illusionofjoy's blog

Ashley F. Miller has eloquently pointed out why one should not vote for Ron Paul. She gets bonus points from me for not shilling for Obama in the process. Here are some snippets deconstructing the myth of the libertarian hero, exposing him as a dangerous hypocrite:

Ron Paul is Anti-Free Market

So, bureaucracy is good when it keeps the brown people out? Taxing the insanely rich is slavery! Letting foreign people work in America should be illegal!

Read below the fold...

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

BNY Mellon gave Occupy Pittsburgh campers notice Friday night that they must remove their tents, other structures and personal items from Mellon Green, Downtown, by noon Sunday.

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One of the Google Alerts I have set up is for the term "state primary elections." At regular intervals, Google sends me a set of links - usually to news items - relating to my chosen query. To be expected, as of late this has led to a bunch of useless muck regarding the circus known as the Republican primary. However, digging through enough dirt occasionally yields an interesting nugget. Read below the fold...

Of the many reforms I wish to see in the way elections are handled in the United States, one of the more important ones is assigning electoral college votes for Presidential elections as a percentage of the popular vote. In every state save Nebraska and Maine, Electoral Votes are assigned on a "winner take all" basis: whichever candidate receives more than 50% of the popular vote in the state receives all of the electoral college votes. Read below the fold...

Mary Isenhour of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party sent me (and everyone else on the mailing list) this message this afternoon:

Dear Seth,

Stunned – just stunned. That’s what I was when I heard Joe Sestak on CNN yesterday morning refuse to commit to supporting whoever the Democratic nominee is against Pat Toomey in November.

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I got an email from the Obama administration reminding me to contact my representative regarding the health care reform bill. So, I wrote a letter:

I had attempted to call your office, however your phone line is busy. I have recently moved to the 14th District, thus inheriting you as a representative.

Read below the fold...

From 5:00 to 6:00 this evening, Congressman Joe Sestak "live blogged" on Senate Guru, answering questions posted by users there. I decided to inject a question about HR 676 and the Kucinich Amendment to HR 3200 into the mix. One can read all of the comments and Sestak's replies here. Read below the fold...

For those Democrats in Pennsylvania's 18^th Congressional District who are like me, and wish to help achieve a veto-proof majority in Congress, please consider attending this instead of the Obama rally at Mellon arena: Read below the fold...

I generally like to sleep in on weekends. However, Friday night I left my alarm set to go off at its usual time in order to attend the 2008 Democratic Platform Committee Meeting, as it was being held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. On the morning of Saturday, August 9^th, my alarm clock began screeching as it usually does only on weekdays and I dragged my beleaguered carcass out of bed, made a pot of coffee and took a shower before heading out to catch a trolley headed downtown. Read below the fold...