Windmill

Yes there is a windmill in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley. At Pea Soup Anderson's. We're eating dinner there...but I can't stand pea soup.

Split Pea Soup For Everyone

After 345 miles my trusty steed is parked at our home for tonight in Santa Nella. Pretty got and desert dry.

You Just Gotta Love Modern Technology

This weekend my wife and I will be driving a truckload of my daughter's stuff up to her new apartment in Rohnert Park, CA.  She went up there to school in August of 2007 and returned home every Christmas and summer until this year.  Because she had a job up there and was taking summer classes she stayed in the dorm for June and July, and last weekend she moved into her very first apartment (with another girl from school).  It's a pretty exciting time for her.

It's going to be a bit more challenging for her parents, though.  Normally when we make this trip (and I think this is my 28th time since August 2007) I do all the driving and my wife rides shotgun...or perhaps it would be better described as sleeping shotgun.  However, this time she's going to have to drive the entire 475 miles northbound because I'll be driving separately in a rental truck.  The original plan called for making the entire trip starting very early on Sunday, but we've decided to break it into two more manageable pieces and after loading up this morning we'll be headed north for an overnight in Santa Nella, about 319 miles away.  That will give us a pretty easy ride on Sunday morning.

Of course, the new apartment is basically an empty box and she doesn't have any of the furniture that the school provided in the dorm, so her bed, dresser, nightstands, bookcase, piano (which is already there), and all kind of other stuff of hers will have to go up via truck.  Since she wasn't able to come down here to help us pack up or figure out what to take and what to leave, we were able to use some great modern technology to work it all out.

Thank you, Skype.

One night I set the laptop up on a bookcase in her old bedroom and started a video chat with her in her dorm room.  For about an hour or so we pulled stuff out of drawers or storage areas and were able to hold them up where the webcam could see them and she was able to decide what she wanted us to pack.  It's also been a great way to stay in touch since being able to see her is much more fun than just talking on the phone.

And, it's free.

I remember when I was a kid you'd see stories about the future that usually involved some sort of videophone where you could see the person you were talking to.  The future is here and it's a lot of fun.

Today we're packing the truck heading out.  The bedroom will really look empty without all that stuff.

The laptop is staying home this weekend so any posting will be by cellphone.  After driving 475 miles we'll still have to spend some quality time unloading the truck and helping her organize stuff.  Regular blogging should resume on Wednesday.

The Second American Revolution

Investor's Business Daily has a provocative editorial:

The Internet is a large-scale version of the "Committees of Correspondence" that led to the first American Revolution — and with Washington's failings now so obvious and awful, it may lead to another.

People are asking, "Is the government doing us more harm than good? Should we change what it does and the way it does it?"

Pruning the power of government begins with the imperial presidency.

Too many overreaching laws give the president too much discretion to make too many open-ended rules controlling too many aspects of our lives. There's no end to the harm an out-of-control president can do.

Read the rest of it. Even if the GOP takes control of Congress this November we'll still have to deal with a president who seems intent on getting his policies enacted with or without Congressional approval.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Democrats wished for a federal judge to strike down the Arizona law.  Well, they didn't get that but they did get key portions delayed pending appeal.  And when will that appeal take place?  William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection says the Dems may have walked into their own booby-trap:

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the State of Arizona's motion to expedite the appeal from thepreliminary injunction enjoining key provisions of S.B. 1070. (h/t Michelle Malkin) The Department of Justice hasobjected to an expedited briefing schedule.

The case now will be argued the week of November 1.

That may make DOJ lawyers happy, because they will have more time to put together their brief.

But it will not make Democratic politicians happy to have the Arizona case on the front page as voters are walking into the voting booth on November 2.

Democrats wished too hard for something, and they got it.

That will be a nice little reminder of why Democrats should not be trusted with the majorities for another session of Congress.

The Gulf Recovery is Coming Along Nicely

Good news from Louisiana:

Louisiana has reopened key commercial fishing areas that were closed as a result of the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a statement released by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
The news will be taken very well by local fishermen who have been sidelined as a result of the spill.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries opened up specific areas to allow the fishing of shrimp and finfish east of the Mississippi in New Orleans, St. Tammany, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes yesterday the statement read.

I guess it won't be 50 years until the Gulf recovers after all.

Green Fail

Oops:

A failed shot at making transit greener than green has some in Shakopee (MN) turning a deep shade of red.

Scott County's first transit station, which opened three years ago, was billed as "eco-friendly" for its paving bricks and rain gardens. It turned out to be a $50,000 "oops."

The porous pavers, designed to let Mother Nature cleanse pollutants in the soil rather than sweep them off into nearby bodies of water, sank under the buses' massive weight. And the rain gardens turned into a decaying, weed-infested mess.

Scott County's public works chief, Lezlie Vermillion, isn't mincing words. "We failed," she said.

"I learned from a professor at the U," she added, "if you are afraid to show the public your mistakes, skip civil engineering."

Liberal ideas always look so good on paper.

@Reagan

If I hadn't had my email address since 1995 I'd consider this:

Michael Reagan, eldest son of former president Ronald Reagan, is selling @reagan.com e-mail addresses, CBS News reports, "with an appeal to conservatives to stop giving their money to companies he casts as tied to liberalism."

The pitch: "Well, every time you use your email from companies like Google, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Apple and others, you are helping the liberals. These companies are, and will continue, to be huge supporters financially and with technology of those that are hurting our country."

The Chevy Dolt

That's a more appropriate name for GM's new electric car that will cost you $41,000 and provide all the comfort and amenities of a $15,000 car.  The NY Times opines:

GENERAL MOTORS introduced America to the Chevrolet Volt at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show as a low-slung concept car that would someday be the future of motorized transportation. It would go 40 miles on battery power alone, promised G.M., after which it would create its own electricity with a gas engine. Three and a half years — and one government-assisted bankruptcy later — G.M. is bringing a Volt to market that makes good on those two promises. The problem is, well, everything else.

For starters, G.M.’s vision turned into a car that costs $41,000 before relevant tax breaks ... but after billions of dollars of government loans and grants for the Volt’s development and production. And instead of the sleek coupe of 2007, it looks suspiciously similar to a Toyota Prius. It also requires premium gasoline, seats only four people (the battery runs down the center of the car, preventing a rear bench) and has less head and leg room than the $17,000 Chevrolet Cruze, which is more or less the non-electric version of the Volt.

In short, the Volt appears to be exactly the kind of green-at-all-costs car that some opponents of the bailout feared the government might order G.M. to build. Unfortunately for this theory, G.M. was already committed to the Volt when it entered bankruptcy. And though President Obama’s task force reported in 2009 that the Volt “will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term,” it didn’t cancel the project.

Read the rest of it here. Even for an electric car the NY Times can't write a glowing review.

And courtesy of Iowahawk, the Chevy Volt song and dance team (I actually think this is legit and not a parody):

Allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to Expire Amounts to a "Republican Tax Increase"

Oh brother.  H/t Ace who shows us the desperation to which the Dems are turning as November looms large.  This from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:

“We have no intention of allowing the Republican tax increase — that their policies would lead to — to go into effect for working Americans. Period,” he said. “We’re going to act and make sure that the Republican phase out and increase in taxes does not end as they provided for in the laws they passed.”

