30 Kasım 2012 Cuma

Faces of Zuccotti Park: Halloween Edition

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The Observer took a trip to Zuccotti Park for Halloween. It's hard to tell if these people are in costume or not. This fellow above is named Blackfeather. The reporter asks these folks what would make them end their so-called occupation.
How long have you been occupying for? Since the start. What would stop your occupation? The governments can surrender to our humanitarian will. The government is not humanitarian. They force you to pay to feed yourself. You hold onto money and Wall Street holds onto you.
Now who said these people had an incoherent message?

Then this poor bastard, who must suffer tremendous discrimination for his name alone.

Ezekiel Coyote Heater-Wegscheider

From Massachusetts How long have you been occupying for? Today is our first day, we just got down and set up the tent. What would stop your occupation? The thing that I like the most about this whole thing is this community being built here. I don’t think that anybody should stop, I think that we should just keep growing what is here right now, regardless of demands or trying to change the government, this is already working to some degree. I wouldn’t want to demand anything to stop this. I’m just happy to see being sharing more and smiling more.
Hey, at least he's happy. I think.

Then this guy:

Mickey Crisp

From Albany How long have you been occupying for? I'm staying here but I'm making some visits. I've been at occupy Albany and wanting to come down here again and see how it's going. What would stop your occupation? They need to bring back all the factories that we’ve shipped overseas. During the 60’s and 70’s, everything was American made and shit, now everything is overseas. Ever since then everything has gone downhill job-wise. People have lost jobs because factories have closed down. I also don’t understand why Obama bailed the banks out with 60 billion dollars. People should be furious. That could’ve been pumped into creating jobs, doing something productive with it. Don’t give it to the banks.
I suspect Mickey was born well after the factory age and doesn't quite understand how a global economy works. And shit.

'If This Had Completely Gone South, He Was in a Position to Disavow'

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Isn't it great being able to have it both ways?
Maybe it’s the fog of war.

Chuck Pfarrer, a former SEAL Team Six assault-element commander, raises serious questions about the official story of Osama bin Laden’s takedown in his new book, “Seal Target Geronimo.”

“The further I got away from the Beltway, the more accurate information I got,” he said.

Pfarrer says it only took the SEALs 90 to 120 seconds -- from landing to the firing the final shot -- to take out bin Laden, far shorter than other accounts have claimed.

He says the forces entered the compound on the third floor via the roof, not from the ground as the official version has said.

And the SEALs never said, “For God and country,” when they shot bin Laden dead.

President Obama’s role, too, was largely inflated.

He was out playing golf only 20 minutes before the raid began.

“If this had completely gone south, he was in a position to disavow,” Pfarrer claimed.
Just imagine how quickly he'd have thrown these guys under the bus. Instead he goes around using bin Laden's death as a campaign tool.

More here.

'I’m Like a Celebrity Back Home'

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Like most of the Occupy Wall Street freaks, this guy is completely delusional.
Henry Perkins is giving Occupy Wall Street the old college try.

The 21-year-old University of Alabama junior has been earning college credits while living in the open-air, crime-riddled frat house of Zuccotti Park.

“I asked my professors and they said to go for it,” Perkins told the Daily News. “They’re living vicariously through me.”

“I learned a lot here,” added Perkins, who arrived in New York by train carrying only a computer, toothbrush, cell phone, some books and a tarp. “I realized that I never want to be in any system, and you can make it work.”

Since joining the protest against corporate excess three weeks ago, Perkins said he’s become the big man on Alabama’s campus while camping out 900 miles away.

He Skypes into class twice a week, listening to lectures and giving students colorful updates from the epicenter of the global movement. And he regularly checks in with his professors.

“I’m like a celebrity back home,” Perkins said.

Even his parents support his odd curriculum. Perkins’ proud mom said she has no problem with her son’s $8,600 in-state tuition being devoted to his immersive research project on Occupy Wall Street.

“I’m sure he’ll learn more in two weeks in New York than in two years in college,” said Danielle Juzan, of Mobile, Ala., who acknowledged that she’s still “worried sick” about her son.

“What impressed us the most was the fact that he was able to negotiate this with his professors.”
His folks impress easily. Imagine how they'll feel if this tool ever manages to get a job.

New York Democrat Yanks Nude Photos Off His Website: 'How Do You Trust Someone Who Posts Naked Pictures of Himself on the Internet?'

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What's the deal with these weirdo Democrats who feel they need to post lewd photos of themselves? OK, this guy says they're art photos, but really, who wants to look at this stuff? Didn't he at least pause to think after the Anthony Weiner fiasco?
Monroe County Legislator Stephen Eckel abruptly removed two nude photos of himself from a personal website on Friday after being questioned about them by a television reporter.

Eckel, 46, a Democrat from Rochester in the midst of a re-election campaign, said in a phone interview that he took the photos of himself in 2000 as a student at the Visual Studies Workshop while working on a master of fine arts degree at The College at Brockport. He received the degree a year later.

The sepia-toned photos, taken with a wide lens at an elevated angle, were full frontal nude shots of Eckel, but were not sexual in nature. He described them as art.

They were part of a portfolio of Eckel's from that time that he said he showcased on the Internet to find photography work and jobs teaching photography. He has periodically taught photography at local colleges since then.

Eckel said he had never been questioned about the appropriateness of the photos until today, when he was contacted by a reporter from 13WHAM-TV, who had learned of the photos from the Monroe County Republican Committee.

"This is nothing more than a Republican stooping to a new low in order to distract the public from the real issues facing Monroe County taxpayers," Eckel said. "These were taken 10 years ago as part of a portfolio that helped me earn a master's of fine arts. Clearly, they have nothing to do with my service in my district."

Eckel said he removed the photos because they would "deflect attention from the true issues of the campaign." Asked if he would post them again after the campaign, he said that would be something he would have to consider.

Tony Micciche, who is challenging Eckel for the seat in the 26th District — which covers parts of Rochester, Gates and Greece — said such photos, even as artistic works, show poor judgment.

"How do you trust someone who posts naked pictures of himself on the Internet?" Micciche asked. "He's an elected official. He should be held to a higher standard."
The New York Post has one of the shots here.

Update: Also posted at the new and improved JWF.

We've Moved

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We hit our five year anniversary this past weekend and it's been a nice run here.

Now we'll be blogging at a new home. Be sure to bookmark and update any links if you've been so kind to link us in the past.

A feed is available here as well as a new Twitter link.

This site will still live on but all new content will be at the new place, where we'll have feature posts, blog items, headlines and links to other sites around the blogosphere.

Thanks to John E. for helping to get things up and running and thanks to everyone who's visited and linked since we started up back in November 2006.

29 Kasım 2012 Perşembe

Best Storyline In Daytime

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If you're like me, you enjoy a good storyline, and in the world of Daytime TV there simply aren't enough of them, it's why so many shows are losing their viewers and getting cancelled.  Of course there are multiple reasons why Soaps are getting cancelled, one of which is the natural migration of viewers from network TV to cable and the internet, but no doubt if more Soaps had awesome storylines like this one, the ratings would be higher.  Sadly, this storyline is on a Soap that recently did get cancelled, but thanks to this storyline, and the subsequent ratings increase that resulted from it, the show has been un-cancelled!  It still won't be on Network TV anymore, but it was bought by a company that wants to continue showing it on the Internet, so they will be breaking all new ground, thanks in large part to this outstanding storyline. 

