No Runny Eggs

John McCain opened his mouth and inserted his foot, sideways, trying to tie his favorite cause, wasteful spending, to the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.   On Wednesday, McCain said:

“The bridge in Minneapolis didn’t collapse because there wasn’t enough money. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects.”

He tried to clarify that statement on Thursday by saying:

“No, I said it would have received a higher priority, which it deserved.”

Somebody wake McCain up and tell him that the bridge was scheduled to be replaced in 2020, not because there was a lack of funding but because that was believed to be the useful life of the bridge.   While surveys of the bridge identified “deficiencies,” the bridge was never identified as unable to carry its designed traffic load.   The current evidence is suggesting that the bridge collapsed due to a design flaw that  had gusset plates undersized by a factor of half.

I agree with McCain’s desire to shrink government and end wasteful spending.   However, just because you have a hammer, not every problem is a nail.  

As I said, stupidity is party agnostic.   Regarding his opposition to the federal gas tax holiday, Barack Obama said:

“Remember that bridge in Minneapolis?   We’re already short on money in terms of investing.”

Same response to Barack with this addition…Barack, since when have you been concerned about spending money?   You seem to have money for anything you can possibly imagine.   The last look at the ol’ “Spend-o-meter” is that you’ve committed to spending an additional $850B. You don’t think you could find a mere $350M to send our way?

A coal based electric plant was approved yesterday  for Marshalltown IA.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that in order to satisfy their rabid global warming sycophants, the board required the power company to also increase their wind generation power 250% by the plant’s opening, use 10% biomass within 7 years of opening and pay for any costs that may be added through implementation of nonsense cap and trade regulations.

I’m guessing each of the commission members drove to the meeting. I’ll bet each of them paid close to $3.50/gallon for their gas when they last filled. I’ll be each of them have complained in the last couple of weeks about the increase in gas prices. Even with all of that knowledge, one of the commission mental midgets was thinking:

Darrell Hanson of Manchester, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he favored setting aside the plant proposal for three or four years to see what carbon limits Congress passes and to analyze other market forces. "The safest and most reasonable course would be to delay for three or four years.

Yup, let’s wait.   Gee, that’s working so well for gas prices.   Gee, if we could magically say it was OK to start drilling or refining additional oil today, it would be 3-8 years before that effort would have any impact on gas availability.   Yeah, let’s not make a decision today.   It’s too hard and there are people sitting in the room who might not like me.

Chickenshit!

It’s people like this Commissioner who bitch about “Big oil’s profits” but won’t do a thing to change the equation.   They sit and hide, afraid of the Sierra club and militant “ecological” groups whose real purpose is to make sure that man curls up in a fetal position in some corner of the globe and leaves the animals to rule creation.

If the increase in energy prices of the last year don’t wake people up to the fact that we need to increase capacity and that the cost of dawdling is nearly crippling, I don’t know what will.   I do know it’s time for some folks to “grow a pair” because anything short of “ABSOLUTELY NOT” is going to be met by wails from the “ecological” groups.   Even with the ridiculous additional requirements put on this project the “ecology” groups weren’t satisfied:

Carrie La Seur, a lawyer for Plains Justice, which opposes the plant, said it is "most likely" the group will eventually sue to block construction of the plant. First, the group will join the Sierra Club, the Iowa Environmental Council and the Iowa Consumer Advocate’s office in fighting an air permit with the state and opposing the plant during before the utilities board this fall.

In the words of Thomas Paine it’s time to “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. Doing nothing or cowering in the corner sniveling about “Global Warming” will only ensure that we leave a country for our children that is unable to meet the demands of the future; and we’d be the first generation in America to do that. That’s not a history book footnote that I’m interested in being a part of.

I feel a bit like Alice’s white rabbit….sans mind altering substances. Late night of travel and I’ve got to work so I’ll leave you with this to “mull” over today:

Red Wing boy takes first place in Minn. mullet contest

Isn’t this codified as child abuse?

