British Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign member and One Sorry Blog associate Emil Dauncey interviewed by red website Aporrea

British Venezuela Solidarity Campaign member and One Sorry Blog associate Emil Dauncey is on the ground in the Bolivarian Republic, and was recently interviewed by revolutionary website Aporrea. To read an English transcript of the interview or learn about the international Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, check out the VSC website. Watch the interview below.

Miembro de la Venezuela Solidarity Campaign (Campaña de Solidaridad con Venezuela) y asociado de One Sorry Blog Emil Dauncey se encuentra en plena República Bolivariana, entrevistándose con el sitio web revolucionario Aporrea. Para leer más acerca de la campaña internacional de solidaridad con Venezuela, visita el sitio web de la VSC. Mira la entrevista abajo.

Gambling Is Easy (or, You’ve Heard of Ace Rothstein? Well This Is Ace Cummins!)

Obama, Rudy and Doolittle
By Ace Cummins

With College Hoops season over and still weeks before I suggest laying some Benjamins down on the NBA, we are amidst the doldrums of gaming, so I thought it would be fun to share some betting propositions with non-sports fans who read One Sorry Blog. You see, whatever your area of expertise, whatever your vice, you can bet on it. Politics, entertainment, snooker, cards, whatever, you can bet on it.

In the realm of politics and entertainment, the big items on the board these days are the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, and the one-and-only American Idol. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Read on at your own risk. I am not responsible for any wagering done on the props below.

Politics
Odds to Win the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
A Democrat -155
A Republican +125

Good news for us Progressives. Of course, I will not be surprised if Democratic strategists completely blow the generous head start W has provided, but it’s nice to know Vegas thinks we can do it.

I just realized that some of you may not understand what the betting numbers mean. I will lay it out in simple terms: if you bet on the Donkeys to win at -155, you will need to wager $155 to win $100 (i.e. $15.50 to win $10, etc.). If you bet on the GOP, then for every $100 you wager, you will win $125. Dems are fairly heavy favorites right now.

Odds to win the 2008 Democratic Primary
H. Clinton +135
B. Obama +185
J. Edwards +500
A. Gore +600
B. Richardson +1200
J. Biden +3000
Three at +5000

Clinton is still the favorite, but Obama has closed the gap as of late (good news for OSB founder and Obama supporter Paul Rivas). These numbers are not likely to change much until actual primary votes are cast, but you never know when someone will do something stoopid. Unless you have a favorite that you really think will have the goods down the stretch or you like a longshot to make a move, you will likely get the same odds a year from now.

Odds to Win the 2008 Republican Primary
R. Giuliani +185
M. Romney +275
J. McCain +350
F. Thompson +600
Many longshots

John McCain has officially hit the skids, and people are finally catching on to the fact that he is batshit insane. Once a favorite, even Mitt Romney is starting to pull away from him. Crazy. The Dems should start strategizing how to beat the former NYC Mayor, because I think he’ll win. He has to against that group, right? Sigh.

Entertainment
Now for some “lighter” odds: American Idol. Whether you watch it or not, it is a phenomenon.

Headed into this week’s ousting of Haley “Short Shorts” Scarnato, the odds were as such:

Odds to win 2007 American Idol
M. Doolittle -150
J. Sparks +200
B. Lewis +350
L. Jones +400
Sanjaya +650
C. Richardson +1700
P. Stacey +2700
H. Scarnato +4000

The odds at the bottom were spot on according to the bottom three this week, right? So you figure the top must be dead on, too. But the tides change quickly. Not too long ago, Lakisha was the favorite, and she has suddenly hit some hard times, falling back to fourth. Melinda is a heavy favorite, maybe too heavy. She is good, but can she really win a final showdown? Now might be a good time to lay some cash down on Sparks, Lewis or Jones. For the love of god, not Sanjaya. We’ll see how the new odds shape up when they are released.

Notes: Headed into last year’s semifinals, Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks were sitting on 4-to-1 and 10-to-1 odds, respectively. They both cruised to the finals. Money can be made here, folks. You never thought you would get paid for watching that show, did you?

Questions, comments, love letters, hate mail, recipes, money and DIY tips can be sent to ace.osb@gmail.com.

Ace Cummins: 7-3 overall, 3-0 on 5-Star picks.

On the Campaign Trail

There was a story in the New York Times this week about a real estate agent who makes $60,000 per year but cannot get health insurance for less than $27,000 because she once had cancer. One sixth of Americans do not have health insurance, and one third of those have household incomes of more than $40,000. Many realtors are independent contractors and do not have health insurance. OK, so the U.S. needs a real health care system, and that’s a big issue these days, but wouldn’t the point have been better made by highlighting the case of a group of folks a little less despicable than realtors?

Thomas Eagleton died this week, and it turns out he may have been the sanest politician ever. He won three elections after his 18-day trip as Vice Presidential candidate in the immortal McGovern ’72 campaign, and quit the Senate when he decided he didn’t like the role money was playing in politics. One of his Republican friends – Eagleton wasn’t crazy, but he was still a far-out dude – said Eagleton “saw the ridiculous in things.”

I wonder what was a bigger disappointment for voters my parents’ age: McGovern in ’72, Gore in ’00 or Kerry in ’04. I didn’t vote in 2000 because I figured the absentee ballot I’dve had to send from Mexico wouldn’t get counted. That was a mistake. Not because my California vote would have won the election for Gore, but because I didn’t “stand up and be counted”. I swore I’d never not vote in a Presidential election again. When 2004 rolled around, I was walking out of my polling place at 8:00 a.m. high on what passes for democracy. Needless to say, that night I was sick to my stomach. Feeling I’d prostituted my principles by not voting for Nader, I swore I’d never vote for the Democrats again.

But come 2008, put me down for Obama. I’m already looking forward to voting FOR someone for a change. And I know we can’t call him “articulate” because he’s (half) black, but I think that after six years of Bush it’s fair to get excited about an “articulate” candidate.

Here’s Frank Caliendo doing Bush on Letterman: