Can't Get The Stink Off.

In just the last 36 hours, here are some of the claims and accusations that have been leveled at Ms. Palin:

• she violated Alaskan law by firing a state government employee for family interests
• she's hired legal counsel to defend herself against the above charge
• she wants to force schools to teach creationism in science classes
• well, she doesn't want to force the teaching of creationism, but she believes in it
• she wore a Pat Buchanan button and is therefore an anti-Semite
• she wants to kill polar bears
• her husband was arrested for DUI (more than twenty years ago)
• she is a member of a kooky Alaskan successionist movement
• if she isn't a member of a kooky Alaskan successionist movement, she at least delivered an address to them
• the address was only 90 seconds long, was done by videotape, and was a generic "good luck with your convention" speech, but it's still controversial to do such a thing
• she fished without a license
• she changed her mind to oppose the "Bridge to Nowhere"
• she selfishly works outside the home to the neglect of her children
• she irresponsibly brought a Down's Syndrome child to term
• she was irresponsible in her prenatal care for her infant son (not necessarily incompatible with the previous accusation)
• actually, the infant is her daughter's
• no, the infant is hers, but now her daughter is pregnant, therefore invalidating abstinence advocacy programs for Alaskan kids that the Governor foolishly supports
• Palin is cruel to her daughter by running for VP knowing her daughter is pregnant
• Wasilli, Alaska had a budget of only 12 million dollars
• she likes petroleum
• she didn't command her National Guard when they were deployed to Iraq
• the fact that the Mainstream Meatpackers are gurgling about these "facts" indicate John McCain made a reckless decision in choosing Sarah Palin

Look at this list of crap. It's easy to see what this is all about: it's the textbook definition of mudslinging. You throw as much crap at your opponent as fast as you can to cover them in it before they can wipe it off.

Welcome to Washington, Ms. Palin. Hang in there.

The Making of John McCain.

Michael Leahy of the Washington Post writes a fascinating and riveting account of Mac's pre-POW days, and the huge influence of his father, grandfather, and other mentors. Simply marvelous storytelling.

McCain's VP Choice.

Are we ecstatic by John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate? Ecstatic? Not really. Perhaps there were stronger, more experienced choices, but not very obvious ones. Mac's competitors for the nomination were all damaged goods, and all suffered the political liabilities of being white and male while Republican. Yes, the Zeitgeist has turned on The Man.

So what were McCain's goals in choosing a VP? Somebody that could step in to be President, but the wrong political choice for VP would render that concern moot. His choice would need to break GOP "tradition" (white male running mates) if there would be any chance to win the Presidency.

The dismantling of the Gingrinch Revolution of '94 (which truly sought to court minorities into the party) and the subsequent control of the GOP by the brain-dead (Hastert, McConnell) or the corrupt (Delay) has lost the party at least a decade in expanding the conservative movement to "non-traditional" groups. Thus, there are no African-American GOP members of House or Senate, and precious few Hispanic members.

The GOP women in the Senate are either a bit shopworn (Dole, Hutchison), too liberal for the party base (Snow, Collins), or otherwise unacceptable (Murkowski). Women Republican members of the House are a rather anonymous group (why is the subject of another conversation). Palin is one of a handful of women Republican governors. The reaction by the GOP base to her selection has been enthusiastic (Lieberman would have kept the base home on Election Day), and may - may - draw moderate women to the ticket. Politically, Palin was the best choice.

Palin has been been swimming with the sharks of Alaska politics - the Murkowskis, Ted Stevens, and Don Young - and has beaten them. She is quite knowledgable on energy issues, and as governor has experience in actually running a government. On these matters she is more qualified to be President that Mr. Obama , who has been running for President since his election to the US Senate in 2006, and has particpated in damned little real leglislation. That Mr. Obama has pulled off what he has does say something about his political and leadership skills (let us give credit where credit is due). The "experience" issue may have been a dead end for McCain anyway; a look back a previous popular Presidents can reveal some rather short resumes (TR, FDR, JFK).

Palin had better be a quick study on the national issues on which she is unfamiliar, and please let her not say anything stupid out of obligation to say something in which she is not knowledgable. Leave that to Mr. Obama.

Does Sarah Palin Hate Polar Bears?

During our return to The Estate this afternoon, we caught the first half-hour of NPR's All Things (Ill) Considered, in part to see how conflicted their hosts would be about McCain's choice for VP, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. After the typical NPR selective reporting on the event (for example, they noted the congratulatory message from the Obama/Biden 2008 office, but not the snarky statement made earlier by a spokescritter from Obama World Headquarters), the show turned to an in-depth story of the retreat of sea ice (supposedly caused by global warming, supposedly caused by human activity) in the Alaskan Arctic, and the mortal threat that this phenomenon was to polar bears.

We did not understand the connection between the two stories until reviewing Wizbang tonight, which featured an interview with the same Governor Palin by Glenn Beck made some weeks earlier. The topic was Governor Palin's lawsuit against Uncle Sam to keep the Endangered Species Act - which now extends its protective "rights" to the Polar Bear - from being used to block oil and gas production along the Alaskan Continental Shelf, ANWR, and the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve. These are the regions of Alaska where the Polar Bears of Alaskan Heritage are likely to be found.

Aha! NPR has made a link between Sarah Palin and the (potential) Ursacide of the Polar Bear: if the bears were now under pressure by losing their ice habitat, the (presumably) polar-bear-hating Palin would seek to destroy the rest of their living space for oil!

In fact, the Story of the Polar Bears, the Governor, and Big Oil has another bizarre twist: it seems the green-extremist organization Greenpeace does not want the Polar Bear listed on the current version of the Endangered Species List. This is because the revised version which included the Bear also provides that its endangered status cannot be based on global warming claims. Therefore such claims could not place other animals on the list, nor presumably force industries (read: Big Oil) to cut back on carbon emissions to (supposedly) slow global warming, which would (supposedly) help the threatened organism. Therefore, the ESA could not be used as a pretext to stop further oil and gas production by claiming that the oil and gas would increase global warming, even while the production activity in itself would pose no threat to endangered species. Thus, Greenpeace in a snit.

We really don't know know Ms. Palin's disposition toward the Polar Bear, although the photo above (from the Anchorage Daily News), indicates that she appreciates bearskin in general. We do, however, know her view of Moose: great in stew.

Note: No Polar Bears were harmed during the writing of this article.

Just Say Anything.

