Edwards and Obama Employ Their Wives to Attack Hillary's Positions: Canidates' Families Are Getting Into It

John Edwards and Barak Obama have been taking a back seat to their wives lately, allowing them to go after Hillary Clinton's positions themselves.

Are Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Obama running for President themselves? It sounds an awful lot like they are, telling their husbands to shut up and stand aside while they take care of Hillary as well as their other opponents.

Elizabeth Edwards attacked Obama's "holier-than-thou" attitude on Iraq, and Clinton on her "lack of leadership on health care and Iraq."

Michelle Obama went after Clinton's example of family: "If you can't run your own house, you certainly cannot run the White House." But she has also joked about her husband's big ears, his not putting the butter away, his funny name, and so on. Analysts aren't sure of what to make of her.

I'm waiting for Bill Clinton to jump in on this so that the three-way dance will be complete.

Seems like the spouses of the candidates are really getting into this campaign, which is a little unusual. And the candidates are not returning fire, either, ignoring the barbs coming from the candidates' families.

It's been quite a while since the Democratic side has been this interesting in a Presidential campaign.

Congress's Job Approval Rating: 18% vs. President Bush's 32%:

The Gallup Poll released it's most recent batch of job approval numbers for Congress and President Bush. 18% of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing it's job, while 32% approve of the way President Bush is doing his job.

This Congress is tied with the 1992 Congress, which was in the middle of a check-bouncing scandal at the time the poll was taken back then.

This is precisely why I think that control of Congress is going to change hands back and forth for some time to come. The American public is in the sort of mood that they'll turn politicians out of office until they find someone who does the job that they were sent to Washington to do. I think we're in for a lot of one-term Representatives and Senators from both parties.

And I don't think that's a bad thing either.

Utah Mining President Bungles Rescue Communication: Families Outraged by His Bombastic Comments

I've been watching the story of the mine collapse in Utah with a growing sense of horror.

The president/owner of the Murray mining company has acted irresponsibly, giving false hope to the families of the missing miners. And he kept leading them on. It's just like the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia, where communications got royally screwed up and celebrations of joy went to sobs of sorrow within seconds.

They've all but given up the rescue efforts, saying that the miners may never be found. Unacceptable. The families need to be able to bury their loved ones.

I thought that they would have learned something from the Sago fiasco, but Mr. Murray got up there and re-created the same mistakes from the very first day. That was no earthquake that caused the collapse; seismologists and the government say that the seismic activity was the mine collapsing. The lack of seismic activity in areas beyond the mine itself is telling.

This guy is more bombastic than Jacques Chirac, the former president of France. For someone with as much experience as he has, he should have known better.

And now he's disappeared from the public eye, leaving the breaking of the bad news to his partners and subordinates. This guy needs to stay away from the press and the families.

Congress Sends Letters to Pro Wrestling Companies Requesting Copies of Drug Policies: WWE and TNA On the List

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) has received a letter from Congress, requesting copies of their drug policies and other information. And WWE has received a request detailing it's drug testing policy and practices.

The letter released by TNA President Dixie Carter reads:

"We are writing to request information regarding the response of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to allegations of pervasive use of steroids and other drugs by professional wrestlers. The tragic death of Mr. Chris Benoit and his family has focused attention on the seriousness of the problem. Illegal steroid use in professional sports has gained plenty of attention, but the record suggests that the problem is most pervasive and deadly in pro wrestling, an unregulated form of entertainment that is watched on TV and in arenas by an estimated 20 million fans a week, including children. See e.g., attached USA TODAY investigative report, "High death rate lingers behind fun facade of pro wrestling."

As Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the subcommittee with jurisdiction over sports-related matters, we are monitoring this situation very closely. We request a briefing on this matter at the earliest possible time. We also are considering a hearing on this matter, and whether there is a need for Federal regulation to protect the health and safety of the wrestlers.

In the 109 th Congress, the Subcommittee held a hearing on "Steroids in Sports: Cheating the System and Gambling Your Health," and reported legislation, H.R. 1862, the Drug Free Sports Act World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. implemented a Talent Wellness Program in February 2006. Please advise the Subcommittee by close of business on August 28, 2007, whether TNA has adopted a similar program.

If so, please provide the Subcommittee with a copy of your program, as well as any other relevant records detailing the specifics of the program as well as TNA' s implementation and interpretation thereof. Records include memoranda, correspondence, and electronic communications. Please also describe any and all actions that TNA has taken - either within or outside any such program - to detect and prevent steroid abuse. Information, including the aggregate number of random tests conducted in each month this year, would assist the Subcommittee in its review, and we request that you provide that information, as well. We are sending similar information requests to other wrestling leagues.

Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact us, or have your staff contact (snip).

While I think this is good that Congress is focusing attention on the steroid problem in pro wrestling, I'm not sure that it will do any good. The culture inside organizations like TNA and WWE have to change first. Congress can subpoena Vince McMahon and other people like him and demand answers, but threats won't sway someone like McMahon, who's already beaten the feds in court.

All that will happen is McMahon will do skits in his WWE programming, like he did when the Parents Television Council (PTC) tried to get his weekly Raw! and Smackdown! programs off the air. He created a tag team called the Right to Censure; they wore suits as their wrestling attire and "converted" WWE stars with the most obnoxious gimmicks to their "cause", which was to get immorality, barely clothed women, bad language and foreign objects like tables or chairs out of the squared circle. The Godfather became the Goodfather. It was quite clever. The PTC didn't appreciate the parody.

Vince has already started a parody of Congress with his character, Mr. McMahon, dominating the hearing and then strutting out of the hearing room with a satisfied smirk on his face.

He'll dare Congress to take him on. He'll make a fortune in the process by putting more asses in the seats to watch his antics. It's happened EVERY time someone's gone after him.

Should be interesting to watch. Vince is cocky enough and arrogant enough to thumb his nose up at Congress--and his high-powered and high-priced attorneys will probably get him off of whatever they throw at him.

Enough, Already: O.J. Simpson's Book Should Never See the Light of Day, No Matter Where the Money Goes

Fred Goldman has managed to secure the rights to all proceeds from the sale of O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It" and plans to have the damned thing published.

Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, is shocked and encouraging everyone to boycott the book. I am in complete agreement with her call. That rag (aka Simpson's book) should never see the light of day. I never expected Fred Goldman, father of the late Ron Goldman, to have the rag published in the name of the victims.

As is expected, the families of the victims are not in agreement over the fate of this book. Simpson was cleared of criminal wrongdoing but was found responsible for their deaths in a civil suit and ordered to pay $38 million. Every penny that has gone into that settlement has been due to court action, not Simpson paying up voluntarily.

I was against this book when word broke that it had been written (see November 16, 2006 entry: OJ Simpson is OUT of His Mind...) I'm still against it. It's based on pure evil, no matter where the money goes. Fred Goldman is wrong to do this.

Rove Steps Down: So?

Karl Rove and President Bush got on the TV this morning and announced that Rove was leaving the Bush Administration and heading home to Texas to re-enter the private sector.

Here's the $64,000 question: so what?

The sheer amount of panting and labored breathing coming from the news media and the Democrats this morning (and all day) was hilarious! They couldn't get Rove charged with political crimes, couldn't get him to testify before Congress, and couldn't get him to budge on any issues. The Dems and the press failed to take out Rove. He left of his own accord, when the timing was right to him.

The only thing they're trying to hang their hats on now is the "symbolic end of the Bush Administration." They've been saying that since the day after Gore tried and failed to litigate his way into the White House. They've already been there and done that with the "end of Bush" thingy.

The irony here is too delicious to ignore. What will the Congressional Democrats do if Bush keeps winning political fights without his political attack dog around? Who will they blame? They may come to rue the day that Rove left town. It was easy for them to blame "Bush's Brain" for their defeats, but if Bush takes them head-on by himself and wins, especially on Iraq war funding, who will deserve the title of "idiot" more?

I'm looking forward to watching and finding out.

Another Former WWE Wrestler Dies: Brian "Crush" Adams Dead at Age 44

Here we go again.

Brian Adams was found dead by his wife earlier today. He was 44.

Adams competed in the WWE/WWF as "Crush", "Koko Crush", and was a former member of the tag team known as Demolition, was a member of the Nation of Domination, and was also a member of the WWE biker gang Disciples of Apocalypse. When he was in World Championship Wrestling, he wrestled under both his own name and as "KroniK."