Bush wanted to make those tax cuts permanent. Democrats threatened a filibuster if there wasn't a sunset provision included in the law. In order to get his tax cuts Bush compromised on the sunset provision, but now, in the words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the "chickens are comin' home to roost".  Democrats must either pass an extension of the Bush tax cuts or America will be hit with the largest tax increase in history, and it won't be a "Republican tax increase".  It will be solely the responsibility of the Democrats who oppose it.

Nice try Steny.  Most Americans aren't as stupid as you hoped.

Amnesty by Memo

Don't ever doubt that the real objective in the Arizona immigration fight is amnesty for illegal aliens, followed soon thereafter by voter registration cards pre-marked for Democrats.  Obama and his cronies in the federal courts do not want America's immigration laws enforced.

Amnesty's coming, and according to some information that has leaked Obama is looking for a way to do it  without bothering to go through the Congress:

A group of Republican senators has written to top immigration officials in the Obama administration asking them to reveal whether large-scale plans are under way to provide a so-called non-legislative version of amnesty.

The lawmakers cite an 11-page draft document written by staff to the director of the Citizenship and Immigration Service that says they are reviewing several executive orders and other mechanisms that effectively would serve as a substitute for comprehensive immigration reforms.

The objective would be to promote “family unity, foster economic growth … and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization."

Among the suggestions, the document offers proposals for rewriting legal opinions to allow unaccompanied minors, victims of human trafficking or extreme hardship and others who've overstayed their visas to remain in the U.S.

For instance, the four aides who wrote the document told Director Alejandro N. Mayorkas that general counsel at the CIS has reinterpreted legal opinions of the definition of "admission" for those entering under "temporary protected status" -- in the face of war or environmental disaster -- so that they can change their status to stay in the United States permanently.

"Opening this pathway will help thousands of applicants obtain lawful permanent residence without having to leave the U.S.," reads the memo, which was provided to Fox News by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Obama has already declared a de facto amnesty by refusing to enforce existing law. In the court ruling on the Arizona case the judge set aside key parts of the law because enforcing them would place a burden on federal courts. In other words, if enforcement requires us to work harder, we just won't do it.

Some people are already suggesting that Republicans propose a ban on Obamacare using the same rationale. If Obamacare increase the workload on the federal government - which it will - we should just ignore it. Works for me.

Ideologues like Obama will seek to pass their agenda no matter how it must be done, and if the will of the people as expressed by their representatives in Congress gets in the way, well, just bypass them.

Tote That Box, Lift That Dresser

Today is Day 1 of the three day moving extravaganza that will take my daughter's bedroom furniture and many other things to her new apartment in Northern California.  Given that physical labor is not my strong suit I've decided to split the job up a bit to keep from doing harm to myself.

Today her furniture and other stuff will be carried downstairs to the garage where it will be organized and prepared for step 2 tomorrow.

Tomorrow I pick up the rental truck and all that stuff in the garage will be loaded up and ready to go.

Sunday morning, bright and early (around 4:30 am) the truck heads north for a 475 mile drive to Rohnert Park.  I've made this drive more than 25 times, but never in an rental truck.  I will certainly take longer than the 6.75 hours I'm used to.  I'm hoping for arrival by 1pm and my daughter promises to have friends on hand to unload at the other end.

My back hurts just thinking about it.

Candidate Accuses Opponent of Taking Too Much "Jewish Money"

Is this guy's campaign run by Oliver Stone?

Mike Grimm, a G.O.P challenger for Mike McMahon’s Congressional seat, took in over $200,000 in his last filing.

But in an effort to show that Grimm lacks support among voters in the district, which covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, the McMahon campaign compiled a list of Jewish donors to Grimm and provided it to the Politicker.

The file, labeled “Grimm Jewish Money Q2,” for the second quarter fundraising period, shows a list of over 80 names, a half-dozen of which in fact do hail from Staten Island, and a handful of others that list Brooklyn as home.

“Where is Grimm’s money coming from,” said Jennifer Nelson, McMahon’s campaign spokesman. “There is a lot of Jewish money, a lot of money from people in Florida and Manhattan, retirees.”

Ethnic identity politics still reigns supreme in the Dem Party, and ethnic slurs are just party of everyday conversation.

Political Photo of the Day

Finally, Obama bows to somebody worth bowing to - Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey:

Why Keep the Electoral College?

It's not just about tradition.  As Rick Moran points out at American Thinker the Founders who designed this system wanted the president to be selected by as diverse a group of Americans as possible:

The original intent of the College was to keep the decision for president entirely out of the hands of citizens and place it in the hands of "wise men," who would presumably act in the national interest in choosing a president rather than base the choice on the selfish interests of the rabble. The Electoral College was amended in 1804 to reflect the emergence of political parties, and states mostly settled on a "winner take all" formula for choosing electors.

This boosted the influence of states in national elections by forcing candidates to run campaigns that reflected the federal nature of our republic. The early divisions of big state vs. small state in the country were augmented by urban vs. rural, west vs. east, north vs. south, and agriculture vs. manufacturing divisions which a candidate for president had to address if he were to be successful.

The magic formula to reach a majority of the Electoral College votes, therefore, was a test of the broadest possible appeal of a candidate. It guaranteed that no region, no interest would be slighted by a candidate who did so at the risk of alienating key groups and losing precious Electoral College votes in the process. Rural voters from North and South, urban voters from the coast and the interior were lumped together, and specific appeals were tailored to win them over.

The other major reason to maintain the Electoral College is that it confirms the federal nature of the United States government. It is not surprising that the impetus for the compact is coming from heavily Democratic states. Direct election of a president would place a premium on wholesale politics. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama took nine of the ten largest states, running up huge majorities in the popular vote in states like California, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and Michigan. In a race decided by the popular vote, the Republican would be at a distinct disadvantage in that he would be forced to run a defensive campaign, trying to cut into the Democrat's huge advantage in coastal and heavily urbanized areas while defending turf in far less populous regions. The disparity would mean that the Republican would spend far more per vote than the Democrat.

And there is something to be said for the charm of presidential campaigns as they are currently run. True, swing states like Ohio and Florida get an inordinate amount of attention from candidates. But would smaller states receive more stroking from candidates if we were to switch to a popular vote model? I can't imagine it. In a close election like 2004, John Kerry and George Bush crisscrossed the country in those final days, hitting smaller states like New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, and Washington, in addition to the larger markets, fighting for each and every electoral vote. I doubt very much whether that scenario would play out in a direct election scenario, as it would be more efficient and prudent to appear in states with the largest TV markets to maximize the effort to win as many votes as possible.

If the forces aligned against the Electoral College win future presidential elections will take place almost exclusively in the most populous states and cities. Areas with relatively small populations will never see the candidates, nor will they see much in the way of advertising or campaign promotion. If you thought ACORN and the unions and their voter fraud were a threat before, look out. Every vote from every wino, fake or dead person in the populous areas will mysteriously find their way into the totals to run up big victories in those relatively small areas and overwhelm the numbers from the rest of the country.

Of course, I'm not sure the popular vote movement would ever work as the proponents advertise. For instance, in Massachusetts where such a measure just passed, do you really they the state would throw its electoral votes to a Republican if the Republican won the national popular vote but lost Massachusetts? No way. There would be a revolt against their own system leaving every presidential election with the kind of uncertainly we all experienced in 2000.

The Electoral College has served us well. It was a wise idea generated by wise men and must continue.

GOP Tries to Kill Lame-Duck Session

There's no way the Dems will give up the chance to pass their agenda after many of them are voted out:

Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement after offering a resolution on the floor of the House of Representatives calling on Congress not to hold a lame duck session after Election Day for the purpose of passing hugely unpopular legislation like a national energy tax, enormous deficit spending bills, and the kickback to Big Labor known as “Card Check.”

“Americans are sick and tired of their elected leaders making backroom deals to ram through unpopular, 2000-page bills that no one has read,” said Chairman Price. “They are sick of out-of-touch politicians, and they are tired of being ignored. A number of Democrats, including members of their leadership, have recently expressed a desire to ignore the public will and use a lame duck session to pass liberal legislation Americans do not want. Today I gave my Democrat colleagues an opportunity to show they are finally ready to listen to the American people.

“Our system of government rests upon the consent of the governed, but it is quite clear that Democrats no longer have Americans’ consent. The public’s trust in this Congress has been repeatedly broken. Voting for a national energy tax and other items on the liberal wish list in a lame duck session would shatter it beyond repair. Republicans are fully prepared to do what is necessary to restore Americans’ trust in their elected representatives. We know it will be a long road, but it is one well worth traveling.”

Note: Instead of taking a clear stand on this issue, House Democrats chose to delay a vote on the Price resolution.

The lame-duck session is the Dems failsafe plan for any part of the liberal agenda they can't get passed before then. Card check, amnesty, cap-and-tax, free Botox for former House Speakers...you name it.

Low-Life Scum Headline of the Day

From Ace:

Oh No: Enquirer Claims Levi Johnston May Father A New Baby, And Not By Bristol

Sarah Palin should have him stuffed and mounted on the wall.

The Model Supreme Court Justice

In a perfect world all Supreme Court justices would think like Antonin Scalia:

BOZEMAN — The Supreme Court should abandon the notion of a “living constitution,” an approach that has resulted in the nation’s charter being rewritten time and again by unelected judges who are unqualified to make decisions on morality, Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday.

Instead, the court should go back to its practice before the last half of the 20th century, when the constitution and the meaning of laws were considered static and could be changed only by an amendment of the people, he said.

“Nothing that I learned in my courses at Harvard law school, none of the experience I acquired practicing law qualifies me to decide whether there ought to be, and hence is, a fundamental right to abortion or assisted suicide,” Scalia said.

The modern court’s “living constitution” doctrine has resulted in the Supreme Court acting as moral arbiters for the nation, he said.

Scalia, 74, spoke before a crowd packed into the 220-seat auditorium at Montana State University’s Museum of the Rockies.

As long as Supreme Court justices are deciding the nation’s morals, be prepared for each new appointment to be a political event, with each nominee’s appointment being judged on the basis of his or her views, he said. He guessed that if he were up for nomination today, he would not get 60 votes to be confirmed.

He followed his speech with a candid question-and-answer session, fielding questions that included which dictionary he uses to define words in the constitution — an 1848 Noah Webster dictionary he keeps on his desk — and how he can defend the court’s recent decision to allow corporations the same rights as individuals in elections.

“Corporations are groups of individuals,” Scalia responded. “This wasn’t a conservative versus liberal thing. This was an original reading of the constitution thing.”

He also had some thoughts about the presence of Supreme Court justices at the State of the Union speech:

And when he was asked whether it was a violation of decorum to have the justices dressed down at the State of the Union address, he said the annual presidential speech has simply become political theater consisting of a series of applause lines.

“I haven’t gone to that silly spectacle for the last 15 years, I think,” he said. “I don’t know why the Supreme Court should lend dignity to that silly occasion.”

What does the left see as a perfect justice? A "wise Latina" and whatever that is they just nominated, both bound and determined to rewrite the constitution to fit liberal social policies.

Gay Affirmative Action

Just when you thought CBS sitcoms couldn't get any dumber:

CBS will introduce more gay characters on its scripted programs in response to recently receiving a failing grade from GLAAD, CBS President Nina Tassler said Wednesday.

“I’m very disappointed in our track record so far,” Tassler said at the Telvision Critics Association fall previews. “We know and we will do better.”

MTV, CW tops GLAAD’s gay-friendly programming survey; CBS fails again

Tassler said The Good Wife will introduce the gay brother of Julianna Margulies’ Alicia in the new season. She also added that there would be a recurring gay character on S#*! My Dad Says and that Jeff and Audrey (Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price) will choose a lesbian surrogate on Rules of Engagement.

“Once you come out of your pilot development season disappointed with yourself, you go into the current series season and look for every opportunity we can to improve the numbers we have represented in the cast,” Tassler said. “We’re going to do that, and we’ll continue to focus on that as we go into development season. We’re not happy with ourselves.”

Is this supposed to be a recipe for success?

New ID Requirements at the White House

From Scrappleface:

(2010-07-29) — Admitting there’s no way to ask a visitor for identification without treating him like a criminal, President Obama today lifted the requirement that Secret Service, military and police personnel assigned to the White House be required to establish a visitor’s threat status before granting admittance.

The move comes just a day after a federal judge, at the president’s request, overturned parts of Arizona’s effort to enforce federal immigration law, including requirements on law enforcers to establish immigration status of alleged perpetrators, and on immigrants to carry documents to verify that status.

Mr. Obama said that the process, which critics defend as a way to prevent dangerous people from getting close the president and his staff, is merely another form of discrimination.

Heh. Read the rest here.

Californians Smoking Less, Government Programs Hardest Hit

Cigarette taxes have been a favorite funding tool for all kinds of government programs, but when you increase taxes on an activity you usually end up with less of that activity, and California is learning that lesson:

Cigarette sales in California plunged to their lowest level in a decade last year as smokers were squeezed by new taxes and restrictions on where they could light up.

While tobacco use has been steadily declining, the 8.1 percent sales drop was the largest year-over-year decline since 2000, according to the state Board of Equalization.

The number of cigarette packs sold in the state fell to 972 million – down from from 2.8 billion in 1980.

State officials said higher taxes drove more people to kick the habit. Last year, the federal government increased the per-pack tax on cigarettes by 62 cents, bringing the levy to $1.01 a pack....

But for the state, the decline in smoking also means $74 million in tax revenues have disappeared like a puff of smoke, leaving health programs that rely on cigarette taxes to look for other ways to pay for services.

In all, the state collected $839 million in cigarette tax revenues during the just-completed fiscal year, compared with $913 million the year before.

"It's definitely a bit of good news and bad news for us," said Diane Levin, chief deputy director of First 5 California, which gets most of its funding from state cigarette taxes to pay for anti-smoking education services and other programs that promote healthy living among Californians with young children.

"Declining revenue isn't a new issue for us. We've been expecting it, and we've been planning for it," she said. "We're having to strategize to do more with less, to concentrate our focus in these tough times."

I don't think they've been planning for this decline at all. I think they promoted taxes on smoking because they hoped most people would find it impossible to quit and the revenue would continue to roll in. It's foolish to fund your state's health care objectives on the backs of people addicted to a product.

If you want to end smoking as a health hazard, end smoking.  Ban the product.  We have county governments banning Happy Meal toys because some kid might be attracted to fast food.  Why can't we ban something that we know is actually dangerous and when used as designed causes health damage?

