Disqus - Latest Comments for Some Guy

Re: http://thegreatplainsobserver.blogspot.com/2008/04/way-to-end-abortion-debate-instantly.html

Some Guy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:22:54 -0000

"Why didn’t Leslie or Roger come up with this?"

Because neither of them has enough brain cells to come up with a plan like this - and it would take longer than just banning the procedure altogether.

Re: http://thegreatplainsobserver.blogspot.com/2008/05/obama-response-to-gas-tax-holiday.html

Some Guy — Mon, 05 May 2008 05:07:15 -0000

Spot-on about the gas tax holiday, but you missed with the oil company profits (as do most people). The statistic of only showing net income ignores how much money they had to spend to get it. Most of the oil companies right now are running at about an 8% profit, give or take 2%. That means to get theat $10.2 billion profit, they took in around $102 billion in revenue, most of which went towards ensuring that they can continue to pump oil out of the ground and sell it on the open market.
Does it suck to pay double or triple what we were paying for gs not too long ago? Yes. Are oil companies the main problem with gas prices? No. They're just easier to nail down and have deep pockets.
Who is to blame? Commodity traders, OPEC, the exploding Chinese and Indian economies, consumers who refuse to cut back, the automotive industry that refuses to respond to growing demand for fuel-efficiency, and our government's policies on mass transit and alternative energy.

Re: Christianity is a horrible thing to believe - ExChristian.Net - Articles

Some Guy — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:36:00 -0000

Computer wrote: "...This is what the Church teaches on the subject Hell ... [selective scriptual interpretation glossing over all the other scriptures about fire, gnashing of teeth, etc] ..."

Still Bull Shit! (And it smells just as bad.)

Re: Britney Spears Discovers Time Travel!

Some Guy — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:29:13 -0000

I'd hit it. Hard.

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » A Windows CE Based Gas Pump, The Ovation(R) iX Dispenser

Some Guy — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 14:45:04 -0000

You just know that Windows pump will crash causing the gas station to explode.

Re: World’s Most Powerful Subwoofer!

Some Guy — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:29:23 -0000

So, Pioneer's team wins the bass compition every year, now they have a sub that they claim to be 'The Most Powerful" the TS-W8102SPL @ 8k Watts & 170dB , shuttle launch (if I'm not mistaken). The TRW 17 creats 1Hz sound at whatever dB,so what. What really matters is the wattage that reaches the listener/feeler. Yes, sound is really measured in wattage, dB is a scale of magnitude. Bare with me if I'm not exactly correct, it's been ten years since I last studied this stuff. For the purpose of measuring how much energy is actually converted into sound you'd need to measure the wattage over a given time, say, ten seconds. Then you could really say which was more powerful. Just comparing dB is like comparing current generation video game consoles by bit (NES-8bit, SNES-16bit, get it?) what really matters is what comes out. And BTW, 'conventional' subwoofers aren't conventional anymore. Carbon Fiber pushed the limits higher, Titanium pushed the limits higher, and now ceramics are pushing the limits even higher. Wait until Carbon Nano Tube materials replace carbon fiber. The only thing that's the same in my subs as my grandma's is the basic shape and a magnetic feild drives both.

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » +336+ SMS Mirror

Some Guy — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:31:52 -0000

Perhaps because 3 + 3 = 6 ?

Re: On ‘Codpieces’ and Community: Strib’s Boyd Discusses Editorial Page Shakeup

Some Guy — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:00:17 -0000

Liberals stole my lunch money Thanks for all those facts, and paragraphs, and civility.

I suspect other sources for things like facts tend to be your ass?

Re: On ‘Codpieces’ and Community: Strib’s Boyd Discusses Editorial Page Shakeup

Some Guy — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:00:17 -0000

Liberals stole my lunch money Thanks for all those facts, and paragraphs, and civility.

I suspect other sources for things like facts tend to be your ass?

Re: O’Reilly Apologizes for “Lynching” Comment… sort of

Some Guy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:08:55 -0000

I have to say that after I saw Bill Oriely's comment about joining a lynching party for Michelle Obama expressing her opinions, I was shocked. Maybe it is just me, but lynching was one of the very darkest parts of American History and I do not know if many know the extent of the evil it was. I'm glad to see Bill apologize, but two things.
1. I don't believe he is sincere, I don't detect any direct references to his lynching comment.
2. I cannot believe how ignorant he is of the horrors of lynching, that sort of comment merits either removal from TV or a truly sincere and direct apology to African Americans and especially Michelle herself.

(I knew FOX expressed an amount of racism, but this really makes me believe that they are completely against black people.)

Re: 5 reasons the iPhone could fail

Some Guy — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:15:17 -0000

I love apple products, I got my iBook, my MacBook, iPod, Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse, AirPort Express and all these other little gadgets that no one really needs...
Anyways...
The iPhone is not pretty amazing. It's tech specs are actually pretty weak - Even my six month Nokia N73 got better specs than this Apple "Miracle Thingie"...

Only 2mp camera
Only one camera
No Card Slot
No UMTS/W-CDMA
Battery not exchangeable
Short standby time
...

Just look at other Phones, i.e. N95 from Nokia.

Maybe for the USA the iPhone is amazing, but don't we all know that the USA, in terms of Mobile Networks is years behind Asia and Europe...

For me, the iPhone is a no go till all these Rev A issues have been resolved, can keep up with at phones that have been on the market for at least a year and until it is reasonably priced.

Sorry Apple... Not this time!

Marketing is one thing. Rationality another.

Re: 47 Second Flip Flop

Some Guy — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:27:26 -0000

this video is 19 seconds long and title 47 second flip flop. Someone is an idiot and they support obama. o wait why is that not suprising!

Re: Calvin and Hobbes : All PS3 Themes

Some Guy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:25:42 -0000

This theme is awesome, truly one of the better looking themes I've seen so far. You should do a Spaceman Spiff one :D

Re: 10 Tips for the Low-Budget Indie Film Maker

Some Guy — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:24:37 -0000

I have cheap camarea that runs out of batery in five minutes and I stiff make films easy the camera makes almost know diferanc (unless theres know on button)the story and on rehersal make all the diferance

Re: How’s This For an Idea?

Some Guy — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:07:02 -0000

Greg Ballard is talking about cutting spending:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/LOCAL/707130517

Re: Movie Review: The Age of Stupid - A Lot of Stick And Not Much Carrot

Some Guy — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:36:55 -0000

If this movie had even the slightest chance of saving humanity from disastrous climate change, it would be freely available online, where its message could reach many millions of people.

Since "The Age of Stupid" is not free, its producers are more concerned with making a profit than saving humanity. Therefore, the movie can't be very important, and can be safely ignored.

As an alternative, I suggest watching "Charlie the Unicorn", which has over 37 million views at youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus

Re: Turning Parking Spaces into Parks

Some Guy — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 16:01:00 -0000

Exercise is good for a human body, regardless of your age. More parks and more walking means a happier healthier population.

Re: Easy homemade yogourt

Some Guy — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 15:56:01 -0000

I’m with Evelyn on this one. It’s liberating to learn how to do things that are basic to survival, such as preparing your on food. Buying things lacks soul, which can never be quantified.

Re: Arctic Refuge Drilling Blocked in US Senate

Some Guy — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 19:28:39 -0000

If oil, a non-renewable resource, becomes a precious commodity in next few decades would it not make sense to drill in ANWR now? It seems as though we could regulate the drilling more now when oil is still plentiful, as opposed to not allowing drilling now and having an oil shortage hit us hard. When people become desperate they tend to ignore the niceties of environmentalism and civil liberties. This is how Bush managed to dismantle the Bill of Rights overnight with Congress in complete agreement after 9/11. This is also how, I’m afraid, not drilling now could be disastrous for the future of ANWR. Thoughts? I’ve always when against drilling for oil, but would we just be postponing the inevitable. Are we really going to kick the oil addiction before we start to run out?

Re: Sea Solar Power, or Ocean Thermal Energy if you prefer

Some Guy — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:25:08 -0000

Great idea. It could use some refining, but it's still brilliant. I can't wait to see how they will improve the system to make it more eco-friendly. Just remember that when it comes to renewable energy, the more options we have the better. I love how this and the solar chimney have these awesome secondary benefits that help improve the quality of life beyond just providing energy. Thanks treehugger.

