Mystery?

Alright, so I'm talking on AIM and for months people have been on mobile when not "available". Anyone who uses AIM knows what I'm talking about. So tonight I'm watching as everyone who was mobile starts simply going offline. All of them. Then when two are online, one goes to bed and logs off. He has been mobile since I he got on my list. Then was shown as logged off. Anyone know what is going on here?

Chris Galgay is out of touch with common sense, economics, and reality. He is the president of the Maine Education Association. Examining the budget cuts to education I came across the following statement:

"Should the recession continue or get worse, the cuts to schools and social services may become so unacceptable, state leaders will have to reconsider their 'no tax' position," says Galgay. "We believe all options have to be on the table, including increased revenues."

Source: http://www.maine.nea.org/home/595.htm

Excerpt over. To clarify:
If the revenue keeps dropping legislatures in Augusta will have to raise taxes.
If the recession gets worse raise taxes.
Raise taxes.

Clarification over. If you still don't get it then take a lovely trip to the highway and drive in the wrong direction.

I say lets save some money and fire Chris. With stupidity like that heading things it is no wonder our education system is so backwards. Surely leaving the position empty couldn't be worse than having him around.

The Races - Websites

The field isn't thinner, just replaced Dawn Hill with Patrick McGowan. However, if you've been holding off on fulfilling your civic duty to become and informed voter hold back no more and check the websites out and pick the one which represents you best.

-Democratic Party-
Donna Dion
http://donnajdionforgovernor2010.com/
Patrick McGowan
http://mcgowanformaine.com/
Elizabeth (Libby) Mitchell
http://www.libbymitchellforgovernor.com/
John Richardson
http://www.johnrichardsonformaine.com/
Steven Rowe
http://www.roweforgovernor.com/
Rosa Scarcelli
http://www.rosaformaine.com/home
Peter Truman
I do not support felons involvement in politics.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=282192&ac=PHnws
-Republican Party-
Matt Jacobson
http://www.jacobsonforgovernor.com/
Paul LePage
http://www.lepage2010.com/
Peter Mills
http://www.millsformaine.com/
Les Otten
http://www.lesotten.com/
Bruce Poliquin
http://www.bruceforme.com/
J. Martin Vachon
"I am the only candidate who will reverse the trend of social decay that threatens our civilization."
-Green Party-
Patrick Quinlan
Not found.
Lynne Williams
http://www.lynnewilliams2010.org/
-Independents-
Samme Bailey
"I'm not qualified".
Eliot Cutler
http://www.cutler2010.com/
Augustus Edgerton
Not Found.
Alex Hammer
(If you keep trying to get me to post your link I swear I'll forbid your comments forever).
Beverly Cooper-Pete
Not found.
John Whitcomb
http://whitcombformaine.com/

The Races - Patrick McGowan Website Ideas

With the entry of Patrick McGowan to the race for governor I suppose I have a small moral obligation to give him the same treatment I've given the other candidates. So, here is his website ideas review:

Small Business:
Written as if by a third person the short segment here says he owned a small business and will have the Maine government be a motivator of business. Funny, I thought businesses should be motivated by a little thing called profit.

Renewable Energy:
In this segment he claims the success of group achievements making the permit process easier for clean energy project in Maine. He will enact the Great Maine Forest Initiative. I infer by the sentence following that the Great Maine Forest Initiative has something to do with biomass. However his website does not detail what it is.

Tax Relief:
Well, not exactly. His precise words are "hold the line" on taxes. So, really you'll still be taxed to death. Same old promise you hear all the time.

Education:
He promises to increase re-training programs and access to college and universities. Also promised is creating a way for our kids to go to college. Note the word "create". No actual proposals here.

Health Care:
He pretty much says the national health care bill is going to pass and will adapt to that. Also says he will overhaul Dirigo. Instead of getting rid of a failed program- while a federal bill to cover everyone anyway (it is sold as such), says he'll keep both a federal and Dirigo program. Kind of redundant isn't it?

Environment:
He claims he helped, and he did, to make the percent of Maine land under conservation protection go from 6 percent to 18 percent. He says he will continue this process.

Quick thought: If environmentalists keep conserving land at what point will they stop? 50%? 100%?

And that is really pretty much it. No specifics except for the 6 to 18 percent increase in conservation lands.

Here is his colorful green/red/blue/gray/white website:
http://mcgowanformaine.com/

So some of the new rules for flights includes not standing an hour before landing and not having blankets across one's lap. People were also told to keep their hands in plain sight.

