Virtual MU update

As if anyone cares... My wife says, "you know it's not real, right?" I know, but that doesn't mean it is not fun.

#5 MU defeated #1 Nebraska in Columbia, MO 38-2. MU was bumped to #2 behind USC and will take on rival Kansas in what is sure to be another big win. MU is currently #1 in the bowl rankings.

Blunt lets Insurance Companies decide who will regulate them

Read the story here: Insurance pick faced screening.

Apparently, Matt Blunt feels that the best people to choose the head of the department that will regulate the insurance industry here in Missouri is the insurance industry itself. Those chosen are also, of course, campaign contributors to Mr. Blunt. Am I crazy to think that giving the insurance companies the opportunity to put the chief regulator in their pocket is wrong?

Matt Blunt is a little behind

Really, he is. He is governor now, right? Well, now that he is governor, he is making suggestions for voting improvements. If I'm not mistaken, that was his job as Secretary of State. Why didn't he do it then? Check out his suggestion.

Basically, he wants some changes to absentee ballots. He wants them available to any state citizen (which actually makes some sense). Previously, you could only cast an absentee ballot with an excuse (i.e.: out of the state on voting day). While this would make voting a bit easier for the citizens, it appears that he hasn't fully researched the cost of reasonableness of implementing such a process.

The part that is most fishy, however, is that he would like to remove the notary requirement from absentee ballots. Having an absentee ballot notarized is the only way to make sure the person casting the ballot is really the individual they claim to be. This would allow Bob, who knows John does not vote, to cast an absentee ballot in John's name and still vote in his own name, essentially voting twice. That sounds like a great fix!

Falwell to blame for 9/11?

Check out my diary entry at Daily Kos.

Real Beer

One of my interests is beer; real beer. I have always considered mass-produced products such as Bud Light to be utter swill. In fact, they often give me a headache due to their low-end ingredients after one bottle.

I hadn't thought much about this recently. That changed last night, when, just as I was getting home, I heard a story on NPR about the ongoing advertising battle between Anheuser-Busch and Miller. AB was claiming that Miller had been using 'unscientific surveys' in its ads stating that Miller Light had more flavor than Bud Light. Let's get one thing straight: neither one has ANY flavor. Period. End of story.

I'll try and put it in perspective. For this, I'll use another brew produced in large quantities: Sam Adams. While this certainly isn't the best stuff around, it is great for a national brew. If you were to take a bottle of Sam Adams and pour some into a glass, filling the glass approx 1/4 of the way, and then fill the rest with tap water, you would get a 'flavor' equivalent to that of the light beers previously mentioned.

I must apologize if I offend anyone who enjoys what I consider to be swill. To be honest, I feel like those beers are nothing more than a relatively cheap means for alcoholics to maintain a good buzz. In my opinion, their constant bickering over who has more flavor is silly, but also somewhat of an insult to real beers that actually do have flavor (and their's quite an array; go explore).

I feel better now that that is off my chest...

Virtual NCAA football update

Mizzou (#5) took on rival Iowa State (#60 - not such a fair matchup) for the 'Telephone Trophy'. MU came away with an unquestionable victory, winning 59-21. QB #16 threw seven touchdown passes; six of which were caught by WR #86, who caught nine passes for 179 yards. Kicker Watts put through 8 PAT's.

Tonight Mizzou (#5) vs. Nebraska (#1) for the Nebraska Bell.

Being Blunt about the good of the state

Well, as I have stated previously, there are a lot of political blogs & sites. They all seem to focus on national stuff, as that is what everyone in the nation has in common. I feel that some sort of discussion is necessary on the state of my state, Missouri. Therefore, I'm going to set a goal for myself to discuss state politics, at least once per week. Now, all you readers out there (I think you're up to a whopping one...that one being myself [how lame]), don't fret, I will still give my two cents about the state of the nation; I just feel that bringing light to Big MO is necessary.

