This is ridiculous.  CBS agrees to run ads by tobacco companies, beer companies and the Bush White House during the Super Bowl, but refuses to run the MoveOn.org Bush in 30 Seconds winner because they claim it is too controversial to air.

Visit http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/ to view this "too controversial" ad for yourself.

Ok, since people have been asking for them, here are some pictures of the new home.  I only have the outside ones for now as I'm still working on the inside (unpacking, decorating, new lights, etc).

From the front

From the back

The back yard

A recent discussion thread:

"Max":  "none of the candidates running on the liberal ticket can tell the truth. I think that's a problem when your a liar before you take office....but then you liberals are used to that kind of representation so maybe it's not as big an issue.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,109269,00.html"

Me:  "From the Fox News Story: "Howard Dean (search), as he does routinely, stated that 60 percent of taxpayers only got $304 on average from Bush's tax cuts. That calculation applies to the lowest earning 60 percent of taxpayers -- many of whom pay little or no federal income tax to begin with. Middle income earners, especially those with children, saved substantially more than that from the lowering of income tax rates across the board."

Umm...Max? They're backing up what he said in that statement, yet complaining about it too. He didn't say middle americans, he said 60% of all Americans, which their info confirms."

"Max":  "I think you might want to re-read that article by the way. What they are saying is that Dean is full of shit. He's crying about the government not giving tax dollars back to all the assholes in this country that are too lazy to get a job and don't pay taxes in the first place."

Me:  "I think your eyes are playing tricks on you. The paragraph I quoted was the only part of the article you referenced that mentioned Governor Dean. Considering that those wacky-left-wing (at least I'm sure you'll call them that) US Census people place the median US wage for 2002 at $42,409 (don't take my word for it, click here to see for yourself), those "assholes in the country that are too lazy to get a job" includes even the 10% making between $42,409 and the upper limit!

That makes no sense. Perhaps you come from some silver spoon rich family who looks at $40K a year as nothing, but around here, that's called a good middle-class wage. Suddenly your political leanings make much more sense."

And a followup from me:  "One other thing: the 2001 Census data shows the upper limit for the 60th percentile at $62,500 annual. That means these lazy assholes you refer to are anyone making less than that. Don't take my word for it, click here for the Census source.

I'd entertain any rebuttals using facts from real non-biased sources. But somehow I doubt you'll provide any."

And "Max"'s fact-filled follow-up:  "$40,000 per year won't pay for shit in Iowa. Unless of course you are single and living in a studio apartment because you're too much of a fag to get a wife or girlfriend....no offense meant."

He is certainly a master debater, that "Max".  Anyway, I put it to the readers:  Does making under $62,500 a year make one a "lazy asshole" as "Max" puts it?  I know several people I'd call hard-working who don't, many of whom are even Republicans.  But what do you readers think?

So a recent posting with rather benign intentions got a flurry of comments from both sides of the political fence.  On one hand were myself, Jess, Josh and Ian, and on the other was "Bob", "Bill" aka "Max", and Mike.

I have no problem with people posting opposition on my site - I put my views out there and if others have different, I'm ok with that.  But what I don't like is when people post simply hateful responses without any rational analysis or evidence to back up their claims.  We teach our children that yelling "you're a stupid head!" isn't the right thing to do, so why do adults, especially those who like to keep referring to myself and my friends (most of whom are older than 25) as kids, find that acceptable?

Why is that when politics enters the fray, manners and intelligent response tend to fly out the door?

So, readers, what do we do about it?  I refuse to get rid of my comments section, as I feel discussion is a vital piece of the Internet.  And I hesitate to ban people, as censorship should be a last-ditch solution.  And I absolutely refuse to stop putting articles of politics in my postings, as it is my right as a citizen of a free-speaking country to do so, no matter how much the opposition might hate it.  So, readers, what do you think should be done?

Let's see, in the past two days I have:

• Appeared quickly on The Today Show in an interview re: Caucuses
• Gave a nice bit at Simpson about why Dean is the man which got applauded
• Met Janeane Garofalo and Joan Jett and talked politics with both
• Listened to Joan Jett rock Simpson in a rare non-band appearance
• Bought a 2004 Volkswagon Touareg, which arrives in a little over a week

So it's been kind of crazy.  And unpacking continues, as does pre-caucus functions.  Plus I am now officially signed as a consultant for Iowa Telecom.

Pictures of stuff coming...eventually.  I swear.  Really.

First Trish and I get yelled at by the guy at Cup-A-Joe, then today, as I was leaving Mercy Hospital with Jessica (whose mom just had major surgery to remove a cancer from her lung) we were yelled at by this guy smoking outside the door.  Apparently he is eagle-eyed, having spotted my 3/4" by 1/2" Dean lapel pin on my coat, so he launches into this tirade as we walk by about how "you liberal yuppies running this country are the worst thing to ever happen to it with your computers and stuff."  So odd.  At first I thought he was some homeless man muttering to himself, but apparently not.  And what really kills me is this was outside a HOSPITAL!  For all he knew, we could have had someone die or be seriously hurt, but he chose that as the best time to attack two people he didn't know.