Oh a mighty winds a blowin’, it’s kickin’ up the sand,
It’s blowin’ out a message to every woman, child and man
Yes a mighty winds a blowin’, cross the land and cross the sea,

It’s blowin’ peace and freedom, it’s blowin’ equality.
Yes it’s blowin’ peace and freedom, it’s blowin’ you and me.

- A Mighty Wind

Give us some air, we have the vapors! What a show, what fireworks, what a speech! No national ill was not caused by BushMcCain, nor was it without an Obama cure. And those ills shall be healed because, well, because we want it to be so. And he wants to do it all for us, because this isn't about him, it's about us. Yes: the fireworks, the temple, the stadium, the motion picture soundtrack, the adoration of the multitude - that is for us.

Fool's Gold.

The 29th Olympiad in Beijing is drawing to a close. It's been a great success for the PRC, with the distractions of sports, celebrity, money, with a slick campaign to portray China with a Disney World like tidiness. The concerns for air pollution and violence by a deranged individual were the only blemishes on an otherwise perfect propaganda campaign. Cheery memories of the Beijing Olympics will in be in dissonance with the behavior of China's authoritarian regime, complete with brutal political and religous persecution and agressive regional ambitions. We will all no doubt find the happy Olympics image of China preferable to believe.

With Success, Silence.

It is quite astounding how the TV press coverage of Iraq has dropped off; it's almost as if the war does not exist. Kudos to the New York Times and the Washington Post for their continued extensive coverage of Iraq. From a recent report from the Times as General Petraeus prepares to leave Iraq:

The arrival of the 30,000 extra soldiers, deployed to Baghdad’s neighborhoods around the clock, allowed the Americans to exploit a series of momentous events that had begun to unfold at roughly the same time: the splintering of Moktada al-Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi Army; the growing competence of the Iraqi Army; and most important, the about-face by leaders of the country’s Sunni minority, who suddenly stopped opposing the Americans and joined with them against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other local extremist groups.

The surge, clearly, has worked, at least for now: violence, measured in the number of attacks against Americans and Iraqis each week, has dropped by 80 percent in the country since early 2007, according to figures the general provided. Civilian deaths, which peaked at more than 100 a day in late 2006, have also plunged. Car and suicide bombings, which stoked sectarian violence, have fallen from a total of 130 in March 2007 to fewer than 40 last month. In July, fewer Americans were killed in Iraq — 13 — than in any month since the war began.

The result, now visible in the streets, is a calm unlike any the country has seen since the American invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in April 2003. The signs — Iraqi families flooding into parks at sundown, merchants throwing open long-shuttered shops — are stunning to anyone who witnessed the country’s implosion in 2005 and 2006.

However, TV is the manner by which most Americans get their news, and relative silence on Iraq by the MSM networks when the violence has dropped so dramatically will produce a dated and skewed view of Iraq in advance of the November election.

Robama Hood.

Bill McGurn itemizes Mr. Obama's mission to bring "fairness" to our society by (i) windfall-profits taxes on Big Oil to be redistributed as energy assistance payouts, (ii) having The Rich^® pick up the tab for the escalating benefits of Social Security, and (iii) hitting The Rich^® again with higher taxes to bring "balance" to the Force Tax Code. And if these actions result in lower government revenues? Hit The Rich^® with an increase in capital gains taxes!

The Rich^® is a registered trademark of the Barack Obama for President Campaign. To see who is currently included in this nefarious group, check the "Who's Rich?" thermometer graph at the Obama Campaign website. Updates are provided after every Obama campaign appearance or press interview.

The New Old Politics.

David Brooks writes that one of the most recalcitrant opponents to "a different politics" are the Mainstream Meatpackers, who prefer the easy stories of fad, conflict, controversy, and gotchas.

The Question Is: Why?

Obama and the Dems are now replaying Clinton-speak on abortion: "legal, safe, and rare".

But this raises a question: if there is no moral significance to abortion - that the fetus does not have rights of protection as an independent being as the Left claims - why does reducing the number of abortions have any significance? Isn't it no more important than calling for the reduction in the number of appendectomies? Would advocating for reducing the number of abortions (40 million since Roe) be based only on reducing a number of such medical procedures that carry some residual amount of risk to patients, or to lower public health care costs?

Or is such a call for reducing abortions an tacit admission that there is a moral dimension to every one of them that cannot be removed with legalisms?

Michigan Football Preview.

Given the dignity and decorum of the past month's happenings in Michigan Football - the new Head Coach in court and the U's big buyout of his previous contract - we thought it would be instructive to see what Michigan's tens of millions is getting. Above is some video that was recently taken at a Wolverine scrimmage...

Russia and Georgia: The Big Picture.

Melik Kaylan writes in the Wall Street Journal about the strategic motives for Russia's pressure on Georgia. It is, of course, about controlling natural resources and projecting Russian power and influence in the Caucasus and the ultimately the Middle East. Yes, the game is on again, against a much more capable adversary.

The Monster Strikes.

We went to the 2nd round of the PGA Championship at Oakland Hill CC. The course played brutally, featuring kudzu-like rough and unforgiving greens with tough hole placements. They will have to squeegee the blood from the 17th green (our base of operations for the late afternoon), with its only Friday birdie coming from Anthony Kim's chipshot. Sergio Garcia watched his teeshot to the left side of the green disintegrate with a four-putt five for the hole! The International Red Cross has intervened, and the course masters may acquiesce with more favorable hole locations for Saturday.

The Truth That Flows.

Jonah Goldberg thinks Mr. Obama is the Postmodern Candidate:

The Obama campaign has a postmodern feel to it because more than anything else, it seems to be about itself. Its relationship to reality is almost theoretical. Sure, the campaign has policy proposals, but they are props to advance the narrative of a grand movement existing in order to be a movement galvanized around the singular ideal of movement-ness. Obama's followers are, to borrow from David Hasselhoff — another American hugely popular in Germany — hooked on a feeling. "We are the ones we have been waiting for!" Well, of course you are.

Go watch The Candidate - we've seen this before!

A Fashion in Thinking.

Without censorship in the West, fashionable trends of thought and ideas are fastidiously separated from those that are not fashionable, and the latter, without ever being forbidden, have little chance of finding their way into periodicals or books or being heard in colleges. Your scholars are free in the legal sense, but they are hemmed in by the idols of the prevailing fad. There is no open violence, as in the East; however, a selection dictated by fashion and the need to accomodate mass standards frequently prevents the most independent-minded persons from contributing to public life and gives rise to dangerous herd instincts that block successful development.

- Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, "A World Split Apart", 1978.

In Case You Missed It...

John McCain appeared at the Urban League last week, fielding questions from a skeptical audience. We can't wait until Mr. Obama makes his appearance at the YAF convention!

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, 1918-2008.

The great writer who chronicled the terror of the modern totalitarian state has passed away in Moscow. R.I.P.

Stuck on Traffic.

Groovin' to "Paper Sun"! Enjoy! (Hat tip to Little Steven Van Zandt!)

Change We Can Renege On.

Mr. Obama has decided to play it safe and has weaseled out of a series of unscripted, unrehearsed, and uncontrolled joint appearances in front of regular Americans with Mr. McCain. He has also canceled all press conferences during his first year of his inevitable presidency, and instead will tape a series of inspirational messages to be played on the equinoxes and solstices.

A Time for Choosing.

John Fund pens an excellent column in WSJ Opinion about the disastrous consequences of the Congressional Culture of Corruption on the GOP. Were not Republicans sent to Washington to behave unlike Democrats?

A Tonic for the Madness.

You can park in front of the TV, strobe through the channels, and get an adreniline rush of images and sounds from the Midway: MSNBC's Shockdoc of the Night, Nancy Grace and her Heinous Crime Du Jour, acne removers, real estate "systems", Bill O'Reilly yelling at somebody or something, The Alledged World Greatest Dog, Arena Football, yet another showing of The Wizard of Oz, costume jewelry hawked by a "celebrity", Gene Simmons' domestic bliss, The Weather Channel's Storm Stories, infantile rap "artists" trashing a million-dollar home, cops chasing yet another moron on dope, some schnook looking for a big wad of free money in a suitcase with loved ones yelling them on, and on and on and on...

Stroll the Midway too often and you will go mad.

Or you can go flyfishing for smallmouth bass on the Huron River. You can watch a blue heron patrol the river from overhead, turtles sunning themselves on a log, and Hexagenia mayflies dancing above the moving water.

Go fishing too often and you will find peace and a quiet soul.

Liberal Fascism.

Jonah Goldberg's book, Liberal Fascism, has been ridiciculed and denounced by the literary elites. Perhaps some of the outrage over his book is because he's on to something? John Fund discusses a few recent cases of Liberal Fascism : the strongarm tactics by the Michigan-based group BAMN ("By Any Means Necessary") to sabotage petition drives for ballot referenda on race-neutral hiring practices in Arizona and Missouri, and similar thuggery that faced those who dared to circulate a petition in Michigan to recall State House Speaker Andy Dillion.

A Little Different in the Details...

The WaPo suggests that Mr. Obama's description of his strategic vision for the GWOT is "eccentric", and reveals some very big differences in what Mr. O's entourage claimed to be agreement with his 16-month deadline for troop withdrawl and the wishes of the Iraqi politicians and American military commanders.

Obama in Berlin.

He speaks to the masses in front of the Victory Column. Classic Obama Lofty Blather, and a shameless heaping helping from old JFK speeches. But why does he get this privilege? Don't ask.

Shall We Drill?

Debate now rages amongst the Congerscritters as to whether we should expand domestic petroleum production - offshore, in ANWR, and western oilshales. The answer one reaches depends on the ultimate goal of an energy strategy. If it is to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, no amount of drilling is going to accomplish that goal. But there is an immediate need to halt the growth in the flow of cash used to buy foreign oil, and possibly reduce it. So expanding our drilling is likely to be an essential component of a short-term strategy to buy us some time - say, twenty years - to develop other energy sources, particularly for transportation fuels.

Let's look at the likely reserves and production rates for ANWR, offshore, and new oilshales, and when their production could begin:

• ANWR. The Energy Information Agency states a mean estimate for technically recoverable oil in the ANWR "1002 Area" (the most promising region of ANWR and constituting about 20% of its total acreage) of 10.3 billion barrels. A USGS assessment from 1998 states that the mean amount of economically recoverable oil from the 1002 Area is 7.7 billion barrels. Peak production from the region is estimated by the EIA to be about a million barrels a day, about 5% of our current total daily petroleum consumption. Using the smaller mean reserve estimate, this means ANWR oil would last at least twenty years. Production could not begin for 7-12 years, primarily because of the time required for lease sales, permitting and environmental reviews. These steps could be accelerated.
• Outer Continental Shelves (OCS). The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service estimates the mean total OCS oil resources to be 85.9 billion barrels (technically recoverable) for the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaskan, and Gulf of Mexico Shelves. The GOM and Alaskan Shelves constitute about 41 and 27 billion barrels, respectively, of this total estimate. The total OCS reserves that are currently unavailable to production because of state or federal moratoria is 18 billion barrels (Eastern GOM, Atlantic and Pacific). So most of the OCS is open to development. The GOM OCS is developed, with nearly 1600 leases producing 1.4 million barrels per day. If one prorates a potential Alaskan OCS production rate based on this number and the relative size of the Alaskan OCS resource, this yields a production of 0.9 million barrels per day, another 4% of our current daily consumption. If the GOM and the Alaskan OCS production rates were 150% of their current (or estimated) rates, it would add an additional 2 million barrels per day to current production, or 10% of our current consumption. Studies for Alaskan OCS development uses a target peak production year of 2030; perhaps this development could be accelerated.
• Continental Oilshales. A study by the RAND Corporation in 2005 estimated a lower limit to the amount of technically recoverable oil from western oilshales to be 500 billion barrels. RAND estimates the timescale for development to production of 1 million barrels per day may be twenty years or longer. The production rate could be as high as three million barrels per day, or 15% of our current consumption. The lifetime of continental oilshale production is very long, perhaps hundreds of years.

Here is what we can "take away" from the discussion above:

1. Assuming all of the three petroleum resources described are developed to peak production, they would probably add no more production than 30% of our current oil consumption. We cannot solve our dependence on foreign oil solely on increased domestic drilling.
2. Nevertheless, this increased production could nearly halve our current imports of foreign oil, ultimately keeping an additional $300B per year in the United States.
3. A controlling factor is the production that can come from each of these sources; apparently no more than 1-3 million barrels per day is likely to be the peak production from these sources. If we commit to increased drilling as a transitional step to alternate transportation fuels, finding solutions to increase production from oilfields will be essential.
4. The development of ANWR and the Alaskan OCS, and the expansion of production from the GOM OCS is likely to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 10-15% within ten years, if the rate of leasing, permitting, and production can be accelerated.
5. Continental oilshales may provide a tremendous supply, and may be produced at a rate of 15% of our current consumption, but the timescale for development is long, perhaps twenty years. This resource should be developed, however, because it is likely we will still need a substantial amount of petroleum in 20-30 years.

