Recall Efforts Begin Against Members of Michigan's Legislature Who Voted for Tax Increases

An anti-tax group has launched recall efforts against five Democrats and five Republicans for their support of an increased income tax as part of Michigan's continuing budget crisis.

The governor has also not been formally targeted for recall yet, but at least two web sites are calling for it. Should be interesting to watch.

Presidential Candidates Who Boycott Michigan's Primary Shouldn't Be Accepting Michigan Campaign Money Either: They Should Return Money Given to Them

I don't think that any candidate who has pulled out of Michigan's primary should be accepting Michigan campaign donations either. They should return all monies donated to them by now-disenfranchised Michigan voters.

That includes the campaigns of Obama, Edwards, Richardson, and Biden.

A note to Michigan voters: vote for the other party or 3rd party if any of these people win the Democratic nomination. They're not worthy of your vote.

Parents Need to Monitor the Myspace Profiles of their Kids: They Put Phone Numbers, Addresses and Other Information in Plain Site for All to See

Myspace needs to do more to protect kids from themselves, and parents need to WATCH WATCH WATCH what their kids are putting up there.

I think Myspace should set the profiles of anyone under the age of 16 to "private" for starters. If a profile is set to private, a user has to have the profile owner's permission to view all the information contained there. If it's set to public, anyone on the planet can see the information at will.

Parents need to know that kids put their phone numbers and whatever else on their profiles for all to see, including predators. Once someone has a phone number, they can get an address through the Internet. It can be done in moments.

The amount of personal contact information given away on some public profiles is astonishing. Kids are more vulnerable, and parents need to get a handle on this problem. And Myspace and other social networking sites need to help them do it.

Michigan Advertising Company Hunts Bloggers Who Blogged Against It: First Amendment Rights vs. Slander vs. Privacy Issues Case Taking Shape

A Michigan advertising company has sued thirty unknown bloggers for going after it on their blogs, in forums, and on YouTube.

They've also gone after Internet Service Providers (ISP's) to provide them with identities of all thirty "John Does" and to help them identify who posted things about them on YouTube.

The company believes that it is part of a smear campaign by former distributors of theirs whose contracts were terminated by the company some time before. They've already beaten a lawsuit by former businesses that associated with them who claim that the Michigan company is part of some kind of pyramid and is illegal.

This is shaping up to be an interesting case that pits free speech vs. a possible slander against the company vs. privacy rights in general.

Some thoughts:

If this is a smear campaign on the part of some of their former or current employees, I don't care what the company does.

If they're wrong, and the bloggers are people who simply don't like their company or their products, then they should be left alone, which the company has said it would do. We'll see.

Should be interesting to see what happens.

Democratic Memo to Staffers on Getting Innoculations Before Going to NASCAR Races Has to Be a Joke: It Can't Be Real

This is one of those stories that are almost unbelievable.

Almost.

A staffer with the House Committee on Homeland Security sent out a memo to fellow staffers advising them to get inoculated before attending NASCAR races in Alabama and in North Carolina. Among the innoculations needed: Hepatitus A & B, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza, and others.

NASCAR fans responded by suggesting that NASCAR fans get inoculated against Congressional visits.

At first I thought it was a private e-mail/joke that became public, but apparently it's real. And the Republicans are sniping at the Democrats over it too. Both sides are going after NASCAR fans for support in the elections, but this error could cost the Democrats some potential undecided voters.

It's been interesting watching this unfold.

iBrick/iPhone Controversy: Some Observations

It's been nearly three months since the roll out of the overpriced Apple iPhone and a lot of things have happened since then. When the phone was made available for sale, people waited in lines for hours to spend hundreds of dollars on these phones, and the level of hype was nearly unparalleled.

Along with the iPhone, customers had to sign a two-year deal with AT&T in order to activate it. There was no small amount of grumbling on this point.

Then someone discovered a way to get around the Apple/AT&T alliance and altered their iPhone so that it could be used on other networks, such as Sprint. This is referred to as "unlocking the iPhone." Tens of thousands of iPhone owners followed suit, and the customer revolt was on. Third-party applications began appearing on the unlocked iPhones as the owners began installing software that Apple didn't approve of, and that a locked iPhone would prevent from being installed in the first place.

Apple fired back and released an update (Version 1.1.1) which disabled all altered iPhones that downloaded the update and turned the iPhones in question into "iBricks" which is a nickname for a disabled iPhone.

