You may wonder what it is like to be famous.

Let me tell you, its not all fun and games. The groupies can be tedious, to say the least. When people ask me if I happened to read the paper, I used to say "I only read the paper when I'm in it." Now I don't even read the paper when I'm in it. This past week I was in the Bangor Daily News not once but twice, and my face is plastered all over the phone book, inside and out.



(This is pretty handy if you are trying to cash a check and you don't have I.D.)

I've been quoted on Oxycontin abuse in the Boston Globe and the L.A. times, but until today, I never really felt famous. You know, like Paris Hilton famous.

What changed? Check it out. Do you know what this means? K-Lo reads EFM. Hugh Hewitt reads EFM. It would not surprise me if Willard Mitt Romney his own self occasionally checks out EFM. All I can say is I would make a freakin' awesome U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine. This is the best Mother's Day I could have hoped for. I'm going to go lay down now.

We'll see . . .

Welcome EFM readers, be sure to check out the follow-up to this post.

DaveG at www.race42008.com says Romney can't possibly win.

Poll Alert: McCain Ahead in South Carolina; Romney Falls Behind Two Non-Candidates

So says the latest poll out of South Carolina:

GOP Primary

John McCain: 25%
Rudy Giuliani: 20%
Fred Thompson: 16%
Newt Gingrich: 12%
Mitt Romney: 8%

Other findings of note: in a head-to-head matchup, McCain beats Rudy by a single point, while the Arizona senator defeats Thompson by 14 points. Polls like this, along with Rudy’s flirtation with the idea of abandoning the early states, make me wonder whether or not Team McCain has already taken the first few primaries off the table for the other candidates. If McCain wins the trio of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, he will be a very difficult juggernaut to stop. And at that point, it will be a McCain/Rudy race due to the supposed Giuliani “firewall” on February 5th, with Republicans from lots of Rudy-friendly states coming to the polls. At this point, I’d have to say that Rudy and McCain are far more likely than anyone else in the field to get the nod. That includes Fred Thompson, who I once had high hopes for. Both Fred and Newt are mistaken if they think they can stay out of this thing until the fall and experience some sort of overnight groundswell of support. GOP presidential campaigns don’t work that way. Though it should be noted that the two non-candidates still trounce Mitt Romney, despite the former Bay State governor’s own efforts in South Carolina. Well, Romney can always be Secretary of Commerce or something.
by DaveG @ 6:34 pm. Filed under Poll Watch

I am saving this because I think he's wrong. He would think I am wrong if he knew of my existence. I am basing my opinion on the fact that I first saw Mitt Romney in October of 1994, when I stayed in my hotel room at the prosecutor's conference in Bar Harbor so I could watch a debate between Teddy Kennedy and some guy with a weird name who supposedly had been a bishop or something. I've watched him make the impossible look easy. Am I the only person who remembers him beating Shannon O'Brien? Check out this story from the January 31, 2002 Boston Phoenix:

HERE’S AN IMPROBABLE news story that would get the mouths of Republican stalwarts watering.

MARCH 1, 2002, SALT LAKE CITY — Fresh on the heels of a triumphant Winter Olympics, Republican multimillionaire Mitt Romney declared yesterday his candidacy for the governorship of Massachusetts.

Right now, the idea that Romney would get back into Massachusetts politics this year is still fanciful. Romney, who ran against Senator Ted Kennedy in 1994 (and gave Massachusetts’s senior senator perhaps the toughest fight of his career), is fully engaged in his role as president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics. And while Romney would likely commit millions of his own dollars to a gubernatorial run, he would start at a serious financial disadvantage compared to his opponents. The Democrat who has raised the most money so far, Senate president Tom Birmingham, has a war chest of $2.9 million. Governor Jane Swift herself has raised $1.7 million. Besides, the pragmatic Romney would be unlikely to break Republican Party discipline and challenge Swift.

If you want to know about Mitt and his ability to succeed where others fail, read the whole thing.