Read all the horrifying details (multi-generational abuse) here.

There’s an urban legend that states that if you put a frog in water and increase the temperature slowly, the frog will not notice the change in temperature and eventually be killed by the hot water.   This experiment has been tried by many aspiring “scientists” and I have no doubt that many frogs have found their final rest as result.   However, not every frog succumbs to the increasing heat, sometimes the frog jumps.

And so it happened today.   With pressure mounting over the ongoing antics of Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama felt he could no longer paddle around in the verbal repartee of “I wasn’t there when that was said” or “those were just sound bites and not representative of a 30 year career” and attempted to jump out of the Jeremiah Wright hot water.

I watched and listened to Obama’s press conference.   The water was so hot that he actually took questions from the press which he had been avoiding for weeks.   I found his  claims and statements  incredulous.  

Barack claimed that Wright had become a caricature yesterday at the National Press Club.   As a part of his comments Wright reiterated his belief that the US government could be responsible for causing and distributing aids.   Caricature?   “Ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities?”   I don’t think so.   If anything, Wrights display at the National Press Club removed the argument that his earlier quotes were caricatures.  

For a candidate who is telling us that the key difference for him is his judgement, he now wants us to believe that in 20 years he was not aware of the positions of Wright.   Positions that even we who had never heard Wright’s name prior to 4 months ago, are acutely aware of….really?   Either Barack believes us to be fools or the quality of his judgement is seriously in question.   If Barack is no longer able to differentiate himself on his judgement, what else would cause people to believe that he has the experience required to be President?

Just because a frog jumps it doesn’t mean that it will survive.   Sometimes the frog jumps but doesn’t clear the pot and ends up succumbing to the boiling water.   Sometimes the frog jumps, clears the pot but it succumbs to the damage done prior to the jump.   Yes, sometimes the frog jumps, clears the pot and lives to tell the tale, at least until thrown into another pot of water.  

I’m not sure yet which version of the post jump frog Barack will be.   I think it safe to say that if he survives, this will not be the last time Barack is swimming in hot water.

While I can’t say that I understand what dynamics are causing this, and Rasmussen still shows McCain leading either Democratic candidate, a recent poll indicates that Hillary Clinton is now leading John McCain in a national poll by 9%.

I think it’s time to call a cease fire on Operation Chaos for the following reasons:

1. With Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, his wife, it appears that Barack Obama has not only proven to be mortal but an unvetted mortal as well.   In fact, in a recent poll the “Obama concern factor” has dropped by 17% amongst Republicans.
2. Even in a general election it appears unlikely that Barack Obama will be able to move to the center.   He has staked out positions so far to the left on significant issues it would be hard to come back with any credibility.   With Hillary, well, credibility has never been an issue for the Clintons.   They find ways to sway with the polls and convince people that that’s what they meant all along.
3. Hillary moving ahead of McCain in this significant fashion would suggest that the rumored divide within the Democratic party where BO supporters won’t vote for Hillary and vice versa appears to be more rumor than fact.
4. While slipping a bit, Hillary still has a 5 point lead in a recent poll for Indiana.
5. While still down in recent polls, Clinton’s about to get the endorsement of North Carolina’s Governor.

It’s been a lot of fun watching the Democrats squirm and complain about Operation Chaos.   I think the Operation has done it’s job.   Even without the ongoing support of Operation Chaos valiant men and women Hillary is now assured of staying in the race to the convention or until forced out by a preemptive vote of the Super Delegates.   Speaking of which, There is growing concern within Democratic ranks about BO’s electability.   We don’t need to be reinforcing the notion of Hillary being more electable in the final primaries.

My hat is off to Rush and the operatives of Operation Chaos.   Please welcome the returning operatives with the respect and honor they deserve!

(Update:   As of 1:30 Central Time, Rush has called for an operational pause.   Stay tuned for further instructions.   This has been a public service of your local Operation Chaos outlet.)