He later moved on to boxing, but was injured and returned to wrestling. He was forced to retire after sustaining spinal injuries in the ring in 2003.

They just keep dying so young. 2007 is turning out to be one of the worst years in wrestling history for wrestler deaths. So far this year, the wrestling world has lost "Bam Bam" Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Sensational Sherri, Biff Wellington, Nancy Benoit, Chris Benoit, John Kronus, and Brian Adams. Every one of them was in their 30s or 40s.

And it's going to keep on happening. The types of drugs these people are taking are so destructive that the damage they cause to a wrestler's body do not heal or go away; it kills them.

If drug abuse is as widespread as many in the wrestling industry are saying in the wake of the Benoit double-murder/suicide, it begs the question:

How many of today's wrestlers will live to see their 45th birthday? I don't think I want to know.

GOP Field Finally Starts to Narrow: Gov. Thompson Pulls Out of Race

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson dropped out of the GOP race for his party's presidential nomination today, after placing sixth in the Iowa straw polls.

He's the smartest one out of all of them. I like Tommy Thompson, but he wasn't the right man in the right place at the right time. This time. He may be a Vice-Presidential candidate down the road.

There are still too many candidates. More GOP candidates should follow Thompson's example and help to clear the board. Those who weren't sure of where they stand with potential voters know now.

Results:

1) Gov. Mitt Romney 31%.
2) Gov. Mike Huckabee 18.1%
3) Sen. Sam Brownback 15.3%
4) Tom Tancredo 13.7%
5) Ron Paul 9.1%
6) Tommy Thompson 7.3%
7) Fred Thomson 1.4%
8) Rudy Giuliani 1.2%
9) Duncan Hunter 1.2%
10) John McCain <1%
11) John Cox <1%

Should be interesting to see if any of the others throw in the towel too.

Foam Penetrated Heat Shield All the Way to Endeavour's Belly: Worst Case Scenario Playing Out Before Our Eyes

The news from orbit isn't looking good. The space shuttle Endeavour's heat shield has been cracked all the way through to the shuttle's felt underbelly from where a piece of foam hit it during last week's take-off from Cape Canaveral.

The astronauts may have to use untested repair techniques to try and repair the damage before they attempt to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

A 2005 New York Times story also reported that shuttles have been hit 15,000 times by debris and posted a schematic of where the hits were on the shuttles over the years. Here's what it looks like:

Hopefully NASA's plans to deal with something as major as this will work. The last thing NASA needs is is to launch another shuttle on a rescue mission, knowing that the rescue shuttle may be damaged during take-off as well.

It would be fascinating to see the tests that NASA is conducting to determine if the heat shield will work now that it's been compromised. Hopefully the news is good and they'll be able to bring the crew and shuttle home safely, with minimal risk to everyone up there. No one wants to mourn the loss of another shuttle crew.

Once they're back on Earth safely, NASA needs to look at whether it's worth keeping the shuttle program going for another three years, or if they should pull the plug and divert their resources into producing the next generation space vehicle. I'd rather see them do the latter.

Shuttle Endeavour Damaged During Lift-Off; Ice Believed to Have Hit Shuttle's Belly

The space shuttle Endeavour was apparently damaged during lift-off from Cape Canaveral yesterday; video showed ice (or something) hitting Endeavor's belly, causing damage to some thermal heat tiles about 58 seconds into the launch.

NASA discovered some kind of gouge in one of the tiles, which is causing no small amount of concern at Mission Control. They may have to do a spacewalk to attempt a repair of the tile. It appears that there's just no way to prevent ice or foam from coming off the external fuel tank or booster rockets during the violent blast-off and atmospheric escape.

Since they can't get rid of this problem, it makes me wonder if every shuttle ever launched has sustained damage like this during take-off?

It took the destruction of the Columbia to make NASA realize how serious this problem is. It doesn't matter what they do to upgrade the rest of the shuttle; if it's pierced by foam, ice or other debris, and they don't detect it, the shuttle is doomed. The loss of the Columbia proved it.

It's a wonder we haven't lost more shuttles.

Predictions on Pakistan Appear to Be Coming True Sooner Than Expected: This is Not Good News

Uh oh.

I had written last week about Senator Obama's rash words promising to send U.S. troops into Pakistan without permission to hunt al-Qaeda down. I had written that it could easily expand into a mission to secure Pakistan's nuclear weapons ("Some Candidates Want to Substitute One War for Others: What's the Point?" once U.S. forces crossed the border to start hunting al-Qaeda.

Look at what was on CNN's web site today.

The Pakistani issue that I raised may become moot if President Bush decides to secure Pakistan's nuclear arms before he leaves office. What are we getting into now??!

Two Judges Threaten to Have the Other Arrested Over Scheduling Dispute: Now THAT'S Courtroom Drama

Two court judges engaged in an argument over scheduling of the same courtroom threatened to issue contempt of court warrants against the other, which could have lead to both of them being arrested.

Now THAT would have been funny! They should proceed with their threats immediately. Some diabolical genius would probably be able to sell tickets for the public to come watch their tax dollars hard at work.

Someone ought to go down there with a couple of push-pins and let some of the hot air out of that courthouse.

Broken House Computer Adds to Trouble in House: Some Members Have Interesting Comments on This

A computer that displays live vote tallies while House voting is in progress malfunctioned today, leading to more tension on top of yesterday's disgraceful actions in the House of Representatives.

One representative complained that he couldn't possibly vote because he couldn't see what his party was doing. Here's a thought: why don't they forget about fixing that machine, and vote based on their own beliefs and values, not their party's??!

If they can't do their jobs, why don't they resign and let someone with more guts make the tough calls?

There was a reason that President Washington spoke out against political parties during his farewell address of 1796:

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy....

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

I think Washington's words ought to be considered carefully by politicians who need a machine to tell them how their party is voting before they cast their own vote.

More Incompetence on the Hill: House Flies Apart at the Seams

The Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives are raising their childish antics to new lows.

I'm not completely sure what happened, but the Republicans claimed an immigration vote went their way late last night by a count of 215-213. The Democratic speaker and his aides claimed that the vote was tied 214-214 and failed. Following the close of the voting time, votes started to change, which according to this article, was "strange." The Democrats then announced that the "actual vote" was 216-212.

The hollering started almost immediately; the Democrats offered to do a re-vote, and all hell broke loose. Both parties starting screaming "shame" at one another, it degenerated into a full-scale farce. Republicans stormed off the House floor in protest, and the original vote disappeared off the record as if it had never happened. What the??!

While both parties have played tricks on one another to pass legislation in the past, last night's attempted theft of a straight up-and-down vote was disgraceful, and so was the purging of the record of the vote.

Both parties share the blame in this disgrace; and I hope it doesn't happen again.

What would happen if national elections were to be held like this? We vote on November 7th from when the polls open at 7am to when the polls officially close.

If elections were held the way that last night's vote in the House was done, we'd be going back in and changing our votes after they had been cast, hours after the polls had closed. And then, after the storm of protest from people over laws being violated, those in authority erased all records of the election, leaving total chaos.

This is just more proof that this Congress is broken.

And one note to Congressional leaders: just because the other party did it to you doesn't mean YOU have to do it to them. Shame on all of you!

Some Candidates Want to Substitute One War for Others: What's the Point?

A lot of the Presidential candidates have come out opposed to the war in Iraq, but have made some comments in recent weeks and months about starting wars elsewhere.

Obama wants to send troops into Pakistan to fight al-Qaeda. This could easily translate into a seizure of Pakistan's nuclear weapons if radicals capture control of the government of Pakistan while U.S. troops are in the country hunting for bin-Laden. While doing that may not be a bad thing, it would be inserting U.S. forces into an already complicated situation.

Dodd is open to using force against Iran. So is Clinton, Edwards (while pushing for a nonaggression pact with Iran), Obama (who has also said that it would be a "profound mistake to initiate war with Iran"), Giuliani (who might use a first strike option with nuclear weapons), McCain, and Romney.

I don't like this idea of pulling troops out of Iraq and sending them straight after Pakistan or Iran. If we're going to pull the troops out, they should do it, then retool and rebuild the military first. Sending a weary army into Iran against an enemy who's spoiling for a fight is not a good idea.

I think they ought to postpone the tough talk and deal with problems we already have, not talking about making more problems.

Great Dane Shoots Owner: Don't Blame the Dog

It seems like there is a story such as this one in the media every so often; this one was a little different due to the comments of the "victim's" fiance.

