Things I Have Learned

The words "I need fifty on pump six." are really painful to say.

Memorial Day (Traditional)

Today is the day that Memorial Day was originally observed on prior to being moved to create a three day weekend. Over at Done With Mirrors Callimachus tells the stories of soldiers and civilians that gave their lives doing what they believed was right and highlights one of the truly grim facts of war; that all too often war costs us the bravest, most selfless, and most principled citizens that our nation has to offer.

TGIF

Working some Doctor Who into the theme...


Frou Frou

New York To Recognize Gay Marriage

By edict of Governor Peterson state agencies will have to recognize gay marriages from other states.

From the BBC:

State Governor David Paterson has given state agencies until 30 June to change rules to recognize gay marriages.

The news came hours after California said it would start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples from 17 June.

The move does not legalize same-sex marriage in New York, but it means many bureaucratic restrictions experienced by gay couples will be lifted.

These include issues concerning family health care plans, property inheritance, tax breaks and adoption rights.

I'm not a proponent of gay marriage per se. However I am a firm believer that the less government meddles in the relationships of two consenting human adults the better. Marriage was primarily a religious matter until fairly recently and in my opinion it should have stayed that way. So on that note I say...

Nice first step New York.

Beans Beans the Preventative Fruit?

Ordinarily I wouldn't blog about this but since I'm running an online beans only food drive until the 30th of May it seems germane. According to a recent study by Vanderbilt university eating a serving of legumes a day reduces the risk of developing Type II Diabetes by a whopping forty percent. Apparently legumes help keep blood sugar from spiking.

That means that if you were to contribute a buck to The Blogger Food Drive you'd not only be fighting hunger but diabetes as well (while promoting your blog to boot).

The Cold Hard Truth About Gas Prices

Over at the NY Times Thomas Friedman dreams of a presidential candidate telling America the truth about gas prices:

For starters, he or she would explain that there is no short-term fix for gasoline prices. Prices are what they are as a result of rising global oil demand from India, China and a rapidly growing Middle East on top of our own increasing consumption, a shortage of “sweet” crude that is used for the diesel fuel that Europe is highly dependent upon and our own neglect of effective energy policy for 30 years.

Cynical ideas, like the McCain-Clinton summertime gas-tax holiday, would only make the problem worse, and reckless initiatives like the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep offer to subsidize gasoline for three years for people who buy its gas guzzlers are the moral equivalent of tobacco companies offering discounted cigarettes to teenagers.

He then goes on to promote a government mandated four dollar floor price for a gallon of gas. While some think its a bad idea whereas I think its a useless idea. I say that because I don't believe that gas is going to go down. Ever. Period. The Chinese and Indians aren't going to stop buying cars. Nations that are becoming industrialized aren't going to suddenly hit the breaks. There may be some downward fluctuations but I'm guessing that within a year we'll be looking at four dollar a gallon gasoline wistfully. Americans are already starting to drive less due to the current price of gas.

He goes on to state that America needs to convert totally to electric cars. The problem is that the current power grid can't handle the additional load. For that to be a reality homeowners would have to shell out another 10K dollars to add solar panels to their homes. Couple that with the cost of an electric car and you see just exactly how unlikely that is to happen. Not that there isn't hope. Because as market forces drive the price of gas upwards those same forces also create a demand for an alternative to gasoline. (Hence all of those crappy ethanol subsidies.) A car powered by compressed air is due to be released in Europe shortly. Technologies like solar shingles promise to eventually drive the cost of solar power down thereby making electric cars more viable. Waste and grass based ethanol is gaining support not to mention the possibility of producing oil from algae. Plus there's that guy in Florida who figured out how to burn salt water. Who knows what innovations that could lead to.

But the fact is until we have a viable alternative to one hundred percent gasoline in our cars Americans have a choice of driving more fuel efficient vehicles, driving less, or paying out the nose for for gasoline. That's just the reality of the situation.

Mr Friedman's idea would only be another unnecessary and useless government mandate given current market trends. I like Thomas Friedman because frequently he can see the forest for the trees but truth be told I wouldn't give him any matches.

Plug Your Blog and Fight Hunger

(Anyone that links to this post gets a link back.)

The rising cost of gas has become a real burden on the working poor causing many to turn to food banks to make up the difference. The increased demand is causing food banks to go bankrupt. My local food bank here in San Antonio has asked my workplace to do a beans only food drive in order to be able to provide as much healthy food as possible.

So it occurred to me that since dried beans are cheap, I have a blog, and bloggers love to see their Technorati ranking go up that I might be able to help out a few more families by trying to harness the power of blogtopia.

