Now, eat it.
I have the 200th blog post. You guys are sure full of it today. I mean, politics, race relations, Paris Hilton (not) Naked. Come on. Come on. Anyway, academic disaster averted. Hooray for that. I talked to proff today and we worked out a plan that will le me go to school next year and still be done with this horrible MA this time next year. Here's to small miracles.

Also, am now finished with my training classes at RR. Can start making dough of my own. That is good, though am small problem having...have to scrounge up 6$ for my little waiter apron by tom.'s shift. What to do...maybe rich uncle pennybags (Joe) can loan it to me. Anyway...

Draper

waste of space
hahahahaha!

And just how much are those "Believe" posters?

"The city has the right to buy from whomever they want to buy from and at whatever price they want to buy from. That keeps it equal for minorities," said Sharon Bradford, president of B&B.

I don't even know what this means. Is she suggesting that the city has the right (or even responsibility?) to overpay for goods in order to help out a specific minority group? That is such a wrong-headed approach to public policy, I don't even know where to begin. A local government's primary responsibility is 1) Protect its citizens. Baltimore, though improving, does not have a good track record with this. Having been unable to master the first goal of government, they've moved on to other things. Like social engineering, with the taxpayers footing the bill.

This brings me to what I see as the second function of local government: be efficient and cost-effective. Granted, governments require taxes in order to pay for the services that most of us take advantage of, but to be so flagrant in your disregard for the taxpayers is really something. I even understand the desire to help boost minority-owned buisness. But at what cost?

When O'Malley, whom I generally like, and other city officials talk about the "Believe" program they are referring primarily to the city's drug problem. But I think it's these kinds of light-bulb incidents that prevent taxpaying Baltimoreans from being able to believe in the city, or government in general for that matter. To me this whole fiasco really sheds light on why people have been drifting toward the Republican party over the last few years. It is government's inability to gain the trust of taxpayers, highlighted by this example, that makes the Democrats (the party of government) seem so out of touch and risky. When politics comes down to who you trust with your money, the Democrats lose every time.

Tony

Welcome To Johannesburg
I love it when any white person expressing an opinion on racial matters is slapped down with the trump card of interracial discourse: "How do you know, you've never been discriminated against?"

Well, that might be true in Vermont, but not here in Charm City. Here's a story from the local fishwrap about how it pays to be in the majority.

It's a little tale about how the city government overpaid for lightbulbs by $40,000 in order to award a contract to a minority business. Isn't this city broke? Here's an entertaining (if you don't pay taxes here) nugget:

Last March, the Baltimore Convention Center bought 240 300-watt incandescent lamps from B&B at $7.45 per bulb, for a total of $1,788. Under the city contract, C.N. Robinson's price was 88 cents each - $211.20 for 240.

Ah, the 65% minority. And why can't I get hired by the city?

Marc

Don't Let The Door Hit Ya Where The Good Lord Split Ya
Gregg Easterbrook, in his non-football persona at The New Republic, calls for John Edwards to quit the race. I predict calls for Edwards to quit will become a chorus if it looks like Wesley Clark had a chance to become the Anybody But Dean candidate. Edwards' departure would greatly help Clark in the South, and Edwards can probably be bought off with a promise of the VP slot.

Marc

W3J Readership Growing Exponentially!
Ken Shepherd, of Maryland Student Legislature fame, is a sometime reader of our blog, according to Liz. She talked to him at an MSL Alumni meeting last night. Welcome aboard, Ken!

Marc

OK, Maybe Getting Rid Of Cable Was A Bad Idea
Lingerie Bowl 2004 will be airing on PPV during halftime of this season's Super Bowl. Coaching the opposing panty-clad squads will be Jim McMahon and Lawrence Taylor. Take it from my man LT:

"This will revolutionize the way the Super Bowl will be viewed", Taylor said. "Who would not want to watch attractive women playing tackle football in lingerie?"

Marc

Angry Talk Express, Burlington Cannonball, MapleMobile
Whatever you want to call it, Howard Dean has pulled away from the field in the Democratic primaries. Two numbers of interest from Zogby:

Dean Stretches Lead Over Kerry in New Hampshire Primary to 42% - 12%
Dean Regains Slight Iowa Lead in Neck and Neck Race With Gephardt, 26% - 22%

The Iowa lead seems slight, until you consider (as this post on PoliPundit does) that Dean is not restricted by the public financing spending limits that Gephardt is, and that the Dean campaign is going to put 5,000 people on the ground in Iowa, or one Dean worker for every 20 Iowa caucusgoers.

