Ontario Empoblog

Victoria Gardens - Not Slimy, But Satisfying The advantage of Victoria Gardens is that it is mostly outdoors. The disadvantage of Victoria Gardens is that it is mostly outdoors. (It does rain here at times.) The place is a bizarre juxtaposition of the modern and the ( justified and) ancient. Murals of soda fountains and fake 1900-era building fronts are mixed in with Apple stores. Best news - a Yard House will open Monday. Now if some restaurant features NTN , I'll be very happy there.

Wow - it's a political season! Just checked my last 10 search terms. Befitting the political season, 20% of them had to do with the election! Amazing. Here's the breakdown: 4 searches on Krystal Fernandez 1 search for "Angie" Taylor Q102 (it's really Angi Taylor , by the way) 1 search for Liz Hoad 1 search for Victoria Gardens (the shopping center , not the song ) more later 1 search for "fish net industry 2003 guest book of united state" (???????) 1 search for Cynthia Matthews 1 search for " Fire Dreier "

IMDB Has Everything...Sort Of I knew that IMDB listed movies. I knew that IMDB listed prime time shows. I didn't know that IMDB listed local news shows. Yes, Christopher Nance's old stomping grounds is listed on IMDB, under the title "Channel 4 News" (1982) , broadcast on KNBC in Los Angeles. It doesn't list the personnel behind the camera (except for the composer of the 1998 theme and one other individual), and the data isn't completely accurate (Nance's departure date is not listed), but there's a who's who list of present and former newscasters: Full Cast and Crew for "Channel 4 News" (1982/II) Cast (in alphabetical order) Angie Austin .... Herself - Correspondent (1991-) Kim Baldonado .... Herself - Correspondent (1995-) John F. Beard .... Himself - Anchor (1982-1992) Bonnie Boswell .... Herself - Correspondent Furnell Chatman .... Himself - Correspondent Ted Chen .... Himself - Correspondent (...

BIP v1.0 Ontario Empoblog Blog Improvement Policy/Process Version 1.0 oempoweb oempoproc Goals Significant increase in daily hit rate Significant increase in reader interaction Suggested Improvements Expand blog diversity Implement information density via external and internal (forward/backward) cross-referencing

I Can Make You A Star! This sounds unsubstantiated, but I found it when performing a search on Dreier and the NRCC. This is from The Hill , and is dated October 5, 2004: The new House ethics-panel report that admonishes Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for offering political support in exchange for a yes vote on the Medicare drug bill provides an unusual amount of detail on the deal-making during the nearly three hour floor vote last November. DeLay told retiring Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) that he would endorse Smith’s son Brad — who at that time was running to succeed his father — if Smith would vote for the Medicare legislation.... The four-member House ethics investigative subcommittee — led by Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) — compiled 1,400 pages of sworn testimony, which portray frantic and fatigued GOP lawmakers scrambling for votes on a focal piece of President Bush’s domestic agenda. The report includes some stinging rebukes, most buried within footnotes, of Ho...

KTLA on Boneheadism A little more information on the Dreier/NRCC filing , courtesy KTLA : Stung by a radio campaign to oust veteran Rep. David Dreier, the National Republican Congressional Committee has filed a federal elections complaint. It contends that an ongoing campaign by a pair of radio talk-show hosts represents an illegal contribution to Dreier's opponent. Dreier (R-San Dimas) has been taking a beating at the hands of radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of KFI-AM (640) radio in Los Angeles. They have launched an on-air campaign to oust the 24-year veteran for what they claim is a lax record on illegal immigration. Dreier's opponent, Cynthia Matthews, has appeared on "The John and Ken Show" during the campaign. The radio hosts say they have offered to have Dreier appear on their show to defend his record on illegal immigration, but he has declined. Kobylt called the complaint "absurd" said he and Chiampou did not plan to retreat fro...