Alan Grayson Soaks the Taxpayers for $73,000 for a Campaign DVD

Enjoy it while you can, Alan. It's all ending in November:

If U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson were a rock star, his latest PR blitz — a DVD sent to tens of thousands of Central Florida residents — would be called Grayson’s Greatest Hits.

The 90-minute disc features video highlights from his first term in office, including one of him grilling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and another in which the Orlando Democrat preaches on the need to teach schoolchildren about the U.S. Constitution.

The DVD comes wrapped inside a mailer covered with promotional slogans: “Congressman Alan Grayson, Hard at Work for You,” “He works hard. He pays attention. He gets things done,” and “Video DVD Inside: Watch Congressman Grayson in Action!”

In many ways, it’s the perfect campaign video — with one key difference.

Thanks to perks given to all members of Congress, it’s not Grayson’s campaign but taxpayers who footed the nearly $73,000 bill to produce and mail the DVD to 100,000 homes in Grayson’s district of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.

In case you missed it, here's the web ad I produced for his opponent:

The Incestuous Relationship Between "Journalists" and the Obama Administration

Daily Caller hits the liberal media email list "Journolist" again:

Despite its name, membership in the liberal online community Journolist wasn’t limited to journalists. Present among the bloggers, reporters and editors were a number of professional political operatives, including top White House economic advisors, key Obama political appointees, and Democratic campaign veterans. Some left government to join Journolist. Others took the opposite route. A few contributed to Journolist from their perches in politics. At times, it became difficult to tell who was supposed to be covering policy and who was trying to make it.

Two of the administration’s chief economic advisors, Jared Bernstein, the vice president’s top economist, and Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, were members of Journolist until they began working officially for Obama.

Ilan Goldenberg, now an advisor on Middle East policy at the Pentagon, was a member until he joined the administration. Moira Whelan left Journolist to work at the Department of Homeland Security. Anne-Marie Slaughter left to work at the State Department. Former Journolist member Ben Brandzel is now a top staffer at Organizing for America, the political arm of the Obama White House.

Josh Orton, a former spokesman for Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NM), became Obama’s deputy director of new media during the 2008 presidential campaign. After the election, he joined Journolist.

Journolist founder Ezra Klein, a staffer at the Washington Post, says he “tried to be very strict” in making sure no active political operatives joined Journolist. “It’s possible I missed someone,” he explained in an email.

People have been going back-and-forth between Obama and various media rags since the 2008 campaign. There's really no substantive difference between the media and the White House.

Today's Ironic Racial Moment

Read this first:

Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.

Sherrod made the announcement in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.

So, the woman who's suing for being called a racist makes her announcement at a racially segregated convention.  Irony.

Televangelist Needs $2 Million From You

The prosperity gospel isn't working:

The current tabloid reports  about Dana Point televangelist Benny Hinn (left) and Florida-based televangelist Paula White (right) are not the first time their names have appeared together in a less-than-flattering light. Hinn and White, who deny that they’ve had an affair, were among six televangelists targeted by a Senate Finance Committee investigation into possible financial misconduct, which has been grinding on for some three years.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, then the committee’s ranking Republican, wanted to know whether these ministries improperly used their tax-exempt status as churches to finance lavish lifestyles.
The others targeted were Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long and Kenneth Copeland.
Hinn has filed for divorce from his wife of 30 years, citing irreconcilable differences, court records show.
Hinn and White are common sights on OC’s very own Trinity Broadcasting Network – the largest Christian broadcaster in the world — where their shows appear back-to-back. They preach the prosperity gospel, and you can order your own ”Prosperity Prayer Shawl” on Hinn’s web site. 
His shawl must not be working. Hinn is currently trying to raise millions from his followers:
“I’m facing a deficit of $2 million right now that has accumulated in the last few months—first, because of the economy, and second, because I have continued to travel to the world preaching the Gospel,” he writes on his web site. “The offerings from some of those crusades did not cover the expenses. I had hoped and prayed that the need would have been met without my coming to you, but as I have learned over the years, if I don’t come to you and tell you the facts, there will be no way for you to find out.
“I know $2 million sounds like a large number, but it really isn’t if we all do our part. Then it can be taken care of easily and quickly.”
Indeed. Part of the tabloid allegations are that Hinn and White romanced while in Rome to meet with Vatican officials.

Perhaps his private jet needs a tune-up.

The Great Gulf Exaggeration

Once again the environwackos have tried to scare us into making draconian changes in our national energy policy, and Democrat politicians prayed for enough damage to justify cap-and-trade:

President Obama has called the BP oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced," and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the "Catastrophe Along the Gulf Coast," while CBS, Fox and MSNBC slap "Disaster in the Gulf" chryons on all their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted the spill was an "environmental catastrophe." The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill — he calls it "the leak" — is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.

Well, Rush has a point. The Deepwater explosion was an awful tragedy for the 11 workers who died on the rig, and it's no leak; it's the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. It's also inflicting serious economic and psychological damage on coastal communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. But so far — while it's important to acknowledge that the long-term potential danger is simply unknowable for an underwater event that took place just three months ago — it does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage. "The impacts have been much, much less than everyone feared," says geochemist Jacqueline Michel, a federal contractor who is coordinating shoreline assessments in Louisiana.

Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the birds killed by the Exxon Valdez. Yes, we've heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but, so far, wildlife response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of any mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region's fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted. And, yes, scientists have warned that the oil could accelerate the destruction of Louisiana's disintegrating coastal marshes — a real slow-motion ecological calamity — but, so far, shorelines assessment teams have only found about 350 acres of oiled marshes, when Louisiana was already losing about 15,000 acres of wetlands every year.

Yesterday on his show Rush played an interview with an environwacko who promised that it would take 50 years to clean up the damage from the Gulf Oil Spill. Three months later the clean-up crews are having trouble finding any oil.

 Another interview played on Rush's show from an expert in cleaning up oil suggested that the Gulf had ramped up its own natural defenses as the oil gushed and once the flow stopped the bacteria and other critters that eat and dissolve that stuff were in high gear and are rapidly degrading what's left of the slick.

 The Chicken Little crowd just can't get it right.

Dems Think They Can Win by Linking GOP to Tea Party

Not going to work:

Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine will be accusing GOP leaders of being beholden to the Tea Party's agenda at a press conference this morning, mocking Republican plans to offer voters a legislative commitment modeled after the Contract with America.

As part of its initiative, the DNC is launching a website accusing Republicans of supporting a legislative blueprint in line with the Tea Party movement that includes repeal of the health care law and Wall Street reform, extending tax breaks, privatization of Social Security and the elimination of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy.

"The Tea Party is now an institutionalized part of the Republican party. They are one and the same," a DNC operative said, previewing Kaine's speech. "The positions espoused by the Tea Party is the governing platform of the Republican party. And as voters make their choice this fall it's important to understand what the Republican-Tea Party wants to do if elected."

Radical left-wingers think the Tea Party is full of racists and hate-mongers, but the problem for Democrats with this strategy is the most of America doesn't agree with radical left-wingers. Most of America realizes that the Tea Party is just like...well, most of America.

There are a great many Americans who would love for the GOP to tie their policies to the small government/low taxes agenda of the Tea Party. We've seen what out-of-control big government does and we don't like it.