Re: Instant Survey: Eco-Myths

Some Guy — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:54:36 -0000

The idea that there is any single answer to oil is the biggest myth. After some serious development biodiesel, just like hydrogen, will be become part of the answer to our dependence on oil. Don’t be dismissive of new technology just because it is not fully developed.

Re: HUMMER Eau De Toilette

Some Guy — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 12:44:17 -0000

Why not the “fresh and exhilarating” aroma of the H2 exhaust fumes.

Re: Hycrete Technologies, LLC Hydrophobic Concrete Additive

Some Guy — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 15:00:18 -0000

Although no one cares, I work at a concrete lab and talked to one of the guys I work for about this product. This was his most simplistic response:

“I reviewed these technical reports when I worked for TxDOT.

I'm not saying that it will not work but there is some concern that in the

high pH of concrete if the product will be durable. Also all of their

corrosion testing done at University of Conn was very shoddy. I have not

seen the stuff done at UMass.

The product is mainly used as an additive to motor oil to prevent engine

corrosion. Someone threw it in concrete and realized that it may be able to

be a corrosion inhibitor.”

He was really concerned about the longevity of the concrete and thought this might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

==== author's response follows ===

Formulations change over time, adapting to new specifications. Perhaps someone knowledgeable about current characteristics will help us out.

Re: PetTree Cactus Now Available at Compact Impact

Some Guy — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 12:28:34 -0000

Gardening is truly treehugger, but I feel that we should focus more on low impact gardening. These seem to require a great deal of input for somewhat of a novelty.

Re: People of the World Lift a Finger Against the Hummer

Some Guy — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:46:54 -0000

Moe: "Think of the children ... Won't somebody please think of the children?!"

Re: How To Make Awesome Cars A Reality (330 mpg diesel-hybrid)

Some Guy — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 22:54:04 -0000

First sentence from GCC:

”Accelerated Composites, a San Diego, California-area startup,”

This is not a concept vehicle from a major automotive company. It is a vehicle that a small start up company is pitching as their only chance to stay afloat. If they don’t produce this for the general public they would not exist. Their future depends on the success of this product. Please read more about this before going of on a tangent about how dismal things are in the US. We all know it sucks; some people like myself are trying to make it better.

Re: Books: Lost Mountain by Erik Reece

Some Guy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:33:52 -0000

I grew up in northern West Virginia and when I was about 7 years old the coal company did this to a mountain about 3 miles from where I lived. There was a creek that ran through our property that I would swim in, play in, catch crawdads in, skip rocks, build rafts, make songs and sing to it, fish, play tuna fish hockey on, ice skate, and just sit next to and watch it. One day the creek turned orange and everything died. I don’t even remember how my parents explained this all to me. My whole world was destroyed. My mom, a geologist, would take me up to the mined mountain to conduct research. You cannot imagine the impact this had on me. I cried for years and still do, as a matter of fact I’m crying right now. We sued the coal company and got the largest settlement to date in West Virginia. Doesn’t matter though, because everything was already dead. Today I’m studying ecological and environmental engineering and I hope that I can go back soon and help my old friend Sandy Creek. Sorry for the length, but I really enjoy treehugger and this just struck a sensitive area for me. I want everyone to just consume less and share more for the sake of all those Sandy Creeks and people like me.

Re: The Next X-Prize: Rethinking the Automobile

Some Guy — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:21:19 -0000

If the guidelines were that the participants had to produce a vehicle that can pass the required safety tests, cost under 10,000 USD, and get 500 mpg (US) I would be impressed. Otherwise another amazing concept vehicle will be produced that will not alter our lives in any way.

Re: Aeroscraft — Rebirth of The Blimp

Some Guy — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 08:51:20 -0000

Why not have two football fields of solar panels on top of it?

Re: Adventures in Eco-Design: Exploring Dumpster Diving

Some Guy — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:25:18 -0000

Me and my father ‘dumpster’ by picking up lawnmowers and other ‘broken’ equipment out at the curve and repair them to sell for a profit. Once we even found a brand new riding lawn mower being thrown away because it had a dead battery. I’ve seen brand new vacuum cleaners, not even taken out of the box, out in the ‘trash’! I also dumpster for food such as bagels and have had an enormous amount of success. You can even work out an agreement, if you’re really charismatic, to have the owners ‘dispose’ of the food in a more convenient fashion for yourself. All they can say is no. If it’s the ‘Bums life’ then I guess they are really the only sane people in this society. Remember REDUCE, REUSE, and then recycle.

Re: QOTD via Joel Makower

Some Guy — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 07:24:56 -0000

Dude, you just blew my mind. Can I get that on a bumper sticker?

Re: Slaughterhouse Smackdown: Wall Street Journal or Grist?

Some Guy — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:36:59 -0000

Can I say both and neither? The free market brought about changes that have resulted in some level of betterment for the descendent of Sinclair and humanity. But, it was the populist movement that injected regulations that provided safety from unbridled greed. The minorities are still abused, but it is only at the hands of the majority. So I think the only people really at fault are the consumers for the consumption of these horrendous products from slaughterhouse. We are the ones that are abusing our fellow animals (human and otherwise). The company and immigrants are simply rational opportunists. Both are sort of right, but neither presents a more accurate representation. I’m sure I don’t have the correct representation either, but I’m sure it’s much more complex then either watered down economic/political stance.

Re: Hybrid Living Home Almost Complete

Some Guy — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:40:50 -0000

I think this house would be ideal for co-housing several families. It’s too big for one family to occupy. Maybe then it could also be become much more affordable for the general population.

Re: MAD - Make A Difference By Reverse Garbage

Some Guy — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 08:58:20 -0000

Where can I get one of those belts? Instructions on how to make them would be awesome too.

Re: What's Your Earth Day 2006 Event?

Some Guy — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 08:07:47 -0000

Take my Fundamentals of Engineering exam so one day I can become a practicing ecological engineer.

Re: Instant Survey: Going Raw

Some Guy — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:42:37 -0000

Have there been any peer reviewed studies I can read on the raw food diet? All the information I’ve seen seems somewhat sketchy. One of the reasons I went vegan was because there was a large amount of research behind the proved the benefits. I don’t need any raw websites or anti-raw websites, just plain boring numbers that are respected amongst the scientific community.

Re: TreeHugger Picks: Spring Gardening Tips

Some Guy — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:24:38 -0000

Cool stuff. I got really excited about that organic insecticide but it doesn't seem to exist.

Re: Wind Power Becoming Cheaper Than Conventional Power

Some Guy — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:53:02 -0000

The house I live in is part of the inter-cooperative council (ICC) in Austin and all the houses are on the GreenChoice program. So I guess if you want to live in a house that is mostly powered by green energy and minimizes your impact by sharing resources ICC is for you. Heck we even have a vegan house less than two blocks away from a vegan fire station. How green is that?

Re: People of Austin: Tell Us About Your City

Some Guy — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:25:48 -0000

I’d like to put Whole Foods on blast, Wheatsville co-op (http://wheatsville.coop/) is the spot with the southern fried tofu sandwich and organic food. Casa de Luz has the best food in Austin (http://www.casadeluz.org/). ICC (http://iccaustin.coop/) is the place to live with a vegan coop (Royal) two blocks from a vegan fire station (http://www.engine2.org/site/index.php). Michael Bluejay is possibly the most annoying person in town and bike lanes are almost nonexistent. It’s impossible to bike any distance without putting your life in serious danger. Props to my CSA’s, Boggy Creek Farms (http://www.boggycreekfarm.com/) and the farmers market. Things are getting worse by the second and Austin is only as weird as those crazy soccer moms will let it be. This limits weirdness to Eeyors B-day and t-shirts that say ‘Keep Austin Weird’. I-35 is the great segregator (rich white people west and poor people east) and White Mountain Tofu is the best tofu in the country. People are still rampant consumers so they can compost as many organic mangos, flown in from El Salvador and bought at Central Market, as they want but it doesn’t do any good. Public transit for the university (rich kids) is great and city wide (poor people) decent. Austin is not liberal, Austin is moderate. Think Bill Clinton not Dennis Kucinich. Air quality is slowly degrading, I’ve seen the data, but it’s still much better than Houston or Dallas/Fort Worth. The major influx of people (students, tech boom folk, ect.) looking for familiarity has watered down the city. Places that were once unique were paved over for Starbucks and apartments. I guess if you compare Austin to the rest of Texas it’s the Garden of Eden, but compared to where we should and could be its still disappointing. I live in the down town area so I rarely venture to the sprawl but I hear it’s horrendous.

