While getting tired of all of the Michael Jackson on the radio…I found this slightly amusing
While getting tired of Michael Jackson on the radio…
June 28th, 2009Collision of Worlds
June 26th, 2009Well…My my….Worlds collide.
Today, the DLCC made a post about the Seventeenth Amendment, referencing this Arkansas Senate candidate who said:
“I’m not sure that the 17th amendment was a smart thing to do… We need to go back and get like the founding fathers suggested.”
Now, I am a little disappointed in my DLCC friends. They claimed that the US Senate would have 62 Democrats without number 17. Now, I have yet to thoroughly run the numbers (c’mon Minnesoata), but I believe Democrats would only have 55 seats in the Senate without the 17th Amendment. The DLCC Communications team (looking at you Matthew) really should have referenced The Southern Seventeenth Amendment Swing . If they wanted numbers, simply seek the older version posted here.
Now, I believe that the DLCC was off because they did not consider staggered terms and classes of Senators. 2008 was an interesting year. In the indirectly elected Senate, Democrats gained seats in Iowa, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. But the Republicans took Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Kentucky.
And who said that the Seventeenth Amendment was irrelevant!
Christopher Fraser MP from Norfolk Southwest
May 29th, 2009The summer before I started this blog, I was a research assistant (fancy name for intern) for Christopher Fraser MP of Norfolk Southwest. It was a pretty fun gig. He was just recently elected and had no Parliamentary staff, so it meant I got to do a bit more than busy work.
We had a good time. We campaigned for another MP, went around his district, and celebrated the Fourth of July together (see picture below of Christopher enjoying a Budweiser and Apple Pie).
Also, here we are on the roof of Parliament (Don’t know if this was legal)
Unfortunately, Christopher announced yesterday that he would not seek reelection. His wife is in poor health, and it has gotten swept up in the Parliamentary Expense scandal….And well…. it made a few headlines…
- MP’s expenses: Tory MP Christopher Fraser to stand down
- Tory MP standing down ‘over wife’s health’
- MP Fraser poised to leave Commons
- MP’s decision has ‘nothing to do’ with expenses
- MP Fraser stands down
- Norfolk MP to stand down at next election
- MP’s expenses: Christopher Fraser says that claim for trees was necessary
- MP faces grilling on property
Hopefully Lisa gets well soon, and the Fraser’s get to spend more time together with Christopher out of office. I wish them nothing but the best, but is was interesting to see Christopher Fraser from Norfolk Southwest in the news today.
June 3rd Update
Sort of got mentioned in a story!
He said his staffing costs had risen by 50pc since 2005/06 as he needed extra full-time staff to help after initially starting out with interns. But he declined to give an account for the £1,792 claimed for “spouse’s travel” in 2007/08 stating that “all spouses are entitled to claim for travel”.
State Leg Tid Bit
May 22nd, 2009Less of these since leaving DLCC, but….
Lampe legislation a ‘counter to hate’
Lawmakers renamed a section of highway in Springfield that a neo-Nazi group adopted to keep litter-free after a Jewish civil rights leader.Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield, got an amendment added to a transportation bill to rename a portion of West Bypass from Farm Road 142 to West Sunshine the “Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway.” Heschel marched with Martin Luther King Jr. at the Selma, Ala., Civil Rights march in 1965.
Lampe said she asked Jewish groups to nominate a religious figure to counter the Springfield unit of the National Socialist Movement, which adopted the section of road.
“It’s a counter to hate,” Lampe said.
Two signs noting the National Socialist Movement’s participation in the Adopt-A-Highway program went up last October. The Missouri Department of Transportation could not turn down the group’s application to be in the program based of its views because of the group’s First Amendment right.
A Jewish organization in Kansas City will pay for signs marking the memorial highway along the same stretch of road maintained by volunteers from the neo-Nazi group. “I’m leveling the playing field,” Lampe said.
In HB683, Rep. Bob Dixon got a provision added to rename a one-mile portion of East Chestnut Expressway from the new airport entrance road to Interstate 44 the “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mile.”
Albert
May 22nd, 2009He is a pretty special player…
Small World
May 12th, 2009My sister ran cross country in high school and college. She now works in the career services offices of Cardinal Strich University in Wisconsin. Karen recently accepted a position as the head cross country coach at this university as well.
Also recently accepting a head coaching position at Cardinal Strich was Drew Diener, a former Saint Louis University Billiken. I don’t know if Karen ever saw Drew play, but it may be an interesting conversation when they first meet.
Karen: So you played at SLU?
Drew: Yeah, from 1999 - 2003.
Karen: My brother has this web site….
That is quite the co-wink-e-dink (however you spell it).
Who all has a blog?
April 21st, 2009I added a few blogs to the blogroll, but I really don’t know who has a blog out there. So who does?
Just too true…
April 8th, 2009
Also a new draft if anyone is interested.
I have so far found two typos in the above, but it is what I presented this week.
Games on the Beach
March 18th, 2009Nash Equilibrium isn’t quite the same as volleyball….
“Protected” Posts
March 7th, 2009There have been a few protected posts recently. The only reason they are protected is that there are probably a few people I don’t want seeing them, but I am actually generally okay with 95% of the world reading.
Don’t hesistate to ask for the password for these posts. Just drop me an email, and I more likely than not I will give it to you. Some will stay “private,” so hopefully you understand in the circumstances where I don’t give a password. Please don’t be offended.