Twenty years ago today, I donned cap and gown and graduated from college. Unlike today, which is rainy and overcast, that day was sunny and bright. It was also kind of warm, I think. For the record, I don't remember anything said by the commencement speaker, SEN. MARK HATFIELD of Oregon.
Here now for your listening enjoyment are three songs that I closely associate with those years ( 1984-1988 ) at JUNIATA COLLEGE (and my junior year abroad at LEEDS).
First up, Dead Milkmen with "Bitchin' Camaro."
Now, "Don't Leave Me This Way," a 1986 smash from the Communards.
And, finally, Violent Femmes with "Blister in the Sun."
... or maybe it should be OMG.
I know it's a FOX station, but I can't believe this made air in a major television market. It's from earlier this year, when a news anchor read the text of steamy text messages between the mayor of Detroit and the woman he was having an affair with - who happened to be his top aide. If you're like me, you can't help but LOL!
(thanks to a co-worker for pointing this out)
Another day, another record. The price of oil has just topped $122/barrel. But, there are still a few hours left in the trading day, so it may go even higher before the bell rings. Even if it drops slightly, it will probably still close at yet another all-time high.
What's fueling all this? Several factors, including the traditional supply/demand and the ever-weakening dollar. Then, Goldman Sachs PILES ON by prognosticating that crude could go as high as $200/barrel sooner rather than later. How is a speculator to resist? Did you ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Now, please welcome Pink Floyd, recorded 2 July, 2005 at Live 8 in London!
The federal government has informed me that on Monday I will receive my economic stimulus payment. Thank you very much. I will actually spend it and do my part to stimulate the economy. I'm planning to get some replacement windows - which, hopefully, will earn me a deduction on my taxes!
Also, I just got off the phone with one of the credit card companies. It seems that someone made a $500 payment on one of my accounts. Yes, a payment! Someone else paid my bill - and then some! Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm not in the habit of accepting gifts from strangers. So, I asked the credit card company to find out who made the payment and give them the credit.
While we're on the subject of money, I thought a little Sublime might be appropriate in these turbulant times.
Want to know what the big stories are anywhere in the world? Then, check out the NEWSEUM's collection of front pages from more than 500 newspapers. It's updated daily. Thanks to the Surly Editor at NewsBlues.com for the link, which I also put on the NEWS page of my web site (where I have links to fewer than 500 newspapers).
The Newseum opened a couple of weeks ago in Washington, DC. It's the new home for ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopolous." I haven't been down to see the Newseum yet. Hopefully, someday.
You just can't make this stuff up. On Wednesday, I spotted this little gem on the AP wire:
Man who walked naked along Pa. highway charged
Eds: APNewsNow.
READING, Pa. (AP) - A 38-year-old Reading man who walked naked
along a highway after being thrown into the woods following a crash
is charged with a variety of crimes.
Police say John Messerly was driving his employer's minivan
April 4 when he climbed out the window and stood on the roof. He
was thrown into the woods when the van crashed. Police say he then
stripped naked and led officers on a chase. Police say Messerly had
cocaine in his system.
In an interview with the Reading Eagle, Messerly denied climbing
onto the roof. He said he was adjusting lumber that had come loose
when he was thrown from the vehicle. He said he stripped naked to
check himself for injuries.
Messerly is charged with risking a catastrophe, indecent
exposure, resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated and other
offenses.
---
Information from: Reading Eagle, http://www.readingeagle.com/
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-30-08 1604EDT
The Phightins have quietly gotten hot. Including tonight's victory over the Pirates, the PHILLIES have won 6 of their last 7, and 7 of their last 10. And most of that's been without Rollins, without Victorino and, for all intents and purposes, without Ryan Howard (yeah, he hit a home run tonight, but he also struck out a couple times, too). Burrell and utley have picked up the offensive slack, while the pitching has been adequate. Their record now stands at 14-11, with three games to go in April. Last season, they finished April with a record of 11-14. So, with nothing worse than a .500 record guaranteed for this April, things are looking pretty good. Fingers crossed.
Here's how last night's win by Hillary in PA played in the UK (HERE'S the link to the article in The Independent):
By Leonard Doyle in Philadelphia
Thursday, 24 April 2008
It was in the end a famous victory for Hillary Clinton. She won it in the clapboard row-houses of white, working-class communities, among religious, gun-loving rural types. She even won in the affluent exurbs of Philadelphia where voters flirted with Barack Obama, only to dump him at the last minute.
As the results of Tuesday's vote came in, Mrs Clinton and her exuberant supporters, including the black Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, were packed into the Bellevue, a century-old ballroom in downtown Philadelphia.
It was an odd place to celebrate a comeback victory as the Bellevue is notoriously the scene of the world's first outbreak of deadly legionnaires' disease. Back in 1976, members of an American Legion convention were struck by mysterious bacteria, which killed 34 of them.
Thanks to Mrs Clinton, an equally deadly affliction has struck the Democratic Party, one that could deny it the keys to the White House for the third successive time in November. Mrs Clinton beat Mr Obama by a wide enough margin to justify staying in the race. That means that the death spiral the candidates are locked into continues. Just when the Democrats need to unite against the popular Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, they are locked in an unending civil war.
