Archive for: October 2007

I really miss blogging, but I had to cut some activity in my life temporarily and this website was the most expendable. I’ll still drop in every now and then when something catches my eye, so don’t leave me for good. I’m also told this semester will end some time so eventually I should be back in full swing.

In the meantime, though, I thought this would be super neato.

Daily Dixie Stats!

Days online: 620 days
Total posts written: 1,838
Average posts per day: 2.96
Comments left: 8,832
Average comments per day: 14.24
Posts written by Dan: 1,713 (93% of total)
Hours Dan has spent posting: 571 hrs (assuming a modest average of 20 min per post)
Days Dan has spent posting: 23.8 days
Hours Dan will spend in class this semester: 184 hrs
Semesters worth of class time Dan has spent posting: 3.1
Money Dan has made with website, subtracting expenses: $220
Dan’s blogging wage: $0.38 an hour

Montgomery Advertiser: Attorney general incites critics with decisions

Seriously, this guy could be the next governor.

Trip Pittman (R) beat out A.J. Cooper (D) for Senate District 32 with an impressive 86% of the vote yesterday. He was expected to win, but that wide of a majority surprised me.

Earlier this year, Pittman beat out State School Board member Randy McKinney in a special primary election. The special elections were set to fill the seat vacated by Bradley Byrne who resigned in order to become chancellor of the two-year college system.

US Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Vestavia) did a one day fast for international debt relief. He also sponsored legislation for the same effect, which is probably more practical.

Bachus is getting soft in his old age.

It was something of a dream job too. They wanted me to do a weekly blog (or vlog) on the Presidential election starting in February (once the major parties had all but selected their nominees). It wasn’t that special — there will apparently be one from each state, so I would have covered it from an Alabama perspective. Being MTV News, it would have also been a youth perspective.

There were issues. I can’t say I hold MTV News in high esteem, and my content would have been limited and restricted by editors. There was a little bit of money involved, but not enough to make me gung-ho and be willing to sacrfice more school time. Still, a paid political blogging job is on my Top 5 Dream Jobs list. Here’s the list (in no particular order):

1. Paid political blogger - Can either be paid directly for the blogging or something like Andrew Sullivan where I blog for free, but it gives me exposure for being a syndicated columnist.
2. Any kind of business owner - I know owning a business takes more work than most people realize, but I like the idea of being independent and running things on my terms (because I’m usually the smartest person in the room).
3. Contract lobbyist - This might not work out as well as I would like, but it’d be nice to advocate for things for money instead of for free. It’s also a lucrative field, but hard to start out in as a for-hire lobbyist. Obvious drawback is that you’re seen as inherently evil.
4. Engineer - Life-long calling of sorts. Satisfies my desire to create things and solve problems in much the same way as 2 and 3 do, but also let’s me do some math problems for money.
5. Politician or staffer - I don’t really see a big difference between the two except that a politician has to be more of a salesman. If I were ever magically elected to office, however, I would probably never be re-elected because I would find principles much more satisfying than re-election. I know you all say that’s what you want, but I fail to see it.

So I had an “in” for my Number 1, but I had to let it go. I’m taking 17 hours, man. Next semester isn’t looking too much easier. These days, I can’t even find time to keep my own blog up to date, how could I keep up with their demands? It sucks, but I have to focus on one thing for once in my life. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

And I wept.

Try this one on for size. Who said it?

The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. […] Internet users have proven it time after time, by personally and publicly replicating information that is threatened with destruction or censorship. If you now consider the Net to be not only the wires and machines, but the people and their social structures who use the machines, it is more true than ever.

Guess in comments. No cheating. This one is harder.

Who said it? This is a gimmie if you’re well-read:

There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps… then turn around and see somebody white an feel relieved.

Guess in comments. No cheating.

Being a brewer is one of my dream jobs. Independence Brewery in Austin, TX makes this once a year.

At $2.25 a piece, Oklahoma Suks is a little pricier than a standard beer, but it’s for a special occasion.

The Independence Brewery will keep making the beer as long as the demand is high but only for 10 days a year.