And while we're eliminating federal agencies, let's dump the Commerce Dept., Labor Dept., and EPA. They're complete wastes of money.

There's Still Plenty of Life Left in the AZ Immigration Law

Not all is lost in Arizona, even if it's no longer illegal to be an illegal alien:

While opponents of Arizona's strict immigration law are claiming victory in a federal ruling Wednesday that blocked most of the crackdown hours before its enactment, there's still plenty left in the state legislation that supporters are cheering.

As the case is litigated, Arizona will be able to block state officials from so-called "sanctuary city" policies limiting enforcement of federal law; require that state officials work with federal officials on illegal immigration; allow civil suits over sanctuary cities; and to make it a crime to pick up day laborers.

"We have a big problem with day laborers standing on the street disrupting traffic, disrupting communities, scaring people, and that part of the law withstood constitutionality," Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh told Fox News. "We'll be able to clean up that mess."

Kavanagh also praised the other sections of the law that were not blocked.

"I think it is a powerful deterrent effect and this is not going to be settled for years," he said. "So while we might not have as strong a deterrent as we had yesterday, it is still something for illegals to think about when they are looking for places to go."

A spokesman for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said the state will appeal Judge Susan Bolton's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday, asking the appellate court to lift the injunction and allow the blocked provisions to take effect. The appeal will ask the 9th Circuit to act quickly, Paul Senseman said.

State Senator Russell Pearce, the law's chief author, said he likes that the state will be able enforce a provision that bars local governments from limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws.

"Striking down these sanctuary city policies has always been the No. 1 priority," he said.

It may take awhile, but Arizona will win this when it finally hits the Supreme Court. The arguments put forth by the judge in yesterday's ruling were at best questionable.  You can read Mark Levin's take on it here.

Hopefully by the time the bill is found constitutional Obama won't have already won amnesty for 20 million people.

November Starts Now!

A new website from the GOP - November Starts Now!.  The description:

Barack Obama's presidency has been a disaster. He is either unwilling to or incapable of doing his job. The economy is in shambles, the government is failing, and Americans are losing hope. Barack Obama was not ready to be President. He's not the solution. You are.

You have the opportunity to turn our economy, our government, and our country around by electing Republicans and restoring your voice in Washington. But to win this fall, we must start today. It's up to you to save your country. Are you ready? Because November starts now.

I'm ready.

Political Video of the Day

Chris "Obama Makes Me Tingle" Matthews actually gets most of this right:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Face It, America, Your President Was Raised to Hate You

I've been busy all day, but given the events of this morning I thought maybe today would be a good time to bring back this HolyCoast Classic Post:

This is not a secret.  I'm not revealing some great truth here.  This has been known for a long time by a lot of people, including those whose job it was to report such things to you during the 2008 primaries and general election.  However, they chose not to.  They were afraid, afraid to be called a racist and afraid that their vision of a liberal utopia would be destroyed and a cranky old white man would get elected.

Obama's past is littered with radicals and crazies who served as his mentors, advisors and pastors.  His mind has been polluted by terrible ideas since boyhood.  We shouldn't be surprised at what we see today.

His youth in Hawaii was spent in an almost father-son relationship with an avowed communist, Frank Marshall Davis.  Do you think Davis was teaching Obama about the greatness of America and the merits of dynamic capitalism?

For 22 years his pastor was Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a racist America-hater whose rantings caused the Obama campaign some minor embarrassment but little real trouble since the mainstream media refused to show the incendiary sermons that "damned" America.  Obama claimed to have sat under his preaching for all those years yet never heard anything like what was found on the excerpts that surfaced during the campaign.  Was Wright counseling the young Chicago politician in the inherent goodness of the American people and the exceptionalism that makes America a shining light in a dark world?

His neighbor and good friends were William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, unrepentant domestic terrorists who tried to kill cops and military personnel when protesting the Vietnam War.  Many suspect that Ayers was the actual author of Obama's first book and the puppetmaster behind the Obama's rise in politics.  What do you think Ayers and Dorhn love most about America and how they might have passed that love on to their community organizer neighbor Obama?

His wife Michelle proclaimed during the campaign that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of her country?  What kind of twisted view of America has she contributed to the president?

Obama is the classic academic liberal, long on book knowledge and theory but lacking in practical experience.  The books say how things should work in a liberal utopia, and the coffeehouse discussions explain how it will all work, but there is no practical evidence of truth based on actual experience.  It's all a pipe dream.

Obama has been raised to believe that America is not exceptional and a beacon of freedom and hope, but in fact is the source of most evil in the world today.  America is an arrogant superpower and until she can be brought down to the level of the rest of the world we'll never be able to solve global warming, bring peace throughout the nations, and live in a world where there are rainbows and unicorns for everyone.

To accomplish this America must be weakened.  Our economic system must be damaged beyond repair, our military neutered, and our people subjugated by the government to ensure that no one prospers and starts thinking for themselves.  Americans must be dependent on their government so America can take it's rightful place among failing socialist democracies.

Americans must be taxed at levels designed to punish achievement and reward sloth.  Those who achieve must be forced by regulation and threat to give their bounty away to those who have done nothing to earn it other than breathe and vote for Democrats.  A minority of Americans must pay the bills for the majority.  With 47% of households not paying ANY income tax, we're getting very close to that liberal ideal.

Obama's life-long hatred of America, developed and nurtured over the years by the radicals and crazies he was drawn to, is now being played out in real life.  It's no longer an academic exercise, but a real and growing tragedy for this country.

And it was all very predictable.  Maybe if he hadn't been a "clean and articulate" liberal black man who could give a good speech the media might have done its job and vetted him with the intensity they applied to Sarah Palin.  Maybe they would have discovered his past full of lefties, loons and really dangerous people and would have reported it with the same earnestness they reported Palin's daughter's pregnancy.

Yeah, and maybe this is the week I'll get my rainbows and unicorns.

And since I wrote that we learned about Journolist, an email list in which liberal "journalists" conspired to do Obama's bidding and promote his agenda, and of course we have today's court decision in which it's no longer illegal to be an illegal alien.  What's right is not called wrong.  What's good is now called bad.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in an America of the type Obama envisions.

Democrats Headed for a "Thumpin'"

Michael Barone reads the midterm election tea leaves:

In 1994, I wrote an article in U.S. News & World Report arguing that there was a serious chance that Republicans could capture the 40 seats that they needed then, as now, for a majority in the House. It was the first mainstream media piece suggesting that, and it appeared on newsstands on July 11.

I cited as evidence five polls showing incumbent Democratic congressmen trailing Republican challengers. None of those Democrats had scandal problems; all five lost in November.

Today a lot more Democratic incumbents seem to be trailing Republican challengers in polls. Jim Geraghty of National Review Online has compiled a list of 13 Democratic incumbents trailing in polls released over the past seven weeks.

Some of these poll numbers are mind-boggling. Tom Perriello, a 727-vote winner in Virginia 5 in 2008, has been running two weeks of humorous ads showing what a hard worker he is. A poll shows him trailing Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt 58 to 35 percent.

In industrial Ohio 13, which Barack Obama carried 57 to 42, a poll shows incumbent Betty Sutton trailing free-spending Republican Tom Ganley 44 to 31 percent.

As Geraghty notes, we haven't seen polls released by many other Democrats on Republican target lists. Most are conducting polls; many have reason to release favorable results if they're available. This looks like a case where the absence of evidence is evidence of absence.

