New Legislation: local edition

Want to know what LI legislators spend their days legislating? Okay, maybe not, but I just couldn't quite believe that anyone would spend their time on THIS choice piece of legislation that puts candy cigarettes behind the counter.

Yes, you read that correctly - CANDY cigarettes are now being put behind the counter in an effort to eliminate their status as a gateway to smoking the real thing. Obviously the copious amounts of anti-smoking education these kids are exposed to are being overpowered by the natural progression from candy cigarettes to their close cousin real tobacco cigarettes.

I know we all asked for change from the politicians, but I'm fairly certain this wasn't what they had in mind.

Wait, you mean there are more elections going on than just the Presidential one!? (bumped)

That's right, folks. There is more to this election season than just the race to be the Commander in Chief. For us here on Beacon Hill, here are the main local races:

**US House of Representatives: 1st district
Tim Bishop (D- incumbent)
vs.
Lee Zeldin (R)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**State Senate: 2nd district
John Flanagan (R- incumbent) (website)
vs.
Michael DePaoli (D)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**State Assembly: 4th district
Steven Englebright (D- incumbent) (website)
vs.
Bruce Bennett (R)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**NY Supreme Court Justice: 10th district - vote for 4 candidates
Jerry Garguilo (D)
Robert A. Lifson (R)
Kenneth A. Davis (R)
Edward A. Maron (D)
William J. Condon (D)
Hector D. LaSalle (D)
Patricia Filiberto (R)
(League of Women Voters page)
(more details needed)

**State Amendment - proposal 1
Proposal to eliminate requirement of receiving disability pay in order for Veterans to qualify for extra credits on civil service examinations.
(League of Women voters page)

Note: this article is a stub, please feel free to edit and add new links

Bumped post. Originally posted on 10/20/08.

Geography according to the Republicans

According to Sarah Palin we're neighbors with Afghanistan.

News to me, though I suppose my geography skills have always been a little off. I mean, when I first heard that Sarah Palin was citing Alaska's shared border with Russia for her foreign policy experience, I thought "hey, we don't share a border with Russia. Canada, yes, Mexico, yes. Russia? Really?" And then I got out a map in which I discovered - hey, look at that, Russia is kinda next to Alaska. I mean, there's water in between the two, but they are really close. Most of the time maps will show the Atlantic Ocean as center, so North America and the Asian continent are on opposite sides of the map, but really, they aren't that far.

But I was pretty sure that Afghanistan wasn't anywhere close to sharing even a maritime border with us. But hey, what do I know.

HERE is an awesome map trying to help narrow down what Palin may have meant. Now, normally I avoid comments on blogs and articles like the plague, but some of the comments to that blog entry are pretty funny. I particularly like #3.

Also by the same blogger, HERE is another map trying to help decode the Republican version of geography.

Seriously, sometimes it seems like the Republicans live in an entirely different world, if not universe, from the rest of us.

Please someone blindfold me for the next month...

I made the mistake of reading political news today.

"Palin makes Obama terrorist claim"

The gist being that Obamo served on a charity group board that also contained Bill Ayers as memeber who during the 60's founded a violent anti-Vietnam group called Weather Underground.

Let's ignore the fact that Obama was 8 when that group was active why don't we.

This woman makes me want to gouge my eyeballs out, as do some of the comments after the second article...

Warning: this post may contain politics

Stop reading now if you are trying to avoid thoughts of the craziness that politics have become (Sheyl, this means you).

Ever since the McCain camp chose Sarah Palin to be the VP running-mate, I've been fundamentally disturbed, and yet, I haven't quite managed to find the words to describe why she disturbs me. The best I was able to put it was that I didn't understand half of the country's mindset, that I didn't understand why the American people weren't more outraged at the republican party that they chose this sham of a national-level political leader.

In THIS article, though, Sam Harris articulates my feelings about Sarah Palin precisely. So I thought I'd pass it along to you guys (those of you that didn't stop at the politics warning, that is).

For once a politician (and a republican at that) saying something sensible!!

Top Republican says Palin unready

'And he was dismissive of the fact that Mrs Palin, the governor of Alaska, has made few trips abroad.

"You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

Mr Hagel also criticised the McCain campaign for its suggestion that the proximity of Alaska to Russia gave Mrs Palin foreign policy experience.

"That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."'

Yes, yes it is.

Offshore Drilling

Add one more reason that I fall into the 80% of Americans who think this country is on the wrong track.

The House approve a bill opening waters 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and natural gas development.

It still has to be approved by the senate (which it probably will since the Democrats have become weaklings pandering to the desire by the public for lower gas prices in an election year).

Despite as the article points out: "But expanded offshore drilling has become a mantra of Republican energy policy that has been felt in both presidential and congressional campaigns, even though lifting the drilling ban would have little if any impact on gasoline prices or produce any more oil for years."

Hello people!!! It is not going to help gas prices!!!! All it will do is feed the profits of giant oil companies and feed our dependence on oil for even longer.

GAH!

Nature Podcast

Also just to let people know: Nature is running a series of podcasts on the election and the economic and science implications of the their proposed policies. The first one was last week on energy and climate.

Scary Scary stuff

"Last June Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a 'task that is from God.' "

I have to strongly agree with the statement by Rob Boston (spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State):

"I miss the days when pastors delivered sermons and politicians delivered political speeches," he said. "The United States is increasingly diverse religiously. The job of a president is to unify all those different people and bring them together around policy goals, not to act as a kind of national pastor and bring people to God."

Price check on reality, aisle 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Polls just released say that Bush's approval ratings are at an all time low - only 31 percent of the country approves of his job. In fact, this month marks the 38th consecutive month in which his approval rating has been below the halfway mark. Some back of the envelope math means that Bush has spent 97.4% of his second term with less than half of the country behind him. In other words he spent exactly one month of his second term enjoying an approval rating greater than 50 percent. And with the way things are headed, I can't quite imagine him getting another month with that high of an approval rating.

And still this man thinks he's the cat's pajamas.

Sometimes I just don't understand this country.

Speechless

Just speechless.