So for the month of May I am hosting a blogger food drive.

Here is the deal:

1: You hit the paypal donation widget and contribute 1$
2: I take that money and buy beans and then donate them.
3: I link back to your blog or website in a weekly update post. (leave your site's name and address in the Paypal comments field or email me the details at dyre42atgmail.com)
4: I create a blogroll consisting of all donors.
5: You get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you helped out a family in need and promoted your blog or site by doing so.

Details:
In the interest of fairness and accountability I will post a receipt every Saturday along with links to that weeks donors blogs or websites. That way you can compare the amount the widget says was donated to the total of all of all the receipts.

Once the food drive is over I'll take a picture of the barrel at work that I'm putting the beans in and you'll get too see exactly how much of a difference you helped make.

Also any blogger promoting this post on their blog will receive a link back.

Additionally anyone who either comments or emails me asking, "Why isn't my your link back to my blog showing up on Technorati?" should ask the folks at Technorati and will be ignored by me.

Finally I'm going open the ante with 20 pounds of beans. I donated five pounds last week, I have five pounds ready to donate tomorrow, this weekend I'll buy 10 more pounds (and post that receipt here.), I'll contribute another 5 pounds per week, and when the month ends I'll pony up enough cash to make sure that the number of pounds of food donated ends in a pretty round number in order to make up for the percentage that Paypal takes out.

Next month? The blogger GasX drive. Stay tuned for details.

**Updated**

We have our first donor One Fly from Outta the Cornfield graciously opted to kick start this campaign. And here's that receipt I promised...

I never did get around to waxing the car.

Thanks to Short Woman , Spyware, Spyware Biz, Gilded Pages, Security Ratty , The Big Stick, and Publius Endures for linking to this post. Your support is greatly appreciated.

No No, THIS is Appeasement

President Bush last week made a veiled accusation that Barack Obama would attempt to appease Iran by holding diplomatic talks. Conversely he's doing the same with a government that is as equally if not more reprehensible.

From the WaPo:

Bush Straddles His Hard Line in Engaging Sudan

Sometime in the next few weeks, a special envoy of President Bush plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose government sheltered Osama bin Laden and pursued a scorched-earth policy in southern Sudan that resulted in more than 2 million deaths.

Bashir's government has been accused by Bush of participating in a "genocide" in Darfur, the only U.S. government use of such a strong accusation. Yet Richard S. Williamson's visit to Khartoum follows a series of direct contacts by senior Bush administration officials with the Sudanese president, including Secretaries of State Colin L. Powell and Condoleezza Rice, Rice's deputies, and several special presidential envoys.

Bush has spoken to or exchanged letters with Bashir on numerous occasions, underscoring how White House policy has departed from his pointed public call to shun talks with radical tyrants and dictators. His appointees have also pursued aggressive diplomacy with North Korea and Libya and have even conducted limited business with Cuba, Syria and Iran.

In the case of Sudan, experts are deeply divided about how much the administration's engagement has improved conditions in a country beset for decades by mass violence and famine. It has at least provoked charges of hypocrisy, because Bush recently accused those advocating talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other radical figures of "appeasement."
...

Bush's Sudan policy has relied more heavily on diplomacy than that of the Clinton administration, which tried to isolate Sudan because of its ties to Osama bin Laden, imposed stiff sanctions against the government and placed it on the official list of state sponsors of terrorism.

My definition of appeasement is "all carrot, no stick"and that pretty much sums up this administration's policies towards Sudan.

Bush administration officials have acknowledged in the past that they have offered to restore full diplomatic ties, lift economic sanctions and remove Sudan from the American list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for concessions on Darfur.

Yet each Sudan failed to make any meaningful progress in ending the genocide did we up the sanction or call propose international sanctions via the UN security council? Contrast the crimes of Syria. Yes they actively support several terrorist groups but does the combined body of those groups come close to those murdered by the Janjaweed and Sudan's own military?Nope. So given the difference between the severity of their crimes why is one given the cold shoulder and the other treated with kid gloves? I have no good answer. All I can say is that I'm tired of the appeasement and the hypocrisy. Its high time for either some stick or some consistency.

Memorial Day

And when the wind in the tree-tops roared,
The soldier asked from the deep dark grave:
"Did the banner flutter then?"
"Not so, my hero," the wind replied.
"The fight is done, but the banner won,
Thy comrades of old have borne it hence,
Have borne it in triumph hence."
Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:
"I am content."