A Great Dane bumped an end-table which had a loaded handgun on it. The gun fell off the table and went off with the impact. The round hit the owner, requiring him to be rushed to the hospital, where he's in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back.

The fiance says she's afraid of what he will do to the dog when he gets out of the hospital.

Seems to me that he should leave the dog alone; it wasn't the dog's handgun; the dog didn't load the gun and leave it where it could be knocked off the table. I also wonder if the gun's safety was on or off. The dog's not responsible for that either.

Improper handling and storage of the gun is responsible. In other words, the owner is responsible. If what the fiance is saying is correct, a few anger management courses and firearm training classes might be in order here.

NASA Reports Intoxicated Astronauts Allowed to Fly: What Kind of Lunatic Outfit Are They Running Down There?

NASA released a shocking report on intoxicated astronauts being allowed to go on shuttle missions, despite objections from fellow astronauts and flight controllers.

Oh, hell's bells!

The report mentions two incidents: one aboard a space shuttle, another aboard the International Space Station/Soyuz launch. It is unknown if these were isolated incidents, or an indicator of a major problem, and how long it's been going on.

The last thing we need is an intoxicated pilot or co-pilot at the control stick of a shuttle when a major malfunction occurs. Shuttle flights should be postponed if ANYONE in the crew shows up intoxicated, and the offending crew member removed from the mission.

If it's discovered that alcohol played ANY part in the destruction of either the Challenger or the Columbia, there will be hell to pay at NASA. There's no indication of anything like that occurring, but if it did...

What kind of operation are they running down there? Allowing drunk people to fly aboard one of the fastest and most powerful airborne non-nuclear bombs in existence? What were they thinking?

Obama-Clinton War of Words: Much as I Hate to Say It, Clinton's Right

During the recent CNN/Youtube-sponsored Democratic Presidential debate, one of the questions asked was whether the candidates would meet with certain nations within one year of being elected. Here are the questions and how Clinton and Obama answered the question:



I loathe to admit it, but on this question, Clinton is absolutely correct. Obama screwed up and is now making more mistakes to cover his original mistake. His statement was hopelessly naive; one could almost hear his advisers groaning from backstage and his spin doctors going into damage control mode.

Clinton's statement was that she didn't want a visit to be used as a propaganda tool by those nations mentioned, who are notorious for doing precisely that kind of thing. She was correct that the groundwork needs to be done first before a Presidential visit could occur.

Diplomacy SHOULD resume with those nations, with a goal of eventual high-level talks and visits. But Obama's approach came across as having an American President crawling on hands and knees to that commie runt in North Korea, or the Mouth of the South, or Iran's hostage-taking president to ask them to please talk to us.

We ought to kick a few of them IN the mouth before we talk to them, just so they're paying attention.

Obama ought to admit the error, then move on.

Harry Potter Synopsis Posted to Wikipedia Before New Book Went on Sale Across U.S.: Wikipedian Locked Article to Prevent Deletion/Alteration by Fans

This post contains no spoilers.

Someone spilled the beans on what happens in the new Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) in a clever way: they posted a chapter-by-chapter synopsis to Wikipedia, then locked it to prevent changes or deletion. It was posted before the book went on sale one week ago at 12:01am local time across the U.S.

The explicit curses found in various chat rooms about the Wikipedian responsible were hilarious, and unsettling at the same time. Lots of screaming about the book's contents being spoiled and the ending being given away by those fans stupid enough to read the Wikipedia entry before reading the book.

It's their own damned fault.

I think that someone in Europe posted the information to Wikipedia as they had hours to read the book and post the article to Wikipedia before the book went on sale over here. Hey, don't look at me, I didn't do it. I read the Wikipedia entry at 12:05am EST.

Hope the Wikipedian covered his exterior posterior because some Potter fans are looking for someone to throttle. Morons.

More Drug Problems at Tour de France: Riders Lead Away by Police, Others Fired by Their Teams, or Kicked Out by Tour Officials

Well, isn't this pretty?

The Tour de France (aka Tour de Farce) continued with more drug scandals this week, with two riders being kicked out of the tour after testing positive for blood doping, and the Tour leader being kicked out by his own team for suspicion of doing the same thing. One of the riders was lead away by French police for questioning (seen above).

The Tour is a joke. In fact, the joke the other day was that the only thing that the Tour is peddling is drugs. That's really sad for a sport whose worldwide popularity has increased in recent years.

And what's really sad is that Tour athletes will continue doping up as their colleagues and competitors get caught every day around them. It's utter madness!

Executive Privilege vs. Congressional Subpoenas: Separation of Powers Weakens Every Time Congress and President Clash Over This

Watching the President and Congress clash over subpoenas and Executive Privilege is like watching a chess match. Move. Counter move. Counter-counter move. Check. Counter move.

The firings of eight U.S. attorneys set off this high-stakes game of chess. It goes thus:

Attorney General Gonzales fires eight federal attorneys; no reason is given. Congress demands explanations; Justice declines; Congress subpoenas documents and people; White House asserts Executive Privilege; Congress threatens contempt of Congress charges against anyone refusing to testify; White House says "so?"; Congress again threatens contempt charges; White House orders federal prosecutors not to comply with Congressional contempt citations; Congress threatens to charge Gonzales with perjury.

There seems to be a great deal of confusion as to where Congressional authority ends and Presidential authority begins--and vice versa.

And we have a sitting Congress and President who don't mind intruding on one another's territory, which makes this question even more difficult to resolve. And they've both tried to shred parts of the Constitution that deals with the other.

This is not the first time that a President and Congress have clashed over Executive Privilege; Nixon asserted ExecPriv over his Watergate recordings; the Supreme Court ruled against him. A lower Federal court also ruled against Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal when his aides were ordered to testify before the Starr commission.

Presidents need to pick and choose which battles need to be fought to preserve the separation of powers, not to cover their behinds. And Congress needs to pick and choose which fights really need to be fought and make sure that they're not crossing the line between Congressional powers and Presidential ones.

We are not a parliamentary democracy. The President is NOT a member of Congress as the British Prime Minister is of the British Parliament (as are most of his/her ministers). We are a federal republic with three branches of government, complete with a system of checks and balances to prevent one branch from gaining supremacy over all others.

President Bush and Congress are trying to gain supremacy over the other, and the third branch may be required to step in to put a stop to it. It's only a matter of time now before this is referred to the courts. They've locked us into this course.

What a sorry state of affairs.

Youtube/CNN Debate Was Interesting: I Hope This Format is Done Again

I watched the CNN/Youtube-sponsored Democratic debate a few nights ago and came away impressed with the format. Having people send in video questions and comments is a great idea.

The fellows from Tennessee were great with their comment on this:



The snowman was idiotic (and I thought the answer was a bit of a stretch):





I thought the liberals up on the stage were going to have a heart attack with this question on gun control (and the "prop" used by the person asking the question!)



Thirty-nine questions were asked on all kinds of issues that were important to the Democratic base as well as the viewing public. I do hope they do this kind of debate with the eventual nominees from both parties. Trying to question eight or nine candidates was unwieldy, but they pulled it off.

Someone had a real good idea.

Iraqi Prime Minister's Statement That Iraq Can Take Care of Itself Should the Americans Leave Suddenly: Bravado or Reality?

The Iraqi Prime Minister recently made some eyebrow-raising statements concerning political upheaval in Washington that could lead to a sudden pull-out of the U.S. military from Iraq. Said he: "...American troops can leave anytime they want." He also said that Iraqi troops are capable of taking over.

Really? Since when, exactly?

That sounds like bravado backed up by facts not in evidence. I would think that we've heard enough bravado in this war to make everyone uneasy over his choice of words. I believe al-Maliki misspoke and hurt his own cause.

It smells of someone else standing on the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" banner over his shoulder, stating that major combat operations in Iraq were at an end, or that same person's declaration that he didn't care if bin-Laden was brought in, "dead or alive."

Politicians are the same the world over.

President and Congress Are Out of Touch With American Public: They Aren't Listening and Don't Care

I am of the opinion that this Administration and Congress are the worst that I have ever seen.

Some of us were waiting for President Bush to become the leader we had hoped he would be, but it hasn't happened, and it's too late now.

The Democrats aren't going to listen to him; they'd rather investigate him. And President Bush is facing a revolt in his own party in Congress. When he has to join forces with the most liberal Democrats in Congress to pass immigration amnesty over the objections of his own party, it's clear that this Administration is crippled beyond repair.