Bound to Happen From the Washington Times : Illegal Vietnamese immigrants are arriving in Hong Kong in hopes of being arrested and imprisoned, where they get three meals a day plus a minimum wage. Nguyen Van Hien, 21, was relieved to receive a 21-month sentence in a Hong Kong court Tuesday, after being arrested for crossing a border checkpoint on the underside of a truck, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. He was found carrying a knife and two bullets. Hien is the latest in a series of mostly young Vietnamese men arriving in Hong Kong on the "two bullet tour," for which they pay a fee to a gang in their homeland. The package deal includes transport to mainland China, instructions on how to cross into Hong Kong, plus two bullets and a knife. The weapons are to ensure that the immigrant will get a long prison sentence. For Hien it means free shelter, food and $50 a month in pay while he is incarcerated. He paid about $200 for the package deal. T...

Speaking of 30 Second Snippets It's amazing to think that while I was listening to "Motorcycle Mama," "Ride Captain Ride," "Little Willy," and the like , I was completely missing the Beach Boys song "Til I Die." (Yes, I stopped playing Madness .) I wonder how I would have reacted if I *did* hear the song? I'm trying to put myself back in that 4th grade mindset. Hmmm, let's see. I'm lip syncing to Tony Orlando's "Knock Three Times." I'm all happy because Mike Wilson and I just found a huge stash of Playboy magazines. My dog is being ill-mannered and stealing a banana from a little girl. And then, out of the blue, a fat guy and a bald guy in Hawaiian shirts materialize from nowhere, holding an 8-track tape player, and play this song for me. I'd probably run away screaming. Someday I'm gonna write a story, based on the introductory pages to Dave Thompson's Some Great Reward , in which, on the...

Keep Grooving Well, I'm currently listening to my favorite perpetually-repeating 30 second clip from Madness' "Time for Tea." Here's what Trouser Press (remember them?) has to say about this period in Madness' career: What followed (Geffen's "Madness") was a period of tumult: Madness left Stiff, keyboardist Mike Barson left Madness and the band set up their own Zarjazz label. Keep Moving, their final LP as a septet, offers a full platter of typically tuneful, thoughtful, lightweight pop songs covering familiar ground, musically and lyrically. "Wings of a Dove" incorporates a gospel choir; "Michael Caine" uses a cute pop-culture gimmick to sell an otherwise weak number. The growing vocal skills of Carl Smyth (aka Chas Smash) and Graham (Suggs) McPherson have made them the band's most recognizable trait; the others' seemingly effortless playing is easy to take for granted. MTV offers the following: At th...

I Gave You the Best Words of My Life I never posted about Ashlee Simpson's appearance on SNL . I just read Tony Pierce's comments on Simpson's appearance and SNL in general, and was moved to offer the following comment : If in some alternative universe NBC approached me and said, "We've fired Lorne Michaels, and we heard you did a couple of years of college radio, so we want you to produce SNL," here's what I'd do: 1. Can the cold opening. Go right to the intro to the show. 2. Said intro to the show would be the old classic "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers, with a big picture of Howard Cosell. Yes, a tribute to the ORIGINAL Saturday Night Live. 3. Move the whole thing to Los Angeles (or perhaps Pomona) so that the show could be broadcast at 8:30 local time, when the performers and the audience were still awake. 4. Can the host's opening monologue unless the host is a comedian or someone who can actually deliver a...

Now that's a big unusual The usual political discourse during an election is along these lines: My opponent is a wimp! My opponent is dumb! So I was quite surprised to see a 19th century economic discussion at a political website. Apparently citation of 19th century economists is not an FEC campaign violation . Here's what Cynthia Matthews has to say: Getting Ricardo Wrong David Dreier and Comparative Advantage David Dreier keeps referring to the theory of "comparative advantage" as justification for giving our jobs to foreigners. He says that he is helping us. We just do not understand the big picture. The theory of Comparative Advantage was developed in the early part of the 19th century by British economist David Ricardo....Here is the simple version: Using his example of two nations (Portugal and England) and two commodities (wine and cloth), Ricardo argued that trade would be beneficial even if Portugal held an absolute cost advantage ove...