Will the price of oil drop with this increased production? Perhaps, but not precipitously. But a good chunk of change that leaves the U.S. could be retained if increase our domestic production.

Marge, get me Halliburton on the phone!

What this Country Really Needs...

is a United States Postal Service as good as FedEx.

What's in the Box? III - Energy.

Barack Obama has unveiled an energy plan, so let's check it for substance:

• A $300 rebate for families to offset rise in gas prices. From the same man who dismissed McCain's proposed suspension of the federal gas tax for three months. I guess the difference is that the taxes keep coming in, and instead we borrow the money to fund the rebate.
• A $150B federal investment for ten years in to renewable energy programs. No increased energy production, and no guaranteed results, but it will be exciting!
• Reduce oil consumption by 3 Mbbl/day by 2018, and by 10 Mbbl/day by 2030. How, exactly? The "plan" calls for improving petroleum use efficiency by 50%. That's fifty percent. How? Magic? Because we want it to be so?
• Development of "current leases" on federal land, with the claim this would double current domestic production - without the need for more offshore production nor ANWR. The Wall Street Journal has already shown that this frequently-parroted claim is a canard, relying on a fantastic extrapolation of current production on federal land. However, at least the Obamites concede that more domestic petroleum production is needed. They just need to realize that one has to drill where the oil is, rather than where one would like it to be.
• "End excessive speculation in the oil markets". This is a bone to throw to the conspiracy and class-warfare cranks. It does not result in the production in a single additional barrel of oil.
• Windfall profits tax on oil companies. See the previous point. The collected tax would then be doled out to the citizens to offset higher energy costs. Obama may want to break this gently to many of these same families whose 401Ks are invested in energy companies. Taking from one's pocket to give it right back - after Uncle Sam's cut of pork and waste.
• Doubling the CAFE standards...within 18 years. I think the private sector can handle than one quite well now, thank you.
• Nuclear power? No more nukes until Harry Reid allows the Yucca Mountain Waste Repository to be opened. Like we said...no more nukes.

That's it. Very little in the way of rapidly increasing domestic energy production, but a great deal of central planning, research and study, taxation, and wishful thinking.

Not That Thing Again!

The calls are picking up for reinstating a 55 mph speed limit to conserve gasoline. For those of us that did a good deal of long-distance driving during the Sad Seventies when this federally-ordered limit was in place, it made for great discomfort and irritation. A typical fuel efficiency curve shows a decline above about 60 mph, but other variables such as aerodynamics and weight are also important.

For Americans that drive as part of their employment - like truckers - this 55 mph limit is onerous. It means an additional 21% time on the road to deliver a given value of goods, and is physically gruelling for truckers. For a two-hour business trip (140 mi) in a vehicle that gets 30 mpg at 55 mph, the loss of fuel economy driving at 70 mph is 5 mpg, or less than a gallon of gas for the trip. The time lost at the slower speed is over a half and hour. If the employee-driver is making minimum wage, the savings in fuel costs for a 55 mph limit is lost in additional employee wages in the increased drive time, and a half-hour productivity improvment is lost (it takes more to execute a business transaction of a given value rather than using that time to execute additional business).

We believe that finding additonal sources of transportation fuels - oil, natural gas, electricity, bio-fuels - is a more important task than Share-the-Misery ideas like a lower speed limit.

Maybe It's Too Obvious?

T. Boone Picken's plan to divert the natural gas (NG) used for electricity generation to fuel vehicles requires a supply of NG-powered vehicles, and NG refueling stations. There do exist a limited number stations (even a home-based refueling system), providing for the corporate NG vehicle fleets. What is astonishing is how the major automakers have cut their North American NG vehicle development efforts in the last few years, despite rising gasoline prices. Ford has cashed out of this business; apparently GM has no NG vehicles in the works for North America. Only Honda is offering a NG-powered passenger vehicle, the Civic GX-NG, in the United States.

Boone Picken's Plan.

T. Boone Pickens is kicking off a national campaign to reduce our $700B foreign oil habit (now approaching 70% of our oil consumption) by selling large-scale wind power generation. How? The goal is to produce 20% of our electricity needs with wind farms in the Great Plains, displacing the natural gas that is currently used to produce this electricity. This gas can then be used for cars and trucks (real CNG and LNG vehicles - not glorified golf carts - exist; GM sells them in Europe). If 20% wind generation can be achieved, and the gas applied to vehicles, Pickens then estimates that 38% of our foreign oil imports can be eliminated.

Note that the wind-electricity infrastructure will need to be large-scale; 200,000 megawatts will need to be generated. This translates into almost as many industrial-grade wind turbines on large "farms" stretching from Texas to the Canadian border. It will not be achieved with an ensemble of hippie communes with a windmill and some car batteries. Picken's plan will also require easements on land for transmission lines to reach out from the US interior to link with the rest of the grid.

We guess that these two aspects of Picken's plan - large corporate development and operation of the wind farms, and large-scale land development for grid expansion - will make the neo-Luddites and the Extreme Green crowd apoplectic. As Picken's plan is debated, we will watch with interest whether the Sierra Club, NRDC, and the other usual suspects embrace it or attempt to kill it.

Obama's Cynical Iraq Ploy.

Barack Obama now claims to be "refining" his position on Iraq, causing the Hard Left to void their bowels. He gained their rabid support because of his virulent anti-war stand, with an effective pledge to unilaterally and unconditionally withdraw US forces from Iraq within sixteen months...a "nuance-free" position. This was the issue with which he snatched the Democrat nomination from Hillary.

The Hard Left has nothing to fear: Obama's "refined" Iraq position is much more likely than not to be bait for sane Democrats and Independents to think that he's not such a delusional guy on Iraq. Obama was born and raised into the Hard Left, has made his national political bones with an extremely radical leftist view of Iraq, the War on Islamofacism, foreign policy, wealth redistribution, nationalization of health care, etc. As to the Radical Agenda, he is a True Believer. Once in power, he will throw the "refined" stand on Iraq under the bus. When he does so, he will no doubt give a very eloquent speech that will make Chris Matthews and Keith Obermann weep. And moderate Dems will be left holding guaranteed leases to the Brooklyn Bridge, and we can all contemplate the loss of thousands of brave Americans for nothing.

We fear that too many of our fellow Americans will be snookered by this fellow.