Don't get me wrong.  I have friends who are conservative.  Some that are even arch-conservative.  But at least they are civil about it and we can respect that we have different points of view even if we don't understand them.  But these hate-spouting people, they're just too much.

Oh yeah, I might be on The Today Show tomorrow morning.  They interviewed me on the street today, so we'll see.

Hey readers!  Bob returned!

We'll see who wins in 2004 kids. The problem with debating liberals is that your point of view is strictly emotional. Republicans tend to deal in logic and fact. If you want to believe the propaganda being passed to you by the ultra-liberal media and ignore common sense, I have no reason to waste my time debating you. When you're a bit older you'll understand and my guess is that all of you will be registered republicans. My anonymity is my right by the way. If you want to host a "public" blog....deal with it kids.

I find this hilarious.  I was in Cup-A-Joe Coffee Haus last week with Trish, the Warren County Coordinator for the Dean campaign, and this guy starts yelling and getting all in our face about how much he hates us liberals because we're all immoral and we're self destructing and yadda yadda yadda.  And I mean spitting mad, and we weren't even doing anything overtly political - we weren't canvassing or handing out fliers or anything, we were just sitting there eating lunch and coordinating calls.  I don't know about you, but I'd call that an emotional response.

But in some ways, Bob is part right - there IS an emotional component to our views, and there SHOULD be!  I DO get SEETHING MAD when I think about how Bush's Department of Labor posted on their site info on how companies can get around the new overtime regulations and essentially cut out overtime pay for their workers by increasing the base weekly hours component of their job.  And I DO get SEETHING MAD when I think about how Bush lied to the American public in his State of the Union about Iraq buying enriched uranium from north Africa - something he had already been informed months prior was incorrect intelligence.  I DO get SEETHING MAD when I think how the No Child Left Behind program forces schools to meet testing criteria at the risk of cutting off funding - funding so minimal (it's called an "unfunded mandate" people) that only the schools in the most desparate areas utterly rely on it - and those schools need the most help meeting the criteria, not just a test of what the criteria is.

And as for your privacy, BOB...  that's true.  But I work for an ISP so I've seen first hand... all they have to do is send me (or your ISP Mediacom or your employer Principal or whoever) a fax summons with your IP, and EVERY bit of your private info gets turned over, lest they get charged with obstruction of justice.  It's good ol' HR 3162 - the US Patriot Act.  And yes, even the idea of being forced to do so for a bleeding idiot like you, Bob, makes me mad.

So I guess there is an emotional component.

BTW - I LOVE the comment about the "ultra liberal" media.  I mean, only that would explain why the worst of what Bush does, the most underhanded, get made back page news while things like "Dean said this about the South" or what not make the front page.  That's why the Clinton blowjob was top of the fold news for months and the Bush WMD issue gets relegated to deeper obscurity.  Oh wait, that's right, while the majority of reporters lean liberal, the vast majority of owners and editors weigh conservative.  And they determine placement and story viability.  But of course, I'm just blindly following rhetoric there, BOB.

Jackass.

Recently revealed.  Painted by a former wrestler aspiring as an artist for a former wrestler who aspired as a Governor:

My favorite bit from the description:

Gov. Ventura is pictured standing proudly over a landscape filled with symbols of Minnesota and important aspects of his life and career. A dark sky highlights his strong, determined face. He is dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and red-white-and-blue tie. On his lapel are a Navy Seal team pin and Navy jump wings, and in his hand is one of the fine cigars he relishes, this time clearly lit as was not always the case as he went about the State Capitol during his years as governor.

Blended into the landscape behind him are images of an undeveloped, wild Minnesota to his left, and to his right the Capitol building, the Minneapolis skyline, a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, a lush Minnesota golf course and a light-rail train. The governor’s right hand rests on a figure representing “The Thinker,” an image used in his campaign for office that contrasted his reputation as “Jesse, the Body,” with “Jesse, the Thinker.”

Hi all!  I haven't written for a while as I moved last Wednesday (photos forthcoming), and my DSL was down until today.  At least that left me free to do some Dean assistance!  Anyway, the move went great, I LOVE the new home (despite its still being full of boxes - which will likely stay for the next, oh, 2 years or so), and have a crazy week ahead between some work things and prepping for the caucus in one week.

A Question to Supporters of Kerry, Gephardt, Edwards and Lieberman:  How can your candidates justify supporting The Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and the Iraq Resolution?

Answer:  It's a trick question!  There are no Lieberman supporters!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Happy Y2K4!  What is your new year's resolution?