Deadly Serious

I know we all mock the media for snow storm coverage, but I don't think the American people have come to grasp with the devastation that Katrina has wrought. Maybe it is time to tell them. Ray Nagin is starting to quote similar fatality numbers as I quoted last night.

Ray Nagin, Compassionate Mayor

Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, needs to shut up. Nagin had the following to say in an interview with WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS. From CNN.com:

"There is way too many fricking ... cooks in the kitchen."

Nagin is upset because Black Hawk helicopters had been diverted from dropping sandbags to attempt to repair a levee breech to rescue operations.

OK, let me see if I can put this in a language Nagin can understand.

As mayor of a city, you don't let your fricking citizens die in the fricking streets so that you can chase a fricking pipedream attempt to fricking plug a breach in a fricking levee.

Nagin went on to say:

"I had laid out like an eight-week to ten-week timeline where we could get the city back in semblance of order. It's probably been pushed back another four weeks as a result of this," Nagin said.

"That four weeks is going to stop all commerce in the city of New Orleans. It also impacts the nation, because no domestic oil production will happen in southeast Louisiana."

OK, that was never going to happen. It will take six to eight months minimum to drain the city and clear debris so that reconstruction can even begin. It will also cost about ten times the numbers kicked around so far to rebuild the city, somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 billion.

In fact, it might not be a woman named Cindy that ends the Iraq War, but one named Katrina. The Bush administration may have a decision to make. They can chase Bush's fricking pipedream in Iraq, or throw away an American city. I don't see how we can do both.

Looting

I'd like to take some time to address the looting going on in New Orleans. What I have heard from most people is that it is OK to loot necessities, but not durable goods ie. TVs, stereos, etc.
This is not correct. In this situation, which is similar to the movie Escape From New York, it is perfectly acceptable to loot anything.

The logic behind this is as follows. Of course, looting necessities is fine in this situation, but when your local supermarket runs out of necessities you may need the durable goods to barter for food, water, or safe passage. Don't think there aren't jackals out there demanding these items for goods and services, there are. It's human nature.

Some people here are seriously short of cash, and it's not just the poor. I heard a woman on NPR today say that she only had $80.00 to her name. She has no opportunity to get money out of her bank, it's underwater. Not a lot of working ATMs in the area either, although, if her bank is underwater, it is probably offline anyway.

When it comes down to it, this crap is insured, and it is crap.

SPR

The US has decided to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after it was discovered that 95% of Gulf oil rigs were going to out of production for a little while. The release will help in the middle term, but not the near term as this oil is being shipped to refineries that are also currently out of production. The refineries need to regain power before they can start producing again. I'm guessing most refineries should be back producing gasoline after the Labor Day weekend if employees can be ferried into the plants, however some pipeline repair is also in order to get the gas to the public.

Katrina

I think the death toll from Katrina is going to top 500. Very sad. I'm also afraid that New Orleans is going to burn to the waterline. We have a full fledged apocalyptic situation in the area.

Update: Maybe 1,000

Bad News For Bush

If this poll is correct, it's really bad news for Bush. I had previously thought Cindy Sheehan was pushing down Bush's approval numbers. This poll shows that not to be the case. That means people are moving away from Bush on their own, or in other words, waking up. Bush is getting close to losing the country completely.

Time to open the spigot to the strategic petroleum reserves.

Nonbudsman

CBS News has hired Vaughn Ververs to serve as a "nonbudsman." He will write a blog for them and host a segment called I don't see how this can work over the long term. The network or its reporters are not required to talk to Ververs are not required to speak to him. Eventually, bridges will be burned and they won't talk to him. To make this work, he would have to have full access not only to reporters, but to their notes and sources as well, and that's definitely not going to happen in this day and age.

Actually, I'm not sure what he is going to do. In this Reuters article he has the following to say:

"I'm not here to set the rules," Ververs said. "I'm not even here to voice my opinion. That's not my job."

Isn't voicing your opinion what a blogger does. Ververs goes on to say:

"It's going to be an honest, fair, unvarnished look at what we do, and that means that it's an experiment," Heyward said. "It's a risk. Not everybody approves of what we do. But I'm banking on the fact that people will also see how much effort we make about being fair and being ethical."

I don't know how one man can begin to do this job by himself. Ververs must be planning to sit around running quite a few Technorati searches. You see, the reason bloggers are able to point out the inaccuracies in major media stories is the shear number of us dwarfs the number of them.

Rats

New Orleans is home to some of the largest rats I've ever seen in my life. I don't know well rats swim, but they seem to have pretty good survival instincts. Hopefully they drown, but I don't think I would like to be walking around there right now.

HAHAHAHA Anti-Sheehan Protesters Attack Anti-Sheehan Protesters

Move America Forward, the "Cindy doesn't speak for me" people, have caravaned from California to Crawford to protest Cindy Sheehan. So, what was their first order of business. They attacked the Protest Warriors, verbally insulting them, taking their signs, and forcing police to move them to safety.

For the record, the Protest Warriors are on the same side as Move America Forward. The problem is that the Protest Warriors use clever signs and the stupid fuckwits from Move America Forward apparently have problems with the English language.

Tbogg has the story.

Found via Digby

One Simple Question

Is CNN's news gathering ability so crappy that they have to rerun video of a local New Orleans Fox News correspondant hiding behind a mailbox every fifteen minutes?

Gas Panic

There was a gas panic today in rural Ohio today. Gas stations in Chillicothe had crazy lines with a couple of stations running out of gas. There is no supply shortage at this time, however, wholesale prices did spike as much as $0.25 in the late afternoon. I think this will be very temporary. If there is any refinery damage, and I don't think there is much, Bush will release strategic petroleum reserves. He has to as unpopular as he is right now. Wow, that idiot might do something right after all.

Gulfport

Commenter jk is right. I was thinking about this on my drive home. Gulfport is pretty much gone. Now, when I wrote the post about New Orleans, it was 4:30 in the morning and Katrina had just begun to turn east. It still looked like New Orleans was going to take the brunt of the storm. Didn't happen. The storm banked east and pretty much destroyed Gulfport, also doing a lot of damage to Mobile. A breakaway oil rig has damaged the Mobil River Bridge.

I just saw initial video of Gulfport and it looks bad. If they did board up, the boarding is gone. The city is in ruin. I haven't really seen a lot of coverage on Mississippi. I think what happened here is that the storm turned after the news channels set up and they were stuck. They haven't been able to get into southern Mississippi yet. When they do, it's gonna be much worse than New Orleans.

