House of the rising Moonglum

Here’s a funny little pic. I guess rednecks don’t have to be right wingers.

Apparently the Bush administration is having an orgy free for all give away to big business in its last days in office. How common is this? I know that Clinton did a similar thing after congress left when he was in office, however many of his regulations were not yet complete when he left office and Bush immediately stopped work on ALL of them. So apparently he wants to not let the next president do that to him.

But these are a severe weakening of environmental protections and other huge giveaways to industry. Government paying for TSA instead of the airlines?! What is up with that? Oh, and worst of all, eliminating homeland security provisions for shipping companies!!!???!!! I thought homeland security was the one inviolate tenet of this administration.

So in any case, is the a pretty common occurence in the last days of a presidency when congress is out of session and distracted by elections? And how much power does the president have to make these rules anyway? I know that this is just interpretation of laws, not actually making new ones, but some of the changes seem to go directly against the wording of the law, not just the spirit.

And Obama goes on about his energy policy. *sob* I want him as my president so bad. Someone asks a simple talking point question and he goes on without interruption, about the different viewpoints he has been synthesizing, and much of the fallout of what energy policy impacts across the country, from single point of failure food production to the weaknesses of the cap and trade system. PLEASE COUNTRY vote for him! It has been so long since we have had a president who I can actually listen to expounding on difficult topics.

It really is a great overview of his energy and tax policy and you should read it if you haven’t heard him talk about it before. The best thing in my opinion is that it shows that he understands how intertwined energy is with everything else we do.

A lot of people complain about the peak oil crowd, saying that they are just conspiracy theorists. The financial times is reporting a large measurable decrease in oil production which will continue at a rate of 9% a year without large increases in extraction infrastructure. I don’t know how anyone can say that peak oil doesn’t exist. We already passed it!

At first I thought that having a recession in the middle of the passing of the peak would be devastating. What actually seems to be happening though is that the recession is actually causing a reduction in demand, allowing us to slow production a bit, and potentially stave off the time when oil becomes the limiting factor. Also since people saw the rapid increase in cost it has gotten people interested in alternatives. We might actually be able to make it through this thing unscathed.

As requested here are my choices for this race. (Mmm, think I’m gonna go vote early today. Skip the lines on election day.)

Federal

President – Obama/Biden – C’mon, if you are reading my blog to figure out who to vote for for president, you have real issues. But since you are here, I’ll give you my number one reason. I truly fear the transition from a petro energy economy to a post petro economy. Obama seems to understand the problem infinitely better than the Drill, Baby, Drill crowd. He seems to be able to do basic math. 20 billion barrels of oil of proven reserves in the US. We use 10 billion barrels of oil a year. Yes we need to drill, no it will not solve anything. (And the Trib endorsed him!!)

For congress and senate, I am pissed at our current members for giving into Bush’s fear-mongering (especially on this most recent financial crisis). I also seem to be having a general distaste for the established power structure. Because of this I present, the green party. At least they will back alternative energy funding, without any need for pork to help it down. Update: Shakowsky wrote me back explaining her position (in I assume a form letter) and I feel a bit better about it. I’m feeling a bit more generous to her today than I was when I first wrote this right after the vote. Take these opinions with a grain of salt, as I might change my mind before I get to the polls.

Senator – Cummings. No way she will beat Durbin, it’s just a message. Though I have to say everything I have been able to find about her indicates that her concerns closely match my own. I am especially pleased with her energy stance and, interestingly since it doesn’t really have anything to do with the green party, her stance on the supremacy of the constitution.

Congresscritter – Shanfield. He’s basically running to stop the war. He will lose to Shakowski, but I am so disappointed in her recent complete lack of spine (as well as the rest of the democratic party I suppose) that I can’t bring myself to vote for her.

State

State Senator – Silverstein (only) State Rep – Lang (only) Why no competition for the state reps? I guess I’ll list them for completeness sake. Still annoys me.

