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 June, 2008

June 20, 2008

It’s Time to “Go To The Mattresses!”

by @ 15:39. Filed under Energy.

In their latest attempt to obfuscate any responsibility for high oil/gas prices, the Dems are now trying to lay the blame for the off shore drilling bans on President Bush.

On the Spot (CNSNews.com) – President’s Bush’s call on Wednesday for Congress to lift its 27-year moratorium on offshore drilling is an “example of typical Bush White House politics,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) told Cybercast News Service Thursday.

and

“What the president is doing is unfair to the American people to indicate, ‘We will let Congress do something about it,’ ” Reid said. “He has the authority to do it himself.”

Wait a minute! Isn’t “Unilateral Action” what the Dems have been scolding and denigrating President Bush over on a whole host of topics?

Regarding Iraq:

Senator Clinton excoriated President Bush July 10, 2007, for his “unilateral decision to rush to a preemptive war.” Just three weeks after his 2002 vote in favor of the authorization of military force, Edwards slammed Bush’s “gratuitous unilateralism, a determination to act alone for the sake of acting alone.” Kerry routinely blasted Bush’s “unilateral preemption” on the 2004 presidential campaign trail. In April, according to CNN, Reid “painted the President’s war policy as unilateral.”

Regarding the Free Trade Agreement with Columbia:

"Further, the President’s decision to act unilaterally in sending the FTA disregards three decades of established precedent under fast-track legislation, and demonstrates yet again his lack of respect for Congress.

The Dems even kept Congress in session during the winter recess just so that President Bush couldn’t “unilaterally” invoke his constitutional right to appoint recess appointments for judges.

President Bush could certainly have revoked the ban on offshore drilling.   If he had done so, the Democrats would once again be screaming about his “unilateral actions” and how they hadn’t been consulted.   Instead, as he often does, he is attempting to lead Congress to do the right thing.   He’s doing this by publicly making the case for the elimination of drilling restrictions.   He’s allowing the common sense of the American public to weigh on Congress, hoping that they see the light and decide to act in accordance with the public’s desire.

President Bush, may I humbly offer some advice:

The Democrats are in a corner on this issue.   They have no where to go but down (if that can even be imagined).   If you remove the drilling ban they will attempt to paint you as in the pocket of “Big Oil.”   So what?   You’re not running for reelection and you know better than anyone in Washington that expanded drilling is absolutely necessary regardless of any other efforts that some may want to explore to deal with our energy shortage.   I suggest you contact Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid and tell them that on Tuesday evening of next week you will have a national television address in which, you will tell the American public that you will sign an executive order eliminating the drilling ban.   With that done, the energy issue will hang over the Democrats like the Sword of Damocles.

Upon your notice Mr. President, the Democrats will have a decision to make.   They may choose to continue their petulant tirads, much like they have over funding for Iraq or supporting FISA. In the end they know that they will not only lose the issue, but stand a chance of reversing what should be an electoral success in November as the American public takes out its wrath on those who have purposely chosen to harm the welfare of their families.   On the other hand, they may take the advice of a frontier snake oil salesman who when asked how he managed to maintain his reputation after being run out of town after town across the frontier said:   “It’s simple.   When the crowd gathers with the rail to run me out of town, I get to the front of the mob and run, gesticulating my arms as if I’m a band leader.   That way, rather than being run out of town, I can tell people that I was leading the parade bidding me farewell for the next leg of my journey!”

Mr. President, please kick the last crutch out from under the Democrat’s excuses for not drilling.   As it regards energy and America’s need to dramatically increase our oil exploration it’s time to “Go To The Mattresses!”

Ryan will vote to increase oil production

by @ 15:24. Filed under Energy, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s staff has provided me with a follow-up on an item from GOPgal in yesterday’s Scramble. He has signed Rep. Lynn Westmoreland’s pledge to vote to increase drilling. The simply-worded petition reads as follows – “I will vote to increase U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans.”

Thank you.

Gore and the Nashville Parks Department teaming up to save Gore’s heinie

by @ 12:45. Filed under Global "Warming", Politics - National.

This just popped in the inbox from Americans for Prosperity, who are putting on the Hot Air Tour exposing the economic nightmare that is “Global Warming” (there will be a stop at Miller Park July 26)…

FYI breaking news from our team on the ground in Nashville. The Nashville Parks Department is denying us permission to launch the balloon, citing the fact that our permit says balloon rides but not specifically the word “launch.” This despite the fact that we have explained to them on the phone multiple times our precise flight plan and before today there was no indication that there was a problem or any defect in our permit. Clearly, Gore is calling in favors to stop the embarrassing visual and negative coverage surrounding our event and ratcheting up the beating he is taking over his home energy use. Please post about this on blogs and pass this information along to allies. Thanks.

Phil Kerpen
Director of Policy
Americans for Prosperity and AFP Foundation

Nothing like using dirty pool to protect oneself from ridicule over a house that is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Revisions/extensions (3:00 pm 6/20/2008) – More info from AFP’s blog (thanks Erik Telford)…

Roy Wilson at the Nashville Parks Department must not have liked our earlier post, since he just completely revoked our permit — even though his department’s own rules state that he can’t do that unless we break a law or one of the department’s rules, which we haven’t done and have no intention of doing. Then he hung up on our legal counsel.