Following up on my post below, here is the new McCain salute.

Feel free to copy the HTML for your use:

<img src=http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6139/mccain08ip9.jpg alt=Help!!/>

I saw this story last week about a developer who wants to build an amusement park in Baghdad.   The understatement of the article was the opening paragraph:

Llewellyn Werner admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with – insurgent attacks and looting.

Ya think?

Disney’s parks typically make some adjustments so that the attractions reflect some of the local culture and aren’t 100% American. So I got to thinking….what kind of adjustments would be made to “Disneyland – Baghdad?”

• Mahdis of Sadr City– In the  Baghdad version of Pirates of the Caribbean we would see the Mahdi Army ransacking and running roughshod throughout scenes of Sadr City.   Rather than Johnny Depp making cameo appearances, we would see Muqtada al-Sadr peaking out from barrels and from behind burqas to see if it was safe for him to come out of hiding.
• The Closet of Presidents – well, they’ve only had one that’s actually been elected.   It seems like it will be quite awhile before they will need an entire hall!
• Small World – rather than scenes of happy children representing harmony of the countries of the world, this attraction will be dedicated to the countries and factions that the insurgents in Iraq represent.   Rather than hearing the refrain of “It’s a small world after all,” over and over, we would hear a refrain of “Death to all the infidels,” in  those same, nauseating children’s voices.  
• Buzz Lightyear – As you ride through this attraction you’ll help Buzz save Iraq by eliminating Iranian agents.   The ride will be kid friendly because as we’re assured regularly by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian agents in Iraq are as make believe as the evil agents of Zurg!

These are the attraction descriptions that have slipped out from the tightly guarded planning process.   If you hear of more, make sure to give us a heads up in the comments!

In a well publicized statement, John McCain has repudiated the North Carolina Republican Party over it’s ad that decries the endorsement of the two Democratic Governor candidates of Obama saying that Obama is too far left for North Carolina.   The commercial uses Obama’s link to Jeremiah Wright as evidence of Obama’s far left views.  

As a part of McCain’s statement he said North Carolina’s Republican Party was “out of touch with reality.”

Out of touch with reality?   Did I miss something?

In a poll done within days of the Jeremiah Wright revelations, the Pew Research Center found the following:

When asked whether they were personally offended by Jeremiah Wright’s comments, a majority of Independents (52%) and a significant majority of Republicans (75%) said they were personally offended.   Even Clinton supporters had a majority that were offended (59%).   The only group polled who didn’t have a majority that were personally offended by Wright’s remarks were people who were already decided, Obama supporters.

The person who seems to be “out of touch with reality” is John McCain!

Earth to John…….

The reality is that you are at best, accepted by the  conservative base and not truly supported by it.

The reality is that if the Democrats had a nomination process that made sense, they would have had a nominee in March and you would face double digit deficits in every poll taken.

The reality is the longer we keep the Democrats fighting (yes, while the primary focus is the Governor’s race, the ad surely helps reraise the concern about Obama) the better your chances get.

The reality is that rather than on your opponents, you use your harshest criticisms and comments on those you should be most aligned with.

The reality is I’m getting sick and tired of hearing from you.   In the past few weeks you’ve flip flopped on the mortgage bailout, reiterated your nonsense about going green and joined the populist “CEO = bad people” meme.

If John McCain wants to “stay above the fray” that’s fine.   In fact, I don’t even mind if he asks the North Carolina Republicans not to run the ad.   John McCain crosses the line when he berates  people who should be  his supporters in a way that he claims to be above doing with his Democratic contenders.

Al Gore’s consensus appears to be less cohesive these days.

The International Climate Science Coalition has issued a Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change.   The ICSC was the group that was banned from participating in the UN’s Bali climate change conference last December i.e., they’re the good guys.   Amongst other things, the declaration states:

That current plans to restrict anthropogenic CO2 emissions are a dangerous misallocation of intellectual capital and resources that should be dedicated to solving humanity’s real and serious problems.