Then he heareth the lovers laughing pass,
and the soldier asks once more:
"Are these not the voices of them that love,
That love--and remember me?"
"Not so, my hero," the lovers say,
"We are those that remember not;
For the spring has come and the earth has smiled,
And the dead must be forgot."
Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:
"I am content."

Blogger Food Drive Week 3 Update

Week three continued the double digit donor trend which has been this drive's saving grace. As we move into the final stretch I'm hoping for a few last minute donations. Towards that end this week I'll donate one pound of rice for every person that donates to the drive.We're at seventy two pounds so far and it'll only fourteen one dollar donations to make it an even hundred pounds.

This week I'd like to that Progressive Conservative from The Big Stick for his generous donation.

And as per the rules here's the receipt for my five pounds:

TGIF

Sticking with the theme...

Five for Fighting

Obama Enters the Veepstakes

Looks like he's not going to let McCain get ahead of him in the Veep hunt...

From the AP:

Obama has asked former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential vice presidential picks, Democratic officials said Thursday. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

Obama refused to acknowledge Johnson's role when The Associated Press asked the Illinois senator about it in the Captiol Thursday.

"I haven't hired him. He's not on retainer. I'm not paying him any money. He is a friend of mine. I know him," Obama said. "I am not commenting on vice presidential matters because I have not won this nomination."

The Democratic officials spoke on a condition of anonymity about a process that the campaign wants to keep quiet.

Vice presidential searches are usually closely held secrets, but Obama campaign officials say the effort is being handled by a particularly tight circle of advisers.

Additionally Obama spoke about building a Lincolnesque "Team of Rivals" in Louisiana today.

I can tell you this. My goal is to have the best possible government. And that means me winning. So, I'm very practical in my thinking. I'm a practical guy. One of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln. Awhile back, there was a wonderful book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin called 'Team of Rivals,' in which she talked about how Lincoln basically pulled all the people he'd been running against into his Cabinet. Because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was, 'How can we get the country through this time of crisis?' I think that has to be the approach one takes to the vice president and the Cabinet.

That makes a certain amount of sense considering that he was running against some highly experienced political players like Biden and Richards. Both of them have much to bring to the table. However I don't see either of them as Veep. Biden lacks lacks energy and charisma. Richardson has those but is America really ready for an all minority presidential package? Sadly enough I don't think so. But both of them are ideal for cabinet positions. Ultimately Obama needs someone that can carry a state for him, debates well, is a little older, has more experience, and can get a crowd on its feet.

Got any suggestions?

McCain to Interview Potential Veeps

McCain is scheduled to hold meetings with Mitt Romney, former Florida governor Charlie Crist, and Governer Bobby Jindal of Louisiana this weekend.

From the NY Times:

Senator John McCain is planning to meet this weekend with at least three potential Republican running mates at a gathering at his ranch in Arizona, suggesting that he is stepping up his search for a vice president now that the Democratic contest appears basically decided, according to Republicans familiar with Mr. McCain’s plans.

Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a one-time rival for the Republican nomination, have all accepted invitations to visit with Mr. McCain at his ranch in Sedona, these Republicans said.

After a week of campaigning, Mr. McCain is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign described this as a social weekend that would include a number of couples, and — as has been its policy it declined to discuss any aspect of the vice presidential search.

“We don’t talk about the V.P. selection process,” said Steve Schmidt a senior adviser.

Of the three Romney makes the least sense. Sure he'd help assuage the base but against Obama he'd do noting to rake in the independents. Crist is well liked in Florida and did get some good common sense legislation passed so while he'd probably cement the state for McCain unless he debates really well he may again not pull in enough support from outside the party to ensure a victory. Jindal however being a Catholic of Indian descent would help McCain against Obama but his being a proponent of Intelligent Design could work strongly against him. Plus there is always the possibility that he'd be viewed as McCain's equivalent of Dan Quayle.

I'm thinking that McCain has to be wishing that The Governator wasn't intelligible for the job. After all he's well known, white yet ethnic, and could potentially carry California for McCain. Personally I'm surprised that Mark Warner wasn't invited as well. He'd do a lot more to show that McCain isn't W the Second than anyone else with the possible exception of Chuck Hagel (whose anti-Iraq war position excludes him from consideration). Sometimes its tough to be the presumptive nominee.

*Updated*
Over at The Gun Toting Liberal GTL states that he has an inside source that says McCain prefers Jindal but isn't picking him for fear of appearing to have caved in to the Far Right and in particular Rush Limbaugh.