If it Quacks like Uranium...

Just so there is no misunderstandings nor disavowals: Iraq did have nuclear material, 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" uranium, that is now being removed and sent to Canada. To us that is a substantial component of a WMD program. Why wasn't this fact mentioned a few years ago when the various Iraq review reports were being advertised as refuting the existance of a serious WMD program?

Petromath.

In the last few weeks much hot air has swirled around the suggestion that "speculators" have driven the surge in oil prices. Yet a review of the record on oil consumption and production for the last two decades clearly shows the hole that we chose to dig for ourselves:

• World Oil Production Mbbl/day: 65.0 (1990), 85.0 (2007) (31% growth)
• US Oil Production Mbbl/day: 7.5 (1990), 5.0 (2007) (-33% growth)
• World Oil Consumption Mbbl/day 66.6 (1990), 87.0 (2007) (30% growth)
• US Oil Consumption Mbbl/day: 17.0 (1990), 21.0 (2007) (24% growth)

The world demand for oil has grown by 20 Mbbl/day since 1990, of which the U.S. consumption growth has grown by only 4 Mbbl/day, and at a rate less than the world consumption growth. Meanwhile, we have crippled our own petroleum production during the same period of time. Furthermore, world oil production has now stalled at about 87 Mbbl/day, while world consumption growth continues unabated. The world's excess production capacity has also collapsed in the last several years (it has become utilized capacity), from 7 Mbbl/day to 2 Mbbl/day.

When we chose to destroy our ability to produce our own petroleum resources by banning expanded offshore drilling (despite dramatic improvement in drilling technologies in the last forty years) , what did we think was going to happen?

Revolutionary Music Video!

The great Fife and Drums of York Town entertain for Independence Day 2007.

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof - Lev. XXV, v. X

Whither Michigan?

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth has released the state's unemployment rate for May, and it was grim: 8.5%, a 1.6% increase from April. As Rick Haglund of the Grand Rapids News observes, the state government really can do little to stem the loss of unskilled and semi-skilled manufacturing jobs. Certainly not with emergency programs to stimulate one industry or another. It could choose to bring some sanity to the state business and fuel tax structure, perhaps reduce the business tax rate (our fair state chose to add a 22% surcharge to the new Single Business tax, shafted some businesses with tax increases and favored others with reductions, and raised state income taxes in the teeth of our own state's severe recession...so Hooveresque!). Governor Granholm has hawked a miriad of "Cool Jobs" schemes (a reference to her "Cool Cities" program"), from IT to medicine to alternative energies to movies. Nothing has really stuck, and for state policy makers there is a very important message in that fact. Perhaps a change of strategy is needed: cut business regulation and taxes, make it brain-dead simple for people with a good ideas to start up a business...and then just stay out of their way.

PS - Tom Shields' column makes the same case for the "State of the Morass".

Today's Readings.


Genesis 21:8-21
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39



The O.T. reading and the Psalm refer to the plight of Hagar and Ishmael, her son by Abraham; God protects those shunned or persecuted by others.

The Epistle speaks to the totality of the union of us in Christ. Jesus was made human, suffered in his human life, and we are bonded to him in that common suffering. Yet our souls are also bonded to him in his defeat of death by resurrection.

In the Gospel Jesus asks the most difficult task of us - displacing the nexus of our lives from our loved ones on Earth to him. This is not abandonment or disowning those around us, rather it is transforming our connections to our loved ones to pass through Christ. As Abraham trusted in God to provide for Ishmael, so we must trust in Christ to provide the ultimate and permanent bond between human beings.

Huh?

This cannot be true; from PostPolitics (Nashville Post):

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, [former Vice-President Al] Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The report must have slipped a decimal place...right?

Weekend Miracles.

Not only did Tiger Woods play the most "Transplendent Golffe" at Saturday's third round of the U.S. Open, but as he passed the gallery, the lame threw their crutches down, the sores fell away from the lepers, and blind gained their sight. Yowzers, he's good!

P.S. - Rocco made him work for the trophy today, but we worry that Tiger's knee may be in very serious condition. Don't expect to see much of him until the British Open.

A Bold and Courageous Action.

With tonight's endorsement, Al Gore has cinched the nomination for Barack Obama! Uh...yeah, that's it...yeah...

Farewell to a Decent Man.

Tim Russert was a good, decent man, and our public life was enriched by his service. His life on Earth was short, but rich and robust. May we all live as well. R.I.P.

Speaking As a Child.

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Gitmo detainees have the right to haebeus corpus petition. It was a strongly divided decision, 5 to 4, and there are core beliefs in this decision that appear irreconcilable; and a thoughtful person acknowledges them. The decision will have a huge impact on the prosecution of the Global War on Terror; according to a report on Gitmo by General McCafferty a large fraction of the detainees are considered extremely dangerous, a portion of these combatants will likely be released and undoubtedly return to their efforts to kill Americans and some will be successful. Those that are cheering the Court's decision are deluding themselves if they do not acknowledge this likelihood.

The candidates have made statements about the decision. One statement respresented a thoughtful, balanced and mature view, the other statement was puerile politics. From the Washington Post:

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, told reporters in Boston that he had not yet read the opinion, but he expressed concerns about the rights it might impart to the people being held there. "These are unlawful combatants, they are not American citizens and I think we should pay attention to Justice [John] Roberts's opinion in this decision," he said, referring to the chief justice's dissent. "But it is a decision that the Supreme Court has made. Now we need to move forward. As you know, I always favored closing Guantanamo Bay and I still think we ought to do that."

Obama issued a statement expressing support for the decision, saying it strikes the proper balance between fighting terrorism and "protecting our core values." The Illinois Democrat said that "the court's decision is a rejection of the Bush administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo -- yet another failed policy supported by John McCain. This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law."

Mr. Obama's statement is yet another example of his tendency to unilaterally find fault with his own country's actions to protect its citizenry while failing to acknowledge the realities in dealing with a foe that uses the shield of civilization to pursue the annihilation of that civilization.

What's In the Box? Part II: Taxes

Barack Obama appeared on CNBC to talk economy and taxes:

...Obama told CNBC that he would raise taxes on Americans making $250,000 a year or more and raise the capital gains tax for those in higher income brackets while exempting small investors. He said the U.S. economy has been "out of balance for too long."