That there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity has in the past, is now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change.

That attempts by governments to inflict taxes and costly regulations on industry and individual citizens with the aim of reducing emissions of CO2 will pointlessly curtail the prosperity of the West and progress of developing nations without affecting climate.

That adaptation as needed is massively more cost-effective than any attempted mitigation, and that a focus on such mitigation will divert the attention and resources of governments away from addressing the real problems of their peoples.

That human-caused climate change is not a global crisis.

The Manhattan declaration now has at least 500 signers, 150 of which are either climate science specialists or scientists in closely related fields. That compares to the IPCC report that had about 100 similar individuals.

If that’s Al Gore’s definition of “consensus,” Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be worrying about who the Democratic nominee will be.

Sorry for the pun…no, I guess I’m not.

I heard on Glenn Beck this morning that gas prices increased $.012/gallon every 30 days while the Republicans had control of congress.   Since Nancy and her gang have had control, gas increases $.076/gallon every 30 days.

HMMMMMMM Does Nancy have ties Exxon that we don’t know about?

Hillary and Barack continue to want to run against Bush in the election.   I suggest John McCain run against Nancy and the Democratic control of Congress.   If McCain had any real conservative balls, this would be the commercial he would be playing non stop between now and the election.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5UYNX_XGQA[/youtube]

Wednesday morning, John Boehner along with other House Republican leaders, sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking her to make good on her 2006 promise  to have a  plan to reduce gas prices.   As Boehner pointed out, and all of us are feeling, gas prices are up over 50% since Pelosi took office.

This afternoon, Pelosi released her plan.   You can see the details here.

As I read it, Nancy thinks the following will reduce gas prices:

• Filing lawsuits against OPEC acting as a Cartel….
• Continuing to chase gouging Bogeymen…
• Forcing renewable energy into the marketplace
• Chasing more gouging Bogeymen….

Can anyone explain to me where one penny of reduction in gas prices will come from any of these “initiatives?”   If anything, the result of these acts will be to increase government regulation, raise costs on existing gas suppliers and force the use of uneconomical alternative energies.   The result will not be a reduction in gas prices, rather, it will be an overall increase in energy prices.

Nancy is proving to have the leadership traits of Nero.   The difference between Nero and Nancy is that Nero still had something to burn when he got done.

“It required the steadiest of hands.”

The doctor seems pretty cavalier about the whole thing.   However, he makes the mistaken comment that the “pin” was still in the grenade.   I wonder if his bravado would have come down a couple of notches if he knew that this kind of grenade has no pin.

Congratulations to the soldier and the doctor!

Mr. Frick, AKA Werner Groebli died Wednesday at the ripe old age of 92.

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Frick, he was a comedic ice skater and a staple of the Ice Follies for many years.

Mr. Frick’s signature move was the “spread-eagle cantilever.”   You can see it in the following clip, about 1:57

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFemWV8M7y4[/youtube]

Watching the video I’m reminiscent of the great family television entertainment that was available during Mr. Frick’s era, I miss it.

God bless you Mr. Frick, thanks for sharing your talent.

Is it just me or does it seem that the government spends more time trying to create problems than focusing on  the problems that are right in front of them?  

In Saturday’s Star and Tribune the Minnesota Department of Health is raising a specter of lead poisoning from eating gun  shot venison.

I’ll admit to not being a deer hunter.   However, I’ve eaten my share of fowl shot with lead over the years.   Other than that third arm I have growing out of my back, I’ve seen no impact of a little lead in my diet…KIDDING!  

Lead shot has a history going back to the mid 1500’s.   I did some Google searching and while information for the 1600’s and late 1500’s was a little difficult to parse (Darn, if only Al Gore had been born during the Dark Ages we would have had the internet so much earlier), I wasn’t able to find any epidemic of death certificates that listed “lead poisoning from venison ingestion” anywhere.

