No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for May, 2008

May 31, 2008

MN GOP State Convention – The Plea For Unity!

by @ 12:30. Filed under Politics - Minnesota.

I attended the MNGOP State Convention yesterday as a delegate. I’m not as smart as Steve to bring a recorder and camera so that best I can do is give you some impressions and some short hand notes.

In some respects, the convention was pretty standard fare, lots of boring administration interrupted by a few speeches and the occasional entertaining give and take.

Ron Carey, MNGOP State Chair was up first with a message for UNITY. Unity seemed to be a recurring theme. Former Governor Al Quie, Senator Norm Coleman and others pleaded for unity within the Republican party. I find the plea ironic because as I surveyed the folks attending as delegates or alternates, I would bet that 95% of us agree on about 90% or more of the issues. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans have adopted platforms that come back to the same issues of fiscal accountability, individual rights and keeping government focused on what it should be focused on. My take is that if there is a concern for unity, it doesn’t have to do with the bottom end of the Republican party. The “disunity” is being caused by the top of the Republican party.

A good example of the disunity caused by the top was a proposed amendment to the MNGOP constitution. The amendment would allow the State GOP to toss out a BPOU chair if that chair didn’t do everything the State GOP thought they should do. That proposal (which was soundly shot down) and the emotional supportive comments from Ron Carey did nothing to convince at least this delegate, that the State leadership understands the reason for disunity. I think the leadership believes the disunity has been caused by the fight amongst candidates i.e. Thompson, Paul, Romney, etc., where in reality, the disunity (to the extent it exists) is due to the fact that leadership does not want to abide by the will of the people who voted them into office.   A good example of this came in Senator Coleman’s acceptance speech.

Senator Coleman was unanimously endorsed by the convention.   However, I’ll tell you that his reception was not enthusiastic.   As Coleman was announced, a polite but tepid applause greeted him (I contrast this to Second Congressional District Representative John Kline’s later greeting which was raucous).   Coleman’s speech talked about eight key points that he thought should be focused on.   For the most part it was “motherhood and apple pie” items for Republicans until he started talking about increasing ethanol and focusing on fuel cells.   Coleman has been a visible opponent of ANWR drilling.   He also thinks coal is only good if it is in someones Christmas stocking.   As Coleman was talking about his “let’s live without energy” approach to energy, there was a very audible chant of “ANWR, ANWR” amongst the delegates.   Coleman never slowed down or missed a word.   His ANWR position and his belief in man made global warming are two significant issues that separate him from most of the Republican base and is a reason that we don’t have unity.

Another issue that showed leadership causing disunity was in how they handled the Ron Paul delegation.   As in other district and even State conventions, the Paul folks showed up ready to do battle.   I’ll hand it to them that they came with a high degree in enthusiasm.   Unfortunately, while they were loaded with enthusiasm they did not come loaded with parliamentarians.   The lack of a parliamentarian strategy left the Paul folks playing catch up all day.   As the Paul folks attempted on multiple occasions to suspend the rules to try to get their delegates seated for the national election, they were unable to garner the votes necessary to do so.   The Chairs were also successful in pointing to the adopted rules of the convention to thwart Paul efforts.  

Late in the day, after delegates had been elected, the Paul folks pointed out that the nomination committee did not follow the rules of the convention in determining their slate of candidates.   The specific point was that the rules required people intent on running for those slots to interview, in person, in Rochester with the nominating committee.   The Paul folks found that at least Tim Pawlenty, perhaps others, did not personally meet with the committee.   Now a reasonable person would likely say “no big deal.”   However, the Chair and state leadership had been pointing the Paul folks noses back at the rules all day as a way to thwart their efforts.   I can’t say I’m a fan of Ron Paul but I fully support their position of “either the rules are the rules or there are no rules.”   Unfortunately the state leadership handled this situation by simply ignoring it.   They never provided a satisfactory answer or solution for the predicament they had created….That’s CRAP!

I came away from the convention feeling less enthused for the bulk of the Republicans than I did going into it.   It’s clear to me that some of the candidates and much of the leadership does not yet understand what has happened in the base.   My impression is that they largely think that they know better and if you disagree you ought to shut up.

Last thought…The youth and enthusiasm of most of the Paul folks was refreshing, invigorating and much appreciated.   For the few folks who thought the way to voice your displeasure was to make repeated references to Nazi Germany….learn your history and then grow up!