Re: Newspaper Publishing Without the Paper

Some Guy — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:17:50 -0000

LimeWire or SoulSeek for newspapers? I think not, you’d be surprised how few early adopters, mostly the youth, actually read the newspaper. Information is a constant stream of gibberish, not well investigated and well thought out pieces on pertinent issues. Ipod’s destroy the concept of an album much the same as this device will destroy the notion of a newspaper.

Re: Gas too Expensive? Dump Environmental Rules.

Some Guy — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:28:49 -0000

Yeah I guess high gas prices effect me too even though I only ride my bike. In addition to the environmental benefits of current (I would say high but $3 is nothing compared to the rest of the world) gas prices the cost of everything non-local will jump and force people to consume less. It allows for locally produced vital items to be more reasonable and frivolous non-local items to be less accessible. Eventually we might even get so tired of high gas prices we’ll do something about it and find some alternatives. Big ups for high gas prices and decentralization.

Re: Peak Copper

Some Guy — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 10:50:37 -0000

Peak phosphate always scares the hell out of me, there are only two mines in the world for it and if we’re lucky we’ve got another 50 years supply. To Icelander: rocket fuel is neither independent of fossil fuels nor clean.

Re: Instant Survey: Buying In Bulk

Some Guy — Tue, 02 May 2006 13:26:53 -0000

We buy all beans (chickpeas, lentils, black, pinto), flour (whole wheat, pasty, cornmeal), and grains (quinoa, bulgar, brown rice, and millet) and a few other staples like peanut butter, tofu, and nutritional yeast in bulk from our local food co-op. Of course I live in a co-op with 17 people which makes it really easy, but even before I lived in the co-op my parents would buy nearly everything in bulk. They order it from some place in Ohio and had it shipped to West Virginia. From there every month the core group of about 6 families would gather around scales with proper containers and portion everything out. I can’t stress enough how buying in bulk can draw people together. It was extremely simple then and I’m sure with the net it would be even easier to rally people now. All you have to do is get people to pony up money and agree upon which items they will buy, order it, and break it up. Maybe craigslist and a good e-mail list severe could facilitate this.

Re: Have You Reduced Your Dependence on Cars?

Some Guy — Tue, 09 May 2006 14:12:43 -0000

In response to the ‘outrageous’ cost of transit such as light rail I usually remind people that a one mile strip of highway cost roughly a million dollars. In my transportation engineering class we did a quick calculation that showed you are essentially paving the ground with $5 bills. As far as cost, a light rail may seem expensive if not taken in context of our spending on highways and cars. Also everyday the equivalent of about a plane full of people die in auto accidents on these roads we’ve built, which is something you don’t here on the news that often. From an engineer’s perspective, our understanding of transportation needs a drastic change. Also, the concept of freedom is entirely in your mind. Are you free from non-renewable resources, are you free from working to pay for the car, are you free from the damage you do to the environment, and is your body strong enough to be free to move you about? While anyone may have the freedom to do whatever they damn well please, I also have the freedom to not be a part of their (poor) choices.

Re: Instant Survey: Mosquito Management

Some Guy — Tue, 16 May 2006 11:57:10 -0000

Before you start looking for the tonic that will cure all that ails you, use some preventive medicine. For instance, I always wear pants and closed shoes instead of sandals and shorts when gardening or outside to limit the skin exposed when the mosquitoes are bad. Also always look for still water collecting somewhere and shake the heck out of it or just dump it out. I’ve heard tell that a well placed bat house, a very real possibility in Austin, or fish pond can handle mosquitoes well.

Re: Instant Survey: Do You Comment?

Some Guy — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:37:49 -0000

I find the comments can get disturbingly nasty sometimes and are often repetitive or have no valuable contribution. For instance every time there’s something about a hybrid someone chimes in that they don’t actually get the mpg that they claim, that cars are not the solution, or that small cars are better. Often the rules of posting comments are not followed and I wish that these rules were enforced much more.

Re: Ecobrique – Building With Sewage

Some Guy — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:23:00 -0000

I agree with Aj, sludge as a fertilizer and producer of methane is too valuable to be fired into these bricks. I do however enjoy the inventive thinking. I hope there are more people out there like this that are starting to see waste for what it really is.

Re: Most Huggable

Some Guy — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 21:50:07 -0000

That article about soft drinks is pretty shaky. I’m not going to go into the boring details about it, but I will say that the science behind these assertions is still being hashed out. From a risk perspective I’d be much more concerned about the corn syrup in soft drinks then the chance that benzene might form in the sugar free drinks. Don’t let the precautionary principle scare you away sugar free drinks if you simply must have a soda. Sometimes the alternative to a presumed threat is a much more dangerous known threat.

Re: Most Huggable

Some Guy — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 23:07:08 -0000

Careful what you pull of the net. A widely circulated rumor online is that the EPA’s ban on asbestos led to a faulty putty being used on the Columbia resulting in its explosion. This is in fact false because the ban was in place after the explosion of the Columbia and the putty actually used was not faulty. Nevertheless, online there are countless websites reiterating this myth and wikipedia even includes this in there write up on asbestos. Just because it’s on the net doesn’t mean it’s true. I do agree that the best alternative is to not drink any of these nasty sodas, but unfortunately the rest of the world seems to be hung up on their (lazy) sweet tooth. I've always felt that there are no absolutes in this world, so we must measure the risk of each choice and its alternatives carefully.

Re: NanoNanoNano

Some Guy — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:25:53 -0000

Two big questions:

1. What are the amounts and types of energy and raw materials needed to produce these items?

2. What is the toxicology of these nanoparticles? That is, what are the effects on the environment and my body?

Nuclear power can be thought of as just as exciting until you start getting to the ugly details involving the mining of the fuel, dangers of production, and disposal of waste. Let’s not get too excited.

Re: A Green Roof for the South Central Farmers?

Some Guy — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 17:24:55 -0000

This is my assessment just at a glance, sorry to be a realist:

The soil would have to be deep, wet, and you’d have to take into account the live loads of farm equipment and people. That’s a lot of weight and the minimum desired return on the kind of investment in cutting edge structures (think earthquake codes, large weird distributed loads, and lots of factors of safety) you’re talking about would never be realized. Sorry, from a civil engineer’s perspective this is not feasible at all. All the developers want is a quick, cheap, bare minimum kind of warehouse that will return their money fast. You’re better off investing your resources in a bigger farm somewhere else rather then attempting to maintain this. I understand their plight, but the land is just not that valuable to pour that amount of resources into it.

Re: Challenge: Build the Solar Powered Air Conditioner

Some Guy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:36:01 -0000

Why not use geothermal power and have the heat pump’s energy be supplied by photovoltaics?

Re: How To: Grill Green

Some Guy — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:46:35 -0000

I was hoping you’d mention something about solar cookers, the ultimate in green barbequing. You usually barbeque when it’s sunny out and why not show everyone a new and exciting way to reduce you dependence on fossil fuels and shrink your environmental footprint.

--

editor note: That's a good idea, actually.

Re: Kellogg's Introduces Organic Cereals

Some Guy — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:28:18 -0000

To be honest it is not treehugger’s opinions about these brands going organic that I’m interested in, it’s the general population’s opinion that I’m interested in. I guess these corporations did the marketing research and the general population was favorable to organics. This means people still care about their health and/or the environment, regardless of whether or not the organic ideal is being diluted. Now let’s strengthen the organic label by watching the regulations closely and make the next movement toward local. Think made in America or made in Texas labels.

Re: Bush to Allow More Drilling on Alaska’s North Slope

Some Guy — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:39:34 -0000

Why not drill? Right now we can monitor and enforce environmental regulations while they drill and spill, but try doing the same when we have a national emergency. When the oil flow starts to slow down the popular while not be so kind to these environmentally sensitive areas. You think that a typical person cares more about some far away land or putting food on the table? I agree we need a shift to green energy sources, but oil is used for so much more then just cheap energy.

