DWI

This story is further evidence that our DWI laws, our judges, and our system are all a tragic joke. There should be mandatory jail time for DWI. In fact, there should be minimum mandatory sentences for everything, because our judges can't seem to exercise judgement in these matters.

Budget News

I don't expect this story to be widely reported, but it shows once again that cutting taxes spurs economic growth. Instead of a decline in revenue (there is often a short period of downturn after a tax reduction, but only because there is a lag in impact), tax cuts actually increase tax revenues over the long term.

The bad news is that both the President and the Congress have allowed spending to get out of control (Iraq is partly, but only partly to blame).

The Buffalo News: Power Failure

I am amazed at how hard the News, and particularly Donn Esmonde try to prop up Brian Higgins.The Buffalo News: Power Failure Higgis bellied up to the public trough and sold his bully pulpit for pennies on the dollar that will go toward government waterfront boondoggles rather than to any true economic development activity.

But "Higgins leads the charge"? I would say Jim Heaney is leading the charge. And good for him. This is the kind of reporting that the community could use more of!!

American Prospect Online - Can Block Clubs Block Despair?

Here is an interesting article on Block Clubs with a look at Buffalo.

You need to subscribe to see the full article, or you can see it in the University at Buffalo Holdings.

Thanks Cindo!

SABRE RATTLING By LARRY BROOKS - Rangers - New York Post Online Edition

It is interesting to see the NY perspective. Especially how they perceive the hits on Jagr,and our checks overall.

The Rest of the World Gets It

Australian PM says US Congress vote on Iraq aids Al-Qaeda When will Congress put domestic politics below national interest?

Does anyone honestly believe that the political theater in Washington does not give hope to those who wish to kill or maim our soldiers?

Choose Responsibility

Back in the day, the drinking age was 18. There were still people who broke the law and drank before they were "legal" , but my guess is that the percentage of people who drink beofre they reach legal age has grown. In an effort to curb drunk driving as a major force behind it, legislation was passed in NY to raise the age to 19 and then to 21. I never thought that was a good idea.

Personally, I find little difference between a drunk driving 18 year old and a drunk driving 40 year old. I feel the better solution is tougher (mandatory) penalties for DUI. There are WAY too many repeat offenders out there.

Here is a link to an effort to fix our drinking laws, led by a former college President. It is worth a look, I think.

Who do you trust more - the Control Board or the Elected Officials?

A recent post by Cindy Locklear raises some valid points about the Erie County Control Board. In fact it is hard to get too excited about this group, with its makeup almost a political recycle bin.

But in a county whose bond rating is the lowest in the country, with a nearly bankrupt city at its core, and with a County Executive and Comptroller (representing both parties) who can't seem to find the value in using the Board as a way of financing borrowing (and thereby saving taxpayers about $4 million) it is pretty obvious that we are not ready to shed the board.

BTW, to her credit, Locklear avoids hypocrisy by avoiding the Dem's own Open meeting problems.

Questions for Al Gore

Former Vice President Al Gore will visit the University at Buffalo area tomorrow.

Is it possible that the earth's temperature is more effected by the sun than any man made activity?

How much were emission reduced during 8 years of Clinton/Gore?

Does it seem at all hypocritical to call for reduction of energy consumption when in 2006 your home consumed over 220,000 Kwh - more than 20 times the national average?

Isn't it true that the incremental increase in our planet's temperatue predates factories and automobiles?

Help a skeptic - whom should we believe about a complex subject like this? A politician with a BA in Government, or a distinguished faculty member from the University of Pennsylvania?

Click here for some additional questions from someone far smarter than me.

Don't let Your Head Explode

I know that nothing is more challenging for some folks than having facts that don't reconcile with whatever Olberman, Matthews or the rest of the downstream media have sold them. Bush lies! A mantra, that some beleive can become true by repeating it over and over again.

If this is a problem for you, or if anyone you disagree with is "another O'Reilly or Hannity", perhaps this will help. Either that, or it may make your head explode.

Check out this progressive site, and perhaps then you will believe what I said about the President.

They still don't like him, but they acknowledge that the President leaves a more modest carbon footprint.

Green House

Before any reaction, be sure to check out the veracity at snopes, urban legend or truth or fiction.

YOU won't find this in the downstream media outlets, but it is true.

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU
CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:
A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas.
Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated
by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the
average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for
electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural
gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property
consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home.
This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's
in the South.