In the meantime, good news to report — we’ve secured a private location for this afternoon’s event. We’ll be in a field at the corner of Sneed and Vaughn Roads — just about a mile and a half from the original event location….

If you’re in the neighborhood, head over there. Do also stop in at AFP’s blog for Chris Muir’s answer to the Nashville Parks Department.

R&E part 2 (6:50 am 6/21/2008) – Turned off the computer too early yesterday, but AFP got the balloon off the ground. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

The Morning Scramble – 6/20/2008

by @ 8:32. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

I was going to save this for my return from my canoe trip in August, but Bryan Preston’s return to the land of the blogging with a wicked-good post on drilling is a better use for the song…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUclxp7FxHI[/youtube]

  • Miss a day of hacking the Obamination, miss a lot. Let’s start with the first dose of Jim Geraghty, as he discovers all of Barack Obama’s promises have expiration dates, and the expiration date on taking public financing for the general election was yesterday.
  • Cuffy Meigs (D’OH! on the misattribution) notes Obama’s u-turn comes only days after Tim Russert, the guy who Obama made one of the public financing promises to, passed away. Could we be seeing Zombie Russert taking revenge soon?
  • Cam Edwards introduces a new campaign-ism – Barack-tracking. Odds the Indispensible One picks this up – very good (memo to ego – it’s because he and Cam are good friends).
  • Sean Hackbarth found yet another “exaggeration” from Obama. It seems he wasn’t around when the bill that extended health care benefits for veterans, something he’s taking credit for, was considered and voted upon in the Senate.
  • Ed Driscoll whipped up a killer Barack the Pooh video.
  • Uncle Jimbo and Kev unleash a Freefly on Obama and his affinity for the life of the guy Ted Kennedy and CNN continuously confuse him with, Osama bin Laden (or is it his digitized replacement, M-m-m-m-max bin Laden?). Since it’s a Freefly, there is a language warning associated with this, so those of you who catch this at a government facility or in a radio studio, wait until the mics are off and the bosses are away to click (unless you are the boss; then you are encouraged to crank it up).
  • Emperor Misha I opens the Imperial Translation Service for those who are mystified on yet another Obamination flop (NAFTA). Unlike the Freefly, this one only gets a PG-13 rating.
  • Second dose of Geraghty; he drills for answers on Obama’s energy claims and comes up dry.
  • Alan Steinberg wraps a heap of oil news in his larger wrap. Bonus coverage – tanker wars (I’ll wager John McCain isn’t too happy with the GAO right about now).
  • Mark McNally adds Canada to the long-and-growing list of those drinking our oil milkshake. It seems they don’t have much of a problem with drilling under the Great Lakes.
  • Unfortunately, that’s the only item about which Canada shows any sanity. Ace notes that kids can now successfully appeal grounding and denial of parental permission to go on a school field trip to court, even if the grounding is the result of the elementary-school-aged skull full of mush posting “inappropriate” pictures of herself on the ‘Net. Note for those that are wondering about the double link; Ace and Mu/Mee.Nu guru Pixy Misa are in the process of moving AoSHQ to a mee.nu-based server, and Ace decided to open it up a bit early because his New Comments Thingy is being recalcitrant again.
  • Speaking of the decline and fall of Western Civilization, Leslie Carbone relays the sordid story of the Goucester Pregnancy Pact, at least 17 very-underage girls who apparently took Hillary Clinton’s call that it takes a village to raise a child literally.
  • Speaking of Clinton, E.M. Zanotti discovered what she’s doing with her “month off”.
  • Allahpundit found polling proof that the ‘Rats selected both major-party candidates. Why else would 42% of ‘Rats be “very satisfied” and another 36% be “somewhat satisfied” with the choice of candidates?
  • Michelle Malkin had several “spies” break into a “closed-to-the-media” town hall meeting between McCain and Chicago Hispanics. There is a reason why McCain took a step that he says he won’t take at fundraisers; he’s still for shamnesty and he doesn’t want the former GOP base to find out. Too late!
  • Related to that, Just A Grunt found that the European Union is willing to do what nobody in power or seeking power in DC is willing to do; deport illegal aliens.
  • See-dubya righteously rips Blackwater a new one for trying to have it both ways on the legal front. See, lefties, we on the right are not wholly-owned subsidiaries of Blackiburton Inc.
  • Mark Rahmlow has a three-point plan for the Wisconsin GOP.
  • Owen notes there will be no tax relief for the Lake Delton Five, who had their homes washed away by the emptying Lake Delton. I wish I had a recorder on my radio; Bob and Brian (from 102.9 The Hog) had some more bad news for them; FEMA’s not going to be much help either.
  • Nick Schweitzer has a Dew-spewing-funny look at male restroom etiquette. Remember, silence and speed are golden.
  • I seem to have forgotten a few things I highlighted last night in my feed reader (bad Egg!). Donna Martinez wonders how a barbeque festival that serves two tons of meat can claim to be “trash-free”.
  • The Liberty Brian looks at what would happen if we see a repeat and a direct reversal of 2000. Remember, it’s all about winning by any means necessary every means available for the ‘Rats.
  • Fred notes that the next Racine Unified School District tax-increasing referendum is being proposed just like clockwork.
  • Fausta found another link between Venezuela and terrorists, this time of the Hezbollah variety.
  • James Wigderson discovered that the official position of The Capital Times (Madison’s “mainstream” paper) is 9/11 Toofers are not “crackpots”.