I’m back!

by @ 8:10. Filed under Miscellaneous.

As the Twitter update says, Oly (the real fisherman of the bunch) and I limited out. We had to try some different presentations as every day was a bit different, but here’s a fish story until I get the pics on Monday:

Oly’s 41-inch muskie: For the first time in 13 years, we decided to rent a guide to show us some new spots on the lake Tuesday. We found one point on Osbourne where the slight wind was blowing in, and Jason said he had a 50-inch muskie. Oly throws his jig out there and WHAM, the muskie took it and ran. Since Jason was trying out a brand-new boat, nobody loaded the net. Now you’re probably thinking, buh-bye muskie. Guess again. That 4-lb test line he uses is very damn tough. Not only did it survive being in the muskie’s mouth and wrapped around, but it survived Jason’s first miss trying to grab it. We did get it in the boat, and there’s a couple good pics of it.

As for the weather, about the only thing missing was the 80-degrees that we had the first year up (in 1996; that week also saw snow up there). We had absolutely everything else – calm, sunny and warm; thunderboomers; snow; wicked wind (was a cast-iron bitch to dock the boat Thursday night; our usual boatman’s with the futsal team in Guatemala right now).

It’s good to be back in the land of cheese and beer (even though I brought back a 12-pack of Labatt Maximum Ice).

May 30, 2008

Can We UnFolly Alaska?

by @ 5:35. Filed under Envirowhackos.

On May 14th, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that the Department of the Interior was classifying Polar Bears as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The full impact of this action is still to be seen but advocates for the decision have not been coy about their desire to use decisions like these to further the claims of gorebal warming. Further, by having polar bears listed as “threatened” activity in their habitat areas will be much more vigorously monitored and likely severely curtailed. Included in this activity would be drilling for oil.

The folks who brought you the notion of a “threatened” polar bear are not happy with a one animal roadblock to oil exploration, they are looking to add four more. This article documents the new attempts to add four seal species to the threatened list for the same reason that polar bears were added, the ice is melting. Except it isn’t!

I won’t go into the nonsense about the magically shrinking (oh wait, it’s back) polar ice. There are plenty of articles to find on the topic.

Seeing as how we’re allowing the greenies to chip away any ability to drill for our own oil. And seeing that we have no viable alternative to the use of oil short of a return to the 19th century, I’m wondering….

Other countries have no trouble drilling for oil. Some would put a drill head right through a sleeping polar bear or seal if they needed to. If we aren’t going to leverage our investment in Alaska, let’s sell it back to Russia or even China. We’d get some of those excess dollars out of circulation and dump a bunch of real estate that obviously doesn’t have any value.

I’ll guarantee that if Russia or China owned Alaska, they would have oil rigs drilling faster than you could say “Bite me greenie!”

McClellan “Intrigued by Obama’s Message”

by @ 5:24. Filed under Politics - National.

I didn’t see the interview but according to Jonathan Martin,Scott McClellan indicated that he hadn’t decided who to vote for this year but was “intrigued by Obama’s Message.”

According to Martin, McClellan further said, “It’s a message that is very similar to the one that Gov. Bush ran on in 2000.”

I wonder what part of Bush’s 2000 campaign that McClellan finds similar to Obama’s?   Could it be…

Bush’s strong prolife stance?   Nope, Obama has even voted to allow late term abortions

Bush’s pledge to assign strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court?   Nope.

Bush’s pledge to a strong military?   Nope, Obama is more the cut and run type.

Bush’s desire to improve educational choice through school vouchers?   Nope, wouldn’t wash with the NEA.

Bush’s campaign to lower taxes?   Nope, Barack wants those increased.

Bush’s advocating for expanded free trade?   Nope, Barack wants to kill NAFTA

Bush actually accomplishing things in Texas on a bipartisan basis? Nope, Obama has the most consistent liberal voting record in the Senate.

Oh, wait, I think I’ve got it.   As with numerous  events in his new book, McClellan appears again confused on the facts.   I think he’s referring to Bush’s 2004 campaign not his 2000 campaign.   In 2004, one of the Bush campaign slogans was:

Yes, America Can

which does sound an awful lot like Obama’s 2008 Campaign slogan:

Yes, We Can

I guess Scott is right.   Obama does sound a lot like Bush.   Yup, and Roseanne Barr sounds a lot like Maria Callas!

