State Department to propose new US e-passport

The State Department has announced that it will be proposing a new passport that will include a contactless intergrated circuit (computer chip) embedded in the back of the passport. The current passport will be valid for the time period issued. The new features include a digital photograph, biometrics, and will incorporate new anti-fraud and security features.

Liberal democrats upset with Hilary

Recently Hilary was named to be the new leader for the DLC (Democratic Leadership Conference). Its a group of moderate democrats. Some democrats are upset with her new allegiance with a moderate group. Its a sharp contrast with the DNC which has leaned farther to the left in recent years. Hilary's office has denied that she is considering a bid for president in 2008 and focused on her senate re-election in 2006 for the state of New York. You have to wonder why a politician from a heavily democrat state would be moderating their position to attract middle of the road voters if their not running for president?

Major retailers pull Grand Theft Auto from shelves

Major retailers pulled the video game Grand Theft Auto from store shelves after the manufacturer admitted that the explicit sex scenes can be downloaded from the internet and was originally available on the CD. Originally the video maker said that the sex scenes were not part of the original program. The games rating has been upgraded to M for adults only. Australia has banned the game from its stores.

Millennium bomber gets 22 year sentence

Ressam, an islamic extremist, was convicted and sentenced by a federal judge for 22 years for attempting to bomb LAX (Los Angels International Airport) back in 2000. He was crossing into the United States from Canada through Seatle. A border agent became suspicious when Ressam actedly suspiciously during the inspection and they found bombs in the trunk of his car.

NWA and AMFA headed for strike deadline

Northwest Airlines and the aircraft mechanics union (Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association) are apparently headed to a strike. Relations between the two have been in disrepair for months. After the mediation board declared a cooling off period the union is authorized to strike on Aug. 19th. Even though negotiations are scheduled in Washington no expects a deal to be reached by the strike deadline.

State to help ID theft victims

The state will be helping victims of ID theft to recoup costs incurred to get their credit back on track. New legislation passed last session would provide $1000, restitution, and free copies of court filings if creditors come after them.

Some advice on preventing ID theft: get your mail from your mailbox as soon as you can, bring all payments such as credit cards, car payment, insurance and house payment directly to the post office and mail them there. Shred any documents that have your address, Social Security number, bank account numbers etc before you throw it away. This includes credit card offers you get in the mail or any other offer that specifically identifies you. Also check your credit report annually since you can now get it for free once a year. It is a federal violation to tamper with a mailbox.

The problem of evil

Al-Qaeda is the modern equivalent of what Nazi Germany was in the last century. The reason I am writing this particular blog is that some muslims nationally have been critical that for example Christians have not condemned extremists Christians like Eric Rudolph or abortion doctors, the Ku Klux Klan and the like. One of the reasons why the government must focus on Al-Qaeda is because they are attempting to destroy civilization. One of the fundamental responsibilities of goverment is to maintain law and order. Without law and order the rest of society cannot properly function.

One of my concerns with continental Europe is that they had have the same attitude with Al-Qaeda as they did with Hitler. You cannot appease evil. You will give and give until you have nothing to give and then you become its slave.

The US and Great Britain have however taken a more aggressive stand against evil ie Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately this war we cannot fight by ourselves. We need the cooperation of the rest of the world. Historically we have fought against states with standing armies but now we are dealing with an organized network of terror spanning the globe that has no face. It could even be your next door neighbor. Al-Qaeda has proven it can strike any time and any where. Im not sure whether we have been lucky or had good intelligence that we have not been struck yet. I believe that this is a battle against evil itself. Not against muslims but those who claim the Islamic faith and use it for their hateful agenda. They are of course not genuine muslims in my opinion. Its a spiritual battle at the physical level.

Hearing for Roberts nomination to start on Sept. 6th

Senate hearings are expected to start on Sept. 6th. This of course is dependent on whether Democrats are satisfied with all the documents they have recieved from the White House regarding briefs he wrote as the solicitor general of the United States. The solicitor general acts as the the governments lawyer at the Supreme Court. This will not help the committee regarding judicial philosophy. The executive branch historically is not forthcoming about handing over documents to the legislative branch irrespective of party. Its the whole separation of powers issue.

