Internet Gambling, Definition of Pedophile and Scary Softdrinks

Weeks like this make you hope for revolution.

Legislative Riders must end. Internet Gambling, which has always been illegal, because the government doesn't think you are capable of knowing what is best for you, was made tougher this past week by constricting the financing vehicles. Naturally, the bills sponsor, Jon Kyl, would be so proud of this that he would put it to an up or down, yay or nay, vote on the senate floor, on the merit of this idea alone...right? No of course not, he weaseled it on to a port security bill thereby assuring its passage. It is tough enough to have political discourse in a 30 second TV spot, much less try to defend voting against port security because of gambling. We need, more than ever, senators with the balls (bluff?) to propose that all legislation be discrete. Port security is on a port security bill, online poker is on the online poker bill, and rules for what to say to your page on yet another.

Speaking of which, Mark A Foley, who cleverly devised the screen name MAF54 with cryptographic elegance, was caught in the middle of a revolting set of chat transcripts. While Republican leaders are busy pointing fingers at each other over who knew what when, the Dems can finally get excited about something after weeks of being disappointed by positive, but inconveniently timed, economic indicators (including the much talked about price of gas). While beyond creepy, can people stop referring to Foley as a "pedophile"? The kids were 16 which is the age of consent in many states. He should be considered a predator, a disgusting example of a human being, among other things.

I wrote a poem for the occasion

This Guy's Fawked
written by Joey (who is right here)

Remember remember the 7th of November
The absense of reason and thought
Every scandal they can handle
Which is spin for pandering a lot

Now let's move on to the important issues of the day such as what to do about the Cocaine softdrink. Insert eyes rolling here. If I had a new product my marketing strategy would be:

1.) Name it something inflammatory
2.) Call media whore politicians with "concerns"
3.) Wait for buzz
4.) $

The drink does not have cocaine, but a lot of caffeine (two cups of coffee worth). From the Daily News

Several Council members, led by James Sanders Jr. (D-Queens), called for a boycott of the drink yesterday at a news conference outside City Hall. [..] "There are only two reasons that you would seek to use this infamous and insidious name to market your so-called energy drink - either you are woefully ignorant of the horrors of cocaine addiction or your god is the dollar bill," Sanders said.

How about maybe you worry about actual problems with actual cocaine?


--Joey