The story hints that he has the money, the looks, and the organization to make a run, but points out that it is a long shot. It was, of course, a long shot. He won anyway. Will he win again? I don't know, but what I do know is that only a fool would count him out at this point.

Greetings from Camp Bravo!

I know that probably a lot of people who might be interested in what I have to say would be the same kind of people who have trouble reading, yet I haven't posted any pictures lately. Well, thats about to change.

Two weeks ago in an effort to get out of the house I took 80% of our children to an undisclosed location less than a day's walk away, and we began to set up a secure area to ride out TEOTWAWKI, you know, just in case. The location is completely invisible to multi spectral radar and satellite surveillance, thanks to the triple canopy jungle. My goal over the summer is to set up a base from which to launch black ops against "THE MAN". To that end we will be stocking food, NBC gear, and of course, lots and lots of ammo.

Here's some pictures of our adventures on the first trip.

Boomer, armed with the M-6, on sentry duty:



The proto-mess hall. The horizontal bar was from an old lean to I had set up in the past. Yes, Sqeezie is wearing a dress. Yes, it is pink.



There was a lot of branches on the ground, and a couple of inches of pine needles to rake up.



Here's what is looks like a week later:

Here is the mess hall after being cleaned up:



Here is the kitchen:



And the kids setting up the tent. They needed some help, but are getting the hang of it:





My dad had an extra tent. I have also inherited the gene that makes it nearly impossible to buy just one of anything. My heart tells me that if it worth buying, I might as well get a bunch. Dad saw a deal on tents, and bought two, even though he probably didn't even need one. He sent it out last fall, and so this was our first chance to learn how to set it up. Pretty Sweet!



Here's the view inside. Its plenty big for us five, and seems like it would hold the whole family.




Anyway, another fun day at Camp Bravo.

A vote for Mitt is a vote for Satan

I don't think Mitt can count on this guy in the primaries. Maybe the general election, but even that is not a sure bet.

If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for satan! This message today is not about Mitt Romney. Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell.

He's not alone. People in South Carolina, an important early primary state, are receiving helpful pamphlets explaining that Mormons are evil, and really no different from Muslims because both religions espouse war or something. Yeah, and its a hoax and stuff.

McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform has some effect on all this. The law seeks to limit candidates ability to respond to attacks like this as the election gets closer. I happen to believe that way to counter hate speech is with more speech, not trying to shut everybody up. John McCain feels differently.

RUDY GIULIANI PUSHES OXYCONTIN ON LITTLE KIDS!

Game over for Rudy? First of all he thinks all people everywhere should have abortions all the time, and now its revealed that he personally lied about Oxycontin, telling doctors it is no more addictive than carrots, when in fact it's deadly poison.

O.K., some of this post may be a slight exageration. Slight.

What now?

Also: Be sure to watch 60 Minutes on Mother's Day. That is, if you watch T.V. on the Sabbath, which we don't. So, be sure to Tivo 60 Minutes on Sunday, that is, if you have Tivo, which we don't. So, plan on checking out YouTube on Monday.

Romney takes lead in Michigan.

New poll out in Michigan. Wow. Romney leads with 36% of likely voters, McCain within the margin of error at 31%, and Giuliani at 9%. Polls mean next to nothing this early, but how is it possible that someone as well known at Rudy Giuliani gets 9%? I expected that Romney would do well in his native state, the place where his father was a popular governor (he announced his candidacy there too) but this is pretty astounding.

The Destruction of the Earth.

I have recently posted a new feature on my blog. It is a little button that shows whether or not the earth has been destroyed. It is a service of the International Earth-Destruction Advisory Board. I find it very helpful, especially with Al Gore in the news so much recently. In the event the earth is destroyed, you'll be able to tell that because the little green thing will turn red.

How could the earth be destroyed? Check here.

I personally favor being sucked into a microscopic black hole.

You will need: a microscopic black hole.

Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore your microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest.

Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader.

Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the centre of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it'll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.

Earth's final resting place: a singularity with a radius of about nine millimetres, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.

Feasibility rating: 3/10. Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.

Really fun and informative.

Romney continues to carry out his plan.