Bush to make recess appointment with Bolton to UN

President Bush is expected to announce next week that he will make a recess appoint of John Bolton to be Ambassador for the US to the UN. This is amidst questions by the Senate committee about how he answered a particular question on the questionaire about his role in the yellow cake investigation regarding Niger. The White House and the State Department said they apologize for the mistake. Boltons appointment will expire at the end of the current congressional term in January 2007.

Frist breaks with Bush over stem cell research

One of President Bush's major allies Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced that he will support a bill currently in congress that would allow stem cells that have no chance of fertilizing to be used for research purpose which could lead to major cures. President Bush opposed this when he made a decision back in 2001 when he allowed only existing lines to be used for purposes of federal grants. The White House has stated that it will vetoe this bill. Some pro-life advocates believe that this is a form of abortion. If the Congress has 2/3 votes in both the House and Senate, they could override the presidents veto.

Congress set to pass a couple of spending bills before August recess

In a rush to meet the adjournment deadline of the 2nd session, Congress is about to pass two major spending bills energy and transportation. In the energy bill they extended daylight savings in the fall and spring for a total of one month. If congress did not pass the omnibus transportation bill they would have had to pass a temporary spending bill. Congress will be in recess for the month of August. The fiscal year ends around October for the federal government.

New state laws take effect as of Aug. 1st

The new legal limit for DWI's will be .08 and lead foot drivers beware, your fine will be double in some cases. Also if you drive off without paying for your gas your license will be suspended for 30 days. These are just a few of the many laws taking effect at a highway near you.

Hennepin Cty to consider revising smoking ban

The Hennepin County Board of Commisioners has decided after getting
complaints from bar owners to fund an economic impact study on the smoking
ban. In related news state representative Doug Meslow announced that he will
be sponsoring a bill next session regarding a state-wide smoking ban. It
will be a less restrictive one than the one he sponsored last session. It
would only apply to restaurants and not bars.

House narrowly approves CAFTA

In the early morning hours the House approved CAFTA (Central American Free
Trade Agreement 217-215. In the Minnesota delegation, first district republican congresssman Gil Gutknecht, was the only member to cross party lines and vote against it while his fellow republicans voted in favor and the Democrats voted against. He represents southern Minnesota, which has a a heavy farming industry. Gutknecht's chief concerns was that cheap sugar would flood the US market depressing the price for our sugar growers. Suger farmers are one of the few farmers not subsidized by the federal government.

NASA postpones future missions indefinitely

NASA announced that it will not be doing missions until they figure out how the foam came off the shuttle in 2003. If necessary they will be doing a rescue mission to pick the astronauts that are currently in space.

Special Prosecutor's term expires in October

WGN is reporting that the US Attorney Fitzgerald out of the Chicago field office and currently the special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation is set to expire in October. Currently Fitzgerald is also handling another high profile case in which a former republican governor of Illinois is under investigation by the US Attorney's office. Some political interests in Chicago would like a new US Attorney. Its not yet determined whether Fitzgerald will be re-appointed. The president appoints this person based on the recommendation of the US Attorney General and the senior member of the congressional delegation form that state. In this case it happens to be the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. His spokesman said Hastert does not know Fitzgerald personally and would not be getting involved. Some political experts believe there could be political consequences if Fitzgerald is not re-appointed while currently being involved in two high profile which includes a senior White House official Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Is MN's gas price law working?

Minnesota's gas price law says that whatever price the retailer paid for it the retailer must sell it for a minimum of 8 cents over the wholesale cost. This was designed so that the larger gas retailers would not hurt the smaller gas stations. However most of the stations that have been fined under this law have gone to the smaller gas stations. I believe that this law is actually hurting the gas station owners it intended to help. Some legislators tried to sponsor bills that would repeal the gas price law this last session. In fact there is a federal law that already deals with this kind of situation. Its the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. One of the provisions in this act says that a business must not lower their price below wholesale for the purpose of eliminating their competition. For example if a chain store like Super America would sell temporarily under the wholesale cost and either transfer funds from other stores or wait until the local store goes out business. The local store would go out business because they cant lower their price or transfer funds from another store. Then the chain store will increase the price well above the wholesale price since it is no longer in competition with the local store.

