Democrat From Kentucky

A long time coming

2010-09-13T17:56:00.008-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog. There's been a lot of garbage going on in politics, especially the advent of the Tea-Party movement or as I call it the Tea-Bag movement. My own state of Kentucky is a battleground for that movement with our U.S. Senate race between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Dr. Rand Paul, backed by the Tea-Baggers and son of Ron Paul, libertarian Republican from Texas.

They're calling for the tax reductions to apply to the wealthiest . The problem roads have to get paved, schools have to be built the military has to be maintained etc. The Republicans want to put into play tax cuts for the wealthier members of our nation, stating that this money can be used to create more jobs. The trickle down or supply side economics theory doesn't work, regardless of what the Reaganites said. Heck, even Reagan's chief economic advisor later said it was trickle down economics.

If one follows our nation's history, one can see, when similar paths are followed economically, speaking, it pushes our country into recessions, depressions and panics. Will Rogers described it "money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy." The problem is that over the last 10 years, the people living at or below the poverty level has increase substantially, they're less jobs available, people who are working are making less money and the wealthiest 5% or so still control about 80-90% of the resources in this country. That's a massive disconnect that's getting worse.

A quote mentioned in wikipedia reference is quite relevant today, "There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests up on them." This was from William Jennings Bryan during his legendary "Cross of Gold" speech.

What continues to compound this problem is President Obama continues to rely on private industry to bring our country out of the recession and it's not going to work that way. Roosevelt didn't bring us out of the Great Depression by waiting for businesses to bail us out. He got people working with the various programs. Obama, as do many people in Washington need to realize they need to work on the lowest rungs economically if they wish to strengthen the country and society as a whole. It's the only way we'll fly and history supports this.

I'm going to start posting again because I just can't sit idly by and continue to see our country turn even more into a nation of "Every Man For Himself."

Revitalization

2007-06-14T08:08:00.001-04:00

RIght now, I'm in the process of changing the look of this blog. I know it's been a year since I've posted much but it's my goal to resume posting with some frequency in the future. Obviously, there's not enough opinion in the form of blogs in the internet so I thought I needed to get mine back in the fray.

In any event, there will be more content coming, mostly on the weekends I would think but will get some at night too. Thanks for those that read and contribute.

Happy 2007

2007-01-01T02:14:00.000-05:00

I'm going to restart things here for the coming year. My posting will mostly be limited to Thurs, Fri. and Sat. for the moment, I will be posting regularly after a long hiatus. In honor of the New Year, here's Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine.
We've wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin' auld lang syne.
Sin' auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' auld lang syne,
We've wondered mony a weary foot,
Sin' auld ang syne.
We twa hae sported i' the burn,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.
Sin' auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' auld lang syne.
But seas between us braid hae roare
Sin' auld lang syne.
And ther's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Technorati Tags: Robert Burns, . New Years Eve, Auld Lang Syne

Mark Foley: SICK SICK SICK!!!

2006-10-01T00:44:00.000-04:00

The political party that has long represented the "moral" compass of our nation has reached another high. I've not written in a while so I need to rebuild things a bit(which I'm going to do) but this thing with Rep Mark Foley, R-FL, has given me a case of the redass.

I guess what bugs me the most about this is that the Repugs sat on this for months. Now today, Repug leadership came out and said Foley needs to be thoroughly investigated. The point is, they tried to keep it quiet and would've not doubt pushed it under the rug if some groups hadn't begun pushing.

_Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the Page Board that oversees the congressional work-study program for high schoolers, said he did investigate but Foley falsely assured him he was only mentoring the boy. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.

Certainly, I understand giving someone the benefit of the doubt, however, in some cases like accusations of sexually harassing teenagers, it's best to heed caution and be thorough. Obviously Shimkus and others thought this would go away.

Just as Shimkus' explanation was released, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California proposed to the House that its ethics committee investigate and make a preliminary report in 10 days. She demanded to know who knew of the messages, whether Foley had other contacts with pages and when the Republican leadership was notified of Foley's conduct.

Foley needs to be thoroughly investigated. If these accusations are anywhere close to being true, then he needs to be locked away. Of course NAMBLA might be having a pledge drive right now.

Technorati Tags: Mark Foley, John Shimkus, Dennis Hastert, Nancy Pelosi

Looks Like Lamont Levels Lieberman?

2006-08-07T15:11:00.000-04:00

The Connecticut Democratic primary also known as the Liebernan-Lamond brawl is in full swing.The Connecticut Senate race is one of the most contentious in the country and it's between Democrats. The most recent Quinnipiac poll shows Lieberman has closed the gap, now only trailing by 6%, 51 to 46. In most polls, figuring in the margin of error, Lieberman could pull this out.

The wonderful lady at Majikthise is blogging events as they happen over at Lamont's campaign HQ.

Lamont's campaign has been built around opposing the war in Iraq, something Lieberman didn't do. Much of Lamont's support has been from progressive bloggers who resented Lieberman for his hawkish stance. If Lamont wins, upsetting a 3-term incumbant U.S. senator, the blogger movement will pick up incredible power, especially those affilliated with groups like DailyKos.

Stephen Elliott of The Progressive had a good article in this month's issue discussing the YealyKos convention. He also discusses this election and what will happen if Lamont wins:

Still, they are making a difference and they are growing exponentially and they are here to stay. The biggest test case is forthcoming when Joe Lieberman faces off against Ned Lamont in the Connecticut primary. The Netroots community is vehemently anti-Lieberman. The bloggers call him Bush’s favorite Democrat. Markos, in his keynote speech on opening night, promised that Ned Lamont would win the primary. If he does, it will fundamentally change everything. If the Netroots can unseat a sitting Democratic Senator, they will assume control of the party. And control of the party will forever change the Netroots.

So... what happens when the "NetRoots" becomes the group in power in the party. Will they become the same as the others in power. As much as some would like to believe that would be the case, very few survive gaining those levels of power with their integrity intact. I would submit that this will be the same thing. But that's another post.

Technorati Tags: Lamont, Lieberman, Connecticut, Democrat, primary, Senate, DailyKos, MajikThise

Oil Prices in the tank

2006-08-07T14:49:00.000-04:00

It looks like oil prices are in the tank after BP announced yesterday they would be shutting down oil production in the Alaskan North Slope region. The resulting production loss accounts for about 400,000 barrels a day or roughly 8% of the total U.S. output. It will also account for about 2.5% of BP's total worldwide production. Considering oil prices were already high, this will force them to rally even further.

As of this posting, prices were hanging around $77.05 a barrel and climbing on the Nymex and gas prices were around $2.26.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

The average U.S. retail price of a gallon of unleaded, regular gasoline was $3.036 on Monday -- near its all-time high of $3.057, reached Sept. 5 after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. "I suspect that record will fall in the next 48 hours,'' said Tom Kloza, an analyst at Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J., noting that pump prices around the country are likely to rise 5 to 10 cents a gallon.

BP new this area was having problems though as these pipelines were corroding and they had huge problems about 6 mos. ago Again from the WSJ:

In March, a BP transit line in the North Slope spilled 267,000 gallons of oil. It was a month before BP was able to install a bypass on that line to resume operations. BP is currently under criminal investigation for that spill. "It makes you wonder, if this time the pipeline will be shut down longer than it was in March because inspection will be more stringent,'' said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

This is in addition to all the other "normal" things that kick fuel prices up like war in the Middle East, hurricanes, people driving the cars, etc.

This is just one more reason these folks need to kick up our fuel prices. I'd say oil will probably hit $80 a barrel before the week's out and gas maybe $3.30 a gallon fore unleaded. I'd hate to be an incumbant right now.

I will say the Energy Dept. is prepared to dump some oil onto the market but this announcement doesn't seem to have calmed the market much. There's no timetable on how long fixing this problem might take either.

Technorati Tags: BP, oil prices, Alaska, oil shortage

Clinton Reams Rummy

2006-08-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

It looks like Senator Clinton (D-NY) took the time to ream the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld over his handling of the Iraq offensive. She claimed the whole thing was an incompetent mess and called for Rummy to resign.

I agree wholeheartedly. With thousands of American soldiers dead over a bogus war. Then we figure in the rough average quoted last week by Tim Russert on the Today show of roughly 100 Iraqis a day. Doing the math on this doesn't take brilliance. It would seem, based on the numbers, we've got our own little genocide going, with the U.S. being responsible directly or indirectly for the deaths of well over 36,000 people per year. This is 3 years AFTER the the major combat is over. How is this better than what Saddam Hussein did?

All this goes on while our troops are sorely needed elsewhere. We're creating our own war for the future.

I'm beginning to think Bush and Rumsfeld should go on trial for war crimes.

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq War, genocide

A long time...

2006-08-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, it's been a while since I've posted. I've a number of personal issues going on and those needed to be resolved, to some extent. While they're not solved completely, I plan on getting back to the posting every day stuff I was doing before. The political world is hotter than ever, with a corrupt White House and a corrupt governor in the Frankfort. It seems like there's plenty to be done and lots to talk about.

One thing I will mention is WLAP 630's new morning talk show host, Ferrell Wellman. Dave Baker quit and Wellman took over. I'd say he's probably as good as it gets for this kind of thing. He's got nearly 2 decades as reporter in Frankfort and while his show may have conservative leanings, I'd say he'll give a fair shake to whatever comes down the pike. I also like him because he was one of my professors in college. He was certainly one of the best.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Chandler/Abramson in '07?

2006-06-07T21:36:00.000-04:00

Talk about a powerhouse ticket in Kentucky. Mark Hebert over at WHAS 11 in Louisville reported on a meeting between Congressman Ben Chandler and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and the speculation is that the two may be considering a run for the governor's race in '07.

The last time Ben Chandler ran for governor, he picked Louisville businessman Charlie Owen as his running mate. A meeting Tuesday raised the possibility if Congressman Chandler runs again, another Louisvillian, Jerry Abramson, might be his lieutenant governor running mate.

“You could certainly speculate to that effect,” said Chandler via phone.

This is certainly an interesting situation and as the article speculates, a Chandler/Abramson ticket would be incredibly strong and a definitive favorite. Many have been calling for both to run for governor.

One scenario could be Chandler running one term then going to the Senate, assuming Bunning doesn't run again. It's a distinct possibility. This would leaver Abramson, an established and successful executive running the governor's office. It's sheer speculation at this point but it's certainly an interesting possibility. The only catch is that were that ticket to lose, both men's political careers would be over, without question.

What are your thoughts? Who would replace Chandler in the 6th Congressional district?

Technorati Tags: Ben Chandler, Jerry Abramson, Kentucky

A new poll

2006-06-03T15:42:00.000-04:00

Another thing I've not put up in a while is a new poll. The new poll is on our governor. Should Ernie Fletcher resign? He's currently fighting with the attorney general's office (Democrat) and the lieutenant governor's office (Republican). It would lseem our governor is running out of friends.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Ernie Fletcher, Steve Pence, Greg Stumbo, Kentucky

This weekend

2006-06-03T15:40:00.000-04:00

It's the first annual Fort Harrod Beef Festival. If you're in Harrodsburg, Ky today or tomorrow, come check it out. They have all kinds of good things and tomorrow will be karaoke. HOO HAH!

But seriously... check it out. I went over there this morning and they had lots of crafts and music and good food. Plus the food competitions.

Technorati Tags: Ft Harrod Beef Festival, Kentucky, beef

It's been a while

2006-06-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. I've had a lot going on. I will begin posting regularly again though.

First up are the problems with old Dirty Ernie and his former Lt. Governor, Steve Pence. This is just one more nail in the coffin of the Fletcher administration. Brett Hall, the governor's mouth piece, speculated that Pence is going to run for governor though Pence has denied he's running for anything.

There are some other interesting things going on here too. Pence announced his plans not to seek reelection on the Fletcher slate earlier this week. He also said he plans to resign his position as head of the Justice cabinet. The next day, Fletcher asked for Pence's resignation and Pence promptly said, "No!" So what gives? Do we have a civil war going on in the Republican Party? For a party that seemed unified, they are coming apart at the seams. Fletcher picked Pence for the job.

It does bode well for state Republicans and Fletcher is running out of time to clean this mess up. One can be sure he'll face primary competition next year and I'd say it'll get ugly.

Did I mention that Brett Hall dropped the F-bomb to Larry Dale Keeling over at the Herald-Leader, yet no other paper is going to publish the statement. And I thought the Courier Journal had more cahoneys.

Technorati Tags: Ernie Fletcher, Steve Pence, Brett Hall, Larry Dale Keeling, Lexington Herald-Leader

Less than a thousand more days of Bush...

2006-05-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

So we've got less than one thousand more days of Bush. More and more candidates will start surfacing soon for the job of president. Right now, McCain and Hillary are certainly front runners in discussions for propective candidates. What kind of messes do they need to clean up after Bush leaves?

Technorati Tags: Bush, McCain, Hillary Clinton, presidency, elections

Open Day

2006-05-16T14:10:00.000-04:00

What else do you want to talk about today?

Election Day...

2006-05-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

Today is primary day in Kentucky. So... who did you vote for?

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, primaries, elections

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

2006-05-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

There's an interesting article over at Kos about the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This is an allied organization consisting of Russia, China, states of the former USSR, and a number of observer nations including India and Iran. They are a treaty organization to act as a foil to the United States. It's a pretty big foil.

One comment is the organization's investment into South American recently. It's interesting because there's a lot going on here. I recommend reading it. What're your thoughts on the matter?

Technorati Tags: Shangahi Cooperation Organization, Russia, China, World War III

Ernie Fletcher Indicted

2006-05-12T18:08:00.000-04:00

It looks like the fine governor of Kentucky faces a variety of charges, all of which leave our state with a black eye with the rest of the country. The Herald Leader currently has a decent story and Mark Nickolas' Bluegrass Report has some great insight into the matter.

The indictments are the culmination of a long investigation by the Attorney General's office into violation of the law involving hiring and not following the rules of the merit system.

Right now, none of the top state Republicans are talking about any of this.

An interesting little side note:

Fletcher becomes the third sitting Kentucky governor to be indicted and the first since Flem Sampson was charged in 1929 with receiving improper gifts.

Some other notes about the situation:

The indictments came exactly a year after a transportation personnel official, Doug Doerting, walked into Stumbo’s office on May 11, 2005, and dropped off boxes of e-mails and documents showing questionable hiring decisions, which started the investigation.

But the timing was more than symbolic.

The one-year window to charge someone with violating or conspiring to break state merit employment laws was set to expire Saturday.

That’s the anniversary of the May 13 firing of transportation cabinet inspector Mike Duncan, who claims to have been terminated once administration officials learned he had supported Fletcher’s Democratic opponent in the 2003 governor’s race.

His firing was the last in a string of personnel decisions alleged to be politically motivated.

Fletcher was specifically charged yesterday with political discrimination in connection with that move.

The indictment says the governor “willfully ordered, directed, approved or otherwise participated” with previously indicted Transportation Cabinet Secretary Bill Nighbert, Deputy Secretary Jim Adams and former Administrative Commissioner Dan Druen to fire Duncan, a merit employee.

It's a sad day when this happens in Kentucky. IT goes to show though that Fletcher was a lousy leader in Kentucky. He made poor choices for advisors and instead of supplanting the Republicans into power, he managed to injure the party for years. The question is how long will this last. Of course he could pardon himself.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, culture of corruption, Republicans

Porter Goss Gets The Boot; General Michael Hayden In?

2006-05-07T09:48:00.000-04:00

The war over civil liberties continues to be fought and a major battle is coming. In the wake of Porter Goss's boot from the running the CIA, one according to the NYT, the main candidate for the replacement is one General Michael V. Hayden.

But General Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, would also face serious questions about the controversy over the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program, which he oversaw and has vigorously defended.

So we're going to get a man in who vigorously defends violating the rights of Americans. I guess this just makes him one in a line for the current administration.

Technorati Tags: Bush, Porter Goss, Michael Hayden, Domestic Surveillance, civil liberties

Technorati Tags: Bush, Porter Goss, Michael Hayden, Domestic Surveillance, civil liberties

Stephen Colbert's Burning Bush

2006-05-05T00:29:00.000-04:00

I've not weighed in yet on the whole issue of Stephen Colbert's vicious attack on the president and mainstream media. All I have to say is it's about damned time. His humourous and scathing attack is in the greatest tradition of political satire and if the president can't handle it, his skin is too thin for the job.

I've gotten a link to the segments. This will take you to the first one and then you can view the others from there.

It's interesting that some people at Comedy Central take their jobs very seriously as comedians in their original and true sense. Unfortunately, more won't say the same thing and many news folks are brutally critical of all sides of the political spectrum more.

Alternet has an interesting take on the thing, particularly referring to Bush's speech in March of 2004 when he poked fun at not finding the WMDs:

The backlash only appeared a day or two later, and not, by and large, emerging from the media, but from Democrats and some Iraq veterans. Then it was mainly forgotten. I never understood why Sen. John Kerry did not air a tape of the episode every day during his hapless final drive for the White House.

In any case, another 1,900 Americans have died in Iraq since Bush's ha-ha home video. As it happens, the Downing Street memo, and a similar British document that surfaced recently, suggested that Bush doubted WMDs existed and "fixed" the intelligence to take the nation to war. What a riot.

At that same Downing Street memo forum at the Capitol last year that Milbank mocked, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, after cataloguing the bogus Bush case for WMDs and the Iraqi threat, looked out at the cameras and notepads, mentioned the March 24, 2004 dinner, and acted out the president looking under papers and table for those missing WMDs. "And the media was all yucking it up ... hahaha," McGovern said. "You all laughed with him, folks." Then he mentioned soldiers who had died "after that big joke."

The media needs to be slapped around and the president needs to be put on trial for high crimes, misdemeanors and stupidity.

Technorati Tags: Stephen Colbert, George Bush, WMDs

It's been a while...

2006-05-04T17:09:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted and for my regular readers (if there are any left) I apologize for my intermitten posting over the last few weeks. I've had a lot going on but I aim to rectify the problem.

One thing, as my pal Greymagius pointed out, is an insanely crappy senate bill, SB 1955. The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, also called the Enzi bill(after it's primary sponsor, Michael Enzi, R- Wyoming).

Check out DailyKos for a little more info and details. Needless to say, this bill is pure unadulterated evil perpetrated by the Republican Senators (and one Democrat) to strip human beings of basic medical care. While I'm a little late on this, folks here in Kentucky could expect to lose silly little things like:

Alcoholism Treatment
Ambulatory Surgery
Bone Marrow Transplants
Bone Density Screening
Dental Anesthesia
Diabetic Supplies/Education
Emergency Services
Home Health Care
Mammography Screening
Mental Health (General)
Mental Health (Parity)
Metabolic Disorders (PKU)
Minimum Mastectomy Stay
Off-Label Drug Use
TMJ Disorders

So just remember, you lovely ladies out there will lose out on mammograms. We crazy people won't get our Ritalin and Prozac and your grandmother won't have that home health nurse to help take care of her. Did I mention that Medicaid is being cut, the states can't make up the difference and Medicare won't catch all the baby boomers. Really... this is just social Darwinism at its new high point.

Technorati Tags: Enzi bill, SB1955, health insurance bill, social darwinism, DailyKos

Technorati Tags: Enzi bill, SB1955, health insurance bill, social darwinism, DailyKos

Bush Tough On Gas Companies: BWAHAHAHA!!!

2006-04-24T23:38:00.000-04:00

Bush is saying he's ready to get tough on gas prices by ordering a probe into price gouging. He's responding to a recent letter from the Republican leadership in Congress after the Democrats (Charles Shumer) called for a probe a week ago.

Now the entire laughable thing about all this is it's simply a smoke screen. Who the hell does he think he's fooling by "probing" price gouging. Someone needs to probe his head to find the alien devices inside. He won't bite the hand that feeds him.

From the AP story:

Bush is under pressure to do something about gas prices that have reached nearly $3 a gallon. In a new CNN poll, 69 percent of respondents said gasoline price increases had caused them personal hardship. Other polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and President Bush gets low marks for handling gas prices.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged Bush in a letter Monday to order a federal investigation into any gasoline price gouging or market speculation.

Bush was working on the speech aboard Air Force One as he flew home Monday evening from a four-day trip to California that ended with a swing through Las Vegas. McClellan outlined part of the speech to reporters traveling on the plane.

McClellan said Bush also will announce that his attorney general and Federal Trade Commission will send a letter to all 50 state attorneys general, who have primary authority over price gouging, to remind them to stay on top of the issue and offer federal help to do so. And he will call on energy companies to reinvest their profits into expanding refining capacity, developing new technologies and researching alternative energy sources.

"I think you'll hear the president say very clearly that he will not tolerate price gouging," McClellan said.

So what's he going to do on the national level? Is he going to go after the oil companies for manipulating the market? Doubtful unless it's to have dinner back at the ranch in Crawford. This is PURE garbage. Hell... he probably owns a few million shares in Exxon Mobil as does Dick Cheney and all the Bush family. They're getting richer off this. Yep... I'm saying it out loud. The president of the United States, George W. Bush, has an obvious conflict of interest and is committing the basest level graft possible. That's why he won't do anything about it. Never mind the polls saying most of America is experiencing personal hardship. As long as he doesn't.

Technorati Tags: Bush, EExxon Mobil, oil prices, Dick Cheney,

More Oil Insight...

2006-04-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

I found a great piece over at Ezra Klein over the price of oil, why it's happening and some notion on the future.

I think folks need to look at oil prices for the last couple of years. Consider the price of oil has nearly tripled in the last two years. Has demand really increased that much? Also consider that ExxonMobil has had record profits in the last year and are projected to have another record setting quarter. They are merely stacking the deck.

Now... in the companies' defense, consumption of petroleum based products, mainly gasoline hasn't slowed much. One could argue they are merely pushing the limits to see what the market will support. Unfortunately a lot of middle class folks and poorer will pay a hefty price in the process. Pay attention to the farmers too. They run farms of gasoline and diesel fuel. Food costs will surely climb too. I'd say Farm Aid will be busy this year.

Technorati Tags: oil prices, Exxon Mobil, Farm Aid

Sunday Afternoon

2006-04-23T16:40:00.000-04:00

What's going on in your world? I myself got up and went to meeting this morning, had lunch, came home, changed clothes and have been and will continue to work in the yard. Once the mowing is done it's off to euthanize dandelions.

Miss Kentucky Crowned Miss USA

2006-04-22T00:05:00.000-04:00

For those interested in such things, congratulations goes to Tara Elizabeth Connor, 20, of Russell Springs was crowned Miss USA in tightly contested pagent.

Technorati Tags: Miss USA, Miss Kentucky, Tara Elizabeth Connor, Russell Springs

Record Oil Prices And Bush Is Helpless

2006-04-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

OIl hit record highs on the market today, soaring past $75 a gallon with no apparent end in sight. With problems continuing to mount in both Iran and Nigeria, the only thing we can do is bend over and grab our ankles.

Many "experts" list a number of problems resulting in such high prices at the pump but with $3 a gallon or more, results is what we need. The working men and women of this country continue to be forced in dire financial straits and it's all because of the price at the pump.

President Bush spoke at Cisco Systems today in SIlicon Valley and while he ackknowledged rising prices are "like a tax, particularly on the working people and the small-business people," he won't do anything about it. He said that any price gouging will be "dealt with firmly" but he won't do that because the entire oil industry is gouing the price. It's being done at the market place and reports are already showing ExxonMobile will have another record quarter.

So let's put this in perspective: He's killing our young men and women in Iraq, he's wreaking havoc on the poor in places like New Orleans and now he's trying to make everyone else poor in the process. He says he can't do anything about it. This is proof he's merely a pawn in office. He CHOOSES not to do anything about it. Presidents in the past have knocked heads with big companies. Hell... Teddy Roosevelt butted heads with JP Morgan. But then again, Dubyah is a far cry from Teddy.

Technorati Tags: OIl Prices, George Bush, Exxon Mobile, Teddy Roosevelt, JP Morgan

Jim Bunning One of 5 Worst Senators in the Nation

2006-04-19T14:43:00.000-04:00

A new feature in this week's Time marks our own Jim Bunning as one of the five worst Senators in America, saying essentially that he's more than capable, he just doesn't do the job. Dan Mongiardo certainly couldn't have done any worse.

In addition to being hostile to staff members on the Hill and occasionally even other Senators, Bunning shows little interest in policy unless it involves baseball, according to congressional experts and colleagues. When asked, they struggle to recall any legislation Bunning has worked on, although he did join Arizona Senator John McCain last spring in demanding tougher punishments for steroid use in professional sports. Congressional observers consider Bunning, 74, a disappointment also because his sharp questioning of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on fiscal matters during hearings over the past couple of years suggest he has the smarts to be an effective Senator but doesn't put in the effort.

What a delight.

Technorati Tags: Jim Bunning, Time, Daniel Mongiardo

McClellan's Gone

2006-04-19T14:27:00.000-04:00

It looks like Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary is leaving the White House. He's Bush's second mouth piece during this administration, getting the slot after Ari Fleischer left in 2003.