On the heels of his debate performance, Mitt is starting to move up in the polls in the early states. His plan has been to: 1. Raise money, not that he needs it, because he could and would spend $100,000,000 of his own money. Rather because its a way to gain attention. 2. Establish an organization. McCain has been working on his organization since 2000, but Romney's organization and endorsements are at least equal to McCain's and Superior to everyone else. 3. Be in the game, as opposed to Mike Huckabee, or Duncan Hunter who have no chance of winning the nomination. Obviously he did this when he won the governor's race in Mass. Leno shows he is still in it. 4. Win or place 2nd in Iowa. To do this he needs a huge organization (see 2 above) and shake a lot of hands, and have a message that resonates. 5. Win or place 2nd in New Hampshire, which by law will always be the first primary in the nation. New Hampshire's secretary of state selects whatever day he wants, as long as it is a week before anybody else's primary. A recent poll shows him leading in New Hamshire.

If Romney pulls this off, he will be as well known as Giuliani or McCain, and he will seem invincible because of his money and his organization and his momentum. The week following the N.H. primary will determine who gets the nomination. Running in all those primaries will require organization, and momentum, and I think Romney may have both.

More on the New Hampshire Poll

MoMittum

Check out:

Video of his appearance with Jay Lenno.

Answers to lame Chris Matthews questions at the debate.

Reaction from talking heads.

A couple of months ago the people that follow presidential politics were talking about how McCain was invincible and noone could touch him. Then Giuliani got in, and suddenly was competing with McCain. McCain's support seemed to collapse. By the end of March, smart money was on Guiliani, and people were saying that McCain could never catch up, that he was over. Guiliani was invincible. Then Fred Thompson's name started coming up. After Giuliani's performance last night, he's being written off, and Fred Thompson will definitely get in, and despite having no money and no organization in place, he can be the republican nominee.

This is crazyness. The Iowa Caucus is months, (MONTHS!)away. Most people don't even know there was a debate last night. In the 2000 election, McCain didn't get serious about running until after the Iowa Caucus, and he was a realatively unknown senator from a small state in the desert southwest. He was certainly competive, for a Loser.

Romney has the money, the organization, the looks, and the vision. He will be around to the bitter end. People who write him off at this stage are engaging in wishful thinking.

Update:

From the Romney campaign, via Hugh Hewitt:

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan: "If we view the proceedings in vulgar and reductive Who Won, Who Lost terms, and let's, Mitt Romney won…" (Peggy Noonan, "An Incomplete Field," The Wall Street Journal," 5/4/07)

· Noonan: "The statuesque Mr. Romney had a certain good-natured command, a presidential voice, and a surprising wiliness. He seemed happy to be there, and in the mysterious way that some people seem to dominate, he dominated." (Peggy Noonan, "An Incomplete Field," The Wall Street Journal," 5/4/07)

· Noonan: "He did some light-handed and audience-pleasing Clinton bashing, and was confident on stem-cell research." (Peggy Noonan, "An Incomplete Field," The Wall Street Journal," 5/4/07)

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza: "Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) stood out with clear and crisp answers – showing flashes of humor and an ease with the important issues. He sounded authoritative when he talked about Iraq (not an easy task for a one-term governor of Massachusetts) and effectively cast himself – a Mormon – as part of the broad faith community in America." (Chris Cillizza, "Debate Wrap Up," The Washington Post's The Fix, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/, Posted 5/3/07)

Newsweek's Howard Fineman: "I think Mitt Romney came off looking presidential…" (MSNBC's "Post Debate Analysis," 5/3/07)

National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Romney showed himself to be a smart, articulate, optimistic, serious leader. If it was a first impression for anyone watching, as I imagine it might have been for anyone flipping away from The Office for a few minutes, it was a good start." (National Review Website, www.nationalreview.com, Accessed 5/4/07)

Mullings' Rich Galen: "Overall I thought Romney did the best. He had command of his positions and articulated them well." (Mullings Website, www.mullings.com/, Accessed 5/4/07)

