19 November 2008

Workout notes 4000 yards; 500 easy, then 30 x 100 on the 2 followed by 5 x 100 (paddle/swim/paddle/swim/paddle). The 30 x 100 on the 2 was broken down as follows:
5 x (25 front kick, 75 swim; 1:59, then 1:50-1:54), 5 x (25 sfs, 75 swim 1:53-55), 5 x (25 3g, 75 swim 1:44-1:46), 5 x (25 catch up, 75 swim 1:44-1:45), 5 x 100 fist (1:42-45), 5 x (fly/free/fly/free-fins: 1:44-45).

The pool was a bit less crowded; one of the dog paddlers showed up early and swam for about one hour. He has the strangest “crawl” stroke I’ve ever seen; when he pulls back his elbows are about the same height as his hand. He basically splashes in place with very little forward motion.

I’d love to have 5-10 minutes with him in the pool; then again maybe he has a physical limitation. So, it will be MYOB for me.

Humor
Today is “drop day” at my school. In our department we get things like the following: “hey professor what score do I need on my final exam to pass the class? ” Answer: “105 out of 100, or 105 percent”

Student: “I’ll go for it”. Sigh.

But evidently it isn’t just the math department; one historian writes:

My Dear Students:

Though I may talk about Alexander Hamilton at considerable length in class, please do not assume on this basis that Alexander Hamilton was actually a US president. More significantly, please refrain from insisting — as several of you have already done on the tests I’m grading this evening — that Alexander Hamilton was “one of our greatest presidents” or that, much worse, that he was “our first president.”

Oh well. Yes, I have some very good students too! But as far as the kind I am discussing right now: maybe, just maybe by holding the line, I am sparing us from the next Sarah Palin?

Religious Humor

The following post made me smile: it is a spoof which has cards which help you to determine which religion to join.

Oh don’t worry, atheists and agnostics are made fun of too.

A sample of what you’ll find in that post:

Politics
Yet another cool political map: red/blue/purple by county, with the African American vote thrown out. As usual, there is the caveat that some counties are much more populated than others.

Republican Troubles
Kathleen Parker continues to burn some bridges. Here is her article where she just blisters the religious wingnuts that are holding her party hostage:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Hey Republicans, don’t worry. Yeah, you are down right now. But remember your political foes are still Democrats which means that we’ll they’ll self destruct with or without your help.

Example: check out this lying, backstabbing weasel named Joe Lieberman. He was given a challenge in the primary and he lost. But because the Republicans didn’t run anyone of note in the general election, he ran in the general as a independent and won.

So he goes and backs John McCain. But even worse, he attempted to tear down Barack Obama every chance he got.

So in short, the Democrats are:
1. Lead in the Senate by a rabbit.

2. Tolerate having a lying, backstabbing weasel as a committee chair.

Oh yeah, many of the rank and file Democrats are up in arms. But you know what? The party leadership simply does not care. Running against your base is a time tested Democratic campaign tactic.

This little vignette provides a very vivid and crystallizing illustration of how Congressional Democratic leaders think and behave. They consider it a good thing — not a bad thing — when they anger their own base. They’re thrilled when they get accused — accurately — of acting like Republicans and supporting right-wing measures, particularly on national security and “terrorism” issues. They consider it a benefit — an incentive — when they are attacked for embracing Republican political policies and violating the principles of their own base.

The reaction to Lieberman keeping his chairmanship has been mixed, even at the Daily Kos.

You have people who are disgusted, those who wonder “where is the so-called change“, those who think that Harry Reid is doing a bad job, those who promise that people like Reid and Lieberman will face credible primary challenges (as Lieberman did, and lost in 2006), those who think that the Senate Democrats did the right thing, as well as those who are embarrassed at our (the Daily Kos’s) reaction.

My take: the Senators who did this simply don’t care about how much we rant and they see Lieberman’s primary challenge as a one-time thing. The only way we will get their attention is if

1. We can “Lieberman” many more of them in primaries and

2. If we can hurt their fundraising.

So, I am telling the DNC, DSCC and the DCCC to take me off of their mailing lists and I won’t send them a dime. I will instead save my money and offer it to people who will take on the “old guard” in primaries.

It is clear that “being a Democrat” in and of itself means nothing so I am indifferent as to how many seats a particular party holds. Instead I’ll focus on individuals that I approve of.