Somebody is BITTER.

Where were these people in May 2007 when their legislature changed the date of their primary?
Go to bed. Everyone.

"How Sticky is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free"

Notice, without a sense of irony:

"“I thought it was kind of strange that they save your information without telling you in a really clear way,” said Magnus Wallin, a 26-year-old patent examiner in Stockholm who founded a Facebook group, “How to permanently delete your facebook account.” The group has almost 4,300 members and is steadily growing."

Current spin: ( )

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080802112.html?hpid=topnews

The inevitable consequence of the primary campaign frenzy beginning so early this season is that the primaries themselves will get pushed earlier and earlier. The incentives to do so are at least twofold: 1) A state with an earlier primary receives more prestige from press coverage and the all-important appearance of being "relevant;" the states attempt to prove their significance on the national political scene by simple changes on the calendar, thus proving how arbitrary any such importance is. 2) All sorts of money gets dumped in to a key state's economy (i.e. Iowa, New Hampshire) during primary season: TV ads, paid staff, increased restaurant revenue, etc. So now, South Carolina is telling us that it is so fucking important that it will hold its primary on January 19th, and this was brought about by Florida trying to push its primary ahead of South Carolina's by 4 days; the Post says this is part of the competition to be "First in the South." First in the South?
So, there are obvious ramifications for the New Hampshire primary (first in the nation, assholes), which had a tentative date of January 22nd. Frankly, guys, New Hampshire just doesn't give a fuck. Last election the primary was on the 27th and in 2000, February 1st. In fact, the state law is that the primary must always be first in the country. (Here's an interesting thought: what if South Carolina or Florida passed such a law? Neat!). Universally beloved Secretary of State Bill Gardner has promised not to make a decision until fall, probably, but we know it will be January 12th or earlier.
This is stupid.
Another inevitable consequence of the earlier and earlier frenzy of primary bullcrap is voter apathy. This Gallup Poll shows that the percent of democrats "extremely likely" to vote in their primary went down 6 points from July, and the percent "not likely" to vote at all increased by 2. This is a small sample, and not a very big shift, but it's early still. We still have at least four more months (god willing) and 67 debates/forums and 93,642 TV commercials and 890 mailings and 133canvassers until the first primary actually happens; then, it will presumably all be decided on February 5th, when 1433 delegates (democratic primary) and like a million states vote. So then, that's only about 6 months until the convention (which will most likely not be decisive), and then another 3 months until the actual election. As WMUR painfully reminds us, there are still 453 days until the actual election. 453 DAYS!

My guess is we have about 500 days until the 2012 Iowa Caucus.


Deep breaths...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/washington/15child.html

The White House said on Saturday that President Bush would veto a bipartisan plan to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program, drafted over the last six months by senior members of the Senate Finance Committee.

The program, which insured 7.4 million people at some time in the last year, is set to expire Sept. 30.
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHWHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!

KIDS!
HEALTH INSURANCE!
KIDS WITH HEALTH INSURANCE!
IN WHAT WAY IS THAT OBJECTIONABLE?
The purported objections:
-an increase in the cigarette tax (boohoo the reason this is an issue is because republicans/politicians in general are propped up by tobacco money)
-that increasing the plan's coverage will cause people to drop their private coverage in favor of the government program (guess what the insurance industries give their money to republicans too)



i hate george w. bush.

but you know what i don't hate?

cows and cats on farms.

Hey Iowa,
If you have so much corn why is it so hard to find vegetables in your state's restaurants?

meatmeatmeatmeat
meat

My trip to the Giuliani headquarters with Taylor was unsuccessful, yet eventful. The passenger van and two Escalades out front were indicative of something unusual afoot. We entered and spoke to two sharply dressed, confused twenty-somethings who informed us that the Mayor himself was in a meeting and about to head to a speech, and that there would be no one in the office to respond to our suspicious inquiries. Being a shaggy-haired college student in a Republican campaign office is like the first day of middle school; everyone looks at you funny and nobody wants to be friends. It seemed to me that our friends in the Grand Old Party were a bit distrustful of our stated intentions, and may have been more accommodating had we donned well-pressed suits with pin stripes. Feeling despondent and dejected, we decided to wait outside in what was quickly becoming a sadistically humid and sweltering day, hoping to at least get a photo with the candidate to serve as defense of our unique situation. Rudy was running about an hour late apparently, and we were going to have to be quick. Apparent big wigs with good grooming, beaming, sauntered past us after confused and awkward glances, and then Mr. Giuliani himself. “Mr. Mayor,” I pleaded, “could we get a couple pictures real quick?” Unenthused, he complied while his aides reminded us what super big hurry this super important gentleman was in. The photos were snapped without incident, and that concluded my visit with Rudy Giuliani.

I went to a Subway sandwich shop today to get a Subway sandwich; inside, on the wall, to the right of the cash register was a framed certificate stating that the location won the award for cleanliness in 1995. Upon reading this, I carefully calculated how many years it has been since 1995. Satisfied, I ordered my sandwich.




Today in class ( a summer class about the presidency and the primaries and other such business) we were looking at some polls some dude (dr. dude) had done. I don't understand why the polls on primary candidates for president are including people like Chuck Hagel, George Pataki, Wesley Clark, and Als Gore and Sharpton. Their respective non-candidacies and non-campaigns make their inclusion in these and other polls somewhat puzzling. Is it just because they haven't ruled it out? I don't get it. Wayne Brady hasn't dismissed a 2008 bid. Political polling is supposed to be scientific and as precise as possible. Hey people-who-do-polling, why not only ask people if they're going to vote for who's running for president? It would be a big help.