Record Of The Week

Warnings // Promises by Idlewild. I've long been of fan of the Scottish rock band Idlewild. I wish their record company would have American releases. $23.99 is a lot for a CD, but Amazon has some used ones so definitely try to pick this one up.

Thomas Friedman's Gas Tax

Thomas Friedman was all over TV this weekend advocating that the US government fix gas prices at $4.00 per gallon. His was pushing his new book The World Is Flat. I have yet to read the book (I hope to knock it out this week). While I almost always agree with Friedman's goals, I virtually never agree with his ideas of how to get there.

In this Grist article he suggests that the poor and middle class would get a gas rebate at the end of the year. Do you really think people living check to check can afford to float the US government a loan until they get their rebate? And how are they going to recover the higher prices they will have to pay for food and other goods. This is a dumb idea. If you want to push the American people into using less fuel, there are less painful ways to do this.

I would start by not only eliminating the tax break you get for buying vehicles that weigh more than 6000 pounds, but replacing it with a higher sales tax on those vehicles. Offer instantaneous tax breaks for buying a hybrid. The car dealer knocks off 15% of the cost of the car and recovers that money from the US government. We also should implement higher standards for gas mileage.

Now, we are going to need to gradually raise the gas tax due to lost revenue for state and federal highway funding that will be lost due to better mileage. I don't like the Oregon proposal of switching to a per mile tax, though. Any form of taxation that will recover lost highway funds needs to be pay as you go. You can't send people a large bill when the renew their license plates.

As for Friedman's assertions that this would force democratization in the Arab world, I think he's nuts. The emerging Asian markets will keep the the emirs flush with cash. But if it gets the idiotic neo-cons on board, fine.

The Beginning Of The End For Delay

This weekend Rep. Chris Shays R-CT and Sen. Rick Santorum R-PA both took to the airways to voice their concerns over Tom Delay R-HELL. Delay can easily brush these two off. His problem is that the guy who has all the inside skinny on Delay, Jack Abramoff, is pissed at Delay. Check out this quote from next week's Newsweek.

"Those S.O.B.s," Abramoff said last week about DeLay and his staffers, according to his luncheon companion. "DeLay knew everything. He knew all the details."

Abramoff is also facing potential federal charges for fraud over his dealings with Native-American Tribes. Abramoff has retained Abbie Lowell, one of the best lawyers in D.C. Look for Lowell to trade the Delay dirt for Abramoff's freedom. Don't get me wrong, Abramoff is scum. Sometimes you gotta take the lesser of two evils.

Dot...Dot...Dot

In honor of Larry King's former Monday USA Today Column I bring you Dot...Dot...Dot

Carmilla, what is that a porcupine on your head...Thanks to those Google Foolgles I now know that its National Library Week. This internet thing might catch on yet...It seems more people are side stepping to Pinot Noir after seeing the movie Sideways...Ouch, the record of note finds an incriminating note...That crazy Sumatra just can't stop shaking...Snow Ho Ho, blustery blizzard blasts Denver. April is no time for snow...Looks like Sunday still belongs to Tiger...Is Brad Pitt completely fucking nuts? How can you say no to Angelina?...I've got to get me one of these sweet rides...That's all for this week

Pat Obrien On Tape

If you want to hear the answering machine messages that sent Pat Obrien to rehab, check this out. Warning, this is not work safe. Wow, apparently Pat really likes to get crazy.

Dean Worthington Of Hilliard, Fuck Off

Dean Worthington's letter to the editor in today's Dispatch not only reeks of soft racism, he is dead wrong on the facts. The fact that the Dipatch ran this at all is bad enough, but the fact that they ran it as the lead letter is an example of poor judgement. Forcing people to show ID at polling locations does in fact suppress votes, but not for the reasons you think. The suppression occurs across all races due to education level. It's not because African-Americans fear arrest as most bigots think. Your use of "others" is obviously making that reference. What's the matter Dean, don't you think poll workers can tell African-Americans apart? Oh, and how many fucking times do you think people who waited five hours in line voted? It makes me glad that I live in the city where I don't often have to deal with stupid hillbilly fuckwits like Mr. Worthington.

Thinking Out Loud

In John Paul II's will he asks that all of his personal notes be burned. Whatever you thought of him, he was third longest serving member of a 2000 year old organization which makes you a great historical figure. Historians would love to pour over these note, so why did he order them burned? Perhaps he had personal views that contradicted church doctrine. Perhaps he didn't want his thoughts to hang over the next Pope. Or maybe he was a ghost writer for Penthouse Forum. It just seems so odd to me that he would want these great historical documents destroyed. Then again I put my lousy, crappy writing on the internet so what do I know. Could this be the makings of a new Dan Brown book? Feel free to post your own conspiracy theories below.