I don't want to give too much away, but here are some of the basics.  The storyline began in Feburary on the Soap 'All My Children', and slowly built up to the awesomeness that we see today.  It features three main characters, two of which are long-time Superstar characters for the show, and one lesser character.  First, there is the Heroine, Bianca, she's basicly the #1 'good girl' on the show, she can always be counted on to do the good and right thing, but she's always been unlucky in love, and at the beginning of this storyline she's in the process of breaking up with someone.  The second main character in this storyline is JR, he's one of the main villains on the show, he cheated on his wife and she left him, but now he wants her back and he's willing to play the 'good guy' to get her.  She, Marissa, represents the third character in this storyline, JR's ex-wife, who is also the adopted mother of JR's son with her sister (she adopted him when they were married because her sister is currently dead, although at the time of this writing it can be revealed she won't be dead for much longer).  Marissa is wary of JR, but still isn't completely over him.  She's also Bianca's divorce attorney, helping her maintain custody of her two daughters. 



There are older clips that you may very well want to go back and watch, but this clip from the March 22nd episode seems to me to be an excellent starting point for new viewers, I'd like to reccomend you start here.  The helpful individual who posted this clip has well over 50 other clips for this storyline available for your viewing pleasure from that point forward alone, all the way to the most recent action from just days ago, so if you watch all their clips you will be 100% caught up, and you might just want to watch future episodes not just on Youtube, but on ABC as well, the network it airs on (1pm Eastern Monday through Friday)! 

At the moment of this writing the storyline is still ongoing, and the most recent clip is from Friday, July 22nd.  There is plenty of action, drama, love and romance to enjoy in this storyline, which can accurately be described as a Love Triangle, since both Bianca and JR ultimately want the same thing, the heart of the lovely and talented Marissa.  Will Marissa ultimately decide in favor of the Queen of the good girls, or the King of the bad boys?  Check out this clip, and all the other Youtube clips from 'Minxfan', which as a bonus are all of High Quality, and find out!  A big thank you to Minxfan for all their hard work, providing all of us with such High Quality clips and so many of them!  Hours and hours of Soap Opera Drama at its finest, a storyline so exceptional that it may have single handedly saved the entire show!          

Poll Watch: Quinnipiac New Jersey Survey on Governor Chris Christie

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Quinnipiac New Jersey Poll on Gov. Chris Christie

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Chris Christie is handling his job as Governor?
  • Approve 72% (56%) {53%} [54%] (57%) {59%} [55%] (53%) {56%} [58%] (47%) {44%} [47%] (52%) {51%} [51%] (44%)
  • Disapprove 21% (38%) {42%} [39%] (38%) {36%} [38%] (39%) {38%} [38%] (46%) {47%} [46%] (40%) {38%} [36%] (43%)
Among Democrats
  • Approve 52% (28%) {22%} [27%] (30%) {30%} [27%] (25%) {28%} [29%] (17%) {17%} [17%] (27%) {22%} [24%] (18%)
  • Disapprove 39% (65%) {74%} [65%] (63%) {64%} [61%] (64%) {66%} [67%] (76%) {75%} [75%] (66%) {68%} [63%] (67%)
Among Republicans
  • Approve 95% (90%) {87%} [87%] (87%) {92%} [86%] (87%) {90%} [88%] (84%) {76%} [80%] (82%) {79%} [75%] (75%)
  • Disapprove 4% (7%) {11%} [10%] (11%) {6%} [11%] (9%) {8%} [11%] (12%) {15%} [16%] (11%) {12%} [13%] (14%)
Among Independents
  • Approve 77% (62%) {57%} [60%] (61%) {64%} [59%] (54%) {62%} [65%] (53%) {47%} [55%] (55%) {56%} [61%] (50%)
  • Disapprove 16% (32%) {35%} [34%] (32%) {32%} [36%] (37%) {31%} [30%] (39%) {44%} [36%] (36%) {32%} [29%] (40%)
Among Men
  • Approve 75% (62%) {62%} [60%] (61%) {67%} [62%] (60%) {60%} [65%] (58%) {53%} [56%] (58%) {58%} [63%] (53%)
  • Disapprove 19% (33%) {34%} [34%] (34%) {30%} [32%] (34%) {35%} [32%] (36%) {39%} [38%] (35%) {31%} [27%] (36%)
Among Women
  • Approve 70% (50%) {46%} [49%] (53%) {52%} [49%] (47%) {52%} [51%] (37%) {36%} [38%] (46%) {45%} [40%] (36%)
  • Disapprove 23% (42%) {49%} [43%] (41%) {42%} [44%] (43%) {42%} [44%] (55%) {54%} [53%] (44%) {45%} [44%] (50%)
How would you rate Governor Christie's overall response to Hurricane Sandy; excellent, good, not so good or poor? 
  • Excellent 59%
  • Good 36%
  • Not so good 3%
  • Poor1%
Who do you think did the best job handling the recovery from Hurricane Sandy: Governor Cuomo, Governor Christie, Mayor Bloomberg, or President Obama?  
  • Governor Christie 68%
  • President Obama 15%
  • Mayor Bloomberg 5%
  • Governor Cuomo 3%
Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Christie praising President Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy? 
  • Approve 84%
  • Disapprove 12%
Among Democrats
  • Approve 94%
  • Disapprove 3%
Among Republicans
  • Approve 69%
  • Disapprove 28%
Among Independents
  • Approve 86%
  • Disapprove 10%
Survey of 1,664 registered voters was conducted November 19-25, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 2.4 percentage points.  Party ID: 36% (37%) {33%} Democrat; 23% (25%) {24%} Republican; 35% (34%) {37%} Independent; 5% (4%) {6%} Other/Don't know.  Results from the poll conducted October 10-14, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted August 27 - September 2, 2012 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted July 9-15, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted May 9-14, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted April 3-9, 2012 are in curly brackets. Results from the poll conducted February 21-27, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted January 10-16, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted November 9-14, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted October 5-10, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted August 9-15, 2011 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted June 14-19, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted April 12-18, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted February 3-7, 2011 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted November 3-8, 2010 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted August 9-17, 2010 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted June 10-15, 2010 are in parentheses.