May 29, 2008

RIP Harvey Korman

by @ 18:52. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Harvey Korman died this evening, reportedly of heart failure.  

At the risk of sounding like my father, we’re losing the greats a day at a time.   The older I get, the more I appreciate the comedic abilities of people like Korman and Tim Conway.

In tribute,   a couple of Korman’s classic roles:

Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles:

And Count de Monet from “History of the World, Part 1”

The Show Must Go On!

by @ 5:08. Filed under Politics - National.

In October 2007, Barack Obama quit wearing a US flag lapel pin that he had been wearing since 9/11.   Obama’s explanation at the time was:

I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe what will make this country great and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.

While Barack has mostly held to not wearing his pin, it does show up from time to time. Interestingly, it seems to show up when he’s addressing groups who are generally known for their patriotism like a blue-collar group in West Virginia or Missouri or while touring a manufacturing plant in Michigan.

I’ll admit I’m a bit of a cynic. Maybe Barack’s flag wearing is just coincidence and not political pandering.

Then again, maybe not.

On Monday of this week John McCain criticized Obama for having been to Iraq only once during his term in office. McCain’s valid point was that he thought it was unfair for Obama to be making opinion about what was or wasn’t working in Iraq if he hadn’t been there since the surge, hadn’t visited with General Petraeus or with President Maliki. McCain, who has been to Iraq eight times, went so far as to offer to escort Obama should he choose to make the trip.

Barack’s response to McCain’s offer, given by his spokesman Bill Burton sounded vaguely familiar:

"John McCain’s proposal is nothing more than a political stunt. And we don’t need any more "˜Mission Accomplished’ banners or walks-through Baghdad markets to know that Iraq’s leaders have not made the political progress that was the stated purpose of the surge. The American people don’t want any more false promises of progress. They deserve a real debate about a war that has overstretched our military and cost the U.S. thousands of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars, without making us safer."

So, just like losing his flag lapel pin, Barack won’t go to Iraq because he believes it’s just another meaningless show. Well gee, the lapel pin didn’t stay off too long before Barack thought he needed to wear it again. Do you think he may change his mind on the Iraq trip?

WASHINGTON (AP)– Barack Obama is considering a visit to Iraq this summer, his first to the war zone since becoming a presidential candidate.
Obama revealed his plans to The New York Times. He has been under criticism from Republican rival John McCain for failing to visit Iraq since 2006. Obama also declined McCain’s invitation for a joint trip.

“I just don’t want to be involved in a political stunt,” Obama said, according to a report on the newspaper’s Web site Wednesday.

I guess he just might!

I’ve got to hand it to McCain, he put BO in a corner that there was no way out of.   If he didn’t go, McCain will pound him for making decisions without any first hand information.   If Obama goes he’ll be drawn and quartered by his own moonbat base…it’s a no win situation for poor Barack.

In honor of Barack’s trip to Iraq (and with Steve gone, this is the first music we’ve had all week):

What if I Fart?

by @ 5:07. Filed under Global "Warming".

Yesterday  out of the UK’s Daily Mail…

Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’, say MPs

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain’s CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

What a bunch of pikers! If they were really serious about gorebal warming and truely concerned about the short timeframe we have to correct our horribly abused atmosphere, they would create and enforce carbon credits on food.

It’s a well known fact that between 10% and 30% of all flatulence is CO ².   With the dramatic over population that the greenies claim is already on the world, we must  surely be gassing ourselves out of existence.   Even Mrs. Shoe is nodding her head in agreement!

Here’s what I propose:

Every person gets a carbon credit card with an allotment of credits.   Older people will naturally get more credits each month because, well, our digestive systems need it.  

Carbon charges will be assigned to all foods.   I would envision a sliding scale with Jello at zero, baked beans and sauerkraut at 100 and everything else scaled in between.

When you go to purchase food, your card will have credits reduced based upon types and quantities of food.   If  your diet consists of lots of beef, beans and beer with ice cream  for dessert,  you’ll probably only be able to eat for a  week each month.   After that, you’ll need to either buy credits from the jello eaters or become a jello eater yourself for the rest of the month.