Two years ago, Obama was elected president with a historic 53 percent of the vote -- more than any other Democrat in history except Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.

These metrics -- the generic ballot results and polls in individual districts -- suggest that House Democrats are headed toward historic losses. Quite a swing in 18 months.

There probably isn't anyone with better knowledge of the electorate than Michael Barone. And by this point in the election most voters have already made up their minds. Getting people to like Democrats again is going to be a hard if not impossible job between now and November.

Eric Cantor: Stop the Lame-Duck Congress

An open letter from Rep. Eric Cantor, printed at The Corner:

On November 2, millions of Americans will head to the polls to either endorse or put a stop to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda. Should the Democrats suffer a defeat, as many polls suggest could happen, the expectation is that the governing philosophy that brought America the stimulus and health-care overhaul will no longer determine policy in Washington for at least the next two years. But is this a safe assumption?

America, meet the lame-duck session of Congress. In the wake of the November election, the Democratic majorities of 2008 will be frozen in place until a new Congress is sworn in at the beginning of 2011. It appears likely that scores of defeated Democrats will head back to Washington to serve out their terms with nothing to lose. And with President Obama’s promises of tax increases, cap-and-trade, card check, and immigration reform left unfulfilled, what’s to stop Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid from using the lame-duck session to pass the remaining parts of their agenda that their so-called moderates are currently too jittery to support?

Etiquette, say the liberal pundits. Congress wouldn’t dare defy protocol and flout the will of the people to pass controversial legislation at such a time. It would be too transparent and would conflict with the Democrats’ pledge to clean up the process in Washington.

If these kinds of assurances sound familiar, it’s because they are. The very same arguments were made about the health-care overhaul after Sen. Scott Brown scored a major victory in Massachusetts last January, depriving Democrats of the 60-vote supermajority historically needed to pass a sweeping new entitlement. Yet no sooner had Brown arrived Washington than President Obama and congressional Democrats moved in earnest to do the unthinkable, passing the bill under “budget reconciliation” rules that only required 50 votes in the Senate.

It’s also not as if Democrats are swearing off efforts to seize the lame-duck opportunity. Speaking coyly about rejuvenating his stalled bill to regulate greenhouse gases, Sen. John Kerry said on Tuesday, “We will continue to try over the next few weeks, but if it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something.”

The polling group Resurgent Republic recently found that over two-thirds voters in the dozen states with “toss-up” Senate races oppose passing major legislation in a lame-duck session of Congress. The study is particularly relevant because defeated incumbents from these same states, in addition to vulnerable House Democrats spanning the entire country, hold the key to passing key legislation in the direct aftermath of November 2.

The taxes and restrictions Congress has been debating on carbon would raise the price of energy and consumer goods for all Americans during tough economic times. Card check would have a chilling effect on small businesses and further stunt private-sector job creation. These are the kinds of policies that lawmakers must be held accountable for. That’s why every incumbent in Congress should have to sign a pledge today assuring voters that they will not use the lame-duck session to pass any major legislation.

The other option is to assume that there are bounds Speaker Pelosi is not willing to cross to pass her agenda. But given this Congress’s record, it would be a mistake to leave anything to chance.

Political Quote of the Day

Who has the better marriage, the rock star or the politician (from Big Hollywood)?

“Let’s cut to twenty-five years later, I’m still married – none of my kids have been busted for drug possession. Can Al and Tipper Gore say the same thing? I don’t think so – oh, snap!” — Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider

And he ain't gonna take it anymore.

Federal Judge Blocks Part of AZ Immigration Law

Just in from Fox News:

A federal judge on Wednesday granted a partial injunction requested by the federal government on the controversial Arizona immigration law, SB 1070.

Isn't it nice to know your government is working against you and in favor of people who broke into the country illegally?

UPDATE:  More here.

I'll be away from the computer for awhile so keep checking Fox News for more info.

Mad Cow

I went to the Orange County Fair last week but didn't see anything like this:

In the second bizarre incident at the State Fair in a week, Cal Expo police shot an agitated, pregnant dairy cow that twice escaped her confines and knocked over an officer as she bolted through the fairgrounds Tuesday morning.

Neither the cow nor her calf survived the shooting, which occurred an hour before gates opened to the public.

Ultimately, the roughly 1,200-pound cow became a threat to thousands of employees already abuzz in the fairgrounds, police and veterinary officials said. They agreed she had to be put down after a 1 1/2-hour chase.

I saw people at the fair that looked like they could have Mad Cow Disease, but never actually saw a mad cow.

Liberals Doing the Job the Arizona Law Hasn't Had a Chance to Do

Liberals are an emotional bunch. They never let facts get in the way of a good cry, and such has been the case with the Arizona immigration law which is scheduled to go into effect tomorrow.

Lately I've had a couple of posts about how illegals are selling their stuff and getting out of Arizona, and how the boycotts against the state seem to be backfiring. Why do you suppose that is? The law hasn't gone into effect yet. No one has been unfairly profiled. No one has had their ice cream eating interrupted by demands for their papers (remember that one from Obama?).

The law is already very effective because the people who oppose it so badly overplayed their hand. The handwringing from the left and bizarre claims of outrages yet unseen stirred up America in ways they never anticipated. Some 70% of Americans decided they liked what they were hearing about the law, and the panic being sowed by the liberals started driving illegals out of Arizona long before the law could take effect. Though they didn't plan it that way, the left has been the biggest booster of the Arizona law.

There's still a chance some judge could put the whole thing on hold but the damage has already been done.  Other states are lining up their own similar laws and the tide of political attitudes in the country has clearly swung against amnesty or anything else that would reward lawbreaking.  Thank you liberals.

Meanwhile, the foolishness continues.

Today's Reading List

I'm going to get this one and you can pre-order it now from Amazon.  They also have a promo video:

Arizona Boycotts Not Working

Not surprising:

Arizona's tourism industry has a target on its back, but the widespread boycotts over the state's immigration law might not be hitting the mark.

Recent data compiled by a market research group show hotel bookings across the state -- as well as in tourism hot spots Phoenix and Scottsdale -- have been on the rise the past two months.

The numbers could dispel warnings from local officials that Arizona stands to lose a fortune and dampen the chances that cities and organizations will be able to compel the state to reverse its immigration law by choking its economy with a sanctions-style business boycott.

"Fundamentally, the boycotts have been unsuccessful," said Barry Broome, president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Could it be that people who support Arizona decided to move their vacations that direction, thus accounting for the increase in hotel bookings? Very possible.

Boycotts very seldom accomplish anything other than making the boycotters feel morally superior.

Obama on The View, Boy Scouts Won't Get a View

Obama doesn't get much love anymore so he's going to get some first-class fawning on The View:

President Obama will make history as the first sitting president on a daytime talk show when he visits with the ladies of "The View." But he'll be missing out on another historic occasion -- the Boy Scouts' Jamboree marking the group's 100th anniversary, right in the president's backyard.

The Jamboree kicked off this week at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where organizers had invited the president to speak to the 45,000 scouts in attendance. All three of Obama's predecessors have made it to one Jamboree while in office.