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: "Governor Romney was very good in talking about health care, where he knows a great deal." (Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes," 5/3/07)

New York Daily News' Michael Goodwin: "Romney was very good at turning every answer into a statement of lofty, conservative principle. He spoke of family and marriage and faith and turned a question about 'what don't you like about America?' into a poetic ode to our nation. He came across as sharp and jaunty." (Michael Goodwin, "Giuliani Is Not-So-Artful Dodger," New York Daily News, 5/4/07)

The Politico's Roger Simon: "It would be terribly irresponsible to pick a winner of Thursday night's Republican debate. So I will. I think Mitt Romney won." (Roger Simon, "Call Me Irresponsible: I Say Romney Won," The Politico, 5/3/07)

· Simon: "…Mitt Romney achieved almost everything he wanted to achieve. He looked and sounded presidential. He hit his talking points. And voters who knew nothing about him before the debate except that he was a Mormon, came away knowing a lot more." (Roger Simon, "Call Me Irresponsible: I Say Romney Won," The Politico, 5/3/07)

· Simon: "Romney was a man with a plan. He knew what points he wanted to make and he made them." (Roger Simon, "Call Me Irresponsible: I Say Romney Won," The Politico, 5/3/07)

MSNBC's Contessa Brewer: "I thought Mitt Romney came off as looking very presidential." (MSNBC's "Tucker Carlson Live," 5/4/07)

The Politico's Michael Cornfield And Alan Kelly: "Best playmaker: Mitt Romney. A fluid pace in a frenetic setting. Executive-in-charge. Avoided 'his' religion but talked about faith." (Michael Cornfield and Alan Kelly, "GOP Playmaker's Wrap-up – Our Best And Worst Awards," The Politico, 5/3/07)

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "I'll tell you what, it looked like Mitt Romney really had a strong introduction to the Republican Party tonight." (MSNBC's "Post Debate Analysis," 5/3/07)

· Scarborough: "I'll tell you what, I got a lot of e-mails throughout this debate from Republicans, conservative Republicans across the country, they were telling me they thought Mitt Romney was the clear winner and I got to tell you Keith, that's the view from a lot of people inside of here right now." (MSNBC's "Post Debate Analysis," 5/3/07)

· Scarborough: "And this really looked like his format. … Some people like Ronald Reagan pop at these type of debate settings. It looked like Mitt Romney pops in these type of settings." (MSNBC's "Post-Debate Analysis," 5/3/07)

· Scarborough: "You're going to find out over the next couple of days that Mitt Romney is the guy that exceeded expectations, and John McCain was a guy that didn't quite meet expectations. A lot of the Republican base may start moving to Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani just was a little more flat that people expected, didn't show the type of leadership that people expected him tonight. Of course this is just a debate but certain people pop in the debate, certain people don't. Tonight it was Mitt Romney who seemed to break out of the pack." (MSNBC's "Post-Debate Analysis," 3/3/07)

National Review's Jim Geraghty: "Romney had some strong answers, good humor. I'd be surprised if he didn't help himself tonight. Maybe the audience will see what attracted his fans. Clearly, this was a format he seemed at home in." (Jim Geraghty, "Jim's Summary and Wrap-Up," The Hillary Spot On National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, Posted 5/3/07)

National Journal's Marc Ambinder: "Mitt Romney is great with first impressions… He certainly seemed presidential. He flubbed no question. His knowledge was evident." (Marc Ambinder, "The Debate: Post-Spin Analysis," National Journal's On Call, http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/05/the_debate_post.html, Posted 5/4/07)

The Politico's Jonathan Martin: "Mitt Romney's aides and advisers were buoyant after the forum. And for some good reason. The former Massachusetts governor, ever handsome and articulate, was poised and smooth for most of the evening. For the thousands (millions?) watching at home who were getting their first taste of Mitt, they had to come away impressed." (Jonathan Martin, "My Take," The Politico, 5/3/07)

· Martin: "When even his opponents acknowledge that he performed well, you know Romney had a pretty good night." (Jonathan Martin, "My Take," The Politico, 5/3/07)