“If we can pull the game off Saturday and get a win, the beer tastes better,” Patton said.

Olde Towne in Huntsville could probably make some money off of a joint “Alabama Sucks” and “Auburn Sucks” venture released before the Iron Bowl. Well, they might need to call the first one “UA sucks” so people don’t get the wrong idea. He could even hold a competition just before the Iron Bowl to see which label sells more beer.

• John McCain may be the comeback kid. He was also the only person asked who really defended free trade.

• Mitt Romney looked the most superficially “Presidential,” and it’s interesting to hear a Republican Presidential contender talk about how he can bring universal health care, even if his plan is less socialist than some Democrats’ plan.

• Rudy Giuliani made the least sense most of the time. The “message of hope” and selling health care just didn’t connect with me, but that’s me. I have to admit, though, that he probably got some emotional points from voters by bringing up 9/11 against Ron Paul.

• If Fred Thompson wins the nomination, it’s not because he looked intelligent in this debate (I was holding my breath when they asked him who the Prime Minister of Canada was — he got it right though). He’s good at making witty comments, though. And to be fair, it’s his first Presidential debate.

• I thought Mike Huckabee looked really good and it was nice to see him get a few questions. I’m telling ya. This guy could be the nominee.

• Ron Paul seemed deliberately marginalized, and declaring that he wouldn’t support a Republican nominee who was pro-war may hurt him. I liked it, though.

• I barely realized that Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo were there except that Tancredo can apparently make “illegal immigration” relevant to any question.

Representative Mike Ball, a favorite here at Daily Dixie, discusses his childhood and his role in the newly created Alabama House Task Force on Poverty.

I like this one. I’ve recently been called a Constitutional fundamentalist, and this would have been a nice rebuttal to have on my mind.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Who said it? Don’t cheat. Five bonus points if you can tell me who he was paraphrasing.

Handicapped early as a fringe candidate, Ron Paul’s third quarter fundraising totals exceeded $5 million. Although that’s no where near the Democrats, among Republicans this year that puts him in the same tier as Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney (especially if you subtract Romney’s personal funds).

Throughout this election I’ve been trying to guess the respective Republican and Democratic nominees. I don’t consider how well I personally like them, I just like to see if I can pick the winner. It’s an interesting game because there are issues of momentum that aren’t reflected in polls, and more subtle issues.

For example, I just don’t think the Republicans will nominate Rudy Giuliani. Right now he’s leading in the polls, but eventually the base is going to really look into it and the guy is less “conservative” than I am — by anyone’s definition. Besides, I don’t like betting on the obvious choice. I prefer to buy undervalued stocks for cheap. I may lose money, but I didn’t invest much to begin with.

As for the former POW, I won’t say John McCain has zero chance, but I wouldn’t bet money on it at this point. It’s interesting to note that Cam Ward, a local in the Alabama blogosphere, has finally came off the “uncommitted list” and is now a delegate for McCain.

Mitt Romney may end up being the least of all evils for Republicans. He’d be worth a gamble. Of the top 3, he is the most Reagan-esque in every superficial way, and that’s apparently important. He won’t carry some of the traditional Republican strongholds like Alabama, though, and that will make it interesting. He’s polling badly here, perhaps even bad enough to lose Alabama’s 9 electoral votes in a general election. Unless, of course, Hillary is the Democrat.

Fred Thompson, although having the most delegates sign up in Alabama, is someone I just don’t know about. I’ve been negligent in my news-watching since he’s made it official. I just don’t have enough information to see how well he could do. I know I know. I’ve seen the polls, but those things are only one part of the equation at this point. I’m not saying he isn’t the clear winner, I just haven’t done my research.

Most of the second-tier candidates have no chance as far as I can tell with two exceptions — Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. I, obviously, am a big Paul fan. I used to think Huckabee would be the Republican nominee — a great undervalued stock I thought would pay huge dividends in the near future. But his third quarter fundraising is estimated to be around $1 million, and his Iowa straw poll results don’t seem to have done much for him outside Iowa. He could still make a from-behind victory, but it’s seemingly less likely.