Couple these political facts with the free ride Dean is getting in the media (see this Hardball transcript where Dean refers several times to the 'Soviet Union' - a Quayle moment if ever there was one) - and Dean is unbeatable. The other campaigns are latching on to a post-New Hampshire strategy out of desparation, but it ain't happening.

The seven February 3 primaries are: Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. This AP story reports:

The former Vermont governor has run TV ads in four of the states, more than any other candidate.

According to a survey conducted by The Associated Press, Dean has more paid staff than his rivals in Arizona (11), New Mexico (nine) and Oklahoma (seven). He and Gephardt have three in North Dakota.

Don't forget about Dean's internet organization and again, the lack of spending limits.

Game over, man, game over.

Marc

He makes more sense than any of 'em.

Tony

Really?
Some 13 million viewers tuned in last night to the debut of "The Simple Life," starring hotel heiress and star of a recently released sex tape Paris Hilton and her pal (and Lionel Ritchie daughter) Nicole Ritchie. More people watched the first episode of this show than watched the first episode of this year's The Bachelor and Average Joe, by a combined total of 2.5 million people. I know it's only television, but that's alot of people who want to watch sexy dames live like poor peoople. I guess people's interests were piqued because of the whole sex tape thing. Just when I thought so-called reality televison was hitting the skids, this is bad news.

Not to be outdone, NBC will be bringing a new reality series in I think January where people will compete to win a six figure job from Donald Trump. There's nothing I'd rather watch more than uber-ambitious preppies fighting for fame and fortune at the feet of The Donald. Okay, maybe the Paris Hilton sex tape.

Tony

Sveiks!
Hey Draper, you know that car in your alley with the bumper sticker that says 'SVEIKS!'? Well, thanks to the magic of Google, I found out what it meant. It means 'welcome' in Latvian. So know we know - and knowing is half the battle.

Marc

Evers Burns In Mobtown
Hey, the guy who runs the Terrapins stats site emailed me to say that Evers Burns coaches basketball at Howard County Community College.

That means that Evers himself will be in town December 17th, coaching the HCCC Dragons against Baltimore City Community College. Who's going with me? I want to get something autographed!

Marc

I would have expected more from South Africa
Tiger Woods is very angry over the details of his engagement having been leaked by the owner of the South African game preserve where Tiger vacationed after the President's Cup in South Africa. I understand he wants privacy, and he's probably entitled to it, but let's not seem so shocked, shall we. What did Tiger expect of a small-time South African huckster? Maybe I'm being a litle hard on Tiger, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him. For staters, I don't know where to begin. Should I feel sorry because he's about to marry a superfoxy Swedish model, or because he has millions upon millions of dollars that he can never spend, or because he's at the top of his profession and has millions of undying fans? Now that's a noodle scratcher.

Tony

The Next Kathy Lee
Here is Elisabeth Hasselbeck, wife of the current Redskins starting QB. She is most famous for her appearance on the second season of Survivor, but has many other "accomplishments":

Prior to her work on television, Ms. Hasselbeck designed shoes for PUMA, working on their street lifestyle design, while living in Boston. She does not stray far from the world of industrial design and fills her time painting, designing note cards and personalized planners, running, as well as relaxing with her husband, family and friends.

Ms. Hasselbeck grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. She dedicated the winter of 1997 in Belize to teaching children in the rain-forest, and spent three weeks in Italy in 2000 developing her designs to completion.

Marc

Sometimes, I Wish I Had Cable
The Terps took out 15th-ranked Wisconsin in OT last night. This looked a lot like Joe Smith's breakout game against Georgetown in his freshman year - a big early season win from a team nobody expected much of. Unfortunately, Jamal Smith is a senior. Smith (Jamal) had 25 points and 12 boards, and is averaging a double-double on the season.

Marc

Addendum: I just spent some time walking down Terps b-ball memory lane here. Man, did I hate Chris Kerwin.