This is insane. Right now the high price of petroleum, coal, and natural gas is spurring a great deal of investment to displace these traditional energy sources. Raising the capital gains tax on investors not considered to be "small" will stifle this investment. Of course, Mr. Obama has a solution to that: take the taxes collected at the increased rate and provide government direction of investment in alternative energies. Like the enthanol boondoggle? A theme begins to take shape: expanding government-supervised industrial policy funded by increased taxes on private investement.

Other questions come to mind: $250K is certainly within the income levels of many small "S" corporations, small entrepeneurships that declare their income on the owners' personal 1040 returns. Will some elaborate tinkering with the tax code be required to patch up this bug? And what in the hell does he mean by "out of balance"? What is an economy that is "in balance"?

Last, but not the least, Mr. Obama wants to institute a windfall-profits tax on "Big Oil". The definition of this term is vague. How much profit is "too much"? Shall such a calculation take into account the actual profit margin of the enterprise ("Big Oil" has suprisingly modest margins)?Shall only the large integrated oil companies be taxed? Should the tax also include the drillers, refiners, or natural gas and coal companies? Such issues must water the mouths of left-wing socio-economic planners.

End the Enabling.

We at Deaddrifts recieved a weekend solicitation phone call from the RNC. After explaining to the "salesman" that we would be confining our political contributions to Misters McCain and Walberg (our Congerscritter) directly, the salesman attempted to persuade us otherwise. We were not amused.

The RNC must accept the fact that it had, expressed in the idiom of test pilots, "screwed the pooch" in the last seven years. Not in the manner in which the Left shrieks, but in dismantling an exciting movement of conservative ideas and philosophy of governance for forty pieces of silver and the incessant pursuit of ever-increasing political power. They have, we are sad to say, met the enemy, and they is them (hat tip to Walt Kelly).

One of our principal complaints is the noxious triad of expanding government, drunken-sailor spending, and the inevitable corruption that accompanies it. Tonight Fox News presented "Porked: Earmarks for Profit", and highlighted the shenanigans of several Republican congerscritters in adding earmarks to spending bills that ended in personal profit for the pols, including former Speaker of the House Dennis ("Mr. Permanent Minority") Hastert and California Representative Ken Calvert. Fox also discussed how the current House Republican standard-bearer, Mr. Boehner, squashed the appointment of Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican and sworn enemy of earmarking, to the House Appropriations Committee. The reason given that Boehner gave to Flake was, well the obvious: it would put the pigs off their feed.

The Question that Dared Not Be Asked.

Is it in Hillary Clinton's political interest for Barack Obama to win election in November?

Operation Backtrack Begins.

Barack Obama addressed AIPAC last week, and talked real tough on Iran (emphasis added):

"My presidency will strengthen our hand as we restore our standing. Our willingness to pursue diplomacy will make it easier to mobilize others to join our cause. If Iran fails to change course when presented with this choice by the United States, it will be clear - to the people of Iran, and to the world - that the Iranian regime is the author of its own isolation. That will strengthen our hand with Russia and China as we insist on stronger sanctions in the Security Council. And we should work with Europe, Japan and the Gulf states to find every avenue outside the UN to isolate the Iranian regime - from cutting off loan guarantees and expanding financial sanctions, to banning the export of refined petroleum to Iran, to boycotting firms associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has rightly been labeled a terrorist organization."

He also declared that the use of military force in dealing with Iran was not off the table, in either dealimg with a threat against Israel or preventing Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon. Yet last year when the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment to HR1585 (Defense Appropriations) came to a vote, which stated:

" (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate--
(1) that the manner in which the United States transitions and structures its military presence in Iraq will have critical long-term consequences for the future of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, in particular with regard to the capability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pose a threat to the security of the region, the prospects for democracy for the people of the region, and the health of the global economy;
(2) that it is a vital national interest of the United States to prevent the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran from turning Shi'a militia extremists in Iraq into a Hezbollah-like force that could serve its interests inside Iraq, including by overwhelming, subverting, or co-opting institutions of the legitimate Government of Iraq;
(3) that it should be the policy of the United States to combat, contain, and roll back the violent activities and destabilizing influence inside Iraq of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its foreign facilitators such as Lebanese Hezbollah, and its indigenous Iraqi proxies;
(4) to support the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq, including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments, in support of the policy described in paragraph (3) with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies;
(5) that the United States should designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and place the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, as established under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and initiated under Executive Order 13224; and
(6) that the Department of the Treasury should act with all possible expediency to complete the listing of those entities targeted under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747 adopted unanimously on December 23, 2006 and March 24, 2007, respectively."

Mr. Obama opposed the amendment (which was cosponsored by McCain), based on a lame claim that it greases the skids to attack Iran (for example, see Marc Ambinder's analysis). Please - it's plain language that lays out what B.O. later pledged in front of AIPAC. So what does he really believe?

McCain on the Economy: The Gas Tax Holiday.

We've dissected Mr. Obama's "plan" for the economy, let us now turn to what John McCain is proposing for helping the economy. The first topic is relief for increased fuel prices by a "holiday" on gasoline diesel fuel taxes. This has been much criticized by the Obamaniacs as "not an economic plan". Of course it isn't a central point to an economic plan, but it's something tangible that can be done immediately to provide some relief: a three-month suspension of the 18-cent Federal gasoline tax, and a similar suspension of the 24-cent diesel tax.

For a two-car family, a three-month tax suspension would save folks about $100. It's a not lot of money, just an inextravagant trip to the grocery store. But another important savings is that for commericial trucking: the suspension of the federal tax on diesel is equivalent to a 5% improvement in fuel economy for a large commerical truck. This is significant to trucking companies, who transport 70% of goods to the market. The Tulsa World has recently discussed the impact of fuel costs on these companies; for example, a reduction of fuel costs of 5% would save a company with a fleet of 1500 trucks around $400K in a three-month period. This relief will slow the rising costs of food and products to consumers. It is not the principal point to McCain's plan, but it is not inconsequential.

It's interesting to note that in spite of the Dem's claims for wanting to help average Americans, they have decided that it is more important to keep raking in $65M a day from the gasoline tax - which can then be redistributed for political patronage than give the average Joe a hundred-buck break on gas.

A Meaningless Gesture.

Obamism has declared that the DNC shall no longer eat from the Tree of the Lobbyist. Well, not quite: from the AP story:

Obama's ban on lobbyists money is not ironclad. He does accept money from lobbyists who do not do business with the federal government and he also accepts money from spouses and family members of lobbyists. He has had unpaid advisers with federal lobbying clients, and some campaign officials also previously had lobbying jobs.

