Current State of New York's Gubernatorial Race

With Governor David Patterson bowing out of his reelection bid, the people of New York will be guaranteed a new Governor come this November. The following is a list of current candidates under the various political parties in the state of New York.

Democratic Party

Current Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

Andrew Cuomo represents what is wrong with New York state politics. He is apart of the many political families who control the state either directly or indirectly. Cuomo's role as HUD secretary under former President Bill Clinton was one of the contributors to the housing crisis.

Andi Weiss Bartczak

Bartczak a chemist by trade and liberal activist had stated her reasoning for running is to bring actual change to Albany. In her view the New York Democratic Party has become nothing but an oligarchy and grassroots organization is subjected to party bosses. She views Cuomo as apart of that oligarchy.

Republican Party

Former Congressman Rick Lazio

Lazio had run for Senate against Hillary Clinton back in 2000. Lazio is currently trying to paint himself as the one who will bring sanity and limited government back to Albany. However his record on gun rights as a congressman, paints a different picture.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy

Originally a Blue Dog Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in order to run. Levy's cries that the Democrats have forgotten Conservative Democrats like him and the Republicans are where to be. His record on gun rights is only a few steps above Lazio.

Carl Paladino

A developer out of the Buffalo area, claiming that he is the Tea Party candidate. His campaign donations in recent elections paint a different picture. He has stated that if he doesn't get the Republican nomination he will run on the Tea Party line.

Guilderland Town Board Member Warren Redlich

Redlich who is also the nominee of the Libertarian Party will be seeking the Republican nomination via New York's electoral fusion system. Redlich claims that he is the true Tea Party candidate and doesn't have the statist baggage that Paladino, Levy and Lazio have.

Conservative Party

The Conservative Party of New York claims to be the true conservative alternative to when the Republicans nominate someone who is deemed too liberal in their eyes. The latest noise they made was back last November during the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. It's party chairman Micheal Long has personally endorsed Rick Lazio. Long has the final say in regards to endorsements, however there are forces within the party that wish to endorse either Levy or Paladino. Redlich has stated that he has no interest in seeking their endorsement citing that the party doesn't actually believe in small government.


Green Party

The Greens bill themselves as the true liberal party when the Democrats nominate someone they believe to be “too in bed with corporations”. Howie Hawkins who co-founded the national party was nominated at their convention on May 15, 2010.

Constitution Party

This would be the first time the Paleoconservative Constitution Party fields a candidate for a New York state office. Birther and Consiparcy theorist Jan Johnson is the nominee. With New York not being a haven for statist social conservatism, ballot access is most likely to be unsuccessful.

Independence Party

Not to be confused with Constitution splinter party American Independent Party. The Independence Party of New York resembles a state version of the now defunct Reform Party. The Party has a Neolibertarian/Populist bent, which either runs their own candidate or endorses either the Democratic or Republican nominee. Currently no noise has been made in regards to who they will put on the ballot.

Personal Freedom Party

Kristen Davis

The madam that ran the escort service that Former Governor Elliot Spitzer used. Davis was also running for the Libertarian nominee but did not show up to the convention so she was not on the ballot. Her association with Republican political operative Roger Stone as campaign manager who is also responsible for elections of Former Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush made party members very uneasy. Fears that Stone was only helping out Davis in order to make the LP less relevant seem to come ahead when it was discovered that Stone wanted to make a deal with Redlich in order to get Paladino the Republican nomination.

Video Game Review: Blur (Xbox 360)

Over the years, I had become disinterested in racing games because of the repetitiveness of them. The exceptions would be the Burnout Series, Mario Kart and Twisted Metal if you would count it as a racer. Mainly for reasons that you can cause chaos in the race that can affect the outcome.

So when I got an invitation to the beta, I looked up the game, liked what I read and gave it a try. I was certainly impressed with the beta so I hoped that the full game would be just as good which it was. The amount of chaos that is created with the various weapons is paramount, positions change in this game very rapidly so not one player can dominate the match. Their is also a mod shop that players can equip a three mod set to their vehicles before a multiplayer race starts. The mods typically alter handling/weight, weapon damage/resistance and how the track environment affects your vehicles. As you progress in multiplayer you gain access to vehicles, game modes, and mods. The progression system is well thought out, it's not just about winning it's also how you perform in the race. If you are constantly attack and defending yourself from other players your awarded Fans (Blur's version of XP). Simply put; the more fans you gain, the faster you move up in level. Fortunately the progression in single player and multiplayer are not linked. This is good for players that have no interest in single player campaigns and just want to plunge right into the multiplayer mayhem.

Overall Blur is a good solid change to an otherwise static game genre.

Alan Grayson introduces the War is Making You Poor Act

One of the few things I like about Alan Grayson is he is against the Warfare State. The liberal news site Truth Dig reports on general idea of his bill.

The War Is Making You Poor Act is elegant in its simplicity. Instead of financing these longstanding conflicts outside of the regular budgeting process, where they’re not factored into deficit projections, Grayson’s bill would make the DoD work within its means, and the money would instead be used for an across-the-board tax cut that would make the first $35,000 each American earns tax-free.