And Congress is worse than that. Both parties are fractured, and there's little consensus on Iraq, immigration, stem cell research, Gonzales, the wiretapping thing, the fired federal prosecutors, and concern about protecting the Constitution AS IT IS. They're busy attempting to shred parts of the Constitution that are inconvenient to them.

In fact, both the President and Congress have taken steps to invade and supplant one another's Constitutional authority. Witness the President's military tribunals, and Congress's foray into foreign policy with Nancy Pelosi attempting to establish a shadow foreign policy, and insulting Israel in the process (and making a fool out of herself.) We won't even go into executive privilege vs. Congressional subpoena powers here.

I think the entire slate of people in Congress need to be overturned by the voters and new people elected in at the earliest possible opportunity. This Congress is blowing it big time.

Also, I am opposed to every candidate vying for the Presidency that the Democrats and Republicans have in the field. I think both parties can do better than who they've got in the race at present.

There are also too many people running at this point on both the Democratic and Republican sides. They're all attempting to say the same things differently and it's getting real old real fast.

Government Should Take Steps to Reduce Heavy Debt Load: $9 Trillion and Rising

The Bush Administration's rationale for debt spending during wartime is unnecessary and unwise. The price tag that came along with this decision is a staggering $9 trillion. That's too much for any one nation to carry.

Congressional pork barrel projects aren't helping either. They are a percentage of the overall budget, but they are adding more to the problem and not to the solution, especially since the government is already overspending. Congress adds insult to injury every time they use federal money to pay for peanut storage in their home states. Or other stupid earmarks.

A $9 trillion debt is the pinnacle of absurdity.

That debt should be paid down 10% every four years until it's a fraction of the federal budget, with no new additions to the debt. Every Administration--starting with the new one that will take office in January 2009--until the debt is nearly retired around the year 2058.

If the government can't fit a program into a balanced budget, then the program should be postponed or canceled.

The military does this all the time. If a weapons system is no longer cost-effective, or is too expensive to build, or is obsolete, they put it out to pasture. The rest of the government should be made to do the same thing.

I think that the government should have the ability to exceed it's budget, but that ability should be used ONLY in times of dire national emergencies, not in everyday situations, as the nation currently is. Yes, the country is at war, but not total war as it was during World War II.

Radical changes need to be made in Washington, and soon. Otherwise, the debt will get so huge that we'll never be able to pay it down.

Barry Bonds Home Run Situation: A View From Someone Who Doesn't Care about 756*

The baseball world has been talking for quite some time about the fact that Barry Bonds is within striking distance of breaking Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755. Bonds is currently sitting pretty on 753 with the rest of the baseball season to go.

However, Bonds has been dogged by accusations of steroid usage. He has not tested positive for any banned substances, leading to charges of racism and another Lance Armstrong-type situation, where someone has been accused without solid proof.

It started in 2003, when Bonds' trainer (and the company he worked for) were charged with distributing anabolic steroids to athletes, including major league baseball players. Bonds was not accused of any crimes, though a federal grand jury investigated him (for charges unrelated to any drug use). They declined to charge him with anything.

Few points about the alleged drug use from someone who doesn't care if Bonds hits 755 or not:

Unless there are positive tests, or Bonds admits to using something, or he gets caught with something on him, everything being said about him with regards to the drug use is hearsay. Fans should get used to that idea.

Both baseball and the media should put up or shut up as far as their accusations go. He's innocent until proven guilty and they should remember that. The court of public opinion doesn't matter if there is no evidence of wrongdoing.

McCain's Own Campaign Finance Laws are Hurting Him Now: Perhaps He Should Think These Things Through Before Enacting Laws That Affect Others Too

John McCain's presidential campaign appears to be melting down. In recent weeks he's laid off workers, others have quit, he's shut down campaign offices and doesn't have enough money to keep his campaign afloat.

While his staff's quitting is being caused by conflict inside the campaign as well as the money problems, McCain's problems are due in part to his own McCain-Feingold laws which place strict limits on campaign financing, limits what can be donated to campaigns, and restricts candidate spending if they accept federal matching funds.

I'm not saying that his law is good or bad--I'm neutral on that point--but the irony of this is decidedly delicious. We have a politician being screwed by his own law.

Am I the only one enjoying this situation?

Congress's Withdrawal Timetable is Unrealistic: The U.S. Military Can't Pack Up and Move Out of Iraq Like a Boy Scout Troop on a Camp-Out

As I had feared in my May 14th entry, the Pentagon and other military planners do not have a plan for a full withdrawal yet. In fact, the challenges ahead of them are huge. But they are working on the problem.

According to military logistics officials, it would take 10,000 flatbed trucks and one year to move out--and that's just to withdraw the twenty combat brigades currently deployed in Iraq. For a full pullout, it would take twenty months or more to get the troops and all equipment out of Iraq.

Congress's timetable is unrealistic. They are TOTALLY out of their minds!

This entire withdrawal debate needs to be re-cast with more realistic timetables. Vietnam withdrawal planning took two years to complete, and the draw down took place between 1969-1973.

If the Pentagon needs to take two years to plan it out, that puts the timetable to begin withdrawing somewhere around 2009 or 2010. And then a minimum of twenty months to get all troops and equipment out, which puts the complete withdrawal date anywhere from late 2012 to somewhere around 2015.

Congress must not screw this up! They're going to get a lot of people killed if they insist on this cockamamie plan to complete the withdrawal by April 2008. This is a force of 200,000 people with many thousands of tons of equipment, not a Boy Scout troop packing up to go home after a camp-out.

Congress needs to get it's head out of the sand and get with the program.

Harry Potter Series Ended with "Half-Blood Prince" As Far As I'm Concerned: Blatant Satanism Does It In

When "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released in bookstores four years ago, I raised objections to the blatant Satanism found in the book and some of the topics that were touched upon. I won't go into the minor issues.

My major objection (on religious grounds) in "Order of the Phoenix" was the demonic possession of Harry by Lord Voldemort during the battle between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix at the Ministry of Magic. I just cannot get past this blatant Satanism. I was very offended by this turn of events.

On my web site, I was willing to overlook some of the minor religious issues in the first three books. My perception changed at the end of the fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", when Wormtail chopped off his own hand, desecrated the grave of Voldemort's father, then drew Harry's blood to allow the dark lord's body to be regenerated. This was preceded by the murder of Cedric Diggory. My reaction was "uh oh."

I had hoped that J.K. Rowling wouldn't return to this kind of stuff, but she not only returned to it, but escalated it in "Phoenix". Then "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released two years ago and the soul ripping and the raising of the dead for evil killed the series for me.

I will not read the last book. It's a dead series as far as I'm concerned.

Only God can raise the dead.

Democrats Tack on Withdrawal Date to Military Spending Bill Again: Bush May Not Be Given Time for Surge to Work

Senator Levin tacked on an amendment to a new military spending bill that features a withdrawal date for troops from Iraq.

Here we go again.

This time, however, the Democrats may have support from GOP Senators Lugar, Warner and Voinovich, as well as several other GOP senators. They have said that the Administration's plan isn't working and a change in direction was needed.

It appears that Congress isn't going to wait for General Petraeus's report in September to decide what's working and what isn't. The House has already voted to withdraw troops next year.

And President Bush isn't gaining any new allies in Congress; he's losing the allies he's already got. Looks like things are going to get really nasty.

Burying the "N" Word: Symbolic Move Won't Stop Rappers, Racists or Drunks from Using Racial Slur

The symbolic burial of the "n" word in various cities around the country won't change a thing.

Rappers, racists and drunks will continue to use the divisive term at will and with relish. Upset comics and various celebrities will, too, as we've already seen. The mock burials should not be seen as anything but symbolic, until public perceptions of the damage the word does becomes much more widespread. We're only hearing this from one part of the population, and stunts like this do nothing to change the perception that this is a problem for our entire society, and not just the African-American communities.

Eliminating this vulgar term from entertainment alone is nothing but window dressing which covers up a much bigger problem. Racism doesn't reside in entertainment alone; and the NAACP has unwisely focused too much of it's attention there, and on this one word.

Many words can be put together to describe someone based on their skin color, religious belief, and other things which set people apart from one another that are just as harmful as the "n" word. Consider Don Imus's words. I had to look up part of the term he used to understand what he meant.