Quote of the Day

"Hey, the concepts of fiscal restraint and minimal interference by the government in the lives of its citizens have a lot of value. Too bad that we don't have any political parties that believe in that." - Me

Dear Mr Pesident

Back when you were originally running for president you said that you'd make charitable donations a deduction on the 1040EZ. When exactly is that going to happen?

Sincerely,

Dyre42

Expected Results

Clinton won Kentucky and Obama won Oregon. While it appears that Clinton cut into Obama's pledged delegate lead she failed to drop him below a triple digit lead. Meanwhile superdelegates continue to defect to Obama's camp. Will Clinton capitulate? Nope, she going to fight to the bloody end unless she gets what she wants. Over at Stubborn Facts Tully explains:

That internal division of power and perks applies even if the nominee loses the general election. With the party looking to be in control of both houses of Congress for the immediate future, the rewards are enormous.

As point person for the DLC/Centrist faction, there is no real reason at all for Clinton to concede at this point even if she knows she won’t win the nomination. Unless the party leaders and the opposition faction agree to give HER faction some outsized influence at the convention, the power play for Clinton and for the DLC/Centrist faction is to continue fighting, to grab more sway and more delegates for the control-of-the-party intramural scrimmage coming up...a series of negotiations where close really DOES count.

In other words it ain't about probabilities. Its about power. And to think some folks don't understand why Clinton has such high negatives.

Finally

Over the course of my blogging career I've had a few major technical setbacks. The first is when Real Clear Politics' Buzztracker moved to Fox News they dropped my blog from their rolls which resulted in a 50% decrease in traffic. The second being that Technorati quit indexing my blog for about a year resulting in further loss of traffic (I really was blogging about Ron Paul because he and his followers were interesting and not just trying to suck in extra traffic). While the former was eventually fixed it didn't matter as it appears that RCP Buzztracker lost a lot of traffic due to the move. The latter however was finally fixed Technorati began spidering my blog as of today and that means that all links here now count towards your Technorati authority. The downside is I lost fifty points of authority in the process. Frankly I'd rather have the extra traffic and be able to help those that I link to gain a little authorotai.

So enjoy the link love folks. You deserve it.

Buffett Backs Obama

Warren Buffet defected from the Clinton camp citing economic reasons....

From the AFP:

Warren Buffett, the world's richest man, is backing Barak Obama for US president and thinks current US economic policy will push the dollar lower against other global currencies

Buffett told a press conference here Monday he had offered support to both Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but that since it appeared Obama would win the party's nomination, "I will be very happy if he is elected president.

"He is my choice," Buffett said.

Commenting on the US economy, the 77-year-old investor who is known as the "Sage of Omaha," stressed that fiscal, monetary and trade policies were of great importance.

"I think that the US has followed and is following policies which will cause the US dollar to weaken over a long period of time," he said.

I'm surprised that he endorsed Obama for the reasons cited. Obama has a good idea or two regarding the economy I don't see anything truly amazing about it. While this has to be a blow to Clinton I don't see where its going to change many minds nationally save for a few fiscally conservative Dems and Independents that are Buffett fans. However if Buffet actually fund raises on Obama's behalf McCain may seriously feel the pain. The real question is since Buffet has reconsidered how many superdelegates are going to follow him just to stay close to his money?

H/T to Memeorandum

Obama Has Double Digit Lead in National Polls

But fares less well against McCain than Clinton.

From Gallup Polls:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking finds Barack Obama with his largest advantage over Hillary Clinton in Democratic voters' nomination preferences thus far, 55% to 39%. Obama's previous largest lead was 11 percentage points, in May 15-17 and April 12-14 polling. His widening lead over Clinton has been evident in each of the last three days of tracking, after the two had been more closely matched earlier in the month.

Despite her growing deficit to Obama in the Democratic race, Clinton continues to poll slightly better than Obama in matchups for the general presidential election vs. John McCain. The latest tracking results, based on May 14-18 polling, shows Clinton with a 48% to 44% lead over McCain among registered voters nationwide, while Obama has just a 1-point edge (46% to 45%) over the likely Republican nominee. -- Jeff Jones

I'm curious as to whether or not the feuding between the Obama and Clinton camps has worked in McCain's favor. Obama previously enjoyed a much larger lead over McCain in the national polls. McCain has largely been doing an interesting mix of Town Hall meetings and appearing on TV shows occasionally popping up in the press to take a pot shots. It definitely appears that this strategy isn't hurting him at all. After all he's pretty good on TV for a politician ( despite being very blinky) and I give his sense of comedic timing good marks. Take this weekend for example:



With a month left in the Dem primaries anyone willing to bet that McCain is actually up a point or two in the national polls by their end at the rate the Dems are going?

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