Poll Watch: Quinnipiac New Jersey 2013 Gubernatorial Survey

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Quinnipiac New Jersey 2013 Gubernatorial Poll

If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Cory Booker the Democrat and Chris Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?
  • Chris Christie 53% (46%) {47%}
  • Cory Booker 35% (42%) {40%}
Among Democrats
  • Cory Booker 67% (74%) {72%}
  • Chris Christie 20% (12%) {13%}
Among Republicans
  • Chris Christie 91% (88%) {85%}
  • Cory Booker 6% (7%) {7%}
Among Independents
  • Chris Christie 60% (51%) {51%}
  • Cory Booker 24% (34%) {35%}
Among Men
  • Chris Christie 53% (52%) {55%}
  • Cory Booker 35% (39%) {36%}
Among Women
  • Chris Christie 53% (40%) {40%}
  • Cory Booker 34% (46%) {44%}
If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Richard Codey the Democrat and Chris Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?
  • Chris Christie 57% (47%)
  • Richard Codey 30% (41%)
If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Barbara Buono the Democrat and Chris Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?
  • Chris Christie 61% (49%)
  • Barbara Buono 23% (33%)
If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were John Wisniewski the Democrat and Chris Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?
  • Chris Christie 62%
  • John Wisniewski 21%
If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Lou Greenwald the Democrat and Chris Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?
  • Chris Christie 62% (50%)
  • Lou Greenwald 20% (31%)
Favorable / Unfavorable {Net}
  • Chris Christie 67% {52%} / 22% {42%} {+45%}
  • Cory Booker 52% {49%} / 13% {11%} {+39%}
  • Richard Codey 35% / 13% {+22%}
  • Barbara Buono 8% / 7% {+1%}
  • Lou Greenwald 6% / 7% {-1%}
  • John Wisniewski 5% / 7% {-2%}
Do you feel that Chris Christie deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected?
  • Yes/Deserves 67% (52%)
  • No/Does not 25% (40%)
Survey of 1,664 registered voters was conducted November 19-25, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 2.4 percentage points.  Party ID: 36% (37%) {33%} Democrat; 23% (25%) {24%} Republican; 35% (34%) {37%} Independent; 5% (4%) {6%} Other/Don't know.  Results from the poll conducted October 10-14, 2012 are in parentheses. Results from the poll conducted August 27 - September 2, 2012 are in curly brackets.

Poll Watch: PPP (D) New Hampshire 2014 Senatorial Survey

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PPP (D) New Hampshire 2014 Senate Poll
  • Jeanne Shaheen (D) 53%
  • John E. Sununu (R) 42%
  • Undecided 5%
Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s job performance?
  • Approve 51%
  • Disapprove 36%
Survey of 1,018 registered New Hampshire voters was conducted November 14-15, 2012 on behalf of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Survey on Egypt

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Rasmussen (R) Poll on Egypt

Is Egypt an ally or an enemy of the United States, or somewhere in between?
  • Ally 14% [23%] (34%) {42%} [39%]
  • Enemy 15% [21%] (14%) {8%} [9%]
  • In between 55% [48%] (43%) {39%} [42%
  • Not sure 16%
Has the change in the government of Egypt brought about by last year’s Arab Spring protests been good for the United States, bad for the United States or has it had no impact on the United States?
  • Good for the U.S. 12%
  • Bad for the U.S. 37%
  • No impact on U.S. 21%
  • Not sure 30%
Over the next few years, how likely is that Egypt will become a free, democratic, and peaceful nation?
  • Very likely 9%
  • Somewhat likely 26%
  • Not very likely 34%
  • Not at all likely 13%
  • Not sure 18%
Should the United States get more directly involved in the Egypt situation or leave the situation alone? 
  • Get more directly involved 18%
  • Leave the situation alone 57%
  • Undecided 25%
Survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted November 26-27, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Results from the polls conducted October 16-17, 2012 and October 18-19, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the polls conducted October 17-18, 2011 and October 19-20, 2011 are in parentheses. Results from the polls conducted August 20-21, 2010 and August 22-23, 2010 are in curly brackets.  Results from the polls conducted August 5-8, 2009 are in square brackets.Inside the numbers: 
Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major political party are twice as supportive of U.S. involvement in Egypt as Democrats are.
But then only 21% of voters in President Obama’s party see the change in the Egyptian government as bad for the United States, compared to 60% of Republicans and 34% of unaffiliateds. Democrats are also much more optimistic that Egypt will become free, democratic and peaceful in the new few years.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of all voters say they have been following recent news reports about the political unrest in Egypt, including 39% who have been following very closely.

28 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba

Oakland Mayor Threatens Anarchists With a Timeout

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This woman makes David Dinkins look like a pillar of granite when it comes to placating mindless thuggery. Heck, Mikey Bloomberg could give her tips on how to at least rattle the sabers. But being this nincompoop Jean Quan already surrendered her city to the mob, her next best hope is for the lawless to, ahem, take some responsibility.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan says the Occupy Oakland protesters camped outside City Hall need to move to a "less disruptive" location if they can't learn to behave themselves.

"They have to take some responsibility, they have to step up," she told KCBS-AM in an interview. "If they can't abide by not camping at night and they can't control the violence, they need to work with the city to move the camp to a place that will be less disruptive."

Quan told KCBS she didn't know where that new location could be, but jokingly suggested San Francisco.
What a card. She's a national laughingstock and she's cracking jokes.
Quan's administration has gone back and forth on what to do with the camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza at 14th Street and Broadway, where there are now about 165 tents. First she supported protesters, then approved a police sweep to clear the encampment Oct. 25, then allowed the tents to return.

At a lengthy meeting Thursday night, several members of the City Council hinted that they would like the camp to go away.

That might be easier said than done, Quan told KCBS.
She knows how to play her cards, doesn't she? Such bold, decisive leadership clearly shows she's on the fast track to a top law enforcement post in a future Democrat administration.

'If This Had Completely Gone South, He Was in a Position to Disavow'

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Isn't it great being able to have it both ways?Maybe it’s the fog of war.Chuck Pfarrer, a former SEAL Team Six assault-element commander, raises serious questions about the official story of Osama bin Laden’s takedown in his new book, “Seal Target Geronimo.”“The further I got away from the Beltway, the more accurate information I got,” he said.Pfarrer says it only took the SEALs 90 to 120 seconds


'I’m Like a Celebrity Back Home'

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Like most of the Occupy Wall Street freaks, this guy is completely delusional.
Henry Perkins is giving Occupy Wall Street the old college try.

The 21-year-old University of Alabama junior has been earning college credits while living in the open-air, crime-riddled frat house of Zuccotti Park.

“I asked my professors and they said to go for it,” Perkins told the Daily News. “They’re living vicariously through me.”

“I learned a lot here,” added Perkins, who arrived in New York by train carrying only a computer, toothbrush, cell phone, some books and a tarp. “I realized that I never want to be in any system, and you can make it work.”

Since joining the protest against corporate excess three weeks ago, Perkins said he’s become the big man on Alabama’s campus while camping out 900 miles away.

He Skypes into class twice a week, listening to lectures and giving students colorful updates from the epicenter of the global movement. And he regularly checks in with his professors.

“I’m like a celebrity back home,” Perkins said.

Even his parents support his odd curriculum. Perkins’ proud mom said she has no problem with her son’s $8,600 in-state tuition being devoted to his immersive research project on Occupy Wall Street.

“I’m sure he’ll learn more in two weeks in New York than in two years in college,” said Danielle Juzan, of Mobile, Ala., who acknowledged that she’s still “worried sick” about her son.

“What impressed us the most was the fact that he was able to negotiate this with his professors.”
His folks impress easily. Imagine how they'll feel if this tool ever manages to get a job.

New York Democrat Yanks Nude Photos Off His Website: 'How Do You Trust Someone Who Posts Naked Pictures of Himself on the Internet?'