Re: Tesla Motors: The Pros and Cons of Plug-In Hybrids

Some Guy — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:43:36 -0000

I believe they may being missing the point that a plug in hybrid is a transition technology from the age of don’t forget to fill up the tank to don’t forget to plug in the car. It seems like such a simple transition, but hey I’m still typing on QWERTY keyboard.

Re: Eating Meat and Drinking Milk…From Clones?

Some Guy — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:15:23 -0000

"reports indicate that the food from cloned animals is as safe as the food we eat every day."

Now there's cause for alarm.

Re: Self Sufficient 'ish' -- The Urban Guide to Almost Self Sufficiency

Some Guy — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 21:55:13 -0000

I feel like a child whenever people do things for me that I could easily learn to do and do myself. I feel incompetent and unable to provide for myself and those I care about. Milton, I think you’re portraying extremes that are obviously ludicrous. To me it means that I know how to work on a car, how to fix my toaster, or how to sew the seat of my pants back together. When I was a kid it seemed like my father new how to fix everything and make things keep on working instead of having someone else fix it or throwing it away and buying something new. My mother new how to grow, can, and cook almost all the food we ate. We lived on the cheap, life was simple and good. There is an emotion that I can’t describe when you sleep in a quilt your mother made you out of your old corduroy jeans. When your father teaches you how to build a barn. When you your food grows from the same soil you play on. When you cut down the tree that will keep you warm in the winter. I don’t expect you to understand these, it’s a personal experience. Self sufficiency is not an all or nothing matter, it simply means that you know how to look out for yourself and others in your immediate surroundings. It’s a pursuit of the pastoral ideal.

Re: Peter Menzel's Hungry Planet

Some Guy — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 21:31:12 -0000

Did you see all the meat, animal productes, and fast food in the U.S. photo? In the Chinese photo they had a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables. weird.

Re: My Type of Appliance

Some Guy — Thu, 03 May 2007 17:37:06 -0000

The waffles look much more like keyboards on the other side. Photographer needed to flip them over.

Re: 1.2 MegaWatts: World's Largest Tidal Turbine To Be Installed

Some Guy — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:20:56 -0000

that big of a thing looks really dangerous for fishes and stuff i dont think its a good idea are u crazy

>:-( we suppose to make † not kill things even ppl can die if they go scoba diving near that thing or accedently fall down as if the ocean wasnt already danegrous Idiot make ††† losers fuck you

Re: How To Please The French?

Some Guy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:37:43 -0000

Alex, there's a canal in Panama now.

Re: Drinking with the Wind: Wind-Powered Seawater Desalination

Some Guy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:40:10 -0000

What about the brine or reject that is generated? How do you maintain the membranes? Don't they need to be replaced? How are the membranes manufactured?

Re: Drugs Are In Our Water! Should I Switch to Bottled?

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:24:35 -0000

They're stealing your essence with that flouride, anonymous.

Re: Movie Review: The Age of Stupid - A Lot of Stick And Not Much Carrot

Some Guy — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:36:55 -0000

If this movie had even the slightest chance of saving humanity from disastrous climate change, it would be freely available online, where its message could reach many millions of people.

Since "The Age of Stupid" is not free, its producers are more concerned with making a profit than saving humanity. Therefore, the movie can't be very important, and can be safely ignored.

As an alternative, I suggest watching "Charlie the Unicorn", which has over 37 million views at youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus</p>

Re: Get well soon, Sen. Jones

Some Guy — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 08:25:39 -0000

Well, he IS 70 after all, so it is not at all inappropriate to discuss succession. Remember how the repubs fell apart afer Pate left, they didn't have their act together and they hadn't trusted anybody enough to have developed a deep bench for the team.

Re: Odds and ends

Some Guy — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 08:35:31 -0000

Rich, about bloggers getting 'accredited', I always wondered what it took to get recognized as part of the "official" Springfield press corps. Is it just having your company submit your name on letterhead, to whom, and has anyone ever been turned down as far as being recognized as new media? How's that work?

Re: Kirk turns thumbs down on Durbin bid

Some Guy — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:47:21 -0000

Gidwitz had the same money in last year'r primary run for governor. He came in fourth in a four-way race. That's gotta sting. I can't see him running again, and I certainly can't see him winning after that.

Re: Another blow to the “Chief”

Some Guy — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:59:28 -0000

Chief,

Why the quotes around the word Indian in your post from 6:25? Are you unsure if the Oglala Sioux are Indians or soemthing?

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:50:11 -0000

I remember Evan Bayh once describing Indiana as Ã¢â‚¬Å“Illinois without ChicagoÃ¢â‚¬Â

Interesting. IIRC, the word "Hoosier" originally meant someone from the slave states who migrated into the Old Northwest Territory. Plenty of Yanks went along the Lakes to Wisconsin and Michigan. Others just moved west into Ohio. Indiana and Illinois were originally settled from the south upward, as people from the filling in areas of KY and TN went up the rivers into Ohio and then into the new area. Both IL and IN were initially Hoosier states, but the rise of Chicago caused Indiana to become THE Hoosier state.

Race might be part of it, but it predates that. I haven't looked this up in a long time, but from memory, in the early 20th century Chicago was THE city for "New Immigrants" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I think one census showed about 70-80% of the city's populace was either an immigrant or had at least one immigrant parent. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the state was old stock natives. Going to Chicago would be like going to a foreign country for some of the downstaters, especially if they wandered into an especially ethnic neighborhood.

One thing that I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t like is the fact that downstaters are paid less for doing the exact same work. That, to me, is no different than paying men and woman different salaries for doing the same work.

I can see why that would annoy, but isn't this just a cost of living issue?

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:40:06 -0000

78%

As a bonus question can we get how many precincts he'll lose in the general election? IIRC, last time he lost 6 out of 2912.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:28:27 -0000

Colts win, they get Ditka.

Bears win, we get Bobby Knight.

Oh, I know Knight ain't there anymore, but it's Indiana, what else am I going to say? A memorial hood from D. C. Stephenson?

Bears win: Colts are forced to take back Indiana native son Rick Mirer.

Colts win: Bears forced to put him back on the roster.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:21:51 -0000

Mixing real w/ fake

1) Former territorial capitol of Kaskaskia. You have to go through Missouri to get there.
2) Galena hills
3) Cahokia Mounds
4) Black Hawk statue
5) The Secret vault of Al Capone
6) the many-times toppled Haymarket statue
7) a shirt store in Alsip

Re: Salvi vs. Durbin?

Some Guy — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:56:22 -0000

I know the IL GOP has seen better days, but is there really a movement to draft someone who lost a party primary in the suburbs for a statewide race?

Aside from that, her name recognition comes from the fact that she's married to someone who became prominent for not being able to win statewide elections. I suppose finding candidates named Salvi isn't as bad an idea as lining up candidates named Ryan.

The only real advantage I can see is that she takes enough votes away from conservatives in the primary to keep Oberweis from gaining the nomination. It'll help make sure the general election won't be a fiasco, but it also goes a long way to ensuring a victory for Durbin.

Re: Salvi vs. Durbin?

Some Guy — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:49:04 -0000

By the way, Bob Kustra is now the President of Boise State University and judging by the smile on his face when Boise State won the Fiesta Bowl two months back, heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s very happy.

Kustra now lives out of state? Well, that should make him a more attractive senatorial candidate for the IL GOP.

I'm with the person above who said they should just let Oberweis take it. Tell him to finance his own campaign and put the money into defending Kirk and Roskum and going after Bean. Then hope Oberweis gives up his quest for statewide office without completely alienating the state's Hispanic population from the entire party.

Re: Backlash against the backlash

Some Guy — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:38:07 -0000

About the public health risk question asked above.

It may not be a public health risk, but it would lead to health care costs, which would work its way back to the citizenry. I don't mean to say that the costs of this cancer would be substantial enough to notice (at best a drop in the bucket from the POV of today's health costs), but it would likely be more costly than the price of enacting and enforcing this legislation.