To ensure that no one is cheating on their card or getting black market credits, I propose we outfit vans with methane sniffers and have them comb the neighborhoods.   With all the carbon food cards connected to a central data bank, it should be easy to determine which houses have depleted their carbon credits for the month.   A whiff of methane from from any such house will result in an immediate  SWAT  engagement to remove any offending foods left in the house.   A second offense will have your family eating nothing but brown rice  for a month with aggregious offenders also requiring daily hycolonics.

Now if I could just figure out how to tax belching!

They Must Have Bigger Fish to Fry

by @ 5:01. Filed under Miscellaneous.

What kid, having played baseball or seen a major league game, hasn’t dreamed of being a member of the Cubs, Yankees, Cardinals or even the Twins or Royals?

As this article from 2004 describes, little league baseball has been losing popularity for some time. The ironic thing for MLB is that if people don’t play or follow the sport as kids, they don’t tend to pay attention to it as PAYING ADULTS!

I understand the value of a brand, copyright and all the legal stuff that goes with it, but wouldn’t you think MLB would be better served if they viewed this as “imitation being the sincerest form of flattery?” I’ve got to believe that the value in goodwill and awareness is worth far more than the few bucks the league gets from their licensing agreement with the “official” uniform provider.

It May be “Straight Talk” but it’s not “Straight Thinking”

by @ 5:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

McCain: GOP base needs to get energized

Senator McCain,

If you really believe that it is up to the GOP base to get energized, then this election is already lost.

Senator McCain,

Energized bases come from leaders or movements that speak to the hearts of their adherents. Energized bases come from people who see the leader’s vision and see how that vision helps them accomplish the goals achieve the values that they all believe in.

Senator McCain,

I certainly agree that indiscriminate spending is a significant issue and did hurt the Republicans in 2006 and will continue to hurt them in this election. However, if you believe that that is the ONLY issue that is out there, you are either naive, willfully ignorant or worse.

Senator McCain,

In case you fall into the naive/uniformed category, let me give you a short list of why many parts of the base are not energized by your candidacy:

  1. ANWR – We are facing the highest gas prices this country has ever seen.   Many families are finding it difficult to find the space in their budgets for any further increases.   The issue with gas is an under supply of oil.   We believe we have one of the Country’s most significant untapped oil reserve in ANWR and would need an extremely small section of it to gather this resource.   Somehow you have determined that the small possibility that the lives of a few caribou  may be disrupted is  more important than the livlihoods of American families.
  2. Carbon Credits – Every day more and more sound science is coming forth shining light on the psuedo science that claims man is responsible for climate change.   Again, you’ve determined that you will support carbon credits that a recent study shows will significantly increase energy costs for each American family
  3. Borders – You said you had learned your lesson regarding open borders.   You said you would not support any “immigration reform” until the borders were secure.   However, just last week you were back talking about making Comprehensive Immigration Reform a top priority.   Which is it?
  4. Mortgage Bailout – You campaign for smaller government and accountability yet you support a bailout for mortgages that will increase the size of government allow individuals to bypass accountability of agreements that they have made.

Senator McCain,

The above list is not exhaustive. there are other issues where you have left many of us scratching our heads about where you are on the political spectrum.   At least for myself, the above list will not keep me from voting for you.    But, to suggest that I should be energized, when you support key policies that  would negatively impact my family for years to come, well that’s not likely to happen.

May 28, 2008

Update on SurveyUSA VP Surveys

by @ 5:30. Filed under Politics - National.

SurveyUSA released their VP polling today for Iowa. Tim Pawlenty continues his trend of finishing last.

I mentioned yesterday that Lieberman was polling better than Pawlenty. In an even more troubling finding, Huckabee polls best of the 4 potential Republican VPs, in all but one situation.

If the Republicans think Denver could be a disaster for the Dems, can you imagine what would happen within the Minneapolis convention if McCain were to select Huckabee?

Surely You’re Joking!

by @ 5:00. Filed under Global "Warming", Miscellaneous.

US nears record tornado year; meteorologists don’t know why

WASHINGTON (AP) – Another week, another rumbling train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashing homes to their foundations and killing people even as they cower in their basements.
With the year not even half done, 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of twisters in a year, according to the National Weather Service. Also, this year’s storms seem to be unusually powerful.