Within a week, hackers had figured out how to reverse Upgrade 1.1.1 and re-unlock the iPhones.

Some observations: I am of the opinion that Apple users and Apple Inc. think that they're smarter than one another. This point is playing out before our very eyes.

Think about it: Apple worked for years on the iPhone project, and then released it. iPhone owners figured out how to unlock the iPhone so it works on other networks and can use third-party software; Apple engineers figured out how to shut the altered iPhones down for their owners violating their user agreements (under the guise of improving stability of the iPhone and to offer more features), and hackers rolled back Upgrade 1.1.1 to re-enable their altered iPhones. The level of sheer brainpower being deployed by both sides is simply amazing to behold.

While the chess match taking place between iPhone owners and engineers at Apple is fascinating to watch, a lot of questions have been raised by this controversy.

Questions such as:

• Does Apple have a right to pick the cell phone network for the person who's spending hundreds of dollars buying the iPhone?
  
  
• Do iPhone users have the right to violate an agreement that they agree to simply by opening the box? And does Apple have the right to enforce an agreement that doesn't require the signature of the owner on a contract at the time of purchase?
  
  
• Does Apple have the right to disable the private property of their customers? Once money changes hands, an iPhone becomes a person's property. Doesn't it? My experience in retail tells me "yes it does."
  
  
• What do iPhone users end up with if they sign a two-year agreement with AT&T and then decide to unlock their iPhone? Monthly payments for 24 months, whether or not they're using the network. I know of one person who's in this very situation. They are now graced with two cell phone bills a month, and an iPhone that is no longer operational. I've used the term "idiot" in conversations with him when he moans about paying for nothing.

I'm officially neutral on this entire issue, but will watch the developments in the coming months with great interest.

Murtha Needs to Apologize to Exonerated Marines in Haditha Case: Former Marine or Not, He's Made a Mockery of Our System of Justice

For those that don't remember, United States Marines were accused by Time magazine and local Iraqis of slaughtering a family in the vicinity of Haditha, Iraq, back in 2005. The Marine Corps launched an investigation after the story broke, and Representative Jack Murtha took to the floor of the House and said the following:

"It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell.

Now, you can imagine the impact this is going to have on those troops for the rest of their lives and for the United States in our war and our effort in trying to win the hearts and minds."

Note: the Marines had just launched their investigation, and no report was going to be made for months. The Marines decided that there was enough evidence to bring charges against eight of their fellows who were in the vicinity at the time. Almost immediately, the case began to fall apart.

It was alleged that the Marines invaded a house and began murdering people inside of it following an IED attack on their Marine unit, which resulted in the death of one of their squad members.

As the investigation progressed, investigators did blood tests to see if everyone was related. As it turned out, they were not. They also discovered that several people in the house were killed elsewhere, and at different times. Iraqi citizens contradicted their original statements and began changing their stories. Charges have been subsequently dropped or modified to lesser ones.

One of the accused Marines, the leader of the squad, accused and now exonerated, has sued Rep. Murtha for invasion of privacy, and for libel. No one's sure where that will end up.

At the very least, Murtha needs to apologize for trying the Marines in the court of public opinion just to score political points on President Bush. Murtha clearly jumped the gun in accusing the Marines, and he should be held accountable for that. And the sooner he does apologize for his blatant political rhetoric in this instance, the better. He's made a mockery of our criminal justice system, where the accused is innocent until PROVEN guilty, and that definitely hasn't happened.

Shame on Murtha!

U.S. Hiring of Mercenaries Needs to End: Blackwater Situation is Tip of Iceberg

There has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not security companies like Blackwater USA are, in fact, mercenary outfits.

Under the definitions adopted by UN Resolution 44/34, a mercenary is defined as this:

1. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party;

(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;

(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and

(e) Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at:

(i) Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of a State; or

(ii) Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;

(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation;

(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such an act is directed;

(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and

(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory the act is undertaken.

Private Military Companies (PMCs) like Blackwater fit several of these descriptions. Note item #s 1b, 1d, 1e, 2b, 2c, and 2e. Part of 1c also applies. Item 2a(ii) is occurring unintentionally as Iraq is already unstable and deteriorating.