Multilateral talks resume over N.K.'s nukes

Multilateral talks resumed over North Korea's nuclear weapons. The US wants North Korea to liquidate its nuclear weapons programs and allow UN weapons inspectors in. The North Koreans want the US to promise not to invade. The US has already stated that it has no plans of invading. The North Koreans would also like the US to remove nuclear weapons that it believes that the US has on the Korean penninsula. North Korea needs international assistance as it is suffering from mass starvation.

Media bias when it comes to mssing persons

I just find it fascinating that almost all people who are prominently featured in the missing persons as far as the media is concerned are almost all white. Now I have to think that there are other people who are not white who go mssing all the time. I empathize for the family of Natalee Halloway. I have no idea what its like for that family to have a loved one missing. However having round the clock coverage of this case I think is a bit over blown. The part that irks me most is that we have the FBI involved. We are fighting the war on terrorism not only golobally but also domestically. There are many times when US citizens are kidnapped by people when they are abroad. We can not be using valuable resources for something that has nothing to with national security. I also find it arrogant on the part of the US that we think we can do a better job than everybody else. Fact is that we have murder cases here in the US that we have not solved. We need to let the Aruban govevernment do their job. I think that they have been unfairly criticized because they have a different investigative and judicial process than we do.

House limits use of eminent domain

In response to a recent Supreme Court decision, the House passed a bill limiting the use of eminent domain by local units of government. Under this bill the federal government would withold funding in certain areas if the local unit of government abuses its authority to use eminent domain.

Pataki not seeking 4th term as governor of NY

Governor George Pataki is not seeking a 4th term as governor of New York. He is rumored be a candidate for president in 2008. Elliot Spitzer the current state attorney general for New York is rumored to be running for governor as a Democrat.

Democrats offer solution to Social Security

Senate approves Boy Scouts on military bases

In response to several lawsuits being filed against the Department of Defense, the Senate today approved a bill passing 98-0 authorizing the Boy Scout Events be allowed on military bases as part of a larger bill dealing with Department of Defense policy for the next year. The entire bill is expected to be voted this fall after the summer break.

Failure not an option in British schools?

A teachers union in GB, the PAT (Professional Association of Teachers), has proposed to get rid of the use of the word failure in public schools instead calling it deferred success. Proponents say that children get low self-esteem as a result of being told that they have failed.

Judge rules in Rocori shooting case

After Jason Mclaughlin was convicted of 1st and 2nd degree murder charges, the judge rejected a sanity defense. The defense had argued that McLaughlin had suffered from schizophrenia similar to the that of the movie,"Sixth Sense". The judge ruled that while McLaughlin obviously had some serious problems it did not meet the legal threshold required by state law. There was no no jury in this case because the defendant waved his right to one. McLaughlin faces a minimum of at least 30 years on the 1st degree murder charge alone. Sentencing is set for August 30th.

Sony settles lawsuit by NY AG

Sony entertainment has settled a lawsuit by the New York Attorney General's office accusing the company of paying radio stations and DJ's to play Sony's artists more often on their airwaves. This was obviously a problem since the Top 40 Billboard chart is determined by how many times a song is played. It therefore affects the marketability of an album.

White House determines who runs?

I just read on foxnews.com that the Republican Party is discouraging Congresswoman Katherine Harris from running for the US Senate in Florida. For those of you who dont remember she was the Secretary of State for Florida in the 2000 presidential election. In fact they are shopping for a candidate to run against her in the republican primary. It was also rumered that the WH was monitoring the election for the State Chair for the RPM. I really find it discouraging that the Republican Party is turning away qualified candidates to run for public office. Let the delegates determine who they want in office. I thought that the party believed in the principle of federalism ie local control.

Shuttle launch successful

Hockey is back!

I realize its not news per se but Minnesota is the hockey state and home of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The NHL reached an agreement with the NHL Players Association to end the players lockout.

Congress to pass Sex Offender Registration

Congress is set help states deal with their most serious sex offenders with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Among some key provisions is that they would be required to wear an electronic bracelet as well as register in person as a sex offender. Failing to register after they serve their prison sentence would be considered a federal offense. Most importantly it will assist states to track sex offenders over state lines through a national database.

