New Survey USA Numbers Senate
BackupPundit
Not a ton of news here, but I post in case anyone missed.
June 2006
More Fun With Conservatives
Since Arch is out of town and can’t make light of Petey’s investigations into the homosexual lifestyle, I thought we can examine another right-wing darling: pro-life nurse Jill Stanek.
A couple of weeks ago, Jill posted the following observation:
“Abortion proponents attempting to answer that question should run into a problem. By trying to protect one flank, they’ve exposed another.
“To be consistent, the abortion industry’s definition of when a pregnancy begins should agree with its definition of when it ends. But the two don’t jibe.”
She then argues that the pro-choice stand on abortion procedure bans (what the pro-lifers call “partial-birth-abortion”) is hypocritical.
Well, since when is the end of something the exact converse of its beginning? Following that logic, pro-lifers believe that life begins at conception — the moment when an organism has a full set of chromosones. So, does life end when the chromosones are finally separated? Does that mean that life ends when the last cell containing chromosones has finally decomposed?
There are plenty of other fun logical fallacies in both her post and the original article. Today’s challenge: who can list the most obscure logical fallacy made by Jill.
On a side note: I will give Stanek credit for her willingness to engage in debate with those who disagree. Her exchanges with Eric Zorn are a particularly good example. So, I fully expect Jill to stop by here. Hi, Jill — welcome. Don’t blame Arch for this post; I’m just a lowly guest poster having a bit o’ fun.
UPDATE: I lied about leaving Petey alone today. I found a new technique in reparative therapy that he can investigate:
Christian psychotherapist Richard Cohen, board president of the ex-homosexual education and outreach organization known as Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), is addressing criticism leveled against certain therapy techniques he uses on clients with homosexual desires.
. . .
Cohen’s methods have raised some questions, however; and he has lately taken sharp criticism over a May 23 appearance on Cable News Network (CNN), in which he demonstrated a technique that involves cuddling a male client in his lap.
I’m Not On The List
The Tribune has the full clout list on its web site. (PDF file.)
Coming on the heels of Blagojevich’s clout list, which may or may not be a fake, here’s the question: what about the people left off?
One of the great ironies about the ethics problems faced by Blagojevich is that the big complaint among Democratic operatives in the first year was that they did not have access to state jobs. (Full disclosure: I fall into that category.)
The new administration’s hiring process was chaotic, and many Democrats who has worked with and around state government were locked out. Their names do not appear on the clout list. Conversely, many of the names on the clout list are unknown to long time operatives. And downstaters who had been locked out of state jobs by Republicans complained that they still could not get access to state jobs.
The Daley list, on the other hand, seems to be about right in terms of who should have been “rewarded” after the successful Daley campaign.
In retrospect, it seems that the chaotic hiring should have been the first warning sign of the biggest failure of the Blagojevich administration. Say what you will about his politics, Daley knows how to run the city. Blagojevich, on the other hand, has done a lousy job in the day-to-day running of the state.
It seems that their respective levels of managerial competence can be seen in how they handled their first challenge: who to reward after a successful campaign.
UPDATE: Illinois is not the only place where patronage is being investigated.
2006 Isn’t Even Over Yet: Big Box and 2007
Am I the only one who feels we’re not really in an election year? Virtually every statewide race is pretty much decided and there’s no real chance that either state chamber will switch control. Sure, there are a couple of good congressional races, and the Governor’s race might heat up . . . but really, outside of speculating on John Stroger’s health, there’s not much going on.
So what’s a political junkie to do? This one is going to start speculating about the next election cycle!
We can start with this curious polling:
“Chicagoans overwhelmingly favor wage and benefit standards for Wal-Mart and other “big-box” retailers, even if it places jobs at risk, according to a new poll commissioned by proponents to turn up the heat on the City Council.”
Read More
Go Wild, Illinois!
The politics stuff is a blast — and no doubt, there’s plenty to talk about locally and nationally. But we’ve months for that, and we don’t want to burn out now, do we?
Since it is vacation season, I want to share something with all of my friends outside of the Chicago TV market (as well as the majority within the Chicago TV market that aren’t public television-watching nerds like me).
Wild Chicago’s Illinois Road Trip.
Wild Chicago was a show on WTTW that went dark a few years ago. The hosts, which over the years included eccentric actor Will Clinger and current Illinois Road Trip host Ben Hollis, traveled, mostly throughout the Chicago area and Illinois (though there was some travel to Indiana, Wisconsin and other Midwestern states – I think they may have also gone to Japan), clueing viewers in on the many oddities that exist in our back yards. Info on that show here and here.
Wild Chicago’s Illinois Road trip is in the same vein, but Hollis takes viewers on a journey throughout our great state, stopping along the way to see an idyllic Japanese Garden in Rockford, on a cruise on the Spirit of Peoria, to the Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois, and on a number of other adventures in every part of Illinois.
The show has one major sponsor. And in essence, the show’s a half-hour ad for that sponsor. But it is NOT a commercial production. It’s sincere and the host is wonderfully goofy, complete with safari outfit, pith helmet and bad jokes.
I don’t think it shows outside WTTW’s viewing area, but it may (if anyone knows, please chime in). But the web site’s pretty inclusive.
Check it out.
Slacking…
Apologies to the readers, busy day at work.
To hold you over, the Washington Post has a writeup on wonder boy Barack Obama and presidential ambitions. They should have titled the piece, “Dog Bites Man, Sky Remains Blue, and Pizza Still Delicious” for all the news broken in it.
Like this one.
He recently hired two nationally experienced political consultants, Anita Dunn in Washington and David Axelrod in Chicago.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Axelrod worked for the campaign in 2004. So, how is his hiring new? Annita Dunn is new, but already reported. Oh, and lots of people come see him at fundraisers? He raises lots of money? Again, newsworthy?
However, I’d rather see more stories like that than this one. I’ll have more comment on the latter in a later post.
Check out the Post piece here.
Liberals Smell Blood
Da Speaker will be under scrutiny for a while on this one I’m guessing.
update:
My apologies for missing One Man’s Austin Mayor’s dissection
In the email box this am…
I’m a huge fan of Wikipedia and I signed up to get the article of the day via email mainly so I could get the quotes (although I’ve grown to love pretty much the whole thing).
I thought today’s was good and since it came from one of our great statesmen, I’ll share.
“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.” — Abraham Lincoln
If y’all have a favorite Lincoln quote, why don’t you just go ahead and leave it in the comment section.
You can sign up here for wikipedia article of the day.
Astro Turf Ad is back
ArchPundit
For the real deal on net neutrality take a look at this recent post by Alex over at Congresswoman Schakowsky’s site
Just Say No to Nancy Skinner
I swore I wouldn’t be posting much, but my inbox always seems to get filled when I travel. Anyway, remember that DFA contest for the top 5 get endorsed and $2000. Former talk show host and US Senate Candidate in Illinois, Nancy Skinner is in number 2.
Seriously, there are some actual candidates on that board with a chance. Voting ends tomorrow so make sure to stop by and support John Pavich or the other Illinois candidates or David Loebsack in IA-02