I’m going to try to clean up the bloated roll today because it is the last day of spring, so hopefully you haven’t been MIA lately.

Revisions/extensions (8:45 am 6/20/2008) – Added a few more to the Scramble.

Fairness Doctrine

by @ 5:14. Filed under Miscellaneous.

According to this article,Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) is only 23 signatures away from getting a vote that would likely codify that any attempt by the FCC to reinstitute the “fairness doctrine” would only come as a result of a Congress action.

There are 9 Republicans and many Democrats that have yet to sign the discharge petition.   The list of unsigned Congresscritters is here.

If your Congresscritter is on the list, hit them up and get them to sign on to the discharge petition.   Why would any Congresscritter be afraid of the American people, voting with their ears, deciding what should be on their radio stations?

June 19, 2008

The Morning Scramble/Open Thread Thursday – 6/19/2008

by @ 12:27. Filed under Open Thread Thursday, The Morning Scramble.

Allergies have knocked me flat, so I’m not in Manitowoc.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuT9Q4VmR4E[/youtube].

  • Charlie Sykes points to the topic of discussion in Manitowoc and La Crosse today; “Healthy” (and Depopulated) Wisconsin. The money quote – “If (the assumption that health care costs can be brought closer to wages) cannot be accomplished, given the assumptions put forth by the plan’s supporters themselves, the program will face a shortfall of between $4.79 billion and $10 billion by 2017. The tax rate on businesses will have to increase to 13.51% and on employees to 4.62% in order to keep the program solvent in just nine years.”
  • The Vintage One remembers a couple of Communist traitors who received their just reward 55 years ago today.
  • Samantha Sault begins the wrap-up the reaction to the growing calls to nationalize the oil industry. Allow me to continue with a few that weren’t on that list.
  • Rick Moran whacks the Left like a good Sicilian.
  • Shoebox really lets the cat out of the bag. As Paul Socha points out, “Communism is alive and well in the United States.”
  • Owen caught the BBC practicing some bias. Incredibly, as a result of letting that cat out of the bag, the BBC changed their picture from Knut to an old James Bond movie set (or so says James Wigderson in the comments).
  • GOPgal lists the members of the House who support (or at least claim to support) the proper solution; more drilling. Somebody needs to explain to Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner that the introduction of ANWR oil to the world market, even if it doesn’t make it to Wisconsin, will reduce prices just as much as if it does make it to Wisconsin.

    One more thing; where’s Paul Ryan? He’s usually smart on items like this.

  • Purple Avenger warns that because we’re driving less, the gas tax is going to go up. After all, government can never live with only what they had last year.
  • Headless Blogger has the new slogan for the corn crop. One thing; our “friends” at ADM (and thus in the governor’s mansion) want but one of those three choices.

Even though this is late, I managed to avoid all mentions of the Obamination. Where’s my cookie from Mike Huckabee? Oops, guess I just lost the cookie; I have the same answer to the Huckster as Matt Lewis and Fred Thompson (courtesy Ed Morrissey).

The Cat’s Out of the Bag

by @ 5:59. Filed under Energy.

While I don’t enjoy paying $4/gallon for gas, I have enjoyed watching the Democrats become human Gumby’s as they twist trying to find new reasons why the majority of the American public  are wrong when it comes to expanding drilling.

I figured that the game would continue to play and like good chess players, the Dems would work hard to avoid getting their king cornered.

I thought wrong.

The pressure on the Dems has surely increased,  evidently to the point of breaking, at least for some.   As recorded by Fox,at and around a press conference where the Dems were attempting to explain why they were smarter than the President and nearly all other Americans, the following was said:

You cannot drill your way out of this.

Current mantra of those beholden to the Envirowhackos by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Global Warming.

The governors of California and the governors of Florida are going to scream this is not the way to go.

Gee, I think I heard Charlie Crist was now on board Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), member of the House Appropriations Committee and one of the most-ardent opponents of off-shore drilling, you may want to get you’re updated talking points.

What we do has to be in the interest of the American people. Not major corporations.

Gee Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), last I looked the majority of the American people did want drilling to increase. Being a Democrat, I can only assume that you’re including dead people and illegal aliens in your counts of “majorities” just like you do when you count elections.

It’s like when I talk to my kids. Before we’re going to talk about dessert, we’ve got to talk about what’s on your plate. I hope I’m a little more successful with the oil industry than I am with my kids.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Global Warming. Well now Ed, I need to talk to you like I talked to my boys when they were 4….