Some unions break away at AFL-CIO Convention

Teamsters and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) announce that they will be breaking away at the AFL-CIO convention. Some unions accuse the major union of not adjusting with the times since the AFL-CIO represents manufacturing and industries that have been in decline for many years. They also accuse them of spending too much time in politics supporting the Democratic Party. This could be good news for corporate america as they struggle to remain profitable.

Does judicial philosophy matter?

A judges job is render a decision based on their interpretation of the constitution. The Supreme Court is the final stop in the judicial process. This means that judges are not lawyers in the sense that they are not advocating for a position on any given issue. One of the challenges that the court has is that the Constitution is intentionally vague when it comes to certain issues. Constitutions are by design not specific for the most part because it creates a general border. Laws are there to fill in the gaps. This is when case law becomes very important. Basically this where the lower courts have ruled. However sometimes the lower courts give conflicting rulings so it puts the Supreme Court in a bind. I believe that for the most part judicial philosophy does not matter when it comes to nominees. The most important part of a job of a justice is to interpret the constitution to the best of their ability with the case that is before them. There is a life time appointment to the federal judiciary so there is no way of determining whether or not a nominee will stay with that philosophy. Many presidents have been dissappointed with the way their nominee turned out. Remember, unlike the Congress and the President, Justices are not advocates for any cause or organization. They are the one branch of government that is non-partisan.

CAFTA

CAFTA--Central American Free Trade Agreement is a free trade agreement between the United State and the countries of Central America. It would allow tariffs to be lifted so that there is more trade between the United States and central American coutries. Its similar to NAFTA--North American Free Trade Agreement. Many farmers are in favor of the of the treaty so that they can sell their crop to a global market. However the sugar industry is concerned about it because it could potentially flood the US market from surplus sugar from central America. CAFTA passed in the Senate and is set for debate in the House. Senator Coleman voted in favor of CAFTA.

Hollywood--get over yourselves!

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this. You guys are amazing when it comes the silver screen and sometimes even inspire us with your acting abilities. But please dont act like an expert on public policy when your not. Now obviously people have freedom of speech rights just like everybody else. Its just that you have a much bigger megaphone than the average person. I mean Tom Cruise the whole scientology bit even if true was way over blown. Sean Penn you dont have the first clue when it comes to foreign policy. Fact of the matter is that most Hollywood actors and actresses have only a high school diploma. And the one president who they claim to be dum holds a BA from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. While President Bush may not be the smoothest talker but he has leadership skills. He also has people around him who are very knowledgeable in their respective departments. Plus he was governor of Texas, one of the largest states in the union. Also the state that was a soverign nation before it became part of the United States. So next time you hear a hollywood actor or actress mouthing off about our government remember that they probably know less than you do. Cause there too busy promoting themselves anyway to know whats going on in the real world.

Some friendly advice to Muslim countries

I think that one of the ways that we deter terrorism is for Muslim countries to clean their own house. What do I mean by that?

Take some of your oil money and invest in education for your children and develop some of your infrastructure so that your people have a future worth working toward. The governments need to stop supporting the schools that preach hatred about Jews and Christians. Were not the problem. Extremists are the problem. You need to get the extremists under control.

Socioeconomics has been part of the problem as well. If you give young people a future then they will be less likley to want to join Al-Qaeda or become a suicide bomber. I realize the domestic politics of this in your countries is very difficult. You have for example Egypt which gets foreign aid from the United States yet spews hatred about the United States toward their own people. Saudi Arabia is probably in the best situation to get something like this done. Of course it wont happen over night. We have a lot of work in Iraq to do but it could be our first functioning democratic government in the Middle East. It is in the best interest of not only the Middle East but the rest of the world that Iraq become a stable and productive country.

I believe that when it comes down to it that this has more to do with economics than religion. Religion and terrorism to the extremists is just the means to an end. To have control over people so that they can indoctrinate their sick view to the rest of the world.

Use of deadly force in GB sparks debate

The man who was shot to death by London police now raises questions about the use of deadly force. Just a foot note that most British police officers are not armed. The police officers that followed this particular suspect were armed. They have to call in the unit that carries guns. The metropolitan police defended their actions stating the behavior of the suspect was consistent of that of suicide bomber. The suspect did not help the situation by not following the instructions of the police officers and running away from them.