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What's the deal with these weirdo Democrats who feel they need to post lewd photos of themselves? OK, this guy says they're art photos, but really, who wants to look at this stuff? Didn't he at least pause to think after the Anthony Weiner fiasco?
Monroe County Legislator Stephen Eckel abruptly removed two nude photos of himself from a personal website on Friday after being questioned about them by a television reporter.

Eckel, 46, a Democrat from Rochester in the midst of a re-election campaign, said in a phone interview that he took the photos of himself in 2000 as a student at the Visual Studies Workshop while working on a master of fine arts degree at The College at Brockport. He received the degree a year later.

The sepia-toned photos, taken with a wide lens at an elevated angle, were full frontal nude shots of Eckel, but were not sexual in nature. He described them as art.

They were part of a portfolio of Eckel's from that time that he said he showcased on the Internet to find photography work and jobs teaching photography. He has periodically taught photography at local colleges since then.

Eckel said he had never been questioned about the appropriateness of the photos until today, when he was contacted by a reporter from 13WHAM-TV, who had learned of the photos from the Monroe County Republican Committee.

"This is nothing more than a Republican stooping to a new low in order to distract the public from the real issues facing Monroe County taxpayers," Eckel said. "These were taken 10 years ago as part of a portfolio that helped me earn a master's of fine arts. Clearly, they have nothing to do with my service in my district."

Eckel said he removed the photos because they would "deflect attention from the true issues of the campaign." Asked if he would post them again after the campaign, he said that would be something he would have to consider.

Tony Micciche, who is challenging Eckel for the seat in the 26th District — which covers parts of Rochester, Gates and Greece — said such photos, even as artistic works, show poor judgment.

"How do you trust someone who posts naked pictures of himself on the Internet?" Micciche asked. "He's an elected official. He should be held to a higher standard."
The New York Post has one of the shots here.

Update: Also posted at the new and improved JWF.

We've Moved

To contact us Click HERE
We hit our five year anniversary this past weekend and it's been a nice run here.

Now we'll be blogging at a new home. Be sure to bookmark and update any links if you've been so kind to link us in the past.

A feed is available here as well as a new Twitter link.

This site will still live on but all new content will be at the new place, where we'll have feature posts, blog items, headlines and links to other sites around the blogosphere.

Thanks to John E. for helping to get things up and running and thanks to everyone who's visited and linked since we started up back in November 2006.

27 Kasım 2012 Salı

quotes from (and a few thoughts on) Hayek's Road to Serfdom

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Hayek dedicates The Road to Serfdom to "the socialists of all parties". Gotta love that start, noting that socialism and crony capitalism (a later topic) are common among the politicians and partisans of the major political parties.

Hayek (xiii; page references from the original/1944 version) uses this deTocqueville quote in the preface about the slow removal of freedom in a "new kind of servitude" [to government]: "It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

Hayek quotes FDR (once) and it's a doozy: "not that the system of free enterprise for profit has failed in this generation, but that it has not yet been tried..."

Hayek on "individualism" (14, 59): “Individualism has a bad name today and the term has come to be connected with egotism and selfishness. But the individualism of which we speak in contrast to socialism and all other forms of collectivism has no necessary connection with these... It does not assume, as is often asserted, that man is egoistic or selfish or ought to be. It merely starts from the indisputable fact that the limits of our powers of imagination make it impossible to include in our scale of values more than a sector of the needs of the whole society...From this the individualist concludes that the individuals should be allowed, within defined limits, to follow their own values..." 

Hayek is not a hard-core Libertarian, easily finding a role for government in areas beyond "institutions" (p. 38-39; establishing an environment that encourages productivity-- e.g., by protecting property rights)-- into areas such as regulation of poisonous substances, to limit working hours, to regulate sanitation and safety (as long as it promotes the general welfare, rather than targeting specific actors; p. 37). See: Walter Block's article in the Journal of Libertarian Studies for more detail on this.

Hayek on the "inevitability" and slippery slope of central planning and socialism (43): "It is a revealing fact that few planners are content to say that central planning is desirable. Most of them affirm that we can no longer choose but are compelled by circumstances beyond our control to substitute planning for competition. The myth is deliberately cultivated that we are embarking on the new course not out of free will but because competition is spontaneously eliminated by technological changes which we neither can reverse nor should wish to prevent. This argument is rarely developed at any length—it is one of the assertions taken over by one writer from another until, by mere iteration, it has come to be accepted as an established fact."

Hayek (56) quotes Adam Smith on the troubles of central planning: "The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with most unnecessary attention but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of man who have folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it."

I love this poke by Hayek on supposed advocates and the fetish of democracy (70-71): “It may well be true that our generation talks and thinks too much of democracy, and too little of the values which it serves...Democracy is essentially a means, a utilitarian device for safe-guarding internal peace and individual freedom. As such it is by no means infallible or certain... Democratic control may prevent power from becoming arbitrary, but it does not do so by its mere existence. If democracy resolves on a task which necessarily involves the use of power which cannot be guided by fixed rules, it must become arbitrary power."

Hayek on crony capitalism (194): "the impetus of the movement toward totalitarianism comes mainly from the two great vested interests: organized capital and organized labor. Probably the greatest menace of all is the fact that the policies of these two most powerful groups point in the same direction." Continuing (196-197): "Unless the argument of this book has been completely misunderstood, the author will not be suspected of any tenderness toward the capitalists if he stresses here that it would nevertheless be a mistake to put the blame for the modern movement toward monopoly exclusively or mainly on that class. Their propensity in this direction is neither new nor would it by itself be likely to become a formidable power. The fatal development was that they have succeeded in enlisting the support of an ever increasing number of other groups and, with their help, in obtaining the support of the state...Private monopoly is scarcely ever complete and even more rarely of long duration or able to disregard potential competition. But a state monopoly is always a state-protected monopoly—protected against both potential competition and effective criticism...The machinery of monopoly becomes identical with the machinery of the state, and the state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in general."

excerpts from the WSJ's "The Mediscare Boomerang"

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Here's the link...

President Obama's $716 billion is a "cut" only in the sense of slowing the rate of spending growth over 10 years, which is the baseline Democrats always use. Medicare spending will continue to rise rapidly...

LOVE that point! LOL! The GOP is usually so tin-ear (or complicit) on this silly approach! Glad to see it bite the Dems on the butt.

Either Mr. Obama's apologists can defend raiding one insolvent entitlement to finance another one and own the cuts. Or they can say these Medicare cuts don't really count as cuts, as the media fact checkers are suddenly finding ways to do. In which case it means repudiating Mr. Obama's repeated claims that the Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit and that "I have strengthened Medicare"...The larger reality is that Medicare cannot and will not continue as it is, as the President used to admit. A sampler of his rhetoric from the town-hall summer of 2009: "Mark my words," he declared in Grand Junction, Colorado, "Medicare in about eight to nine years goes into the red. . . . It is going broke"...

 
I didn't remember Obama saying such things. Wow. Here's the WSJ's overview of the Romney-Ryan plan:

Their "premium support" reform explicitly preserves traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Starting in 2023, seniors could either pick traditional Medicare or choose from a menu of regulated private plans. The reform is modeled after the health program that already covers all federal workers, including Members of Congress. The subsidies increase with health costs, so seniors wouldn't bear more risk. The plan wouldn't kick in for a decade, shielding everyone who is in or near retirement. Our preference would be to start immediately, but the delay is one of many political accommodations to help ease the worries of current retirees.

