Drinking Liberally®

I don't have any plans tonight for Halloween - no parties and not many kids stop by my place anyway - so I'll be at Players Retreat tonight. If you're not busy, come out and join me for a pint!

Happy Halloween!

Posted by wdpankow at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

There's only a week left in the election. If you're having difficulty finding the time to volunteer with a campaign or party, MoveOn.org has a great effort going called 'Call For Change'. It's easy, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home!

http://pol.moveon.org/phone/volunteer/c4c.html

"Our online system makes it easy! You'll get phone numbers, a script, a way to instantly report what happens plus you'll get to practice first. And you can call from home, whenever it fits your schedule, and at neighborhood calling parties."

Posted by wdpankow at 03:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Ask the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Their site has ratings for all members of Congress, based on votes cast on any legislation affecting the troops: http://www.iavaaction.org/ . Check it out and share with all of your deluded Republican friends! Here are the grades for North Carolina Congress members:

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-1): A+
Rep. David E. Price (D-NC-4): A
Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC-2): A
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC-7): A-
Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC-13): A-
Rep. Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC-3): B-
Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-NC-12): C+
Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC-6): C
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC-8): C
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC-9): C
Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-NC-11): C
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5): D
Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC): D-
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC): F
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10): F

Average grade: Democrats: A- ; Republicans: D+ (assuming Burr & McHenry score high Fs). No surprise the Repubs care so little about the troops. Nice to hear it from the veterans themselves.

Posted by wdpankow at 02:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

This information may be 10 years old, but Steve Kangas' Liberalism Resurgent page is just a useful and relevant today as ever: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/tenets.htm

The Long and Short FAQs on Liberalism are good places to start. It's hard to believe there was already so much good information on the "Internets" a decade ago.

Posted by wdpankow at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

...and I'll drink liberally if I want to.

See y'all down at the PR @ 6:00.

Posted by wdpankow at 05:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Vernon Robinson is going up against incumbant Democrat Brad Miller for the NC-13 House seat. Robinson is the one with the yard signs that say "Secure the Border." The message always makes me think, "what's so bad about Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina?"

While the pollsters don't give him much of a chance of winning, he has managed to raise more money than Miller through conservative crazy-talk. A Salon.com story compares Robinson's campaign and fundraising tactics similar to those of Howard Dean. I thought the article was interesting, so I'm posting the link.

Posted by amyover at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Congressman Gerry Studds passed away this weekend. I'm willing to bet that 99% of the folks reading this article have no idea who he was. Most notable he was the first openly gay congressman, he was the Democrat that the Republicans are using in their page scandal rebuttals from 1983 - a gay congressman from Massachusetts who was having a consensual relationship with a page (as opposed to a gay republican pedophile).

Thanks to Massachusetts not being the backwater that almost every other state is, Gerry was able to marry his partner of 15 years in 2004, and his partner was referred to by the Boston Globe as what he legally was - his husband. Nice to see that in print.

No thanks to the Federal Government, however. Under the rules of the Defense of Marriage Act, Gerry's husband, Dean Hara, can't collect his pension as Gerry's widower.

It's things like this that show the true inequality of gay couples. Your church can rant & rave all it wants about what is construed as marriage in its eyes; gay couples want the legal benefits that are associated with it that have no bearing on what a church thinks. Whenever a majority of people "get" that, maybe we'll have some equality.

Posted by carden at 09:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Link to article

A federal court ruled that Ken Lay (of the Enron scandal) gets to have his slate wiped clean after his death in July. This is a man who was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and lying to banks, and who cost countless people their retirement. And due to a loophole, since he died while appealing his case, his lawyers argued that he hadn't fully pled his account and that the government couldn't hold his estate accountable for the $43.5 million it was seeking.

I might could follow that logic if he had died during the initial trial. But for a man who was 99.9999% certainty was guilty as sin, that's almost like getting a presidential pardon. Shame W won't have to go on record giving it.

