Who is Taking Credit for the Gas Tax Holiday?

On the O'Reilly Factor, Hillary talked about introducing a "gas tax holiday". Sounds like a copycat scenario to me.

In NC, the fight is heating up. It's all NC can talk about, and, being on the border, that means that it's on every channel.



O'Reilly's claiming that Obama's "likeability" is down 9%.

Dick Morris is saying that "the primary is over; it's all about McCain". Can't say that I agree with him, even though he is widely respected as a political analyst.



O'Reilly is saying that he has more information about Wright, and promising to talk about it tomorrow.

Using Surrogates to Fight His Battles

This isn't the first time Obama has used others to attack his opponents; first Hillary, now McCain.

Hillary on The O'Reilly Factor

Hillary is talking about the "gas tax holiday", health care, and other hot topics. I gotta be honest, she's looking strong, unflustered, and on top of things. Bill tried to get her to say something negative about the Obama-Wright situation, but she rather skillfully evaded that landmine.

O'Reilly got Hillary to say that she would be raising the ceiling on taxes to "what you (O'Reilly) were paying in the 90's" - 36-39%. "I am not going to raise the payroll tax on people who are paying more than they should", she said.

O'Reilly said that what she was doing was income re-distribution "and that's socialism". She disagreed, saying that the 90's was the fairest, healthiest economy we've had.

She sparred with O'Reilly, saying that Obama was NOT for universal health care. O'Reilly said "Obama's a nice guy". Hillary is clearly staking out the pugnacious arena.

Oh, The Humanity!

This is just ridiculous. The headline on page 2 of my local paper reads:

Americans unload prized belongings to make ends meet

Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.

To meet higher gas, food and prescription drug bills, they are selling off grandmother's dishes and their own belongings. Some of the household purging has been extremely painful — families forced to part with heirlooms.

Well, OK, I'm a sensitive person (I REALLY AM!) I can see how having to sell great-granny's whats-it would be tear-jerking, if it was to keep body and soul together.

But:

Christine Hadley, a 53-year-old registered nurse from Reading, Pa., says she used to be "a clotheshorse," splurging on pricey Dooney & Bourke handbags. But her live-in boyfriend left last year, and she has had trouble finding a job.

Piles of unpaid bills forced her to sell more than 80 items, including the handbags, which went for more than $1,000 on a site called AuctionPal.com. Now, except for some artwork and threadbare furniture, her house is looking sparse.

"I need the money for essentials — to pay my bills and to eat," Hadley said.

Hey, Lady, didn't anyone ever tell you that nurses shouldn't try to live the Sex & the City lifestyle? You don't make that much - not that the women with jobs like those of Carrie and her buds do, either. But, reality isn't what that show is about.

Cry me a river. Overspending, and then having to re-trench, isn't the stuff of good sob stories. It's a testament to the self-centered existence of those profiled.

Funny Bush

Nothing special, just funny.

2nd Test of Flock

I'm going to try this again.  If it works without a hitch, I'll have a way to post.

I'm going to add a link.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

What Issues Will Dominate This Election Cycle

Every election, pundits try to show off their predictive powers.  They will boldly state which issues will prove to be the pivotal ones.  They will flatly state what voters will use to judge which candidate will prevail.

And, often, they will be wrong.  I think this election will be the same.  Right now, there is an situation brewing that may well prove to be the one that either defines a candidate as "the one", or casts him/her as hopelessly out-of-touch.

This may be the issue that defines this election.

I Smell a Back-Room Deal in the Making

Hillary's people are apparently relying on strong-arming the superdelegates, according to a story in FoxNews.

Quelle surprise!  The Clinton mafia has always been comfortable with bypassing the "little people" and going right to the deal-makers for what they want.  And, this time, they want the nomination for Hillary.

I'm against that.  But, then, I'm a really strong supporter of democratic (small d) elections.  It's amazing how well that's worked, in general, for the USA.

Not that "the little people" haven't settled on mediocre, duplicitious, or just awful elected officials before.  And, even, returned them to office, year after endless year, despite credible evidence that they were:

• crooked
• morally bankrupt, or/and,
  
• stupid

I'm thinking Traficant, for example.

Yet, in part due to the strength of the system, the Republic trods on.