The new fundraising policy is not expected to hurt the party's fundraising ability because lobbyists and PACs do not constitute a major source of money.

In other words, the proclamation means nothing. Nor will he accept contributions from Tralfamadorians.

E Pluribus Pluribus.

Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal comments on the legacy of forty years of identity politics in the Democratic Party. In particular, the Democrat's white liberal ruling elite had accomodated the Balkanization of the party, as long as it delivered the votes of the inner cities to their candidates. Henninger suggests that under Obamism things will not get better.

What's in the Box? Part I: The Economy.

The Left has bought the Obama Mystery Box, so let's see what's in it. We start with Obama's vision for intervening in the free market...I mean "investing in America's future". Now, the proposed plans of presidential candidates are usually worth less than the paper they are printed on, nevertheless, here are the highlights of his plan on the economy, from the Obama website:

The Problems -

• no real wage growth
• inflation in necessities, health care, housing costs, and college education
• historically low savings rate
• "tax cuts for wealthy instead of the middle class"

The Solutions -

• Taxes: $1000 tax cuts for "working families" - i.e. Bush Stimulus II, simplify tax filings for "middle class Americans", uh...that's it on taxes, folks.
• Trade: "fight for fair trade", oppose CAFTA, enforce labor and environment standards, use WTO to stop subsidies and import barriers, amend NAFTA, displaced worker training...well, good luck with all of that.
• Tech: more money for R&D, more money for education, training, and "workforce development", money for alternative energy and automakers, more money for youth jobs, and more money for many other things.
• Labor: support more expansive labor organization, increase minimum wage (which means higher labor contract wage baselines).
• Homeownership: 10% "universal mortgage credit" (huh?), crack down on crooked lendors (and borrowers?), better disclosure, create forclosure rescue fund. Credit card reform , expand small consumer loans, wipe out bankruptcies caused by medical expenses. Is your wallet feeling lighter?
• "Work - Family Balance": expand family leave to small businesses, money to expand paid leave, more money for afterschool programs, expand child and dependent care tax credit, "protect against caregiver discrimination", expand flex-time work programs.

The "plan" is a mish-mosh of noble-sounding platitudes with a generous helping of pledges to Democrat interest-groups - which means lots of increased spending. Nor is there discussion as to how "The Plan" specifically addresses "The Problems".

And the Senator's experience on this issue? He has to reach back to his state senate record in order to produce sufficient padding of accomplishment for his resume on the economy.

Obama's Heel.

John Fund writes in the Opinion section of WSJ.com about Obama's embarassing gaffes (beyond the most recent on Buchenwald) and goofball statements that would be a pillory for him in the hands of a less servile press. Fund writes: "He has large gaps in his knowledge base, and is just as likely to dig in and embrace a policy misstatement as abandon it".

Nathan Thrall and Jesse James Wilkins opine in the New York Times that Obama's enthusiasm for unconditional summits with tyrants indicates a naivete about how such high-level meetings work and the disasterous consequences that can ensue. Case in point: the Kennedy-Khrushchev Vienna Summit of 1961. There was no real agenda, no agreement nor understanding that needed to be formalized at the highest levels. It was just a "getting to know you" meeting at which Khrushchev bullied JFK and concluded that the United States was "too liberal to fight". JFK admitted that the meeting was a disaster and that the Soviets would assess that he was weak. What followed was the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet provocations that were based on their Vienna observations.

One could also discuss Jimmy Carter's numerous blunders in this manner, both official and post-official, but that is a treatise. It is sufficient to say that Mr. Carter is an addict of feel-good foreign policy gestures. Mr. Obama appears to likewise suffer this malady.

Hybrid Arithmetic.

If we are to wean ourselves from oil, the proposed solutions must make financial sense for consumers. Let's consider a hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius, compared to another Toyota offering with a conventional powerplant, the Yaris. The vehicle costs are based on vehicle configurations that a commuter would want (cruise control, radio, etc)*:

• Prius: Price = $24,950, Effective MPG = 46.4, 6-years fuel @ $5/gal = $10,360
• Yaris: Price = $15,600, Effective MPG = 31.7, 6-years fuel @ $5/gal = $15,140

Thus, after 6 years of use, choosing a Prius still has a premium of $4500 over the Yaris. This is also assuming that vehicle maintenance costs are equal, an assumption that probably favors the Prius.

$4500 is a stiff "green premium" to change to a hybrid vehicle. Perhaps a Prius is a hedge against an even higher gasoline price, if so, the breakeven cost of a Prius for six years of operation would require $8 a gallon gas. So is such a hybrid vehicle a realistic solution to offer consumers?

*Vehicle price also assumes: $2000 trade-in, 48 months financing @6.1%. Fuel costs assume 16,000 miles traveled per year with 45% highway travel.

The Politically Correct Mutation.


A&E presented a remake of The Andromeda Strain, the groundbreaking techno-thriller by Michael Crichton. This book has a very special place in our hearts here at Deaddrifts. We were given the book by our 7th-grade English/Social Studies (AKA "Block") teacher, the beloved Miss Wallace. It was the most captivating work of fiction that we had read, and remained so for many years. The book gives one a glimpse into the world of Apollo-era molecular biology, epidemiology, and space technology with a credible plot and engaging characters. It inspired science hobbies that lead to a career in science.


The original movie based on the novel (1971) was a quite satisfying and reasonably faithful adaptation, and achieved cult status in geekdom. A&E's promotional trailers promised an exciting update with forty years of advancement in the biological sciences, the birth and growth of "astrobiology", the maturation of computer technology, and the directorial mastery of Ridley Scott.


The remake of The Andromeda Strain does have all of that, but alas also carries such an immense weight of politically correct and conspiratorial baggage that it is a chore to watch, like a mandatory requirement of a platoon's political officer. The principal characters are so deliberately diverse (very, very diverse) it's as if A&E Market Demographics had dictated the makeup of the Wildfire Team (guys, you did miss putting a "little person" in the story somewhere). There is also the evil - really evil - invisible hand of the United States Government, working to the detriment of humanity, which appears to be a current requirement for the story of this film genre. Finally, there is the Hero Newsman, of course, fighting to Get The Truth Out.


These political ormanents are lethal to the enjoyability of this movie, because one is always being clubbed over the head by them, while precious little is shown of the process of scientific discovery, a central theme of the book. One never sees this highly talented team of scientists actually do some real science...the computer just gives them the answers. Otherwise they spend a lot of time hollering and hurling accusations, and spilling the beans to the outside world on their cell phones (or catching up with the family). What little "science" is portrayed with the typical Hollywood mangling into a grand game of "I've Gotta Hunch". The politics drags the film's pace so that any tension is anesthetized (and stretching the story into a four-hour, two-evening miniseries was a dose of Vallium on top of that).