The MSM wails about how President Bush and the Republicans use “scare tactics” to motivate voters.   Apparently “scare” is perfectly acceptable to the MSM when they want to further their “man is a pariah on the planet” agenda.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a nicely baked pheasant awaiting my arrival.  

Bon Appetite!

I know that isn’t a real surprise but this time I’m really confused…..

What’s the criteria Barack Obama would like to use to determine who we negotiate with?

In a statement today regarding Carter’s trip to visit Hamas, Barack was quoted as saying:

“We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel’s destruction,”

However, just recently as a part of his questioning of General Patraeus, Barack reiterated his desire to negotiate with Iran:

“We should be talking to them (Iran)  as well,” Obama told the top US General in Iraq David Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker.

I may have missed a recent news flash but isn’t Iran a country that is intent on Israel’s destruction?

Israel “is an illegitimate regime, there is no legal basis for its existence,”  Ahmadinejad said.

I guess the criteria for Barack comes down to who the audience is at the moment. OK, I get it now.

Mrs. Shoebox, the little Boxes and I made a trip to the Florida House of Mouse last week.   While going through the parks I realized that there are a lot of things at Disney that make for easy object lessons in life.   Here are a few of the things that I picked up during our trip.

1. Economics:   If you’ve got a product that someone really wants, you can name the price.   If you have a product that someone really wants and you can restrict their ability to get it elsewhere, you can name a ridiculous price.   Ponchos that cost about the same as a large hefty bag…say $.07 each, when  sold outside of a “you will get very wet” raft ride, go for $7.50.  
2. If you have a group of geese, they are a gaggle, cows are a herd, whales are a pod, a group of photographers gathered at the entrance to a park are called a nuisance.
3. All a guy needs to know about relationships with females can be summed up by one line from Mary Poppins.   When asked to explain a particular commotion, Mary responded with “I never explain anything.”   That was the answer Mr. Banks received and it is THE answer as a male, that you should be satisfied with as well.
4. A few years back, Disney instituted the Fastpass system.   With this system you can go to some of their more popular attractions, insert your entrance ticket and get a pass that will allow you to skip to the head of the line for that particular attraction at a  set time.     There are a number of rules around how the passes work so that you may be able to get 3 or so on any given day and then stand in the regular queues for the other attractions.   Here’s my object lesson:  in life you may get the occasional Fastpass.   It may come in the form of a scholarship, a particular job promotion, a great spouse  or some other plus.   Just like at Disney, life’s Fastpass will let you move ahead of your peers for a period of time.   However, also like Disney, you won’t get a Fastpass for every obstacle in your life.   Fastpasses should be looked at and used as a perk, novelty, gift.   Fastpasses are great and should be relished  but  we’re going to spend most of our lives standing in line with everyone else and that’s what life is mostly about.
5. Recession:   Yes there are issues in the economy and I do believe that many people’s “wealth” has been taken down a few notches due to lowered housing equity and stock markets.   However, as I wandered through the Mouse’s kingdoms last week, you would never know that the word “recession” was contemplated by anyone.   The place was packed!   I can also tell you that it wasn’t just the “rich.”   If you want to see a cross section of America, spend sometime at the home of the Mouse.   Rich, poor, young, old, black, white, single, large families…you see it all at the Mouse and amazingly, we all enjoy the same things….maybe for different reasons but we enjoy the same things.   Which leads me to:
6. Civility:   When visiting the Mouse, with rare exception, people are pleasant, helpful, polite and caring.   People who have never met and will never meet again will help get a stroller loaded on a bus (I’m not talking about the paid help), return a dropped item, give up a seat on the bus, make way for a small child to get a front row seat for a parade.   If we could somehow package the civility that occurs on the Mouse’s turf and spread it everywhere we’d have a much better chance of talking through challenging issues.