- Sickness, especially a serious illness, can impact worker productivity, more sick days, and so forth.

- And yeah, the good medicine thing mentioned also would make some support it.

Re: Republican districts see big jump in immigrant citizens

Some Guy — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:55:09 -0000

I see liberals claiming they are gullible closed minded minions

I've seen liberals claims immigrants vote Democrat, but this one I've never seen.

Re: Obamarama – Will 3rd Ward politics affect his presidential race?

Some Guy — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:44:17 -0000

There's no way this endorsement impacts his national hopes. No one outside Illinois has ever heard of her and & even inside Illinois she's hardly a household name. She's most famous for allying with Harold Washington in Council Wars and, 1) that was 20 years ago, and 2) that's not really a negative. Harold Washington's the one they named the library after, not Fast Eddie.

And there's a very easy response for the Obama team: The senator doesn't always agree with her, but she's been one of Obama's backers from the early days, over 20 years representing her ward, involved in the '66 freedom movement, in the '65 Selma movement (Was she on the Edmund Pettis Bridge). . . .

If you think this will be some sort of danger spot for Obama you're paying waaaaaay too much attention to Illinois and Chicago politics.

Re: Chill, please

Some Guy — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:27:15 -0000

Bill Baar:
Would he have won if he had let voters know this was on his mind?

Sure. In a normal election year maybe not. Against a functioning state Republican party, it would've been dicier. But as a Dem running in 2006 in this state he was in as good a shape as a politician can possibly be.

Re: Morning Shorts

Some Guy — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:07:49 -0000

GOP goes after Durbin with ad

Now if they could only go after him with a candidate, this might mean something.

Re: Durbin has his first GOP opponent * Updated x1 *

Some Guy — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:53:45 -0000

Durbin will not be re-elected, heâ€™s never had an original thought in his life.

He already was re-elected. In 2002. He hasn't lost an election in a quarter century. Kirk's taken a pass on him. Brady's taken a pass on him. They national GOP won't put much money against Durbin.

Reading some comments in this thread reminds me of things people said a year ago, when they predicted Blago wouldn't stand a chance.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:21:42 -0000

When I was in college I wrote a primary source research paper on my hometown (Schaumburg, IL). Settled by German immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century, St. Peter's Lutheran Church on Schaumburg Road had it's last German-language religious service well into the second half of the twentieth century, I believe in the early 1970s. Doesn't mean they never had any English language services before then, but they still had some of their services in German for over 100 years.

Heck the Lutheran Church's Missouri Synod established a series of schools largely in order to ensure the native-born generation learned German. The Augustana Synod tried something similar with Swedes, but they never had as much success.

The same arguments about making learn English made now were made then. The republic stood without any asinine ordinace like the Carpentsville one. It will continue to stand.

One key difference: a German-American farmer in 1915 Schaumburg was far more isolated than a Spanish-speaker in 2007 Anywhere in America.

Re: Friday baseball blogging

Some Guy — Fri, 18 May 2007 14:52:08 -0000

Rich,

Minor error - the Cubs moved into Wrigley in 1916, not 1914. Before then the Chicago Whales of the Federal League played there from 1914-5.

Re: Morning Shorts

Some Guy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:29:12 -0000

I feel bad for the people of Pickneyville, but their theme park idea sounds like doomed desperation.

Why can't the GOP find a social moderate to run in IL-8? Guns and abortion are the best issues for Dems out in these parts.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:07:46 -0000

Seeing people openly celebrate the death of Harold Washington.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:05:17 -0000

The Sox need to blow it all up. AJ's bat has been down since his hot first half last year. And he's one of their better hitters so far. Their farm system has no big prospects ready to jump in. Trade Buehrle for the best package. See if anyone wants Dye.

- Get Torri Hunter from the Twins.

I have a friend who is a big baseball fan from MN. He says Hunter's lost a step since his injury in '05. His defense has been slipping (that inside the park homer in the playoffs would've been a catch before). He's having a great year this year, but he's a terrible bet to repeat that performance. Get him and you get his decline. Singing players in the early 30s is what the Cubs have done for the last 20 years. Fat lot of good it's done them.

In terms of players, Dye is a hot weather hitter and is already coming out of his annual spring slump.

Wait a sec, looking at the splits info at baseball-reference.com, Dye was better in the first half of '06 than the second half (.318 with 25 HRs vs. .313 with 19 homers). He was about the same in the halves in '05 (average 9 points higher in the first half, but 19 of his 31 homers in the second half). In '04 he hit two-thirds of his homers in the first half & hit fifty points higher.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:08:02 -0000

The Mets are always in need of pitching and might give up Lastings Milledge.

Actually, the Mets have really good pitching this year. Everyone but Glavine has an ERA under 4. Three of their starters have ERAs under 3.20.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:30:35 -0000

Mayor Quimby = Mayor Daley. OK, he's not in Springfield, but dammit, it's a good match. Both Irish. Both politicians running big cities. Both have been doing it for about 20 years. Both assorted with corruption. Both admitted to using city funds to murder political opponents and got out of it by quoting Gabbo.

And as long as I'm shifting from Springfield, IL to IL politics in general: Barney = Phil Crane.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:49:48 -0000

Good Old Gil = pretty much any member of the IL GOP these days.

Oberweis = Homer. I can see Homer trying to pass off that straw vote thing and expecting people to go along with it.

Re: Coach Versace might run for Congress

Some Guy — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:59:28 -0000

Anybody want to rank the seats from most likely to change hands/parties to least likely?

I'm frankly skeptical any will shift, but likely? Well:

Kirk

(gap)

Hastert's old seat

(gap)

LaHood's old seat
Bean

That's about it I guess.

That's more about Red Devil's home life than I ever wanted to know.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:03:30 -0000

Baseball Think Factory.

Finally a watering hold for statnerds like myself.

Re: Weller under siege, may not run

Some Guy — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:35:18 -0000

Let's see -

Phil Crane lost in 2004.

Henry Hyde stepped down in 2006.

Peoria Boy (blanking on his name), and Hastert are already stepping down in 2008. Weller's out.

In a few years the state legislature will have to redraw the map. Barring a miracle, they'll have to look for a seat or two to cut from the existing map. Given how heavily Dem the legislature is currently there are good odds it'll still be majoriy Dem when redistricing comes. (Normally I'd say great odds but great googly moogly things are fouled up down there right now).

Even if Roskam keeps on a-chooglin' and the GOP holds all these seats, the state legislature can pick and choose which low-tenured GOP Congressman they want to throw under the bus.

Re: Hot races shaping up * Updated x2 – Weller makes it official * Full resignation speech ***

Some Guy — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:06:16 -0000

---Analysts say at least one-third of the stateâ€™s 18 House seats could be hotly contested next year---

Shouldn't these analysts know there's 19 House seats from Illinois. Oh wait - they're probably calling Lipinski's seat an honorary Tennesse one, or whatever state he's lived most of his adult life in. In that case, they have a point.

I can't see Roskum getting a serious challenger this time. Duckworth's out and I don't think Cegalis [sic] has shown any interest. If you include primaries, Lipinski at the very least should be seriously challenged, though.

Re: What’s up with Hastert? Plus: Morgenthaler; Lipinski

Some Guy — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:15:05 -0000

Reading the post from 11:30 AM, I can understand someone attacking outsiders for getting involved in an IL congressional race. Also, I can understand someone defending Lil' Lip (well . . .maybe).

But how in Hades do you do both at the same time? Lil' Lip is Tennessee's unofficial congresmman.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:11 -0000

Election 2010:

Your choice for governor:

Blago (D)
Keyes (R)

Re: Schock roundup and Seals poll

Some Guy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:44:05 -0000

Wait? His name is actually Footlik? Aw, man, you can't go to Congress with a name like that.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:22:03 -0000

What's the best thing about Blago? Can do that one twice - once as snark and once in earnest.

Over/under on the Bulls?

Who would be the best signing for the Sox? The worst? Same questions for Cubs.

Re: Question of the day – Harold Washington memories

Some Guy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:26:18 -0000

I remember the day he died. I was in junior high school in NW Cook County & we had a half-day becuause of Thanksgiving. (Normally we didn't have a half-day but for some reason why did that year). The announcement came as school was leaving.