Lance goes out on top in Tour de France

Lance Armstrong won his 7th consecutive Tour de France today. It capped a long career in cycling in which he has won more races than any other rider in tour history. He plans to retire and spend time with his family.

Heat index reaches 101 in Twin Cities!

Bush Would-be Assasin Arrested

Law enforcement lead by the Secret Service recently swooped in and arrested a suspect in Georgia who is believed to be responsible for an attempted assasination against the president a while back in the Republic of Georgia. A grenade landed within a few hundred feet but never detonated while the president gave his speech. It was designed to spray schrapnel above the protective glass. Police have yet to determine whether it was intentional but nevertheless it was an immediate threat to the president.

Chevron offers bid to buy Unocal

A fellow competitor Chevron has offered to buy Unocal over a Chinese company. This bid looks attractive to Capitol Hill since there are some concerns about Unocal being potentialy bought by a Chinese goverment owned company CNOOC. CNOOC is prepared to pay billions in cash. Some members of Congress had regulatory concerns as well as national security issues. Unocal is an oil company and has a subsidary in missile technology. The federal goverment has the authority to block the sale of a company or the sale of products or services to a foreign company or government if they believe there are potential issues of national security. Defense contractors are usually required to submit documents before selling to foreign governments since we dont want our companies to sell military technology to countries not friendly to the United States.

Politics of the economy

I dont know how many of you watch "Your World w/Neil Cavuto" of the Fox News Channel its considered to be the most watched business cable news show. He has an optimistic but yet realistic view when it comes to the economy.

I believe that it is the national medias goal to make Bush look as bad as possible. For example when the economy is bad they have to have it say why its bad almost everyday. However when the economy is getting better like now there is very little coverage of that or they continue in there assesment of how its not as good as it seems or that its short term growth.

Heres a little bit of international perspective. Our friends in Europe namely France and Germany are doing very bad economically because they have double digit unemployment. The worst it has gotten for us is 6% nationally some regions of the country are slightly higher. In fact the US is the only economy growing right now at 3%. The federal treasury is growing. Of course Congress will find a way to spend that and more. In fact the state of Minnesota will had a surplus of 286 million dollars ending the fiscal year June 30, 2005.

I want to address the issue of corporate corruption. During the roaring mid-late 90's our economy was growing but little did we know until Bush came in to office that part of the economy was fake. Fake in that some of the business plans that were put forward had no real substance. Nobody was minding the store. Where was the Clinton Justice department to make sure there wasnt fraudulent activity being committed. The Bush administration has had to clean up because the Clinton adminstration failed to provide adequate oversight of the business community. There is also the fact that Terry McCauliffe former chairman of the DNC who profited in the millions from Global Crossing which ended up in bankruptcy which had a similar structure as Enron. Now in the Bush White House you've had several convictions of CEO's for defrauding the public but will the administration get credit for that probably not. And there are several more trials to come namely former CEO of Enron Ken Lay. Now some claim that Enron got preferrential treatment because they gave money to the Bush campaign. Fact of the matter is that most corporations give money to both parties. They just give slightly more to theparty in power for obvious reasons.