Katrina

Sorry about the lack of content today, my life pretty much shuts down when a hurricane hits the US. I'm utterly fascinated by them and haven't really read anything non-hurricane related in the last couple of days. I would really like to ride one of these out. I thought about doing it last year when my parents condo took two direct hits, but I couldn't figure out a way to get there. I assume the rental company would be fairly upset when their car ended up in the Indian River.

Anyway, you're probably getting all the hurricane coverage you want and more from other sources. If you want a blog from those who are there check these sites where the storm is being live blogged here, here, here, here, or here. Picture blog here.

Good Luck

Good luck to those in New Orleans. Looks like you're going to get a bad one. I do have to question the wisdom of gathering so many people in the Superdome though.

Thought Of The Day

Beck, a guy you could go have a taco with. Moby, a guy you could go have a organically grown, gluten free, non bleached wheat tofu wrap in a bio-degradable wrapping made from a fully renewable source with. Tofu and wheat grown in a co-operative where all employees share everything equally.

Ouch

The Boston Herald does a pretty good hatchet job on Mitt Romney here. Romney, a 2008 candidate for president and probable replacement for Dick Cheney after the 2006 midterm elections, gets hammered in this piece. One thing that strikes me is this quote by Romney:

``No, I have not urged my own children to enlist.I don't know the status of my childrens' potentially enlisting in the Guard and Reserve,``

Status? OK, I don't have kids, but status seems a bit unpersonable to me. Must be a tight family.

Found via Atrios

Warning For The Commenters

Here's the thing, when I started this blog I did so fully knowing that I was forfeiting my rights as a private citizen and becoming a public figure. (all be it in a very small way) When you comment here, you are doing the same, whether you like it or not. That's just the way it is. Last night I had to delete a comment left by a regular that mentioned a non-participant by name.

DO NOT PRINT THE NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO REMAIN PRIVATE HERE.

Ellsworth Spared

Ellsworth Air Force Base has been spared from closure. I have to agree with the commission on this move. It was a dumb idea to move all of our bombers to one place, especially since that one place would be farther away from enemies, save that powerhouse Venezuela. These bombers would normally fly over the top of the world in the event of a war with Russia or China. Ellsworth's closure would have also violated the never put all your eggs in one basket rule. Sorry, no bombers today. We have weather problems.

John Thune has got to be breathing a huge sigh of relief. Ellsworth's closure would have ended his career. I always kind of wondered in the back of my mind whether or not the base was put on this intentionally to later let him play the hero, or if this was a real possibility and was simply Bush taking a little more of our national treasury back to Texas with him.

The $34,000 Question, Day 5

No response yet. Think I'll write letters to the editors of the Zanesville Times Recorder and the Chillicothe Gazette this weekend to try to get their readers to call on Ney to explain his "winnings".

Fire Sale

If you want to bribe Duke Cunningham R-CA, you'd better do it fast. His days are seriously numbered. The feds filed a court document that alleged Cunningham "demanded and received" a bribe from Mitchell Wade by forcing Wade to buy his house at an overvalued $1.67 million in 2003. Wade later dumped the house for $700,000.

The Duke then used his windfall to buy the $2.55 million house he currently owns and is trying to sell for $3.5 million. That is a 37% appreciation in two years. That's plausible, I don't know the area, but it sure sounds like Duke is a one trick pony. Anyway, as I noted before, the feds have filed a lis pendens to block the sale so I guess that's a moot point.

Goodbye Duke

What Kind Of Dumbasses Watch Fox News?

The answer to that question can be found in this LA Times (sub req) article about a La Habra, CA family that had their address given out on Fox News as the address of a terrorist. Dumbass Fox reporter John Loftus gave Randy and Ronnell Voricks address out on the air because he thought a terrorist lived there. The man in question moved out three years ago. What does Loftus have to say about the incident? From the Times:

Loftus also apologized and told The Times last week that "mistakes happen."

"I'm terribly sorry about that. I had no idea. That was the best information we had at the time," he said.

Loftus said he gave out the address to help local police, and insisted that [Iyad] Hilal, a Garden Grove grocery store owner, was a terrorist.

"I thought it might help police in that area now that we have positively identified a terrorist living in [Orange County]," he said.

Perhaps calling the police would have been the way to go, John. It's good to know Loftus doesn't bother to fact check anything. It's also good to know that Fox News didn't reprimand Loftus for giving out an address live on the air, but for making a mistake with the address. Stupid fucks.

What did the Voricks get for their trouble? An astute Fox News viewer spray painted "Terrist" on the side of their house. If you watch Fox News and can't spell terrorist as often as it scrolls across the screen, you are truly a dumbass. I guess we know the answer now to the Bush question "Is our children learning?" Not if they watch Fox.

Yet More Proof

As if there wasn't enough proof already, and there is, I found another example of why Flying Spaghetti Monsterism should be taught in Kansas schools. Their math students need to be taught the two alternative versions of roundness. Otherwise, how will they ever properly be able to make or measure circles, spheres, and cylinders.

See, here's the deal, "scientists" say that pi (why would the symbol for pi not be available in every font?) is equal to 3.14159265358979. Dopes. Apparently, they used some sort of "measuring devices" to hypothesize the value of pi.

The Bible tells us otherwise in 1 Kings 7:23

7:23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

So the bible says that pi is equal to three. Dopes. Apparently, they read some old "book" to hypothesize the value of pi.

Finally, we Pastafarians know that the value of pi is 14. It just is, trust us. You see, every time you perform a "calculation" on your "calculator" or "computer" His Noodly Appendage simply reaches out to change the results to 3.14159265358979. Like the Matrix, some are not yet ready to learn the truth.

All praises be to Flying Spaghetti Monster.
RAmen.

Last Pat Robertson Post, I Promise

Mathew Yglesias has an interesting take on Pat Robertson's fatwa against Hugo Chavez. Yglesias see the following paragraph as a "subtle dig" at the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

I don't see it that way. Nuanced isn't a word I would use to describe Robertson. I think it could be more of a cash flow thing. Chavez has oil, and the cost of gas is taking a toll on the little old ladies he fleeces. Robertson can't sell them a ticket to ride on his magic carpet ride to heaven if the gas man gets his hand in their wallet first.

