McCain Caught by Media on Accusing Obama Of One Of His Faults

July 11, 2008 — Ron Chusid

John McCain has gotten away with a lot thanks to a friendly news media. His untrue claims of flip-flopping by Obama have often been repeated by media with few reporters noting that it is actually McCain who has flip-flopped repeatedly for political expediency. Today there was a rare exception. CNN actually bothered to fact-check a claim from McCain. McCain criticized Obama for failing to be present for the vote on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment on September 26, 2007. They checked the record and also found that McCain was not present for the same vote he criticized Obama for missing.

Just as McCain is in a poor position to accuse anyone of flip-flopping, he is in a particularly poor position to criticize anyone for being absent for votes. While all presidential candidates tend to miss many votes, McCain is setting the record. McCain has missed 61.8% of the votes cast, exceeding even the number missed by Tim Johnson following a cerebral hemorrhage. By comparison Obama has missed 43.5% of the votes.

Another difference is that while all politicians must miss votes while out campaigning, McCain has used this as a means to avoid taking a stand on the issues. Most candidates at least announce how they would vote on votes they have missed. The most recent example of McCain avoiding taking a stand was on the Medicare vote earlier this week. Not only was McCain the only Senator to miss this key vote, he failed to respond to questions as to where he stood.

I’ve particularly noticed this tendency from McCain as the Medicare vote was the second time McCain’s has used such tactics on matters which affect me personally. Here in Michigan (and I’m sure in other states) visas for temporary workers are significant for the summer tourist industry. Every summer I go to Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island once or twice, and seeing the Jamaicans we have known for years is a major part of the trip. (The hotel is best known to those outside of Michigan as the site of the movie Somewhere in Time.) I’m afraid that those who do not frequent such resorts would not understand the significance of the friendships which can develop over the years. These are people who have seen my daughter grow up from a baby, and she runs to visit some of them even before we are checked in. Last week two different ones called to wish my wife a happy birthday, knowing that many other years we have celebrated her birthday there. It was major news in Michigan when many of the employees could not return this year due to a lapse in the law which allowed them to return for the summer with H2B visas. One reason for this turned out to be that John McCain blocked the immigration legislation which contained the H2B exemptions as he did not to vote on an immigration bill which could become a political issue this year.

There are numerous other examples, but the Medicare and immigration bills were the two which I paid the most attention to. Undoubtedly many in the news media realize that avoiding taking a stand has become common for the supposedly straight talking John McCain. This time CNN even made a point of it when he tried to accuse Obama of what he is actually guilty of. Hopefully this is just the start of the media holding McCain responsible for his statements.

Posted in Barack Obama, Congress, John McCain, Michigan News, News Media, Politics. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

Prostitution Sting Demonstrates Midwest Thrift And Police Skills

April 2, 2008 — Ron Chusid

The husband of one my Senators here in Michigan was caught in a prostitution sting:

The co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio and husband of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow was caught in February by a Troy police sting aimed at catching prostitutes, according to a police report.

Thomas L. Athans was stopped Feb. 26 by undercover officers investigating a possible prostitution ring in a room at the Residence Inn near Big Beaver and Interstate 75. Athans paid a 20-year-old prostitute $150 for sex in a Troy hotel but was not arrested, according to police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Detroit News.

On the positive side, this shows how thrifty we are here in the midwest. Senator Stabenow’s husband paid $150. Compare that to Elliot Spitzer paying over $4000.

On the negative side, I can’t help but recall that a few years ago I was unable to get the suite I usually stay in at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and found that Senator Stabenow (and presumably her husband) were staying in the room. (I might have to pick up some Retcon from Torchwood before the next time I stay in the suite to get rid of this memory.)

We also learn about how the police are able to crack these prostitution cases. Lt. Gerard Scherlinck provides an example of our police at work:

Troy’s police spotted an advertisement online at www.backpage.com which read “a young blond hottie here for your total enjoyment” in Troy under the name “Kasey.” The posting had rates for 15 minutes ($100) and by the half hour ($160) and hour ($225).

“Those are all red flags for prostitution,” Scherlinck said.

I sure am glad that our police are astute enough to break that tough code and figure out that the ad was about prostitution. A lesser mind might not have recognized those red flags or figure out what the ad was offering.

Update: In response to those who have expressed skepticism, the news account is real. There really is a Big Beaver Road in Troy.