Also, Karl Rove is stepping out of the policy side of things and will be concentrating on upcoming elections.

WaPo said:

Karl Rove, the president's most influential adviser and a dominant force in the Bush administration since its beginning, surrendered key policy responsibilities today while press secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation.

When Andrew Card bailed last week, you had to figure a shake up was coming. It's not really surpising in all honesty. The administration has been floundering for a while and they will continue to do so until the economy improves. With inflation rising, oil prices skyrocketing and the trade deficit totally out of whack, people's wallets are getting lighter by the day.

Oil Prices Movin' On Up...

2006-04-18T17:33:00.000-04:00

Oil prices continue to climb to record highs, settling over the $71 mark today in New York. Gas prices also continue to climb, hitting $2.22 a gallon on the market. That means prices will continue to climb at the pump, well ahead of the summer driving season.

The high prices are contributed to a couple of different factors. First is the political situation in both Iran and Nigeria. Tensions with Iran, the second largest OPEC nation, continue to escalate as they continue to move toward becoming a true nuclear power. Nigeria is faced with geo-political tensions as rebels continue to threaten the oil rich nation.

Next comes the rising demand from growing nations like China and India, who've been industrializing and growing their middle classes by leaps and bounds. As more people require fuel for transportation, heating and electricity, demand will continue to go up.

The last note are the refiners themselves. Stocks have been dwindling as they've been working on heavy repairs for the various refineries in the U. S. This shortens the gas supply. And according to the Wall Street Journal, the repairs should be pretty much done by the end of the month, this doesn't help us now.

While President Bush stated today price gougers will be dealt with, he doesn't touch on the fact that the entire industry is gouging the prices. All the tension are merely a smoke screen to allow the oil companies to continue to enjoy record profits. Politically, this doesn't bode well for those in power though. As I've already stated, the one way way to cause problems during an election year is for people's wallet's to be in the shitter and that's what will lose elections.

You'll see election losses this year and oil/gas prices will be the reason.

Technorati Tags: oil prices, elections, Bush, Iran, OPEC, Nigeria

Thoughts For Harry Moberly

2006-04-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Representative Harry Moberly, D - Richmond. The powerful representative had a heart attack in the state Capitol and is resting at Central Baptist Hospital.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, Harry Moberly, General Assembly

What's shakin' kids?

2006-04-17T01:22:00.001-04:00

What exciting is going on in your world tonight?

Oil In The Overnight...

2006-04-17T01:22:00.000-04:00

Late night trades on the New York Mercantile Exchange took oil prices over $70 a barrel with gas going to $2.12 a gallon on the market. This means gas prices at the pump are fast approaching $3 a gallon and will probably be there before April is over unless something changes. Unless oil and gas inventories in the U.S. increase dramatically on the Wed. update, then look for prices to continue to climb.

At this stage of the game, it's not out of the real of possibility to see $80 a barrel for oil and perhaps $4 or $5 a gallon at the pump. Honestly, unless Nigeria's political situation calms considerably as does Iran's, those prices will climb. Also consider the hurricane season kicks off in June. This is assuming all the refineries keep working right and no other countries have any real problems wityh oil production.

This is what's really going to decide this next election. As most primaries will be over within a month, incumbants have something genuine to worry about and that's oil prices. Both the president and VP made money in the energy business and they're treating it well at the cost of the American people. If the Democrats were smart, they would seize on this issue and begin hammering it home.

Lots of issues are abstract and uninteresting. But gas prices people understand and it's a prime opportunity to begin the assault on the Republicans. It's a good issue that will work, especially when combined with the Iraq war.

Technorati Tags: oil prices, Iraq, elections, Republicans, Democrats

New stuff and the Reestablishment of the Know Nothings

2006-04-17T00:39:00.000-04:00

I've not posted in a while because I've had some issues going on, however because we've got elections coming up, I feel I owe to the rest of the world to let them read my glorious and wonderful thoughts on all things, especially political.

One the biggest issues people are getting steamed about right now is immigration or more specifically illegal immigration from Mexico and other Central American nations.

This isn't the first time folks have railed at huge influxes of immigrants. If one looks back before the civil war, the Know Nothings were very much about "nativist" ideas. Large groups of immigrants were bad for the country, taking jobs away, filling up neighborhoods. They were all poor, sounded different, etc. Mostly, they were Irish and were really an offshoot of the Whig party. While I may be stretching a bit, they would be flourishing in today's society because of the immigrant issues. Then, later on, the Irish had problems with the Italian immigrants.

Now, on to modern times.

Back then, the Irish were leaving a famine. Now, the Mexicans and other hispanic cultures are vastly overpopulated. That's why Mexico City is the most populous in the world. Many are poor and come to America for a better life. Many are trucked in or run across the border and many live in substandard conditions, working low wage jobs.

Here's the real key though: economics. There's a market for these folks. There are millions of low paying jobs as physical laborers, restaurant workers, etc. that many "nativists" won't do. If the market weren't there, they wouldn't come here. There's obviously a huge market for low wage, hard working laborers. They help support our standard of living.

I'm not necessarily advocating or condoning illegal behavior but not only are there jobs for all these people but also, many are willing to risk death to get to those jobs. There's very little, in my estimation, that the government can do to slow this down.

Technorati Tags: Immigration, Know Nothings, Whigs

Game Theory in action

2006-04-12T01:38:00.000-04:00

When I look at the current political landscape, I often feel angry about what I perceive as unwillingness on the part of so many Politicians in power to take action needed. Recently I was reading on a different matter and the discussion drifted into 'Game Theory'. Though my understanding is far from perfect, Game Theory does help reduce certain events and reactions to a more easily understood series of results. I'm trying to keep this post to the more basics elements. For those interested and willing to wade thru rather extensive and dense set of works, a bewildering variety of options and variables can be seen that will skew the best choices and the final results. However, I believe that after a certain point, one finds that most variables tend to become self canceling.

For a good overview I suggest the Wikipedia link

'The Prisoners Dilemma' is a classic bit of Game theory. It is based on long term cooperation for superior group gain versus short term betrayal for personal gain. I've began to believe that our current system of Government has fallen into a mode of operation similar to the Prisoners Dilemma. If played thru several rounds, cooperation produces the best overall results. In the short term, betrayal leads to better results for an individual. To add to the problems we run into, is that far too much of the world views the politics and economics as a Zero Sum game the only way one person can profit is for another to suffer loss. It seems most politicians and governments today operate on a Short Term/ Zero Sum approach, failing to see long term greater profitability. Most indications are that Politics & Economics are not Zero Sum nor does Short Term solutions produce viable political results..

The concept of 'Tit for Tat' was long considered the most viable option . It works fairly well, though the 'Tit for Tat with Forgiveness' strategy works slightly better. Current politics seemed to be working under a short term viewpoint and Zero Sum view. The problem is that both Democrats and Republicans are both are operating under the Short Term/Zero Sum approach. Until both sides see the advantage of cooperation, and yes, BOTH sides must cooperate, we're all losing this most important of games.

The more complex societies get and the more complex the networks of interdependence within and beyond community and national borders get, the more people are forced in their own interests to find non-zero-sum solutions. That is, win-win solutions instead of win-lose solutions.... Because we find as our interdependence increases that, on the whole, we do better when other people do better as well - so we have to find ways that we can all win, we have to accommodate each other - Bill Clinton, Wired interview, December 2000

Molly Ivins on Tom Delay Resignation

2006-04-06T23:56:00.000-04:00

Molly Ivins is often insightful and certainly provides some interesting insight into much of what's going on with Delay. She's right on.

Molly Ivins: Good Riddance to DeLay's Crucifix-Shaped Hammer
Posted on Apr. 5, 2006
By Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas - In general, I'm against kicking 'em when they're down .. unless really awful people are involved. I figured Tom DeLay is so awful, plenty of people would gang up on him and I could pass.

Imagine my surprise when the toughest question one famous TV tough guy could come up with was, "Do you think you invested too much in the Republican Party?" Another inquired whether DeLay could think of any mistakes he'd made. I waited with bated breath for the immortal, "I wish I could learn not to work so hard," but no, he couldn?t think of a single one.

Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay first came to power promising to restore democracy to the House of Representatives, supposedly suffering from then-Speaker Jim Wright's tyrannical regime. Even after the Rs drove Wright from office, however, bipartisanship was out of the question for DeLay. In the budget fight and government shutdown of 1995, for instance, DeLay rejected compromise and famously said, "It's time for all-out war."

I never minded DeLay being a tough guy, it was his syrupy claims to carry the banner for Christianity that I found offensive, as he frog-marched the House toward being a cash-operated special-interest machine. The idea of putting pressure on lobbyists to give only to Republicans, pressuring lobbying firms into hiring only Republicans and then letting lobbyists sit at the table during committee meetings where legislation was written?it was just screaming overt corruption.

Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich turned the U.S. House of Representatives, "the people's House," into a pay-for-play machine for corporations. Put in enough money, get your special tax exemption, get your earmarked government contract, get your trade legislation and your environmental exemption, get rid of safety regulation.

I'd like to address the idea that what DeLay did was only "payback" for the alleged sins of Jim Wright and then-House Majority Whip Tony Coelho, that it's "our turn" at the trough, so why not act like Dan Rostenkowski? It's a great way to rationalize misbehavior, even if the misbehavior is as disproportionate as Wright?s ethical peccadillo compared to the open corruption of DeLay's ""K Street Project," selling Congress to the lobby

I've watched enough switches of political power and use of the "payback" excuse to realize that what the new Ins call "payback" has little to do with whatever the new Outs used to do. It is, instead, a direct reflection - "projection," the shrinks call it - of the ethical values of the Ins onto the Outs. Every time you hear a misdeed justified by, "Well, they used to do it," you can generally mark off a 50% to 75% exaggeration.

To get a real sense of DeLay's cynicism and recklessness, forget the stuff the press loves, like the "free golfing trip" to St. Andrew's. Instead, take note of the following example.

The Northern Marianas Islands are a U.S. protectorate (so it can label goods "Made in the USA") being used as a sort of labor gulag in the Pacific, with workers imported from China and elsewhere and paid pitiful wages. Jack Abramoff had a contract with the government of the Marianas to lobby against stopping the flow of immigrant labor to the islands and to prevent a minimum wage bill (mandating a level higher than the island's standard $3.05 per hour) from getting to the floor of the House.

The islands are home to classic sweatshops. In 1996 and 1997, Abramoff billed the Marianas for 187 contacts with DeLay's office, including 16 meetings with DeLay. In December 1997, DeLay, his wife and their daughter went on an Abramoff-arranged jaunt to the Marianas. DeLay brunched with the Marianas? largest private employer, textile magnate Willie Tan.

Tan had to settle a U.S. Labor Department lawsuit alleging workplace violations. According to the book "The Hammer" by Lou Dubose and Jan Reid, among the violations common on the islands is forbidding women to work when they are pregnant, thus leading to a high abortion rate.

Evidently, DeLay didn't have time to look into such allegations, since he was busy playing golf and attending a dinner in his honor, sponsored by Tan's holding company. According to The Washington Post, it was at this dinner that DeLay called Abramoff ?"one of my closest and dearest friends." He also reminded those present of his promise that no minimum wage or immigration legislation affecting the Marianas would be passed.

"Stand firm," he added. "Resist evil. Remember that all truth and blessings emanate from our Creator." He then went with Tan to see a cockfight.

This is why DeLay's professions of Christianity make me sick. He was there. He could have talked to the workers. Instead, he chose to walk with the powerful and do real harm to the very people Jesus mandated we especially care for.

www.creators.com

Technorati Tags: Tom Delay, Molly Ivins

Rondo Headin' to the NBA

2006-04-05T12:57:00.000-04:00

Kentucky point guard Rajon Rondo announced his intention to head to the NBA yesterday during an afternoon press conference. He said he plans on hiring an agent so Rondo's career at UK is done.

I wonder if we'll do better with out him.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky Wildcats, Rajon Rondo, NBA, Tubby Smith

John Kerry's Op-Ed in the NYT

2006-04-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

April 5, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor - NY Times

Two Deadlines and an Exit

By JOHN F. KERRY
Washington

WE are now in the third war in Iraq in as many years. The first was against Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction. The second was against terrorists whom, the administration said, it was better to fight over there than here. Now we find our troops in the middle of an escalating civil war.

Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our valiant soldiers can't bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq's leaders are unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires.

As our generals have said, the war cannot be won militarily. It must be won politically. No American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi politicians refuse to resolve their ethnic and political differences.