Some points:

• These security companies that are being used in Iraq ARE mercenaries under international law as outlined above. "Security contractors" is merely window dressing in PC talk.
  
• We don't pay our soldiers enough. They're good enough to be shot at, but not good enough to be paid well for their trouble? That's DISGRACEFUL.
  
• We pay soldiers for hire way too much. Period. The State Department should be using it's own people to protect their diplomats in Iraq, or work with the military to assign active duty troops to do it.
  
• The United States is not a party to the treaty that Resolution 44/34 establishes--the U.N. Mercenary Convention. That needs to change as this conflict begins to wind down and more troops begin to come home in 2008. The U.S. needs to sign this treaty.
• Iraq is trying to establish the rule of law in it's own territory, and having a mercenary army of 48,000 men not under their control or their laws firing indiscriminately at people isn't making matters any easier. It's fueling the insurgency and making matters worse.
  

In short, employing mercenaries isn't something that our government should be engaging in. And making them exempt from Iraqi laws while Iraq was under the direct control of the Coalition Provisional Authority has only added to the problems.

I think there's enough work around the world for these security companies to find and profit off of without getting entangled in parts of the world where the U.S. military is in action.

Ultra-Left Launches Two-Pronged Smear Campaigns Against Conservative Commentators; Senate Democrats Foolishly Get Involved

The ultra-left has gone after Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh with smear campaigns in the last few weeks that Senate Democrats found irresistible to avoid. They're on the wrong side--again.

Some background...Bill O'Reilly was on his radio show and was expressing his surprise at a recent visit to a Harlem-area diner, in which he saw that minority-population customers acted like everyone else. The Democratic organization Media Matters posted a clip of the clip on their web site and CNN and MSNBC jumped on the story a few days later, running it as their lead stories last week, making suggestions that O'Reilly was a racist.

O'Reilly fired back hard and other Conservative commentators--Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity--came to his defense.

Then this week, Limbaugh was commenting on a soldier who had reported seeing/participating in atrocities in Iraq on a recently completed tour. The problem was that this "soldier" wasn't a soldier at all, and had never been in Iraq. Limbaugh referred to him--truthfully I might add--as a "phony soldier," and was immediately attacked by Media Matters and the usual crowd--as being an anti-military commentator who was going after soldiers who were opposed to the Iraq War. Again, several of the networks picked up the story and ran with it as their lead story for several days.

Then the Senate Democrats got involved, demanding that Limbaugh and the company that syndicates his national radio show, Clear Channel Communications Inc., retract the "phony soldier" comment immediately. Senate Majority Leader Reid made a speech on the floor of the Senate, as did several of his colleagues. They even went so far as to sidetrack their already-sidetracked agenda and put together a letter that condemned Limbaugh and demanded the retraction. Forty-one Democratic Senators signed the letter.

I have a few things to say about that.

O'Reilly kind of screwed up by using words that had double-meanings. He should have thought twice about revealing his apparent ignorance, but the clip of the clip used by the media and Media Matters was unfair. They didn't bother playing what O'Reilly said before and after the comment in question.

Limbaugh didn't screw up. It's the Senate Democrats who royally screwed up by going on with such a blatant lie. Their condemnation of Rush (a private citizen--not an elected official) during Senate working hours is further testimony to Reid's failed leadership, the derailed Democratic agenda, and the ineptitude of the Democratic majority to recover their lost momentum. Furthermore, the Democrats who signed Reid's letter are accomplices of the lies told by one man who is a "phony soldier." The words "swindlers" and "liars" fit in here somewhere.

The smart Democrats were the ones who didn't sign Reid's letter.

I object to taxpayer resources and time being used in the manner that the Senate Democrats have displayed in the last couple of days. It's the Democrats who should apologize to Limbaugh and to their constituents for participating in this utter farce.

Michigan Government Shuts Down, Then Opens for Business After Budget Deal Reached

Michigan shut down for a few hours early on Monday morning before a budget deal was reached at around 4am this morning.

It's about time!

Under the deal, the income tax will be increased, and some services will be required to charge a 6% state sales tax.

Now, then, I think that every member of the state house and senate should not run for re-election. Their utter stupidity and failure to communicate brought us to the brink of not having a government running the day-to-day operations of the state. Posturing for brownie points for MONTHS, blaming the other side, accepting no blame for their own actions--it's a political problem that requires action.