Posted in In The News, Michigan News, Scandals. Tags: , , , , , . 3 Comments »

SciFi Friday: All Star Trek Edition, With Musical Number

August 31, 2007 — Ron Chusid

There are a number of rumors this week regarding casting and possible plot for the upcoming Star Trek movie. Zachary Quinto has also given a number of interviews which may contain some clues as to the direction Abrams intends to take with Star Trek. It wasn’t at all surprising to learn that this could be the first of a new series of movies. In response to one question, Quinto said “It is a multiple picture deal, yeah. If there end up being sequels, that remains to be seen. There’s more than one movie attached to this one.” Quinto also had some comments on how he will be portraying Spock:

The interesting thing is that you meet this character before you ever knew him on the television series and the other movies, so sort of what you know about him and then also an exploration of how he got to that point. All of the characters, not just Spock.

Other than for Quinto being cast as Spock, much of the casting has not yet been set. The Trek Movie Report says that Zoë Saldana has been offered the role of Uhura. Saldana appreared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl but also played a Trekkie in The Terminal

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blSIyMmU4Tg]

There’s also news of another former Star Trek cast member appearing on television next season. John Billingsley, who played Phlox on Star Trek: Voyager and appeared in The Nine last season, will have a role on 24 next season.

Ain’t It Cool News has rumors on the plot of the upcoming Star Trek movie. Keep in mind that this rumor may or may not be valid, and even if accurate might not apply to the final movie. This idea does allow Abrams to work in both the young and older Spock, as well as get around potential continuity problems. Reportedly Romulans wind up in the past and decide to change the time line by killing a young James T. Kirk. The older Spock goes back in time to prevent this plot, however might wind up creating a different time line. Subsequent movies would take place in this new time line in which many things would be the same but there could be differences.

Unless Abrams has some remarkable ideas for this new time line (assuming there is even any truth to this) I’m not sure this is a good idea. There are plenty of stories which could still be told without violating the continuity of the original stories. Of course fans might have to give Abrams a little leeway and not worry about every trivial point.

Can the science of Star Trek come true? Slice of SciFi has had some recent stories suggesting possible situations in which this can occur. One technology might lead to a device comparable to the holodeck:

A technology dubbed “autostereoscopic light field display” makes the claim it is able to present interactive 3D graphics to multiple simultaneous viewers 360 degrees around the display.

The USC developers of the device — Andrew Jones, Ian McDowall, Hideshi Yamada, Mark Bolas and Paul Debevec — describe it this way in their abstract:

The display consists of a high-speed video projector, a spinning mirror covered by a holographic diffuser, and FPGA circuitry to decode specially rendered DVI video signals. The display uses a standard programmable graphics card to render over 5,000 images per second of interactive 3D graphics, projecting 360-degree views with 1.25 degree separation up to 20 updates per second.

We describe the system’s projection geometry and its calibration process, and we present a multiple-center-of-projection rendering technique for creating perspective-correct images from arbitrary viewpoints around the display. Our projection technique allows correct vertical perspective and parallax to be rendered for any height and distance when these parameters are known, and we demonstrate this effect with interactive raster graphics using a tracking system to measure the viewer’s height and distance. We further apply our projection technique to the display of photographed light fields with accurate horizontal and vertical parallax.

Another story reports on possible energy weapons which could be developed to use against insurgents in Iraq.

As I’m spending the weekend at the Grand Hotel Jazz Festival, I thought I should end this week’s edition of SciFi Friday with a musical number. Members of various casts of Star Trek do the Time Warp:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfx8Nc6VKnI]

Posted in Science, Science Fiction, Television. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

Liberal Values Is Back Up and Running

August 28, 2007 — Ron Chusid

After being down for over twenty-four hours we’re back up. Actually this entire week or so appears fated to be a period of reduced posting. The cable service to my home went out for much of Sunday but I did get by primarily by using a computer outside of the home during that period. I also attempted dial up but that didn’t work very well. Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for my annual trip to the Labor Day Jazz Festival at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island which will also reduce posting.

Being down most of yesterday might have left me as the only political blog not to have commented on the Gonzales resignation. As Dana Milbank wrote, he dug his own grave and everyone seemed happy to dance on it.

The other major news while the blog was down was yet another sex scandal from the party of family values. As David Kurtz also writes, I’m not sure that what Senator Larry Craig did justified prosecution.On the other hand, his behavior sure was suspicious, both in the men’s room and in how he handled it afterwards.

Next I’ll have to go back over the items I’ve flagged in my RSS reader and decide which are still worth posting (as time allows while I get ready to leave town for an extended holiday weekend).

Update: It looks like not everything was recovered correctly so far. At present it is not possible to read comments. The old comments are still present through the control panel, so hopefully it will only be a minor fix to make the comment section viewable again.