So far, Iraqi leaders have responded only to deadlines — a deadline to transfer authority to a provisional government, and a deadline to hold three elections.

Now we must set another deadline to extricate our troops and get Iraq up on its own two feet.

Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren't willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they're probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.

If Iraq's leaders succeed in putting together a government, then we must agree on another deadline: a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by year's end. Doing so will empower the new Iraqi leadership, put Iraqis in the position of running their own country and undermine support for the insurgency, which is fueled in large measure by the majority of Iraqis who want us to leave their country. Only troops essential to finishing the job of training Iraqi forces should remain.

For this transition to work, we must finally begin to engage in genuine diplomacy. We must immediately bring the leaders of the Iraqi factions together at a Dayton Accords-like summit meeting. In a neutral setting, Iraqis, working with our allies, the Arab League and the United Nations, would be compelled to reach a political agreement that includes security guarantees, the dismantling of the militias and shared goals for reconstruction.

To increase the pressure on Iraq's leaders, we must redeploy American forces to garrisoned status. Troops should be used for security backup, training and emergency response; we should leave routine patrols to Iraqi forces. Special operations against Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorists in Iraq should be initiated only on hard intelligence leads.

We will defeat Al Qaeda faster when we stop serving as its best recruitment tool. Iraqis ultimately will not tolerate foreign jihadists on their soil, and the United States will be able to maintain an over-the-horizon troop presence with rapid response capacity. An exit from Iraq will also strengthen our hand in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat and allow us to repair the damage of repeated deployments, which flag officers believe has strained military readiness and morale.

For three years now, the administration has told us that terrible things will happen if we get tough with the Iraqis. In fact, terrible things are happening now because we haven't gotten tough enough. With two deadlines, we can change all that. We can put the American leadership on the side of our soldiers and push the Iraqi leadership to do what only it can do: build a democracy.

John F. Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004.

Technorati Tags: John Kerry, Iraq War

Delay Resigns ... leaves slot open

2006-04-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

Former House Majority Leader and Republican powerhouse Tom Delay (R-Texas) announced he would be resigning his House seat in the next couple of months. While he said it wasn't because of his legal troubles, they've certainly played a part in his demise. The indictments are keeping him tied up with bad publicity and have hampered his ability to to be effective.

One must also consider the scandals tied to Jack Abramoff, formerly a close ally of Delay and the corruption conviction of Tony Rudy, his former deputy chief of staff. All these things together have plagued Delay's ability to be re-elected and while he claimed he probably could've won, it would've been ugly and quite expensive. He claimed the election would been a referendum about him instead of an issue based election.

A defiant DeLay declared he had "no regrets" and he professed "no fear" of any investigation as he railed against "liberal Democrats," vowing to deny them the chance to win his seat with a campaign highlighting a host of legal difficulties and alleged ethics violations. Polls showed that DeLay's latest reelection bid appeared increasingly likely to end in defeat.

The real issue comes down to who gets the seat in a special election. Delay will officially move his residence to Virginia to be taken out of consideration for the November election. This will allow Republicans to begin building a candidate.

Republicans said that, with DeLay gone, they have a much better chance of holding the seat. Although redistricting took some Republicans out of the district, Bush won 64 percent of the vote there in 2004. According to GOP sources, one almost-certain candidate is Sugar Land Mayor David G. Wallace. Tom Campbell, who was second to DeLay in the primary with 30 percent of the vote, said last night he would run in any special election.

Former Democratic Texas Congressman Nick Lampson was challenging Delay and led pretty strongly in the polls. This race will still be expensive but the Repugs think they can still hang onto the seat now that Delay is leaving.

This race is still winnable but it's going to take more effort than ever. Delay has promised whichever Republican fills his slot will go to Congress. Lampson will definitely need to take the slot in the special election. It'll be needed to give him a strong shot in November.

Technorati Tags: Delay, Texas, Sugarland, Nick Lampson, Tony Rudy,

Late night thread...

2006-04-03T23:56:00.001-04:00

What're you kids doing tonight?

Florida Whips UCLA

2006-04-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

The University of Florida Gators whipped the UCLA Bruins 73-57 in a decisive victory that crowned Billy Donovan's Gators as the 2006 NCAA men's national champs.

Having watched the games, in all honesty, UCLA was never really even in the match. Florida led by 11 at the half and were up by more than 20 at one time. It was really pretty ugly as the Gators slammed the ball at will.

Congratulations Florida. The Cats will be coming for you next year.

Yeah... Now All Our Troops Get Half-Ass Armor

2006-03-31T00:49:00.000-05:00

I found this.

It would seem those wonderful kids over at the Pentagon seem to think they can provide best for our troops even though they've not been providing at all.

Check out Soldies For Truth for lots of good information this and other screw ups.

If the military can't provide for our men and women, at least let them do it themselves.

Technorati Tags: Iraq War, body armo, Army

The Keys To The Next Election and Beyond: Oil Prices

2006-03-31T00:35:00.000-05:00

There's lots of debate right now over what the major issues are for the year. Abortion is rearing it's head in many states. Some are even considering stopping state funded birth control. Then there's spying on U.S. citizens and the Patriot Act. All these are important to many of us, regardless of which side one falls on. The issue though, no matter what else happens, is going to be the pocket book and nothing screws with people's lives more than the cost of gasoline.

The market ended today with the May contract of crude cracking $67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the price of gasoline going over $2 a gallon before it ever sees the pumps, we may be in trouble. Summer driving season starts on Memorial Day weekend and that's when the prices will really kick in. I would expect fuel prices to hit $3 a gallon or more by the beginning of the summer season.

What all this means is people will be spending more money for their driving. This will have an impact on lots of things, including retail costs. This means people will have less money to spend on various goods and services. Heck... it'll even affect people's ability to put food on the table or even maintain a house payment. I hope you don't have to commute very far. You're likely to run into problems because gasoline costs are going to hurt.

Here's the predicament for the Republicans: They're supposed to be good at economic things. We've got an executive team who came from the energy industry. Why haven't they been able to handle it?

I failed to mention the Iraq War earlier because I believe the war is tied to oil. As Ted Koppel pointed out in a recent editorial in the New York Times:

But the Bush administration's touchiness about charges that we acted â€” and are still acting â€” in Iraq "because of oil"? Now that's curious. Keeping oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz has been bedrock American foreign policy for more than a half-century.

But realistically, even though the Iraqi War was over oil, it's still not improved our condition really has it. The word to ask if I were running for office, is "Are you better off than you were 2 years ago or perhaps 4 years ago or even 6?" All one must do is to look at gasoline prices.

Also remember we lucked out big time on winter. If Old Man Winter had elected to be a bit cross, then I daresay the U.S. would've had a heating crisis between the costs of natural gas and heating oil. We can't forget about hurricane season though. It's less than six months away. What if we have a couple of Cat 5s this year? The Gulf Coast can't handle it again. Louisiana and the rest of the coast is still the victim of one massive cluster fuck. The only reason we don't hear about Mississippi is that's prime Republican territory.

How does this all translate to votes? People vote their wallet. Almost always. If people are making more money and enjoying a nice life style, then they will vote the status quo. People are making less money though and most people are in debt up their eyeballs. If Democrats can convince people they will be financially better off with them, then they will get elected. I just hope the Dems start talking common sense economics instead of getting hooked in on wedge issues, which often seems to be the case.

The long windedness had ended for the moment. I hope I make some sense.

Technorati Tags: oil prices, elections, economy, Iraq War, Bush, Cheney, Congress

Barry Goldwater and Jerry Falwell

2006-03-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

I found this over on TPM:

The late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater on John McCain's new pal Jerry Falwell, July 1981: "I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass."

I thought it was just too funny.

What's going on?

2006-03-29T11:08:00.000-05:00

What's going on this morning? Anything exciting?

Not blogged in a while...

2006-03-27T19:32:00.000-05:00

As most of my regulars have noted, I've not posted in a while. I've been kind of busy with a number of personal matters. I'm backing on the net though and I'll be posting a bit more frequently, at least for a little while. As always, I appreciate the comments and please keeping visiting. Also, please consider visiting to affiliates on the right hand side. They would appreciate your business, as would I.

Now... something that interests me is medical marijuana. I'm not necessarily all for legalization of marijuana for recreation use, but I think it's an absolute for medical reasons. I've read too many stories about people getting too much good out of weed when they have nasty chronic illnesses like cancer.

The way the system works now is drugs are put on on schedules or lists depending on various qualities of said sustances. Schedule 1, which marijuana falls under, contains other substances like heroin. These drugs are believed to have no medical value. Marijuana is believed to be a gateway drug that leads others into much harder drugs. Right now, it's the opinion of Washington that despite numerous tests to the contrary by both physicians and patients, marijuana has no use.

In 2005, SCOTUS struck down California's medical marijuana law, reducing the case down to a jurisdictional dispute.

A new case is now before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, by the same people who took the case to SCOTUS earlier in the summer. They are pushing the rules again, calling this a "right to life" case. The deal is, the Supreme Court has never completely shut down this case down. So the folks are heading back again, depending on what the the Appeals Court says.

This issue is going to keep getting pressed. The problem is the best way to get this to change is get bureaucrats who think this medical marijuana is actually a good idea. As I said, I'm not in to recreational use of the stuff but I think no one can deny a person dying a horrible death like cancer some relief. Talk about immoral behavior.

Perhaps it is insane to try and keep various substances illegal but we certainly should deny the sick some relief, particularly if it can be found in a naturally occurring substance like marijuana.

Technorati Tags: medical marijuana, Californa, Supreme Court, Angel Raich

... and Osama Bin Laden wins

2006-03-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

As the Anniversary of the Iraq war has approached, there have been many groups looking back at the past several years. In hindsight, with recent reports of a spiraling National Budget, the linked article seems particularly relevant. On Monday, November 1st of 2004 additional translation of a tape purportedly by Osama Bin Laden was released. The full speech had not been released previously. Oddly, the section I’ll focus upon is the most damning. Not Damning of Osama Bin Laden and the al Qaeda network, but of our own Government.

Bin Laden states "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.” “"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations,".

In a recent Bloomberg article , on January 13, 2005 the following was reported.
The U.S. spent $102 billion through Sept. 30 2005, on the invasion and occupation of Iraq, with costs averaging $4.8 billion a month. The $102 billion covers the period starting with the initial deployment of troops in the late fall and winter of 2002. Additionally, The U.S. Army will need to spend more than $10 billion this year to repair or replace vehicles that are wearing out at four times the expected pace due to heavy combat use in Iraq,

The U.S. has spent $39.8 billion through Sept. 30 billion in Afghanistan since the October 2001 invasion to displace the Taliban regime and attack al-Qaeda’s terrorist network.

The Federal budget for 2006 sits at $2.57 trillion. A partial breakdown is shown below. Information is from The Washington Post

Department of DefenseThe fiscal 2006 defense budget of $419.3 billion represents a 4.8 percent increase over fiscal 2005 in real terms, but is about $3 billion less than projected (My emphasis) for fiscal 2006 in last year's plan. This budget does not include an expected administration request for $80 billion in supplemental appropriations, including $75 billion for the Defense Department to cover the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the current fiscal year.

Department of Homeland SecurityThe Department of Homeland Security is proposing a budget of $29.3 billion for fiscal 2006, an increase of $258 million, or 1 percent. Including $4.8 billion in existing and new fees, its discretionary budget is $34 billion, a 6.8 percent increase. Including funds spent by other federal departments, the government is spending $49.9 billion on domestic defense, an increase of $3.9 billion, or 8.6 percent, from this year.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit, which has had massive financial shortfalls, would receive an increase of $490 million, or 13 percent.
Homeland Security also proposes spending an extra $90 million for new detention facilities for illegal immigrants after it had to release thousands of them because of inadequate bed space. The department plans to spend $36 million more on the Border Patrol, mostly to hire 210 new agents along the nation's borders -- a fraction of the 2,000 Congress said last year should be hired.

If you think that these two agencies are the sum of spending against Terrorism, you are wrong.

Department of AgricultureUSDA agencies involved in combating bioterrorism, developing a vaccine bank, and protecting the food system fare well in the new plan. No exact Dollar amount is given but the total agency budget is about $19 Billion.

Environmental Protection Agency
A total of $7.6 billion. The budget calls for a $79 million increase in EPA's homeland security programs, including a project to monitor contamination in select cities,

Department of JusticeTotal budget of $19.1 billion. Spending for the FBI would grow by $556 million, or 10 percent, to finance the hiring of 500 new intelligence analysts for the war on terrorism, boost the number of FBI translators and improve the effort to watchlist terrorist suspects.