But the president will instead be traveling Wednesday to New York for a taping of the ABC show, as well as Democratic fundraisers and a stop in New Jersey. The talk show appearance comes as campaign season moves into full swing, but also amid efforts to cap the Gulf oil spill for good, contain the damage from an unprecedented leak of Afghanistan war documents and battle Arizona over its immigration law -- set to go into effect Thursday. Obama also has an out-of-town event planned for Friday in Detroit.

But while the Jamboree lasts until next Tuesday, the president is sending his regards via a videotaped message.

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith said the organization knew Obama's invitation would hinge on his schedule and found out two months ago that he would not be able to attend.

"It just depends on his schedule," he said, adding that "there's always a spot" available for the president during the Jamboree. Obama also serves as honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.

The White House said Tuesday that the fundraisers, not the TV appearance, prevented the president from attending.

"We were always going to be out of town that day," Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told FoxNews.com in an e-mail. "It was never canceled."

Obama never intended to speak at the Boy Scout Jamboree because he's very much opposed to their anti-homosexual Scout Leader policy. If he were to speak to them the gay lobby would go nuts, and so I doubt if he'll ever appear before them.

Have a Safe Trip Home

This really has to tick off the White House:

An anti-immigration group is calling on the Obama administration to ensure a smooth exit for illegal immigrants who are trying to leave the U.S. due to the weak economy and Arizona's strict new immigration law.

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is urging U.S. citizens to pressure the White House and the Homeland Security Department to establish "safe departure" border checkpoints along the U.S. border for illegal immigrants so they can leave without fear of being detained or prosecuted for immigration crimes.

"The peaceful and gradual exodus of illegals from Arizona shows there is no need for comprehensive immigration reform amnesty," William Gheen, president of the group, said in a written statement. "Comprehensive immigration enforcement works and has the desired effect without mass deportations."

Gheen said the safe passage would ensure that illegals "leave in an orderly fashion, instead of trying risky desert crossings, paying money to the cartels for passage south, or fleeing to other states."

"This is about the only situation we would ever advocate that our immigration laws be waived," Gheen said. "We want to encourage the illegals to leave America on their own and thus we ask Obama to provide them safe passage out of America."

Seems reasonable to me, but I don't know how these people will be able to vote for Democrats if they leave the country so Obama isn't likely to help.

So Long, Star Tours

Star Tours, the Star Wars-themed ride at Disneyland just closed as the attraction goes through a renovation that will take a couple of years.  One of the engineers give his recollection of designing the ride here.  I'm old enough to remember when the "Better Living Though Chemistry" ride from Monsanto was first installed in that location when Tomorrowland was remodeled in 1967.

Star Tours was always fun for the kids to ride - they are both big fans of the movies, and one of our most exciting moments at Disneyland involved that ride.  In 1997 we were there one Friday night with the family and the kids wanted to ride Star Tours.  My wife and I decided to stay outside and wait for them to finish.  They were about 9 and 6 at the time, and I reminded them that they'd come out in the store and from there they'd need to turn left and come out to where we were sitting.

It was a busy night in the park and we waited and waited but the kids didn't show up.  I finally went to the entrance to see how long the line was and found it was only about 15 minutes and they should have been out quite awhile ago.  Where'd they go?   My wife had all kinds of terrible thoughts going through her mind, but having worked there I knew the urban legends about kids being kidnapped were unfounded.

I started checking around, couldn't find them, and went back to the ride operator and asked her to call Lost Children.  Sure enough, that's where they were.

They had come out of the ride but in the crush of people had missed us.  Fortunately, my daughter had the presence of mind to find a security guy and tell him their problem.  He took them over to Lost Children where they hung out for about 20 minutes until we found them.

So, while many people will remember their thrilling journey to Endor, I'll remember frantically looking around trying to find my kids, and the look of relief on my son's face when his parents found him.

Weekly KHND Interview Podcast

Here's this week's KHND podcast:

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Has MADD Become Drunk With Power?

Some think the famous anti-drunk driving group may have jumped the shark:

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is suffering from mission creep. A victim of its own success, the non-profit group is now pursuing Prohibitionist anti-alcohol policies – such as calling for alcohol detectors in all cars – instead of focusing on its original goal of reducing drunk driving deaths.

“The public needs to realize that MADD isn’t the same group it was 20 years ago,” says American Beverage Institute (ABI) Managing Director Sarah Longwell.

MADD founder Candy Lightner agrees. The non-profit group she started in 1980 after her daughter was killed by a drunk driver “has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn’t start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving.”

There's more at the link. Without question MADD has done a lot of good and has saved lives. But like many successful organizations it becomes easy to think so highly of your success that you start looking for other worlds to conquer and sometimes forget what the original mission was. Becoming an alcohol scold isn't going to make people more receptive to their message.

Wheel of Global Warming

Pat Sajak, TV game show host and former TV weatherman, has a good idea about global warming enthusiasts:

Manmade global warming, like so many other social and economic issues, has become hopelessly politicized. Each side has dug in its heels and has accused the other of acting irresponsibly and dishonestly. For the believers, the other side has become the equivalent of Holocaust deniers; and for the doubters, the other side has become a cult intent on manipulating mankind to remake the world in some sort of natural Utopian image.

The divide has become so great, it seems virtually impossible to bridge the gap. However, I’m not writing for Ricochet merely to outline problems; I’m here to offer real solutions. And I’m not just blowing carbon dioxide.

Let’s assume that a third of the world’s population really believes mankind has the power to adjust the Earth’s thermostat through lifestyle decisions. The percentage may be higher or lower, but, for the sake of this exercise, let’s put it at one-third. Now it seems to me these people have a special obligation to change their lives dramatically because they truly believe catastrophe lies ahead if they don’t. The other two-thirds are merely ignorant, so they can hardly be blamed for their actions.

Now, if those True Believers would give up their cars and big homes and truly change the way they live, I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be some measurable impact on the Earth in just a few short years. I’m not talking about recycling Evian bottles, but truly simplifying their lives. Even if you were, say, a former Vice President, you would give up extra homes and jets and limos. I see communes with organic farms and lives freed from polluting technology.

Then, when the rest of us saw the results of their actions—you know, the earth cooling, oceans lowering, polar bears frolicking and glaciers growing—we would see the error of our ways and join the crusade voluntarily and enthusiastically.

There's more a the link.

I still remember when he was the weather guy on Channel 4 in Los Angeles one day he was standing in front of the satellite map and said it was so clear out you could see all the state lines.

Religious Photo of the Day

If he turns the hat backwards you know he's going to a hip-hop mass:

First Amendment Lives Another Day

The Dem attack on the First Amendment, otherwise known as the DISCLOSE Act, failed in the Senate:

Senate Democrats failed to attract a single Republican vote on the DISCLOSE Act Tuesday, effectively defeating the bill and casting doubts over whether any campaign finance measure can pass the upper chamber before the November elections.

Aides in both the Senate and the House insist the legislation will come up for consideration again. But with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) painting the bill – which failed 57-41 – as detrimental to his conference, a packed legislative docket and contentious elections on the horizon, sending the DISCLOSE Act to the president’s desk now appears to be a long shot at best.

The Washington Examiner has a good explanation of the bill and the effect it would have had on political speech in this country.

Jeb Says No

I thought this would be the case:

Many Republicans are still searching for that ideal 2012 presidential candidate – someone who can fire up both the fiscal and social conservative wings of the GOP while luring swing voters. And, in recent months, the chatter has often turned to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Bush apparently sought to quiet the murmurs today, telling a Kentucky TV reporter that he isn’t running.

