http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/index/ en earlaagaard@hotmail.com 2008-11-12T02:04:46-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/is_it_legitimate_to_record_campaign_promises_made_by_politicians_even_if_it/ Because that’s what those nasty guys at INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY EDITORIALS have done…...for shame!  . Few presidential candidates have made more specific promises to American voters than Barack Obama. They came so fast and furious in the latter part of the campaign, you’d be excused for not keeping up. So as a public service, we’ve put together a handy checklist of some of the biggest Obama promises — culled from his “Blueprint for Change,“ his campaign speeches and advertisements. Clip it. Save it. And see how he did in four years. Politics, Domestic, Healthcare, Economics, Iraq, Second Amendment Earl 2008-11-12T02:04:46-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/the_legacy_media_has_morphed_its_now_part_of_the_democratic_party_campaign/ CHRIS MATTHEWS makes it official: . An incredulous Scarborough kept pressing, astonished at such a complete 180 from Matthews’s repeated insistence during the Bush presidency that he had to hold the government accountable.   SCARBOROUGH: Your job is the make this presidency work?   MATTHEWS:  To make this work successfully.  This country needs a successful presidency. . Let’s understand…...after eight years of holding the feet of the Bush Administration to the fire….five+ years of more or less open opposition to the war in Iraq, Chris Matthews, “journalist”, sees it as his JOB to use his position to make the Obama Administration a success. . Well…..thanks for the ADMISSION and EXPLANATION, Chris. Politics, Domestic, Media Bias Earl 2008-11-07T01:53:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/how_come_there_arent_more_third_parties_fielding_candidates_for_president/ The short answer is because the Republicans and Democrats set things up to make it impossible for anyone else…... . In addition to ballot access laws, consider campaign finance rules….John Stossel profiled Ada Fisher, a woman attempting a low-budget, longshot run for Congress in North Carolina with a staff of volunteers. She found it impossible to comply with the election law without hiring a team of lawyers — which of course, she couldn’t afford. Written in small print, single spaced, the federal election code spanned one-and-a-half football fields. Eventually, Fisher and her volunteer campaign treasurer were personally fined $10,000 by the FEC for filling late reports. Stossel then cut to University of Missouri Professor Jeff Milyo, who ran an experiment in which he asked dozens of college-educated people to try to fill out various campaign finance forms and applications. Of the more than 200 people Milyo tested, Stossel reported, “every one of them violated the law.“ One participant added, “I’d rather not participate in the political process if it means I have to go through the nonsense I went through today.“ . Nice, right?  You take part in the electoral process, attempting to become a “citizen legislator”, and the impossibility of the forms lead to a personal fine of $10,000.00.  And you’re still asking why more people don’t take up the challenge…....? . Politics, Domestic Earl 2008-11-07T01:40:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/part_of_me_feels_some_real_sympathy_for_barack_obama/ I mean…...did this guy get elected to an impossible job, or what? . Over and over, Barack Obama told voters if they stuck with him “we will change this country and change the world.“ They did, and now their expectations for him to deliver are firmly planted on his shoulders. Many supporters greeted his victory with euphoria….Obama has a largely liberal voting record and owes a debt to the left wing of the Democratic Party, which mobilized millions on his behalf. These folks embraced his promises to end the Iraq war, move toward universal health care coverage and address harsh terrorist interrogation practices.  But Obama also appealed to the broader electorate as a pragmatist who pledged virtually party-blind government. He will have to decide whether it is better to disappoint the more liberal troops out of the gate or wait until later. “A lot of people are not going to be happy in the first two years,“ said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi. . On the other hand, he *DID* make all those promises…....and when you make your bed, it’s only justice that you have to lie in it.  I’m only wishing I didn’t have to join him, because I don’t think it will be pretty, and he can do a lot of stuff that will likely make it worse.  And…...who *IS* this guy? . Politics, Domestic Earl 2008-11-07T01:30:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/george_w_bush_is_responsible_for_the_election_of_barack_obama/ We report…..you decide: Would America have elected Barack Obama if white Americans had not gotten accustomed to seeing (in succession) two African-American Secretaries of State? I don’t think so. Before Bush, African-Americans were appointed to some good posts but not to our #1 foreign policy job. Two African Americans (one with a pretty odd first name) served as America’s face to the world. That eased Obama’s way. It is not Tiger Woods in whose footsteps Obama is walking—it’s Rice and Powell. READ THE WHOLE THING Politics, Domestic Earl 2008-11-07T01:29:01-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/ready_for_a_car_fueled_by_air/ Well, OK…...the “fuel” isn’t air, of course.  