16 October 09 (am)

Workout notes 2000 yard swim; 500 warm up, 250 drill/swim, 5 x 200 on the 3:30 (3:19, 17, 17, 17, 15), 250 off stroke cool down. The shoulder didn’t like fly; I think that is where I dinged it. So for a while, I’ll do fly with fins when I do it at all.

Ultras

I’ve signed up for the Farmdale 32 mile ultra tomorrow; the course will be a complete sea of mud. Frankly, given the state of my lower hamstring/upper calf, my chances of finishing are remote. But I can do one loop and declare myself to have been in the 8 miler, though I am going to bring gear as if I will attempt to finish it all.

The time limit is 9 hours which means that walking it all will be all but impossible, given the mud.

Does this bottle make my butt look big? That was from 2007 where I was second to last overall and dead last among the males (walked the 33 mile course the whole way).

Obama Asked “Why Do People Hate You?” By Fourth Grader (VIDEO)

Note: the President is right; lots of people like him.

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As you can see, his “poll of polls” approval ratings is about 52 percent.

(link to Real Clear Politics)

A Note on Racism in the South

Many were shocked by this:

Keith Bardwell, Justice of the Peace in Tangipahoa Parish, has refused to issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey and Terrence McKay because he says these marriages don’t last long and he’s concerned for any potential children they may have.

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

The couple says they’ll consult with the US Department of Justice about filing a discrimination suit. If these marriages were not permitted, one has to wonder who would be president of the United States right now.

Anyone who has lived in the south wouldn’t be shocked. The last two states to remove the ban on interracial marriage (which was not enforceable) were South Carolina (1998) and Alabama (2000).

In 1998, only 62 percent of those in South Carolina said “yes” to removing the ban:

Alabama became the last state with such language in its organic law in 1998 when South Carolina voters approved a measure to remove similar wording from their state’s constitution. In South Carolina, about 62 percent of voters favored lifting the ban.

In 2000 in Alabama, it was 60 percent.

Don’t tell me that this part of the country doesn’t have BIG problem with race, and don’t tell me that much of the heated rhetoric directed at President Obama is not affected by his race.

Hey Republicans, This is Class…

Of course, Republicans will probably criticize the President for this too.

Maddow confronts Americans for Prosperity’s Tim Phillips, pt. 1/2 – Daily Kos TV (beta)

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Maddow confronts Americans for Prosperity’s Tim Phillips, pt. 2/2 – Daily Kos TV (beta)

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15 October 2009

Workout notes 4 miles on the Riverplex stepper/elliptical; this took about 33 minutes and I quit at the correct time. Then yoga with Ms. Vickie.

Posts

Surprised? Wingnuts are taking one of Robert Reich’s academic lectures out of context so as to cast health care reform plans as having “death panels”.

Economy: Paul Krugman notes that many of the economic troubles started when the “best and brightest” economics graduate students went to Wall Street instead of academia. Note: he is a very bright guy himself so this is hardly an anti-intellectual screed.

Science: where did your ear bones come from? Believe it or not: your jaw.

Republicans again: double standard? They are fine with Aaron Schock’s ab shots but not so much with Meghan McCan’s “sort of” boob shot. Leave it to Billy Dennis to find some excuse to show a boob shot. (no, I am NOT complaining!)

Racist Idiot: a Justice of the Peace in Louisiana “is not a racist” but refuses to marry interracial couples. Note: it is a Republican that drew my attention to this article. Kudos to him!