Metro

Metro Water – Meany (inc., been there forever), Avila (inc., likes poop), Santos (inc., married to govt worker). I actually think the current metro water has done an incredible job. Thus for this one I change my normal for this election and go with the incumbents. The sun times swaps Meany for Bopp, the green candidate, who they feel is a good addition. I might actually vote that way too on a little further consideration.

County

The trib has a great quote from their endorsements:

Yes, we know you’re eager to oust Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and the 10 board members whose sales-tax increase is hurting local consumers and employers. That crowd won’t be on the ballot until 2010. This autumn, though, voters are choosing five other county officials.

But what is on the ballot (out with the old in with the new Stroger memorial edition):

State’s Attorney – Alvarez. I think Peraica would have been an excellent Cook County president. I think he would be a terrible state’s attorney. He has a tendency to attack before thinking. Good for trimming a bloated government and taxes. Bad for a prosecutor. This is the one place where I go against my out with the old in with the new. Alvarez has been on the county payroll for too long to be considered new.

Court Clerk – Shapiro. She’s an ex Dem who got fed up with the Democratic system in Chicago. That seems like a great reason to leave the party. And it means that she is probably someone that actually agrees with most of my thinking. Also, she wasn’t party to the current county government.

Recorder of Deeds – Goldstein. This is another out with the old, in with the new recommendation. Moore is simply not doing his job properly. I preferred Smith in the primary and now I prefer Goldstein. He is currently a customer of the office and will hopefully bring an understanding of what needs to be fixed.

Board of Review (2nd Dist) – Not Berrios. He is a Stroger stooge, so I can’t vote for him. Problem is I have no idea who the other candidates are. The sad thing is how important this position is. Now that I am a home owner, I realize how much power the ability to review assessments and that kind of thing gives, and how easy it is to abuse that power. This is one of the places where the pain from the taxes comes from. Give out lots of revaluations to politically connected people, and everyone else pays more. I’m voting for the opposition, if for no other reason than to send a message to Stroger et. al.

Courts

For the empty positions on the courts, there is only one choice for all of them?! I wonder why that is. Fortunately the bar associations seem to like them all, marking them as qualified or highly qualified.

And THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION, judicial retention if you aren’t going to bother, at least mark them all NO. If you are going to bother, mark them all yes with the following exceptions:

Appellate: Both appellate judges are recommended to be retained by all 10 reporting bar associations.

Circuit: Multiple bar associations don’t like Brosnahan (209), Pietrucha (171), McCarthy (165), Hayes (149), Hopkins (151), Garcia (145) and Lewis (221). Mark all them no.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers doesn’t like Bender (127), Clay (133) or McGury (121), Turner (239).
The Cook County Bar Association doesn’t like Fabri (141).
The Gay Bar Association doesn’t like Stuart (185) or James Riley (179).

Questions

Question: Should we be able to recall the governor? I’m not actually sure what I think about this one. On the one hand, it seems like it is necessary at times. On the other hand it seems like it shifts the balance of power considerably and I could easily see it getting in the way of the operation of the government. Besides, given the number of ex governors who have spent time in jail, I’m not worried about justice not being served.

Question: Should we have a constitutional convention? I think yes. Ed to add: um… NO I MEAN NO!!! One thing among many that I forgot to take into account was how expensive this thing is going to be. Over $100 million is a bit much to see if we decide that we need to make some changes. Especially given the current economy. And I am allowed to sleep on the bed tonight. We need another referendum before any changes are approved, and the convention might decide that no changes are needed. But the opportunity for a review won’t happen if we vote no. The Trib says yes though the Sun Times strongly disagrees.

It appears that Alaska’s largest newspaper is endorsing Obama for president.