Sharks! Bitches! Sharks!

CNN loves sharks almost as much as missing white women. The latest shark attack happened about 5K off the coast of Glenelg, Australia. Odd thing about the story is this line:

"There's plenty of sharks out there," Keith Klamasz told Australian radio. "The last thing I would be doing is jumping in the water."

Um, who's Keith Klamasz? World renowned shark researcher? Veteran diver? Local stooge calling drive time talk radio? It's unclear.

As Atrios muses, one place a shark isn't going to find anything to eat is Camp Qualls, the anti-Sheehan site across from Camp Casey. Check out the pics in this NRO story.

Phlips Grits

I am no longer a bitch to Bob Taft's sin tax on cigarettes and to big tobbaco's donations to republicans. Did I quit smoking? Nope. I just opted out of the system. I bought a cigarette making machine and am now making my own smokes. These aren't those crappy roll your own smokes either, they're filtered. I make them at about $1 a pack and it takes me roughly an hour to make a carton. Still tinkering with the blend.

Here's the weird thing though, I smoke a lot less of them than I did Marlboro Lights even though I'm smoking a lighter blend of tobacco. Jesus, what chemicals do they put in Marlboros.

Today, The Haters Come

One of the larger conservative blogs linked to this site today, so expect some comments slamming me and liberals in general. So be it. red-state.com is the site, which, by the way is one of the more reasonable sites on the right, has already sent a couple of hits my way. One commenter, lone ranger, makes a pretty salient point among the drivel about Satan being a liberal, which he would be, along with Jesus. One is a libertarian, one is a leftist. I think you which one sold his social liberties soul for tax cuts.

A lot, and I mean a lot, of liberal relief groups are a sham, as are many on the right. Lonely points out Make Poverty History as an example of one of these groups. I have to admit, I have no idea who these people are or if they do any good. The lesson here is to research any aid group you want to donate to before you drop any coin.

Don't hate back on the haters. I remember a time before discord replaced discourse when the left and the right all went drinking together after work, and the moonbats readers are people I really enjoy pissing off anyway.

Becoming Irrelevant

Commenter jk pointed out this AP photo. That's Bill Moyer, 73 watching Bush speak at a VFW, the last place Bush can speak without being heckled. This tour is kinda like watching an aging rock band that used to play arenas, but can now only half fill small clubs. Perhaps Whitesnake opened, perhaps Bush opened for Whitesnake.

Fuck CNN

How can CNN run this story about Pat Robertson!? Robertson says he was misinterpreted on his Hugo Chavez comments. CNN printed this stupid drivel Robertson said today:

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" program.

Only that's not what Robertson said on the 700 Club Monday, he said this:

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson on Monday's program. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

Watch the video here.

I don't know how you can parse what Robertson said in any way but a calling for the US government to assassinate Chavez. Who at CNN is pushing Robertson's misinterpretation story virtually unchallenged? What happened to the good old days when the truth trumped hackery?

Pat Robertson is truly a looney bin fuckwit who says looney bin fuckwit shit all the time, usually without being challenged. This is a good example of what happens when he is. Networks go running to hide.

G-Mail

If anyone wants a G-mail account, I just realized that I have 50 invites. Just E-mail me at phlipsrants@gmail.com

The $34,000 Question, Day Three

Bob Ney's press secretary has yet to get back to me as promised about how Ney won $34,000 in a London casino. By the way, a staffer from Ney's office has visited this site the last two days.

Record Of The Week

This week's record of the week is the debut by the Rakes called Capture/Release. I like the album a lot but this review from Amazon.co.uk made this the record of the week.

"If you can get past the well trodden Cockney regionalist path, and the lack of originality, then this album is a real gem."

Pretty ringing endorsement.

Worst Lie Ever

My bullshit meter is pretty good, but I didn't need it for this. A supplier just informed me that some parts I had ordered have had their delivery date pushed back into November because of a two week long National holiday in Canada in which the entire country shuts down. Ridiculous.

Normandy

Joe in DC notes at Americablog that George Allen and George Bush both compared Iraq to the Normandy Invasion recently. Allen said on NBC News Sunday, "It's somewhat akin to the Normandy Invasion in World War II."

The battle of Normandy killed 53,000+ Allied soldiers. Better find another meme, ASAP. I hope they're wrong.

Pat Robertson

Since Pat Robertson has called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. I decided to dig up some info on him. I managed to pick up a double secret copy of the Bible, Pat Robertson version © 2005. Here is a list of the Ten Commandments, Pat Robertson style.

1. Thou shalt not have alternative energies before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any checks to Falwell, 700 Clubs ain't cheap.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of George Bush thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy, keep it real, keep it real holy n' shit.
5. Thou shalt fear sharks. Sharks, bitches, sharks.
6. Thou shalt not kill those who don't possess your oil.
7. Thou shalt not committ adultery with one's White House intern, other bitches OK.
8. Thou shalt not steal from the top 2% of wage earners. (U.S. only)
9. Thou shalt fleece old women to fuel a right wing television network.
10. Thou shalt not covet Dear Leader's daughters, either Jenna or Fat Jenna. Well, especially Fat Jenna.

Just thought you might want a look into Robertson's mind.

Nancy Grace

Just when you think nightly cable news can't get anymore hacktacular, Nancy Grace pushes the envelope even farther. Last night Grace, the proprietor of all things missing, white, and female, ran a little segment where Jordan whatever the hell his name is from Aruba was portrayed with dark images while the Friday the 13th music played in the background. I'm not sure it meant to be, but it was ludicrously funny.

If you haven't seen the Nancy Grace show, it is a court TV style crapfest where every defendant is guilty until proven innocent, every cop and judge is a fuck-up, every juror who acquits any defendant is scum of the earth, and no stone goes unturned to find any missing white women.

She sits behind a desk, so I'm not sure whether or not she actually wears jackboots.

Because All Of Your Oil Belongs To Jesus

I just got done watching Pat Robertson advocate wacking Hugo Chavez. Isn't one of those commandment thingies Thou shalt not kill? Maybe Robertson's bible reads Thou shalt not kill those who don't possess your oil. It's hard to sleep at night knowing these freaks have the ear of the most powerful person on the planet.

Ouch

I believe the term is Santorumed.

Absolutely Correct

Go read this post by Digby. It is perfect.

