belong to them, they have income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from their paycheck. If they have an Individual Tax Identification Number, they pay income taxes, but they don’t have payroll deductions for Social Security.

Services: Illegal immigrants are not eligible for food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, or college financial aid, but they are treated in emergency rooms, and their children get a K-12 education.

So, I don’t want to hear any more of that burden on taxpayer nonsense. Hell, this stupid fence we’re building along the US-Mexico border is what I call a burden on taxpayers.

Holy three-toed moley! It’s just been reported as fact by everyone’s most trusted technology site (Engadget, duh!) that Florida has just instituted a ban on those good-fer-nuthin e-voting machines. Just the other day I was discussing the fact that my next adventure in voting would resemble an adventure in trying to figure out how to check myself in at the airport using one of those touch-screen pieces of rubbish. Alas, I need worry no longer! Finally, I can take comfort in knowing the good-old butterfly ballot will be used instead (I assume). And that’s one fool-proof piece of technological wonder. Or…uh…damn it! No wait, the article says “optical scan machines.” Phew. That’s what I’m used to, that’s what I want.