Record Of The Week

A little late this week but here it is. Guero by Beck. I think a lot of these tracks will someday end up on Beck's Greatest hits. By far his best work.

Franklin Prison Blues

Is it just me or does the Franklin County jail have an inordinately high number of jailbreaks? This guy was the second one in just a week. What kind of work release program is Germain Walker in that would require him to be in a suit and in the lobby of the jail at 1:58 AM. Even worse, Rhashawnn Lamar Richardson, who was out on work release while awaiting to enter his plea for murder, apparently also escaped sometime in the last week. So that makes three. Why the fuck is this guy in a work release program? Sheriff Jim Carnes need to clean house. Get rid of the matadors running the jail.

Foreclosures Up 50% In March

And so it begins. Many economists have been screaming about a bubble in the housing market. Could this Business Week report about foreclosures be signaling that the bubble has burst? Foreclosures were up 50% in March from February. 50% in one month! There were 28,190 foreclosures in March. There are currently 7,143 here in Ohio alone. This number includes home that were previously in foreclosure prior to March.

The republican power structure in this state has got to go before we become the Mississippi of the Midwest. We've lost 250,000 jobs in this state under their blunder. Now we're losing our homes.

UPDATE: OK, I screwed up the math here and have made the appropriate changes.

Offshore Drilling

Like I’ve been say for a while, it was never about ANWR. It’s all about getting rid of the federal ban on offshore drilling. Today’s Dispatch has the story. Right now, the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf coasts are protected from oil and natural gas drilling.

Big Oil wants these restrictions lessened or removed. They knew that this ban was untouchable until they could get the ANWR ban lifted. Only one oil company, Exxon Mobil, is currently even thinking about drilling in ANWR. Everybody wants to drill off of the coast of Florida. Well, except Floridians. It’s far too great a risk to a state who’s main industry is tourism.

Lamar Alexander, a senator from landlocked Tennessee has introduced legislation that would give governors control of their offshore drilling rights. Collect much oil lobby money lately Lamar? Jeb Bush is term limited out so look for the drilling to start as soon as his ass is out the door with his pockets full of oil money.

Star Wars Idiots

Eleven people who lined up seven weeks early for the nex Star Wars movie are refusing to leave their place in line in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. Why is this funny? The movie isn’t opening there. It will open about a mile away at the Arclight Theater. The eleven people in line there won't even go line up at the Arclight. Fan Sarah Sprague says no matter what, the line isn’t moving. How do you take seven weeks out of your life to line up for a movie, at the wrong theater no less? I wonder how they shower.

That Didn't Take Long

India and Pakistan yesterday resumed bus service through the disputed Kashmir after a 52-year absence. The bus has been dubbed the “peace bus.” So, How long do you think it took for the fidayeen to attack the bus? If you had less than an hour in your pool, you get the money. Well, technically, the bus station was attacked yesterday, the actual bus made it about 20 klicks (about 12 miles) before being fired upon with a rock propelled grenade. The grenade missed and the bus reached the line of control with no casualties. There is a saying that if you look around while riding a city bus and you don’t see any crazies, then you must be crazy. Anyone who would ride this bus has got to be crazy

Fundie Freak Using Bible To Search For Oil In Israel

I'm not quite sure what to think about this story. Texas oilman John Brown claims to be searching for oil in Israel using a passage from the Bible. Deuteronomy 33:24 says "Most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be favored by his brothers and let him dip his foot in oil." I think we can all agree that the oil in question wasn't light sweet crude. So, is this guy batshit crazy, or is he a con man. It's a tough call. Some of these people are such fanatics that its possible he actually believes this shit. On the other hand, fundies make pretty good marks, especially when pitched by their own. Hmm, I'm leaning toward the latter. Raise a bunch of fundie money, drill a dry well, and hit the road with the rest of the loot. That sounds like the most plausible scenario to me. I think this article from The Times Of London seals it for me. Hal Lindsey, a televangelist, apparently pitched this idea on TV. If you notice in the article it says he raised 6.75 million dollars (converted from pounds) and the drilling costs will only be 2.62 million dollars. That's about 4 million profit for finding nothing.