Iraq tied to Global Terrorism

I want to make the case that Iraq is tied into global terrorism. First piece of evidence is that the President of Russia, Vladmir Putin, held a press conference several months ago stating that senior officials from the Hussein regime told the Russian government that they planned on attacking inside the United States after 9/11. Also there was reason to believe that Saddam could have passed the weapons of mass destruction of to a terrorist group that he had after the Gulf War. This way the Hussein government could officially deny any official involvement. The Hussein regime never revealed the where they hid the biological and chemical weapons that they had. The ceasefire in 1991 was contingent on Hussein being transparent to the UN weapons inspectors about where he had his weapons. US experts believe he just gave the inspectors the run around and was easily able to move them so that they could not be found. The US government believes that weapons that Saddam may be in Syria. However Syria says that they dont have them. Syria has had a history of lying to us.
So lets say that the Bush administration decides to pull troops out of Iraq. This would likely lead to civil war and the insurgents take over Iraq. Al-Qaeda decides that they would like the biological and chemical weapons that Saddam had so they put a reward $100,000 American dollars to the individual or group who can bring that to them from Iraq. Sure enough the insurgents are able to deliver on that reward. In a few weeks a ship bound for the United States contains biological weapons. They want to explode it into New York City harbor. Now those of you who know some biological weapons are deadly in even the smallest of doses. The ship comes in to the United States and we dont detect it because we dont have the equipment to monitor it while its aboard a ship. Once this ship explodes, it could kill several hundred thousand civilians in the immediate New York City metro area. Possibly thousands more would be effected by it. This could happen at any of the major ports in the United States like Washington, D.C. and many other cities along the east and west coasts. This is not theory its reality. This is one of the many scenarios that the federal government has been analyzing post 9/11.
In fact there was a sting operation that involved several intelligence agencies including the FBI, Britains MI-5, Interpol, and the KGB convincing some known arms dealers to aquire nuclear weapons from them. Fortunately they were subsequently arrested in New York City before they got the goods.
I dont know how many of you saw the movie, "The Peacemaker." Its about a group of individuals who are able to smuggle a nuclear suit case from Russia into the United States through an unfriendly government disguised as a diplomat to the UN. We tried to get permission and intervene in Russia but we couldnt get permission. One of the things that was interesting was how difficult it was for the government to try and find this person because they had to be careful to get the right person in a city of 8 million people. Now this movie was made prior to 9/11 but it demonstrates how difficult terrorism is to stop here. That is why fighting terrorism abroad instead of here is not just a slogan. Its a matter of national security.
I think we need to thank our government that we have not had a major strike on ours soil since 9/11. Britain has had two in two weeks. We still have a lot of work to do.

Congress about to make Patriot Act permanent

The United States House of Representatives has passed the Patriot Act with very few revisions. Many on the right and left complained that the Act needed to be revised because of concerns of civil liberties. Many argued that while it was appropriate to help law enforcement immediately following 9/11, it was now the appropriate time to step back and make sure we do it right before it becomes permanent.
The Act currently is headed to the Senate committees before a full floor vote by the Senate. Two very controversial provisions were the "sneak and peak" which allowed the government to investigate without a persons knowledge and the library provision which allowed the government to look at a persons library records regarding what books a person borrows. There is also an act called FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). This is similar to wire taps but only applies to foreigners who are in the United States. FISA allows the government to have a lower standard in order for a wire tap to be issued when investigating foreigners. FISA was around before 9/11.

Daylight savings part of energy bill

Congress is considering extending daylight savings as part of the energy bill. They want to extend it by one month. Two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall. The theory is that with more day light will bring down the cost of energy.

Defending the Governor

I find this debate on the health impact fee aka tobacco tax very interesting. I know that some Republicans are not happy about it. I want to specifically respond to the posting on the Taxpayers League blog with regards the pledge that Governor Pawlenty gave in order to win the endorsement and the election.

As many of you saw this years session became very messy toward the bitter end. We had a divided legislature. Neither the House or the Senate was willing to budge. The governor stepped in on many occasions to try to end the stalemate including a meeting at Camp Ripley away from the Capitol. Neither side was able offer a solution to the problem because we had divided House. The governor was the only one to offer a solution that would end the session. The legislatures primary responsibility is to pass a balanced budget. The governor cannot sign a bill until the legislature passes it.

The governor was faced with two evils by the end of the fiscal deadline. Either let the House and Senate continue to negotiate and be faced with spending $4.68 million dollars of taxpayers money per day after the fiscal deadline or offer a solution like the health impact fee. Now I dont think that anybody really liked the idea of targeting a portion of the population to balance the state budget. This gets to the no tax pledge signed by the governor. So I guess its ok that the governor not break his pledge but then the state continue spending money that the state doesnt have? The special session was in fact a tax increase because its money that is not allocated in the budget.

The last thing that I want to comment on is the publics reaction to the special session. While some partisans were busy blaming their respective opponents, most Minnesotans were getting angry with the Legislature as a whole irrespective of party. My biggest concern is that the State Capitol was sounding more like Capitol Hill this year. I really dont think we want to head down that road. Minnesotans have a citizen legislature and they dont want it to act like a professional legislature like Congress. Leadership is about getting things done. The legislature didnt get the job done. The governor took the initiative and got the job done and saved the taxpayers money.