But like someone who has lost all his worldly possessions to a whirlwind, meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening.

“There are active years and we don’t particularly understand why,” said research meteorologist Harold Brooks at the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Okla.

There’s something happening in weather that the experts don’t understand? You’re kidding me right! Isn’t everything caused by gorebal warming? Apparently not!

Global warming cannot really explain what is happening, Carbin said. While higher temperatures could increase the number of thunderstorms, which are needed to trigger tornadoes, they also would tend to push the storm systems too far north to form some twisters, he said.

La Nina, the cooling of parts of the Central Pacific that is the flip side El Nino, was a factor in the increased activity earlier this year"”especially in February, a record month for tornado activity"”but it can’t explain what is happening now, according to Carbin.

Carbin explained the most recent tornadoes with just one word: “May.” May is typically the busiest tornado month of the year.

That sounds like scientific lingo for “Shit happens!”

Gee, that’s pretty much what I’ve thought about gorebal warming all along; the most likely and accurate explanation for weather changes is “Shit happens!”

And I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

May 27, 2008

Blog N Grog tonight

by @ 9:55. Filed under Miscellaneous.

This is the Emergency Blogging System. It has been activated because the head Moron is somewhere north of the border hung over catching a harvest of walleye (or is it both?).

For those of you who can navigate Waukesha’s maze of streets, tonight is Blog N Grog night, at Neighbors’ Social Club, 260 W Main St in Waukesha, starting at 7 pm. Since steveegg is out of the country, it will be safe to go :-) Just make sure to hoist a cold one for him; he’ll return the favor with Labatt Maximum Ice.

We now return you to your regularily-scheduled co-blogger and guest bloggers.

Karma is a B*?&H

by @ 6:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

So says Sharon Stone as she explains why China was struck with an earthquake that has claimed over 60,000 lives. In Sharon’s mind, the earthquake was evening up the way China has been treating Tibet.

I wonder if there will be any condemnation for Sharon for her claim, the way there was after Jerry Falwell and John Hagge made comments about homosexual issues being responsible for the 9/11 attacks and Katrina respectively? Will the MSM and the  moonbats be consistent and cry for an apology from Sharon saying that this is a great human tradegy and to politicize it is in poor taste? Or, because Tibet is an issue that they are fond of, will they look the other way?

What’s your bet? I know where I have my money!

Scratch One VP Choice

by @ 5:00. Filed under Politics - National.

Included in names that have supposedly been on John McCain’s VP short list is, Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty’s name is on the list because he is a young, arguably successful and popular Governor who share’s most of McCain’s key views. While Pawlenty’s name comes up nearly anytime a “short list” is comprised, I think his is one name no longer on the list that McCain keeps

McCain held a barbecue this weekend that many folks were seeing as a “get-to-know-you” for potential VP candidates. Notably missing from this gathering was Pawlenty. Reports were that Pawlenty had a family event and that was at least one reason he wasn’t invited. I think that’s just a convenient cover.

SurveyUSA  has been doing a series of polls that will eventually cover 17 states. Each poll queries voters on their likelihood to vote for various combinations of McCain or Obama with 4 possible VP combinations for each. They’ve only completed 5 states but the results thus far aren’t good for Pawlenty. The results for Ohio, Virgina, California, Pennsylvania and New Mexico are in, and with only 1 exception, Pawlenty finishes last compared to the other three names polled. Perhaps the saddest part of this (for conservatives) is that Joe Lieberman is one of the VP names polled and he beat Pawlenty in 19 out of 20 combinations.

Another hit on Pawlenty is a recent Rasmussen Poll. This poll shows McCain trailing Obama by 15 points in Minnesota and confirms a poll done in April that showed a similar deficit. Some of the argument for Pawlenty being VP would be his ability to make Minnesota a competitive state and perhaps put it in the Republican category for the first time since 1972. If the Rasumessen poll is accurate, it’s unlikely that even Pawlenty as VP could close that large a gap.

It’s hard to say whether Pawlenty would really want a VP slot, opinions vary. If you get consistently beaten by Lieberman and deliver a winning margin only in New Mexico, it probably won’t matter if you want the job or not, you aren’t going to have it offered.