The attempted bomber which prompted these rules was a known extremist who got through a foreign airport with a bomb in his pants.

So instead of a first response of having intelligence agencies get on the same page and increased bomb detecting equipment at airport boarding areas the new rules made it even tougher for grandma to bring shampoo to her destination.

Anyone else concerned by this?

Just saying. Now leave the pop tart in the toaster and walk away.

The Races - Enough Already

Patrick McGowan is now running for governor as a Democrat. However the situation of the Clean Election Funding has become dire:

Primary candidates are entitled to $400,000 dollars each after privately raising $40,000 in seed money. They're are also entitled to up to $200,000 in matching money to offset spending by privately-funded candidates. When a Republican Clean Election candidate is rolled into the mix, the costs of the [gubernatorial] primaries could easily exceed $2.5 million dollars.

Legislative candidates are also expected to subtract about $3 million from the $10 million fund, but that figure could go higher. What's left would go to publicly-funded [gubernatorial] candidates remaining in the race.

McGowan says the people of Maine voted for publicly-financed campaigns and the Legislature should provide the money that's needed. "And that's something that the people voted overwhelmingly for, and I think that the money will be there," he says. "I think that the commitment is there from the Legislature and the executive branch to fund a system that is in fact a model for most of the country."

"As far as not having enough money, that's a policy decision that's been made by the Legislature," says Former Economic and Community Development Commissioner John Richardson, who is also running as a Democrat for governor under the Clean Election Act. He says lawmakers need to pay up.

"I was in the Legislature and one of the leaders in the Legislature for a time, and I recall that we made sure that we held that trust fund harmless, and we made sure there was enough in there, so that all of the candidates that were under consideration could run," he says. "That's, I think, the responsibility of this Legislature, to make sure that these candidates, including myself, have enough money to run."

Excerpt over. Note to A.J.Higgens: learn how to spell gubernatorial.

So, the funds might not be enough for all the candidates. And the candidates using it say the legislature should pay up. Is it me or does anyone really expect the legislatures in Augusta to open their wallets and make a donation? We all know they will just raise taxes.

Then saying it is a model system for the rest of the country to follow is pure stupidity. Look at the results of the leaders we have elected. Also, look at the stupid people willing to run: they think their campaigns are more important than special needs funds during a budget crisis.

At this point I know we need to get rid of the stupid people in Augusta. Yes, keep the corrupt ones. Get rid of the stupid ones. At least the corrupt ones have a direction to take Maine, the stupid ones are just running us into the ground. Once we get rid of the stupid ones, lets get rid of the corrupt ones. As for governor, if Bruce Poliquin wins we'll have a smart, honest leader. Obviously a couple (read excerpt) of the Democratic candidates are either corrupt, stupid, or both.

Do I sound a little harsh here? Yes, I do. Good. They deserve my scorn. I'm 18 years old and look at the state I've been given. I'd rather grow up in a slum in the Bronx instead of Maine. I'd have a better chance of having an interesting life looking for opportunity. Here in Maine all we get are promises of opportunity and prosperity and we never get it. Well, I've had enough. There is only one candidate I trust, and even then that isn't enough. We need a complete overhaul of the entire political body in Augusta.

Replace them all. At this point anyone can call me an idealistic, young, out-of-touch-with-reality nutcase and I won't care. I do not want my money paying for candidates I do not approve of. I do not want candidates receiving money from the state budget when we have special needs kid's programs and elderly assistance being canceled. All of this while a 90 million dollar laptop program continues to exist without question. 90 million dollars for a program not yet proven to increase student intelligence and yet we are cutting the funding for those in need. Being a student who used the laptops in question: I learned nothing new. We didn't do programming, we just wrote essays on the laptop instead of by hand. Nothing new except the methods to distract ourselves in class.

Just saying. Now put down the rutabaga.

Note: the world should agree on how to spell "canceled" (cancelled).

As for those who don't believe the 90 million dollar cost:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25782209/

Update: I forgot to include the link to the first section:

http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNews/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/10458/Default.aspx

What Year is It?

I declare it to be the year 12,010. Why? Because under the presumption that human civilization began roughly 10,000 BC (not using writing as a basis here, just a general time scale accepted for the formation of cities and complex societies worldwide in major river basins). It would also let us just skip the 2012 apocalyptic nonsense. Perhaps the real 2012, under my theory of time beginnings, was the great flood of both Biblical and archeological evidence? If that could be exactly dated then count back 2012 years and voila, the beginning of time and a new global human calendar can be made.

Just a thought. Put the tomato down.