Bowling League Blues and Heavy Metal Moods
This week has been a busy one for me. But I have good reasons for the delay of my 100th post. Here goes: I did double duty again by bowling for my own league, then subbed again for Ken Kanniff's league the following night. My Wednesday night performance was 151, 157 and 192 for a crisp 500. The following night saw me roll 125, 118 and 156 to put me at a crummy 399, my worst performance in a long time.
After that, I got bogged down in recording some thoughts for an outline to a piece of horror fiction I began writing, and got lost in the urgency of the task when the ideas began to flow. Maybe I'll post pieces of this story on a separate blog.
And after that, I had to prepare for a Saturday night party to celebrate the end of our softball season. I was asked to bring my guitar to the festivities, and a "entertained" the two-dozen revelers present to the soothing tones of Triumph, Ozzy Osbourne, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Europe and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The gear I brought was nothing fancy. My trusty Yamaha RGX312 guitar, a 15-Watt Fender amplifier and a Jim Dunlop Cry-Baby wah-wah pedal provided the sounds. Luckily the hosts had a good selection of hard rock CDs (in addition to the ones I brought) which I was able to play along with. I did get some strange requests for Elvis and Abba, but I think those were driven by the increased alcohol content as the day wore on. Now on to the news that happened while I was bowling and shredding...
Romney Eats It
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R - Invasive Jerk) got bitch-slapped by the state legislature on Thursday when they overrode his veto of a bill to provide access to contraception in cases that were emergencies. Maine News excerpt:
BOSTON — The state Legislature voted Thursday to override Gov. Mitt Romney´s veto of a measure that will expand access to emergency contraception. The measure, which the Republican governor vetoed in July, will require hospital emergency room doctors to offer the medication to rape victims. It also will make the medication available without a prescription.
The Senate voted unanimously 37-0 to override the veto. In the House, the vote was 139-16 to override.
The governor said the medication, known as the "morning after pill," is already widely available without a mandate from the state. Romney said he was concerned that the hormone regimen could abort a fertilized egg.
Signing the bill, he said, would violate a campaign pledge he made not to change the state´s abortion laws. The bill also could also alienate crucial anti-abortion activists as Romney weighs a run for president in 2008.
Full Story
That last sentence is a key to Romney's actions. He clearly sees the regressive path on which our country is headed, and he would like nothing more than to speed up this Back to the Future Republican agenda. Thankfully, the state legislature told him what he could do with his hardcore attitude in this instance.
Mass GOP Head Charged In Drug Money Laundering Scheme
In another bit of good news for Massachusetts state Republicans, the head of the state GOP has been arrested and charged with laundering drug money for one of his clients. Boston Globe excerpt:
BOSTON --The vice chairman of the state Republican Party was charged Tuesday with money-laundering after he allegedly offered to "cleanse" drug proceeds for a legal client. Lawrence Novak, 54, an attorney from Brockton, was arrested at his home Tuesday after investigators said he allegedly offered to launder drug profits for Scott Holyoke, who is awaiting trial on federal drug trafficking charges and agreed to be a cooperating witness against Novak for the FBI.
Novak was taken into custody after he allegedly deposited money in a Brockton bank, federal authorities said.
Gov. Mitt Romney called for Novak to step down while the investigation continues.
"The charges against Larry Novak are very troubling and Gov. Romney believes that it's appropriate while these charges are pending for Mr. Novak to step aside as vice chairman of the state party," said Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom. Republican Party Executive Director Tim O'Brien said the charges are unrelated to Novak's GOP role. Novak served at the party's treasurer in the late 1990s.
Full Story
This was not a good week for Governor Romney. First this drug money laundering deal by his party chairman, then the giant turd burger he was forced to eat over the emergency contraception bill he foolishly vetoed only to have the legislature override him. Good times if you are, like me, a liberal who sees reactionary dolts like Romney as the enemies of progress. If you are not, then I'm sure you will find a way to blame it on the Democrats. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the governor. Even though he doesn't appear to have been directly involved in anything at the moment, this could have a huge negative impact on his ambitions to run for president in 2008.
Red Sox Update
The Red Sox lost a brutal one to the Oakland Athletics this afternoon 12-3. Sox starter Matt Clement was knocked around for seven runs and didn't get out of the second inning. Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez hit two homers (his 24th and 25th of the season) and drove in five runs as the A's cruised behind the one-run, seven inning performance by their starting pitcher Kirk Saarloos who picked up his tenth victory of the season. The Sox remain 1 1/2 games in front of the Yankees who lost today in Toronto 6-5. The Sox now travel to Tampa Bay for a series against the last-place Devil Rays.
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