Inside the Bellevue, Mrs Clinton's exuberant supporters waved banners and cheered. One young man wore boxing gloves and punched the air, Rocky-style, invoking the gritty fighting style Mrs Clinton is become famous for. In her speech Mrs Clinton used the words "fight", "fighter" and "fighting", signalling that she has no intention of being bullied out a contest even if she remains incapable of winning it without ripping the party apart.
Amid some of the most negative campaigning seen in the primary contests, Mrs Clinton won through a powerful coalition of women, white voters, the working class and the elderly right across the state. Only in Philadelphia did Mr Obama do well, where he won two-thirds of the largely African-American vote. Even this win was blunted by Mrs Clinton's ally, Mayor Nutter, another charismatic star of the Democratic Party.
Mrs Clinton started the campaign with a huge advantage of name recognition. Pennsylvania, the birthplace of her father and place her family holidayed, is something of a second home for Mrs Clinton. Pennsylvanians, unlike many Americans, tend not to move far from where they were born and loyalty and family ties are powerful forces here.
The young, mobile well educated Americans, who elsewhere flocked to Mr Obama's promise to renew America's politics, were out-gunned by Mrs Clinton's more conservative supporters. And in a grinding campaign that lasted six long weeks, the spell Mr Obama managed to cast over voters in other states with his inspirational message of bringing change to Washington came across as stale and unconvincing.
He also battled against the worst controversy of his campaign, when the incendiary words of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, in a sermon were broadcast again and again on television. Mr Obama also came across to Pennsylvania's voters as another conventional politician rather than the wunderkind who persuaded the predominantly white state of Iowa to back him back in January.
Mrs Clinton ruthlessly exploited private comments he made saying the people of smalltown Pennsylvania were not supporting him because they were "bitter" about their lot in life and "clinging" to guns and God in response to economic hard times. And in final dying days of the campaign she invoked the image of Osama Bin Laden in an ad to make her point that Mr Obama is not ready to defend the country.
Even as people turned out to vote, Mrs Clinton took a leaf out of George Bush's political playbook to use fear of terrorism to sway voters, adding that as President she would "obliterate" Iran if it threatened to attack Israel. It did the trick and Mrs Clinton won handsomely among the poor, ill-educated voters who get their news from morning television.
Now the danger for the Democratic Party is that the longer the struggle goes on, the more disenchanted each candidate's supporters will be when a candidate finally emerges.
If you'd like to see the results from yesterday's Pennsylvania primary, you can do so HERE. The folks at the PA Dept. of State are ever so helpful and the site has some neat features to help you break down the results of individual races.
Some observations about yesterday's primary from someone who was maybe too close to the action to see what was really happening. Maybe that's why I'm a little surprised by the following:
1. I'm surprised that Hillary won by 10 points. The polls were all over the place, though most showed somewhere in the range of a 5 or 6 point edge for Hillary. Even Survey USA, which had Hillary with a 12-point lead one week ago, ended up with a 6-point margin the day before the election. My guess is that, on election day, the undecided voters largely went for Hillary at the last-minute. Either that or the young people who registered to vote because they support Obama were too busy enjoying the sunshine to step inside for a few moments to cast a ballot. Either way, it seems to be the win Hillary needed. Whether the Democratic party leaders wanted that win is a whole other issue.
2. I'm surprised - a little - that Chris Hackett topped Dan Meuser for the GOP nomination in the 10th CD. My personal feeling was that Hackett would win. But, as I tried to figure out how to staff our election night coverage, I asked around and heard some things that made me believe Meuser had the edge. That belief seemed to be playing out as the early returns favored Meuser. But, around 10PM or so, Hackett grabbed the lead and held it. Even though we guessed wrong on the winner, I think our presence at Meuser's gathering worked out for the best since he spoke to his supporters in time for the 11PM news while Hackett didn't come out until later.
3. I'm surprised - a lot - that Steve Cappelli lost the GOP primary in the 23rd PA Senate District. Cappelli is a sitting state rep. and a former mayor of Williamsport. I figured him to be the odds-on favorite to win the nomination in the race to replace outgoing state senator Roger Madigan. But, Gene Yaw, the Lycoming County solicitor, basically ran away with it. He had almost as many votes as Cappelli and the third Republican, Doug McLinko, combined. HERE is the county-by-county breakdown. At least McLinko carried his home county of Bradford. Cappelli, on the other hand, finished second in his home county of Lycoming and finished third everywhere else. Wow!
I'm not an expert in Central PA politics by any means, but I have to wonder what happened here. As far as I could tell, Yaw was the only candidate in the race who did any kind of TV advertising. About a week or so before the election, he came out with a commercial that went negative on his opponents while going positive on his own behalf. I don't know what he or the other candidates might have done on radio, newspaper, or billboard. If Cappelli made any effort to get name recognition or support outside Lycoming County, it certainly wasn't effective. Why not? If he didn't make much of an effort, why not?
Inquiring minds ... have until October to think about these things. Then, it's time to gear up for November.
Bravenet Blog 
Blog Community
Get a Free Blog
Manage your Blog
bravenet.com