Do it now, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Do nothing else until you complete this one simple takes that I have asked you to do multiple times!

Finally, the quote that is the Coupe de grace and shows the Dems true colors and just how much pressure they are facing is this quote, once again from Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), member of the House Appropriations Committee and one of the most-ardent opponents of off-shore drilling:

We (the government) should own the refineries. Then we can control how much gets out into the market.

Sounds a lot like Maxine Waters a couple of weeks back when excoriating oil executives for a problem that the Dems have created:

Guess what this liberal will be all about? Socializing!

Not like it was a BIG secret but the cat’s out of the bag. The Left is all about envy.   They don’t want anyone to have it better than anyone else….everyone gets the same outcome regardless of what effort they’ve put into it.   The Dems are envious because a two bit tyrant, Hugo Chavez has managed not only to take full control of a country and kill all desent in only 9 short years but he’s also managed to line his personal pockets by “nationalizing” the oil companies.   The Dems want the same outcome.   The Dems want higher gas prices because they want to run the oil and gas companies and line their personal pockets.

Keep the government out of business. Send the Dems to the poor house!   Keep the pressure on them!
Drill here, drill now, pay less!

It’s A Theory…

by @ 5:20. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I saw this first yesterday and just couldn’t bring myself to post on it.   Today I see it picked up by nearly every Wire service and many blogs so…..I guess I have to ask.

The Smoking Gun  reports on a 52 year old woman suing Victoria’s Secret because some bling off her thong let lose and hit her in the eye.

Some thoughts and observations:

  • I looked all over the internet to find a picture of this lady; I couldn’t find one.   Does that make you as suspicious as me that safe loading limits may have been exceeded?
  • I don’t get the whole underwear line thing.   Whether I’m wearing boxers or briefs, the lines are what the lines are.   I don’t see them and if you do, well, you’re looking in the wrong place.
  • As part of my public service, if you’re prone to wearing thongs don’t.   Dr. Manny says they are bad for you.

My final thought, actually a question…How do you get your head in a position to get hit by flying bling from your underwear while you’re putting your underwear on?   The only answer I can come up with is that the name used in the lawsuit is an alias. The defendant is actually a Democrat Congress person  who was hit in the eye with the bling as she was trying to put her head up her ass to avoid hearing the public’s clamoring for increased domestic drilling.

At least that’s my theory.

June 18, 2008

Eggs On The Road – the rest of June

by @ 16:26. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Road Trip Season continues unabated by the high cost of gas…

– Thursday, June 19 – Discussion on health care with Steve Moore, Gerald Frye and Leah Vukmir presented by AFP, Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, 11:30 am
– Tuesday, June 24 – Blog ‘N Grog, Neighbor’s Social Club, 260 W Main St, Waukesha, 7 pm
– Friday, June 27 – Tuesday, July 1 – Meeting of the Morons, eastern Michigan (click the link for some more info and to RSVP).

The Morning Scramble – 6/18/2008

by @ 9:22. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

In addition to the usual music video today, I proudly present Josh Schroeder’s answer to MoveOn.org’s “Not Alex” ad…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ecX-jQL19A[/youtube]

Let’s get Josh’s video viral. Now, on with the music…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A[/youtube]

