H/T to Rob Tornoe on this one. This is a great piece, which also shows the seeds of modern campaigning.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Beckham Effect
I love all sports, including Major League Soccer. I've gone to two games this year. The first, The Red Bulls against The Kansas City Wizards on June 16th, which ended in a 3-3 tie. I took some pictures.
The second game was last night, against the LA Galaxy, which the Red Bulls won 5-4. I took some more pictures.
Yes, David Beckham was in town. Up until last night, the game against the Wizards had been the highest attended of the year. Last night exceded that by 51,000 people. The majority of which was to see this guy:
It was a lot of fun, and Beckham should be a great thing for the game and the league. Although, like I told people I knew going to the game, the Red Bulls are a pretty good team and don't be surprised if we win.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
The Shrinking Lake Superior
About a month ago, I read this story about the declining water levels in Lake Superior. The water has been going down for years, and as noted in the article, locals believe the government is stealing the water to aid in the expansion in the southwest. This view seems to be held by locals in Canada as well. Scientists and the Army Corps. of Engineers dispute this theory.
However, the water keeps going down as reported by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) yesterday:
The dust bowl caused the widespread economic and environmental hardship that inspired both The Grapes of Wrath and the song "My Oklahoma Home", which was recently covered by Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band. Not a pleasant time by any stretch of the imagination.
A few years ago, NASA scientists published their findings about how the "major climatic event" causing the dust bowl and drop in Superior happened.
Whether you believe Al Gore and the vast majority of the scientific community, or the well funded deniers campaign, when it comes to severe climate change we have to be prepared for the consequences. We weren't prepared for Katrina, even though we knew she was coming and thought she would be stronger than she was, and we still haven't recovered.
Lake Superior's previous record low happened four years before the dust bowl. Is that enough of a warning? While the signs are there that we may be heading into another situation like the dust bowl, as a public it doesn't seem like we're talking about preparing for it. We should be, as a nation. There's no excuse not to.
However, the water keeps going down as reported by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) yesterday:
NOAA hydrologists indicate that Lake Superior is nearing record lows for the month of August, a trend that if continued could break past record lows for the months of September and October.The big lake they call Gitche Gumee going dry? How can this be? Well, the NOAA provides their answer:
The lake has been decreasing by a rate of 10 mm every year since 1978, and has dropped a dramatic two feet during the last decade. The Great Lakes region has been experiencing warmer winters since 1997, and the combination of warmer air temperatures and less ice cover leads to increased evaporation rates during the winter. Also, with less snow pack, there is less spring runoff to replenish the lakes.
[snip]
Lake Superior’s record low of 182.69 meters was set in April 1926, the same year the lake reached an averaged annual record low of 182.90 meters as a result of a major climatic event that led to the dust bowl. Sellinger said that dramatic water level changes are generally caused by major climatic events.
The dust bowl caused the widespread economic and environmental hardship that inspired both The Grapes of Wrath and the song "My Oklahoma Home", which was recently covered by Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band. Not a pleasant time by any stretch of the imagination.A few years ago, NASA scientists published their findings about how the "major climatic event" causing the dust bowl and drop in Superior happened.
The study found cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean surface temperatures combined with warmer tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures to create conditions in the atmosphere that turned America's breadbasket into a dust bowl from 1931 to 1939.Part of those global climate change issues the folks at NASA are talking about is not just the evaporation of Lake Superior, but the melting ice caps. Yesterday, the AP reported that Arctic Ice is about to set a record low as well.
[snip]
"The 1930s drought was the major climatic event in the nation's history," Schubert said. "Just beginning to understand what occurred is really critical to understanding future droughts and the links to global climate change issues we're experiencing today."
Sea ice is particularly low in the East Siberian side of the Arctic and the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, the center reportedYep, that's basically the Pacific Ocean side. Anyone who has ever stuck their finger in a glass of ice water knows, by it's very nature, the ice cools the water it melts into. This poses a pretty serious question, are we as a nation capable of dealing with another dust bowl type event?
Whether you believe Al Gore and the vast majority of the scientific community, or the well funded deniers campaign, when it comes to severe climate change we have to be prepared for the consequences. We weren't prepared for Katrina, even though we knew she was coming and thought she would be stronger than she was, and we still haven't recovered.
Lake Superior's previous record low happened four years before the dust bowl. Is that enough of a warning? While the signs are there that we may be heading into another situation like the dust bowl, as a public it doesn't seem like we're talking about preparing for it. We should be, as a nation. There's no excuse not to.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Drafting Garrett for Senate
A Facebook Group entitled Scott Garrett For U.S. Senate is attempting to draft our Representative Scott Garrett to enter the race against Senator Frank Lautenberg next year.
Here's the group's description:
With no one lighting the Republican base on fire, it could be possible when you consider: Garrett's ahead of schedule fundraising; Garrett's activity on national blogs like Human Events and Townhall reaching out to the national (fundraising) base; and Garrett's switching from an interpretive to a partisan spin oriented press practice*.
Well, if voters ever wanted contrast, Garrett vs. Lautenberg would provide it. I doubt Garrett's going to go for it, but for conservatives of his stripe there is no one with more name recognition in New Jersey, except maybe Steve Lonegan. However, Garrett's always seemed to be a smart politician, and he has to realize a statewide race has an outstanding chance of ending his political career.
Who knows. It would definitely be interesting to watch.
Update: Who knows, with 1 in 4 people from New Jersey thinking Lautenberg is too old Garrett may have a shot.