What? Byron Allen From "Real People" Set To Buy Paxson

Byron Allen from 80's show real people has indicated that he might buy Paxson TV network for 2.2 billion in cash. That's billion with a capital B, and it's all cash money. How the fuck does Byron Allen have that kind of coin. I know he's financing a lot of it, but damn, 2.2 billion. I guess I kinda figured that by these days he was eating out of a dumpster behind the North Hollywood Denny's. I wonder what John Davidson, Skip Stephens, and Sarah Purcell are doing these days. I would wager not as well as Allen. Well, look for "Kickin' it with Byron Allen" (real show) to come to a channel near you.

Florida Legalizes Murder

Culture of life, indeed. The Florida state house yesterday passed a law that allows you to "meet force with force." The law says that if you feel threatened you have the right to defend yourself with deadly force. So basically, as long as there are no witnesses, feel free to kill anyone you want. State Rep Dennis Baxley, sponsor of the bill, had the following to say.

"I'm sorry, people, but if I'm attacked I shouldn't have a duty to retreat, That's a good way to get shot in the back. If people have the clear right to defend themselves without having to worry about legal consequences, criminals will think twice."

Florida is lucky to have State Rep Baxley. Very few states have Reps that can understand the careful, measured thought pattern of crackheads. Florida has had concealed carry for years and this same rational was used to pass it. Is this an admission that concealed carry doesn't deter crime? Oh, and I'm sure this will be applied evenly across all races.

Florida has a lot of agriculture. Maybe that is why the legislation needed to pass laws in the past few months that treat vegetables better than humans.

The Death Of The Pope

I don’t have much to say about Pope John Paul II as I’m not Catholic. I do find it amusing that the same right wing commentators that bashed him in the run up to the Iraq war are now wrapping themselves in his burial shroud. What I do find intriguing is the pomp and circumstance involved in the selection of the next Pope. I don’t have a horse in the race so I really don’t care who they chose. But the ritual of it is fascinating. I’m not going into details, if you haven’t heard them yet, you don’t care. This will be the third Pope chosen in my lifetime with the last two in 1978. Back then every network covered the election wall to wall. It was the same as with this Pope’s death. Will this election get the same type coverage? I’m not sure. They can last a long time. BTW, as a side note, if you ever get a chance to go to Rome, by all means go. It is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to and the Vatican is pretty cool even if you’re not Catholic.

Wingnuttery

With the wingnuttery that is the modern republican party, you miss a day you miss a lot. Sen. John Cornyn’s remarks on the floor of the Senate yesterday are truly unbelievable. Here is the meat of his remarks.

"I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. . . . And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence. Certainly without any justification, but a concern that I have."

Huh? There have only been two recent cases of violence against judges. Brian Nichols, accused violent rapist, who up an Atlanta courthouse and the murder of Joan Lefkow’s family in Chicago. Is Cornyn worried that judges might be locking up violent rapists? No, he is clearly talking about the judges in the Schiavo case. Judges that were overwhelmingly republican appointees. No acts of violence have been committed against these judges. Is Cornyn advocating violence against these judges? Probably not. Is he advocating using “the nuclear option?” I think so. I hope they try this. I’m going to enjoy watching them goosestep over the cliff.

Favorite Sports Day Of The Year

Yesterday was one of my favorite sports days of the year. Opening Day for Baseball is in the afternoon and the NCAA Men’s Final is at night. Neither disappointed me. I went to Great American Ballpark to catch Pedro and the Mets take on my favorite team, the Reds. Pedro was Pedro but the Reds got to their bullpen. Adam Dunn and Joe Randa hit back to back home runs in the bottom of the ninth for the win. I’ve been to fourteen Reds Opening Days and froze my ass off at most of them. This year we made sure to get seats out in the sun. So what happens, its eighty degrees with blinding sunlight. What are ya gonna do? In the nightcap I would have rather seen Illinois win the NCAA title, but it was a good game.

Food Fight

Last night at Western Michigan University Pat Buchanan was doused with salad dressing. Why salad dressing? Yesterday as the birthday of former Hispanic labor leader Cesar Chavez. I think this is in poor taste. Even though Chavez represented campesiños, the salad dressing perpetuates the stereotype of Mexicans as lettuce pickers. Throw a pie. Pies were good enough for Ann Coulter last October at the University of Arizona. Actually, those pie throwers identified themselves as members of Al-Pieda. Bill Kristol got pied Tuesday at Earham College. Get out there, find yourselves some conservative commentators and start throwing pies.