The power source is an engine that uses compressed air to drive the pistons…..but the energy to compress the air is produced by some more conventional power source.  Central generation of electricity is more efficient than burning hydrocarbons in individual cars, they tell us - so these cars qualify as “green”, even when they come in other colors…... . . Nègre and company assert the AirPod can hit 43 mph, by way of MDI’s 5.45 hp compressed-air motor with traditional pistons like an internal combustion engine. At 15-20 miles per hour, they say, the AirPod has a range of 130+ miles per tankful. Sporting a body of plastic composite, the AirPod is just 82 inches long, 63 inches wide and 79 inches high, and expected to come in passenger and cargo versions, each weighing under 500 pounds. . This particular one is a replacement for the golf cart in many applications, it seems to me.  But larger and more powerful ones are promised.  Many questions remain….. Science, Environment, Miscellany, Funny (strange?) Stuff Earl 2008-11-06T16:23:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/buyers_remorse/ We’ve all had it, at one time or another. . THESE FOLKS are just the vanguard of a lot of people, from a wide spectrum, that we’ll be hearing from in the next couple of years…... . It’s just a prediction, people…......and I’ve certainly been wrong before.  Keep your eyes and ears open, though. Politics, Domestic Earl 2008-11-06T15:50:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/stop_the_presses_new_york_times_discovers_terrorists_at_gitmo/ Better late than never, I suppose….. I’ll have to admit I’d be more respectful of the PAPER OF RECORD, if this discovery had occurred BEFORE the elections, but never mind….... “It would be very difficult for a new president to come in and say, ‘I don’t believe what the C.I.A. is saying about these guys,’ ” said Daniel Marcus, a Democrat who was general counsel of the 9/11 Commission and held senior positions in the Carter and Clinton administrations….But as a new administration begins to sort through the government’s dossiers on the men, the analysis shows, officials are likely to face tough choices in deciding how many of Guantánamo’s hard cases should be sent home, how many should be charged and what to do with the rest. This is really quite the change, don’t you think?  After the last five years of reading the NYT, I was under the impression that the guys at Gitmo were simply farmers, goat-herders, and innocent bystanders swept up by the indiscriminate rampages of the American military…....what on earth has changed?  Hmmmmmmmmm? READ THE WHOLE THING Politics, Domestic, International, Iraq Earl 2008-11-05T20:58:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/this_may_not_be_fair_of_me/ ....but I’m really wondering if bloggers on the left side of the spectrum would be writing THIS KIND OF THING, had their guy lost…... . Given what we saw in 2000 and 2004, I think I might be permitted a doubt or two…...here’s Jonah’s complete post: . Congratulations And Thanks   [Jonah Goldberg] Look, I expect to be one of the most severe critics of the Obama administration and the Democrats generally in the years ahead (though I sincerely hope I won’t find that necessary). But Obama ran a brilliant race and he should be congratulated for it. Moreover, during the debate over the financial crisis, Obama said that a president should be able to do more than one thing at a time. Well, I think we members of the loyal opposition should be able to make distinctions simultaneously. It is a wonderful thing to have the first African-American president. It is a wonderful thing that in a country where feelings are so intense that power can be transferred so peacefully. Let us hope that the Obama his most dedicated — and most sensible! —  fans see turns out to be the real Obama. Let us hope that Obama succeeds and becomes a great president, for all the right reasons. As for John McCain, he is an American hero and arguably the best candidate we could have fielded. I will in the days to come offer no small amount of criticism about his campaign. But where his campaign may have lacked qualities that would have helped it win, the candidate never lacked for honor and integrity. Thank you John McCain for your sacrifice, commitment, and honor. God bless America, and may He guide Obama to be the best president possible. 11/04 10:38 PM Politics, Domestic Earl 2008-11-05T03:53:00-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/pregnancy_risk_increases_among_teens_watching_sexy_tv_shows/ Surprise, surprise…...to some folks, at least. . Yes, this doesn’t PROVE any causation…...you can READ THE ARTICLE HERE for yourself. . Common sense be d****d…..can’t be telling those teenagers to stop watching soft-core porn, now can we? Miscellany, Department of "Duh"..... Earl 2008-11-05T03:48:00-06:00