They should redeem themselves by not running for office again. The current officeholders are unworthy of the authority that the voters have bestowed on them. This should have been agreed to weeks or months ago, not four hours into a SHUTDOWN OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT.

Shame on ALL OF THEM!

Governor Granholm Issues Layoff Notices to 35,000 State Workers: State Shutdown as of Monday at 12:01AM

Our elected state government in Lansing is failing to come to agreement on Michigan's 2007-2008 budget, and Governor Granholm has begun to take steps to shut down the state government. Under Michigan's constitution, the state cannot spend one cent unless a balanced budget is in place.

The state isn't running out of money; it simply will not have the authority to spend anything.

Democrats and Republicans each control one house in the state legislature and they've adopted contradicting bills on what to tax, and what to cut in order to get rid of a forecasted $1.8 billion shortfall.

Once this crisis is resolved, I think the voters of Michigan need new leadership in the state legislature. This is going to be quite embarrassing if the government needs to shut down. John Schneider over at the Lansing State Journal called this situation a "slow motion train wreck" and he's absolutely right.

Editorials in many Michigan newspapers are calling for this stupidity to end and for both sides to compromise. I agree. These people need to get off their fat lazy asses and MOVE IT!

You have two friggin' hours!

Iran Considers Nuclear Matter a Closed Political Topic; Wants Discussion to Focus on Legal and Technical Aspects

Iran's President had his fifteen minutes in front of world leaders on Tuesday, and he let everyone who was listening have it.

"It" was a rambling speech against the West and against the Security Council. He declared the political aspect of the debate against Iran's nuclear program "closed" and wanted the discussion to focused on technical and legal issues.

Fat chance.

Iran does have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology as every nation does, but the "peaceful" part is being questioned in Iran's case, as it has threatened to blow Israel off the map and is shipping bombs across their border into Iraq. Their posture is anything but peaceful.

Iran has every intention of developing nuclear weapons. His blatant lies at Columbia University and the fact that he denied it is all the proof we need. Iran wants blood, not peace.

Government About to Hit Debt Limit Again; Bush Administration to Ask for an Additional $950 Billion on Credit Limit

Here we go again with the debt limit. Not content with the $9 trillion plus debt ceiling, the Bush Administration requested that Congress extend the ceiling by an additional $950 billion.

That's quite ENOUGH!

This government needs to make more than it spends and lower it's debt load to a more manageable level before it's too late. $10 trillion is too much debt. It must spend our taxpayer money much more conservatively.

The trade deficit is of particular concern; as is the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against other major world currencies. I do think the brakes should be put on free trade agreements until the damage from NAFTA and CAFTA are fully assessed. Whoever said that the North American Free Trade Agreement would create a sucking sound from south of our border has definitely been proven correct.

But of more concern is this government's willingness to outspend how much it makes. Income must always exceed expenses. I think that the next President is going to have to make major cuts across the board in order to get the country's budget back into order.

And Congress is going to have to stop earmarking as they're contributing more than their fair share to the debt load with their peanut storage facilities and bridges to nowhere. The days of blank checks from the government for useless projects must become a thing of the past if the country's financial situation is to recover quickly from the financial disaster we're in.

Iranian President Looked Like a Two-Bit Dictator at Columbia University: Debate Over His Appearance Likely to Continue

When I heard that Columbia University had invited Iran's two-bit terrorist thug/President to speak before his address to the U.N. General Assembly, I was not happy. How could a university invite a murderer and a terrorist to it's campus to speak, yet allow an on-stage assault on a Minuteman speaker last year?

And then they took the trouble to invite him back for a speech this year, then dis-invited him.

Columbia's double-standard on speakers is astonishing. They'd rather invite someone whose troops and bombs have killed HUNDREDS of American troops in Iraq and THOUSANDS of Iraqi civilians. This is deeply offensive.

The aggressive posturing of Columbia's president in his introduction of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the subsequent question & answer session (which was amusing and showed who this man really is--a terrorist, a liar, a Holocaust denier and a total idiot) did not lessen the offense that Columbia committed when they invited this man to speak in the first place.

Columbia's statement about being open to free speech by all is a quaint lie as well. They stood by as Columbia students charged the stage while the Minuteman was giving his speech last year; all they did was show Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist the door.

Hypocrisy is alive and well at Columbia.