24 Years' Experience and One Bonehead Move I've been planning to blog on this since listening to John and Ken this afternoon, but Calblog beat me to the punch : National Republican Congressional Committee (lead by David Dreier) files FEC complaint against John & Ken and KFI radio.... Rather than listen to a large part of their constituency on an important issue, the Republican Congressional Committee has become unhinged. They have used a law to try and clearly muzzle free speech. If the complaint goes forward, then no radio talk show host is safe (Limbaugh, Hannity, Stern, etc.) Lonewacko has also weighed in at Free Republic: John & Ken charged with McCain-Feingold violation? Obviously John & Ken themselves have expressed themselves with some detail on the radio, and with a little bit of info on the website: Contact The National Republican Congressional Committee Posted by The John and Ken Show @ 6:46 pm John & Ken received a fed...

Another way that a blog can get you in trouble That image (plus one other) resulted in a suspension without pay or benefits for Queen of Sky , a/k/a Ellen Simonetti: The poor, powerless, downtrodden and distressed Queen of Sky finally met with Mighty Management yesterday. They interrogated her about her blog and then told her that her suspension WITHOUT PAY AND WITHOUT BENEFITS was continued until further notice. MM said Q of S was suspended because of some "inappropriate" (???) pictures on her blog. After about two weeks time MM will tell Q of S her fate (i.e. show her the door). "Hmm, they could have given me a warning and a chance to remove the pictures before suspending me," Q of S mused to herself afterward. "And what's this business about being suspended WITHOUT pay for weeks on end?" The text of the blog did not identify Queen of Sky as a Delta flight attendant, though sharp-eyed readers could look at the uniform and tell. ...

How to Categorize Former Child Stars The Tripod-hosted site Former Child Star Central includes a page which groups the former child stars into several categories. See if you can guess which former child stars fit into the following categories: Apparently Quite Famous Got God Middle Earth Expert Murder Defendant Possibly No Longer Entitled to Van Halen CD Discounts Rebounded Nicely from Transvestite-Punching Incident Still Related to Joey Lawrence

And no... ...I never owned an 8-track tape.

Some Other Old LPs Now I'm really dating myself. These are LPs that I didn't even own in cassette form. These are albums that I only had as records (or, as the trendsetters say today, "vinyl"). Elton John, "Don't Shoot Me I'm the Only Piano Player" . You've heard "Daniel" and "Crocodile Rock," but what about "Teacher I Need You," "Elderberry Wine," "Texan Love Song" (Elton plays redneck), and the beautiful "High Flying Bird"? (The original album only contained the first ten songs.) Paul Simon, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" . Paul didn't go straight from bookish Garfunkelish student to "Graceland." He went south early in his solo career. Again, this album has a bunch of hits, but be sure to check out the ambivalent "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor." Partridge Family, "The Partridge Family Sound Magazine" . My n...

Those Who Lived Through the 70s are Bound to Relive It I have to admit something. Maybe I sneak listens to my nephew's Linkin Park CDs, and maybe I buy the occasional Everlast, and maybe I make my occasional hip-hop excursion, and maybe I spend a lot of time wallowing in the synthetica of 80s bands, and maybe I pay my homage to Eno and the new wavers...but truth to tell, I am a child of the early 70s. Despite my subsequent excursions, my earliest musical influences were based on early 70s AM radio. WEAM and WPGC ruled for me. To put this in context, I was of the generation that discovered that the lead singer of Wings had been in another band in the 1960s. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. I "discovered" the Beatles *after* I had heard "Band on the Run." So, what was early 70s music like? Courtesy Best Buy and Windows Media Player, you can hear samples for yourself . The album "Groups That Rocked The 70's" gives a pretty goo...

I'm in Another 30 Second Musically Repetitive State You remember the last time this happened, don't you? Well, after I observed that the name of Rancho Cucamonga's new shopping center is the same as the name of an old Madness song , I began looking over the other songs on the 1997 version of the "Keep Moving" CD . (This is another instance in which I used to have the cassette, got rid of it, and never got the CD version.) I then found one of my favorite Madness songs, "Time for Tea." See track 13 . Interestingly enough, when you play this 30 second sample on continuous repeat, the end nearly splices in with the beginning. Nifty. Lyrically, it's one of the spookiest songs around, as the lyrics attest. Here are the last two verses, along with the chorus: And welly well well what have I found here a hiding place made by Frigidaire I think I’ll try it and give my mates a scare they’ll all be searching neither here nor there Willie ...