10 Point Plan

Juan Cole has a ten point plan to get us out of Iraq, and it's pretty strong. Unfortunately, I don't think it is possible with the current administration, and I know it is not possible with the current draft of their constitution. It is gonna get a lot uglier there in the near future.

Site Meter

Site Meter just informed me that I got a couple of hits from a staffer on the Hill Hmm, I wonder what congressman they work for? I think I know. Problem is not going to go away by ignoring it, Bob. It's the only issue folks in the district are talking about.

Bob Ney

Just called Bob Ney's Washington office for details on the $34,000 win in London. Press secretary is supposed to call me back.

Geek Stuff

Hat tips to reader jk. You are the 2,000th visitor to this site. Confetti, streamers, and all that shit. We'll send you the game show sized check in the mail.

Monday

I have a horrible hangover today, so don't expect much. I didn't watch the Sunday talkies yesterday, but Atrios did and apparently Mike Allen of the Washington Post said this stupid shit:

However, Cindy Sheehan's gone but the camp up here is even bigger. More and more people are coming from around the country. They now have this enormous setup, Camp Casey. Used to be a couple pup tents, now it's this enormous--we call it the Cirque du Soleil tent with eight spikes, catered meals, a Cindy shuttle, a peace shuttle that takes people up and down the mountain. Right now it's PETA, hippies, Naderites. The question is, if it becomes the Little League dads, Pop Warner moms, then the White House has a big problem.

I think that if I was a panelist on that show it would have ended in a fistfight. I'm really pissed off about this, and I'm not really sure why. He's partially right, but he's also painfully wrong. At least they have a solution. Kevin Drum the other day asked for solutions on Iraq from the liberal community, well here are the facts. It's over, we lost, get over it. Given our current leadership, it was never winnable. Right now, it would take about a million and a half troops to pacify the situation in Iraq. Ain't gonna happen, period. So what are the doable choices?

There is really only one. We gotta run and try to make friends with whoever ends up on top. Any other way to go is simply a path to futility that will be paved with the blood of US soldiers.

Blogger oddity: The horrible Blogger spell check suggested that I replace talkies with dialysis.
.

RIP

Like the New Order song says, We're like crystal, we break easy. Thus is the fragility of human life. Last night, my friend T (I don't use full names on this blog) was killed in a car wreck. Rest in peace, mutherfucker. By the time I get to hell, I'm sure you will running that joint like a well oiled spa. I'll meet you at the mud bath.

For the locals, this is not the friend I always simply refer to as T.

Shout Out To JC

The General has a pretty funny post where he offers to help out the Ohio republican party. It's too late for ethics classes, perhaps Bob Bennett should call the General to have these courses offered instead.

Their Stories Don't Match

Bob Taft says he found out about the Noe coin fund in April of this year. Tom Noe's lawyer says his client briefed Taft in May of 2001. One of them is lying, but I don't know which one. Both have very good reasons to lie, and I can't really get a read on who's telling the truth.

Blogspam

Every once in a while Blogger picks your blog and directs people to your site. It's called a blogswarm and you usually get about twenty hits out of it. One of the problems with this is that the comments get filled with blogspam. There are people out there that simply click from blog to blog cutting and pasting crappy ads for generally crappy products. If you read the comments on this site that is what all of the deleted comments are.

Side note: I still don't understand why the Blogger spellcheck doesn't recognize the word blog.

Odd

On CNN Daybreak, they always do a good morning...insert a US city here... tower cam shot of that city. For the last month or so, it has been Miami every day, save one that was Tampa. It's not for the beautiful sunrise, the sun isn't even up there yet. I wonder if they bought the rights to a local Miami station's tower camera for a set period of time when the sandstorm hit last month and are too cheap to buy others.

House Party

Do you know what a lis pendens is? No, you probably don't, unless you have been caught growing pot on your property. A lis pendems is a notice that the federal government files when they are preparing to seize your property. A current member of congress has had one filed against him. Care to take a guess?

It's Duke Cunningham, I guess he isn't going to get liquid anytime soon. From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"Please take notice," the document reads, "that a civil lawsuit is now pending in the United States District Court . . . which involves title to (Cunningham's house)."

The notice goes on to say: "The general object of the lawsuit is to forfeit to the United States the defendant property in that said property constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to a violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 201. . . . "

Title 18, Section 201 pertains to bribery, graft and conflicts of interest.

When it comes to entitled royalty, I'm not sure where in the line of succession to the thrown the Duke of cellblock D falls.

Home Town Sports Hackery

I just saw local sportscaster Jeff Hogan say that Clippers player Joe Thurston "clinched it" with a game tying home run in the seventh inning.

Joe Sulzer

I'd like to throw a shout out to Joe Sulzer, the mayor of my childhood hometown who threw his hat in the ring to take on the ethically challenged Bob Ney in the Ohio-18 race. This race will probably be the ugliest race in history, with both candidates throwing daggers all the way through.

Fuck it, Ill throw the first one. The Ney story that he won $34,000 off a one hundred dollar bet in a London casino doesn't pass the smell test. I can't think of a way that this is statistically possible, and I know a lot about casino gambling. Ney needs to explain this. Especially since he met with Nigel Winfield at the same casino earlier. Winfield, a three time felon, was trying to enlist Ney's help to sell planes to the Middle East.

First of all, I'd like to say that the following is speculation. I can't prove any of this, yet. Why would Winfield look to Ney for help? Because of Ney's relationship with scandal pal Jack Abramoff, who at the time was in the employ of Saleh Abdullah Kamel, chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks. Kamel was well placed to facilitate the sales Winfield was looking for, and Ney is much, much cheaper than the couple million Abramoff would have charged. I'd really like to see the cage receipts from that casino at the time Ney claims he won the money.

I'm pretty sure Ney's winnings were a straight cash money bribe from Winfield.

Ron O'Brien

Just in case you're wondering why I refer to Ron O'Brien as the Ghoul

Newsweek

Hey, check it out. Newsweek gives me some link love.

Sherrod Brown

Cocktease extraordinaire Sherrod Brown will not run for the Ohio Senate seat soon to be vacated by Mike Dewine. Sherrod could have won this race in his sleep. I guess he doesn't want to be Senator.

What gets me though is not the fact that he repeatedly passes on races he could win, but that he continually hints that he will run cutting other candidates off at the knees. What a fuckwit. He needs to learn the advise I gave a friend of mine thinking about a judicial run. Don't stick your toe in the water if you don't expect to get your fucking hair wet.