  • James Wigderson is celebrating 4 years in the blogosphere.
  • Start of the run at crAP – Michelle Malkin duns “that news organization” for $132,125.
  • Smackdown part deux – Jim Lynch reveals “that news organization’s” top-secret price list for words.
  • And the hits just keep on coming – Ace makes “that news organization” an offer it can’t refuse – $25.00 per link.
  • Jim Geraghty marvels at the supposed ‘Rat infestation of Ohio, to the tune of 55% of the populace according to Public Policy Polling. I wonder if that sort of bias crept into Quinnipac’s claim (once again, Jim is the Indispensible One) of an Obamination surge in Florida and Pennsylvania.
  • Ed Driscoll wonders whether Barack Obama will take the second-last major “first hyphenated-American President” title. Why not; Bill Clinton stole the “first ‘black American’ President” one.
  • Zip has Obama’s latest flip; he was for an undivided Jerusalem before he was against it. Now, where did the RNC put the official mascot of the John “Flipper” Kerry campaign?
  • McQ takes “Constitutional Law Professor” Obama (he was only a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago) to task over his view of the federal judiciary’s role.
  • A brief respite from the Obamination; Jay asks why we’re not impeaching the Lawgivers-In-Black that gave Islamokazis captured on the battlefield habeas corpus rights. Simple answer; ever since the end of WWII, more than a third of Congress has been invested in using SCOTUS as the means to cram the parts of the agenda that can’t fly through Congress down our throats.
  • Uncle Jimbo puts Obama’s foreign policy in the crosshairs and fires for effect. I do have to say that the Don’t Be A Douche’ t-shirt UJ’s wearing (available at the Blackfive store) is a beaut; I got mine yesterday.
  • The Game provides evidence of Obama’s willful ignorance on energy. If only John McCain didn’t have that plank in his eye (and yes, I’m discounting his “let’s open up the coasts” claim; he’s giving the states veto over that),….
  • Sister Toldjah takes a log-splitter to Algore Goracle’s increased electricity usage after he “greened up” his house.
  • SteveF delivers today’s economic warning about Gorebal “Warming”
  • William Teach drops the LinkBomb on the acolytes.
  • The Chris that’s On The BorderLine (there’s too many Chrises in my feed reader) explores the economics of loading the family in a Suburban for a trip between western Wisconsin and Chicago and a train trip between St. Paul and Chicago. He actually underestimates the Suburban’s highway mileage (it’s closer to 19 mpg than 12), and still the vehicle slated to become the “cause” of Janesville’s downfall comes out on top.
  • Warner Todd Huston cheers the Road-to-Damascus-Baghdad moment of James Kirchick, assistant editor of The New Republic. I expect PJ-Comix to note his tombstoning in the next day or two.
  • Wyatt Earp is amazed that a Romanian village voted for the dead guy. No word on whether he supports the Obamination like Chicago’s dead. One more thing; for those of you who haven’t found Wyatt’s new home, he has an inducement for you (I’ll take the first bribe; the second does absolutely nothing for me).
  • Flip has a contrarian reality check for at least most of those that think that rising gas prices are the end of the world. That’s right; adjusted for inflation, gas prices have “only” gone up 43%, or less than the average tax rebate welfare payment.
  • Cindy Kilkenny found another liberal government entity that requires photo ID, and this one’s to vote; the Elmbrook School Board. It truly is ironic how “protective” of the process those liberal entites can get when it comes time to oppose their free-spending ways.
  • Lawhawk deciphers the code of conduct Hamas is using; shell all they can just before a hudna, then wait for Israel to respond after the hudna takes hold and prepare to whine to the world how Israel is the bad guy.
  • Jib offers his own “Man Talk-to-Chick Speak” translation. Ladies, pay attention. Jib knows what he’s talking about.

Who’s Using the Boogieman?

by @ 9:15. Filed under Politics - National.

In yesterday’s tete-a-tete over terrorism policy, Barack Obama was quoted:

"What they are trying to do is what they’ve done every election cycle which is to use terrorism as a club to make the American people afraid, to win elections, that’s what they’re trying to do," Obama told reporters on a flight to Washington D.C.

Barack doesn’t understand the difference between talking candidly about issues and reality and waving the spectre of a boogieman in the dark.

Pot meet thyself!
Take a look at this new Democrat ad put out by Moveon.org:

See, this is waving a boogieman in the dark. Barack and any other “thinking” individual knows exactly what McCain’s comment was on the issue of “100 years in Iraq,” yet they won’t discuss the policy candidly.

Change? Twisting words and libeling your opponent…nope, looks like the same old Chicago politics that we’ve all come to laugh at.

Al, Al, Al

by @ 5:49. Filed under Global "Warming".

A year ago the King of Gorebal Warming, Al Gore himself, was reported to use energy in his house equal to that of 20 average homes.

Well, Al wasn’t going to be a hypocrite! He immediately went about making his house “green.” According to this report he went about adding…

solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork

However, instead of getting the “Most likely to be Kermit” award for his greening, something went wrong! Al’s energy usage went up 10%! Al now uses nearly 50% more energy, EACH MONTH, than the average household USES IN A YEAR!

The minute I read this article I knew exactly what had gone wrong. After changing his lighting over to the compact fluorescents I’m sure he doubled the number of fixtures so that he had enough light to actually see anything!

Better luck next year Al….We’ll be watching!

When Trying to Get Yourself Out of a Hole..First, Quit Digging

by @ 5:21. Filed under Politics - National.

Reuters reports  on yesterday’s back and forth between Obama and McCain regarding the War on Terrorism.

WASHINGTON – A defiant Barack Obama said Tuesday he would take no lectures from Republicans on which candidate would keep the U.S. safer, a sharp rebuke to John McCain’s aides who said the Democrat had a naive, Sept. 10 mind-set toward terrorism.

Well yes, why listen to anyone who isn’t you? Barack doesn’t want to hear about or go to Iraq, he knows those answers. He doesn’t want to hear about drilling for oil, he knows only more taxes will solve the energy problem. Barack doesn’t want to get insight from anyone…unless you happen to be a dictator or terrorism sponsor in some country that he considers “no threat.”

"In part because of their failed strategies, we’ve got bin Laden still sending out audio tapes, so I don’t think they have much standing to suggest that they’ve learned a lot of lessons from 9/11."

Yeah, I guess failure is what you would call the ability to prevent any domestic terror attacks since 9/11. Or that the number of total terrorism victims is down worldwide. Yup, sounds pretty awful!

“Let’s take the example of Guantanamo. What we know is that in previous terrorist attacks, for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated,” Obama said in the interview.

“And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world,” he said.

