I was listening to Armstrong and Getty on the radio this morning when they made a pretty good point. Today is Columbus Day, a holiday that many consider to be one of the most pointless holidays of the entire year. After all Columbus didn’t discover anything, people were already here, and he wasn’t that good of a person by all accounts. So why do we have an official government holiday for him ? Certainly one of the main reasons is Italian pride, and that is understandable, but why not...

Today is National Coming Out Day, a date set aside for people to come out to their families and friends and for those family and friends to be supportive of those they love. Given the events of the past few weeks, ranging from the tragic suicides of young gay people who were bullied by peers to the horrific kidnap and torture case in New York City I think that this year it is even more important that we all mark this day, regardless of our personal sexual preferences. This is not simply a day for...

Interesting article here about how Arkansas may be going through a major shift this year. According to the story some legislative seats that have been solidly D since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870′s are now tossups. Arkansas has remained largely Democratic at the local level despite voting GOP for President, and this could be the tipping point (much as some areas of New england shifted in 2006 and 2008)

I never thought I’d be writing a post like this but Paladino’s latest idiotic and frightening comments are just too much for me. I can accept that different people feel different ways on issues of sexuality but there is a line that cannot or should not be crossed. Saying that you don’t approve of certain behavior is one thing, but making comments like he did this weekend are just too much, especially when they come only days after the horrific events in New York City itself, and...

Probable new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a major North Korean rally, offering further proof that he is destined to take over for his ailing father. Under most circumstances the potential succession in a demented nation like North Korea would be of little import to the outside world, but with Kim Jong Beiber having possible control over nuclear weapons, it is well worth our attention.

Two top figures in the Nevada GOP have endorsed Harry Reid, saying that Sharon Angle is simply too out of the mainstream to represent the state in the US Senate. Former First Lady Dema Gunn and State Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio both backed Reid. To be fair, Raggio has a history with Angle, who challenged his re-election in 2008 and Angle feuded with then Governor Gunn for being a ‘RINO’. Gunn, who died in July was a moderate. In addition, Raggio’s endorsement was particularly...

Although I expect him to win the mere fact that there is a poll showing Dingell trailing in what has been a solidly Democratic district is telling. Between them, he and his father have represented the district for going on 80 years and the seat has never really been in play.

Bank of America has announced they will be halting foreclosures in all 50 states. This follows up on reports last week they would stop them in about 25 of the 50. The problems stem from the fact that in states where judicial foreclosure is required the lender has to formally verify the documentation that they own the loan/etc. It seems that the banks had been winking and nodding at the process, just signing off on the paperwork without properly reviewing things. In states like California the formal...

In another campaign blunder in a season filled with them (on a very bipartisan basis) an aide to Jerry Brown suggested calling opponent Meg Whitman a whore. The discussion was caught accidentally on a voice mail with a police union. When I first heard this story I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. So some aide in a room somewhere made some comment about Whitman. But then I heard the audio (available in the linked article) and it turns out Brown was in the room at the time and didn’t...

President Obama has used a pocket veto to reject a bill that critics say could loosen standards for foreclosure in states where judicial foreclosure is the law. The bill was intended to clear up a relatively modest legal issue, whether one state would recognize notarizations from other states. But critics are worried that this could allow banks to short cut the process of foreclosure by not properly reviewing lending documents. The question now is how the bill managed to sail through Congress so...

Chris Colfer of Glee has a message for us all The last few weeks have been tragic, and good for him for speaking out. It DOES get better folks !

The latest update from RCP shows the projected Senate at 50/50. I remain skeptical as to the extent of the GOP win next month but it looks like things could be very interesting

Jack Kelly has an interesting article up on RCP about the number of minorities running for office as Republicans in 2010 as well as the general lack of media attention. I do think he has a point. Admittedly some of them have no chance of winning, but you would think that with our first black President that having black Republicans running for office would be worthy of some discussion.

In perhaps the least surprising move in Chicago political history, former Congressman and White House COS Rahm Emmanuel has announced he is running for mayor of Chicago. At this point I am not sure what his chances are. On the surface he certainly has lots of political connections and probably will have the unofficial backing of the Daley machine. But if the black vote unites behind one candidate that could make it difficult in a Democratic primary. In addition Emmanuel has certainly made enemies...

The woman is a Goddess of Music

This is a truly tragic story and one that demonstrates just how cruel some people can be. An 18 year old student at Rutgers college reportedly killed himself after some fellow students recorded him having sex with a man and broadcast it on the internet. Tyler Clementi was by all accounts a gentle, kind and talented music student, one who was very sensitive about things and who was humiliated by the crude jokes that went with the event. I would think even the most callous person would find this horrifying,...

Still one of the best scenes in all of movies, and I do agree that nobody here is acting.

As readers of my posts will know I have plenty of reasons to be critical of President Obama. I disagree with him on a number of issues and would probably not vote for his re-election. Having said that I am begging, pleading and praying that people will finally shut up about him being a Muslim. He’s been quite plain about the fact that he is a Christian. Indeed during the 2008 campaign one of the issues used against him by his critics was that he attended a Christian church with a radical pastor....

With tighter economic times people are looking for every way possible to save every penny they can and given my work I am obviously in touch with people trying to economize. One topic of recent interest to me was just how much the average person spends on food every day. I read a study that said the figure is in the $ 5 to $ 7 range and that seemed somehow low, so I decided to run the math and see if it works and to my surprise I found that not only does it work but that the lower figures may well...

No, this isn’t a reference to his mental stability, or serious lack thereof, but rather the growing speculation that he is probably quite ill. Analysts say that his decision to make the moves to designate Kim Jong Un as his successor may be a sign that he is quite near death. Under normal circumstances the death of a crazy monster like Kim Jong Il would be only of mild interest as to just which circle of Hell he is destined to inhabit and how the reunion with his dad would go. But with North...