I was opposed to this bailout, and for a brief period I felt a little better about it. Shakowski even responded to my email about it with a very nice (form) letter that actually answered many of my concerns. (I can post it if anyone is interested.) The problem is that once the rubber met the road most of my concerns were realized. My biggest concern was a lack of oversight, so that this didn’t become a “save Paulson’s friends” extravaganza. The bank that is managing the bailout gave itself $3B? What is up with that? Other bailed out banks using the money to buy up other banks or give out dividends? And who is complaining about whom about spreading out the wealth? It is supposed to go steal from the rick give to the poor, not steal from everybody give to the rich in the form of cash dividends.

Acorn. “Spreading the wealth.” Testing the new president. Carl Marx. No, really.

My favorite quote, “This is a joke right?” Biden is really good, even it a bit crazy.

No, I am not kidding. Seriously people. I used to think that Fox news provided some semblance of useful news, even if it came from a viewpoint that I don’t agree with. The truth is they aren’t even farce. They are actually dangerous. In the comments people are talking about God’s will being done with this election and the end times being sped along with the election of one with ties to Satan. Modern Christian Zionism is a tenant that comes from Falwell and Robertson, and thus unfortunately is getting a lot of play in the evangelical movement in this country. This means that these people are sending money to pro settler organizations in Israel to support what might otherwise be an unpopular movement over there.

It’s all fun and games until someone destabilizes the middle east. Fox news, please don’t cause the end times. Alternately, we must worry about this life, and let the Lord worry about the next.

It looks like the vote is going to be a tough one. The thing that I am most worried about is that people will get confused about the wording of the proposition and vote the wrong way. No on 8 protects equal rights for gays. If you are a CA voter make sure you get to the polls and vote no on 8.

Wonkette has a wonderful way of putting things sometimes. This time she is talking about a OECD report that the US has one of the largest rich/poor gaps in the world. Her clever use of Monty Python images aside, I found the numbers amazing. Also, her description of who is first against the wall sounds depressingly like me:

At some point, these people are going to put down the remote and pick up their guns and start hunting rich people. And they’re not going to get anywhere close to Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, so you’re going to look like a pretty good target, sitting there at the Starbucks with your $3 coffee and your MacBook and new Prius in the parking lot.

This is one of the best endorsements I have ever seen in my life. His nod to muslim americans, and the freedom that this country provides was wonderful. I still wish that Powell would have run for president all those years ago, I would have loved to vote for him. He has certainly made his mistakes, out of some sort of loyalty I suppose. But his love of this country, and understanding that this is a large and diverse country is wonderful. He has Obama’s intellectual curiosity, but much more experience. His steady hand on 9/11 and after would have been much appreciated. (In retrospect I have to believe he would have been better than a second term of Clinton, but that is a long view hindsight, and honestly with republican congress and presidency we might have gotten ourselves even more into the deregulation hole.) In any case, here is a well reasoned and beautiful endorsement (the full interview):

Can someone please explain to me what is happening to the Republican party? First Palin and now Bachmann? This is the most amazing virulence I have seen coming from someone in a long time. Move it forward to 5:56 where you can see her accusing congress of anti-American activities. I am not kidding. Wow. “I think the news media should do an expose of Congress to find out which members are pro America and which are anti America”.

Mmm Pie.

McCain seems to have finally realized that he has the possibility of an actual angry mob on his hands. Fortunately he seems to be reigning them in. I disagree with the blogger who was there though, thinking that this is McCain having his cake and eating it too. I think he really did finally realize that he was playing with fire, and it trying to put it out before something really bad happens. McCain used to be one of my favorite politicians. The reason was because of his backbone. But he has left that behind in so many instances in the past few years. I am glad to see it show once more.

p.s. I know it is probably just politics, given that his numbers dropped when he went negative, but let a man dream a little.