Yesterday's Men Time for Tea in the Middle of Our Street The city of Rancho Cucamonga, California is announcing fun and frivolity in connection with the new Victoria Gardens shopping center. Tomorrow: Thursday Oct. 28, 2004 9:45am Macy's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony J.C. Penney Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 6pm – 10pm Victoria Gardens Grand Opening Celebration Fantastical? Entertaining? Illuminating? Fun? You bet! A street fair & light show for the entire family. Including live musical entertainment from: Abbit the Average, a magician and comedian on stilts The Bird Guy, spectacular, hilarious performing birds Candyman, a creative candy sculptor Divine, a 20-foot, walking "vine" The Dixie All Stars, specializing in classic Dixieland rhythms Duchicela, a woodwind and drum ensemble in the style of India The Minikin Puppets, a marionette show Ronny & the Classics, a five-person musical group specializing in favorites from the 50's thro...

A Plug In two previous posts ( [1] [2] ), I have employed the Bible-quoting services of bible.gospelcom.net , an online Biblical resource. The Bible Gateway is a tool for reading and researching scripture online-- all in the language or translation of your choice! It provides advanced searching capabilities, allowing readers to find and compare particular passages in scripture, based on keywords, phrases, or scripture reference. The Bible Gateway was first started in 1993 by Nick Hengeveld while attending Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. The Bible Gateway started out being hosted in the Calvin web environment. In 1995 Nick became the first webmaster at Gospelcom.net. He brought the Bible Gateway with him, and since that time has been one of the favorite resources provided by Gospel Communications International (the parent company of Gospelcom.net). The Gospelcom.net team has been maintaining and developing the Bible Gateway to continue adding new translations, language...

If It Will Get Us To Pay Attention... In a discussion of the parable of the Good Samaritan , it was noted that many of us "walk on the other side" rather than confront news of hurting. Witness the fact that the current situation in Sudan is not being covered regularly. But when Angelina Jolie goes to Darfur, coverage suddenly happens. Good for her. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on Wednesday described the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region as "unbelievably horrible" after a three-day visit to region. Jolie, a good will ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, has visited refugees in many conflict-torn countries but said Darfur struck her as the worst she had seen because the rights abuses and violence continued and nowhere was safe. "I'd say this is the worst situation I've seen and what's happening to the people here...is unbelievably horrible. The fact is it is just one of the worst things that has happened on the p...

This Wouldn't Have Been Written in 1936 Traditional media wants to be read, and words things in a particular way. Scientists have discovered man-like creatures that apparently lived in Indonesia 18,000 years ago. The creatures were three-feet tall. So how are they referenced in the news story? Simple - as hobbit-sized humans. Argh. ( Emphasis mine.) Scientists in Australia have found a new species of hobbit -sized humans who lived about 18,000 years ago on an Indonesian island in a discovery that adds another piece to the complex puzzle of human evolution. The partial skeleton of Homo floresiensis, found in a cave on the island of Flores, is of an adult female that was 3 feet tall, had a chimpanzee-sized brain and was substantially different from modern humans. It shared the isolated island to the east of Java with miniature elephants and Komodo dragons. The creature walked upright, probably evolved into its dwarf size because of environmental conditions and co...

David Dreier's Endorsements Why won't anyone endorse anyone? I've previously examined the (lack of) endorsements received by Cynthia Matthews and Ed Laning . To recap, Ed Laning was endorsed by one sitting Member of Congress; Matthews was endorsed by none. I fully expected that powerful David Dreier would have lined up tons of endorsements from House members, Senators, our Governor, and probably the President. Well, here's the list of Members of Congress who have endorsed David Dreier: Um, OK. Well, how about the endorsements from state governors born in Austria? OK. How about state assembly members, state senators, and county supervisors: California State Senator Jim Brulte California State Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy California State Senator Bob Margett California State Assemblyman Bob Pacheco San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane San Bernardino County Supervisor Patti Aguiar San Bernardino County Supervisor ...

