May 08, 2008
Clinton rejects latest Michigan Delegate Plan
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday rejected a compromise plan to seat Michigan's delegates to the national convention that would give 69 delegates to Clinton and 59 to Barack Obama.
"This proposal does not honor the 600,000 votes that were cast in Michigan's January primary. Those votes must be counted," Clinton spokesman Isaac Baker said.
The Michigan Democratic Party had approved the plan and intended to submit it to the Democratic National Committee meeting on May 31. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said in a statement that the plan was a "good step toward a solution that unites Democrats and ensures that our state will not face a McCain presidency."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had stripped Michigan of its delegation to the Democratic National Convention because the state party scheduled its Jan. 15 primary in violation of national party rules. Several plans have been proposed to find a way to seat Michigan's delegation.
Clinton's campaign has maintained that the delegation should be allocated according to the vote in the Jan. 15 primary (73/55) but Obama's campaign had argued the delegation should be split between the two candidates (64/64) because he was not on the ballot. Clinton won that contest with 55 percent of the vote but most of the other major party candidates, including Obama, had removed their names from the ballot because the state violated national party rules.
Since any plan must be approved by all the players -- the state and national parties and both candidates -- it is unclear what will happen now.
* * * * * * * * * * *
This goes to show that the Clinton campaign is desperate. They do not really care about voters being disenfranchised. All they care about are the original results giving Clinton the win. She got 55 percent, but since she was the only candidate left on the state ballot, her supporters are demanding that she should get all the Michigan delegates.
What a pity.
May 07, 2008
School District accuses teacher of wizardry
A substitute teacher in the Pasco County school district was dismissed from his position from Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes for wizardy.
Apparently, he did a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears and reappears.
When the local news crew asked the school for a further explanation, the district also alleged that the teacher had performance issues, including "not following lesson plans" and allowing students to play on unapproved computers.
Of course, these additional reasons were not known to the teacher.
I bet they did not wanted to be embarassed for firing a person because of a simple magic trick.
I guess I can cross off Land 'O Lakes as a place to live in.
Greek Disgrace at San Diego State
A model student who was recently praised in a university publication was found out to be an alleged drug dealer. Another was just a month away from earning a master's degree in homeland security and had worked with the campus police as a security officer. A third was also close to receiving his criminal justice degree.
In total, 96 young men -- including 75 students and the three I have stated above -- were arrested on a variety of drug charges as a result of Operation Sudden Fall, which infilitrated seven fraternities on Fraternity Row and Fraternity Circle at San Diego State University.
Law enforcement agents seized two kilograms of cocaine, 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hashish oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns, and at least $60,000 in cash.
Several members of the Theta Chi, Phi Kappa Psi, and Delta Sigma Pi fraternities were arrested.
San Diego State announced that six fraternities have been suspended -- Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Theta Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Alpha Mu -- pending a hearing into their involvement in the drug dealing.
The raid occurred when a prominent drug dealer on campus announced a fire sale on cocaine in the coming days in a mass text message which was intercepted by the authorities.
The member sent out a mass text message to his "faithful customers" stating that he and his "associates" would be unable to sell cocaine while they were in Las Vegas for a fraternity formal, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The text promoted a cocaine "sale" and listed the reduced prices on bulk quantities.
"Attn faithful customers both myself and my associates will be in Vegas this coming weekend," the 19-year-old student wrote in the text message, according to the DEA. "So stock up, we will be back Sunday night."
Idiot.
Also, another sad thing is when one of the individuals was arrested, he inquired whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on his becoming a federal law enforcement officer.
Duh! It would be very obvious that the individual would end up in prison for a long time and have no chance of even joining ANY law enforcement agency.
* * * * *
For any SDSU Greek student found to be involved with drug dealing and all of that should be stripped of their membership in their respective fraternity. For the chapters that were involved, their status would require a thorough investigation. Suspension or loss of charter may be the likely result.
Of course, the actions of these people do not represent the image of fraternities nationwide. I am sure all of us condemn their actions and their Greek involvement should be severed as quickly as possible if they are found guilty.
May 06, 2008
Clinton / McCain: Drop the Federal Gas Tax Holiday Scheme
Stop this gas tax relief scheme! Both Senator Hillary Clinton and John McCain are offering motorists a federal "gasoline tax holiday."
