September 2003

Updated Blogroll

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

To the Left you’ll notice some new links,

Most importantly,
Greg Easterbrook probably my favorite environmental writer and a man of incredible Breadth has started a blog at The New Republic. He writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback at ESPN.com, and a column at Beliefnet (which appears to be dormant) as well as his normal work at TNR and Atlantic Monthly.

The post that stuck out was his post concerning the ignoring of Bob Riley’s motivation for calling for a tax increase. Greg argues it is due to anti-Christian bias in the media. I’m not so sure. I think the media is very uncomfortable with reporting religious matters unless it is salacious—pretty much like most stories. Religion isn’t purposely ignored, but it does not usually fit into a neat soundbite.

To make matters worse, no matter what they report, the media is blasted for it.

Other additions (some are recent),
TNR Primary
Open Source Politics
Drug War Rant
The Right Christians
Real Live Preacher
Musclehead
Pacific View
MC Master Chef
The Left Coaster

And at the bottom of the page, the expanded blog roll

Tyler Goes to Phonak

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

After a stunning Tour de France, Tyler Hamilton is going to Phonak Cycling Team

And now, some of you may be scratching your head asking why I would leave the comfort of CSC to go to Phonak. And the answer why, is almost the same as when I left the U.S. Postal Service. They have offered me the opportunity to challenge myself on a new level. Phonak is an up and coming team that has been growing little by little each year. Next year, they are serious about wanting to compete in the Tour de France for the first time. They have restructured their entire team around this goal, and they have asked me to be their leader. It’s every rider’s dream to have this kind of support and this kind of opportunity. The Phonak roster is being overhauled with the Tour de France as the central focus. You may not recognize all the names at first, but there are some strong guys coming on board who will lend big talent in the mountains and in events like the team time trial. And they are all signing on with a clear understanding and motivation toward the team’s vision for next season.

Who was the last American to go to a mediocre team and lead it to victory?

Okay, so Tyler’s a bit older.

In other cycling news, Fred Rodriguez came in 4th today and two Postal Riders are in the top 5 overall:

1 Isidro Nozal (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 33.57.41
2 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 1.48
3 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 2.01
4 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3.05
5 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 3.28

What’s interesting is that the 19th stage includes two tough climbs and then a time trial. This race should be close to the end and Postal has two climbers near the top.

Lotta Clusterf&%#ing

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Instead of trying to catch everyone up on John Lott’s latest nonsense myself, Kevin Drum has nicely summarized the more recent developments in Tim Lamberts’ righteous crusade to unmask Lott’s prevarications.

The simple question to Lott is why did he stop correcting for clustering in the observations. Hear the silence?

CHRIS LEHANE RESIGNS FROM KERRY CAMPAIGN…

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Sweet. Maybe he can find himself a job outside of Democratic Politics.

Headline from Drudge.

Eating Your Own

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Norquist himself lays down the gauntlet against Republicans by insisting they can’t win and raise taxes.

The California recall election on Oct. 7 will give us further evidence of the power of the tax issue in the general electorate and for Republican candidates. Democratic Gov. Gray Davis probably signed his political death warrant when he tripled the car tax through an executive order. And on the Republican side, Arnold Schwarzenegger is refusing — as Alabama’s Gov. Riley did — to sign the no-tax-hike pledge, thus leaving the door open to tax hikes in case of an "emergency." This has allowed state Republican Sen. Tom McClintock, with little name recognition or money, to hold onto 10 percent to 15 percent of the vote — enough to keep Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante ahead in the polls.

And that is a good thing for Republicans? Okay. Keep it up.

Excellent Book Review

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Diane at Know Body Knows Anything reviews School of Dreams–I haven’t read it, but it is the rare review that makes me want to read something–and I want to read it now.

Don’t Miss the Krugman Piece on Norquist

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Krugman did a piece on Norquist and the Tax Cut-Con in Sunday’s New York Times. It does a good job laying out the basic economic questions and the problem of relying on ‘cutting waste’.

Combine that with Ed Kilgore’s article from Blueprint and the stark reality of what society would look like under a Norquist vision should become clear.

The reality is that if you want to run an information based economy, education and infrastructure are key–there won’t be much of either under Norquist’s plan.

New Trier Blues

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

New Trier’s population strongly supports the schools, but last year it was put on the financial watch list. This was a strange comparison given many other school districts were facing dire choices and New Trier was facing a world class education versus a not quite world class education, but better than the rest of the state.

With the new tax bill passed, they are now reducing the tax take for next year. Too bad they can’t send that to some rural districts.

Wright Joins the GOP Party

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

While ailing I missed the original stories, but Jonathan Wright has joined the GOP Senate Primary Field. He has never been elected to any post before, though he served as an appointed State House. His primary claim to fame is being staunchly pro-life, but in a crowded field of pro-lifers, he’s unlikely to go anywhere.

What Is Steve Neal Smoking?

ArchPundit September 15, 2003 No Comments

Apparenlty fumbling around for a topic to write about, he suggested that Daley endorse Obama.

Uhhh…yeah. And if Daley wasn’t Daley….
Maybe he should start writing What if books.