Alameda Times-Star on Propositions 62 and 60 From the Alameda Times-Star , who opposes both Proposition 62 and Proposition 60: Our "no recommendation" on Prop. 62 stems partly from the fact that, like many Californians, we can't agree on how, or if, our election system should be modified.... Proposition 62, a creation of business and education groups, is a constitutional amendment that would open up primaries for all offices except president and party posts, while narrowing our choices in the general election. It would let primary voters, regardless of how they're registered, vote for any candidate on the ballot. All aspirants to an office would be listed. Only the top two vote-getters would go on the general election ballot, however, no matter what their affiliation. It would essentially be a runoff. In safe, one-party districts, a pair of Republicans or Democrats may even end up as the only choices in November for a legislative seat or even U.S. senator...

Rhymes With "Theses" I said that I'd write about this, but it's really an excuse to use the really bad title above. From the BBC : Archaeologists in Germany say they may have found a lavatory where Martin Luther launched the Reformation of the Christian church in the 16th Century. The stone room is in a newly-unearthed annex to Luther's house in Wittenberg. Luther is quoted as saying he was "in cloaca", or in the sewer, when he was inspired to argue that salvation is granted because of faith, not deeds. The scholar suffered from constipation and spent many hours in contemplation on the toilet seat.... The toilet is in a niche set inside a room measuring nine by nine metres, which was discovered during the excavation of a garden in the grounds of Luther's house. Dr Treu said there can be little doubt the toilet was used by Luther, the radical theologian who argued for a more "earthy Christianity", which regarded th...

Satan? I've continued the thread that I started else where . In response to a post on the Isn't She Lovely blog about someone modifying a Bush picture to look like Satan, I wrote the following: Actually, the incident raises a larger question - can one side or the other side claim to represent the exclusively Christian view? Those who draw devil horns on Bush pictures can assert that he is not representing Christ's admonitions to turn the other cheek, feed the hungry, take care of the poor, etc. Those who draw devil horns on Kerry pictures can assert that he promotes numerous violations of the Ten Commandments, including sexual sins, murder, ad nauseum. I am so thankful that my God is not bound by our silly insignificant political controversies....

Buy Peace? Everyone suspend your cynicism for a moment. buypeace.com postulates that we can take the money that we're spending on Iraq and use it to persuade the Jews and Palestinians to make nice. The idea was originally sketched on a napkin: It was subsequently fleshed out : This writing, (c) 2002 www.buypeace.com, may be copied and distributed in any media provided this notice is kept intact. Some people think that peace between Israel and Palestine is impossible. One way to solve an impossible problem is to first remove a major constraint to its solution. If the now-simplified problem can be solved, the constraint can be re-added subsequently. For instance, if we remove the financial constraint which always puts peacemaking at a lower priority than military action we could ask: How might the Mideast conflict be solved given funding on the scale of the pending war with Iraq? The wars on Afghanistan and now Iraq are seen as an investment, with a "Ret...

Fight on the Periphery The Constitution Party (known as the American Independent Party in California) is fighting the Christian Coalition. From the Welch Report : Christian Coalition Voter Guide Makes Mockery of Its Own Mission & Vision.... The Web page of the Christian Coalition of America says that it is our country's "leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage." This page says the CCA "is dedicated to equipping and educating God's people" and it points out that "effective citizen activism begins with knowledge." But by refusing to list my Presidential candidacy in its voters guide, by refusing to let millions of Christians know where I stand on the issues, the CCA has failed to fully educate God's people. It has denied millions of Christians important knowledge which might have influenced their votes for President. And the CCA has done all of this despite the fact that I have, in my campaign, repeatedly def...

Self-Inflicted Torture One of the systems that I access electronically requires that I change my password periodically. During the last password change, I based the new password on a particular song. Obviously I can't tell you the song or else you may be able to access the system. However, suffice it to say that the song is not a new song, and in fact sounds older than it actually is, with a music hall feel. Problem: every time I access this system, I think of the song. Problem: I access this system a lot. Problem: that song is therefore going through my head for many of my waking hours. Of course, I could change the password again, but it's troublesome to change passwords for this system. So I'll live with it until I'm forced to change...several months from now. Argh.