May 26, 2008

Memorial Day at the Wisconsin Memorial Park

by @ 18:08. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I spent a few hours at the Wisconsin Memorial park this morning. I watched the VFW members, color guards, a band and 1,600 beautiful American Flags blowing in the morning breeze. I heard the 21 gun salute, the National Anthem and of course… Taps. I watched the remembrance ceremony and a reading from an American combat veteran, he calls it, A Comrade. I would like to share some of the sounds and sights with you.

Note: Since I can’t seem to embed this video here, please view it here.

If anyone was there and caught the full name of Sgt. Pepper, I would like to hear from you. The poem he wrote and shared with us was very good.

Update: Think we got the video working. Thanks for sharing!

May 24, 2008

Why stop At Liza When We Can Have…

by @ 15:12. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Boy George!

Has Steve left yet?

Can we try them for sedition?

by @ 12:19. Filed under Presstitute Follies, War on Terror.

Jim Hoft has the details of the AP (or if you prefer, crAP) getting caught outright lying about Ayatollah Ali Sistani issuing fatwas authorizing the use of force against Americans in Iraq. Words escape me, especially since the clock is ticking.

The Morning Scramble – 5/24/2008

by @ 11:58. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

No, the weekend edition is not going to be a regular feature. I’ve got a couple hours to burn before I’m on the road and out of touch for a week, so I thought I’d pay homage to Mary Katharine Ham’s move to the Examiner

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z784ETkZ6k[/youtube]

  • A belated happy 2nd blogiversary to Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings.
  • Happy 3rd blogiversary Jim Lynch of bRight & Early (keeper of the Blogiversary Database).
  • As a blogiversary present, he ReWrote™ the NOPEC Bill. If only we had a Senator with gumballs….
  • Jim Hoft points out that American oil companies control less than 6% of the oil reserves. Once one remembers that BP and Shell are not American companies, it drops to something less than 3%.
  • Ed Morrissey has the Post Title of the Day™ – “Where blogs are blogs and politicians are nervous”.
  • CDR Salamander compares the warning alert levels of the various members of NATO.
  • Michelle Malkin is keeping track of The Human Gaffe Machine, AKA Barack Hussein Obama.
  • Sister Toldjah plays “Spot That Hypocrite!”
  • Tee bee does some eclectic surfing from incandescent light bulbs to sterilizing water with ultraviolet LEDs.
  • Jeff Wagner declares Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, about the only “Republican” success story in 2006 (the only Republican pickup in either a statewide or Congressional election if memory serves), one-and-done. I wonder if Jeff’s lining up for a primary challenge.

See youse mugs next Saturday.

Trash The Place, Step 1: What’s In The Fridge?

by @ 10:46. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Steve’s gone and it’s time to party! Let’s see what’s in uncle Steve’s refridgerator.

[youtube]FemlmOPdkRE[/youtube]

Steve’s gone fishin’

by @ 9:42. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Anyone have any bright ideas on how we can vandalize the place?  

I say we go all Liza, all the time.

May 23, 2008

The Morning Scramble – 5/23/2008

by @ 9:26. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

There is but one reason for this song…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLiQBV6A7c[/youtube]

I’m on vacation next week (hunting the great Canadian walleye, to be specific), so I’ll leave you in the tender care of Shoebox and the guest-bloggers. Before then, however, we’ve got one more Scramble:

  • Matt reminds us of what Monday truly is for. Words cannot express enough my appreciation for those that gave all for the greatest country on Earth.
  • Owen (my blogfather) and Jed are celebrating the fifth blogiversary of Boots and Sabers. I hope I don’t have to explain to anybody how it is the most-influential Wisconsin blog.
  • Ace is shocked, SHOCKED that the ‘Rats would lie about Iraq. I wonder just how angry the DUmmies and KOmmies are after finding out that Paul Kanjorski rolled them right over.
  • Ed Morrissey exposes the latest “Hide the Language” game being played by the ‘Rats. So much for “Most Ethical Congress EVAH!”
  • HotAir commenter cannonball answered my plea on that thread for a Wile E. Pelosi, genius Photoshop…

    Thank you, cannonball.