HOUSE # 2:
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university,
this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction
can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and
is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central
closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water
through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67
degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The
system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes
25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling
system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000
gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets
goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The
collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers
and shrubs native to the are! a blend the property into the surrounding
rural landscape.



HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of
Nashville,Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist
(and filmmaker) Al Gore.


HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford,
Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private
residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

Toliet paper Part (not Number) 2

WHile Sheryl has even been ridiculed by Rosie O'Donnell, the Smoking Gun has some info on Sheryl's tour requirements.

BTW - someone asked me if I saw an inconvenient truth. The fact is, I don't typically go to science documentaries by politicians or celebrities. Although, I am looking forward to the Tonya Harding movie on nanodynamics.

Iraq a Touchy Subject

I have not commented too much on the Iraq situation as it is unlikely that I (or commenters) can add much to the discourse. I received a lot of comments to my drawing attention to Reid's stance on the issue.

Oddly enough, none of the posters took issue with any of the substance of my comment that Reid is a defeatist that would have bailed out at Normandy.

One pointed out that war is unpopular. No big surprise there. A war like this one is even harder to grasp, and therefore unlikely to be as popular as responding to a nearby agressor. I don't beleive that Rasmussen should dictate when it is time to pull out. I trust in the generals and the people with their boots on the soil. Drudge has an intereting email from a purportedly from a soldier reacting to Reid's stance.

Another person drew a comparison to Viet Nam. That may be a better analogy. How did things go for the South Vietnamese when we pulled out?

We are in this war. You can debate all you want how we got there, but two presidents and a majority of both houses of congress believed that Iraq had WMDs and Bush and the two houses acted on that information. The most important question to be asking now is: should we pull out now (or in October or Arbor day or whatever).

In that context, when did we pull out of Germany? Japan? What would happen to Iraq if we left tomorrow?

Reynolds and the AMY

Reynolds leading the charge against the Alternative Minimum Tax.

But What Does Emo Philips think about Global Warming?

Sheryl Crow has a solution to Global Warming - using 1 square of toilet paper per visit "except in those pesky situations where 2-3 are necessary". The best line is where she compares a visit from Algore to a visit from your Dad on Sorority weekend. Talk about taking the wind out of Al's sails!

D is for Defeatist

Generally speaking, the leaders of the Democratic Party are a bunch of defeatists.if Harry Reid had been in office back at Normandy, one assumes that he would have stood on the floor of the senate and ordered the men back to the boats. Clearly we were not "winning" then.

The good news is that he has finally put the lie to the whole "support the troops but not the war ruse". This was clearly a kick below the belt to our troops.

A Simple Question

Who was the officer assigned to be with the mayor on the date in question, and was he in fact in fron of the mayor's house at the time of the accident? Until we know the answer to that question, we don't know all of the facts.

NBC Should be Ashamed

The public gained nothing ,but NBC saw a ratings spike. There was absolutely no value from giving this disturbed young man a posthumous platform for his twisted worldview. Clearly they could have chosen to summarize the tapes as the final act and disturbing images of a tragically sick young man.unfortunately they could barely hide their disappointment that the tragedy did not occur during a sweeps period. Thankfully, they may now pay a price. That price will pale though in comparison to the harm that they have caused, both to the families and loved ones of the victims, as well as from the fallout of other twisted minds that may feel that there is a new ticket to their 15 minutes.

Virginia Tech

There is little to add to this story. A couple of observations though. First of all, this could happen anywhere. The criticism of the school is, in my opinion, premature. Hindsight is 20-20, but it appears that as soon as they knew that there was a continuing danger, they acted to spread the word. When all the details emerge, then one can form an informed opinion.

A second point is that an event like this, and more importantly , the way it is reported, tells us a great deal. Check back hereWBEN 930 : Local News : On-Demand Audio to see if they post the liveline interview with the CBS reporter on the scene. This guy was unbelievable. First he goes on about how puzzling it is that this "foreign student" could do anything so "american" as committing mass murder. This of course is based on his amazing knowledge of the correlation between playing "cowboys and indians" and "cops and robbers" with homicide.

He also showed how out of touch he is when he pointed out that before the university sent out the mass email that they were text messaging students, but that "it's not like students can check their text messages during class" Helloooo?!

Note - most of the above quotes should have "air quotes" because, the link has not yet been posted, so I can't quote him verbatim. Once it is posted (if) then we can see how close I was.

Life on Campus