Brown also said he will join the leadership of Ted Strickland's gubernatorial campaign. This is a definite non plus for the Coleman campaign as it signals that DC establishment Dems are moving in line behind Strickland. With the Ohio Dems in DC, so goes Sherrod, so goes the Congressional delegation.

This will seriously hamper Coleman in two ways. First, it will definitely hamper his fund raising ability. Secondly, with the field clear now, Tim Ryan will probably run for Dewine's seat. Having Ryan in that race will help Strickland as well. Coleman is now running an uphill race as the outside candidate.

Taft

Bob Taft will appear in court today to plea no contest to four first degree misdemeanors. Taft had the bad luck of drawing Mark Froelich, a Democratic judge, in the case. I am sure Taft has already arranged a deal with the Ghoul, though. More after the sentencing.

Just finished watching the trial. Taft looked like the lost child he really is, thought he was pretty close to dropping a tear or two. The plea bargaining agreement left the sentencing completely up to the judge, and Froelich talked about the potential for jail time. Instead, Froelich settled for the maximum fine of $4,000 plus court costs and, are you ready for this, Taft has to make a sincere apology to the people of Ohio and E-mail it to them by the means of every media outlet in Ohio within seven days. Taft has already paid full restitution for the gifts he received.

To answer jk's question in the comments. The reason Taft did not face fifty-two charges is that the deal was in place before the charges were filed. This is pretty common in cases that involve a pattern of criminal activity, usually drug charges. The prosecutor lessens the number of charges for an assured guilty plea.

Anger, Piss, Fury

Lotsa stuff to get into today including Taft v. Ghoul, Sherrod v. Testicles, and Sheehan v. Bush. Time to get a little ranty.

Taft To Be Charged

Ron "Ghoul" O'Brien is holding a three o'clock presser to announce four charges against Bob Taft. Taft will be charged with four first degree misdemeanor counts of ethics violations punishable by up to $1,000 fine and six months in jail per count. Look for Taft to plea and pay.

Interesting note that I didn't know about the Ohio Constitution. This is an impeachable offense even without conviction, although I don't look for that to happen. But, you never know, Taft's approval numbers are similar to Pol Pot's, and it might be a good tactical move for Ohio republicans to chalk the keel with him. That would start the meme that they are sweeping the graft out of Ohio.

Don't buy that if they try to sell it to you. Ohio republicans come around at election time to pat you on the back, then they return to Columbus to stab you in the back.

I'm half way home, I wonder if I win that free lunch bet times four if he is convicted on all counts.

Moe Update

St. James Davis has been released from the hospital. I first wrote about him in this May 24th post. He was mauled by two chimps while visiting their former pet chimp Moe. He has endured twelve surgeries and a doctor induced coma since the attack. His wife was on Good Morning America today and had this to say, "He has a good attitude and to bring him home I think will help him emotionally. This will bring him the ability to heal inside and outside a lot faster." What a couple of dopes.

BTW, is this post the blogging equivalent to a lousy clip show in television?

Nut Job Christians, We Got Them Too

Joseph Williams' letter to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch proves a point. Yep, we got them too, there are nut job Christians on the left as well as the right. Williams is distraught that the state of Ohio would promote fishing as a wholesome activity. From the Dispatch:

Fish experience fear and pain as others do. There is nothing Christian about dragging one of God's creatures through the water by a hook embedded in the roof of its mouth. There is nothing merciful about laying the victim on the ground to slowly suffocate.

The man probably feels he is being compassionate by turning loose his damaged prey. But if he touches the fish with his dry hands before releasing it, he has condemned it to a lingering death by rubbing off its protective layer of mucus. The fish will be attacked by a fungus at the contact site and will rot to death. When Christians decide to treat all of God's children with compassion, including animals he blessed with conscious life, then they will begin to understand his love.

Didn't Jesus do the whole fishes and loaves thing? Maybe he is referring to the Bush quote "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

One thing it does show is that we on the left value life, while those on the right only value control over life.

Jean Charles de Menezes

Oops, London police must have forgot that the British media aren't quite the compliant bitches that the American media have become. Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot to death by London police wasn't wearing a heavy coat, didn't jump the turnstile, and wasn't running from the police. I'm sure the police panicked when they put seven between the eyes of an innocent man and released that jumble of misstatements to buy time.

Here in America, that would have been the end of it. In fact, the triggerman would probably get nightly reach arounds from the cable news outlets and the government would spin to the mouth piece print media that de Menezes was actually al-Qaeda's number three man. We catch a lot of number threes.

It's a shame the Guardian doesn't have an American national daily.

Yet Another Abramoff Scandal

Did Jack Abramoff ever find any time to do anything that wasn't illegal? We know about Sun Cruz. We know about the Native American Casinos. Now we know about Tyco. Abramoff took $3.2 million form Tyco in lobbying fees to protect their offshore tax haven status. At some time I'll go on about tax havens, but not today. What did Tyco get for their money?

Nothing, absolutely nothing. Abramoff did no work and simply diverted the grassroots campaign money to other projects. Abramoff's law firm has agreed to pay back the $1.5 million from this part of the theft.

Keyhole is getting smaller Jack, better start flipping some big names quick.

Overheard From A Hillbilly

On my way to work today, I stopped at a carryout. The man in front of me was scraping together his last bit of change to buy an ATV mag. After his purchase he said aloud,"Thank God Bush is president, that fucking cocksucker." Wow, these are the people that live and die (some of them quite literally) for George Bush. Maybe there is a lot more republican blood in the water than I had previously thought. Next summer, we swim with the sharks.

Sharks!, bitches, sharks!

Things Your Parents Would Say

Senator Diane Feinstein as relayed by Andrew Rasiej at TPM Cafe:

"Senator Daschle, the Internet is full of pornography and pedophilia, and until that's clean up, I don't think the Senate should be on the Internet."

I like Diane Feinstein, and let's face it, there are not a lot of technocrats on the Hill, but this is an incredibly silly statement. I wonder how many other Senators in that caucus thought the same thing, but didn't speak up?

Update: From the comments, very funny.

jk...
Yea, I try not to use the internet either. I hear you can get worms and my dog had that one time. It just did not look like fun.