How do other programs compare in spending? Lets look at two others. Both listed as priorities by the administration.

Department of Education
The administration is requesting $56 billion for the Department of Education. This is about 10% of the Department of Defense budget.

Department of EnergyThe Energy Department's budget $23.4 billion. Despite the fact that our government denies it, a major reason for our concern in the Middle East is oil. Heavy investment in new technology could end our perceived dependence on foreign fuel, perhaps forever.

As I hope these numbers show, we are spending ever more on an enemy that we seem unable to reach. This past week, the National Debt was raised yet again. The new debt limit is Congress $9 trillion. It equals about $30,000 for every person in the country. In the five years since President Bush took office, the debt limit has been increased by $3 trillion. This does not take into account that when Bush entered office, we had a budget surplus. Assuming this trend continued, we’d be $14.4 Trillion in debt by the end of his term. There are many who will say we cannot afford to ignore Osama Bin Laden and his ideological brethren. In pure dollar figures, I say we can’t afford continue with the same approach we have been using. If we keep trying to solve the problem by throwing money at it, then Osama Bin Laden has won.

There's a lot going on...

2006-03-21T23:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not getting in much today. I've been pretty busy and am shifting things around in my personal life. I do intend to keep my blog going though so expect posts the rest of the week. Thanks again to my reader and I will try and keep things moving for you. In the mean time... what's going on with you? What issues do you find interesting right now?

Radical Conservatism?

2006-03-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

There is a growing realization in America that where as the Democratic Party seems to have rolled over and played dead, the Republican Party has been hijacked and taken from the core Conservative ideas. Author Kevin Phillips has a rather distinguished pettigree as a Republican. I have not had a chance to read it myself yet, but the New York Times Article high-lites several points that I find quite interesting.

In his book, "The Emerging Republican Majority" published in 1969, he presented thoughts on how post Vietnam, the two major parties would evolve. His ideas have been bourne out to a large degree since then. In his new book, "American Theocracy", he presents a less positive view of the Republican party. There are three main areas he focuses on;
The Role of Oil in defining American Foreign and Domestic policy.
The intrusion of Radical Christianity into Politics and Government.
The Levels of Debt, both of the Government and the American people.

The cries of 'Spreading Democracy' ring hollow when we consider how many non-oil producing countries lie under the heavy hand of dictatorship. North Korea is in my estimates, much more of a Tyranny than Iraq was. China, though changing, still keeps it's people under an Iron fist. How many African nations are ruled under Tyranny and ignorance runs wild. There are many countries where our forces of 'Democracy' would be welcomed as true liberators. Where there is no infrastructure that has to be destroyed then rebuilt. There are not masses who already hate us. If we truly wanted to create 'Oil spots' of Democracy, let us go to the undeveloped countries of Africa. Instead, we go into a country where the primary goals from the begining was 'Protect the Oil Pipelines'.

The hi-jacking of Government by Fundimentalist Christians is the second point. When Preachers get better briefings on potential Supreme Court nomines than Senators do, you have to worry. A rather scary idea that is being pushed is that the 'Seperation of Church and State" is a myth or erronious understanding of what our Founding Fathers wanted. I think a few quotes well support the 'Truth' of that idea:

"If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution." - George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789.

"I have examined all the known superstitions of the word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Short, 1801.

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." – Benjamin Franklin.

That the 'Father of Our Country and the two men most responsible for our founding documents expressed such opposition to Religion in Government, religion at all for the most part, says much.

Finally, on the matter of Debt. When individuals go into debt, it is a matter of Choice. Thanks to the policies of the current Administration, the national debt has swelled to nearly $9 trillion That equates to about $30,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States. I was given no say on this Debt dropped upon mre. But I shall be paying my portion through taxes as well as 'Budgeting" through loss of programs such as Education, Health Care and Social Security.

It is my hope, that both Democrats and Republicans can clearly see the disasterous state that we are being reduced to. As a Democrat, I want to support programs that help those who cannot help themselves. Soon however, unless things can radically change, no programs, including things such as Military Spending, will be supportable. Every Tax Dollar will be required to pay off the huge debt we has been thrust upon us.

In eight years, we have had destroyed so much of Americas strength. I hope that the Evangelicals are right in part, because God help us, if this continues.

The weekend...

2006-03-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the hiatus this weekend. I was out of town for a funeral and got back late Sunday night.

My Cats fought valiantly on Sunday and in all honesty, I think if we'd have had good referees calling things correctly, then we wouldn't have lost the game.

The women's team plays today against a tough Michigan State squad. With any luck, the women will pick up the win and advance.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, NCAA Mens Tournament

Missouri Trying To Burn Rubbers...

2006-03-17T00:28:00.000-05:00

I picked up on an interesting blog post over at Lindsay's blog. She's got an interesting post discussing the Missouri state house move to cut public funding for contraceptives, generally going to poorer women.

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri House voted Wednesday to ban state funding of contraceptives for low-income women and to prohibit state-funded programs from referring those women to other programs.

Critics jumped on the proposal, saying it would lead to more abortions and more unwanted children on welfare.

But the proposal’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Susan Phillips of Kansas City, said contraceptive services were an inappropriate use of tax dollars. “If doctors want to give contraception privately or personally, they can,” Phillips said. “But we don’t need to pay for contraception with taxpayer funds.”

The change was the most controversial amendment adopted during the second day of debate on next year’s state budget. The Republican majority also turned back several efforts to boost funding for health-care programs by trimming farm and agribusiness subsidies.

Phillips’ amendment did not save the state money. Instead, it imposed restrictions on how state agencies could spend $9.23 million earmarked for public-health programs, mainly for people who are poor but make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.

I know Cynicus argument is probably that this is another step toward pregnancy being a punishment for sex. That's a possibility. It's also some of the religious wackos going yet another step too far. What this eventually comes down to though is class warfare. Once again, the poorer masses, growing by the day, will be forced to do without yet another option for them to help improve their lives. Sure life is important so why don't we try to improve the quality of those already here.

Technorati Tags: MajikThise, birth control Missouri, Cynicus, Stithmeister

Consumer Price Inflation Moderates in February

2006-03-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

More economics...

Consumer Price Inflation Moderates in February

Today, the Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index rose only 0.1 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, as energy prices fell 1.2 percent.

The core CPI, consumer prices less food and energy, rose 0.1 percent.

This contrasts with 0.7 and 0.2 percent increases in January in the broad and core indexes.

Outlook for Inflation

This moderation in inflation should not be seen as indicating a trend. In the months ahead, energy prices are like to rise. The outlook for inflation is mixed, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces a challenging policy environment.

Gasoline prices were lower in February but are rising again. The average retail price of gasoline in February was $2.33 per gallon, down from $2.36 per gallon in January; however, since the third week in February, gasoline prices have been rising briskly and are likely to remain high or rise as the spring driving season begins. Scheduled refinery maintenance, as well as maintenance delayed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, will pinch gasoline supplies and push prices to uncomfortable levels.

Since December, natural gas prices have been falling, and these were reflected in lower utility bills; however, natural gas prices will bottom out soon.

Seasonally adjusted food prices were up a moderate 0.1 percent in February. Although erratic month to month, pricing pressures in this segment should be moderate in the months ahead.

The outlook for core inflation continues to be good. Over the last seven months, core inflation has averaged 0.17 percent with little variation.

The bottom line is that core inflation is likely to remain slightly a bit above 2 percent per year but rising gasoline and other energy prices will keep consumer prices rising well above 3 percent a year.

Outlook for Fed Policy

Fed policy can have little impact on gasoline and other energy prices, as these are primarily driven by conditions in international energy markets, refinery constraints and the weather. Fed policy can only significantly affect inflation outside the energy sector, and nonenergy price inflation remains moderate and under control.

Economic growth should average about 3.8 percent the first half of 2006 and 3.3 percent during the second half. The housing market is weakening, and prices will likely fall modestly, something in the range of 5 percent in 2005.

A modest pull back in housing prices would help the economy accomplish a soft landing. However, if the Fed pushes up interest rates too much, housing prices could plunge more than 10 percent, and that could push the economy into recession.

Most economic forecasters expect the Federal Reserve to increase federal funds rate to 4.75 percent on March 22 and to 5 percent on May 10, and the economic expansion should be able to bear these rate increases. If Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pushes up interest rates too much further, he risks pushing the economy into a recession. This is the mistake an inexperienced Alan Greenspan committed in 1990.

The Fed Chairman’s effectiveness is significantly determined by his credibility with financial markets, and Ben Bernanke is yet to establish his bona fides. If the economy slows but inflation is harnessed, Wall Street will crown Bernanke Caesar but if inflation gets out of control the same throng will make him the goat.

Look for the Bernanke to push interest rates to 5.25 or even 5.5 percent.

Peter Morici
Professor
Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland

Technorati Tags: Peter Morici, Consumer Price Inflation

Communications From Elsewhere

2006-03-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

For your intellectual/philosophical types that read this delightful blog, we've found something just for you. A sight, Elsewhere.org, has some interesting and perhaps inane intellectual gibberish. It sounds legimate though. I'm just not sure about capitalist Marxism though.

Here's a portion of one of their essays...randomly generated of course.

1. Madonna and predialectic textual theory

In the works of Madonna, a predominant concept is the concept of postsemiotic narrativity. However, the premise of capitalist deconstruction states that expression is a product of the masses.

The subject is interpolated into a capitalist Marxism that includes art as a totality. Thus, the characteristic theme of the works of Madonna is a mythopoetical reality.

The figure/ground distinction which is a central theme of Madonna’s Erotica emerges again in Sex, although in a more self-falsifying sense. But many demodernisms concerning materialist theory exist.

The primary theme of Humphrey’s[1] analysis of capitalist deconstruction is the role of the artist as poet. In a sense, a number of narratives concerning not construction, as capitalist Marxism suggests, but preconstruction may be revealed.

Technorati Tags: Madonna, Marxism, Capitalism, Elsewhere

Swearing On the Constitution

2006-03-15T12:55:00.000-05:00

A friend sent me this link from Gather. It's quite amusing. I've reprinted the comments here:

On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis
at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional
Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie
Raskin, professor of law at AU, was requested
to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator
Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says
marriage is only between a man and a woman.
What do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your
oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible
and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did
not place your hand on the Constitution and
swear to uphold the Bible."

The room erupted into applause.

Damned funny.

Technorati Tags: Gay marriage, religion

What's on the brain this morning

2006-03-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

An open thread here... what's going on?

New Poll - Sirhan Sirhan

2006-03-15T00:27:00.000-05:00

Back in 1968 a gentleman named Sirhan Sirhan shot and killed then presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy. Kennedy, former attorney general, New York Senator and brother of slain president John Kennedy was shot in his hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan was apprehended by Rosey Grier and Rafer Johnson.

There are some interesting facts about the case. Sirhan was and is not a Muslim. While he had written some notes inj the form of journals, he had no apparent reason to the assassination of Kennedy. Some have speculated he was a child the CIA's MKUltra program, which experimented with brain washing and other forms of mind control. This was the time when the CIA was feed LSD to unsuspecting citizens.

The other issue is as this case is in California, it could reach the office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As his wife is Maria Shriver, niece of Robert Kennedy, there could be a decided conflict of interest here.

So what do you think? Should Sirhan be given parole? He's been up 12 consecutive times. He was originally slated for the death penalty but since SCOTUS declared unconstitutional back in the early 70s, he had his sentence commuted to life in prison.

Technorati Tags: Sirhan Sirhan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Bobby Kennedy, Rosey Grier

Old Poll - Dubai Ports World

2006-03-14T23:58:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late in getting up the responses on this issue. My online poll looks to be about 50/50. It's a mostly moot point now since the political fallout is over. Bush was looking like burning some serious political capital on this issue until Dubai PW backed down. A Republican controlled Congress threatened to override Bush. They agreed to turn over their U.S. port interests to U.S. based companies, although critics would suggest it'll probably just be U..S. subsidiaries of Dubai PW.

Technorati Tags: Dubai PW, Bush

Job Application...

2006-03-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

For folks looking for a new job in politics... here's a new Crony Jobs. It gives some quality information on how to get a job in the current administration.

The sad thing is it's mostly true.