Posted by carden at 09:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

I got a message from Bill stating he will not be able to attend DL on Tuesday. He has prior commitments in another city (DC, I believe). I will have a copy of his book with me if you care to browse thru it.

Posted by wdpankow at 12:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

This pop-up almost made me spray coffee all over my computper.

Posted by carden at 09:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

..that the administration loves to spin, check out the difference in these two versions of an AP article today on the North Korean nuclear test.

Article #1:

Article #2:

Now, I can understand revising an entry, but revising it to say something absolutely completely opposite?

Update: on reading through this several times, it would appear the second article is revised to include a test on Wednesday that was "positive".

Posted by carden at 12:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis is in town this weekend, on tour for his new book 'Wait! Don't Move to Canada: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America'. He has stops at two of the best triangle book stores:

Friday, October 13 @ 7:00pm - Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27607, 919-828-1588 / 800-672-6789

Saturday, October 14 @ 7:00pm - The Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth Street, Durham, NC 27705, 919-286-2700

I plan to attend the event tonight at Quail Ridge Books & Music. I have been chatting with Bill and he expressed interest in attending Drinking Liberally on Tuesday if he's still in town. If you can't catch him at either book event, perhaps you can meet him at Player's Retreat then. I'll post an update when I know his plans.

Posted by wdpankow at 12:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

As I was watching the Daily Show last night, one commercial break caught my attention- more for its stupidity than anything else: Net Neutrality Mumbo Jumbo

So assuming that you've clicked the link & watched, let me point out where this commercial is completely and totally wrong.

Continue reading "Net Neutrality debate coming back?"

Posted by carden at 03:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Just a reminder that if you've recently moved and plan to vote in the
November elections, the deadline to register in NC is this FRIDAY.

http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/pdf/form06.pdf#search=%22%22voter%20registration%20form%22%20NC%22
for the form to download and mail in.

http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/votersearch/seimsvot.htm
to check your registration.

Posted by carden at 12:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I spoke to a PR rep with the agency distributing these passes. They do give out more passes than theater capacity, so everyone is encouraged to get there early if they want to get in. It was suggested to me that 6:30pm would be a good time to arrive at the theater for this 7:30pm screening. It seems the passes are free but actual seating is first-come, first-served.

FWIW, I will still be hanging out at Chili's handing out passes. I now plan to leave at 7:00pm to try and get in to the movie. If not, I guess I will head back to Chili's and start a new tab. Good luck to us all!

BTW, they also sent me a stack of promotional movie posters, free to everyone.

Posted by wdpankow at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I saw "Iraq for Sale" at NCSU last night. The movie is about the private contract firms in Iraq (Blackwater, CACI, Titan, KBR/Halliburton) and how they're ripping off American taxpayers and putting their own employees in harm's way. It's by the same guy who did "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." I didn't learn a lot of new concepts. I mean, who doesn't know that the Bush Administration and these big firms are in bed together, and that strategic campaign contributions can go a long way? But I did pick up some new facts, and the movie tied together a lot of the news stories that have trickled out over the past few years. There were no attempts to explain the "other side" or make the contracting firms and their Republicans pawns look like anything other than Satan's spawn. I think this is how Democrats hope to energize the base, so to speak.

The movie featured many salt-of-the-earth types who were former private contractors or military. The personal stories helped drive home the "we, the American taxpayers, are getting screwed" point. For example, one soldier complained about how his clothes were still dirty & smelly even though Halliburton charges taxpayers $99 to wash a bag of laundry. A truck driver for KBR said that he would drive an empty truck up and down the highways of Iraq, and if the $80,000 truck got a flat tire, he would be instructed to burn the entire vehicle. That's because the more money companies spend in Iraq, the more profit they make - a concept known as "cost plus."

To paraphrase a key message Jason got out of the movie, when you send a company into war, the prime objective is to make money, not to save lives, spread democracy, or improve local conditions.