New York Sun's Ryan Sager: "If anyone stood out from the other candidates, in terms of looking polished and poised, it was clearly Mr. Romney. He got off some of the best lines of the night… But any casual observer of the debate (were there any non-junkies watching?) would probably have to view him as head-and-shoulders above the others." (Ryan Sager, "Who Won? Who Lost?" New York Sun Politics Blog, www.nysunpolitics.com/blog/2007/05/who-won-who-lost.html, 5/3/07)

Dan Riehl: "Romney may be the guy who pulled it out tonight." (Dan Riehl, "McCain Can't Catch A Break," Riehl World View, www.riehlworldview.com/, Posted 5/3/07)

John Hinderaker: "If you didn't already know how good Romney is, you would be really impressed by his performance tonight." (John Hinderaker, "Liveblogging The GOP Debate," Power Line Forum, www.plnewsforum.com, Posted 5/3/07)

Columnist Kathleen Parker: "And the winner is: Mitt the Good, the Perfect, the Gosh-Darned Smartest of Them All. He was substantive, concise, and humorous, if somewhat over-educated for those who haven't yet read the Cliff Notes on altered nuclear stem cells. His answer on stem-cell research showed that he has delved deeply into the issue…" (National Review Website, www.nationalreview.com, Accessed 5/4/07)

Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey: "Who won? – Mitt Romney won this debate. He looked relaxed, answered clearly, showed real warmth and a sense of humor, and actually answered the questions asked of him – even the stupid ones, to which I'll return shortly." (Ed Morrissey, "Debate Analysis: Romney Wins," Captain's Quarters Blog, www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/009874.php, Posted 5/3/07)

Townhall's Dean Barnett: "Mitt Romney – Romney was clearly the class of the field. I know, I'm biased, blah, blah, blah. But if you saw the debate, believe your own eyes. Romney has a command of the facts and an effective delivery that must be the envy of the field. As America gets to know him in forums like this (not that I'm hoping there will be other forums precisely like this hideous one – perish that thought), the country will come to understand why Romney has generated such excitement among insiders and people who know him." (Dean Barnett, "A Quickie Debate Recap," Hugh Hewitt, hughhewitt.townhall.com , Posted 5/3/07)

CBN's David Brody: "The debate is over and I thought Mitt Romney really came across well. He was comfortable, funny and somewhat free wheeling." (CBN Website, www.cbn.com/CBNnews/151174.aspx, Accessed 5/4/07)

National Review's Mark Hemmingway: "It's obvious now that in the first major Republican presidential debate Mitt Romney put in a very strong performance." (Mark Hemingway, "Mitt Romney Can Do Whatever The Heck He Wants," National Review, 5/4/07)

The downside of a wood and canvas canoe.

I have had canoe fever lately. The rivers are high and fast, the bugs aren't quite out yet, and the ice was off most local ponds by last week. Instead of going canoeing, we had a bunch of child-raising, home-teaching, and branch activity stuff going on. So instead I live vicariously through others who are getting out.

I did a google search for wood canvas canoes and found this guy's photo account of a trip he took in a beautiful wood and canvas canoe.

Here is the before picture:



Here is the after pictures:





It really shows the power of the water in even a small stream. I would not hesitate to run that stream in a wood and canvas canoe, and undoubtably the same thing would have happened. He just left the canoe, but according to Bill Mason in his book Song of the Paddle, the canoe may be salvagable enough to continue on the trip. In the old days they would have winched the canoe off the rock with a rope and some improvised pulleys, split some new gunnels out of a sapling with an axe, and screwed another sapling to the bottom to straighten that out, and paddled on the way. Not to mention the great conversation piece it would make hanging in your living room.


When I think about what kind of house I want to live in, I imagine it having a wrecked wood and canvas canoe hanging from the ceiling in the living room.

I can't say I blame the guy for being so devastated that he had to walk away. He wins in the end though, because he is building a new canoe.



I still want a wood and canvas canoe. Maybe I will restrict it to lake use only though.