Don't Like the Candidates? DIY eHow has a page entitled How to Run for Public Office . Excerpts: 3. Commission a public opinion poll. The purpose of the poll is to find out how many voters know and are willing to vote for you, and what issues the voting public is most concerned about. The results of the poll will help you plan your strategy for the campaign. 5. Decide the issues on which you'll base your campaign. These should be decided in accordance with the aforementioned poll and on the basis of your strengths and commitment. 6. Raise money. While your campaign manager and other staff can help with this, you will need to spend a lot of time contacting people to request their monetary support. 7. Start a Web site. Include biographical information, your stand on the issues and information about how to make contributions to your campaign. 8. File the required papers to get yourself on the ballot. Procedures for doing this vary by ci...

Opinions on Van Earl Wright vs. Andrew Siciliano, Krystal Fernandez, et al On October 22 Burky asked , "Is anyone out there that thinks Van Earl is an improvement." Here are some of the replies he received at radio-info.com. Here's a reason: he's boring, he doesn't know much about sports like Andrew does (or Tony did), and this GOOOOD MMMMMORRNING EVERRRBUDDDY nonsense is hellaciously annoying. I can't believe that FSR put this guy on the radio because he is talented, there must be some underlying political reason for it. He does not blend at all with Andrew or Krystal, and now Chris Morales is hardly heard from anymore. The show's chemistry is all but gone, which is evident by the lack of enthusiasm from Andrew and Krystal. This show's days are numbered unless FSR does the right thing (no pun intended) and finds a REAL replacement for Bruno. We went from the very entertaining Tony Bruno to this garbage; its almost like going from a warm t...

We'll Watch This Closely From that bastion of whateverism, the Daily Bulletin : As Victoria Gardens draws residents from around the Inland Empire to its grand opening Thursday, the open-air mall will begin to draw customers away from other local retailers. Montclair Plaza, Ontario Mills and retailers in strip malls will all feel the effects of the new mall, according to retail analysts familiar with the city. "A new mall will always have an initial surge of customers due to the curiosity factor," said Richard Giss, a partner at Deloitte & Touche. "The question is where people will go to shop after that initial surge, and only time will tell." Most analysts agree that Montclair Plaza, the indoor mall that opened in 1968, stands to lose the most business to Victoria Gardens.... Ontario Mills has less to worry about when it comes to losing customers, according to analysts. "It should fare better because it's a much different mall th...

Conservative Opposition to Proposition 62 From the San Francisco Chronicle Letters to the Editor : San Francisco No on Prop. 62 Editor -- As a centrist conservative, I take exception to your endorsement of the open primary, Proposition 62. Passage of Prop. 62 could disenfranchise me and other conservatives from choosing an appropriate candidate who reflects our viewpoints. We conservatives are swamped by liberal politicians who do not represent our beliefs. This proposition could remove a person from the general election who shares our values. If I had only to choose between the likes of Nancy Pelosi or Pete Stark -- or even worse some neo-Marxist Green Party candidate -- because the Republican candidate did not get enough votes in the primary, I would leave the ballot blank. I urge people to vote no on this constitutionally questionable proposition. JOHN CHASE Alameda

They're Right From Disinfopedia : Journalists Unhappy With Election Coverage The Committee of Concerned Journalists, a consortium of reporters, editors, producers, publishers, owners and academics, has surveyed its own membership about the quality of election campaign coverage this year, and the results aren't pretty. Nearly three quarters of respondents gave the press a C, D or F grade, and only 3% gave an A. By large majorities they felt the news media has become sidetracked by trivial issues, has been too reactive and has focused too much on campaign strategy rather than substance. They gave particularly low grades to television and much higher grades to newspapers and online coverage. The online news sites in fact got more A grades than any other medium - a notable improvement in the internet's reputation relative to other information sources.

United Methodist - At Least Politically, An Oxymoron This is from a sermon preached by Dr. John Frederick Fiedler at the First United Methodist Church in Dallas on September 15, 2002. The title was "Can We Agree to Disagree?" , and the text was Romans 14:1-12 : Let me tell you a little secret. Politicians don't work very hard to cultivate the United Methodist vote. Do you want to know why? Because they know that Methodists can't line up a vote. Methodists will go in great numbers to the polling place and they'll cancel out each other's votes. It's true!! We're that diverse. We've got good Democrat United Methodists. Good Republican United Methodists. Good Independent United Methodists. You have Hilary Clinton…United Methodist. You have George W. Bush…United Methodist. It's true; we are a diverse people. So you don't go around asking, "What is the United Methodist viewpoint on invading Iraq?" You just can't line up a vote....