Racism is more than words, and affects more than one group of people. Burying one word won't do anything to change it.

Pelosi Laments Lack of Progress in Congress: That's What Happens When the "No" Party Replaces Something With Nothing

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she was disappointed with Congress's lack of progress on high-priority issues--namely immigration, the Iraq War, stem cell research, and other hot topics.

HELLO!

What did she think was going to happen when her special interest-dominated party took the reins of power? That she'd actually be able to hold the coalition together once an issue came up that the special interests were opposed to one another on, such as Iraq funding?

For years they've been "no to this," "no to that," "no to George Bush's illegal war," "no to neo-cons," "no no no no no!"---while offering no alternatives. They were silent.

Then they came to power because voters were expressing their displeasure with the Republican-dominated House and Senate and especially with President Bush. And the only way to do that was to vote for the other candidate.

Nancy Pelosi blaming Senate Republicans for her lack of control over her own party is both amusing and a sign of desperation. She'll say or do anything to get her dissenting membership to agree with her. She's clearly hoping she can end the public meltdown of Democratic unity.

She's giving the united Republicans more credit than they've earned in this matter; it's not Republican opposition that's responsible for 51% of her problems; it's defections from her party when the time comes to vote on these bills that are most responsible for her control issues.

Republicans are veering away from President Bush's positions on Iraq and immigration; yet Pelosi can't take advantage of that because the special interests are pulling her own party apart at the seams, wanting differing things on how to deal with the Iraq question and how to cater to potential new immigrant voters.

The next election will be interesting.

Police Seize Computer Belonging to Wikipedian Who Posted News of Chris Benoit's Wife's Death 14 Hours Before Bodies Were Found

Police seized a computer belonging to a Wikipedian who posted news of the death of Nancy Benoit, wife of former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler Chris Benoit, fourteen hours before police found the bodies of the Benoit family in Atlanta.

They're trying to figure out if the posting was an incredible coincidence, or if there's another angle to the double-murder/suicide that has been in the headlines for a week now.

The Wikipedian posted a follow-up message on Wikipedia a couple of days later, apologizing for posting unconfirmed information and saying that he heard a rumor of what had happened and posted it as fact.

The name of the author of the post has not been released, but his IP address put him in Stamford, Connecticut, where WWE's headquarters and corporate offices are located. The police in Georgia who are investigating the case are not happy, saying that this phase of the investigation is a huge distraction.

House Moves to Prevent Return of Fairness Doctrine: Easily Passes 309-115

The House moved to protect conservative talk-radio shows from being restricted by the Fairness Doctrine a couple of days ago, voting to bar the FCC from reinstating the Doctrine (for one year) by a comfortable margin of 309-115.

Some had feared that immigration proponents would try to muzzle the opposition to their incredibly bad immigration bill, or retaliate after the bill was killed a second time.

The defeat of the immigration bill was due largely to conservative talk-show radio programs focusing attention on the bad parts of the bill, which lead angry conservative voters to start calling their Senators.

It was a reminder to Congress as to just how powerful conservative talk-radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage remain. Some senators began openly commenting about reinstating the Doctrine, which would require conservative talk show hosts to present a liberal point of view as well as their own; the same would be required of liberal hosts presenting a conservative point of view.

In short, it would unravel modern political talk-radio and muzzle the hosts; it would also effectively cut the host's time for presenting their argument in half. That's bad for business.

Does anyone remember Air America Radio? It was a liberal radio network that was to counter Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage and other conservative radio hosts. They went on the air in mid-2004 but declared bankruptcy in October 2006 due to several factors. Their business model was really strange. Several big lawsuits went against Air America Radio.

But the major factor was that conservative listeners who make up the majority of talk-radio listeners wouldn't listen to a liberal program; many felt (as I did) that liberals control most of the media; talk-radio is a conservative stronghold. The market proved that point when AAR filed for Chapter 11.

When Kerry, Durbin and Feinstein started making comments about "fixing" conservative talk-radio after the defeat of the immigration bill, conservatives felt that since the market wouldn't support a national liberal radio network with liberal programming, liberal members of Congress were going to force the issue by making conservative talk-shows talk less in favor of their point of view.

They already present their side of the story on CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and NPR, with no consideration to what the other side is saying. They don't need to dominate talk-radio too.

So Congressman Pence of Indiana (a former conservative talk radio host himself) introduced an amendment to HR 2829, blocking funds that seek reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.

This is a good move that will preserve the independence of talk-radio and maintain the First Amendment right to free speech. It's interesting to note that every Republican that cast a vote was in favor of the amendment, while 113 Democrats joined them. 115 Democrats voted against the Amendment.

Iphone on E-Bay for $12,000: Got Any Change?

A seller from Chicago is over on Ebay is selling his three hour old iPhone for $12,000. If there's anyone stupid enough to take him up on his asking price, I have some land in Florida I'd like to show you.

"Disaster Tourists" Need to Stay Home: SF Gate Reports on Gawkers at Lake Tahoe Wildfires

The San Francisco Gate is reporting that Lake Tahoe is not only having to deal with out of control wildfires, evacuations, and other problems related to the fires, but "disaster tourists" too.

People really ought to stay home and out of the way of firefighters. They're liable to get arrested for sticking their noses in where they are DEFINITELY not needed or wanted.

Wikipedia Controversy on Benoit Murder/Suicide Case Laid to Rest: Wikipedian Apologizes

Something of a mystery that popped up in the last 24 hours over the Benoit double-murder/suicide case was resolved today.

Someone altered Chris Benoit's profile on Wikipedia and announced that Benoit had missed the WWE Vengeance pay-per-view because his wife had died--some 14+ hours before authorities found the bodies of Benoit, his wife, and his son in their Atlanta home. This lead to a huge number of conspiracy theories that the three were murdered--which is, of course, not the case so far--and widespread media coverage.

Today, the Wikipedian wrote this in the discussion page to explain himself:

"... Hey everyone. I am here to talk about the wikipedia comment that was left by myself. I just want to say that it was an incredible coincidence. Last weekend, I had heard about Chris Benoit no showing Vengeance because of a family emergency, and I had heard rumors about why that was. I was reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite there being no evidence. I posted my speculation on the situation at the time and I am deeply sorry about this, and I was just as shocked as everyone when I heard that this actually would happen in real life. It is one of those things that just turned into a huge coincidence. That night I found out that what I posted, ended up actually happening, a 1 in 10,000 chance of happening, or so I thought. I was beyond wrong for posting wrongful information, and I am sorry to everyone for this. I just want everyone to know it was stupid of me, and I will never do anything like this again. I just posted something that was at that time a piece of wrong unsourced information that is typical on wikipedia, as it is done all the time.

Nonetheless, I feel incredibly bad for all the attention this got because of the fact that what I said turned out to be the truth. Like I said it was just a major coincidence, and I will never vandalize anything on wikipedia or post wrongful information. I've learned from this experience. I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it.

I wish not to reveal my identity so I can keep me and my family out of this since they have nothing to do with anything. I am not connected to WWE or Benoit at all in anyway. I am from Stamford as the IP address shows, and I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen. I will say again I didn't know anything about the Benoit tragedy, it was a terrible coincidence that I never saw coming.

I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered. It was just a rumor that I had heard about from other people online who were speculating what the family emergency Chris was attending to. I made a big mistake by posting this comment on his page, since all we had were what we thought was going on and nothing about what actually was going on yet, and sadly what happened turned out to be my speculation at the time. I assumed wiki would edit out my information, which they did, so thats why I didn't go back to edit it out myself.

I know I keep repeating it but I feel terrible about the mainstream coverage this has received, since it was only a huge coincidence and a terrible event that should of never happened. I am not sure how to react, as hearing about my message becoming a huge part of the Benoit slayings made me feel terrible as everyone believes that it is connected to the tragedy, but it was just an awful coincidence. That is all I have to say, I will never post anything here again unless it is pure fact, no spam nothing like that. Thank you, and let this end this chapter of the Benoit story, and hopefully one day we will find out why this tragedy ever actually happened."

This was a case of someone posting a rumor online, which turned out to be accurate. Hopefully this settles this particular question permanently. The situation is bad enough without sideshows going on too.

iPhone Mania: Who Cares?

The iPhone is going to be released today!!!

I'm so happy, I could ralph. In fact, I'm not going within twenty miles of any electronics stores today.