Michigan Government STILL Without a Budget; 10 Days to Government Shutdown

I think serious attention needs to be paid to what's happening with our Michigan government and how it's being run.

They've been working on a budget for eight months, and they've wasted time on unnecessary political posturing, delays, and outright refusal to budge on their established positions to score points on the other side.

In ten more days, this government WILL shut down if they don't have their act together and a balanced budget. Do we need to chain the state senators and representatives to their desks and lock the doors to get these people to move, or what?

OJ Simpson Trial is Already a Media Circus: It's Only Going to Get Worse

The media is already in a feeding frenzy over the OJ Simpson arrest, and it's going to get a lot worse. It'll probably be twice as bad as his double-murder trial; we're going to get bombarded with news about OJ around the clock for months to come.

My only hope is that the judge isn't as inept as the judge in Simpson's first trial. At least it won't be him, or that crybaby judge in Florida who handled the custody case for Anna Nicole Smith's baby. Hopefully the judge who gets this case will put a gag order on everyone involved in the case so that the trial isn't played out in the media any more than it already has.

And he (or she) keeps the lawyers in their places and under control. And keeps the TV cameras out of the courtroom; that'll keep everyone grounded and focused.

OJ Simpson Arrested for Armed Robbery: He's Not Getting Off This Time

OJ Simpson appears to have returned to his pre-football street hood roots, participating in a number of small crimes over the last ten years, before participating in an act of armed robbery in Las Vegas over the weekend.

He gets $4.3 million a year from the NFL for his retirement, yet he finds it necessary to rob someone with some help from his compatriots at gunpoint over a few trivial pieces of sports memorabilia? How small he's become. Why didn't he buy the things back?

He's not going to get away with it this time, as he did for the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman in 1994-1995. He needs to be stopped and that overinflated ego of his needs to be deflated a bit. And then he needs to be permanently forgotten. He craves the attention he's getting, and is betting that he'll be able to spit at the criminal justice system again.

This man is OUT of his mind.

And it might be pointed out that if he had put $3 million of that $4.3 million pension toward paying off the civil judgment against him in the matter of the deaths of his two victims starting in 1996, he'd have paid it off last year. But he's declined to do even that, thumbing his nose up at the system.

France Tells the World to Prepare for War Against Iran: Believes Force Will Be Required to Stop Iran's Renegade Nuclear Program

France's foreign minister told the world that a war with Iran may be necessary to put a stop to Iran's nuclear program once and for all.

Oh, really?

And how many troops, aircraft and ships will France and the rest of the world be contributing toward fighting this war? And is France willing to duke it out with Russia and China in the U.N. Security Council? And how many minesweepers will it send to the Persian Gulf to help clear the minefields that Iran is sure to deploy if fighting does break out?

Let France and its allies lead the fight against Iran, and we'll support them for a change instead of us carrying the workload and begging the world for help. We have two wars to wrap up before we mix it up with Iran.

Is Alan Greenspan Running for Something?

With former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's new book about to be released on Tuesday, some of the media outlets--most notably CNN and 60 Minutes--obtained copies early and were quoting passages from the new book almost incessantly. The only thing that got him out of the headlines were the antics and arrest of OJ Simpson in Las Vegas.

Some of the most-quotes passages (quoted, I might add, with the same kind of reverence shown to the Bible during Sunday services) included Greenspan's opinion that the Iraq War was largely over oil, about how the Republicans had sacrificed principles for power, and that the Republicans deserved to lose as badly as they did in the last election.

This sounds like Greenspan is running for something at the same time that he's promoting his book. I don't think this is the end of this story.

People Must Use Caution on Social Networking Sites: Stuff Posted Can Come Back and Bite the User HARD

People do not understand how much damage they can do to their careers and reputations with postings and photos on such social networking sites as Myspace and FaceBook. Employers, universities and interviewers troll these sites, looking for what their current/prospective employees and students are posting, and how they are presenting themselves to the entire world.

As a general rule, if it looks or feels inappropriate to post to one of these kinds of sites, then it probably is. Profiles should be squeaky clean with the person's best foot forward. Scandalous postings and photos should be avoided at all costs. Some examples of people getting in trouble because of what they post:

• An education student at a university was denied a degree because the school administrators found pictures of her on her profile, which showed her partying. They felt the photo was unprofessional and gave her a degree in English but declined to give her the teaching certificate.
  