I remember kids on the bus openly celebrating, joking, and just tickled to death that Harold Washington had died. Not many, but a few - and very vocally. I couldn't figure out why they were so happy. That was one of the most pathetic things I've ever witnessed.

Re: Question of the day – Blagojevich and Bush

Some Guy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:39:01 -0000

Neither have ever been in Cliff Claven's kitchen.

Re: Question of the day – Blagojevich and Bush

Some Guy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:34:56 -0000

I would never vote for either one .. . unless the only other choice was Oberweis.

Re: The Illinois Huckaboom

Some Guy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:10:01 -0000

On the one hand, I can't see the Huckaboom lasting because of the lack of money and organization.

On the other hand, the religious/social conservatives don't trust Romney as a former pro-choice Massachusetts flip-flopper, never liked McCain much, sure as hell aren't Giuliani's supporters. That just leaves Fred Thompson, whose campaign turned into the inadvertent comedy event of the year.

Re: The Illinois Huckaboom

Some Guy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:20:45 -0000

"No need to spend money in IL. when you are getting national coverage like this."

Yeah, but how will this media coverage last? A backlash sets in eventually, and the campaign has no money or organization.

Reminds me of when Ross Perot lept ahead in the national polls in May '92. Sure he made his impact, but once the initial excitement wore off, he fell backwards. Even before the drop-out & return to the race his numbers had fallen to 20%. And Huck doesn't have $2 billion in the bank.

Re: The Illinois Huckaboom

Some Guy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:15:30 -0000

If I were pulling a repub ballot I would definitely go for that guy from Law and Order.

Even though Jerry Orbach's dead, I'm sure he could mount a much more effective campaign than Thompson has.

I'd vote for Steven Hill over any of these jokers!

Re: The Illinois Huckaboom

Some Guy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:02:45 -0000

I'm pretty sure Brownbeck's 1-5% were both national and state. And I'm pretty sure it was closer to 1%. If he was doing better than that, why would he have dropped out? He and Huck were both bottom feeders a the time with Tancredo.

Re: Registration tanks in DuPage

Some Guy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:42:02 -0000

DuPage County leans heavily Republican, more heavily so than Will, Lake or McHenry.

In 2004, Bush beat Kerry in DuPage 54% to 45%. Duckworth nearly won a congressional seat in 2006. Sure it was an open election, but just 10 years ago it would be difficult to imagine a congressional election so heavily contested in DuPage.

The heavy Republican days are over. McHenry broke 60% for Bush. Kane was a little lower than DuPage in '04, but roughly the same.

Re: Question of the Day

Some Guy — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:42:15 -0000

"I Don't Care About You" by Fear.

"Check's in the Mail" by Weird Al Yankovic.

Re: Trouble ahead?

Some Guy — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:57:41 -0000

If Martin wins the primary, would he do worse than Alan Keyes? At least Keyes had the support from some of the state party.

Re: Is the Republican Party dead?

Some Guy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:54:03 -0000

So the bright spot for the IL GOP is Aaron Schock? Dear Lord . . . . .

Re: Illegal immigrant issue brought up by Sauerberg

Some Guy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:24:04 -0000

Every poll I've seen over the last two years (since immigration became such a big issue) have shown, without exception, that this is pushing Hispanics away from the Republicans and toward the Dems. I don't see him having a prayer to win this, and he's alienating the most rapidly growing portion of the population.

He's a doctor - he should talk about health care. He should focus on economic conservatism. They ain't glamorous and he won't win with it, but he won't win with this either, and it won't hurt the GOP down the road.

Re: On second thought…

Some Guy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:40:20 -0000

Team Sleep - well, HRC will drag the ticket down, but given that the Republicans are defending about 2/3s of the Senate seats up this term, I think it's wildly unlikely that they gain the Senate.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:06:54 -0000

I haven't heard much about the Hispanic vote turnout in his primary compared to '04 or '00. If there's a notable increase (relative to the overall voter increase for this prmiary) that's an important point worth noting. If Hispanics didn't have an increase, that's also worth noting because I've heart a bunch about Univision's campaign to get people registered to vote, and so forth.

That could really come into play, especially with Oberweis running for Congressional open seat that represents Kane County & it's 100,000 Hispanics.

Re: Morning shorts

Some Guy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:13:10 -0000

Mark Kirk lives in the most liberal Congressional House district currently held by a Republican. Seriously - John Kerry did better there than any of the 200+ House GOP members in 2004. I think hoping he loses a primary to someone more conservative is a sign of why the GOP is dying now.

A good comp for him is Melissa Bean -- she's more conservative than just about any other prominent IL Dem I can name, but she's in a conservative district. She's my congresswoman and I'm far more liberal than she is, but I have no interest in seeing someone more liberal then her threaten her in a primary.

I see Illinois Republicans tarred as RINOs fairly often. That doesn't help them any.

Rebuilding the state GOP? Jeepers . . .Can't I do something easier like help Sisyphus role a boulder up a mountain or something? . . . One thing they can do -- quit alienating the Latino community. It's bad enough for the GOP that the 15% of Illinois that's black won't vote for them, but if they lose the Latino vote as well, then every statewide election is for the Dems to take.

Re: Carbon tax? * UPDATED X1 *

Some Guy — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:39:55 -0000

Would a carbon tax raise gas prices or is this just a business thing?

Re: Morning shorts

Some Guy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:02:49 -0000

More on ISU -
http://www.hoinews.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=...

More on Budget -
http://www.hoinews.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=...

Re: Politico: Baldermann to withdraw tomorrow * UPDATED x5 *

Some Guy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:13:59 -0000

Serious question -- would the GOP be better off just punting this election at this point and putting all the IL GOP's limited resources behind Kirk, & Obie? (And to a lesser extent defending Roskum & going after Bean?)

Everything's already breaking badly for them in this race - Weller's reputation is in tatters, Dems had the most prestigious candidate, fundraising woes, now the candidate drops out -- and it's really starting to look like a native son candidate will be on the presidential ticket.

What a mess.

Re: Greenburg’s slur and Oberweis’ bumbles

Some Guy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:00:03 -0000

Greenberg will win, since Beanâ€™s popularity has been decreasing. In 2004, she received 52%, and, in â€˜06, she got 51%.

A 1% drop? As decreases go, that ain't much. Actually, move the decimal back a space and it's even better. She got 51.7% in 2004 and 51.2% in 2006.

'course this all ignores a key difference in the races - it was a two-person affair in 2004, and the Greens entered a candidate in 2006. Bean won by 3.4% in 2004 (51.7% to 48.3%), and by 7.5% in 2006 (51.2 to 43.7%). I don't see the voting trends as evidence she's on the way out.

Re: Let’s think about this first

Some Guy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:02:35 -0000

NIU is a semi-big university, with a sizable campus, lots of buildings, etc. Another solution is to tear down Cole Hall, but not replace it. How many classrooms would be lost? How many faculty offices?

Cole Hall is basically two giant lecture halls with a hallway between them. There's no offices in it. There's a minor room or two in the basement and some bathrooms, but functionally, the building is little more than those two large-sized lecture halls, including the one where the massacre occurred.

Re: A $40 million exorcism

Some Guy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:43:44 -0000

Instead of the media demanding what be done, the leadership of the state left it up to NIU faculty and students. Is their decision.

When were the students consulted? Classes re-opened -what? - 2 days before the announcement. Maybe 3? There's no evidence in any of this that the faculty, staff, or students were consulted in anyway.

Given the way NIU's administration has run things over the last decade-plus, I find it wildly doubtful that they were consulted, or even that anyone even thought to consult them.

I remember when they built the Convocation Center about a decade ago. The funding for it was so high, that it triggered some official university rule mandating that the institution could only OK the project with some sort of OK/approval from the students or the student government. (Don't remember exactly what it was, but I think the cost causeda bump in tuition). The university violated the rule & got away with it because the administration didn't care, the state didn't care, and not enough students cared to sign a petition against it (oh, the advantages of running roughshod over the rules at a commuter school).

I have no idea what the interests/wishes of the students and faculty are on this one. But I guarantee it has nothing to do with the decision. This was a decision made by the school only if you define the school as Peters & a handful of higher-ups.