Ummmmm, Barack, You do know that the guys who flew the planes died that day right? You also know that the folks in Guantanamo were captured on foreign soil right? I’m hoping you know that the one person suspected of being involved with 9/11, who was caught on US soil, Zacarias Moussaoui, plead guilty and is spending the rest of his life as a guest of the Federal Prison System? You claim to be a Professor of Constitutional Law…I’m guessing even you should be able to understand (5 small brains on SCOTUS not withstanding) the difference between those situations?

Obama’s “Nay, nay, nay, nay” moment was from CBS:

"What they are trying to do is what they’ve done every election cycle which is to use terrorism as a club to make the American people afraid, to win elections, that’s what they’re trying to do," Obama told reporters on a flight to Washington D.C.

Why Barack, you almost got one right! Yes, we on the Right do intend to use terrorism as separating point in this election. However, I can’t give you full points for your answer. Americans are not afraid to win elections. They are however, afraid of giving elections to people who have a view of the world that is myopic and pollyannish to the point of putting the safety of their families at risk.

June 17, 2008

But, but, but I thought there was no chance of rain tonight

by @ 23:25. Filed under Weather.

Revisions/extensions (11:30 pm 6/17/2008): All of the forecasts quoted were pulled up from the various entities’ websites between 10:55 pm and 11:05 pm while I was getting wet.

Weather forecast for the rest of tonight from the National Weather Service…

Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Weather forecast from The Weather Channel…

Partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Precip: 20%

Weather forecast from WTMJ (both TV/DT-Channel 4 and AM)…

Mostly clear and mild. Low: 53. Wind: WNW 5-10 MPH.

Weather forecast from WISN-TV/DT (Channel 12)…

Partly Cloudy and Cool. Low: 53. Wind: NW 5-10.

Weather forecast from WDJT-TV/DT (Channel 58)…

Clouds thin out tonight with overnight lows, cool again, dropping into the low to mid 50’s and a light west to northwest wind.

Radar picture of my neck of the woods at 11:08 pm 6/17/2008 (courtesy Weather Underground)…

And as I typed this up, the shower passed over and the NWS issued a short-term forecast (at 11:07 just as the shower popped up)…

Scattered showers have rapidly developed over southern Dodge…northeast Jefferson…and central Milwaukee County. These showers are capable of producing heavy downpours as they push southeast around 40 mph.

Some cities impacted by these showers through midnight include Sullivan…Mukwonago…Oak Creek….and Racine.

There is a small scale cold front over eastern Fond Du Lac…Washington…and Milwaukee counties that is pushing southwest around 15 mph. Look for gusty northeast winds and temperatures falling into the lower 50s rapidly with the passage of the front. The front should pass through Waukesha and Kenosha by midnight.

I was unable to find an overnight forecast from WITI-TV/DT (Channel 6); they had already transtioned their website’s forecast to tomrrow. Note the only entity that even raised the possibility of rain was The Weather Channel, and then they deemed the chance of rain so slight that it didn’t merit an actual mention in the forecast.

And people wonder why I don’t buy Gorebal “Warming” or whatever the acolytes are calling the anti-American/anti-capitalist line of bullshit nowadays. They can’t even get the fucking forecast for the next 3 hours right.

Roll change – animal edition

by @ 22:26. Filed under The Blog.

Eric of the Tygrrrr Express has moved to his own server at http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/. Please change your rolls and feeds accordingly.

Here comes the fallout from Boudemaine

by @ 19:24. Filed under Lawgivers-In-Black, War on Terror.

(H/Ts – Jim Hoft and Ace)

Canada.com reports that the court-appointed lawyer of “suspected” Islamokazi Omar Khadr, the sole surviving member of a group of Taliban Islamokazis who initiated a firefight with American forces in July 2002, wants Khadr released because he wasn’t read his rights.

I support his release…from an aircraft flying at 35,000 feet sans parachute and oxygen tank.

Roll bloat – Welcome Back Hammer

by @ 18:52. Filed under The Blog.

Among the things I missed yesterday was Mary Katharine’s return to the blogosphere at her new employer’s place. Guess it’s time to change the roll to the new home of Ham Blog.

I could put up the theme from “Welcome Back Kotter”, but she’d probably kill me.

The Mornin…er, Afternoon Scramble – 6/17/2008

by @ 14:04. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

The trip back from Madison yesterday drained me more than I thought. I’m feeling a chest cold coming on…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kot_Kbo9QQ[/youtube]