Electric Co.'s declare emergency in CA amidst heat wave

The Southwest United States is experiencing record breaking heat wave. Some have reached record highs in 120's. Some California electric companies have declared an electrical emergency as some power plants forced to go offline.

In a related story, Enron has also agreed to pay the state of California $1.4 Billion to settle a lawsuit accusing them of price gouging during the California energy crisis of 2001.

Saudi's appoint new ambassador to US

In a controversial move protested by the US State Department, Saudi Arabia has appointed a new ambassador to the United States. Now that wouldn't normally be news unless this ambassador was previously fired from his previous post for domestic intelligence in Saudi Arabia. Turki Al-Feisal was alleged to have paid off Al-Qaeda because he was trying to build a pipeline through Afghanistan which at the time was controlled by the Taliban led by Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban was not cooperating with the Saudi's on this project.

VP to attend fundraiser for Mark Kennedy

Vice-President Cheney will be coming to Minnesota on Friday to attend a fundraiser for Congressman Mark Kennedy who is running for US Senate.

San Diego having issues with Mayors

The City of San Diego is having some problems keeping their mayors. They have had 3 mayors in 4 days due to corruption! Hopefully the next elected mayor will be around for a little longer.

No such thing as Separation of Church and State!

The Constitution states in the first amendment the following:

"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion and the exercise thereof."

2nd Attack on London

London police have confirmed 3 explosions in subways and buses. No deaths and few injuries reported at this time. Briefing expected @12:30ET

Gay marriage now legal in Canada

Well its official Canada's law on gay marriage is now in effect. Dont expect that trend to the south toward the United States. 11 states passed constitutional amendments to their state constitutions to ban gay marriage in the last election. However I would not discount the gay and lesbian activists. They may be a small group but they are very influential in the political process. I would also say that the United States is also a more religious society and conservative when it comes to this issue than Canada.
7:58 PM, July 20, 2005

Court rules on eminent domain

I think that the Supreme Court made a really stupid ruling regarding eminent domain. Now those of you who dont know I'll give you a crash course. Eminent domain allows the government to take your property and give you compensation in order to provide a public purpose such as a highway, school, city hall etc. The recent ruling now says that a city can use eminent domain if it will increase the tax base as part of the public purpose clause. I strongly disagree with that. For the first time a private entity ie real estate company could forcibly remove you from your property if they can convince the city that they can provide more tax revenue. Previously the only way this could be done is if the property was in a slum area. Both left wing and right wing groups are upset for different reasons. The left because they dont want corporate america from owning all the property and the right because it violates our rights as property owners.
12:10 AM, July 20, 2005

Bush names nominee to Supreme Court

Well its official. The pundits were wrong again. The President has nominated Judge John G. Roberts, currently an Appeals Court Judge for the District of Columbia since 2003, to be the next Associate Justice to the United States Supreme Court. Judge Roberts was also appointed by former President George H.W. Bush to be a Circuit Judge in the District of Columbia in 1992. He is considered a rock-solid conservative. I never bought into the notion that the nominee is supposed to bring the country together. The Supreme Court by definition has to make decisions that are legally sound not a popularity contest. Its the only branch of government that is supposted to be non-partisan.
10:14 PM, July 19, 2005

Kerry Edwards again for 2008?

Kerry-Edwards again in 08? Its been reported that Senators Kerry and former Senator Edwards have hired field staff in New Hampshire presumably for the presidential election in 2008.
9:35 PM, July 18, 2005

Analysis of Session 2005

So what will the political fallout of the 2005 Legislative Session? Well its hard to tell at this point. Legislators will probably bear the brunt of it. The Governor took a bruising but he will probably recover. If the public remembers the inaction and gridlock of this last session incumbents better be prepared to spend a lot of money to convince their constituents that they deserve another term in office. This would probably be the best time for challengers to enter a race for representative or senator.The governor took a hit from one of his base contributors, the Minnesota Taxpayers League, when he offered the health impact fee to solve the budget impasse. Well either that or we continue to spend $4.68 million per day while the government is partially shutdown. I hope this is not the road that we are headed down as a state. Negotiating through press conferences is never a good sign. I dont believe that this is what Minnesotans want or expect from their state government. The average Minnesotan was angry for the legislatures inability to get their work done on time. Of course there are partisans on both sides who will blame the other side for shuting down the government. The governor offered solutions but legislative leaders did nothing but blame each other. The DFL were trying to protect education and health care. The Republicans were trying to protect the taxpayers. I believe that the Governor took the high road by offering a solution that would probably upset his base but also would end the stalemate.
6:25 PM, July 16, 2005