 
Finally, a few more salient thoughts on the politics of the topic-- an interesting irony that Obama has made it (politically) feasible for the GOP to enter this debate for the first time. That's one odd thing to be thankful for: that if we'd had a John Kerry or Al Gore, Medicare would still be a cheap "third-rail" issue.

In a normal political year, the liberal Mediscare tom-toms might have scared Republicans from this issue, and Mr. Ryan probably would have remained an admired if sidelined Congressman. But Mr. Obama decided via the Affordable Care Act to remake the entire health-care system including Medicare, and thus he also changed the politics. The...unpopularity of ObamaCare [has] made Paul Ryan's reform politically possible, meaning that voters may be open to hearing the real choice they face between command and control or private competition and more patient choice. Throw in the lousy economy and the Obama spending and debt binges, and the GOP this year has a chance to win a health-care debate if it goes on offense and contrasts its solutions to Mr. Obama's. That's the real reason liberals and the press corps claim to be so upset by the Romney Medicare ad. By governing so far to the left, Mr. Obama may have neutralized Mediscare and made voters more receptive to center-right solutions....

review of Paul Collier's "The Bottom Billion"

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Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion is an excellent book-- a must-read for those interested in international poverty.

Collier opens by noting that international poverty used to be about 1 billion people in developed countries, in contrast to 4 billion in less-developed countries. (This terminology was an update from "1st world" and "3rd world".) Now, we have 5 billion people in developING countries and 1 billion in impoverished and stagnant countries "less-developed". The issue is not so much their lack of development, since poverty is not inherently a trap. (If it were, we'd all be poor, for all of history!) The larger issue is that they're stuck. 
Previous efforts have centered on "biz and buzz"-- the bureaucracy of professionals trying to help the poor in these (largely African) countries and the rock stars who get involved at various levels. Collier appreciates the good intentions and the herculean efforts-- although those are in concert with naivete and graft. But he says that we're missing it.
The biggest value-added: Collier discusses four "traps" and the data on their impact: 1.) "conflict": war and civil war; 2.) an abundance of natural resources; 3.) being land-locked (especially with bad neighbors); and 4.) bad government.
A little more detail on 1 and 2: "Conflict" has cause and effect with poverty-- and is connected to resources, as those in power (or those seeking power and wealth) use force to extract wealth from the country's resources. As such, an abundance of natural resources is a very mixed bag. They should be helpful, on paper-- but in practice, it often plays out as a curse rather than a blessing. (By analogy, think about individuals who are talented, beautiful, or really intelligent-- and how that often doesn't play out so well.)
Economists focus on #4 a lot and at least allude to #2. We certainly know about #1's importance, but it's largely outside our field. #3 was novel to me, but probably not to those with a little more expertise in the field.
Collier points to the inefficacy of foreign aid, at least of the traditional sort, in practice. (But he's not ready to give up on the possibility of it being effective!) And he notes the importance of economic growth, which typically benefits most people, including the poor.
His RX's: 1.) Target aid to the best governments or make it conditional on policy reforms. (This is harsh in a way, but sets the best incentives for improving. On paper, we can help dictators, but in practice, it won't work that way.) 2.) Give aid post-conflict, but not too soon: the data on "too soon" indicates that it promotes the re-establishment of conflict. 3.) Give aid to countries without as many resources. (For those with a lot of resources, that's not what they need!). 4.) Promote trade and access to coasts/ports. 5.) Finally, he even sees military intervention as an ethical and practical possibility (but overstates both-- as they would play out in practice!).

An easy read with a ton of great material on international poverty. If that's a topic of interest, you need this book!


We're Back and ready to Rank... New Republican Rankings for August 7, 2007... Where do they stand?

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Well it's been a while and definitely a long time since the last promised update in rankings. Most of you already know the major changes that have taken place since the last ranking came out. Just for a brief overview of the two biggest happenings...
- John McCain had a major meltdown in his campaign when three top campaign leaders, including the Campaign Manager and the Lead Strategist resigned from the campaign.
- Jim Gilmore dropped out of the race and no one has really missed him.

Now for the good stuff...


Republican Presidential Candidate Rankings as of August 7, 2008 (Pre-Ames Straw Poll)

1. Mitt Romney
Well Mitt's use of the almighty dollar puts him at the front of the pack in Iowa and for that case in the race itself. Romney has made sure he is not unknown going into the straw poll. But is Mitt really how Iowa wants? Polls have shown that Romney's message has just not spoke loudly in Iowa. Not nearly as much as his name and face. Lets face the facts, Mitt Romney cleans up well and is an extremely good public speaker and puts out a great image on television looking like a family man who is just another average American, the only part of that, that will come back to bit him is in the Straw Poll and Caucus the voters get to see the candidates in real life and in real life Mitt does not come off anywhere as good as he does on television. Money and popularity have gotten Romney to the top spot, but it is not likely that he will take Iowa just to the fact that Iowans have through out history filtered the phonies out of the race. And that's all Romney is. A pretty talking head phony.

2. Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee has been on an unbelievable tear as of late. It looked as if he was about to take a big hit after the second quarter fundraising figures came out. Huckabee had finished in the bottom 3 of Republicans and it looked like his campaign was about to go into panic mode. H
owever Mike had different plans. Just as the name of his latest book, his campaign has risen From Hope to Higher Ground. After the ABC News debate from Iowa it seems as if Huckabee has an excellent chance at not only placing highly at the straw poll, but even winning the poll in Ames. During the Iowa/ABC News Debate Dr. Frank Luntz (one of the nations top political pollsters) used the new real-time dial technology that let's voters give an immediate feedback to what they think about what the candidate is saying. Dr. Luntz said that Huckabee's numbers went through the roof when attacked the Suadi royal family and their involvement and funding of terrorism with money coming from US oil revenue and that America needs to be independent on energy within 10 years. Read this small portion of a Politico.com article...

"At the session’s start, only one participant picked Huckabee as the candidate he or she wanted to win. Nine chose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, eight were for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, five were for the absent Fred Thompson, two were for McCain, and the remaining candidates were picked by one or none.
But when it was over, Huckabee had 14 votes, compared with 10 for Romney, three for Giuliani, one for Fred Thompson and one for Rep. Duncan Hunter of California."

Check out the entire article by clicking here.
This is all great news for the Huckabee camp and he is an a great position to be catapulted to the front of the pack after the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday.

3-t. Rudy Giuliani
The man who started out the campaign as the favorite to sweep through the primaries with out much resistance has had a much rougher time than expected and has fallen from his top spot. He refuses to get down and play primary politics. Giuliani seems to think that meeting voters one on one in Iowa and even on a big scale by way of the Ames Straw Poll and the September YouTube debate is too much work for him and not enough gain. Not only has Giuliani lost hundreds of thousands of potential votes by trying to play primary politics on a national level, he has alienated much of his support in Iowa which is THE most important state in the primaries for Republicans. Does anyone else remember what happened to the last big name candidate who tried to take his campaign to a national level months in advance and then got blown out in the primaries?
It was only four years ago when just that happened to the democrats original favorite, Howard Dean. Dean had money, a popular name, a message that many democrats were in too and so he thought he could skip the entire primary process that has elected our Presidents all through out history and get a seventh month head start on the general election.
I believe Rudy Giuliani will be wishing he would have learned the phrase "If you don't learn history, you are doomed to repeat it." Because it seems like Mayor Giuliani is totally clueless as to what is about to happen to his campaign in the primary states. And that is fail.