From the looks of things, it sounds like a good bill but will the warmongers in congress support it? Who knows.

Andrew Cuomo a man of the people?

Watch this video and make your own call

Warren Redlich Candidate for NY Governor fires first primary shot at Carl Paladino

I wrote back in April on how Paladino is just another opportunist trying to become the top dog in Albany. Well it looks like Warren Redlich is firing the first shot by challenging Paladino on his donations to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Chuck Schumer's re-election and Elliot Spitzer's Gubernatorial bid.

The Smears Against Rand Paul Begin

So I just got a breaking news update from Politico saying that Rand Paul has no interested in challenging the Civil Rights Act. Let me just state; WTF! Even for someone as cynical as me I have to just say; WTF! This of course stems from smears that Rand Paul is a racist. I try to find items that actually indicated that he is but I can't seem to find any. The so called evidence is that Rand would for vote for the act in the same way Barry Goldwater (my personal political idol) did. Goldwater believed that Government enforced racism is wrong but also support the right of private property. This is exactly what Rand preaches, yea you probably can find some Paleoconservatives who think the entire act should be null and void but those people are far and few in between. If this is the main attack point the Democrats have on Rand, then they will just hand him the election.

Reason Interviews Anthony H. Williams Dem Candidate for Governor

Now this is a guy who should lead a state. School choice is one big step to improve education in this country.

Jim Staudenraus is a Neocon

While doing some research on the Republican challengers to Schumer's reelection bid, I came across Jim Staudenraus. While reading his platform he had a section dedicated to Isreal and these snippets caught my eye;

"And if you stand up to evil, you are yourself an extremist". Israel correctly perceives that the regime in Tehran is serious in their threats to "wipe Israel off the map'. As Israel's ally we cannot ignore the seriousness of the Iranian threat."

Ok that's Israel's problem, not the problem of the American Tax Payer. Last time I checked Israel wasn't a nation with a third rate military. Their military is one of the most powerful in the world and the most powerful in that region.

"The Obama Administration's policy of "engaging" the regime in Iran has utterly failed. Continued sanctions against the Iranian regime are utterly worthless."

So a third war that we just flush our hard earned money into is the answer? How well are those other two doing?

"Sanctions may make the Obama Administration and some in Congress feel better, but sanctions will only provide Iran with additional time to pursue development of
the nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles they seek to use agaist Israel."

Wait...so when did Israel become a US state?

I'm always amused how neocons try to make Israel's problems, our problems. Hell I had conservatives tell me in the election that Obama was going to flush all our money into Africa. Which is wrong, but when you mention of cutting aid to Israel and the rest of the world for that matter, your called a terrorist, Anti-Semite (despite Arabs are also Semites) and the like. Pardon me for being consistent on fiscal policy. It's become high time to dump socialism at all levels and that includes the military socialism that conservatives like Staudenraus support.

Management needs to change

As a Mets fan you learn to deal with the slumps and disappointment but today's game against the Marlins was ridiculous. The schedule isn't much better as we next face the Braves in Atlanta and then return home for the Subway Series against the Yankees. Fred Wilpon needs to wake up and realize that Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel need to go. Hell bring back Bobby Valentine! We were at least winning and his last year as manager was when we last got to the World Series.

Make Liberty not W.A.R.

As much as I wish it wasn't happening it's happening. Not only is Wayne Allen Root just kissing up to Neoconservatives now it looks like he is now diving deep into conspiracy (think Alex Jones) territory. The Agitator (the personal blog of Libertarian writer Radley Balko has reported that Root will participating on what is being billed by the whack job right "The Trial of the Century". The charges is that Obama was some sort of super secret CIA spy who used his time at Columbia University as a cover to support the Afghan resistance against the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan back in 1979 and yes plenty of birtherism is in this "case" too.

I can't say that I'm not surprised since like I mentioned since Obama's election Root seems hell bent on getting approval from Neoconservatives, Paleoconservatives and others of the Statist Right than opposed to show how they are wrong. This of course just brings a whole host of problems especially since Root is running to become Chairman of the Libertarian National Committee. If Root becomes chair it will become just another arm of the Republicans and the party will be even less relevant. As any Libertarian knows, Conservatives are not interested in our ideas, just our votes. People like Root and Beck aren't Libertarian they are statist conservatives under a different name. I refuse to buy into the argument that they are making Libertarianism more appealing to people. As to who should be the LNC chair, I'm still in decision mode but I sure as hell don't want Root.

Identity Politics yet again....oy!

Ah another identity politics rant by my favorite Paleocon, Pat Buchanan. Raw Story reports on Buchanan shooting off his mouth again because of the identity of Obama's Supreme Court Elena Kagan being Jewish which apparently means there are too many jews on the highest court of the land. The irony of it all is that Paleconservatives are always complaining about identity politics and how it "destroys" America. It's not like there are other things to attack this woman on; she has problems with the First and Second Amendments or perhaps that the woman has no judicial experience. Perhaps that's too difficult for Pat.

Of course Kagan isn't the first person to have her identity focused on in regards to a high political position. If people paid more attention to Obama's positions instead of this stupid crap of him being a Muslim or a secret Kenyan he probably wouldn't have been elected.