  • Pete Fanning wonders where Steve Kagen (D-Green Bay) is on the SAVE Act now that it’s time to pull it out of committee. Funny thing is, Kagen is a co-sponsor.
  • Allahpundit catches Maxine Waters admiring Hugo Chavez and socialism so much she doesn’t even know the right term for what she wants to do to the oil industry. I believe the proper verb is “destroy”.
  • Shoebox finds a Flatlander pol that is happier than a pig in shit over high gas prices. Doyle (he of the $.40/gallon federal tax hike for “infrastructure” call, ironic considering he uses Wisconsin’s transportation fund as his personal slush fund) has to be envious of Blagojevich and his state’s imposition of sales taxes on gasoline.

    Side note, that sales tax is what Barack Hussein Obama was once so opposed to, he wanted placards saying he was responsible for its temporary suspension back in 2000.

  • Mike runs some numbers on Chuck Schumer’s claims of the value of Saudi oil versus ANWR oil. Guess we can put Chuckie into the Blood for Oil category.
  • Silent E has the Obamanation Quote of the Day. Question to BHO – if you think we’re the greatest country in the world, what are you going to change it to?
  • Trail-Mix collates a heap of toons hacking apart BHO, Gorebal Warming and the Farm Pork Bill.
  • John Hawkins is off the McCain Straight Double Talk Express. It took a lot to get Hawkins off the Express, but lying directly to his ear on immigration did it.
  • JammieWearingFool has news of one less difference between the two halves of the bipartisan Party-In-Government; a proposed FCC rule imposing “advisory boards” full of the aggrieved designed to bum-rush radio stations that are too conservative (specifically, anti-illegal-immigrant) off the air. The UN-Fairness Doctrine by any other name, and this one’s from a nominally-Pubbie FCC.
  • Speaking of the aggrieved, Patrick McIlheran notes the professional complainers are mad over carbonated fruit. No, they’re not mad because carbonated fruit is any less healthy than non-carbonated fruit; they’re mad because they see it as a gateway to soda. News flash – it’s more of a gateway away from soda.
  • Dean says, “Just blog to be healthy.”
  • JackBoot found a very enterprising car dealer who is giving away a handgun with every purchase. If only I were in southwest Missouri instead of southeast Wisconsin,….
  • Jib skewers the decision by the UN to send condoms to Burma as aid relief.

Blogging will be light on my end today and tomorrow; I still have some last-minute items to take care of. If I don’t make it back in here, see you next Saturday.

It’s Time for a Game Changer

by @ 5:00. Filed under Energy.

What if I told you:

  • I could guarantee oil at no more than $75/barrel
  • We would have a 100 year supply at current usage levels
  • Gas would cost about $2.50
  • We could eliminate at least 25% of our foreign oil import
  • At $75/barrel, we could eliminate sending $67B dollars a year to foreign governments
  • The most it would cost US taxpayers is an amount equal to what we just paid for the phony stimulus checks.

Would you be interested?

In 2006 when oil was running about $75/barrel, the CEO of Jet Blue, David Neeleman put together a plan  to develop an industry that converted coal to oil.   The technology for this process was developed in WWII and was used by the Germans to manufacture oil as they were being shut out from other sources.   Following WWII  the abundant availability of cheap oil, along with lobbying from oil companies and environmentalists  caused various US trials and efforts towards commercializing coal gasification technology to be forgotten.

So why can’t we get coal gasification going now?   First, as you may have already guessed, environmentalists go crazy any time coal is mentioned.   The gasification process does release carbon dioxide (oooooooh, the boogieman of global warming!).   However, recent advances in cleaning processes have advocates claiming that they can actually make the process less carbon impactful than today’s burning of natural oil.   Additionally, carbon dioxide is used by traditional oil companies to claim oil otherwise unattainable.   The carbon dioxide is pumped deep into wells which causes oil to move towards the surface.   Once in the ground, the carbon dioxide naturally is reabsorbed into the ground.

The second reason coal gasification hasn’t moved forward is that it is economics.   Neeleman’s plan had an estimated cost of $4B per plant that was capable of producing 20M barrels of oil each year.   The estimated break even point is about $55/barrel.   One can imagine the difficulty of gathering capital to produce a commodity that has the significant fluctuations of oil.   Even in 2006, there were well known analysts saying that oil would settle back to $30 or $40 per barrel.   Neeleman’s proposal would be that the US government would guarantee the capital investment.   Ironically, in exchange for the guarantee, Neeleman’s plan offered a windfall profit to the government of 25% of any amount that oil went over $75/barrel.