3-t. Fred Thompson
Time is running out for Fred Thompson. All depending on how the Ames Iowa Straw Poll turns out he could find himself losing a lot of his popularity. His name being on the ballot may actually hurt him. If he does not finish in the top two and loses to some one who is not Rudy Giulian or John McCain (which is very likely) he will begin to slip as "the candidate everyone wants". If Mike Huckabee wins the Straw Poll it will likely end the chances of Fred Thompson entering the campaign as the favorite. Right now he thrives on being the "true conservative" which is nothing but a myth. A Huckabee win at the Straw Poll would undoubtedly put Mike in the "top tier" and all it would take to find out that Huckabee is much more conservative than Fred is a few minutes on the internet. Not to mention Huckabee beats him out on experience and record. If Fred Thompson wants to be the Republican nominee, he better hope Huckabee has a bad showing at the Ames Straw Poll or he better jump in the race and try to spin his weak record to people. If he does not, his campaign will be nothing but a "what if" by the end of the month.

5. John McCain
As you saw above, McCain's campaign has taken hit, after hit, after hit and it is really starting to show. He has been declared the loser of ever debate, except for the first according to Dr. Frank Luntz, the Fox News pollster mentioned earlier in the rankings. It seems like Immigration (which if you might remember Republican Race '08 predicted it spoiling his chance at winning the nomination) has destroyed his campaign. He too has decided to skip the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday, but his campaign had no real shot at showing well in the poll and so he backed out to have a reason for his poor showing. He did not fair well in 1999 in the Iowa Straw Poll and that was the beginning of the end of his presidential hopes in '99 and here we are in 2008 and we are near the end of the end of his presidential campaign this year. And once again the Iowa Straw Poll will show how little his support he really has.

6. Tom Tancredo
Who ever thought Tancredo would make it this far? In the last ranking he was ranked dead last behind Jim Gilmore. He has made a surge taking bold stances on not only immigration, but has widened his spectrum to taxes, Congresses high spending and even has a better grip on foreign policy and the War on Terror and Iraq. He has became more and more popular and is now the leader of "the new second tier" and he had an excellent 2nd quarter in fundraising and has used it to get his name out in Iowa. All depending on his showing in the Ames Straw Poll, Congressman Tancredo could be positioning him self as a leading candidate to be the VP nominee.



7. Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter has remained a solid name in the "second tier", but he hasn't really picked up a lot of ground. He did not perform well in fundraising and is not really gaining popularity, but he has been staying in about the same place in polls (around 6th-8th)
He has had two great showings at the last two debates and is still impressing and surprising people, but just like all the other candidates he will find out where it has put him in the eyes of the people after the Iowa Straw Poll.




8. Sam Brownback

Brownback has become the red headed step child of the group. He doesn't get any attention and in an attempt to get more attention he has constantly cried about other candidates and has on two attempts, blamed candidates for things they had nothing to do with (most recently the Huckabee camp for a supporters email). He has not been charming nearly as many Iowans as pundits thought he would. Instead he has become a big annoyance for everyone else in the race and has dropped into the attack mode attacking Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee and it has not helped him in the polls at all and according to Dr. Frank Luntz' real-time feedback dials voters have not liked what Sam Brownback has said about some of his fellow candidate and many did not approve of his campaigns attack phone calls to voters regarding Mitt Romney.

9. Tommy Thompson
Mr. Wisconsin is the only man who has remained in his post from the last ranking. Tommy has impressed many people on Health Care, if he would make that the main topic of his campaign he would probably be a lot higher in this ranking, but he has not played his card correctly and here he is, a spot away from dead last and only above Ron Paul.
Thompson has been performing better in the debates, but he still isn't "clicking" with voters and it shows. In most polls he is barely registering and in the ones he has he is no higher than 2%, with the exception of a few where voters mistake him for Fred Thompson.
Tommy's campaign will likely be over a week or two after the Straw Poll.

10. Ron Paul
Well I guess we'll see how many Ron Paul cronies read Republican Race '08! Dr. Paul has lost just about all credibility by resorting to the "neo-conservative" movement and take over of the Republican Party. That phase will end any chance he ever had of pulling an upset. It has been a phrase that has ended many "true conservatives" campaigns all across the nation in many republican states. Fact being you don't call your potential voters a name just about all of them hate to be called. You can not alienate voters and expect to win and Ron Paul has done just that. Alienated Republican voters. You would think a man as educated as Dr. Paul would know how to speak to voters, but yet he doesn't and that lands him in dead-last.


We will update the rankings after the Ames Straw Poll this Saturday. Please check back within the next day or two or subscribe by email (just put your email in the box above to the right and click submit) We will have new articles coming regularly.
To those of you who want to know... I have been moving to my new apartment, in a new state and that has consumed a lot of my time the last month and a half and I have not had a chance to hit the blog on a regular basis.
But Good News... I'M BACK and Republican Race '08 is back to being a regularly updated web site.

Stay tuned for the best coverage on the 2008 Republican Race for the White House!

Huckabee's Message is Right for South Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, and America

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That quote came from former Governor of South Carolina David Beasley in today's Conference Call with Bloggers with Gov. Mike Huckabee.


We got a chance to actually get in two questions today...
Our first question was... Gov. Huckabee, Sam Brownback has recently launched an aggressive attack campaign on both Mitt Romney and yourself, to a lesser degree. And the Club for Growth has a distorted smear ad out against you. How do you feel about attacking other candidates in politics and what’s your personal opinion on the ad’s out against yourself and Gov. Romney? And do you think running your campaign with more integrity, on a positive message focusing on yourself rather than someone else, is why you have passed Senator Brownback and are doing so well in Iowa?
- Gov. Huckabee said "(Iowan voters) want to hear what’s great about America, not what's bad about another candidate." He said that it's important not to go out against another candidate in your party because “you have to eat your words months down the road if that person gets the nomination and then you have to act like that person is better than toothpaste". He said the he thinks a large part of the reason he has done so well in Iowa, is that Iowans like his positive message that focuses on him and not against another candidate.
Gov. Huckabee also said the attack ads just give further validation that his campaign his gaining huge momentum and that Washington and other candidates are trying to slow him down, but it is not working.
-Gov. Beasley also gave his opinions on the Club for Growths smear ad against Huckabee. "He’s Not a inside the beltway person and that's what they are against him(Huckabee)… that’s why we need a guy like Mike Huckabee" He also said, "Washington is trying to put out a message that America does not want to hear, but Gov. Huckabee is talking about what Americans think is important. The Club for Growth in Washington is not putting out a message like many of the Club for Growth members I know around the country, who have the same message as Gov. Huckabee."

