Friday, August 31, 2007

500th post - Short Attention Span Musing

I had planned to do a significant post in commemoration of my 500th post here, full of wry observations and profound witticisms.

However, it's been a long week, so a normal post will have to do. :))


...Now that Rick Renzi has made his departure official, the race for the Republican nomination can officially start.

Sydney Hay, president of the Arizona Mining Association, threw her hat in the ring this week.

According to her AZGOP press release, she will be campaigning on a platform of lower taxes, privatized education and other public services, Republican ethics, and, of course, 'change.'

I have a suggestion for a campaign plank - "CD1 needs a representative who isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary of an out-of-state corporation! In-state corporations need sweetheart no-bid contracts too!"

Among the recipients of her personal campaign contributions, according to the FEC - Sen. Lindsay Graham, Rep. Mike Pence, Rep. Jeff Flake, and herself (she ran in CD1 in 2002.)

...In a development that only reinforced the point made in the first Random Musings post - perhaps the ethnicity of the targeted groups has changed, as well as general language usage, but otherwise, nothing substantial has changed regarding anti-immigrant fervor in the United States.

In Texas, a native-born citizen of Hispanic ancestry was arrested, jailed, and nearly deported because she has the same name as someone who has been deported in the past.

From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram -
Texan is jailed as illegal immigrant

A native Texan spent the night in the Arlington Jail, missed her children's first day of school and feared being deported after authorities mistook her for an illegal immigrant.

Alicia Rodriguez, an accountant and mother of three, has the same name and date of birth as a woman deported to Mexico three times.

{snip}

Gilfour said police overlooked fingerprints that would have shown Rodriguez was not the illegal immigrant.

Rodriguez said she does not plan to sue, but apologies do not make up for what she was put through.

"I think it's ridiculous. I think it was obvious that I wasn't an illegal immigrant," she said.

Thanks to jobsanger in Texas for the heads-up on this. He summed it up pretty well in his post when he wrote -
This could have easily been avoided if they had just checked her fingerprints against the known prints of the woman they had her confused with. But they didn't -- they already had their minds made up and didn't want to be confused with facts. After all, she was Hispanic.


...Not that I was ever a fan, but Vince Gill's career fade is painful to watch for anybody who likes any kind of music.

Now he's reduced to doing ads where his backing band is the Fruit of the Loom guys! YouTube video here.

What's next? An off-the-Strip gig in a Vegas dive bar? Hell, working as a judge on a reality show has more dignity than jamming with the Fruit of the Loom guys.

...On the other hand, at least *he's* the one destroying his own legacy; Elvis Presley is probably auditioning for the next "Night of the Living Dead" remake, just for the chance to get his hands on whoever from his estate licensed "Viva Las Vegas" to the makers of Viagra.

The spot, with a bunch of guys in an old barn (or something similar) singing "Viva Viagra" is possibly the creepiest use of a catchy tune. Ever.

That's not the worst of it, either - I can't think about the lyrics to Viva Las Vegas without changing "Las Vegas" to "Viagra."

That may make some marketing exec jump for joy, but the song is just ruined.

YouTube video of the spot here.

...While the story of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) attempt to pick up an undercover police officer in a public restroom is tabloid tawdry, and watching the strident gay-basher try to spin his hypocrisy is seriously entertaining (in a 'watching an impending train wreck' sort of way), the real fun has been watching the Republicans turn on one of their own.

However, does anybody think that if he was caught with trying to pick up a woman, that this story would have lasted more than 5 minutes in the media, or generated more than a wink and a nudge from his Republican colleagues?

Anybody?

One bright spot in all this? Soon-to-be-ex-Senator Craig's press conference to deny that he is gay (YouTube video here) has totally trounced the infamous meltdown by Miss Teen USA-South Carolina as the "worst recorded public appearance of the week." (YouTube vid of that here.)

...And in the "I suppose I should be flattered at the attention" Department -

Somebody at the ultra-conservative Goldwater Institute spent two hours at this blog on Friday.

Host Name mx.goldwaterinstitute.org
IP Address 68.110.172.111 [Label IP Address]
Country United States
Region Arizona
City Phoenix
ISP Cox Communications
Returning Visits 0
Visit Length 2 hours 8 mins 48 secs

There's no guarantee that whoever it was spent two entire hours reading this blog, but the visit was definitely more than a drive-by.

...It's time for me to burn my "Yankees Suck" t-shirt.

I wore it at the beginning of a 5 game series between the Sox and Yanks in NYC last August, and the Red Sox were swept.

Then I wore it at the beginning of this week's three game set, also in NYC. The Sox were swept again.

IT'S THE SHIRT'S FAULT!! IT MUST MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!!

:))

...Time for bed...later!

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