Some stores have added security today, in anticipation of violence at some of the stores from overeager buyers who are going to make fools out of themselves. The vast majority of iPhone enthusiasts will conduct themselves properly, but you can bet there will be news coverage of any outbreaks of violence on the 11 o'clock news tonight.

And we'll see how high of a price that the iPhone fetches on Ebay over the next couple of days as the supplies dwindle. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a repeat of the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii experiences, with supplies running out and desperate buyers turning to Ebay to find the phone. Bidding went into the stratosphere for some of the gaming systems when they launched.

At $499 for the low-end model, and $599 for the upper-end model, the iPhone is overpriced and can't do what they want it to do, as many areas of the country don't offer the high-end wireless Internet connectivity that the phone is designed for (wi-fi hotspots). And those areas that do may be overwhelmed by all the new iPhone users attempting to access the Internet and download videos and music. Apple and AT&T say they have enough bandwidth, but we'll know once everyone starts getting on.

People started camping out in the last couple of days, waiting for the grand launch at 6pm tonight. Whatever.

Immigration Bill Dies Again: Now They Can Write a Better Bill

The debate to end the debate on the incredibly bad immigration bill failed in the Senate yesterday by a comfortable margin. So now they're saying that immigration won't be taken up until there is a new President and new members of Congress get seated. GOOD!!

The majority of Republicans refused to vote for it as President Bush had wished, but he's on the wrong side in this debate. So were the GOP'ers who voted with Ted Kennedy.

Now they can quit treating this thing like a hot potato and write a better bill that isn't as big a joke as this last one was.

WWE Backtracks on Chris Benoit Situation: Some Fans Should Too

Before I get too far into World Wrestling Entertainment's retraction of some of their comments, I'd like to note that I've gotten some hate e-mail from Chris Benoit fans who won't tolerate anyone speaking out against their murdering a$$hole hero.

I don't care what he's done in the wrestling world; he murdered his wife and killed his seven year-old son before taking the coward's way out of taking responsibility for his actions. His contributions to pro wrestling pale in comparison to the horrific crimes that he carried out against his family.

I would not have thought Benoit capable of something like this either, but I, like the fans who e-mailed me, only knew his public persona, not Benoit the real person. The "Canadian Crippler" was a WWE character who could be made into a good guy or a bad guy almost at will; merely by insulting the fans or the local sports team, he could get the fans to boo him; insult or attack the evil Mr. McMahon (the character of WWE owner Vince McMahon), the fans would cheer him, or any other WWE character.

So these individuals who e-mailed me directly (instead of posting their vile for everyone to see in the comments section of the article in question) shouldn't be throwing stones. Their rationale for defending Benoit was based entirely on Benoit's "Canadian Crippler/Rabid Wolverine" character that was created by WWE and Benoit himself.

It was obvious that they only knew the character and not the man behind the character. They provided no insights into the man at all. I would also like to point out that from the grammar mistakes contained in these e-mails, these twin twits had obtained a fourth-grade education--through the mail. I was not impressed with their command of the English language.

Further, it is entirely possible that these two fans still wear diapers as the quality of their writing had yet to rise to a level higher than the contents of those diapers, if you take my meaning. Go back to school, whippersnappers, and learn to write--and get a clue as to what you're writing about before you darken my Inbox again. And don't defend a murderer either.

WWE made a huge deal about honoring Chris Benoit's career on Monday night's WWE Raw program and dedicated the entire three-hour program to his memory:



The very next night, on the Extreme Championship Wrestling program, Vince got on and backed way off--"in light of recent developments..." etc:


That was the right thing for Vince McMahon to do. He's clearly as horrified by last weekend's events as everyone else was--except for the aforementioned gits--and actually went on the offense against some of the reporting going on.

I still think that Vince needs to provide major leadership against substance abuse in his company and should take a stand against steroids and substance abuse--and then enforce the rules. He may save someone's life--as well as his company.

After Months of Denial, China Shuts Down 180 Food Processing Plants Caught Using Banned Chemicals: Problem is Very Serious

More proof that we need to de-internationalize critical parts of our food supply:

China conducted an investigation into why pet food, toothpaste and other products were contaminated. They found that substances such as formaldehyde, illegal/banned dyes, and industrial wax were being used in the production of pickles, candy, crackers and seafood, among other things.

180 factories violating rules have been shut down. An additional 152,000 factories were shut down by another Chinese agency for doing the same thing over the last year. There are still 850,000 factories (mostly small operations) that Chinese authorities need to look at.

Formaldehyde??! As a preservative??! I wonder what that will do to global cancer rates.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg as there are many more factories that need to be looked at. At least they're not denying the problem anymore. What a mess.

Gordan Brown Installed As New Prime Minister of Great Britain

Queen Elizabeth II accepted the resignation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair today and installed Labor Party leader Gordon Brown as the new Prime Minister.

It should be interesting to watch as this new British government forms. How different will this government be with regards to relations with Washington and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as compared to the Blair government?

On Tony Blair, I think critics were too harsh when they called him George Bush's poodle. His contributions to peace in Northern Ireland and in the developing world exceed President Bush's efforts, period. Don't look for the Quartet on the Middle East to ask President Bush to do anything for them when he leaves office. They may well throw a party after Bush goes back to Texas.

Blair did a much better job of explaining his reasons for supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and was eloquent in defending his reasoning. A lot of that has to do with the fact that every Wednesday, he'd go to Parliament and duke it out with his opponents during Prime Minister's Questions, where he'd answer questions posed to him by the opposition and from his own party.

I think Prime Minister Brown will not have much of a grace period; his first Prime Minister's Questions next Wednesday will tell the tale.

Outgoing Prime Minister Blair to Be Named Diplomatic Quartet's Emissary

Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair won't be unemployed for very long. The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East--the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia--have decided to name Blair as their special envoy to Palestine.

His job will be to help Palestine build up governmental infrastructures, and to aid the divided Palestinian Authority on questions of law. His role will probably be expanded later.

Blair's proven diplomatic skills will serve him well in his new position. Hopefully he'll be able to help Palestine's government evolve into a strong government that helps and represents all Palestinians.

Senate Votes to Resume Debate on Immigration Bill: Another Chance to Kill It

The ill-conceived immigration bill is back on the table after the Senate voted 64-35 to pick it back up and bat it around some more.

Hopefully they kill the measure outright this time. "Something is better than nothing" is a very bad rationale for passing the thing.

A vote may come as early as Thursday.

Professional Wrestling Needs to Crack Down Hard on Wrestlers Using Steroids: Age of Big Men Should End

All wrestling promotions need to crack down hard on wrestlers using anabolic steroids.

The Benoit double murder/suicide press conference held earlier this afternoon by investigators down in Georgia was damning.

The toxicology reports will be out in a couple of weeks, but it's clear that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son before killing himself. Many reports are saying that it was steroid rage. Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's house by the police. They made it clear that he had prescriptions for the steroids, but not how many prescriptions there were. They alluded to the fact that there were a lot of them.

In a previous post, I asked why these guys die so young. It's because they abuse drugs, like steroids, which causes them to develop heart conditions, or O.D. on drugs, or get into violent situations. Here is a list of wrestlers who have died of anything but natural causes:

• David Von Erich--drugs/heart condition--1984
• Eddie Graham--suicide--1985
• Rick McGraw--suicide--1985
• Gino Hernandez--cocaine overdose--1986
  
• Mike Von Erich--suicide--1987
• Bruiser Brody--stabbed to death in Puerto Rico by another wrestler in locker room--1988
• Mark Tendler--murdered--1990
  
• Chris Von Erich--suicide--1991
• "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer--drug overdose--1992
• "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich--suicide--1993
• Dino Bravo--murdered Gangland style/smuggling--1993
• Art Barr--complications from drug abuse--1994
• Louis Spicolli--drug-related complications--1998
• Brian Hauser--shot by police--1998
  
• Rick "Renegade" Williams--suicide--1999
• Bobby Duncun, Jr.--drug overdose--2000
• Rhonda Singh--drug overdose--2001
• "Gentleman" Chris Adams--died from gunshot wounds--2001
• "Mr. Perfect" Curt Henning--acute cocaine intoxication--2003
• Miss Elizabeth--drug and alcohol poisoning--2003
• Crash Holly--drug overdose--2003
• Anthony Durante--drug overdose--2003
• Mike Awesome--suicide--2007
  
• Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow--drugs--2007
• Nancy "Woman" Sullivan Benoit--murdered?--2007
• Chris Benoit--suicide?--2007

In addition, Eddie Geurrero, Road Warrior Hawk, Rick Rude, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Brian Pillman, Davey Boy Smith and others used drugs during their wrestling careers; each of these men suffered heart attacks from their history of using illegal drugs, even though they weren't using at the time they died.