Iraq: Good News And Bad News

The was good and bad news out of Iraq in the past twenty four hours. First the good news. Four Sunni tribes in Ramadi decided to fight against Salafis under control of Abu Musab Zarqawi. The Salafis (mostly foreigners) had posted warnings for the 3,000 Shia to leave Ramadi which stepped on the home town pride of the citizens of Ramadi. From the Washington Post:

"We have had enough of his nonsense," said Sheik Ahmad Khanjar, leader of the Albu Ali clan, referring to Zarqawi. "We don't accept that a non-Iraqi should try to enforce his control over Iraqis, regardless of their sect -- whether Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs or Kurds.''

At least Zarqawi is making some of the same mistakes Bush is making.

This is a promising development. I really think that the only way out of this mess is going to be through progress made through tribal societies. As I've written before, the Iraqi situation somewhat mirrors the 1980's LA gang problems. Think of us as the cops, the Sunni as the Bloods, and the Shia as the Crips. The tribes and clans are the sets and subsets of the Bloods and Crips.

Now the bad news. There is a sniper on the loose in South Baghdad. Depending on who you believe, he has killed anywhere from two to twelve US soldiers and wounded six. From the Guardian:

"He's good," said Specialist Travis Burress, 22, a sniper with the 1-64 battalion based in Camp Rustamiyah. "Every time we dismount I'm sure everyone has got him in the back of their minds. He's a serious threat to us."

Soldiers have named the unknown sniper Juba. Hope you guys find him soon. I actually thought there would be a lot more of this, but maybe when you are a hard line dictator, you don't want a lot of well trained snipers out there that could shoot you.

One last thing, does anyone know how this guy came to be known as Juba? Is it an acronym or something, or does it refer to jubbah, which is a long coat worn in the region?

Now I Get It

The Universe is a very complex thing that I have finally become able to comprehend, thusly I now announce my conversion to Flying Spaghetti Monsterism.

All praises be to Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Seriously, go read the link if you want a good laugh.

Not One Word

Am I the only person that couldn't understand a single word Julia Reed said on The Chris Matthews Show today? Everything she said sounded marble mouthed. Apparently she is funny, all the other panelists laughed at what must have been jokes she made.

He's Number One

With the Ohio Ethics Commission turning its findings over to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron "Ghoul" O'Brien, Governor Bob Taft is poised to become the first Ohio Governor in our two hundred and two year history to be convicted of a crime while in office.

Way to go Bob! Now your legacy won't simply be as the most inept governor in Ohio's history, but also as the most corrupt.

Since Taft won't resign, the Ghoul should put him under house arrest to prevent him from doing any more damage to the state before next year's election.

Live Boy, Dead Girl. Well, Underage Girl

Oh Arnold, don't you understand that $21,000 doesn't buy a very big bag to keep the cat in? Arnold's friends at American Media paid two women that sum as hush money to cover the fact that he had sex with Gigi Goyette, who was sixteen at the time.

The weird thing about this is that most accounts I've read of this story focus on the immoral affair, and not thee illegal statutory rape.

Either way, I don't think we'll be seeing Arnold speaking at any future Republican National Conventions.

Limbo Time

How low can you go? How low can you go? The White House is dramatically shifting the goalposts on Iraq down. I have a feeling that by the time we're through with this fool's folly, you will have to be in Circe De Soleil to get under the "desired" outcome.

This is playing out exactly like I thought it would back in 2003. My main opposition to the Iraq War was that this administration would completely fuck it up. Guess what, they did. I can't wait until Tuesday when Larry Diamond's book comes out that detail the shortcomings of the CPA. I wonder what he will have to say about the Heritage Foundation dipshits that populated the CPA.

This goalpost shifting comes just one week after White House spokesman Trent Duffy said, "Many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission." Does not completing the original mission dishonor their ultimate sacrifice? Does it make their cause less noble? Or is that shit just not focus grouping very well these days?

Don't get me wrong, the soldiers that have died in Iraq have died for their country, and that is as noble a cause as there can be, but Bush has dishonored not only the fallen, but those who are still serving by entering into this clusterfuck with no plan whatsoever and doing it for political means.

Ginsters

During the day, I listen to XFM out of London, England. So, I've been hearing these commercials for a product called Ginsters Slices. I couldn't figure what the hell they were, so I checked out the website. Um, yuck!

Ginsters makes a variety of meat / pastry, I guess you would call them food products, that our sold in gas stations and such like the Scotch Egg Bar, the Cornish Roll, or the Pepper Steak Slice.

They all basically are some sort of minced meat, potato, onion, and swede (rutabaga root) wrapped in some sort pastry.

Do Brits actually eat this?

Question

One simple question: Would the Pentagon have enough brass tacks to reject Cindy Sheehan's application to participate in their little 9/11 walk?

Two Men, One Woman

My, oh my

how the poetry will fly

when two gentlemen vie

to catch the twinkle of one woman's eye

.

From the Other Paper's You Caught My Eye section:

.

TOPLESS WOMAN IN EASTON FOUNTAIN. Can't stop thinking about you. You drive the red BMW, plates NADM? Please call me!É748085

EASTON FOUNTAIN HOTTIE taking a topless swim. Nice boots—nicer booty. You Mistress Monica, Me your obedient slave. É748091

Freedom March

Digby catches something I missed while teasing the Pentagon about the absurdity of their upcoming march to the National Mall for a circle jerk. There are no less than four media outlets participating as sponsors of this propaganda fiasco.

Abramoff Indicted

Today has got to be a little unsettling if you are a powerful republican in DC. The glue that holds their house of cards together was indicted yesterday in Fort Lauderdale. Abramoff is looking at up to thirty years in prison for his role in the purchase of Sun Cruz Casinos, a Florida based company that operates a fleet of casino boats. The deal soured with previous Sun Cruz owner Gus Boulis claiming fellow Abramoff indictee Adam Kidan was mobbed up. Kidan's business mentor was a known associate of the Gambino crime family. Boulis took three in the chest for his troubles.

Abramoff is still facing future charges from his dealings with Indian casinos with substantial jail time from those dealings.

That's a lot of time at the graybar hotel, but Abramoff has two get out of jail free cards. One of the keys that can free him is the key to the closet where all the skeletons are hidden. Who has skeleton hidden in that closet? Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, and Michael Scanlan just to name a few.

Abramoff could probably spring himself by dishing the dirt on those five and probably some others.