On to the discussion:

I am extremely skeptical of our new governor. Matt Blunt received some national criticism for being one of a group of Secretaries of State who were seen as politically motivated in their roles and likely to use the power of their position wrongly. My concerns go beyond that. I believe he performed poorly as SoS, promising to reform the state's voting system and doing nothing of the kind. He served one term as SoS. I believe he also served one term in the state House. It seems that he is 'stone-hopping' to move up as fast as possible (for those that don't know, his father is Roy Blunt, a high-ranking [3rd?] Representative from MO...another political dynasty). It would appear that he is moving up quickly on name alone, having no positive accomplishments that stand out in any of his previous positions.

To quell critics such as myself, he has come into office during the previous week making a lot of noise "fulfilling his promise" to improve the State's financial position. What was his first step? Fire people. Who got fired? High-ranking members of the Dept. of Natural Resources were in the majority. One would say that, in his defense, he is hiring replacements in the DNR, so he isn't trying to understaff or abolish the department. However, it bugs me to think that individuals that were doing their jobs well are being kicked out of what they thought (and were told) were secure positions because they make too much money. That raises the question of how much is Blunt making; is he going to cut his pay, too? I feel like he's going to make a big stink for a month or so, so people say, "look, he's doing his job and 'saving money' unlike Holden", and then we won't see or hear from him for three years until he starts his bid for president.

It gets worse. He promises to cut spending, right? Well his 'Republican loyalty' makes him rather hypocritical on this issue. Why, you ask. Well, read this. In short, he fired a woman who was doing the work for $60,000/year that was once performed by three directors (paid well over $60k in total, I'm sure) because she was a Dem appointed by Holden. Not just that, but even a big Republican states that she did her job better than anyone he had ever seen in the position(s).

Game time

Well, there's more to me than just the political material I've posted to date. There's so many political sites & blogs out; I feel like I should do more...personalize it (for me, anyway).

So, let's talk games a bit, shall we? Using gift cards, I got myself NCAA Football 2005 (EA Sports) for my PS2. While I'm not the biggest sports fanatic; hell, I'm not even a sports fanatic. I still enjoy them, though; especially when I can play them, like in video games. What makes it even better is EA's Dynasty Mode. Being a Mizzou alum, I enjoy taking my opportunity to make virtual MU outperform the real MU.

Season one was good. I simmed about half the games because I wanted to hurry through to try out the off-season recruiting functions. MU upset #1 Texas and #2 Kansas State and made it to the Independence Bowl to defeat LSU (ranked something like #20). MU ended the season ranked #20 or so.

Season two is off to a great start. MU started the season as #17. After five games undefeated (and ending last season with four straight wins - current streak 9W), including taking out (once again) #1 Texas, MU has moved up to #5. The latest win was over Oklahoma State (#38 nationally), 48-24. Next up is a rivalry game against Iowa State.

Clooney vs. O'Reilly

So apparently there is a battle going down between George Clooney and Bill O'Reilly. I certainly have new-found respect for Mr. Clooney. See what it is all about: I love George Clooney.

Never give in.

Daily Kos :: Soccer Mom Declares War on American Traitors

Seriously, who are the terrorists here?

U.S. military bombs wrong house in Iraq

"The United States military said it dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house outside the northern city of Mosul yesterday, killing five people. The man who owned the house said the bomb killed 14 people, and an Associated Press photographer said seven of them were children."

Somehow this travesty must end.

Electoral Objection

Wow, we made some history today, though I'm not sure how many people will really notice. Democratic representatives and senators submitted written objection to the acceptance of the Ohio electors, forcing a 2-hour debate/discussion in each chamber (the Senate actually ended after only about 45 minutes with a 74-1 vote to brush aside the objection). I was proud to have a chance to listen in to some of the discussion.

The point of it all was to bring to the forefront concerns about the 2004 election and the fairness of our election process as a whole. It was to force a debate on the topic so that further (and more effective) election reforms will be in the front of all minds. Only time will tell if this was a success.