Every promotion needs to discourage their wrestlers from using steroids, and get them some help.

I don't think it's necessary for wrestlers to look like this:

to do a good job and entertain people. Look at Mick Foley in comparison:

It's time for professional wrestling to get control of their major drug and steroid problems and save the lives of some of their own. And the sooner, the better.

Update on Benoit Situation: Police Rule It a Double-Murder Suicide

I'm shocked beyond belief at what I'm hearing and seeing with regards to the apparent double-murder/suicide of the Chris Benoit family.

WWE.com and Sports Illustrated have been updating this story all day, and it is getting worse and worse. Police are saying that Benoit killed his wife on Saturday, and then his son on Sunday, followed by his suicide on Monday.

Unbelievable.

I hope it isn't true, but it doesn't look good.

WWE Wrestler Chris Benoit and His Family Found Dead Today: Called in Yesterday Saying Family Was Very Sick

Chris Benoit
1967-2007

World Wrestling Entertainment broke the news tonight that former WWE Champion and superstar Chris Benoit, his wife, and his young son were found dead in their Atlanta-area home today.

Benoit had called in to the WWE office on Sunday, saying he and his family were very sick and were spitting up blood. Authorities were investigating the situation, but said that there was no evidence of violence. Those are just preliminary reports.

WWE canceled it's live show tonight and dedicated the entire broadcast to Benoit's memory. Benoit was trained by the legendary Stu Hart, father of WWE great Bret "the Hitman" Hart and the late Owen Hart, who died after a fall from the ceiling of Kemper Arena in Kansas City a few years ago.

Why do these guys die so young?

Science on Global Warming is Far From Settled: The Only Thing Settled is the Political Interpretation of the Incomplete Data

In the history of football, has there ever been an instance where two teams took to the field, then had the referee call the game ten seconds later and award the victory to one of the teams based on which quarterback looked stronger? NOT!

What kind of an idiot referee would call the game and award the victory like this? A crooked one who would be torn limb from limb by the other team and their fans, that's who. Politicians in the global warming controversy are just like that referee; in this case, they've tried to call the game on the climate change debate without taking other things into consideration.

President Bush recently surrendered his position on the global warming "science" (which totally ignores everything that happened more than 25,000 years ago) and joined other misinformed leaders that the "science" was "settled." Nonsense! The political interpretation may be settled, but the politicians are badly misinterpreting the data, which is incomplete.

Global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon, first and foremost. Man has greatly accelerated this process and amplified it due to it's greenhouse gas emissions. That's the actual science right there.

The political "science" says that global warming is caused by man and we have only a few years left to "save the planet" and "avoid the worst of the consequences."

It sounds like the politicians spent a little too much time watching "Captain Planet" on TBS. Perhaps a little remedial Earth Science with a focus on Earth's weather patterns and the effect that sunspot activity has on Earth's temperature would be useful in getting this garbage out of their heads and refocused on the problem.

Global warming has happened many times over Earth's history. The global warming crowd's own research (as narrow in scope as it is) proves it. And the research that they want to ignore shows it even more.

So, reducing greenhouse gases is a good thing; but I don't buy the Captain Planet nonsense at all. The plain and simple truth is that the planet doesn't need saving; WE DO. The government and the global warming crowd need to quit wasting time and start planning for the future. Will we retreat from the coastlines? Or will we get our act together and build defenses to keep the oceans out of our coastal cities?

Every seaside nation on Earth will be affected by a rise in ocean levels, so millions of people will need to migrate inland. That definitely won't happen overnight.

Instead of saving the planet, which doesn't need our help, we should be focused on what we need to do to save people from the coastal flooding that is sure to come. The flooding will change our coastlines permanently. Levees need to be built; New York City will either need to be reinforced, modified, or evacuated. So will dozens of other U.S. cities and towns along the coast. Here's an adjustable flood map, showing the effect of an ocean rise from 0 to 14 meters above current levels (the hybrid maps give greater detail.)

It may be that we have many years to prepare--and we may not see any of this in our lifetimes--but in all likelihood, it will take more time than we have to relocate millions of people, move parts of our nation's capitol, move our financial institutions that will be affected in New York and elsewhere, reconfigure or move our seaports, and who knows what else.

Global warming is inevitable. It's utter human arrogance and folly that says we can stop global warming.

But we ARE in the process of kicking ourselves in our collective asses not once, but twice: the first kick is from our wasting time on how we "stop" global warming; the second kick is from our politicians and environmentalists not shifting gears and taking steps to combat the changes that are definitely on the way.

Get it in gear, folks.

Passport Debate is Meaningless and Stupid; They're Targeting People Who Are Obeying the Law While Ignoring the Southern Border

Congress has been questioning the State Department about a huge backlog in processing of passport requests, since it became known that they would be required for Americans attempting to re-enter the country by air.

Some sixteen million people have filed paperwork for passports; the number was higher than anticipated and the State Department didn't have enough resources available to help with the increased workload. They also came close to running out of passports.

Some in Congress were urging the new requirements be delayed until the backlog was dealt with; Homeland Security objected. It's actually a stupid debate.

The problem on 9/11 was not Americans attempting to return to the U.S. from Mexico or Canada by air. It was foreign nationals on Visas who carried out the 9/11 attacks. Not one of them was American.

They should straighten out the Visa mess first. Then they need to deal with the other major threat--the unsecured southern U.S. border, where illegals come in whenever they want.

Until the rest of the picture gets straightened out, it seems kind of a waste of time to deal with the passport issue. Forget about delaying the new passport rules until September, delay it even longer. They need to get this right.

Gallup Poll Shows Congressional Job Approval Rating Falling to 14%; President Bush's is at 25%: Who's the Lame Duck Now?

Congress's job approval rating continues to slide, and has fallen below President Bush's record low approval rating, 14% vs. 25% respectively. And the mainstream media continues to ignore the shockingly low approval numbers for Congress, while blasting President Bush over his low standing.

Big deal. The media's approval rating (according to the same Gallup Poll) is at 23%, which is also lower than President Bush's, so they're a bunch of hypocrites too.

According to the same poll, public schools stand at 33%, the Supreme Court is at 34%, banks are at 41%, religion is at 46%, the police are at 54%, and the military is at 69%.

How the mighty have fallen.

Palestinian Civil War Breaks Out: Fatah Gets Creamed By Hamas in Gaza

Hamas launched a full-scale attack on the Fatah political and security apparatus, defeating Fatah in several battles and then executing the surviving Fatah fighters. Noncombatants were caught in the crossfire for hours as Fatah and Hamas threw everything that they had at each other.

Hamas won and captured most of the Gaza Strip.

Fatah members of the government fled to the West Bank, including Prime Minister Abbas, who dissolved the Hamas-lead government. Hamas said "hooey" to that, of course, and pressed their attacks.

There will be no real winners in this civil war. Hamas and Fatah are both terrorist organizations, and now the Palestinian people are paying a terrible price for their decision to elect a government that was going to stand up to Israel on their behalf.

Instead, it's brought ruin down on their heads.

Celebrity Fame is No Excuse for Rampant Alcoholism or Drug Abuse: Many Blame their Fame or Others Instead of Themselves and Delay their Recovery

There have been a slew of celebrities who have drawn a lot of unwelcome attention upon themselves because of their very public meltdowns. And it's surprising the excuses that some of them are coming up with, and the support those excuses are getting from the Hollywood media.

Paris Hilton was totally humiliated with her recent jail odyssey. She cried her way out of serving the rest of her sentence in jail; she cried and shrieked her way right back in the very next day.

Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have had major problems with alcohol. See their very unflattering photos (yuck) elsewhere.

David Hasselhoff (of Knight Rider and Baywatch fame) was humiliated when someone released a tape of him interacting with his daughter in a drunken stupor.

Mel Gibson had a spectacular run-in with the police, who pulled him over for erratic driving. He ran for it, got collared within seconds, then launched into an anti-Jewish rant, among other things.

There are dozens of others.

Alcoholism turns people into shadows of what they were before. And the Hollywood media is all too willing to place blame on someone or something else, but not directly on the celebrity who is struggling with alcohol or drug abuse. The exception seems to be Britney Spears; they ran out of excuses for her.