Technorati Tags: Bush, crony jobs

Isaac Hayes Leaves South Park

2006-03-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

This normally falls under the category of entertainment but I think it's a lot of BS too. Isaac Hayes, known as Chef on the satirical and hilariously funny program quit the show claiming he was tired of the show picking on religions. He thinks they should show religions more respect. South Park has been on for a decade now and the very FIRST episode was "Jesus Vs. Santa Claus". What made him think it wouldn't be irreverent towards religion. They've picked on all kinds of religious groups from the very beginning. Then, as Parker and Stone pointed out, the moment they pick on Scientology (don't get me started), he's out. He's absolutely bogus on this. I've lost a lot of respect for the original Soul Man.

Technorati Tags: South Park, Comedy Central, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Scientology

Bill O'Reilly Doesn't Make Personal Attacks...

2006-03-13T23:29:00.000-05:00

Yeah right...Media Matters has certainly gotten their share of personal attacks from Bulldog Bill.

In a segment with actor and activist Mike Farrell, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly claimed that he doesn't "do personal attacks." O'Reilly made his remarks on the February 23 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, during a discussion with Farrell about gay marriage and the death penalty. As Media Matters for America has noted, O'Reilly has personally attacked individuals on numerous occasions, both on The O'Reilly Factor and on his radio show.

On The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly has referred to media writer and Fox News Watch panelist Neal Gabler as a "rabid dog" and said of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, "How nuts is this guy?" O'Reilly also said guest Christopher Murray "sounds like a fascist" for saying that that public institutions should not display religious symbols and called former Public Broadcasting System host Bill Moyers a "totalitarian." Students at the University of Connecticut who heckled right-wing pundit Ann Coulter during her campus appearance there earned the title of "far-left Nazis" from O'Reilly.

On his radio program, Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, O'Reilly has launched even more personal attacks. He called Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) a "left-wing nut," former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader a "loon," and Moyers a "secular, far-left fanatic." He described former president Jimmy Carter as "cluless" and "a fool" and said of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), "He's a sissy." More recently, O'Reilly called Dallas Morning News columnist Macarena Hernandez "incompetent," and a "Latina ideologue."

Nope... not at all does old Bulldog Bill O'Reilly make personal attacks.

Technorati Tags: Bill O'Reilly, Media Matters, Mike Farrell

Feingold Wants Bush Censured

2006-03-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

The word is starting to float around that Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI, plans to introduce a resolution to censure President Bush over the illegal wiretapping issues. He made the announcement yesterday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos, saying simply:

"The president has broken the law, and, in some way, he must be held accountable."

Naturally, Bill Frist wasn't happy, saying it would weaken the country in a time of war.

A censure resolution, which simply would scold the president, has been used just once -- against Andrew Jackson in 1834 over a dispute about banking.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called the proposal "a crazy political move" that would weaken the United States during wartime.

The five-page resolution to be introduced today contends that Bush violated the law when he set up the eavesdropping program within the National Security Agency. Bush says that his authority as commander in chief and a September 2001 congressional authorization to use force in the fight against terrorism gave him the power to authorize the surveillance.

The White House had no immediate response.

In the House, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is pushing legislation that would call on Congress to determine whether there are grounds for impeachment.

The program gave intelligence officers the power to monitor -- without court approval -- the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. residents, when those officers suspect terrorism may be involved.

Frist, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said that he hoped al-Qaeda and other U.S. enemies were not listening to the infighting.

"The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong," Frist said.

Feingold was the only senator to vote in 2001 against the USA Patriot Act, expanding the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers.

Bill Frist naturally doesn't mention the corruption surrounding the Republican controlled Congress right now. He doesn't seem to think his own indiscretions nor those of people like Senator Conrad Burns or Congressmen Tom Delay or Bob Ney will likely weaken our government. No... this adminstration and the yes men congressmen need to be fought every step of the way.

The administration managed to keep from being investigated for the moment, although some in Congress are interested in checking into articles of impeachment. The problem though is I think it's going to be difficult to make it stick. Under the current scheme of things, Bush is safe. If by some chance, Dems can win control of BOTH houses, then he may be in trouble. If that doesn't happen this year, then it will be fairly smooth sailing for Bush.

Technorati Tags: Russ Feingold, Bill Frist, Wiretapping Scandal, George Bush, Patriot Act

Late night thread

2006-03-13T00:23:00.000-05:00

The brackets are out... doesn't look good for the home team either. They open against UAB.

Milosevic Dead

2006-03-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

Strongman Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his prison cell. In all honesty, he probably got a better end than he deserved. The initial thoughts were he died of chronic heart problems that plagued him for sometime.

Technorati Tags: Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic

UK Lost

2006-03-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

UK played a dismal game against South Carolina. They just couldn't get their offense going, which is usually the story. Kentucky just hasn't had consistent clutch play this year and it's been maddening. You've got to have a couple of guys you can count on to get it done when it gets close and we've just not had it.

Democrat From Kentucky

2006-03-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

Found the below referenced link on the DailyKos. I thought it worthy of further commentary.
DailyKos

The original ABC News article is linked below and gives more comprehensive information.

Let’s face it folks, George W. Bush is anti-science. If it’s not a better weapon, he doesn’t want it. He trots out ‘science’ as a P.R. stunt. He doesn’t understand ‘Science’, as can easily be seen from his track record on Global warming, Evolution and Stem-Cell research. Now, the Budget from Congress further cuts the work of NASA. He tends to believe in guidance from above, from a God that he has absolute faith in.

It’s not surprising then that his government seems little interested in NASA, other than a Public Relations Agency, to bring back the high idealism of the days of the Space Race. Lots of folks say “So what? We’re sinking in debt, so what if we don’t go back to the moon in the next 20 years? What have we ever got from NASA?”

Watch Television? Chances are the shows you’re watching were transmitted via satellite. Use a GPS? Have On-star in your Car? Satellite mapping & tracking allow us to know where you are and tell you how to get to where you’re going. Do you check the weather as you head out in the morning? Guess where the information for that comes from? Satellites! This becomes more than just giving scientist new research tools. This directly affects the lives of yourself or someone you love. We cannot accurately forecast the weather, without these tools.

There’s an old saying, ‘Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” We may not be able to change it, but we can do something to protect ourselves from it. The Katrina Disaster was horrific. Think what it would have been like if we hadn’t had as much warning as we did. Current estimates are that we are entering another period of extreme Hurricanes. We can hope that post Katrina; folks will be more wary and willing to take action. But they need time to prepare and accurate information to do so. The entire Eastern and Southern coast sit in danger. Aside from loss of thousands of lives, the financial cost of last years Hurricanes is in the tens of billions. We are spending only 2.2 billion for ALL satellites. Let’s look at perhaps building 1 less super Stealth Fighter or new Destroyer. Let us instead put that money to creating a presence above us that we can all agree exist and truly provides guidance and looks out for our safety.

Kentucky Playing South Carolina

2006-03-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

We've got a tough game lined up for this one as Kentucky squares off against South Carolina. This game does have a little meaning for me as my grandfather and his old bomber crew buddy would argue over this one. One went to UK, the other South Carolina. But I know what Granddad would say:

GIVE'EM HELL TUBBY

Technorati Tags: Kentucky Wildcats, South Carolina Gamecocks, stithmeister

Mid Afternoon Thread...

2006-03-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

Kentucky play at 3:15 EST. They play Alabama.

What else is going on today?

Technorati Tags: Kentucky Basketball, Stithmeister

Bob Burnett Gives Thoughts on Osama and W...

2006-03-10T08:44:00.000-05:00

Bob Burnett, a founder of Cisco systems had an editorial up on HuffPo.

The editorial is a comparison piece on George Bush and Osama Bin Laden. It's quite biting really and while I don't know if I agree with it completely, most of it I do think is fairly close to reality.

Technorati Tags: George Bush, Osama Bin Laden

Dubai Firm Gives Up On U.S. Ports...

2006-03-09T19:47:00.000-05:00

Dubai Ports World bailed on the deal to take over U.S. ports, allowing the Bush administration to save face with Congress. This debate has been heated as Republicans in Congress gres some cahoneys and elected to fight back on this issue.

A couple of thoughts. One, the reason the Republicans fought so hard on this was that it was an issue the general public could understand: "Arabs are gonna run American ports." It's not terribly complicated. I tend to agree with one assessment I saw over at HuffPo though and that was this deal was a strategic issue for the U.S. not in our own ports of call but in the UAE.

The U.S. is going to leave Iraq via the Tehran highway, no question. Cheney has already said this week that Iran wouldn't be allowed to have nuclear weapons. It's quite probably Israel might get in on the fight and there's been some speculation about the use of tactical nukes. Not pretty. UAE could provide a base point on the other side of the Straits of Hormuz. Iran has said that if war occurs, they'll shut down traffic for the Persian Gulf. That could present problems for oil as Saudi alone cranks about 1/4 of the world's oil supply. Methinks Russia isn't in a position to pick up the slack nor would they have the will.

The other thing I see is just how vulnerable Bush really is to lame duck status, which seems a bit early. With midterm elections coming up and Bush's numbers in the shitter, Republican candidates have to separate themselves from him just a bit. In Kentucky, they still like Bush... much of the rest of the country wouldn't trust further than they could throw him.

Technorati Tags: Dubai, Dubai PW, Bush, Republicans, Homeland Security, Dick Cheney, Iran, UAE

Kentucky Sqeaked By...

2006-03-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

Kentucky squeaked by the first round of the SEC tournament, beating the Ole Miss Rebels after being behind at half time. It was very close. The problem is now they play tomorrow and they'll have to win 3games in 3 days, which based on the season performance, seems unlikely.

We can hope though.

Technorati Tags: SEC, college basketball, Kentucky, WIldcats, Ole Miss

A little brain damaging fun...

2006-03-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

Some guys from Louisville put together a sweet little video short. It's called "The Muppet Matrix" and it's loads of fun.

Technorati Tags: The Muppet Matrix, Muppets, The Matrix

The Trade Deficit Hits Another Record

2006-03-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

Trade Deficit Hits another Record
Congress Should Compel Concrete Action toward China

Today, the Commerce Department announced the January trade deficit was $68.5 billion, up from $65.1 billion in December.

The consensus forecast for January was $66.6 billion. My forecast published by Reuters was $68 billion.

The trade deficit exceeds 6 percent of GDP and is weighing down economic growth.

Although petroleum plays a key role, it is certainly not the whole story. Since December 2001, the monthly trade deficit has increased by $42 billion. Petroleum accounts for less than half of that change.

The Wal-Mart effect is broadly apparent. The January trade deficit with China was $17.9 billion, up from $16.3 billion in December

This situation is likely to become worse in the months ahead. The dollar remains at least 40 percent overvalued against the Chinese yuan, and similarly overvalued against other Asia currencies too.

China continues to peg against the dollar. Although China revalued the yuan from 8.28 to 8.11 in July, and announced it would adjust the currency to a basket of currencies, the yuan continues to track the dollar very closely. Currently it is trading at about 8.05.

China appears to be permitting the yuan to rise at a pace of about 3 percent year. Since implicit value of the yuan rises about 5 percent each year, the yuan will remain at least 40 percent overvalued for the foreseeable future. The overvalued dollar will contribute mightily to the U.S. trade deficit until the Bush Administration takes decisive action.

High and rising trade deficits tax economic growth. Specifically, each dollar spent on imports that is not matched by a dollar of exports reduces domestic demand and employment, and shifts workers into activities where productivity is lower.

Cutting the trade deficit in half would boost employment and productivity enough to raise GDP by $300 billion or about $2000 for every working American. Workers’ wages would not be lagging inflation, and ordinary working Americans would more easily find jobs paying good wages and offering decent benefits.

Longer-term, persistent U.S. trade deficits are a substantial drag on growth. U.S. import-competing and export industries spend three-times the national average on industrial R and encourage more investments in skills and education than other sectors of the economy. By shifting employment away from trade-competing industries, the trade deficit reduces U.S. investments in new methods and products, and skilled labor. Cutting the trade deficit in half would boost U.S. GDP growth by 25 percent a year.

To maintain an undervalued yuan, China purchases about $200 billion dollars in U.S. and foreign securities, which it hoards. This creates a 33 percent subsidy on Chinese exports.

Manufacturers are particularly hard hit by this subsidized competition. Through recession and recovery, the manufacturing sector has lost 3 million jobs. Following the pattern of past economic recoveries, the manufacturing sector should have regained about 2 million of these jobs, especially given the very strong productivity growth accomplished in durable goods and throughout manufacturing.

The Bush administration has refused to take action against China.

The Congress is considering several bills which would compel action. Among these is a bipartisan bill by Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH). It would add the subsidies provided by currency manipulation to the list of unfair trade practices actionable under U.S. trade law, and permit domestic manufacturers to petition the Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission for duties on Chinese imports to offset these subsidies.

The time is long past due for legislation like the Hunter-Ryan bill.