*I do say that last point with a straight face. Last year, Garrett was interpreting the facts through a very conservative lens, but unlike his latest article regarding SCHIP, he wasn't lying about stuff.
Here's the group's description:
This group is to help spread the word of Congressman E.Scott Garrett. By Human Events' standards he is the second most Conservative congressman in D.C. New Jersey is going to elect a senator next year, lets work together and persuade Garrett to run and rehabilitate NJ's image.
If 2,000 people(from jersey) join this group I think it would be enough to get Garrett in on the race.
With no one lighting the Republican base on fire, it could be possible when you consider: Garrett's ahead of schedule fundraising; Garrett's activity on national blogs like Human Events and Townhall reaching out to the national (fundraising) base; and Garrett's switching from an interpretive to a partisan spin oriented press practice*.
Well, if voters ever wanted contrast, Garrett vs. Lautenberg would provide it. I doubt Garrett's going to go for it, but for conservatives of his stripe there is no one with more name recognition in New Jersey, except maybe Steve Lonegan. However, Garrett's always seemed to be a smart politician, and he has to realize a statewide race has an outstanding chance of ending his political career.
Who knows. It would definitely be interesting to watch.
Update: Who knows, with 1 in 4 people from New Jersey thinking Lautenberg is too old Garrett may have a shot.
*I do say that last point with a straight face. Last year, Garrett was interpreting the facts through a very conservative lens, but unlike his latest article regarding SCHIP, he wasn't lying about stuff.
Reform Quote of the Day
This from Senator Barak Obama, as reported by the AP:
We need reform in politics badly. The corruption and no-bid contracting running rampant in Washington under the Republicans over the last few years has been mirrored by pay-to-play and corruption in Hackensack by the Democrats. Corruption seems to be a truly bi-partisan problem, and candidates need to address the issue in a substantive manner.
Among the "top" candidates:
You can read Obama's plan for reforming government.
John McCain has always been solid about reform, and here's his plan.
Hillary has a plan as well.
Rudy Giuliani has made reform part of his pledge to voters, but hasn't released his plan yet.
I looked through the key issues sections of each, and was disappointed to see that neither John Edwards nor Mitt Romney have presented a plan, an outline, or even listed reform as a priority.
"Part of the problem here is not just George Bush and the White House," Obama told a crowd of hundreds gathered at a park in Cedar Falls. "We can't just change political parties and continue to do the same kind of things we've been doing. We can't just go about business as usual and think it's going to turn out differently."Amen to that.
We need reform in politics badly. The corruption and no-bid contracting running rampant in Washington under the Republicans over the last few years has been mirrored by pay-to-play and corruption in Hackensack by the Democrats. Corruption seems to be a truly bi-partisan problem, and candidates need to address the issue in a substantive manner.
Among the "top" candidates:
You can read Obama's plan for reforming government.
John McCain has always been solid about reform, and here's his plan.
Hillary has a plan as well.
Rudy Giuliani has made reform part of his pledge to voters, but hasn't released his plan yet.
I looked through the key issues sections of each, and was disappointed to see that neither John Edwards nor Mitt Romney have presented a plan, an outline, or even listed reform as a priority.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
2 Recalled Toys Per 5 Kids
Forbes put up a rundown of bad Chinese toys over the last few years, just for lead paint and small magnet recalls. The whopping total of over 16 million toys works out to roughly 2 bad toys for every 5 children under the age of 10.
Put another way, 40% of kids under 10 could have a toy that could cause them harm, all were manufactured in China. Even though China has guaranteed the quality of their products, and mounting evidence to the contrary, our government hasn't done much.
Part of the silence has to be due to the fact China has already loudly been talking about using the $900 billion in treasury bonds they hold as leverage in trade talks. Their holding is roughly 10% of our total national debt ($8.9 trillion), and if we should come down too hard on them their liquidation of our bonds would lead to a crash in the dollar. Our inability to force China to stop sending us tainted goods points to the fact that our creditor dependency, like our foreign oil dependency, is a national security issue.
It's also important to note that when the National Debt Clock turned off in 2000, it read $5,676,989,904,887. That works out to roughly $25.3 billion of debt per year of our nation's 224 years of existence to that point. From that point to today, the debt has risen more than $3.2 trillion, or more than $470 billion a year.
Granted, the $25.3 figure is not adjusted for inflation. However, when you consider our government went from repaying over $100 billion of debt in 2000, to adding over $470 billion a year over the last seven years, it is damning testimony of the fiscal mismanagement our nation has endured.
Put another way, 40% of kids under 10 could have a toy that could cause them harm, all were manufactured in China. Even though China has guaranteed the quality of their products, and mounting evidence to the contrary, our government hasn't done much.
Part of the silence has to be due to the fact China has already loudly been talking about using the $900 billion in treasury bonds they hold as leverage in trade talks. Their holding is roughly 10% of our total national debt ($8.9 trillion), and if we should come down too hard on them their liquidation of our bonds would lead to a crash in the dollar. Our inability to force China to stop sending us tainted goods points to the fact that our creditor dependency, like our foreign oil dependency, is a national security issue.
It's also important to note that when the National Debt Clock turned off in 2000, it read $5,676,989,904,887. That works out to roughly $25.3 billion of debt per year of our nation's 224 years of existence to that point. From that point to today, the debt has risen more than $3.2 trillion, or more than $470 billion a year.
Granted, the $25.3 figure is not adjusted for inflation. However, when you consider our government went from repaying over $100 billion of debt in 2000, to adding over $470 billion a year over the last seven years, it is damning testimony of the fiscal mismanagement our nation has endured.
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