The tax they are referring to is the 18.4 cents per gallon levied by the federal government as well as the 24.4 cents per gallon tax on diesel. McCain suggested the idea on April 15, and Clinton made a similar proposal on April 25.
The Clinton campaign claimed that the proposal, to last between Memorial Day and Labor Day, would save each driver $70. Of course, they could not explain how they came to that amount.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation estimates that the total savings for the average American motorist works out to about $28; for a two-car household, $54.
But it is based on the assumption that gas prices would immediately drop by 18.4 cents. It is very likely that the price you will pay at the pump WILL NOT CHANGE! Even if you cut the price by that amount, it will stimulate demand for more gas, and eventually, that price discount would quickly disappear and we would revert to the normal supply and demand pressures.
Besides, the period they are suggesting for the holiday is during the summer where most motorists will be driving the most. Given the full capacity of our refineries converting a barrel of crude oil into gasoline, gas prices will still continue to go up.
Most economists agree that the federal gas tax scheme will not help gas prices. The Clinton campaign cannot even produce an economist who would agree with their plan.
Also, remember where that 18.4 cent per gallon tax is going to. It is being deposited directly into the Highway Trust Fund, which is used to pay for upgrades to roads and bridges. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that the 3-month gas tax cut holiday could cost as much as $8.5 billion dollars.
Would you want the Highway Trust Fund lose $8.5 billion of needed funds to keep our bridges and roads intact and kept safe for all American motorists? Of course not.
The Clinton and McCain campaigns fail to disclose this fact.
Drop the scheme and focus on something more meaningful to the voters.
URL: factcheck.org
April 25, 2008
Another reason to avoid Scientology
ABCNEWS - Ex-Scientology Kids Share Their Stories
Former Scientologists, Including Church Leader's Niece, Share Stories With 'Nightline'
* * * * *
Honestly, thank god we haven't see Scientology clubs popping among college campuses. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with that while I was VP of Finance in USG.
April 23, 2008
Proud to be a Phikap during Greek Week
In the past, Phikaps are known to have caused the judges at Greek Week to issue or modify rules based on what they did for banner or any part of the GW competition. It would seem we certainly do love to push the envelope, and unfortunately, it deprives the rest of the fraternities and sororities from enjoying the fun.
I guess it probably started way back when I was a senior in 2000. Our banner was the saloon, and it took weeks to build, and we really believed that it was a sure-win at the banner competition. Instead, our saloon was disqualified!!!
The reason: When the judges were reviewing the saloon, they noted that two of our brothers who were standing on top of it were considered part of the banner. Therefore, they judged that the banner exceeded the maximum height of the structure as defined by the competition rules.
Who would have thought that if a person that was standing on the saloon, it would have exceeded the 12-foot restriction? Sure, if it was known ahead of time, no one would have been standing on top of it. I considered it a poor decision choice from the judges. I also considered the rule saying that anything touching the banner be included in the measurements not in the best traditions of the Greek Week banner event competition. My personal opinion, of course, and I am sure those past GW judges thought the same way after it was said and done.
The banner disqualification was a turning point in how we performed during the rest of Greek Week 2000. We thought about pulling out of the competition. Some thought we were cheated. Others thought it was all a plan to get us kicked out of the event. Certainly, a lot of other chapters expressed disappointment about our saloon getting DQ'ed.
Instead, we decided to fight back with the best Greek spirit ever seen. We showed up in numbers at all the events, cheering on our fellow brothers as well as other chapters. At the end of Rope Pull, we got the Greek Spirit trophy. At the end of that year, our chapter got the Agnar Pytte Cup. At our National Convention that year, we got the Founders' Cup.
It was one of the proudest years I had while I was a Phikap.
* * * * * * * *
In keeping up the spirit of being a Phikap, the guys made t-shirts for this year's theme: The Legend Continues...
It is without doubt that Greek Week themes in the past have been dumb, corny, and a bit stupid. Honestly, we should do away with these themes.
The Front:
The Back:
Red Sox Fan catches foul ball, then later drops it
Ahh, priceless!
Go Yankees! =)