Peter Morici
Professor
Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-1815

Technorati Tags: Trade Deficit, China, Commerce Dept. Peter Morici

Blood Donations

2006-03-09T10:53:00.000-05:00

Wanna be useful in your community and make a difference? Donate blood. The Central Kentucky Blood Center is having a severe shortage. There's a huge need folks so please go donate. It doesn't take long, generally less than 1/2 an hour and you're saving lives...generally more than one. Apparently blood transfusions are up right now so the is extraordinarily high.

The community's blood supply is at a dangerous level. Central Kentucky Blood Center is in dire need of your blood, especially O+ and O-, the most common types transfused at central and eastern Kentucky hospitals.

Locations for the CKBC. There may also be blood mobile donations in your area. Don't hesitate to give them a bit. Besides... you get a free tshirt out of it.

LEXINGTON
330 Waller Avenue
Lexington, KY 40504
Phone: (859) 276-2534
Toll free: (800) 775-2522

SOMERSET
120 South Highway 27, Suite 4
Somerset, KY 42501
Phone: (606) 679-7413

PRESTONSBURG
200 North Lake Drive
Prestonsburg, KY 41653
Phone: (606) 886-1557

PIKEVILLE
685 Hambley Blvd. Flat Iron Bldg., Suite 1
Pikeville, KY 41501
Phone: (606) 432-4979

Technorati Tags: blood donations, Central Kentucky Blood Center

Exxon Mobil CEO Calls U.S. Energy Independence Irresponsible

2006-03-08T23:38:00.000-05:00

You know ... I generally am a nice guy but every now and then, I feel the need to use some expletives and not delete them. Rex Tillerson, top dog at Exxon Mobil needs to go fuck himself and here's why:

He's gone on to say that any of the areas in the U.S. that are currently off limits shouldn't be with regard to getting oil and gas.

America imports 10 million barrels of oil a day while it sits on an abundance of potential, according to Exxon Mobil Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson, who spoke to reporters and editors from Dow Jones & Co. (publisher of MarketWatch) one day ahead of the company's annual meeting.

Tillerson, who took over from the retired Lee Raymond in January, left no doubt that he will continue his hard-charging predecessor's push to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Rocky Mountain tracts and waters off Florida and California to drilling.

This stance has long pitted Exxon against conservationists who argue that the nation should prioritize energy efficiency before it lifts drilling bans on sensitive federal lands.

Naturally, the head of the company that made the most profits of any company in this history of this company is calling for more drilling. He needs to go away. While they continually shaft the American public by manipulating oil commodities markets and creating havoc in oil producing nations, oil companies like his have continued to profit.

Irresponsibility in this country comes from not protecting the interests of the American public by forcing us into conflicts in the middle east and destroying the environment not just in this country but others as well.

You think the problems in Nigeria would be happening if Royal Dutch Shell really talked to the government there and suggest they spread the wealth around a bit to keep people happy? No because things like that keep oil prices up and they make more money and it's cheaper just to shoot them.

Technorati Tags: Exxon Mobil, Nigeria, Rex Tillerson, oil prices, natural gas prices

Abramoff's Gonna Tell...

2006-03-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

TPM:Muckraker has a nice right up on the upcoming article in "Vanity Fair" and he tells a story. He talks about all the folks who kissed his ass in DC including Tom Delay, Conrad Burns and Bob Ney. I'm sure there are many more too. There's even discussions of his meetings with Karl Rove and how Ney was at his child's bar mitzvah. There's so much good juicy information about all these damned Republicans. It'll be interesting to see what if anything comes out about Karl Rove.

Technorati Tags: Jack Abramoff, Culture of Corription, Bob Ney, Conrad Burns, Tom Delay

Falling behind...

2006-03-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

The last few days I've been falling behind on several bits of news. Honestly, it's tough to try and keep a blog going with a full time job. I will continue to post as I can, hopefully a few posts every day or nearly. My goal is to catch up a bit over the weekend on a wide variety of things.

Anyway...

The Senate Intelligence Committee bared their throat for the administration and dropped their trousers as they gave all semblence of being elected officials. They've agreed not to investigate and instead create and oversight committee, despite the administration's admitting they broke the law because they believed they were above it. And for all intents and purposes, based on this decision, they are. The President of these United States has been given absolute power without even the pretense any more.

They will hear us on the land and on the sea and the greatest fear in our nation shall be from the White House and that the madness of King George III has permeated our very fiber. The sad thing is it's not really madness. It's a complete and utter disregard for any citizen in this nation or the rights our founding fathers spilled their blood for, or even the greatest generation built our nation on.

Territory provides some more background, particularly regarding Hagel and Snowe statements from December. It's getting more and more difficult for us idealists to hang on to anything regarding hope as this thing continues on.

Certainly there are intellectual arguments to be made all across the blogosphere and we can hope that these folks will lose their jobs during election years but will the Democrats change anything really? I'd say not. I don't think we've progressed to the point other's suggest but I do think things are getting extraordinarily worse and they will. I just hope our people and our nation can survive long enough to make the changes we need to make to get things back on track.

I suppose I'm done ranting for the moment. My angry side is wanting to say rather awful things about the afterlife of the individuals who are in support of the president and his supreme executive power. Hell... I didn't know better, I'd say he believes same watery tart through a sword at him.

Technorati Tags: Bush, wiretapping scandal

Wiccan Soldier Can't Get Religious Symobl On Memorial

2006-03-06T23:27:00.000-05:00

It seems a U.S. soldier, killed in combat in Iraq can't get his religious symbol on a memorial along with other soldiers in the plaque. the symbol, the pentacle isn't an officially recognized symbol despite the military recognizing Wiccan clergy as chaplains. While there's obviously some religious favoritism here, I also think it's some bureaucratic BS as well, something of which the military is legendary for.

MajikThise mentioned that and the fact that Missouri is trying to make the official Missouri state religion Christianity. They're basically saying with the legislation, all religions are equal, it's just that this one is more equal than others.

Technorati Tags: Iraq War, Pentacle, Wicca, Missouri

Kirby Puckett Dies...

2006-03-06T23:21:00.000-05:00

Legendary HOFer Kirby Puckett, 45, died of complications from a stroke. He played his entire career for the Minnesota Twins.

He certainly was fun to watch.

Technorati Tags: Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins

South Dakota Legislature Needs To Be Aborted

2006-03-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

South Dakota passed the an abortion bill and Governor Mike Rounds signed it into law. He signed his name and now the war is on.

I myself am pro-abortion. I don't like the term pro-choice or pro life really. I think abortion should be legal. The reason is because I believe women should have as much control over their bodies and their futures as males. One sticking point for this law is rape. The only exception to the rules is if the life of the mother is in danger. Rape and incest were not included in this legislation.

So let's consider the consequences. A young 12-year-old-girl is raped and turns up pregnant. Her life is most likely ruined. She's forced into having a child she is neither prepared for nor wants. She doesn't have the famlial structure to take care of the child. She's also stigmatized, even if she gives the child up for abortion.

There's so much more to say. Certainly abortion is a serious issue. But another consideration is simply that abortion has been around as long as humans have. Women find ways to get rid of the baby, one way or the other. They may elect to damage themselves in someway or simply leave it in a garbage can.

Roe V Wade needs to stand. It may not be the best answer to this problem but really, there is no other answer.

Technorati Tags: abortion, Roe V. Wade, South Dakota, Mike Rounds

Vendetta Is Coming

2006-03-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

A new movie called "V For Vendetta" will be hitting theatres on March 17th. It stars Hugo Weaving, known for playing elven lords and computer programs, and Natalie Portman, senator of the Old Republic and wife of one of more whiney of villains.

The original story was in the form of comic mini series written by Alan Moore after the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in the UK. Moore wrote the story as he feared fascism rearing it's ugly head in the future...the late 90s. A "terrorist" who runs around wearing a Guy Fawkes mask threatens to blow up the old Parliament building in an effort to carry out the original Fawkes original plan. The story touches on issues like government wire tapping, rounding up undesirables and putting them in detention facilities on a large scale other equally fascist notions. The problem with reading this story is it reads too much like today's headline in the newspaper.

I think there'll be some backlash as the movie stirs up trouble. At least I hope there will be some arguing, fighting etc.

Technorati Tags: "V For Vendetta", Alan Moore, Natalie Portman, Fascism, Hugo Weaving, Margaret Thatcher

The weekend

2006-03-06T08:32:00.000-05:00

A weekend out of town is over. My Cats were once again dominated by Florida. And there's always politics.

Bush is trying to push for line-item-veto legislation. As Cokie Roberts put this morning on NPR, it's just smokescreen legislation. This normally conservative issue was passed during the Clinton administration, signed by Clinton after passing a Republican congress. SCOTUS held it was unconstitutional then, violating the congressional powers. While the argument for it is it will help the president cut spending, the constitution says the power of the purse belongs to congress. It may very well pass but I think it'll be held unconstitutional again. The very premise of this type of legislation, regardless on the intent, would strip more power away from congress, particularly a power that is really the one thing Congress has to keep the president in check.

Tell your legislator no.

Technorati Tags: Line Item Veto, Bush, Congress, NPR

Late Night Thread...

2006-03-04T01:09:00.000-05:00

I will be out of town on Saturday. I won't be back until Sunday.. hopefully I'll post something then. In the meantime, there's plenty to be belligerent about so feel free. Check out the Amazon selections while you're at it.

A late night open thread...

2006-03-03T00:16:00.000-05:00

So... anyone going anywhere exciting this weekend?

Senate Agrees to Patriot Act Renewal

2006-03-03T00:15:00.000-05:00

In a brilliant stroke, the senate renewed the USA Patriot Act. They continue to vote to strip away our rights and our beliefs. It's ashame there are not more like Feingold, willing to stand for something other than the status quo.

BASTARDS

Technorati Tags: USA Patriot Act, Russ Feingold, Senate

A Busy Week In The Legislature

2006-03-02T23:58:00.000-05:00

Senate President and corrupt political boss David Williams suffered stinging defeats in the senate this week aft SB1, his medical malpractice bill was voted down. The other came at the defeat of SB236, a bill attempting to limit the judicial branch's power regarding things like the ten commandments.

The medical malpractice bill got beaten yet again. Williams assuredly will file the bill again for the next session. He's showing his true colors by trying to strip away one of the last rights people have and that's the right sue doctors for screwing up.

The bigger case was SB236:

SB 236 (BR 1749) - C. Borders, E. Tori, E. Harris, V. McGaha, R. Roeding, D. Seum, G. Tapp, D. Thayer, J. Westwood
AN ACT proposing to amend the Constitution of Kentucky by creating a new section thereof relating to judicial powers.
Propose to amend the Constitution of Kentucky by creating a new Section 28A relating to judicial powers; require that the judicial department not exercise powers belonging to other departments of government; prohibit courts from construing any provision of the Kentucky Constitution to prohibit the historic display of the Ten Commandments on public property, finding that a local government has authority to grant civil rights entitlements not authorized by the General Assembly in those cases in which specific authorization is required, requiring an increase in general taxation, ordering that public funds be expended except as appropriated by the General Assembly, declaring an act of the General Assembly unconstitutional on the basis of the amount of funds provided for a particular program, replacing a legislative act found unconstitutional with a standard selected by the court over other permissible standards, or allowing a challenge to the constitutionality of an act of the General Assembly by permitting suits against the legislative branch; provide ballot question; provide for submission of amendment to voters.

Fortunately, he couldn't get enough votes to get either moved to the ballot. My God, we need to work on getting WIlliams out of office. Mark Nickolas is absolutely right. He's Kentucky's version of Tom Delay. A nod to Democratic floor leader Ed Worley of Richmond for standing in Williams way. This would've been a travesty had either bill made it through.

Technorati Tags: medical malpractice, ten commandment, David Williams, Kentucky General Assembly

Katrina: Now We Know What Bush Knew...

2006-03-02T08:41:00.000-05:00

It would seem someone had anticipated the breach of the levees in New Orleans and they told Bush about it. A new video tape BEFORE the hurricane showed the president, FEMA chief Michael Brown and others, including Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The meeting, held on August 28th not only did the feds know it was coming, they said they would be providing support both during and after the hurricane. The interesting thing about it all is Bush told Diane Sawyer three days later that no one had anticipated the levees would breach. It would seem the president LIED about it.

"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," Bush said, gesturing with both hands for emphasis on the digital recording. Neither Bush nor Hagin asked questions, however.

Then-Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael D. Brown, who joined the call from Washington, and Max Mayfield, head of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, briefed participating federal and state officials in explicit terms.

