Quote of the Night; September 9th, 2008

Mucho props to Hillary Clinton for this little gem, about the upcoming election:

Clinton said the nation should be proud that the Republicans have a woman on the ticket, but argued that returning Republicans to the White House “is like asking the iceberg to save the Titanic.”

I hope this is only the beginning from Senator Clinton.

Mike McMahon vs. Manhattan Resident Bob Straniere in the November Election

U.S. House – District 13 – GOP Primary

New York – 498 of 523 Precincts Reporting – 95%

Name Party Votes Vote % Straniere , Robert GOP 3,490 59%   Wyne , Jamshad GOP 2,404 41%

 

U.S. House – District 13 – Dem Primary

New York – 498 of 523 Precincts Reporting – 95%

Name Party Votes Vote % McMahon , Michael Dem 10,437 74%   Harrison , Stephen Dem 3,663 26%

With 95% of the precincts reporting it looks like we will have North Shore City Councilman Michael McMahon taking on former South Shore Assemblyman and Manhattan Resident Bob Straniere in our general election.  SILIVE.com and NY1 have declared them both the winners of the democratic and republican nominee.

McCain: Unequal Pay for Equal Work!

Or, McCain’s feminism credentials. The whole story is a great piece about a woman completely screwed by Bush’s Supremes for the sake of a cold formalism too prevalent among the current group. Anyway, here is a little rundown of McCain’s strident support of women’s rights:

Ledbetter was out of luck. But the Court did leave open a possibility for others like her: if Congress wanted a more realistic time frame for lawsuits, all it had to do was change the law. And so, acting with surprising dispatch, that’s precisely what Congress tried to do. Last year, the House passed a bill, named after Ledbetter, that essentially did away with the statute of limitations on pay discrimination, and the Senate was set to do the same until Republicans filibustered it to death.

Protecting workers from discrimination is a fairly uncontroversial idea. So opponents of the bill, who include John McCain, insisted that, while they’re in favor of equal pay, the new law would unleash a flood of frivolous litigation. That’s a familiar excuse, and in this case a threadbare one. There would likely be more lawsuits if the bill was passed—the point, after all, was to allow more people to sue—but there was no reason to expect a deluge, since, before the Court’s decision, it’s probable that most potential litigants had assumed a less stringent interpretation of the time limit anyway. And giving workers more time to sue makes sense, because pay discrimination usually takes a while to become evident, and, insofar as raises and bonuses are based on initial salaries, its effects never go away.

Read the whole article. Its short but explains some of the quote that may be hard to decipher.

Double-decker bus could roll on Staten Island

by Staten Island Advance 

Monday September 08, 2008, 5:19 PM

New York City TransitThe new double-decker bus dwarfs a regular express bus.

It’s big, it’s blue, and it only takes a MetroCard swipe to take a ride.

The MTA and New York City Transit unveiled a new 81-seat double-decker bus today, as part of a pilot program to determine if the behemoths could once again resume passenger service along some of the city’s public bus routes.

The month-long test, which is set to begin Thursday, will determine whether the new buses are tough enough to handle the rigors — and potholes — of New York City streets.

The agency has not yet finalized its test routes, though they are expected to include one between Manhattan and Yonkers, local routes in Manhattan, and possibly an express to Staten Island route. Among the issues to be hammered out are the heights of bridges along certain routes, and tree pruning that may be necessary before the bus can hit particular streets.

Tourists still ride in double-decker buses throughout Manhattan and other boroughs, as part of privately operated sightseeing tours.

The last time double-deckers were used on public routes was 1953, when the last bus from the Fifth Avenue Coach Company stopped running along its Manhattan route.

“An iconic transportation option in London, as it once was here in New York City, double-deckers have built-in advantages over other bus models,” said Transit President Howard H. Roberts, Jr. The double-deckers also have several advantages over articulated “accordion” buses, with room for about 20 more seated passengers, less room taken up on the street, and they’re easier to maintain without the complex “turntable” mechanism that allows the accordions to swivel.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/doubledecker_bus_gets_ready_to.html

Quote of the Day; September 9th, 2008

Bob Herbert has an excellent piece in the Times today about how liberals need to defend themselves and stop cowering under the brow-beating we receive at the hands of conservatives who fail to appreciate the historical and contemporary importance of the liberal movement. Anyway, I highly recommend reading the whole article, but I also want to point out this little zinger, aimed at the least capable of all the Supreme Court justices:

Self-hatred is a terrible thing. Just ask that arch-conservative Clarence Thomas.

Zing.

Public Service Announcement from PSAP

Everyone just a friendly reminder that today Septemper 9, 2008 is the New York State Primary Day.  If you are a registered member of the Republican, Democratic, or any other major political party please do not forget to get out and vote for who you would best feel represent your party in the November election.

Thank you all,
P.S.A.P.

Letterman’s Top 10 from 9/8/08

Last night’s “Top Ten” list was “Top Ten Signs You’re Talking to a Fake Kim Jong-Il” CBS’ Letterman: “A Japanese expert on North Korea claims Kim Jong-Il has been dead for five years and a body double has been standing in” (“Late Show,” CBS, 9/8).

10)  “Doesn’t smile when you mention torturing dissidents.”

9)  “He’s 6′5”, 250 pounds.”

8)  “Introduces himself by saying, ‘Hi, I’m Gary — uh, crap, I mean Kim Jong-Il.

7) “He seems Kimmy and Jongy, but not quite Illy.”

6)  “Your wife recognizes him as the Kim Jong-Il look-alike who stripped at her bachelorette party.”

5)  “Keeps using the phrase, ‘Chillax, bro.’”

4)  “He pays for drinks — honestly, folks, when’s the last time that man picked up a check?”

3)  “Won’t shut up about the new ‘90210.’”

2)  “He’s only half insane.”

1)  “Keeps referring to himself as ‘just a hockey mom.’”