Neeleman’s plan called for 45 plants for a total guarantee of $180B (this would be a guarantee not a handout).   With 45 plants they could replace about 25% of our current imports.

As with other solutions, coal gasification isn’t going to solve our energy problem overnight.   However, also like other solutions, if we don’t start, we’ll never get there.

It’s time for Congress to quit telling us what won’t work  or spending time on asinine pandering like voting to sue OPEC or degrading oil executives.  

If Congress took our energy problem seriously they would  recognize that for the forseeable future there are no alternatives to petroleum for transportation.   It’s time to take the Ben Bernanke approach, throw out “business as usual” and develop new tools that address the very specific issue of expanding supply.   Anything else is just wasting time.   Unfortunately, that’s one of the few things that Congress seems competent in doing.

May 22, 2008

Who Wants Gas Prices to Come Down?

by @ 17:26. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

…well, I do and I would guess you do too.   I’ll also bet that most people who have to pay for their gas also would like to see the price come down.   But what about our political elect?    Do they want to see gas prices come down?   This article today  from CBS Chicago says that for some of them, the answer is:   NO and HELL NO!

On average, the total government take on a gallon of gas is about $.40. However, there are areas where the state or local tax is not a fixed amount but is a percent of the retail value. The result is that as the retail price continues to climb, so does the tax that is paid.

Chicago is an area that has a percentage gas tax. As the article points out, tax on a gallon of gasoline in Chicago is now nearly $.80 per gallon. While Dick Durbin was asking oil executives whether they were ashamed of their profits, parts of the state he represents were charging nearly twice the national average for taxes. What makes this even more appalling is realizing that of the $.40 national average, the average for state and local taxes is about $.21. The combination of state and local taxes in the Chicago area are about $.61, nearly THREE TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE!


One would think that with prices going up, the folks in Chicago might see fit to saying, “Hey, we could get by with just two times the national average,” and cut the rate by $.20 or so. One would think, but then, one would be wrong. See, there’s never been a governmental entity that couldn’t find ways to spend the WINDFALL PROFITS they may get…

And that, of course, is exactly the point for the politicians. Gov. Blagojevich, for example, is counting on the high price of gasoline to bring at least an extra $220 million in the State Treasury in the fiscal year that begins this July. Most of that will be used to balance the way-out-of-balance budget.

There is no solution to the creep (used as a noun and verb) and greed of government that doesn’t involve pitchforks and torches!

Where’s my lighter?

Happy Birthday Al Franken

Matt Lewis points us to a very-special birthday video from the NRSC…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSd9QJhemcA[/youtube]

Hey Al, here’s to #58 seeing you back home in New York City.

The Morning Scramble/Open Thread Thursday – 5/22/2008

If I were smart, I would’ve done this one last week…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNId8clBdbI[/youtube]

  • Jim Hoft has the terror stats you won’t see trumpeted in the media.
  • Zip follows up on the Germans-let-Taliban-commander-walk story. Guess feeding the crocodiles is hazardous to one’s health.
  • Mike asks, “Who is to blame for high gas prices?”
  • Shoebox answers. Pay attention, Sen. McCain; he’s talking about you.
  • Speaking of McCain, Michelle Malkin notes his campaign is sponsoring comment spam. A healthy chunk of my roll is on the hit list, but I’m not. Could I be THAT mercurial? (Yes.)
  • Ace remembered the last candidate to do that. Guess the McCainiacs and the PaulNuts have more in common than I thought.
  • Ed Morrissey caught the New York Times violating their ethics policy in trying to roll the McCain campaign. Note; this message, while it may seem to be paid for by the McCain campaign, most certainly isn’t.
  • More Ed; he urges House Republicans to take the third and final chance to kill the Farm Pork Bill.
  • Still on pork, Kate catches Harry Reid giving a wet sloppy French kiss to Planned Parenthood while using the war supplemental bill as cover.
  • Jon Ham has a multitude of reasons to eat popcorn while the oh-so-tolerant Left eats their own. UUUURRRPPP!!!!! (Excuse me.)

As a reminder, I’ll be gone for a week starting Saturday on my Great Canadian Walleye Hunt. Shoebox is back from his fishing trip, and I should have the usual guest-blogging crew in.

[No Runny Eggs is proudly powered by WordPress.]