"This is, to put it mildly, the big one," Brown said. "Everyone within FEMA is now virtually on call."

Brown warned that thousands of New Orleans residents were gathering in a shelter of last resort at the Louisiana Superdome, which he said was about 12 feet below sea level.

"I don't know what the heck we're going to do for that, and I also am concerned about that roof," Brown said. "Not to be kind of gross here, but I'm concerned about [medical and mortuary disaster team] assets and their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe."

Mayfield cited the 1992 storm that inflicted $20 billion of damage on South Florida.

Now... in all fairness, the mayor of New Orleans isn't off the hook either. The city desperately needed a strong evacuation plan to move as many people out as humanly possible, which doesn't seem to have been the case, particularly with all the buses and other forms of transportation sitting empty in a parking lot. It would've gotten people out of there.

So what we have is all the leaders sitting around in a big meeting telling each other everything will be covered and not a damned one of them did anywhere near enough to help solve the problem.

Now... what should we do. There are lots of things that could be done. One thing is get someone in charge of FEMA, as they currently have no one in charge (hurricane season is just about 4 months away) and tornado season is pretty much here. We need to make sure the person in charge knows how to handle emergency management too, not just some administrator who's been given money to the cause.

Technorati Tags: Bush, Michael Brown, Hurricane Katrina, Ray Nagin, New Orleans

Kentucky Beats Tennessee

2006-03-01T23:54:00.000-05:00

A real nail biter took place down in Knoxville tonight. Our boys and blue walked away with the win, a close win but a win none the less. They won by two points and lucked out when Tennessee missed their last shout... a three at the buzzer. Whew!

Did I mention number one ranked Duke lost to the unranked FSU Seminoles. I generally don't root for either team but against Duke, I'll take it. GO SEMINOLES!

Technorati Tags: KEntucky Wildcats, Tennessee Volunteers, Duke, Florida State

Interesting things...

2006-03-01T23:51:00.000-05:00

Daniel Solzman over at Kentucky Democrat has happened upon something and it may be his claim to fame on the blogosphere. He's a poli/sci student up at NKU and is a loyal UK fan. He's produced an interesting video that spoofs an SNL video a couple of weeks ago.

Perhaps the biggest taste he's getting is viral marketing. In politics, something like this is golden. It will drive his traffic though, certainly for a while.

Technorati Tags: Daniel Solzman, Kentucky Basketball

Personal Relationship With God...

2006-03-01T17:38:00.000-05:00

This was some commenter's off-topic post on the Eschaton blog. i think it needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

"I'm sorry. Just checking in, scrolling down and coming across the phrase "Taking away God..."

What a mind-blower. And what a revelation.

The Protestants from the reformation onward talked about a 'personal relationship with God/Christ" as opposed to a Church (and Church hierarchy) mediated one. The phrase is right at the core of fundamentalism today.

Do any of you wingers know what that means?

How the fuck could we possibly 'take away God' if you have a personal relationship with Him?

The early Christians were tortured for their faith and forced to meet in sewers to worship.

But we show 'Will and Grace' on the TeeBee and that 'takes away God'!

We allow gay people to enter into a civil marriage--you know, we allow Jews and Buddhists and atheists to get married too, though I'm sure you think thast's wrong as well--and we 'take away God'!

Well, I've got news for you, Gary--if that 'takes away God', you never had Him in the first place. You need people shouting in your ear all the time to fool you--you need everything censored to keep you from thinking or, holy crap, your faith being tested...

You people run around saying you've been born again, Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and all that--

--bullshit.

You are so scared of facing temptation that you insist it be banned by law. You are so scared of the temptations of the world that you not only have to smash them, but you have to go into other people's houses and smash them there, because you can't even bear to think of other people enjoying them.

Your faith is about as thin as a sheet of tissue paper. If God ever REALLY decided to test your faith, you'd crumple like a snowflake in Hell.

Now, I know you're just a troll, Gary. You do this just to git us riled. But you did get to the crux of this--of just what the fundies think.

We 'take away God'.

So this goes out to you, Dobson and Robertson and Falwell: If Desperate Housewives and Janet Jackson can 'take away God', your grip on Him is feeble.

Faith? Don't make me laugh. Your house is built upon the sand.

Christians? I know Christians. Christians are friends of mine.

And you are no Christians.

(sorry, guys. this just came out.)
pbg "

Technorati Tags: religions, Christians, Evangelicals, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, protestants, catholics, Dobson, Robertson, Falwell

Troops Are Ready To Come Home

2006-03-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

Hat tip to Lindsay new Zogby International/Le Moyne college poll of troops on the ground in Iraq said most troops believe they should be coming home within a year. The Financial Times ran the story:

Most American troops in Iraq believe the US should withdraw within the next year, according to the first poll of US military personnel there.

President George W. Bush, whose overall approval rating fell to a new low of 34 per cent this week, has repeatedly said the US would finish the mission in Iraq.

But a Zogby International/Le Moyne College poll found that only 23 per cent of US troops believed they should stay “as long as they are needed”.

Seventy-two per cent said the US should withdraw within 12 months, and 29 per cent said they should pull out immediately.

It doesn't look good for the home team when the players are ready to come off the field. It does go to show, after the Buckley comments as well that this war is over... Bush just can't figure it out. Did we mention this poll apparently had unofficial approval from commanders?

Technorati Tags: Iraq, Bush, American Troops, Zogby Poll

A little slow tonight

2006-02-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

There are things going on but I've been pretty busy today.

A new blog I've found and referenced a couple of times is one called Unclaimed Territory. Glenn Greenwald writes for it and he comes up with some excellent posts that are well thought out, logically reasoned and hard hitting. It's one of the better ones I'm reading right now. I'd add it to the old RSS.

It's late...

2006-02-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

what's goin' on?

The Beginning Of The End of the War in Iraq

2006-02-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of things are happening regarding the war in Iraq. The Shiites and the Sunnis are at each others throats. They are on verge of civil war, perhaps closer now than they've ever been. Liberal Democrats like myself and many others have believed all along that things would come to this all along. We prayed it wouldn't but it has.

Last week in a "National Review" column, conservative philosopher William F. Buckley, wrote

One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samarra and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that "the bombing has completely demolished" what was being attempted -- to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries.

Glenn Greenwald of Unclaimed Territory puts together an incredibly well written attack against Buckley and other conservatives after many called Howard Dean a coward and other choice descriptors. He quotes President Reagan's son Michael:

"Howard Dean should be arrested and hung for treason or put in a hole until the end of the Iraq war!" Reagan told his Radio America audience on Monday. Reagan was reacting to Dean's comments earlier in the day, when the top Democrat said that the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

They were talking on NPR this morning about the whole situation in Iraq and some are beginning to say it took a leader like Saddam Hussein to keep the two groups from slaughtering each other out of hand. Working under this notion, one could easily examine the former Yugoslavia to see what happens. Marshall Tito ran the nation for years under communist regime. He was tough enough to tell old Joe to back off. He ran the nation with an iron hand. Soon after he died, things began to hall apart. Many remember the Olympics in Sarajevo. That was the high point. Shortly after, we began to remember why WWI started there. It fell apart and hasn't been together since.

Some may ask what should we do in Iraq. My thought at this point is I don't think it matters. They, for the most part have made their sentiments clear. They don't want and I will agree with Buckley, our presence continues to make things worse.

Technorati Tags: William F Buckley, Iraq, Glenn Greenwald, Marshall Tito

Frist & McConnell: Locked At The Hip

2006-02-27T23:22:00.000-05:00

Bill Frist was in Lexington over the weekend celebrating with Howdy Doody, better known as Mitch McConnell. Frist gushed over Howdy, saying he would be the next Senate Majority Leader. He talked about Mitch's work in getting the energy bill passed, which means he helped get the big oil companies massive tax breaks and subsidies after their year of record breaking profits. He also mentioned he helped get the bankruptcy bill through, which will singlehandedly wreck people's lives

I tell ya... if he'd could make our state any better, we'd have 'Arbeit Macht Frei' on the signs coming into Kentucky.

Technorati Tags: Bill Frist, Mitch McConnell

Nickolas Calls For Judicial Oversight... of a sorts

2006-02-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

Mark Nickolas, the guy behind Bluegrass Report filed a complaint with Kentucky's Judicial Conduct Commission.

Here's the deal: Fletcher is going to the State Supreme Court in order to get investigation into merit hiring practices stopped. This is his last chance. Two of the justices recused themselves, which leaves two slots open for this case. Fletcher, as governor, gets to appoint the temp judges and he did. The tricky part comes from the fact that both men have donated money to Fletcher's campaign in the past. Oddly enough, some people, like Nickolas, seem to think there's some impropriety here. I couldn't imagine why. Anyway, he's filed the complaint and the case is scheduled to be heard at the end of next month.

Technorati Tags: Bluegrass Report, Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, Merit Hiring Scandal

The Ancient Tradition of Usquebaugh-Baul - Scottish Sacrement

2006-02-27T22:18:00.000-05:00

One of my own ancestral lands is reinvigorating its heritage. Scotland is well known for many things: tartans and kilts, Sean Connery, claymores, the bagpipes, starship engineers and whisky.

Whisky is what we discussing here in this post. The word descends from the ancient tongues and refers to "water of life." In that fine tradition of ancient elixirs, a distillery in Scotland looks to reassert the "potent" part of potables. The real firewater or usquebaugh-baul is a lean, mean weapons grade whisky weighing in a sturdy 184 proof or 92% alcohol.

From the TImesOnline UK:

A single drop of the ancient drink of “usquebaugh-baul” was described by the travel writer Martin Martin in 1695 as powerful enough to affect “all members of the body”. He added: “Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life.”

Apparently, the power comes in the distillation process. Most scotch whiskys are distilled twice. This batch of malt will be quadruple distilled. The flavor will be both potent and intense. I'd try it but I couldn't imagine developing this stuff as a habit. Of course they're going to probably price it like was from a batch in 1695 so the odds of me getting a bit are quite slim.

Anyway, if there's anyone with both the money and cahoneys to get a taste, please, drop me a line.

Technorati Tags: whisky, scotch, Bruichladdich distilleries

Late Night Thread

2006-02-27T00:19:00.000-05:00

Tell me what's on your mind tonight folks. I've got comments in mind tomorrow on the Iraq war, particularly regarind Bill Buckley's recent column suggesting we get out.

Have fine evening and a pleasant week.

McGavin No More

2006-02-27T00:15:00.000-05:00

Actor Darrin McGavin, 83, died of natural causes in Los Angeles. Most people remember him for of two rolls. Either "Kolchak: Nightstalker" or as the father in "A Christmas Story.

It's a shame. He was a lot of fun.

MajikThise On the Radio

2006-02-27T00:04:00.000-05:00

Lindsay over at MajikThise has been increasing her marketshare lately. She just got back from Amsterdam and then went on John Gibson's radio program and braved the storm on FoxNews Radio. She held her own against Gibson and the callers.

Technorati Tags: MajikThise, FoxNewsRadio

Don Knotts dead...

2006-02-26T00:36:00.000-05:00

Comedic actor Don Knotts, 81, passed on Friday evening due to pulmonary and respiratory problems. Knotts, best known for his 5 time Emmy winning roll as Deputy Barney Fife on the long running comedy of the '60s, "The Andy Griffith Show," was still popular and his beloved character will remain in reruns indefinitely.

While I wasn't around when the show originally aired, generations of people, particularly in the south grew up remembering Fife, Sheriff Taylor and all the other characters and actors for that matter, only a few of which are still around. Most of us can still whistle the tune to the show.

Technorati Tags: Don Knotts, Andy Griffith, Barney Fife

My Team Lost...again

2006-02-26T00:25:00.000-05:00

It looks like Kentucky lost down in Baton Rouge tonight. They may make it to the NCAA this year but I'd say it's still iffy at best. They're going to have to beat either Florida or Tennessee or both to really guarantee their presence.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, basketball, NCAA, Martc

82nd Airborne Light In Loafers... Makes For Better Paratrooping Experience

2006-02-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

This is just too funny. Seven paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne got busted for fooling around on a gay porn website. According to the story:

Three men will face court-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex for money while being filmed, said Pfc. James Wilt, an 82nd Airborne spokesman. Having sex while being taped is illegal under the U.S. Military Code of Justice.

I have nothing against people doing whatever they're going to do in the privacy of their own home but when you put your stuff on video and supply it to a website, you have to know you're going to get busted. It looks like one of the guy's was even married. Unbelievable. Obviously, they weren't followers of Bush. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Technorati Tags: 82nd Airborn, gay porn, US Army, Ft Bragg