The sad part was listening to the comments from those opposing the objection. Rather than bringing forth any hard, objective data to state that the objectors' allegations were false or unfounded, those opposing the objection simply called the Democrats undemocratic and stated that this petition to debate the topic was basically a crime against democracy. It's a sad day when those who state that trying to discuss and improve the flaws in our system, the core of democracy, is undemocratic (DeLay) and receive majority of applause.

Hopefully, this will start a successful journey to assure us that the validity of future elections won't need to be questioned. For a good discussion on the aftermath of this debate and its importance, click here.

The Wal-Mart Burden

The New York Review of Books: Inside the Leviathan

"One of the most telling of all the criticisms of Wal-Mart is to be found in a February 2004 report by the Democratic Staff of the House Education and Workforce Committee. In analyzing Wal-Mart's success in holding employee compensation at low levels, the report assesses the costs to US taxpayers of employees who are so badly paid that they qualify for government assistance even under the less than generous rules of the federal welfare system. For a two-hundred-employee Wal-Mart store, the government is spending $108,000 a year for children's health care; $125,000 a year in tax credits and deductions for low-income families; and $42,000 a year in housing assistance. The report estimates that a two-hundred-employee Wal-Mart store costs federal taxpayers $420,000 a year, or about $2,103 per Wal-Mart employee. That translates into a total annual welfare bill of $2.5 billion for Wal-Mart's 1.2 million US employees.

Wal-Mart is also a burden on state governments. According to a study by the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2003 California taxpayers subsidized $20.5 million worth of medical care for Wal-Mart employees. In Georgia ten thousand children of Wal-Mart employees were enrolled in the state's program for needy children in 2003, with one in four Wal-Mart employees having a child in the program.[9]"

Boycott Wal-Mart, if you don't already. Wal-Mart's policies create a vicious cycle that can only continue to take our country into a downward spiral. Wal-Mart's executives simply get richer while they actually make the rest of the country poorer...there is nothing that can even be construed as correct or even ethical about this whole thing.

Something must be done

Let's face it: our electoral system is a bloody mess. There is nothing more to it. When a political party has the means (even if they don't actually do it) to steal a national election, that's just messed up. Signs of a flawed election seem to be found daily in Ohio. Check out "Ten Reasons Why The Vote Does Not Compute, and Why Congress Must Investigate Rather Than Certify the Electoral College." The 2004 election, especially in Ohio, has wrong written all over it.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not decrying the whole thing to say Kerry won...my focus is that things appear too strange to not question them. If Bush won, then Bush won; fine. I just don't want to spend the next four years thinking 'did he really win fair and square?' and wondering if 2008 will be the same debacle. Here's 20 Amazing Facts about U.S. Election that, IMHO, would even make an intelligent and logical republican wonder.

Honestly, something must be done. Here are a few things off the top of my head that need to be focused on:

• Election results need to be auditable; we need logs, paper trails, etc.
• If people (meaning the electorate or elected officials) insist on electronic voting machines, the software MUST be transparent and the machines must be highly secure (how reliable is a voting machine that can be hacked into?)
• Elections need non-partisan oversight (or multi-partisan if non- is impossible). This means partisan Secretaries of State should not be in charge of overseeing elections, ESPECIALLY when they are involved in a way that by the standards of any other occupation would be a conflict of interest. That means no more Kenneth Blackwells or Matt Blunts.

There are tons of other things that need to be fixed, but that's a place to start.

For more discussion, see the The Informed Citizen's Guide To The 2004 Election.

And so it begins...

Welcome, one and all (err...no one), to Aimless Reality, the blog run by Alphadork. As my blog title insists, I really have no aim with this, just to point out reality as I see it (I guess you could also say it's the dork's spin zone). I suspect I will have some political and other random rants to offer as time goes on.

You can also see Alphadork at www.dailykos.com and www.gamespot.com.
What a life: politics and video games!