  
• A man was fired from his job as a school bus driver and a volunteer firefighter after he and his wife posted nude photos of him on Myspace.
  
  
• A Wal-Mart employee was fired for joking on his Myspace blog that he was going to bomb the store. He was subsequently denied unemployment because he made a threat. Duh!!
  
  
• A judge in Las Vegas was fired for his Myspace profile. He wrote that one of his interests was to "break his foot off in a prosecutor's ass" which made his impartiality during trials questionable.
  
  
• A sheriff's deputy in Florida(?) was fired for posting his bad habits on Myspace and his joking about putting people in jail.
  
  
• Another deputy was fired for posting racially and sexually inappropriate stuff on his Myspace profile.
  

There are hundreds of cases like the ones above.

People can put what they want on their profiles, but they only have themselves to blame if their photos and postings come around and bite them in the ass when they least expect it.

Use caution when using a social networking site.

Soldiers Want Politicians to Embed With Them in Iraq: Now That's a GREAT Idea

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have seen the beginning of something new inside U.S. military units who are engaged in combat: reporters embedded with the troops. They traveled with the troops, ate and slept next to them in the dirt, ate the dirt when the troops did, and shared the danger. And they reported as combat was ongoing.

Now some soldiers want Congress to spend some time in the dirt with them, too. Having members of Congress embed with the U.S. military??! That's a GREAT idea. This should be put into effect immediately with a six-month rotation (with no going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas either--their units will be overseas--they should be too.)

A firmer understanding of what the military is going through would be beneficial to Congress. Of course, this will NEVER happen. But it's an interesting idea.

Alternative Fuels Need to be Made of Something that Doesn't Pull Food or Ingredients Out of the Agricultural Sector: Corn Experience Shows Us Why

Many nations have decided (in the last couple of years) to ramp up their production of corn-based ethanol. The interest in getting in on a lucrative alternative fuel market was overwhelming to those nations, but the effort has caused some spin-off problems.

People in Mexico began noticing that food products made of corn (like tortillas) began to rise dramatically; protests broke out across Mexico. Similar things happened in other countries across the world; the loudmouth leader of communist Venezuela was braying like an elephant about it.

In this country, it had an effect on the price of milk, cheeses, corn products and other products: soap and ice cream are experiencing shortages of corn-based ingredients, which may actually cause shortages as well as price increases.

That shouldn't be happening, but it is. There's only so much land in temperate zones that are dedicated solely to corn production. Any diversion of corn away from the food processing market will cause consumer prices to rise at the grocery stores. That isn't a good idea.

Brazil seems to have the best solution for ethanol production: they're using sugar cane, which doesn't have as huge an impact on grocery prices as corn does.

This is a major stumbling block in the search for an alternative fuel. I don't know what the solution is.

Frank Talk on New Orleans: Should We Rebuild a City That's Below Sea Level So It Can Be Flooded Again?

Now that the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, we really need to reconsider whether we should rebuild New Orleans--a city that sits below sea level and is sinking.

Not a lot of progress has been made in rebuilding New Orleans as it was. Funding has stalled, and many people from the city have decided to resettle where they are. It's safe to say that the recovery hasn't gone well. And before too much money is spent on the sinkhole, a few design changes should be considered.

There's still 120,000 buildings in New Orleans that have been condemned and need to be taken down. 80% of the city was flooded and mold has a firm foothold in those places. The clean-up should be finished as those buildings are health and safety hazards.

I don't think taxpayer dollars should be used to move people back into the bulls-eye. We'll be right back to two years ago with a flooded sinkhole the next time a major hurricane targets the area.

Homeowners Need to insure Their Houses to Full Replacement Value: Too Many Don't and Won't Have Enough Insurance Money to Rebuild if Disaster Strikes

One of the biggest frustrations that I had when working at an insurance agency was arguing with policyholders over how much their homes were worth versus how much it would cost to rebuild their homes if they were totally destroyed. The two numbers are definitely not the same.

And that may come as a surprise to some.

The cost of building materials increases many times faster than a property's retail value does. As we've seen from the collapsed housing market, a house may not sell for what it's worth at all. But the cost of the materials used to build the house and the labor involved doesn't drop in price. Building material costs have increased anywhere from 3-6% a year.

Labor costs have also increased exponentially as well. That is figured into replacement cost.