Bush has said that since leaving office in January 2007 that he would focus on making money and advocating for education reforms, which were a centerpiece of his tenure as governor. Even as polls show that he remains popular in Florida, the country’s biggest swing state, many close to him and party strategists have assumed that the Bush family name was a non-starter so soon after the presidency of his unpopular older brother, George W. Bush. Jeb Bush waved off efforts by state Republicans to coax him into the U.S. Senate race.

But the 2010 midterms have served as a bit of a political re-coming out for Jeb Bush, who has traveled the country raising money for Republican candidates. Just this week, he headlined a fund-raiser Monday night in Louisville for GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul. He has also spoken out on a range of political issues, from economic policy to immigration.

Bush said today that his denial was hardly news. Asked why there has been so much speculation, Bush told Washington Wire via email: “I haven’t a clue. I have not been running for a while and answer the question the same way every time.”

Not surprising. I think it's still too early for him to consider a run. However, if a Democrat is elected in 2012 I wouldn't rule him out for 2016.

Can't See Your Burrito Being Made? That's Discrimination!

That's how the court sees it:

An appeals court has ruled that two Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurants in San Diego have violated a federal law protecting the rights of the disabled.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that customers in wheelchairs are denied the "Chipotle experience" of watching their food being prepared because the restaurants' 45-inch counters are too high.

The company now faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

The unanimous three-judge ruling overturned a trial court decision pointing to Chipotle's willingness to prepare a disabled customer's order elsewhere. The appeals court said that is still unfair.

This is where the ADA goes completely off the tracks. It's one thing to guarantee that someone can access an establishment, but to guarantee that everything inside is equal for everyone just seems completely unrealistic.

What about "little people"? Are they considered disabled for the purposes of this law? Are we required to pick them up and set them on the counter like I used to do with my daughter at Subway so she could pick out stuff for her sandwich?

If this stands Chipotle will have to cancel the "Chipotle experience" for everyone, but that's what extreme interpretations of regulations tend to do.  Instead of creating more access, it will create less.

The Angels Want Your Blood

I don't think this has anything to do with the current vampire craze:

The Angels want your blood.  Really, they do.

If you like the idea of helping people by donating blood, and you like baseball, then this is a deal for you:

Give blood at the bloodmobile set up at the Big Red Helmet at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, and they’ll give you a voucher good for two tickets you can use later to selected Angels baseball games.

That appeals to me because I’ve been feeling guilty about not having donated blood for a long time, and also feeling guilty about not taking my kids to an Angels game this year, so, hey, I can relieve my guilt on two fronts at once! How’s that for a great deal.

Click here to learn more about the UCI blood drive and put in a request to give blood at Angel Stadium

Dates on which you can give blood:

Aug. 10, Aug. 13, Aug. 24, Sept. 7 and Sept. 22

These are the dates on which you can use your free ticket vouchers:

Aug. 23, Aug. 25,  Sept. 6, Sept. 8, Sept. 20, Sept. 22, Sept. 27 and Sept. 29

Click here for the Angels calendar and schedule

Given how expense Major League Baseball games are these days it just might be worth taking advantage of this.

Can't Find the Oil Spill? No Problem, More Oil is On the Way

I wonder who was driving the boat?

Fox News is being told by the Homeland Security director for Jefferson Parish, La., that a new oil leak has sprung up in the Gulf of Mexico after a boat struck an oil well in the early morning hours on Tuesday.

A tugboat or other workboat collided with the well near Bayou St. Dennis, La., shearing off its valve structure and releasing pressurized natural gas and light oil, DHS official Deano Bonano told Fox News.

Cleanup workers are currently booming off the area and the scene at sea has been taken over by federal agents. The U.S. Coast Guard, Jefferson Parish police and fire officials, as well as Vessels of Opportunity boats have all been dispatched to the scene.

Federal officials do not know who owns the well, but a contractor who handles wild wells is also on the way, Bonano said.

There's hope for cap-and-trade yet.

Rangel Scrambles to Save Himself

What's he willing to admit to and what will they let him get away with?

The Associated Press has learned that New York Democrat Charles Rangel is making a last-minute effort to settle his ethics case. A settlement would mean that Rangel must agree that he committed some ethical misconduct.

The talks were confirmed by people familiar with the situation, but who were not authorized to be quoted by name.

Rangel stepped down earlier this year as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee because of an earlier ethics charge. A settlement would spare him an embarrassing ethics trial. It also would be a relief for other Democrats, who fear that an dragged-out ethics proceeding during the fall election campaign would hurt their ability to maintain their House majority.

The ethics committee's trial phase has been scheduled to commence Thursday afternoon.

In a tough election year the Dems don't want to look weak on corruption, especially after the way they beat the GOP over the head in 2006 on the Mark Foley affair. I'm not sure Charlie will be able to cut a deal he'll be very happy with. Chances are he gives up his leadership roles as committee chairs and lives out his days as a power behind the throne. He won't be voted out by his district, so at worst he fades quietly into the background.

Today's Reading List

You might want to get your pre-order in for this one:

Part biography, part history, part detective story, RADICAL-IN-CHIEF reveals the carefully hidden tale of Barack Obama’s political past. Stanley Kurtz, whose research helped inject the Bill Ayers and ACORN issues into the 2008 presidential campaign, presents the results of more than two years of digging into President Obama’s radical political world. The book is filled with previously unknown information about the president’s past, tied together by a bold argument about what Obama’s deepest political convictions really are.

RADICAL-IN-CHIEF marshals a wide array of never-before-seen evidence to establish that the president of the United States is indeed a socialist. Tracing an unbroken thread of socialist

Radical-in-Chief Pre-order 

activities and political partnerships, from Obama’s youth through his community organizing days and beyond, the book confirms that the president’s harshest critics have been right about his socialism all along.

RADICAL-IN-CHIEF also exposes the truth about community organizers–the socialist beliefs they hold and hide, and how they trained and groomed a president. Obama’s community organizer colleagues had a strategy for slowly and stealthily turning the United States into a socialist nation. The Obama administration is carrying out that strategy today.

This book will forever change our national debate about who Barack Obama is.

Chicago Has Something Else to Ban

Banning guns in Chicago has resulted in more violence.  Maybe the problem is baseball hats:

Is that White Sox hat the sign of a South Side fan, or the sign of something more dangerous?

The accoutrement of some baseball teams—specifically, their hats—are sometimes more popular than the actual teams themselves due to the hats' significance in gang culture, an article at Complex.com suggests.

For example, a recent Harris poll placed the Los Angeles Dodgers as the eighth most popular team in the league. However, the blue-and-white caps sell better than that because the colors are associated with several prominent gangs, the article states.

The L.A. Dodger cap tops the website's list of the ten most gang-affiliated hats in sports. The caps of the Cincinnati Reds, the Oakland Raiders, the Chicago Bulls, and the L.A. Kings round out the top five.

While gangs all over the country use sets of colors to represent themselves, a disturbing trend emerged from this "top ten" list.

Every single hat was reportedly adopted by at least one Chicago-based gang. In fact, some gangs had more than one hat, and some hats were affiliated with more than one gang.

In total, the ten hats were connected to 13 Chicago-based gangs.

How do they know who to shoot? Must be very confusing.