digamma.net - notes

My glasses are at the bottom of the lake. I don’t expect any change in that condition. Hopefully I’ll have my backups sent to me from Philly tomorrow. Until then, using the computer is a chore, so I can’t post about the Gin Blossoms show on Sunday night.

Quick plug: Party 93.1 FM

I’ve been looking for a good dance station on the Internet ever since the greatest radio station in America went offline. Party 93.1 has a display of every song they’ve played in the last 48 hours, searchable by artist, title, and time played. I am a happy man. The only downside is that you have to listen on a Windows Media stream, but I suspect it’ll work under Linux in Streamcast.

Thanks to about.com for the link.

Whenever you think Berkeley can’t outdo itself, it does.

And if I learned one thing at Rutgers, it’s that the view from the outside never does justice to a university’s true insanity.

I sent that to a coworker and he responded: The Church of Christ strikes back! There is so much gold in this essay, but I leave you with this:

Liberals tend to downplay the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins. Some will try to expand their definition of a Christian to anyone who has been immersed. Some of the even more radical among the liberals who claim that even those who have been sprinkled are Christians.

Yeah, I think that’s the subject of Noam Chomsky’s latest book.

So, about the Dean opening this morning.

Just to reiterate, it was the official opening of Dean’s Upper Valley headquarters in Lebanon, NH. And looking at the official blog, you wouldn’t know it happened.

So here are my observations, each in its own nutshell:

• It seemed to be a crowd of your average person with an interest in politics - very little spiked hair, and no Che Guevara T-shirts. It was about as racially diverse as any political event in the North Country gets. (What was it Dusty Baker said about New Hampshire?)
  
• Minor technicality: I noticed he opened his criticisms of Bush by referring to him as “The President". And he didn’t pronounce it as if it had quotes around it. I call that classy - saying things like “the so-called President” won’t get you anywhere.
  
• Dean’s discussion of the need for an international peacekeeping force also took a fair tone. Responding to questions of postwar Iraq with “we shouldn’t have been there in the first place” accomplishes nothing.
  
• He said flat out, “Republicans can’t handle money.” If this becomes a meme (whatever the hell that is) it could be a winner.
  
• “Borrow and spend - Bush must have been a Democrat in the 1960’s.” Heh, as they say.
  
• “A balanced budget is necessary for social justice.” I like it.
  
• “Bush’s model is apparently Argentina - we can do better than that.”
  
• Dean actually used the phrase “fiscally conservative, socially progressive". I suspect that line will get dropped from the routine before long.”
  
• “We won’t promise everything to everybody.” Gutsy.
  

As I’ve said before, I’m not endorsing the guy, or anyone else. But I have to say I am extremely impressed by the professionalism of his campaign.

UPDATE: It’s on the blog now.

I went to the Dean HQ opening, but I’m working right now so I’ll write about that later.

But I must say this: if you’re in New Hampshire tonight at 8 PM, tune in to The Exchange on NHPR, and hear (a rerun of) extremely creepy people who have banned smoking in Maine, and couldn’t care less about those who’ve lost their livelihood as a result.

Tom Tomorrow wants you to buy his book. I’ve been a fan of his since my days as a lonely high school student in Philadelphia whose only joy in life was City Paper, so, as the man says, I order you to buy it. (I’m not cool enough to have a system whereby I get paid for referrals, so go use his.)

OK, I admit the original cover was better.

Once again, Eric Alterman:

The 2000 election was a catastrophe from which this country may never recover. What have we learned? Um, nothing. Greens are leaning toward backing Bush, again.

Hey Eric, did you think it was fair when Glenn Reynolds et al referred to opponents of Gulf War II as “pro-Saddam"?

Me either.

Radley Balko has (for the time being, at least) given up on Howard Dean, due to his drug policies. My favorite part:

It’s pretty sad when you resign yourself to a standards-lowing, no-other-options protest vote – and have to hold your breath, plug your nose and get sloppy drunk to bring yourself to even that – and the candidate you’ve reluctantly come to support still finds a way to disappoint.

Much like the last Democrat to unseat a President Bush, Radley feels my pain. That said, the primary is the issue right now, and the decisions we have to make aren’t the same as the ones we’ll have to make in November.

I’m a huge defender of independent candidacies, but in a one-party primary, it seems to me that there’s nothing to lose by picking the “least evil". And although I’m not cheerleading for him yet, I’m still leaning towards Dean - only because of his electability, his 2nd Amendment policies, and his eloquent opposition to the Iraq war.

Tomorrow’s the official opening of Dean’s Upper Valley office, right here in Lebanon. I’m thinking of going just to observe what “sort of people” show up. The difference between a crowd of McDonald’s-smashers and a hodgepodge of interested parties tends to be obvious. Cme to think of it, I’ve got some exposures left on a roll of film I should have developed in May. Maybe I’ll try photoblogging it.

Via Zoe Mitchell I’ve discovered Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana. Boy, that sounds a lot like me. These folks give Dean an ‘F’. Ouch. To save you a few mouse clicks, here are their grades for all the candidates:

• Dennis Kucinich: A
  
• John Kerry: B+
  
• Bob Graham: c-
  
• Joe Lieberman: D+
  
• Dick Gephardt: D
  
• John Edwards: D-
  
• George W. Bush: F
  
• Howard Dean: F
  
• Carol Moseley-Braun: ?
  
• Al Sharpton: Incomplete

So Kucinich is their guy. Duly noted. Frankly, I think the combination of a socialist like Dennis Kucinich and a Republican Congress might be the best the country could do. The Republicans were a lot tougher on government spending when they saw it as Clinton’s fault - 3/4 of his domestic agenda would die on the House floor. Kucinich has no foreign policy, which is why Bush would eat him alive in November, but assuming he COULD get elected, what could he possibly do to make us less safe? It’s worth thinking about, but I don’t know if I could really hold my nose and support a guy like this.

At any rate, it’s way too early to endorse or to write off any candidate. Even Sharpton - at least he’s got a sense of humor.

So I’m watching This Week in Baseball on FOX today, featuring guest host Jennie Finch. It only took me about 5 minutes on the official Jennie Finch web site to find this gem:

Tim, New Brunswick, NJ

You are the most gorgeous softball player I have EVER seen. I was just wondering, have you ever considered posing nude? Please say yes. If so, under what circumstance, and for what magazine?

On the banks of the old Raritan, my friend, where old Rutgers ever more shall stand….