I object to people placing all the blame for their problem on someone or something else. It's that person's weakness that caused them to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism. One of the major steps to recovery is taking responsibility for one's own life, as well as for what's happened. That means that scapegoats are OUT.

It's sad to see all of these people go through stuff like this, then delay their recovery by releasing statements to the media blaming something else for their problem. I hope they all recover and get well soon.

Immigration Bill's Failure Proves We Have a Lame-Duck President AND Congress: This is a Caretaker Government Until the Next Election

It's become clear that we have a caretaker government filled with placeholders who are awaiting the next election.

Both parties are badly splintered; both are split on the Iraq War and immigration. An up-or-down vote of no-confidence on Alberto Gonzales' leadership of the Justice Department died on the Senate floor. Congress members have been reduced to threatening to kill one another's pork projects in appropriations bills.

I think I would prefer it if this Congress and President stuck to naming federal buildings, handing out medals, and the like. They are clearly out to do their own business and not the business of the American people.

Immigration reform? Not with this crowd. No way. They all but gave away our southern border with their last attempt at immigration reform.

Resolving the Iraq War? Forget it. Hopefully the generals or Iraq's government tell President Bush that it's time for American forces to leave, and he listens to them, regardless of what this Congress is doing.

Gonzales? Nope.

Dealing with Iran? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

President Bush is fighting both Democrats and Republicans and achieved a stalemate with the Democrats...and with his own party.

And the Democrats are blowing it BIG time. Their control of Congress is a joke; and news came this week that their approval rating has dropped to 29%, which is lower than President Bush's 33% approval rating. One commenter has observed that Congressional approval ratings have returned to 2006 pre-election levels.

This is really the party that swept back into power last November?

Howard Dean is Reading the Signs Correctly; If Democrats Don't Get Their Act Together, They'll Lose Control of Congress

Howard Dean is reading warning signs in the American voting public correctly. If Democrats don't end their divisions over the Iraq War and put an end to it, the voting public will end Democratic control of Congress. Left unsaid was that that it is very likely that control of one or both houses will likely go back and forth for at least the next several elections.

Dean used the Democratic radio address to send out his warning to Congressional Democrats to do what the American people elected them to do, or risk being run out of Congress.

I think he's right in this instance. 79% of voters in a recent poll indicated that they felt the Democrats had already turned their backs on the voters that helped to get them elected. And Congress's approval numbers (39%) are only marginally better than President Bush's (35%).

The Democrats are already in big trouble, and Dean sees the writing on the wall, while his Congressional colleagues don't. They will, soon enough.

U.S. Doesn't Need Chinese Ingredients or Slave Labor to Make Food Products, Toothpaste or Pet Food: We Can Manufacture All Those Products Here

Why are we exporting OUR food production capability to China, which has a very checkered history of food contamination in recent memory?

We should be growing, producing and making our own foods, pet foods, and toothpaste HERE, regardless of other issues. This is a MAJOR national security problem that needs to be at the top of federal government's priority list. What good is securing our borders if our food supply is compromised and millions of people get sick?

Look at what's happened already.

Thousands of brands of pet foods were contaminated by something in Chinese wheat gluten. As a result, thousands of cats and hundreds of dogs got sick and DIED. Now discount store toothpaste has been contaminated by diethyl glycol (DEG), which is a poison that can cause kidney failure in humans if ingested. The discount store toothpaste was also produced in China.

It's apparent that we should be manufacturing these kinds of products here in the U.S., where our labs have quick and unfettered access to production facilities should a problem arise. China's been stalling on access to it's production facilities for weeks. Our own food production system is not perfect either, but at least our government and companies recall their products if there's a problem. All China's government did was deny the problems, or told the U.S. government that it was overreacting. Hooey!

Control of our food supply should not be internationalized for cost-cutting reasons. Corporations should keep their production facilities here, and not transfer them to China or India--for any reason.

There's a reason that certain pesticides were banned in the U.S.

It's because they were harmful to humans, but nations like China still continue to use them. I think these corporations should get their supplies from U.S. farmers and keep their business here. The food supply will be much safer, and we'll have answers much quicker should a malfunction occur during the manufacture of these products.

Russian Rhetoric Over Proposed Missile Shield is Nothing But Paranoia: No Ten Missiles Ever Built Could Stop a Massive Russian Nuclear Attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to turn the G-8 conference on it's head with his Cold War-style comments on the proposed U.S. missile shield that will have elements in Eastern Europe.

I think he's trying to restart the Cold War and is using the missile shield to do it. There will be elements of the shield in Poland and in the Czech Republic; Putin threatened to target the sites with Russian nuclear weapons.

This is Russian paranoia.

The proof is in the number of intercept missiles that will be based in Poland--a grand total of ten--and the fact that Russia has many times that number of missiles in the form of ICBMs, and technology that allows each ICBM to carry more than one nuclear warhead (anywhere from three to fourteen nuclear warheads).

Look at it this way: if the American system were targeted on Russia, it would destroy the first ten nuclear missiles that Russia launched, leaving the rest of the Russian ICBMs free to launch and to presumably destroy their targets anywhere in the world. And that's IF the American system worked perfectly, which it really hasn't yet.

This missile intercept system should be a non-issue to Russia, but Putin is using it to his advantage to stay in power.

If the Russians don't want this system to be deployed, perhaps they should reign in their pals North Korea and Iran, whose ability to make trouble is unparalleled in the modern age. Or offer to host the system on Russian soil.

In any case, Russia's stirring the pot for Putin's benefit, and no one else's.

California Town's Example of Declaring Itself a "Safe Haven" for Illegal Aliens is an Example of What NOT to Do: Rule of Law Get Chucked

A California town is taking sides in the immigration debate in a big way--it's declared itself a safe haven for illegals and taken some really stupid steps to guarantee it.

One of the first things that it did was eliminate safety checkpoints, which are designed to help police get drunk, unsafe, or unlicensed drivers off the road. As most people know, it's standard procedure for police officers to ask for a driver's license and registration during a stop.

At these checkpoints, they would discover many drivers operating a vehicle without a valid California driver's license or registration. Upon further investigation, they would discover that the driver was also in the country illegally. The cars would be impounded.

California law also gives drivers 30 days to pay off impound fees, and to get a valid license and registration to get their cars back. But many illegals chose not to.

The other boneheaded move the city council made was it eliminated the traffic division of their police department because it was determined that they were giving too many tickets to illegals. So they can't pull over a reckless driver who clearly doesn't know what he/she is doing behind the wheel, can't read the signs, and is a disaster waiting to happen.

Illegal immigrants are already in violation of our laws; when a municipal government chooses to disregard state and national laws regarding the disposition of illegals, they have to dismantle other common law enforcement practices to make their illegal and unwise political move a reality.

It's unsafe; and it's astonishing that a town could make such dangerous decisions like this.

All it's going to take is one person getting killed by a drunk on a street where there were once safety checkpoints in operation--but no longer--and it will probably be a Latino member of the community (since 97% of the town is Latino) who dies--to convince these idiots that they've gone too far.

And it will be too late to do anything about it.

Sheehan Quits Anti-War Movement: It Was Bound to Happen Since Anti-War Coalitions Have No Unity

The Democratic cave-in on Iraq War funding deadlines has claimed another one of their former allies: anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan, who grabbed headlines over her protests at President Bush's Texas ranch, quit the anti-war movement and left the Democratic Party.

Some were leaping for joy at news of her packing it in; I was not among them. All I feel is sadness.

She was not in good health to begin with--after all, she had lost her son Casey in Iraq--plus her marriage broke apart, her relationship with her surviving children was on the ropes, and her finances were melting down. These were statements from Sheehan herself in her letter of farewell.

And she was egged on by the Democrats, who attended her rallies and sang her praises. But when she began criticizing them for the same things that she was criticizing the Bush Administration for--namely ending the war--they tossed her over their shoulders like an empty beer can. Goodbye. The end.

I criticized her for going beyond the scope of the anti-war movement and joining the liberal "I hate George Bush" crowd and meeting with Venezuela's communist president and other left-wing thugs. She became a side-show and severely undermined her own message to the point that she lost major credibility with those who might have supported her, had she stayed on topic.

I feel sad for her; she made some very bad decisions based on her anger and it's visibly taken a toll over the last two years. I hope she recovers her health and gets her personal life back on track.