Senator Dodd Will Not Seek Reelection
It was just a matter of time; incumbent Connecticut Senator Chris "Countrywide Mortgage" Dodd had low approval ratings and was losing against all prospective GOP candidates. Democrats have been urging him to step aside to give another Democratic candidate a chance to retain the seat in a blue state. Whereas I'm sure that Dodd's political vulnerability made an easy change argument, I think a first-time Democratic candidate faces a tough battle given public anger over runaway deficit spending, questionable Democratic priorities and performance since the 2008 election, and a lack of political balance in Washington.
Scott Brown Trailing but Competitive
in Massachusetts Special Election for US Senate
A Republican in heavily Democratic Massachusetts faces an uphill battle in the battle for Ted Kennedy's former seat; the last GOP senator, African American Edward Brooke, lost his bid for a third term in 1978 against Paul Tsongas. For people outside Massachusetts, Scott Brown is better known as the father to former American Idol 2006 contestant, 6-feet-tall Ayla Brown, a senior basketball player at Boston College.
A Picture of Me As a UTEP Professor
This picture was taken in the spring of 1990 before I left UTEP. (I scanned the dusty picture, which I recently fished out of a moving box.) I mentioned the student (not by name) in a prior post ; he wrote on the back side: "Most sincerest appreciation for some "real" education. Couldn't have made it without your help." (In fact, he was a profile in courage sticking up for the truth against a dishonest student and a corrupt university administration; there was mutual admiration.) You don't earn a PhD and spend countless hours on research and teaching with the expectation of being thanked. I didn't get high teaching ratings during my academic career cut short by a subsequent recession, but winning the respect of an outstanding young student and person is a most meaningful validation of one's efforts in the classroom.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Eagles' Song: "Desperado"
Simply one of the greatest songs ever written (Glenn Frey and Don Henley), reminding us guys that the greatest attribute of a woman is not her appearance or means but her loving heart. I wish I could write a song like this. Preview of an upcoming interlude selection: I'm still searching for a heart of gold...
Desperado
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow
Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get
Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone
Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you, before it's too late