And the second question was a lighter topic...
Gov. Huckabee, after seeing yourself in third in the ABC News/Washington Post poll and winning the debate and blowing away voters according to Dr. Frank Luntz, and even having Speaker Gingrich who is one of the most respected people in the party say everything he said. Have you gotten a chance to take a step back and actually think that you have a good shot of being on that stage in Saint Paul in September accepting the GOP nomination and if so how does that feel?
-He said that he hadn't had time to really think about and the campaign has been so focused at getting every possible vote on Saturday it has been a full steam ahead type deal. He did say that he knows he has to remember it's a long way until next September and he does have to remember that, but he seemed pretty excited about the idea of being on the stage in St. Paul accepting his parties nomination, but hey, who wouldn't?

Gov. Huckabee had stressed early in the debate about how much the people of Iowa like his message saying “We’ve used minimal resources to pass those who are using millions of dollars” and seemed very please with the status of his campaign.
Gov. Beasley said that Mike has out ran the big money candidates by "pounding the pavement in Iowa" and getting his message into every home in Iowa. Not through their TV, but through their door. "He takes the time to give his consistent message and consistent record to all the people in Iowa".

Gov. Huckabee seems very excited about this Saturday and think that "history will be made there". The Huckabee campaign will have a action packed day including two scheduled performances of Capitol Offense "the best band in politics" and also Watermelon for everyone from Mike's hometown of Hope, Arkansas. They will also be giving away a 100+ pound watermelon.

The candidate who currently holds the number two spot in the Republican Race '08 Rankings is looking to have a big day on Saturday.

Stay Tuned for more coverage all week long on the 2007 Ames Iowa Straw Poll.

26 Kasım 2012 Pazartesi

'I’m Like a Celebrity Back Home'

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Like most of the Occupy Wall Street freaks, this guy is completely delusional.
Henry Perkins is giving Occupy Wall Street the old college try.

The 21-year-old University of Alabama junior has been earning college credits while living in the open-air, crime-riddled frat house of Zuccotti Park.

“I asked my professors and they said to go for it,” Perkins told the Daily News. “They’re living vicariously through me.”

“I learned a lot here,” added Perkins, who arrived in New York by train carrying only a computer, toothbrush, cell phone, some books and a tarp. “I realized that I never want to be in any system, and you can make it work.”

Since joining the protest against corporate excess three weeks ago, Perkins said he’s become the big man on Alabama’s campus while camping out 900 miles away.

He Skypes into class twice a week, listening to lectures and giving students colorful updates from the epicenter of the global movement. And he regularly checks in with his professors.

“I’m like a celebrity back home,” Perkins said.

Even his parents support his odd curriculum. Perkins’ proud mom said she has no problem with her son’s $8,600 in-state tuition being devoted to his immersive research project on Occupy Wall Street.

“I’m sure he’ll learn more in two weeks in New York than in two years in college,” said Danielle Juzan, of Mobile, Ala., who acknowledged that she’s still “worried sick” about her son.

“What impressed us the most was the fact that he was able to negotiate this with his professors.”
His folks impress easily. Imagine how they'll feel if this tool ever manages to get a job.

New York Democrat Yanks Nude Photos Off His Website: 'How Do You Trust Someone Who Posts Naked Pictures of Himself on the Internet?'

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What's the deal with these weirdo Democrats who feel they need to post lewd photos of themselves? OK, this guy says they're art photos, but really, who wants to look at this stuff? Didn't he at least pause to think after the Anthony Weiner fiasco?
Monroe County Legislator Stephen Eckel abruptly removed two nude photos of himself from a personal website on Friday after being questioned about them by a television reporter.

Eckel, 46, a Democrat from Rochester in the midst of a re-election campaign, said in a phone interview that he took the photos of himself in 2000 as a student at the Visual Studies Workshop while working on a master of fine arts degree at The College at Brockport. He received the degree a year later.

The sepia-toned photos, taken with a wide lens at an elevated angle, were full frontal nude shots of Eckel, but were not sexual in nature. He described them as art.

They were part of a portfolio of Eckel's from that time that he said he showcased on the Internet to find photography work and jobs teaching photography. He has periodically taught photography at local colleges since then.

Eckel said he had never been questioned about the appropriateness of the photos until today, when he was contacted by a reporter from 13WHAM-TV, who had learned of the photos from the Monroe County Republican Committee.

"This is nothing more than a Republican stooping to a new low in order to distract the public from the real issues facing Monroe County taxpayers," Eckel said. "These were taken 10 years ago as part of a portfolio that helped me earn a master's of fine arts. Clearly, they have nothing to do with my service in my district."

Eckel said he removed the photos because they would "deflect attention from the true issues of the campaign." Asked if he would post them again after the campaign, he said that would be something he would have to consider.

Tony Micciche, who is challenging Eckel for the seat in the 26th District — which covers parts of Rochester, Gates and Greece — said such photos, even as artistic works, show poor judgment.

"How do you trust someone who posts naked pictures of himself on the Internet?" Micciche asked. "He's an elected official. He should be held to a higher standard."
The New York Post has one of the shots here.

Update: Also posted at the new and improved JWF.

We've Moved

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We hit our five year anniversary this past weekend and it's been a nice run here.

Now we'll be blogging at a new home. Be sure to bookmark and update any links if you've been so kind to link us in the past.

A feed is available here as well as a new Twitter link.

This site will still live on but all new content will be at the new place, where we'll have feature posts, blog items, headlines and links to other sites around the blogosphere.

Thanks to John E. for helping to get things up and running and thanks to everyone who's visited and linked since we started up back in November 2006.

We're Back and ready to Rank... New Republican Rankings for August 7, 2007... Where do they stand?

To contact us Click HERE
Well it's been a while and definitely a long time since the last promised update in rankings. Most of you already know the major changes that have taken place since the last ranking came out. Just for a brief overview of the two biggest happenings...
- John McCain had a major meltdown in his campaign when three top campaign leaders, including the Campaign Manager and the Lead Strategist resigned from the campaign.
- Jim Gilmore dropped out of the race and no one has really missed him.

Now for the good stuff...


Republican Presidential Candidate Rankings as of August 7, 2008 (Pre-Ames Straw Poll)

1. Mitt Romney
Well Mitt's use of the almighty dollar puts him at the front of the pack in Iowa and for that case in the race itself. Romney has made sure he is not unknown going into the straw poll. But is Mitt really how Iowa wants? Polls have shown that Romney's message has just not spoke loudly in Iowa. Not nearly as much as his name and face. Lets face the facts, Mitt Romney cleans up well and is an extremely good public speaker and puts out a great image on television looking like a family man who is just another average American, the only part of that, that will come back to bit him is in the Straw Poll and Caucus the voters get to see the candidates in real life and in real life Mitt does not come off anywhere as good as he does on television. Money and popularity have gotten Romney to the top spot, but it is not likely that he will take Iowa just to the fact that Iowans have through out history filtered the phonies out of the race. And that's all Romney is. A pretty talking head phony.

2. Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee has been on an unbelievable tear as of late. It looked as if he was about to take a big hit after the second quarter fundraising figures came out. Huckabee had finished in the bottom 3 of Republicans and it looked like his campaign was about to go into panic mode. H
owever Mike had different plans. Just as the name of his latest book, his campaign has risen From Hope to Higher Ground. After the ABC News debate from Iowa it seems as if Huckabee has an excellent chance at not only placing highly at the straw poll, but even winning the poll in Ames. During the Iowa/ABC News Debate Dr. Frank Luntz (one of the nations top political pollsters) used the new real-time dial technology that let's voters give an immediate feedback to what they think about what the candidate is saying. Dr. Luntz said that Huckabee's numbers went through the roof when attacked the Suadi royal family and their involvement and funding of terrorism with money coming from US oil revenue and that America needs to be independent on energy within 10 years. Read this small portion of a Politico.com article...

"At the session’s start, only one participant picked Huckabee as the candidate he or she wanted to win. Nine chose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, eight were for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, five were for the absent Fred Thompson, two were for McCain, and the remaining candidates were picked by one or none.
But when it was over, Huckabee had 14 votes, compared with 10 for Romney, three for Giuliani, one for Fred Thompson and one for Rep. Duncan Hunter of California."

Check out the entire article by clicking here.
This is all great news for the Huckabee camp and he is an a great position to be catapulted to the front of the pack after the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday.

3-t. Rudy Giuliani
The man who started out the campaign as the favorite to sweep through the primaries with out much resistance has had a much rougher time than expected and has fallen from his top spot. He refuses to get down and play primary politics. Giuliani seems to think that meeting voters one on one in Iowa and even on a big scale by way of the Ames Straw Poll and the September YouTube debate is too much work for him and not enough gain. Not only has Giuliani lost hundreds of thousands of potential votes by trying to play primary politics on a national level, he has alienated much of his support in Iowa which is THE most important state in the primaries for Republicans. Does anyone else remember what happened to the last big name candidate who tried to take his campaign to a national level months in advance and then got blown out in the primaries?
It was only four years ago when just that happened to the democrats original favorite, Howard Dean. Dean had money, a popular name, a message that many democrats were in too and so he thought he could skip the entire primary process that has elected our Presidents all through out history and get a seventh month head start on the general election.
I believe Rudy Giuliani will be wishing he would have learned the phrase "If you don't learn history, you are doomed to repeat it." Because it seems like Mayor Giuliani is totally clueless as to what is about to happen to his campaign in the primary states. And that is fail.

3-t. Fred Thompson
Time is running out for Fred Thompson. All depending on how the Ames Iowa Straw Poll turns out he could find himself losing a lot of his popularity. His name being on the ballot may actually hurt him. If he does not finish in the top two and loses to some one who is not Rudy Giulian or John McCain (which is very likely) he will begin to slip as "the candidate everyone wants". If Mike Huckabee wins the Straw Poll it will likely end the chances of Fred Thompson entering the campaign as the favorite. Right now he thrives on being the "true conservative" which is nothing but a myth. A Huckabee win at the Straw Poll would undoubtedly put Mike in the "top tier" and all it would take to find out that Huckabee is much more conservative than Fred is a few minutes on the internet. Not to mention Huckabee beats him out on experience and record. If Fred Thompson wants to be the Republican nominee, he better hope Huckabee has a bad showing at the Ames Straw Poll or he better jump in the race and try to spin his weak record to people. If he does not, his campaign will be nothing but a "what if" by the end of the month.

5. John McCain
As you saw above, McCain's campaign has taken hit, after hit, after hit and it is really starting to show. He has been declared the loser of ever debate, except for the first according to Dr. Frank Luntz, the Fox News pollster mentioned earlier in the rankings. It seems like Immigration (which if you might remember Republican Race '08 predicted it spoiling his chance at winning the nomination) has destroyed his campaign. He too has decided to skip the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday, but his campaign had no real shot at showing well in the poll and so he backed out to have a reason for his poor showing. He did not fair well in 1999 in the Iowa Straw Poll and that was the beginning of the end of his presidential hopes in '99 and here we are in 2008 and we are near the end of the end of his presidential campaign this year. And once again the Iowa Straw Poll will show how little his support he really has.

6. Tom Tancredo
Who ever thought Tancredo would make it this far? In the last ranking he was ranked dead last behind Jim Gilmore. He has made a surge taking bold stances on not only immigration, but has widened his spectrum to taxes, Congresses high spending and even has a better grip on foreign policy and the War on Terror and Iraq. He has became more and more popular and is now the leader of "the new second tier" and he had an excellent 2nd quarter in fundraising and has used it to get his name out in Iowa. All depending on his showing in the Ames Straw Poll, Congressman Tancredo could be positioning him self as a leading candidate to be the VP nominee.



7. Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter has remained a solid name in the "second tier", but he hasn't really picked up a lot of ground. He did not perform well in fundraising and is not really gaining popularity, but he has been staying in about the same place in polls (around 6th-8th)
He has had two great showings at the last two debates and is still impressing and surprising people, but just like all the other candidates he will find out where it has put him in the eyes of the people after the Iowa Straw Poll.




8. Sam Brownback

Brownback has become the red headed step child of the group. He doesn't get any attention and in an attempt to get more attention he has constantly cried about other candidates and has on two attempts, blamed candidates for things they had nothing to do with (most recently the Huckabee camp for a supporters email). He has not been charming nearly as many Iowans as pundits thought he would. Instead he has become a big annoyance for everyone else in the race and has dropped into the attack mode attacking Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee and it has not helped him in the polls at all and according to Dr. Frank Luntz' real-time feedback dials voters have not liked what Sam Brownback has said about some of his fellow candidate and many did not approve of his campaigns attack phone calls to voters regarding Mitt Romney.

9. Tommy Thompson
Mr. Wisconsin is the only man who has remained in his post from the last ranking. Tommy has impressed many people on Health Care, if he would make that the main topic of his campaign he would probably be a lot higher in this ranking, but he has not played his card correctly and here he is, a spot away from dead last and only above Ron Paul.
Thompson has been performing better in the debates, but he still isn't "clicking" with voters and it shows. In most polls he is barely registering and in the ones he has he is no higher than 2%, with the exception of a few where voters mistake him for Fred Thompson.
Tommy's campaign will likely be over a week or two after the Straw Poll.

10. Ron Paul
Well I guess we'll see how many Ron Paul cronies read Republican Race '08! Dr. Paul has lost just about all credibility by resorting to the "neo-conservative" movement and take over of the Republican Party. That phase will end any chance he ever had of pulling an upset. It has been a phrase that has ended many "true conservatives" campaigns all across the nation in many republican states. Fact being you don't call your potential voters a name just about all of them hate to be called. You can not alienate voters and expect to win and Ron Paul has done just that. Alienated Republican voters. You would think a man as educated as Dr. Paul would know how to speak to voters, but yet he doesn't and that lands him in dead-last.


We will update the rankings after the Ames Straw Poll this Saturday. Please check back within the next day or two or subscribe by email (just put your email in the box above to the right and click submit) We will have new articles coming regularly.
To those of you who want to know... I have been moving to my new apartment, in a new state and that has consumed a lot of my time the last month and a half and I have not had a chance to hit the blog on a regular basis.
But Good News... I'M BACK and Republican Race '08 is back to being a regularly updated web site.

Stay tuned for the best coverage on the 2008 Republican Race for the White House!