San Bernardino Sun on Laning and Matthews' Chances The San Bernardino Sun (owned by William Dean Singleton's Media News Group ) has weighed in on the chances of Cynthia Matthews and Ed Laning defeating Joe Baca and David Dreier, respectively. From the article : Races rarely won by rookies Districts, donors favor incumbents By BEN SCHNAYERSON, Staff Writer It's become almost impossible to unseat an incumbent state or federal lawmaker.... [T]he parties and big donors are loath to give money to challengers, because the registration numbers are stacked. The incumbents, on the other hand, rake in the cash.... Republicans Marge Mendoza-Ware of Bloomington and Ed Laning of Oak Hills spoke recently at a rally against Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, in Ontario. The event was put on by the John and Ken Show on KFI-AM (640), where the conservative talk-radio hosts, the two Republican challengers and more than 1,000 loyal listeners railed against Baca, saying he is too lenie...

How Women Can Find Unattached Men Read the blogs of potential candidates: I was surprised to find that a number of the students, perhaps ten or so, came up to me and said, "Hey Accordion Guy! I read your blog!" One girl clung to my sleeve and tried to drag me to a party until her friend came up to her and said "Don't hit on the Accordion Guy! I read he's engaged !" Who needs social software when you have a blog and an accordion?

Win at No Cost In a piece entitled "Fan Stupidity," the Most Valuable Network blog discusses fans who don't want to get what they asked for: The KC Royals have a reputation for having ticket prices that rank amongst the lowest in all of MLB, if not major league pro sports in general. This condition is brought about by the facts that KC is a “small” market town, has direct quality competition for the economy-minded pro baseball fan from the Northern League’s KC T-Bones and also the fact that KC is not exactly a prosperous town. Ditto for the surrounding countryside. The simple fact of the matter is that the only way that the KC Royals could “buy” their way to consistent winning, is by first substantially increasing ticket prices which would ignite a storm of protest from those who profess to wanting to win at all costs. My 2 favorite sports teams, the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Blackhawks have both over the years been roundly criticized for being “cheap” o...

We're Movin' on Down... (Geddit?) From Yahoo!/Reuters : Four-time Grammy Award winner Lenny Kravitz is being sued for more than $300,000 (164,000 pounds) by an insurance company that claims the rocker let his toilet overflow into a neighbour's apartment, causing "catastrophic water damage." The suit, filed in a New York City court and made public on Friday, claims a commode in Kravitz's lavish Manhattan condominium "became blocked, clogged and congested with various materials" on August 1 and that the musician's "negligence and carelessness" were solely to blame. The Amica Mutual Insurance Company is suing Kravitz to recover $333,850 it says it paid out to the recording artist's neighbour, a former insurance executive, for damage to his home.... The Smoking Gun has a copy of the lawsuit . For the European traveler, there is a shower/toilet on the floor which includes the Lenny Kravitz room (102) at the Swiss R...

Oh yeah... The special ingredient in last night's Iron Chef was Mochi rice : Episode IC1E12 AIR TIMES: October 22, 2004 11:00 PM ET/PT October 23, 2004 3:00 AM ET/PT Mochi How will Challenger Toshiyuki Nakagawa try to use this traditional Japanese ingredient against Iron Chef Chen. It's a ricey race to the finish line in the Mochi battle in the making.

Instant Runoff Voting One alternative to the closed-choice two-candidate limit general elections envisioned by California Proposition 62 is instant runoff voting , supported by the Libertarians and others. From the Center for Voting and Democracy : Instant runoff voting is a winner-take-all, constitutionally protected, voting system that ensures a winning candidate will receive an absolute majority of votes rather than a simple plurality. IRV eliminates the need for runoff elections by allowing voters to rank their candidates in order of preference. IRV is not a form of full representation or proportional representation.... Additional information from their FAQ : What is instant runoff voting? Instant runoff voting is a method of electing a single winner. It provides an alternative to plurality and runoff elections. In a plurality election, the highest vote getter wins even if s/he receives less than 50% of the vote. In a runoff election, two candidates advance to a r...