Anyone see the debate on Tuesday? A friend asked me if “I had learned anything new” or if it was all the same talking points. I put some thought into it and came up with the following answer:

I finally heard Obama’s priorities in terms of which programs he feels are more important than others (between healthcare, energy and social security). It shocked and amazed me to hear that. It was clearly planned in response to his not being able to say which things he would cut or put off because of the financial crisis in the last debate. But shockingly, his number one priority is my number one priority: ENERGY. More important than defense, more important than social services. That has been my fear for years and I figured it rounded out Obama’s list somewhere at the bottom, but he surprised me with a deep understanding of how that effects every single aspect of life in this country, and how it will be the major issue in the future. He also said we were going to have to sacrifice to beat the energy problem. That is a risk (ask Carter) but one that I applaud him for
taking.

McCain’s response of we can do them all, after blasting Obama for being a spendthrift was almost as shocking. And every time he says drilling will reduce gas prices I want to tear my hair out. We
consume 11.9428 billion barrels of oil a year. The EIA says we have total proven reserves of 21 billion barrels. It takes 10 years for a new set of well heads to come online. All of the current deep ocean rigs are in use, and none are expected to be free soon. Hmmm…. Not gonna reduce my gas prices. And like bush, he is also not asking us to sacrifice.

This issue is of particular interest to me because I am a peak oil doomer, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. But I don’t believe that we have heard this as a primary priority for Obama before.

Another thing we learned in this was McCain’s new plan for buying up bad mortgages and refinancing them directly with the end borrower. I’m already pissed at both senators (as well as my other senator and my congress critter) for giving into Bush and the Fed’s fear mongering and signing off on the bailout plan (this is a free market?) and this is just salt in the wounds.

So, all in all I guess I did learn something. But I am glad there are only three because that was a lot of gibbering to listen to to get two new things, one from each candidate.

I made a post recently saying how Bush’s speech for the bailout was whipping up fear in the country instead of calming people down. Apparently he used a more direct threat with congress:

This is a laughable threat because marital law is enforced by the national guard who is (when they are home anyway) controlled by the states’ governors. Well I just happened across an interesting article in the Army Times noting that a combat brigade began a “homeland tour” on October first. From the article: “But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.” I guess that threat from the president wasn’t as empty as I thought. I will be very interested to see if we make it through the election without some very interesting happenings.

I must be feeling better about stella, because I find this article hilarious. Yup, hedgehogs might stab you with their quills. And you might get sick from that. Dude! THEY ARE COVERED IN POO! Of course you will get sick if they stab you with their quills. The back and forth is pretty funny though, the medical experts saying “no exotic pets for kids under 5″ and the exotic pet people saying “no pets for kids under 5″. I’m not totally sure that I buy either of those. Wasn’t there a recent study showing that kids that were hidden from germs early in life developed allergies?

With supervision and precautions like hand-washing, contact between children and animals “is a good thing,” Bocchini said. But families should wait until children are older before bringing home an exotic pet, he said.

Seems like supervision and hand-washing would be good for exotic pets as well. And guns germs and steel said that living with animals helped people develop resistances. (Of course the way they developed those was by killing off the people who weren’t resistant. Mmm evolution.) Hedgehogs are like the priest in 300? They test if your baby is weak and puny?

But the last line of the article still annoyed me. Hedgehogs are not a fad.

I guess the New Yorker likes Obama after all. I guess that whole cover fiasco really was just a dumb call, and not an attempt to give credence to the Obama rumors after all. A really nice endorsement that covers most of the reasons that I’m not such a big fan of McCain any more. His general policy shift away from previously held views, including his stance against torture which I had forgotten about until Pam reminded me about it this weekend.

Now if Obama can just restrain his campaign from going more negative. I already got the Keating 5 video in the mail, and I just don’t think that is useful for him right now. He simply doesn’t wear attack politics well.

This is the best news I have heard in a while now. It appears that the senate passed with a veto proof margin the senate approved funds for a massive hight speed rail improvement in the midwest. This is the sort of thing that we need to be working on right now as our reliance on cars goes by the wayside. The only sad thing is that this does not include electrifying the rail lines. Perhaps that can be done later in conjunction with a new advanced electric grid.