Re: Oberweis vs. Foster

Some Guy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:44:00 -0000

Either Republican Jim Oberweis or Democrat Bill Foster might make a good congressman. And either might just as easily be a disaster.

Attaway to start an endorsement!

Re: Oberweis vs. Foster

Some Guy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:53:39 -0000

I think Oberweis wins despite himself due to the district. And then he loses in November. He'll have 8 months between now & then to not say anything stupid to anger those already opposed to him and alienate those willing to hold their noses and vote for him. What are the odds he can avoid being a rotten candidate for that long a stretch?

If he loses this weekend, there's no way he wins in November. Not NRCC won't fund it, and Oberweis has never been the sort of guy people warm up to the longer they see him. Plus there's the whole Obama angle.

Frankly, I think it might strangely be in the best long term interests of teh GOP that he lose this weekend.

If he wins, they'll put more resources into the November race, resources that could be used to help Kirk, or the Lucky Raffle Winner in the 11th District, and other races. And like I said above, I don't see him winning in November, regardless of how this weekend plays out.

Should he prove me wrong and win both races this year, he'd be a good target for 2010 because he's such a rotten politician. I can see just about any other Republican in the state safely holding the 14th, but Obie isn't any other politician. He's the guy they passed over to get Alan Keyes.

If he loses this weekend, the GOP can prioritize Kirk, minimize their losses, and be put themselves in a good position to reclaim the district in 2010. Foster doesn't strike me as being anywhere near as sharp as Melissa Bean, and he'll have trouble holding onto a conservative district. All the IL GOP has to do is find a candidate who isn't an embarrassment. (Then again, give their recent track record, maybe Foster would be safe after all).

Re: This just in… House votes to “repeal” silence law * NIU prez backs away from Cole plan *

Some Guy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:22:42 -0000

I don't buy Peters for a second when he said he made his original bid for the $40 reconstruction after talking to scores of students, families, & faculty. That ain't how NIU's administartion works.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:29:28 -0000

Yeah, the WSJ is right.

The people who get the most worked up about the illegal immigration debate are the nation's Hispanic Americans. As a result, they mobilize, turn out in greater numbers, and vote in greater Dem numbers than they did before this whole debate began.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:17:47 -0000

Regarding Cole Hall, arenâ€™t the desks bolted down?

I believe so. It's a lecture hall with stadium seating.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:25:23 -0000

Elginist - Intersting take, and well put, but I don't buy it. You might have a point that no Anglos are going to the polls just to vote against a politician because of their illegal immigrant stance, but there's plenty of evidence a considerable proportion of America's Latino population will. We've had the massive rallies, polls showing that they are rapidly peeling away from the GOP since the whole debate heated up back in '06, and Univision has spent the last year actively encouraging voter registration efforts.

According to the 2000 census, there are about 100,000 Latino US citizens in Kane County. That has to matter at some point.

And while immigration might be one part of his platform, it is most famous portion. For many, he'll always be the guy in the chopper. That image left a mark. Regardless of what he does, he'll always be seen as a hardliner on that issue. If he moves too far from it, no one will buy it.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:24:54 -0000

R-berger is a good man, but a horrible fundraiser & campaigner. The NRCC won't put much money into this race in the fall (too many other races, and they're low on cash this year), so that'll put him at a huge disadvantage.

Would he even take it? He opted out of the post-Jack Ryan senate race when the party wouldn't give him what he thought was sufficient support to win the race.

Re: Bond for congress? Plus, more games from Laesch

Some Guy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:22:58 -0000

if he really is serious about running for Governor or doing something for the states donâ€™t you think this will give him a good platform to gain statewide and national attention and also fight back against the Democrats.

Nah. First, being one of 435 doesn't get you that much national attention. In fact, running will barely give him more local recognition. That part of the state already knows him for the most part, and much of the rest of IL doesn't pay attention to out-of-district races.

Second, people don't like it when they elect a person for a 2-year congressional term only to see him turn around and vacate it for a higher office right away. The district could feel slighted, and the party won't want to defend an open seat two elections in a row. Congressional seats are supposed to be more of a commitment. Otherwise, it looks like ego.

Third, he's up for reelection for his own Springfield seat, so if he loses it, he's really sunk.

Re: Question of the day – Baseball edition

Some Guy — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:01:20 -0000

I don't know of any Cubs fans who blame Bartman. I know there are still some idiots who do, but it's a metro of 7,000,000, if just 1 in a 1,000 are asshole, Bartman's got a real problem.

Saying that all Cubs fans are losers who won't forgive Bartman is like saying all White Sox fans are shirtless felons from Alsip. Except that the former isn't true.

If/when the Cubs win it all, the Dream will be gone.

This is why the Red Sox fan base swiftly imploded after 2004.

Re: No GOP opponent for Hare

Some Guy — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:28:02 -0000

Small business owners need to "suck it up," Greenberg said, and create niches for themselves in the market.

Well . . . . he coulda phrased that one better.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:39:02 -0000

Wrigley Field.

I'm a confirmed upper deck denizen & the Wrigley UD is light years better than The Cell. Reason? Distance. You're A LOT closer to the action. I've sat in the Wrigley upper deck and seen the wind blow the ripples across the players' jerseys. Sit in the Upper Deck of Comiskey and you feel like you've got Goodyear Blimp seats. Yeah - no obstructions. Even with you can hardly see the game worth a fart.

For all the bellyaching people make about the obstructed seats, they miss the fact that's because that park puts the seats so much closer to the field. Sucks for those who sit in the back of the lower deck, but unless it's your first time or two there, you should know better than to sit there.

Wrigley also has a better overall feel with the scoreboard and the ivy. Plus, when I sit along the third base line upper deck, I can look up on a clear day and see ships on the Lake. A much better view than at 35th/Shields.

The Cell has several definate advantages - food being the most obvious, better rampways, etc. It also has better parking, but I take public transportation to both places, so that's a wash.

Both are light years better than Busch II or the monstrosity that is Miller Park.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:10:10 -0000

Positive: David Letterman.

Negative: Every other current & former resident, especially Bobby Knight.

Re: Bailout roll call… * UPDATED x11 *

Some Guy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:48:51 -0000

Pot calling Kettle:
"Also interesting: The House voted first, keeping the Presidential nominees off the official record."

US Constitution, Article 1, Section 1:
"All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:00:28 -0000

===If the Gipper didnâ€™t carry 100 Illinois counties, my money is on nobody ever will (including Obama). ===

Nixon carried 101 in 1972, including Cook. Only Jackson County downstate went for McGovern.

Re: Cheney cancels visit; Seals hit on ad; Schock called out on possible misdemeanor

Some Guy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:45:56 -0000

Seals has been after Kirk for 4 years in a Democratic state, with millions of dollars to spend, 2 terrible political cycles for the GOP, and hasnâ€™t released a poll showing him with any kind of success.

Didn't a poll just last week show him ahead?

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:11:14 -0000

If you think Jim Oberweis would make a fine Congreeman, then you might be a hardcore partisan.

If you refuse to spend money on Oberweis ice cream, then you might be a hardcore partisan.

Re: Congressional roundup

Some Guy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:09:34 -0000

Take this for what it's worth . .

Daily Kos just issued the results of a poll by Research 2000 that they commissioned showing Seals leading, 49-43 over Kirk. Kos notes Kirk is doing as well as he had, but the undecideds are breaking strongly for Seals.

Accept or dismiss those results as you see fit.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:09:11 -0000

Today's the 326th anniversary of the founding of Philadelphia*, so it would be cool if the Phillies clinched it tonight.

* source: Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt or three.

Re: Campaign roundup: Why we are what we are; Roskam and Obama; PJ-S strikes again; Early voting

Some Guy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:39:33 -0000

I really like Silver's work in general and thought that was a solid piece overall. One nitpick: he badly underestimates the number of counties McCain will win. While the state has gone blue the last 20 years, about two-thirds of its counties have had the GOP gain votes. They're just getting absolutely slaughtered in 7 counties in NW IL, though. In 2004, 44 different counties gave Bush at least 60% of the vote.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:17:41 -0000

If these tactics were costing the GOP votes, how could anyone tell? They've been bleeding IL votes badly, especially in the suburbs, for 20 years now.