It’s hard for me to be objective about Paul, but at this point I say he has a decent shot. It’ll take more than the $5 million charm, but it’s possible. He has a lot going for him, besides being against the war from the start (he voted against it unlike some other candidates who are now anti-war). Along with Huckabee, he’s considered honest and authentic, and believe it or not his conservative credentials would make many of his opponents blush. He’s even more Barry Goldwater than Barry Goldwater was in the 1960s. The best chance Ron Paul has, though, is the current field of candidates — from both parties. Republican voters, with a possible exception of Fred Thompson, just don’t have many alternatives, and there are many reasons to suspect he’s the only Republican who could beat Hillary Clinton, especially when it comes to the war.

So there, I said it. Ron Paul has a legitimate, albeit distant, shot at being the Republican nominee for President in 2008. He’s worth an investment:

In my other thread on the Congressional District 2 race being wide open I mentioned that State Senator Harri Anne Smith is considering the bid. This became the debate within the comments of the Daily Dixie Readers - hitting almost 40 response. A majority of the debate was between those stating that the Senator from Slocomb, Alabama has plans to run for CD2 or that she is not going to do it.

Well now we know she is definitively considering the run:

Smith flirted with a gubernatorial run two years ago, but backed out and supported Bob Riley when the incumbent governor announced he would seek re-election. Smith also said it was too early to discuss her qualifications because she had not made an official decision to run, but she did say she was giving it strong consideration. Smith’s voting record as a state senator is strongly conservative.

I have been involved in Republican State politics for a few years now and I can assure that you if Senator Smith wants this seat, she will win it. Charles Nailen will be a tough competition but he does not have the experience or grassroots capacity that Sen. Smith does. With that said, Gov. Riley and Congressman Everett were both great businessman who hired great Campaign Staff to organize and win. We will have to see what Nailen does, because at this point if Senator Smith wants to run, it is her’s for the taken.

Also, please do not start throwing out Democrats who are running as we all know there is no chance for them to take this seat in that area….

I really enjoy reading John Stossel. My favorite part of this piece:

HSA critics ask whether individual accounts will encourage people to save money at the expense of their health.

Mackey has the right response. “The premise in those kinds of questions is that people are stupid. They’re not smart enough to make these decisions for themselves. It’s sort of an elitist attitude.

That exactly how I think about it. Let’s be straightforward on this. It’s pretty arrogant to assume that you know what’s better for another person. If you go to the next step, as many Presidential candidates would like to, your justified in forcing them into your government health system because you’re smarter than they are and it’s for their own good. That’s beyond arrogance. It’s tyranny.

You’re not an “isolationist” just because you don’t want to invade other counties without serious consideration, or because you don’t think we should continue to spend billions and billions of dollars to occupy Europe, Japan and the Korean peninsula. Instead, we call that “Waking up and realizing it’s not 1950 anymore.”

The news broke Monday, but I’ve been the busy bee. He was already suspended from the bench for many ethical accusations. It isn’t clear if his resignation will affect his scheduled trial before the Court of the Judiciary.

• H/T Doc’s Political Parlor 

Actually, I could. That’s the sad part. This sounds like something that I would make up.

State Sen. Charles Bishop, a Jasper Republican who gained wide notice for a videotaped punch he threw at a Democratic colleague on the Senate floor, received a trophy of a boxer from Calhoun County Republicans.

Bishop, who has said Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe called him a “son of a bitch” before being hit in the face, was honored at the GOP meeting Monday night for his “defending of womankind.”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I did, after all, witness first-hand the standing applause Republicans across the state gave to Senator Bishop just a little over a week after the incident. Apparently punching a Democrat is highly praised among Alabama Republicans. I wouldn’t have a problem with some humor like, “If Democrats block this ethics bill they’ll have to answer to Bishop.”

But you Republicans are apparently giving your official praise for a state senator punching another state senator on the senate floor, at least as long as the one doing the punching is from your party and the one being punched is a leader from the opposing party.