The second path to freedom does involve some jail time. Abramoff could keep his mouth shut and hope for a presidential pardon three and a half years from now. Then again, Bush may very well throw him over the boat. Unlike most, I see loyalty to Bush as a one way street. Pretty risky way to go. Abramoff could still use the skeleton key if not pardoned, but who knows if it will still hold any value?

Abramoff walked the walk, will he now talk the talk?

Update: I forgot to include Conrad Burns in the Abramoff dish list. I also read at TPM that Abramoff might have already tried to cut a deal, but it was rejected.

Kansas Caves, Will Teach Witchcraft In Science Class

The State Board of Education of Kansas has adopted a policy that will allow the teaching of intelligent design in science classes. The board will make a final vote in the next couple of months, but it is a done deal. Nothing like turning the clock back to the days when Kansas was a dirthole.

Board member, and ID proponent Kathy Martin had this to say, "I'm ecstatic, this paves the way for us to turn out generation after generation of students with barely enough knowledge to cash their federal farm subsidy checks."

Kansas Senator Sam Brownshirt, I mean Brownback chimed in as well, "This effectively ends the stem cell debate in Kansas. We aren't going to be turning out anybody even remotely smart enough to participate in that kind of research."

In other Board news, math will now be taught with Roman Numerals, and all composition courses will be taught in hieroglyphics.

Bad Pimping NYT

Does anyone else find it odd that in the last week both Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman wrote articles promoting free WI-FI in a newspaper that is prepared to put their columns behind a paid subscription wall next month? And was John Tierney really advocating legalizing meth yesterday?

Goosestepping Recommended, Not Required

To mark the anniversary of 9/11, the Pentagon is planning a march from the Pentagon to the National Mall where a Clint Black concert will be held. No, this is not a joke. You are not reading the Onion. Ah, what better way to celebrate, er, commemorate, er, use the victims of 9/11. The war is going bad in Iraq and now we know the Pentagon's solution is to get some hillbillies together for a concert.

Also, and again I have to say, I'm not joking. Registration is required to participate in the march, and there is no same day registration. It's unclear whether or not marchers will be impressed into the military.

The march is called the America Supports Your Freedom March, too bad we don't support ours.

Iran

Iran has restarted their nuclear facility at Isfahan. Negotiations broke down on Saturday with Iran refusing the Europeans final proposal for incentives to keep the reactor closed. The Washington Post has a lead editorial about it today. I'm not sure I buy the Post's take on this.

The Post claims that this rejection is tantamount to Iran choosing bombs over jobs. I think the Iranians are trying to get the Europeans to sweeten the pot. After all, if they were going the bomb making route, why would they invite additional IAEA inspectors and install cameras to monitor their activities? That doesn't mean the world community should coddle the Iranians though. The IAEA should refer this matter to the UN Security Council, but the Europeans should continue negotiations. It is unclear whether sanctions could be legally imposed, but carrots always work better when backed up with sticks.

Shut Up, Chavez

Hugo Chavez, speaking at the World Festival of Students and Youth had the following to say, "If someday they get the crazy idea of coming to invade us, we'll make them bite the dust defending the freedom of our land." Shut up! I've been to Venezuela before and this just isn't true.

It does show another Bush foreign policy failure, though. When world leaders who should be our friends are standing in front of crowds ranting against us, you gotta wonder what the fuck the administration is thinking. Here is a non Middle East source of oil that we are alienating and oil going for the mid sixties these days.

Also, not looking for a CITGO boycott here in the US, so Chavez, please shut up.

Hogweed

The giant hogweed has invaded Ohio. This stuff grows to be fifteen feet tall and can cause 2nd degree burns or splotches that last for years if touched. How can something this caustic be in the carrot family?

The plant, from the Caucasus Mountains in Asia was imported to the US at the beginning of the last century as a garden plant. I'm sure the locals had a pretty good chuckle as some dumbass packed this stuff off.

Whining About Wine

The NYT has a story today about Leo McClosky, a chemist that specializes in the wine industry. His company, Enologix, analyzes the chemical make-up of grapes to inform vintner how to get their wines to score in the nineties. The net result is wine become more homogeneous, and lose their sense of terroir. It's an interesting read.

Sexism

In the post below this one I take a shot at Bush with a sexist joke. On another website, one that get a hell of a lot more traffic than this one, I was called out on that fact. That's fine, it is a sexist joke, and I, as the author, am in the position of being absolutely sure of my intent. One reader said that despite being a feminist, it made her laugh. There was some mild criticism and one bizarre defense. kn74 posted this in my defense

The joke was about coming of age and (Bush's lack of) maturity.

Wow, talk about reading a lot into something fairly straight forward. I am clearly simply calling Bush a little girl as a way to portray him as weak.

On My Mind

I've got a lot of shit floating around in my mind today, some of which I will post here in the next few days. First of all, I would like to throw shout outs to Cindy Sheehan, Gary Berntsen, and Peter Jennings.

Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, is currently holding a vigil outside Bush's Crawford ranch, where our CIC is currently in hiding. I think we can all concede now that when it comes to manliness, Bush is still waiting to get his first period.

Gary Berntsen was the field commander for the CIA's Jawbreaker team in Afghanistan. These are the guys that had OBL pinned down in Tora Bora. He cuts Rumsfeld's throat in an upcoming book that is awaiting clearance from the CIA.

Finally, RIP Peter Jennings. He was one of the few telejournalists that could actually think.

Update: Cindy Sheehan has been told her group will be arrested starting Thursday as a national security threat.

Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps has found some new venues to hold his anti-homosexual demonstrations. Phelps, who previously demonstrated at the funerals of 9/11 firemen and policemen, is now picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers. He claims that their deaths are proof that God hates homosexuality and is punishing America for allowing it to continue. I tlooks like Phelps is coming to picket the Marine Base in Brook Park on Tuesday. What a fuckwit!

Phelps is a dumbass old man who will find out shortly there is no God so fuck him. What I want to know is who funds this asshole. Going around the country doing this costs some serious coin.

Melt Down

Click here to watch Bob Novak melt down and walk off the set of CNN's Inside Politics. I'm sure social conservatives will be in a hugh uproar over Novak saying bullshit on the air. Ha!

Game getting to you, Bob?