NGA holds convention in Iowa

The National Governors Assocation is having their annual conference outside of Washington in Des Moines, IA. Some governors who are presidential prospects in 2008 are expected to make an appearance. Iowas is scheduled to be the first caucus for the presidential election in 2008. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will be attending the conference.
2:15 PM, July 16, 2005

Investigation on Attacks on London go Intl

The investigation on the attacks on London quickly taking an international focus. Suspects have been rounded up as far away as Pakistan. Police have not stated whether this was Al-Quaeda but many experts believe it has the markings of Al-Quaeda since it was targeted at a civilian population (underground subway) and symbolic event(G-8 Summit).
9:14 PM, July 15, 2005

Geneva Convention does not apply to Gitmo

U.S. Court of Appeals overrules a district court ruling saying that the enemy combatants do not have rights under the 1949 Geneva Convention because they did not take up arms on behalf of a recgonized state. Enemy combatants are also not obligated to follow the Geneva Convention. The ruling also stated that the President does have legal authority over the enemy combatants now being held at Gitmo. This ruling is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. The Pentagon will be moving forward with the military tribunals with this ruling.
5:45 PM, July 15, 2005

McCain for President in 2008?

There is an interesting job posting that I saw on a political website. They are looking for someone as a campaign manager to run a presidential campaign in 2008. It would be from the state of Arizona but did not specify the presidential candidate. Although I think its probably Sen. John McCain.
2:50 PM, July 15, 2005

One Justice to retire, Chief Justice stays- for now

Chief Justice Renquist of the United States Supreme Court has announced that he will not be retiring. The chief justice has been in and out of the hospital several times in the last few months. Rumors have been swirling for quite sometime that he would be retiring. So it obviously came as a schock when Associate Justice O'Connor announced her retirement at the end of this years term on the court. It was rumored that Justice O'Connor was offered the Chief Justice position by the President if she stayed on and the current chief justice retired.
11:55 PM, July 14, 2005

CIA Leak?

So what to make of the alleged CIA leak? There is an ongoing investigation regarding the leaking of a name of a CIA operative. It is a violation of federal law to knowingly reveal the name of a CIA operative. However the law is very hard to prosecute. The CIA must be taking affirmative measures to conceal the identity of an undercover agent. That agent must also be either currently or in the past 5 years been working outside the United States. Former Deputy Ambassador to Iraq, Joe Wilson has accused the Bush administration namely Karl Rove the former Political Director for the White House now the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for naming Wilson's wife Valerie Plame, in retaliation for saying that the claim that the White House made that Saddam was attempting to aquire yellow cake(uranium) to produce nuclear weapons was not true. Currently there is a grand jury investigation to determine whether there was a violation of the law and if there was who it was. This law is very hard to prosecute because you have to prove that the person doing it knew that the person was undercover. Rove may not have known at the time that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative. Although it seems unclear whether she was under cover or not since her office was in Langley, Virginia. Judith Miller of the New York Times is in jail on a contempt of court citation after she refused to reveal the name of an anonymous source. Matthew Cooper was about to go jail as well but his anonymous source released him of that obligation. This investigation has been going on for a couple of years now.
9:48 PM, July 14, 2005

We the People

Its great to be an American. We have more freedom here than other country on earth. Sometimes we forget that when we are fight amongst ourselves. What the terrorists dont know is that its not our military or our money that makes America great. Its the goodness of our fellow citizens who are willing to help the person across the street or far away in a distant land. America was born not out of nationalism but of an idea to be free. And we must never forget that those who have fought and died are the true heroes and allow us to continue to live in freedom. My goal for this blog is to be informed and motivated to keep America on the right path. Ultimately it is the right and responsibility of each citizen to exercise their constitutional rights bestowed by our Founding Fathers.