Re: This just in… Studs Terkel dies

Some Guy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:56:19 -0000

He once said that he wanted his tombstone to read: "Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat."

He'll be missed.

Re: Big margins in congressional races a surprise to me, at least

Some Guy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:54:53 -0000

Not sure where this fits, but some random comment. According to CNN, there were 196,335 votes in Lake County yesterday (in the presidential race at least).

In 2004, there were over 270,000. (Source, again CNN's presidential race).

So. . . . what's with the 75,000 vote DECLINE?

For perspective, no other county in the state had worse than a 5,000 voter decline. And Lake County has been increasing in population.

What's going on in Lake?

Re: Big margins in congressional races a surprise to me, at least

Some Guy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:07:55 -0000

Oh, I should note the 10:54 AM comment doesn't include Cook, where vote totals are still coming in.

Only four other counties had more than a 4,000 vote dropoff (Peoria, Rock Island, Christian, and Jackson) and they all have very stable populations, going by the 2000 census and 2005 estiamtes.

Judging voter turnout in 2004 as Bush+Kerry and in 2008 as Obama+McCain, about two-thirds of Illinois's counties had a decline. Lake's voter decline was more than all the other 60+ counties COMBINED. In fact, it was nearly twice as much as the other's combined downturn.

I dunno what to make of it. Just weird. Were there voter problems in Lake or something?

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:19:32 -0000

"Bleeping Golden: Illinois's Blagojevich Administration"

"Pay for Play"

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:24:50 -0000

Government by Headline

The Original Bad Hair Boy

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:31:56 -0000

Interestingly, this picture was taken in 2004...

Re: Fight over IL civil unions kicks up some dust

Some Guy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:31:35 -0000

But it is a slippery slope...once civil unions are legal, then they'll make gay marriage legal.

Sooner or later they will require gay marriage for everyone, no matter if you are gay or not.

If only we had the capacity to recognize that different situations allow for different outcomes. I lament that we lack the rational capacity to debate one issue at a time (civil unions), and to address the next step(gay marriage, or whatever) on its own merits.

If only our brilliant ancestors, after they discovered fire and the wheel and sanctified heterosexual marriage, had taken some time to learn how to stop on the slippery slope.

But alas, we remain bound by inevitability.

Re: Burris and the old guard

Some Guy — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:23:28 -0000

Favorite Chicago political books (aside from those already mentioned):

"Don't Make No Waves, Don't Back No Losers" by Milton Rakove (the same guy who did the "We Don't Want Noboby Nobody Sent" oral history). Fascinating stuff, I especially got a kick out of the depicitions of the GOP in the machine words.

"Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race." by Gary Rivlin. This was a fascinating account of Chicago during the Harold Washington years. Begins with his annoucement that he won't run for mayor unless 50,000 new voters are registered and takes it through the vote for Sawyer. All kinds of info on the various splits and groups within Chicago's black political community.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:44:33 -0000

B+ on performance. It was a decent speech and he seemed to mean what he said.

B- on the budget. Times are tough, and I understand the need to sacrifice. Unions will negotiate over the pension stuff, so I'll leave it to them.

I am not a fan of trying to balance the budget with education stimulus money, though admittedly I haven't read the language that dictates what it can be used for. Based on what I've read on the blog, though, I think it does go against the intended use for the funds.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:31:20 -0000

Websites are important. Sophisticated, user-friendly website have a lot of benefits for a candidate. The candidate can describe his/her stance on issues more fully than may be possible in an article, interview, etc.

Websites can also be useful tools in developing voter and volunteer lists. Having a form for visitors to fill out allows important data to be compiled.

Additionally, websites can supplement other aspects of the campaign. Fundraising, for instance, has been helped by the Internet. Small donors can give online. If the candidate is calling a donor, he/she can direct them to the website instead of having to wait for a check in the mail.

Websites and e-mail offer voters an opportunity to ask questions to the candidate/campaign. This provides a chance to communicate directly to voters with tailored messages, and can help a candidate identify issues that he/she may want to begin discussing at events.

Of course, websites and email are tools. They must be used effectively, and do not replace face-to-face contacts and live events.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:52:59 -0000

Utilizing YouTube to post video from the candidate or from events and speeches is a good idea. Embed the video in the campaign site.

A Facebook page is also a useful way to notify people (generally younger voters) of upcoming events, new videos, volunteering opportunities, etc.

As for Twitter, I don't personally use it. I'm not sure how effective it is on campaigns. I imagine it would depend on the campaign and the candidate.

Blogs can describe recent rallies, news articles, and anything else the campaign wants to highlight. Jerry 101 is correct in saying the comments must be moderated.

Having a bad website, Facebook page, or anything else has the exact opposite effect. It make the candidate look unprofessional and out of touch. Have someone with experience with new media on the campaign.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:47:37 -0000

Anita Hill.

Huh? ? She's not a politician or even an Illinois resident. How can she be my pick. Well, first the Q says "who the most influential woman in Illinois political history" and while she's not an Illinoisan or politician, she left a huge mark on Illinois politics.

Because of her, Alan Dixon lost his 1992 primary to Carol Moseley Braun, the first black female senator in US history. (Still only one). More importantly, in the long run, it set up a chain of events that kept that seat in flux until 2004 when Obama ran for it.

If not for Anita Hill, who knows what happens to that seat. Braun certainly doesn't get it. I don't see Fitzgerald getting it either. He only won because he went up against a widely unpopular incumbent. (I know he has his defenders, but he's the most conservative person elected to that high profile a job in the state in the last 40 years).

My hunch is that Dixon retires in 1998, and the Dem insiders decide on their choice for a replacement. Obama was still too green. They likely would've gone with someone else - who? I have no idea, but it doesn't matter much. By 2004, Obama wouldn't run to take out a Dem incumbent in the primary (especially not after what happened when he took on Rush). So he doesn't becoem senator, then he doesn't become president.

Also, if Fitzgerald never gets elected, we don't have the other Fitzgerald cracking down on are far-too-many corrupt pols.

Anita Hill ain't from Illinois and has never been involved in its politics, but she left quite a mark.

Re: The horses are approaching the starting gates

Some Guy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:06:21 -0000

ValleyGal-

I had the exact same reaction.

Re: Question of the day

Some Guy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:26:20 -0000

Song, schmong - play the Victory Auto Wreckers commercial. It's a Chicagoland classic.

Re: This just in…

Some Guy — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:22:05 -0000

Is there any reason to think that IL-10 wonâ€™t be made more Democratic after the 2010 Census?

It's nice to have someone with some seniority in the minority party -- because you never know who'll be the minority party in ten years.

Besides, as someone else noted above, they can just reconfigure his district with Bean's giving her more Dems and him more Reps. (I have no idea how that would work on the map, but I've seen Hare's district: Illinois is more than willing to blatantly gerrymander to get the results that they want).

Re: Madigan: I find regrettable some of Quinn’s remarks

Some Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:28:56 -0000

Won't the Senate get first crack at the override, since it is SB 1197?

"If the Governor does not approve the bill, he shall veto it by returning it with his objections to the house in which it originated."

Do they have the votes in the Senate, or is Cullerton planning to make a comment at some point?

Re: Madigan: I find regrettable some of Quinn’s remarks

Some Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:29:06 -0000

Re: Madigan: I find regrettable some of Quinn’s remarks

Some Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:31:07 -0000

Sorry about the double post...Rich, can you delete one of them, along with this message? Thanks.

Re: This just in…

Some Guy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:15:25 -0000

Leaders' meeting 5p on Monday, with the hope of an agreement by Tuesday morning. Time will tell.
5 minutes ago

Re: This just in…

Some Guy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:36:51 -0000

We're done. Not sure what we accomplished but I appreciate him laying out his plans firsthand.
3 minutes ago

Re: Directions

Some Guy — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:11:34 -0000

I took this on October 7th and I've finished it on the 17th and I went from like 23-25% body fat to like 15% body fat doing this. But instead of 1 quart of water for the salt water flush, i drink 8 oz. and it goes through my body in like 1-2 hours. I would recommend this for people who have self control when they see good food. >.<

p.s. good luck on the first 3 days of the cleanse. You'll need it.