  • Dave Bauer reveals who Abu Babear is in the penultimate episode of Blogs4Bauer’s Writers’ Strike Substitue. Next week; do we get our first Scientologist President?
  • Shoebox sounds the alarm for those of us forced to burn our food. I will note that since he’s in Minnesota, he has to deal with ethanol statewide (unless he’s driving a 21-year-old vehicle or a diesel; if memory serves, the latter suffers from a biodiesel requirement, and soybeans are about as flood-intolerant as corn).
  • Ace delivers an Instant Classic on the combined US/Saudi increase of 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
  • 3 wood reports on another (un)intended consequence of high gas prices; a further crash of the suburban housing market.
  • Kate has several cartoons on oil.
  • Lawhawk notes the 7th Marine of the Haditha 8 is about to be cleared. I wonder whether John Murtha likes crow.
  • Paul Noonan makes the case for doing to Ned Yost what the Mets did to Willie Randolph.
  • Tom McMahon 4-Blocks the difference between Jesus Christ and Barack Obama.
  • Jim Geraghty caught Obama’s likely National Security Advisor, Richard Danzig, dipping into the land of childrens’ books, and comparing Islamokazis to Luke Skywalker. No word on whether it was the Navy or the group by that name that fried Richard’s mind.
  • Of course, Slublog unleashed an Instant Classic SluShop in honor of that.
  • Plebian takes a semi-serious look at Obama’s VP candidate choices. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which parts are Shirley-quality serious.
  • Lance Burri has the latest Obamination verbal gaffe. Just remember, there’s a reason why authoritarians the world over want their subjects unarmed.
  • Robert has the cartoon of the day, mourning the impending loss of independence for America’s last mega-brewer. If only I could handle rice in my beer, I’d hoist a cold one.
  • John Adams notes the Department of Revenue sees a sluggish Wisconsin economy until 2010. I guess making Wisconsin a bigger corporate tax hell isn’t exactly conducive to economic growth.
  • Ed Morrissey explores the decision of the Associated Press to revisit its stance of suing blogs that use short quotations from its articles.

Roll bloat – another Blogivist

by @ 12:20. Filed under The Blog.

It’s a day late because I didn’t turn the computer back on after I got back from Madison yesterday, but it’s time to add The Liberty Tree Lantern by Capt. Karl.

The Next Fuel Shoe To Drop?

by @ 5:19. Filed under Corn-a-hole.

I wrote yesterday about the likelihood of a dramatic increase in corn prices due to the damage done by the floods.

I found this article today, where a commodities analyst is claiming that due to the crop loss from the flood, corn could go to $16/bushel.

What????? It wasn’t that long ago that corn at $4/bushel was nearly laughable. Today, corn futures have moved to over $7.90/bushel.

Well, I got to thinking….we use some of this corn to make ethanol. Most states require an ethanol blend for automobile fuel. What’s the impact of increasing corn costs going to be on our fuel costs?

To date, the financial impact of adding ethanol to the fuel has been a benefit to consumers. Even today, ethanol sells (OK, I’m not mucking this with all the subsidies it gets that we pay for via other taxes…let’s just keep this simple) for under $2.90/gallon. The easy math says that if your average fuel is around $4/gallon and ethanol is less than that, then blending the ethanol is having some impact of bringing the total price down on a gallon of fuel.

Now let me scare you:

Look at what has happened to the price of corn futures in the past month:
In less than two weeks, the price of corn has moved up 18%. With corn a major ingredient of ethanol, these price increases should have an impact on the price of ethanol….and they have.   Just look:

During that same two weeks ethanol futures have increased 13%. But corn is only at $7.90, what happens if it goes to $16/bushel? A quick back of the envelope says that $16 corn would easily translate to $5 ethanol.

Hmmmmm, now unless our fuel cost per gallon exceeds $5/gallon, the ethanol additive will actually increase the overall cost per gallon!

One more reason to shelve ethanol: Acts of God (read that floods, hail, drought, etc.) have a much more dramatic effect on agriculture than on drilling or mining.

Drill here, drill now, pay less!

June 16, 2008

The Morning Scramble – 6/16/2008

by @ 6:09. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

This will be brief; I have to find a way to Madison by 8:30 (or so). We need some speed (metal, that is)….

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4yHyHdJK5g[/youtube]

I don’t even have time to put up an Eggs On The Road post, even though there will be some traveling this week. I am off to Madison and Jim Sensenbrenner at the Center Right Coalition.

Well, Which Is It?

by @ 5:38. Filed under Politics - National.

In February, Michelle Obama visited a day care center  in Zanesville, Ohio.   While there, she  encouraged Americans to eschew careers in corporate America.   Instead, she encouraged folks to go into “helping” jobs…jobs that obviously wouldn’t pay as well but that made everyone more zen like:

"We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do," she tells the women. "Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond."

In essence, Michelle was telling America to give up on “doing your best,” “striving to achieve,” or working to better themselves. Michelle was telling America that settling for less than everything you wanted to be was OK and should be expected.

In May, as he was trying to gain the last few delegates to gain the nomination, Barack told an Oregon audience “to settle” and not expect that the life styles we have in America can continue:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times …

Today, Barack Obama celebrated Father’s Day by giving an address at the Apostolic Church of God. After calling on black father’s to become active in raising their children, Barack gave some additional parenting advice:

He said parents who proudly tell him their child gets great grades, all B’s, should encourage them even more.

“All B’s? Is that the highest grade?” Obama said. “It’s great that you can get a B, but you can get a better grade. It’s great that you’ve got a job, but you can get a better job.”

Let’s see, should I settle or aspire? Should I give in or do my best? Should I just “get by” or is the possibility of the “American Dream” something that we can still pursue in America?

I’m so confused!