Note:  I am posting this twice, due to a glitch in the updating feature - my network blocked it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

I Smell a Back-Room Deal in the Making

Hillary's people are apparently relying on strong-arming the superdelegates, according to <a href="http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/female-superdelegates-backing-obama-find-their-sisterhood-questioned/">a story in FoxNews</a>.

Quelle surprise!  The Clinton mafia has always been comfortable with bypassing the "little people" and going right to the deal-makers for what they want.  And, this time, they want the nomination for Hillary.

I'm against that.  But, then, I'm a really strong supporter of democratic (small d) elections.  It's amazing how well that's worked, in general, for the USA.

Not that "the little people" haven't settled on mediocre, duplicitious, or just awful elected officials before.  And, even, returned them to office, year after endless year, despite credible evidence that they were:

• crooked
• morally bankrupt, or/and,
  
• stupid

I'm thinking Traficant, for example.

Yet, in part due to the strength of the system, the Republic trods on.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Test Drive of the New Flock Browser

I'm composing this offline with the new Flock browser.  Once finished, I'll upload the post.  I'm not sure this will work everywhere - in some places, the security settings for the network block posting.  I'll try again tomorrow, on my lunch hour, and see what happens.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Blog for Borders Blogburst

I've been quite neglectful about posting the links for the Blogs4Borders blogburst over the last few months. Between personal illness and work, I've barely kept my head above water.

However, I'm committed to keeping this issue in the forefront. And, it turns out that there's a podcast version available.

The Nearby Primaries

I live on the border of NC-SC, on the SC side. Most of our news comes from the Charlotte stations. So, for the last few months, we've been privy to the jockeying for favor the presidential candidates have been indulging in.

Today, I noticed a new Clinton ad. She appears, talking about the conversation she's having with voters. She "takes" a question about high gas prices - the picture of the voter, an under-40 white woman, is shown on the screen. In the ad, Clinton appears warm, thoughtful, and competent. It's going to be hard to beat Clinton in NC, unless there are a lot more Black voters than I thought there were.

I have seen comparatively few Obama ads. That may be due to the shows I watch, or the fact that I watch comparatively little TV.

I honestly can't say I have a clue who will win the Democratic nomination. A few weeks ago, I might have said Obama. But, after watching his various stumbles for the last month, Hillary suddenly looks like she's back in the game.

No matter which one gets the nomination, truthfully, hasn't it been enormously entertaining?

Obama - Fallen From Grace

It seems that the bloom is off the rose. Obama's adoring MSM fans are finally willing to report on his gaffes, and put him and his team to responsible levels of scrutiny.

From Mother Jones:



On the controversy over his characterizing small-town inhabitants in demeaning ways:



Re: "Typical White Person":



BTW, does anyone besides me think it's funny that the two leading Democrats are multi-millionaires, and the Republican "rich party" candidate is the comparative pauper in the mix?

Update on Posting

I've been snowed under at work and home. We're getting the taxes together this weekend, which will require copious amounts of alcohol once we're done.

We've been breaking in new equipment this week, the Vernier Lab Quest, a tool that allows us to collect data, display it in a graph or meter style (in color!), and send it to a computer for further writing and display (you can do some writing on the handheld device, but for major input, the computer is easier), and even print directly to an HP device.

I also learned to podcast. Looking forward to playing around with that more on the weekend.

Compared to the interest I have in my own life, politics seems boring - particularly the Democrat race - although the bickering is delightful. The fight is catty, petty, and seemingly designed to cause meltdown in the general election.

What more could I ask?

Podcasting Frenzy

I've been learning to podcast. I wrangled with the software and hardware for an inordinant time, and finally produced 2 short (30 seconds or so) little "broadcasts".

I'm hooked.

I use the Mac GarageBand, which, once you meander through the Help screens, is surprisingly easy to use. It's one of those applications that makes you look so much better than you really are.

I decided to start after buying an IPod Shuffle (the cheap little one), and finding that there are many, many free programs. I've been enjoying NASA, tech-related podcasts, and political shows.

I Really Love Jeopardy

I'm not in the same category as the 5-time champions, but I generally do well enough to feed my ego that I could, under the right circumstances (such as the other 2 are congenital idiots), actually win.

Then I see those contestants who know about geography, music, and architecture, and can calculate mentally on-the-fly, and come back to reality.

Didn't They Do This in 1968?

Ah, the smell of a backroom deal is in the air!

I just have the feeling that the trickiest and most unscrupulous candidate will win. I just don't know which of them qualifies.