Update II:  Comments are back working. There are still some minor problems like comment preview is not working correctly but it looks like the blog is workable until I get back from vacation. Then I’ll probably have to give in and install the latest WordPress upgrade which will hopefully resolve the remaining issues.

Posted in Blogs & Social Media, Entertainment & Leisure, Republicans, Scandals. Tags: , . No Comments »

The Doctrine of Dick DeVos III: Wife Betsy DeVos

November 6, 2006 — Guest Post

by Hector Solon

As Republican candidate Dick DeVos runs for Michigan’s governor, why has his campaign been so careful to keep his GOP “Super Ranger,” political wife Betsy out of sight?

Not enough has been said in Michigan’s 2006 gubernatorial race from either side about the political and ideological background of Dick’s more experienced and politically aggressive wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) (Prince) DeVos.

The DeVos campaign does not want the outcome of the vote to come down to a donnybrook over the kinds of issues and statements for which wife Betsy is so well-known and famous.

“A woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must woman domineer over man; she should be quiet.”
— II Timothy 2:11-14

“The greatest menace to genuine Christianity in our day is not found in the attack of the atheist, the naturalist, and the outspoken unbeliever, but in the compromising stand of those who claim to be Christians, yet are in reality the champions of principles alien to the Christian faith.” — Clarence Bouma as found in “Dutch Calvinism In Modern America” by James D. Bratt, published by Eerdmans Books, Grand Rapids, Michgan, 1984

Betsy DeVos’ Lips Are Zipped

Despite record spending and an extensive ad and media campaign, the Dick DeVos for Governor Campaign can now be best described as: “A businessman without a business, a politician without a party, a “Christian conservative” without a conscience, and now a husband without a wife.” (more…)

Posted in Michigan News. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Bloggers on Vacation

August 31, 2006 — Ron Chusid

I took a quick minute to check out the newspapers on line before dinner, and it looks like I’m not the only blogger dealing with handling a blog while off on vacation. The Wall Street Journal looks at bloggers on vacation:

In the height of summer-holiday season, bloggers face the inevitable question: to blog on break or put the blog on a break? Fearing a decline in readership, some writers opt not to take vacations. Others keep posting while on location, to the chagrin of their families. Those brave enough to detach themselves from their keyboards for a few days must choose between leaving the site dormant or having someone blog-sit.

To be sure, most bloggers don’t agonize over this decision. Of the 12 million bloggers on the Internet, only about 13% post daily, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Even fewer — 10% — spend 10 or more hours a week on their blogs.

Yet for the sliver of people whose livelihood depends on the blog — whether they are conservative, liberal or don’t care — stepping away from the keyboard can be difficult. Unlike other jobs, where co-workers can fill in for an absent employee, blogs are usually a one-person show. A blogger’s personality carries the site. When the host isn’t there, readers tend to stray. August is a slow time for all blogs, but having an absent host makes the problem worse. Lose enough readers, and advertisers are sure to join the exodus.

It’s something that John Amato, host of the political blog Crooks and Liars, knows all too well. Mr. Amato rarely steps away from his site for any significant amount of time, although he finds updating the page multiple times a day exhausting.

“You become your blog,” says Mr. Amato, whose site gets an average of 150,000 hits a day. “It’s John Amato. They’re used to John Amato.”

Some bloggers thrive on the manic pace. Getaways for Jim Romenesko, host of the popular media blog bearing his name, consist of a Friday afternoon drive every month or so from his home in the Chicago suburbs to visit friends in Milwaukee. The 85-mile trip should last around 90 minutes. For Mr. Romenesko, it takes nearly four hours — because he stops at eight different Starbucks on the way to update his site.

The longest Mr. Romenesko has refrained from posting on his site, which gets about 70,000 hits a day, was for one week three years ago on the insistence of site owner, the Poynter Institute. He hasn’t taken a vacation in seven years. “The column’s called Romenesko,” he says. “I just feel it should be Romenesko” who writes it.

While it may seem like a chore to outsiders, many bloggers enjoy the compulsion. Mark Lisanti, who runs the entertainment gossip blog Defamer, is much like Mr. Romenesko in his no-vacation tendencies. Although he gets three weeks off each year from Gawker Media, which owns the site, he rarely takes a day. Not because he can’t, he just doesn’t want to. “My plan is to die face down on the desk in the middle of a post,” Mr. Lisanti jokes.

Then there’s hotel WiFi which keep some of us at least partially connected to the blogoshere at all times. Blogging while looking at the Straits of Mackinac, with sounds of the Grand Hotel Jazz Festival in the background, isn’t all bad.

Posted in Blogs & Social Media, In The News. Tags: , . No Comments »
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