Unfortunately, insuring the house to it's full replacement value usually costs more in premiums, which most people don't like. That's understandable. But if the house is protected to replacement value, that's a well-protected asset.

Let's play with some numbers:

You own a house that is appraised at $50,000. Your insurance company informs you that it would cost you $175,000 to put it back up if it were left in ruins by fire or by a tornado.

You tell the insurance company that they're full of it and tell them you want your home insured to $50,000. Bad move. The insurance agent either does what you want them to over their explicit objections (real bad move) or tells you to go find another insurance agency. For this instance, we'll assume that the agent does what you want and writes the policy for $50,000.

Some months later, a tornado blows through and severely damages your house. One inner wall is left standing; everything else is rubble.

You start to rebuild and the insurance company sends a check for $50,000. The builder tells you that another $150,000 is needed to complete the construction. Uh oh.

You storm over to your insurance company and ask--"Where's the rest of my ^#$^# money??!" and the agent tells you "You insured your house to $50,000. I warned you. Sorry." That's when the screaming really starts.

Replacement coverage would cover the entire amount with minimal difficulty.

This scenario is playing out in my area right now. A tornado blew through our area on August 24th and took out two dozen homes. Some of the victims have been on the news, saying that they didn't have home owners insurance, or didn't have enough coverage to rebuild. That's really sad.

Others have already had their homes demolished and are preparing to rebuild on the same spot, though the neighborhood is still in ruins.

It may cost more in the short run, but people should protect their homes with replacement value on their insurance policies.

Michigan is Without a Budget and Less Than Three Weeks Away from a Government Shutdown: They Need to Get Moving

There's a complicated fight going on in Lansing over the state budget, and there's less than three weeks before Michigan's government runs out of money and a shutdown of the state occurs.

The battle looks like this:

Governor Granholm vs. the Republicans
Democrats vs. Republicans and vice versa in both houses
House vs. Senate

The first two fights mentioned above were expected; the third popped up unexpectedly. The state senate is controlled by the GOP; the state house is under control of the Democrats. Each house is challenging the other to take action first to cut out a $1.8 billion budget shortfall for next year.

They've been at it for seven months now.

Enough of the posturing, people. Fix the budget, NOW.

Michigan Moves It's Primary Election to January 15th; This is Unwise, But Does Challenge a Double-Standard That's Unfair

Michigan joined Florida in defying the double-standard that both parties have in allowing four states to vote earlier than all others.

I am not in agreement with this decision.

I do agree that it does challenge an unfair double-standard that needs to be changed. But at what cost? Michigan will be punished and it's voters in both parties will be disenfranchised by a corrupt political system that favors four states over all others. And the primaries are already too early.

The Bush vs. Kerry campaign of 2004 was pure agony. It went on far too long and was incredibly expensive for both parties to stage. As with how 2008 will be, 2004's primary season ended way too early. And we were stuck with two candidates--one who flip-flopped like a fish out of water, and the other with a huge anchor tied around his neck with "Iraq" stenciled on it.

Does anyone really want a loooooong campaign in '08?

FEMA Should be Separate from Homeland Security; DHS is Too Clunky

This is a return to an old theme, but since it doesn't appear to be happening as some have suggested, I'm going to revisit it.

Two years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I wrote that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needed to be separated from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as DHS was overbuilt and too unwieldy to move quickly in a disaster. And since that time, Congress has held hearings, FEMA people have resigned, and a lot of window dressing has taken place.

It's not enough.

FEMA should be an independent agency that can move it's assets around at will without going through several layers of DHS bureaucracy to get permission to do so. This was the primary reason for the slowness of FEMA to get into position prior to Katrina and to mobilize once the hurricane roared ashore and swamped New Orleans. The left hand had no idea what the right hand was doing.

The only reason that FEMA should be subordinate to DHS is in the event of a terrorist-related disaster. FEMA needs it's own budget, it's own chain of command, and a direct line to the White House with a cabinet-level secretary.

This needs to happen and soon.

WWE Suspends Ten Wrestlers: Drug Violations are Reason

World Wrestling Entertainment, under tremendous pressure from the public, Congress, and the media, suspended ten of its wrestlers--including some of their main event talent-- for drug violations.