Posted by amyover at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I will be at the Chili's @ Brier Creek shopping center with 20 (2-person) movie passes to the 7:30 special screening of 'Man Of The Year'. First come, first claim on the passes. Remember, they are for 2 people each, so there's plenty available. DL starts at 6:00pm, so that is when I will set up shop in the bar, having a cold one. Here are the details:

'Man Of The Year' - 7:30pm special advance screening
Regal Briar Creek Stadium 14
8611 Brier Creek
Raleigh, NC 27617
919-484-9994

Chili's Grill & Bar - 6:00pm in the bar for tickets
8341 Brier Creek Pkwy
Raleigh, NC 27617-7303
(919) 405-7100

See you @ Chili's!

Posted by wdpankow at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

So I've seen just about enough of Vernon Robinson's ads about jobs in America. Aside from being total distortions of truth, there's a symantical point I want to make.

Outsourcing is NOT the same thing as Offshoring.

Outsourcing has been around for years. Companies would outsource those portions of their business that weren't directly tied to it - like a manufacturing company outsourcing its computer support, or a hospital outsourcing their laundry services. Outsourcing is not inherently bad, or something to complain about.

Continue reading "On Outsourcing"

Posted by carden at 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

While Foley's sex scandal seems to still be the hot button on the news, North Korea would appear to be further on its way to creating a nuclear weapon. This administration appears to think that diplomacy is something that should occur between world powers that "like" each other, or "behave". At some point, let's hope either they or their replacements realize that diplomacy is supposed to be used to STOP insane things like this from occuring in the first place.

Saddam may not have been a nice person, but he at least was arguably still sane. Kim Jong Il, on the other hand, is about 12 eggs short of a dozen.

Posted by carden at 05:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Elizabeth Edwards is currently promoting her book Saving Graces. She will be at Quail Ridge Books on Monday for a reading and book signing.

Quail Ridge Books & Music
3522 Wade Ave
Raleigh, North Carolina
Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.

Thanks go to Coturnix for the information.

Publisher's link.

Amazon link.

Posted by michael at 05:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I have 20 2-person movie passes to a special advance screening of 'Man Of The Year' that will take place at Regal Brier Creek on Tuesday, October 10th, at 7:30 pm. They were provided by a Universal Pictures representative, working with the Drinking Liberally national crew.

Since this falls on a Tuesday, I will have to work out the logistics after speaking with Dave. I am planning on going to the movie and would like to give these passes out to anyone who wants them. More later in our weekly email message and right here.

Posted by wdpankow at 02:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

It now comes out that while Congress was voting on HR 1559, for Emergency War Time supplemental appropriations, he left to go have cybersex with one of the pages through IM.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/new_foley_insta.html

Everyone up there who had any inkling that something was going on needs to be thrown out.

And in case you missed John Stewart last night:

Posted by carden at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A DL Blog!. ...

Now for the Trivia Question:

How many Friedman's before we bomb Iran? Due to the up-coming election you may give your answer in decimal/fractional Friedmans... Please show your work.

Oh, and while you're hoisting a cold one tonight, have a glass or two for poor Mark Foley, spending an alcohol and page-free night in Rehab. Why is it that republicans always seem to go to Alcohol Rehab when they get busted? For anything?

Just askin'...

Posted by shawn at 03:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

There are now 3 local screenings of Iraq For Sale, the new documentary by Robert Greenwald (of 'Outfoxed' fame). Go to the site and click on the location to see more information and reserve seats. Here are some details:

Oct 08 Sun - Chapel Hill, NC - The Charles M. Jones Peace & Justice Committee of the Community Church of Chapel Hill UU - Chapel Hill Public Library - 67 of 85 seats still available
Oct 09 Mon - Raleigh, NC - Wake County Progressive Democrates and NCSU College Democrats - Caldwell Hall (NCSU) - 47 of 50 seats available
Oct 10 Tue - Raleigh, NC - Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance - Kresge Auditorium (Meredith) - 13 of 65 seats available

Posted by wdpankow at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)