Delusions of Grandeur

Apparently, frequent steroid use will enlarge your head. Jose Conseco on Hardball last night

CANSECO: I took a lot of heat when the book first came out. Nobody believed that it was the truth. But, definitely, if you look at the timing of it all, it seemed like Congress knew this book was coming out. Congress waited to see what the content of the book “Juiced” were to actually take action.

Once they read the book, they saw that some of the contents actually matched what their investigation had said in the past. Certain FBI individuals have been investigating Major League Baseball for, I think, 10 years now. Congress took action once they saw the combinations matched.

Too bad he doesn't know anything about insurgencies.

Contest

I've decided to hold my first contest with a prize. The winner will get an official Phlip's Rants™ T-shirt. Keep in mind, this will not be a commercially silk-screened or anything like that. It will simply be an Old Navy Tee that I'm going to write on with a magic marker.

So, riddle me this, what will be the last day CNN puts up a Natalee Holloway missing day ________.

Fill in this blank correctly to win the crappy prize I'm offering. Use the comments to reply.

Cincinnati Enquirer

The online version of the Cincinnati Enquirer gave this blog a mention yesterday in a tracking the blogs thing about the OH-02 race. Too bad they picked up on such an inconsequential post.

I'm still stunned that Blogger's spell checker doesn't recognize the word blog.

The Next Election

With the special election behind us, I thought I'd run down the people and causes I'm supporting in November. They are Sam Herd for Cincinnati City Council, Maryellen O'Shaughnessy for Columbus City Council, Mary Jo Hudson for Columbus City Council, Kevin Boyce for Columbus City Council, and the Reform Ohio Now amendment to the Ohio Constitution.

OH-02, What Does It Mean?

The Ohio special election for the 2nd congressional district is over. Jean Schmidt has defeated Paul Hackett by a slim margin. So, what does this all mean? Let’s take a look at some of the numbers and the consequences of the race.

Schmidt won by 3,573 votes with 112,375 votes cast. That puts voter turnout somewhere in the mid twenties. I had thought before the election that a twenty percent turnout was probably the breaking point for Hackett, and I correctly predicted the 52-48 victory for Schmidt. This may turn out to be a plus for the Democratic Party hinging on whether or not a statewide election reform amendment passes in November.

If Paul Hackett had won, even with incumbency on his side, he would have surely lost next year with an expected 45-55% turnout. There are simply too many republicans in this district. If the election reform passes this fall, redistricting will take place in 2007. It’s unlikely the republican party will try to take her out in 2006, so Schmidt will be sitting as a vulnerable candidate in 2008. I’d rather have a weak Schmidt sitting in that seat when redistricting is done rather than some other republican.

Even if election reform doesn’t pass this fall, having a weak Schmidt in office prevents the republican party from using this office as a bench builder. Schmidt is never going to be able to run statewide, and should keep republican up and comers out of this seat for a few terms.

I don’t have a breakdown of voter turnout yet so I don’t know how much vote leakage republicans suffered in this race, but it really doesn’t matter. The conventional wisdom is that this race was much closer than expected due to voter backlash at the corrupt republican party. This should do two things. First, it should make it a little harder for the republicans to fill out their statewide ticket next year with quality candidates. Secondly, it should embolden some of our better candidates to run. I’m talking to you, Sherod Brown. Get off your ass and into the Senate race. If you do, Dewine is toast.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the role of the net roots in this campaign. The blogosphere was in full celebration last night and this morning, and rightly so. We made this election a close race. It does, however; show that the net roots is still in its infancy. This was one special election, and I doubt we could have gotten Hackett this close in a normal general election of which there are 438 next year. We are making great strides though, and we are gathering power. Where do we go from here? Much discussion is needed to decide that.

As for myself, for now I personally believe we should steer clear of D.C. funded races. We should use our efforts to fill in the gaps left by providing money and manpower to races discarded by D.C. Sure, D trip, and the DNC et al will take the plums, but we will pick from the pits to plant the trees that will be the future of the Democratic Party.

Bill Moss Dies

This afternoon, Bill Moss died at Riverside Hospital. The long time Columbus School Board member was recovering from a stroke suffered last week while on vacation in Pennsylvania. Moss will mainly be remembered for his crazy antics at school board meetings.

He often wore camouflage fatigues to school board meetings, and once brought a meeting to a halt with a Khrushchev style shoe banging. Whether you hated him or liked him, he did make watching school board meetings fun, and that is virtually impossible.

Paul Hackett Day

Today is the day. OH-02 Democrats, get out and vote. The Hackett campaign is reporting that they have around 800 volunteers in the district. That's simply amazing for a house race. For more on what's going today check out Tracy Joan's diary on KOS

Ski Ohio

Wax up your skis, it looks like we are now fully on the slippery slope that leads to the jackassery that is California state politics. Last year, the state of Ohio passed the asinine ban on gay marriage. This year it appears we will have three statewide referendums. One for the Third Frontier project, and two competing redistricting programs.

Hey, ballot initiatives and amendments for everyone! This is going to lead to the clusterfuck that has infected California, where the ballot is full of popular initiatives that are terrible for the state. While these three seem to be solid ideas, though I don't trust the republican led election reform amendment, what will inevitably follow are usually disasters.

Look for unfunded state mandates, and goofy tax reforms to follow. If you're looking for forced state funding for your pet project, put together a flowery sounding state wide initiative today. Oh, and don't bother with providing a way to fund it

Ask And You Shall Receive

Bob Brigham sent out a plea to the blogging community today to raise $30,000 to fund Paul Hackett's GOTV for tomorrow. It looks like that mark has been hit. This race is going to be very close so if you happen to live in OH-02 get out and vote for Paul Hackett tomorrow.

This race should have never been this close. OH-02 is around a 64% republican district, but in the primary the two leading republican candidates nuked each other allowing Schmidt to sneak in the backdoor. She is a fairly weak candidate, so we caught a break there. Hackett has also done a great job in this race.

If you want to throw Hackett some coin go here.

Palmeiro Suspended

Rafael Palmeiro has been suspended 10 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. I just heard a prepared statement read by the Orioles announcers. Palmeiro now say he never knowingly took steroids. I don't know what drug he failed for so I'm going to withhold judgment for now.

Weekend Roundup

I played golf yesterday at Darby Creek near Marysville. I had the best ball striking day in several years, but bad luck and a piss poor short game conspired against me. Despite hitting the ball very well, I threw up a huge number. Can't believe I hit it like that and threw up a trip digit. What a frustrating game.