The original movie has aged rather well, and is certainly more to the point without the ponderous ideology. Go rent it, or better yet, read the book. One observation is that there is no mention of the remake on Michael Crichton's website, and he is only credited in the remake as the author of book on which the film is based. I wonder if Dr. Crichton approved of the re-telling of his story in this manner.

Touchdown!

The Phoenix Mars Lander has landed on the polar plains of Mars! The first images of the landscape show polygonal network of depressions that are similar to arctic regions on Earth, perhaps indicating freezing and thawing cycles. Truly awe-inspiring!

Memorial Day, 2008.

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion... - A. Lincoln

It is very easy us on the homefront to forget the mortal threat that threatens the civilized world, and grim task of our forces that defend us. Please find time today to say thank you to our vets, and pledge to help our soldiers and their families. An excellent organization that provides such assistance is OperationHomeFront.net. Cough up a few bucks and do your part.

The Equality of Misery.

Paul Krugman is the Sad Sack of the New York Times' opinion page. In one of his recent columns he laments the American expression of freedom in on-demand personal transportation. He tells us now the Great Reckoning has arrived for such audacious behavioir. He yearns for a more European style of living for Americans: the citizenry concentrated in cities, where cars are nearly extinct and trains and buses are the principal modes of travel for the citizenry. Quoth Paul: "I have seen the future and it works...if we’re heading for a prolonged era of scarce, expensive oil, Americans will face increasingly strong incentives to start living like Europeans — maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives." Do the citizens ever leave their ghettos and see Yellowstone? Perhaps with permission from Commisariat for Transportation? But is it really necessary? Can't they just take the virtual tour in 3D-HDTV?

It's a pathetic vision that Sad Sack has for America as "Oceania", and it's very telling about how the Dystopians like Krugman and the Obamaniacs view America: so much unessential and antiquated expressions of personal liberty that lead to social and economic inefficiencies and threaten the Equality of Life. The Hard-Core Dystopians believe we have approached the limits of upward development of our society; we must now face that fact and manage society to create an equality of joy and misery among the citizenry...with more misery than joy as time passes. So stop grieving for long-gone freedoms and pass the Soylent Green and turn on the Obama Worship Hour.

Perhaps we should solve the problems of fueling personal transportation without restricting it. We're not sure that the Dystopians would like such an outcome, because they either don't recognize or accept how the American expression of life is different from that of the Old World.

The phrase "I have seen the future, and it works" was first uttered by Lincoln Steffens, an American journalist and an enthusiast for the Bolshevik Revolution, upon his return from the Soviet Union in 1921. Paul Krugman has brought this statement back from the dead, hoping for a different outcome. Let the dead rest, Paul.

Government, the Market-Wrecker.

We've discussed how Uncle Sugar Daddy's "Ethanol Initiative" has caused chaos in the grain markets while providing no competitive relief to increasing gasoline prices. The current Farm Bill is an even larger example of the catastrophic results when the government manipulates markets. The New York Times analyzes the current bill, and the inescapable conclusion is that once Government starts handing money out in subsidies (in this case cash payments to farmers), it becomes permanent, regardless of market conditions. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, the champion of the continued payouts to the farmers, admits that the political pressure to continue the handouts is insurmountable, while fact that grain prices are at record highs now appears to be irrelevant.

Big Oil on the Hill.

The nation's oil companies are being summoned by the Congerscritters to explain why the shareholders (read you and me) should keep their risk rewards, and why the Gummint shouldn't shake them down for a lot of it. Congers could put it to such productive use; for example, another $200B+ farm bill.

Is Belief a Poor Sell?

If one goes to the home page of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America home page, and try to find the name "Jesus Christ" - you will get just one hit for "Jesus", mentioning the title of this year's youth assembly "Jesus, Justice, and Jazz". Going to the "What We Believe" page, one notices a deemphasis on God and Christ - there is more on "Social Issues", "Church and Society", and "Stewardship and Money". Any substantial mention of Jesus Christ is buried deep down in the doctrinal creed pages, past the "What We Believe" page.

What gives? Why is ELCA trying to hide belief in Jesus Christ? Have ELCA's image consultants recommended downplaying the "God and Jesus stuff" in favor of social justice and humanitarian themes?

The Ron Paul Update.

(cue - Wagner's Ride of the Valkuries)

Ron Paul's presidential campaign is, for all intents and purposes, dead. So what is happening to the gazillions of dollars that Herr Doktor Paul raised? Does he have any plans to give it back? A recent visit to the Paulian Website did not uncover a "I don't have a snowball's chance, here's your money back", press release. It's ironic for a guy who is on a jihad about government spending on foolish endeavours that he doesn't train that critical eye on the guy he sees shaving every morning.

Ron Paul Secret Society Members, set your decoder pin to G14 and be sure to watch for the next Ron Paul update. And be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

Some Guyz Get All Da Breaks.

If you need an escape from the lunatic promises of the Neo-Utopians (I know that I'm not the one I've been waiting for; there's a bit of causality problem with that), then go rent Pal Joey (1957). Great Rodgers and Hart songs that became branded by Frank and Nelson Riddle, and - of course - the traffic stopping beauty of Kim Novak, Rita Hayworth, and fifties San Francisco. Frank said he did not mind giving up top billing to Rita because that made for a Hayworth - Sinatra - Novak sandwich. Amen, Pal.

Death, Taxes, and Higher Costs for a College Education.

As surprising as the Spring Peepers in the spring, the University of Michigan With The Huge Endowment has announced that room and board will increase above the rate of inflation for the 2008-2009 academic year, with the following blabber to justify it:

“Our commitment to supportive and dynamic residential experiences is at the heart of our mission for the students,” says Carole Henry, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of University Housing. “We are creating new living spaces that respond to the needs of today’s and future students — not only personal comforts, but also places for community and learning opportunities. That we can strengthen the connection of social and academic vitality for our students has tremendous value.”

Ye Gods, we are doomed. Any of that Wild Turkey left?

The Academic Circus.

Long gone are the days of a college professor relishing a vigorous debate with her students on a lecture thesis. Now you sue your students for anti-intellectualism and violating your civil rights. The Wall Street Journal has the details here. Pass us the Wild Turkey, would you please?