Suspended were Mr Kennedy (the hypocrite), Chavo Guerrero (brother of the late WWE champion Eddie Guerrero), Gregory Helms, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Shoichi Funaki, Charlie Haas, Umaga, William Regal and Edge.

These wrestlers are in trouble because a pharmacy that they all do business with sells steroids to people without requiring them to see a doctor or having a doctor's prescription. The wrestlers were discovered as being clients by police who have access to the seized records of the pharmacy in question.

Prosecutors contacted WWE who suspended the wrestlers. Also linked to this company via seized records are accused murderer and deceased WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, and the late Brian "Crush" Adams as well as Eddie Guerrero.

I think it's too late to save this generation of wrestlers from early death. They know the terrible consequences of their steroid abuse; they know they're breaking their work rules and, more importantly--the law; and they know the long-term effects that steroid abuse has on their health. Yet they use the drugs regardless of the consequences.

There comes a point where the damage becomes irreversible and it becomes a matter of time before they have fatal heart attacks. I think we're in for a lot of sad news in the coming months and years as wrestlers continue to die young from their steroid and drug abuse. For some it's already too late to save their lives, even if they stop this insanity immediately. The damage doesn't reverse itself if the abuse stops. It festers and then strikes when the unsuspecting wrestler least expects it.

I think wrestlers who abuse steroids and drugs are too damned selfish to think about what's going to become of their wives and children after they die. It's utter stupidity and sheer madness to risk one's family on a gamble as they do, every time they inject themselves with liquid death.

Brain cells must be the first thing to go. What other explanation is there?

Bye Bye Gonzales: Now They Can Get Someone to Take Control of Justice Department

Washington is breathing a sigh of relief as Alberto Gonzales tendered his resignation today as Attorney General. At the same time, everyone is holding their breath waiting for President Bush to name the next target on the shooting range. The confirmation process is likely to be a brutal affair.

I didn't like Gonzales any more than I liked Reno or Ashcroft. That's three Attorney Generals in a row who did more damage to the rule of law regarding the Department of Justice than any three prior to them.

All three used their power to shield their respective Presidents from needed probes to determine if they broke the law.

The DOJ needs to get a handle on the Patriot Act as the FBI has been abusing the living daylights out of it since it's inception. Gonzales gave the impression that he didn't know what was happening in his department. That's why I didn't like him.

Good bye, Gonzales. I hope the President does a much better job in selecting someone who isn't one of his friends for the Attorney General position. The DOJ is not the President's personal shield against investigations of wrongdoing. But the last two Presidents have treated it like that, and that needs to end. And the sooner the better.

Democrats Punish Florida for Voting to Have Very Early Primary: Michigan Will Be Next if Bill Proposing Early Primary Here Passes

Florida officials have been told by the Democratic National Committee that they will not have a single vote counted during the primary elections if it doesn't move it's primary into February. The DNC has a rule that says only certain primaries are to be held in January of an election year; Florida chose to ignore the rule.

It's actually a continuation of a double-standard. Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are the only states allowed to have a primary election in January.

There should be no primaries earlier than June 1st. Does anyone out there really have the stomach for Clinton/Obama vs. Guiliani/McCain for nine months, following a too-long primary season with too many candidates? BLEAH!

A three month Presidential campaign is much more preferable.

But Michigan is heading into trouble as well, if their proposal to move their primary into mid-January passes. It probably won't, but it's passed one house already. I don't think the other house of the Michigan legislature and Democratic Governor Granholm would allow this to move forward.

Disenfranchisement of voters on either side is not a good thing. Elections need to be free of this perception, or else we'll have a repeat of the 2000 Presidential Election fiasco in Florida. It's unlikely that the DNC will back down, so I hope Florida does.

People Who Engage in Any Part of Dogfighting are SCUM: They Need to Be in Jail

It's high time that authorities go after those who are engaged in dogfighting "entertainment" and punish everyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. That means those who raise the dogs to fight, those who organize the fights, those who attend the fights, those who gamble on them, and everyone in between who have knowledge about organized dogfights that take place and fail to report them.

This is a cruel, inhumane activity that requires aggressive community policing and prosecutions of those who are involved.

In this matter alone, I am in total agreement with PETA, who has been calling for more aggressive enforcement of the laws for quite some time.

The arrest and conviction of a prominent professional football player--whose name will not be mentioned by me--has brought some much-needed spotlight to a problem that is growing around the country. It has to STOP.

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.