Are You Ready For Higher Food Prices (redux)

by @ 4:41. Filed under Miscellaneous.

On May 6th I wrote that higher requirements for ethanol use would likely drive food prices higher throughout the year:

On March 31st, the USDA released its crop estimates for the year. Included was an estimate that acres planted with corn were going to drop 8% from the 2007. Even with the reduction in acreage the overall crop yield should be about the same as 2007 which was 13.1 billion bushels.

So we’ve got lots of corn, that’s good news.

Here’s the bad news.

in 2007, approximately 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol was produced. The 2007 Energy Security Act requires that 9.0 billion gallons of ethanol be produced in 2008. 2.8 gallons of ethanol come from each bushel of corn. That means that nearly 1 billion additional bushels of corn will be required just for ethanol production this year.

What do you think will happen to food prices when overall corn production is flat but corn demand for ethanol increases by nearly 50%? They sure as heck aren’t going down!

In a recent Rasmussen poll, 54% of Americans finally understand that burning food is hurting their pocketbook.

Maybe we aren’t a nation of sheeple afterall.

I’m sure you’ve all heard that there’s been a bit of extra moisture in the upper Midwest. Iowa, Wisconsin and Southern Minnesota have been hit hard with excess rain. Flooding of major cities or tourist destination in these areas have made the headlines of the MSM stories. While some attention has been paid to “flooded fields,” I haven’t seen anything report quantifying or talking about the impact of those soggy sowings.

The first sign that there are problems came in this update from the USDA. They have reduced their 2008 corn crop estimateby 400M bushels. That however, may be the good news in their report. Also contained in their latest update is that 2.5M acres are still unplanted, 1.3M of those are underwater in Iowa. The likelihood of successful plantings in these areas are greatly diminished and it is expected that in the next USDA update as substantial portion of those acres will be removed from the “expected to be planted” column.

Let’s say, conservatively, that only the Iowa acres are left unplanted. 1.3M acres at 148.9 bushels per average acre (which is very conservative as the yields in most of Iowa tend to be higher than the national average) means that nearly 200 million  additional bushels will be taken out of the 2008 forecast.

So let’s recap:

  • The original forecast said 2008 total corn production would be the same as 2007
  • Due to increased mandates, we will use at least 1 billion more bushels for ethanol production
  • The latest crop estimates say we are now producing 400 million bushels of corn fewer in 2008
  • The next estimate is likely to say the 2008 production will shrink another 200 million bushels of corn.
  • The full impact of flooding on the corn crop will not be known for a few more months.

A total of  600 million bushels of corn short from last year’s production with another 1 billion going to ethanol.   That means a total of  1.6 billion fewer bushels of corn that will available for food.

I didn’t major in Economics, only managed a minor, but what I did learn suggests that shrinking supplies and increasing demands don’t generally work towards the reduction of prices.  

I wonder which countries Barack will tell first that that due to our requirements to burn food for fuel, they won’t be able to eat at all?

Update: I’m beginning to feel like Carnac. Here’s an article from London Reuters talking about this exact issue.

June 13, 2008

Ask Egg – Volume 4

by @ 20:48. Filed under Ask Egg.

I’m almost out of pseudophedrine, and some political types seem to have ignored my advice, so let’s go into the mailbag once again to out them…

Letter #1 –

Dear Egg,

My state endured historic flooding over the weekend. Fortunately, the country club where I hold my annual golf fundraiser for my campaign didn’t suffer any real damage. Should I cancel it?

-Waterlogged in Madison

Waterlogged,

Of course not! However, you should turn over the proceeds of that to flood relief efforts. I’m sure you could find another day to shake down your donors for your own benefit.

One more thing; don’t spend most of the day there.
-Egg

Letter #2 –

Dear Egg,

Some terrori…er, freedom-fighters seeking to destroy this coun…er, liberate Gaia from the ravages of Americanism are being warehoused in Guantamino Bay. My fellow Justices and I currently have a lawsuit before us seeking to overturn action by Congress that we previously ordered them to take. How should we dispose of this case?

-Witless in Washington

Witless,

Get your behinds out of the business of conducting war. A previous iteration of the Court you’re on unanimously allowed the summary execution of Nazi saboteurs during World War II. Besides, Congress acted undier its Constitutional authority to cut you Lawgivers-In-Black out of the process.

Don’t commit treason.
-Egg

Letter #3 –

Dear Egg,

My opponent opposes drilling in ANWR and doing anything substantial to reverse the flow of illegal immigrants. He also supports making the tax code even more top-heavy, and closing Club Gitmo. How can I differentiate myself from my opponent while being true to myself?

-On The Road

Since you used an anonymizer, I can’t tell which candidate you are. You need to do what is right with the country and start differentiating yourself from him.

And no, I don’t mean a left turn either.
-Egg

RIP, Tim Russert

by @ 16:03. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Tim Russert passed away after suffering a heart attack while recording voiceovers for “Meet the Press” at NBC’s Washington bureau. My prayers go out to his family.

Michelle Malkin has a far better tribute than I could come up with.

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