I'm Shocked! Shocked!

....that there is Uranium in Iran!

After all didn't that much ballyhooed National Intelligence Estimate said that we didn't have to worry. Didn't it? (ht: Drudge)



I think it was Captain's Quarters blog (Now with HotAir) that started this tradition, but I hereby award the NIE a Captain Louis Renault Award.

A Quick Diversion

(ht: Happy Catholic)

Politics of the Office

The Power Line blog has been doing yeoman work in covering the close race between Franken and Sen. Coleman in Minnesota.

In one particular article they wrote, What's Happening In Minnesota? part 7, they quote an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

The referee in Minnesota's hotly contested Senate race must act in a nonpartisan fashion, yet Ritchie came to office through a nationwide partisan strategy. He was elected in 2006 as part of a national campaign to ensure that Democrats could wield influence in precisely the sort of hair's breadth race we now have here.

Call me an idealist, but when you start trying to control the referee in the match so you get the close call there is just something wrong about that. Of course nobody would dare ever ask the question: "How would you prefer your election officials to act? Do you want them to act as a neutral judge? Or perhaps you want them to be the tie breaker?"

Criminalization of Politics

Our government will not long last if one administration's policy becomes material for the next's prosecutors. It will lead to tyranny for politics will become an issue of self-preservation. I can not emphasize what a poison this would be for our system of government.

That said I was browsing the RedState blog and saw this link.

Where to begin....

The author of this article is Charlie Savage, author of Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy. Evidently he studied as a journalist and a lawyer which is probably why this article has a very legalistic tone to it. His objective is to lay out for the reader, presumably hostile to President Bush, the terrain would be if they attempted a legal assault against him after he leaves office. I, for one, have no doubt of the influence that the New York Times has on the political class of the left and this is a clear suggestion by the writer and sanctioned by the editors. That this would even be brought up is troubling because it shows that they have no vision beyond their immediate political advantage.

Mistress of Disaster

I was reading somebody's site the other day (quick google search, it was Hot Air) and saw a link to a New York Times article profiling who might be the Attorney General in the Obama administration.

This of course reminded me of another blog post I read sometime back here.

Yes, truly the "Mistress of Disaster"

Update: I was looking at the NYT article and it now had this: "but associates now say she is not interested in being considered for the job."

Quick Post

After following the election non-stop for awhile I took a little break from the news. I've also not had a lot of time, stuff keeps interfering every time I want to put up a post.

Anyway, a couple things on my radar:

Terrorism financing tracking and interdiction seems to be collapsing:
Belmont Club
Counterterrorism Blog

Russia is already starting to pressure the Obama administration:
Belmont Club

Looks like its over

Well looks like its over.

The Democrats asked the American people to give them the reigns of government, and it has been granted.

We have our first black president, which is a good thing.

Many battles still yet ahead, but tonight, rest.

Election Day Silliness

We all need a little bit of silliness on election day, here is my contribution:

The Empire Strikes Back Election

This is silly, but it does kinda fit. This election is just like the Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, we were all happy after Reagan blew up the Death Star, but we know they were coming back. They always come back. Those media droids have been scouring the universe for two years looking for our secret rebel base, and we know they found us. Heck, Obama even asked Admiral Ozell, uh Biden, to be his VP. Its only going to be a matter of time before he decides that a "surprise" comment would be "wiser" and Obama will go all Vader on him. Things are probably going to go bad: Iraq could end up in pieces like C3PO, and Rush Limbaugh might have a date with the Fairness Doctrine Carbonite chamber. Yet, there is always next movie, and the hope we are going to have our day again. Just without the Ewoks, please.

And so it begins....

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I hope McCain can pull it out, if not...

Well, it would be a real bad system of government that can't take a couple years of the other side in power...

Well....

Ugh.

But.

We could pull it off. Vote.

Nota Bene: Nuclear Power

As I said in the immediately proceeding post, nuclear power faces a production choke point with the ultra large forgings required for a single piece reactor pressure vessel. The only company with a facility capable of creating these is Japan Steel Works located on the island of Hokkaido. According to this Bloomberg article, companies are putting down a 100 million dollar down payments for a production slot (one of four per year).

You would think that one of these old steel towns in the US might have a facility that could be converted. After all, it seems that supply is constrained enough that the price will remain high.

If I had a hundred million dollars.....

Some interesting links:
Technical article on Steel Forging techniques
Japan Steel Works fabrication process

Obama Against Coal

Now I'm a nuclear guy myself, mostly because I think that coal would be better used as a liquid fuel. However, with the regulatory and production hurdles of nuclear reactors, as our demand for electricity increases we basically have the option of more gas or coal fired plants.

Now, Joe Biden said a couple months ago that an Obama administration would not support the construction of more coal plants in this country (ht: marks @ RedState).



I believe that this did not go down well with certain states that have a lot of coal production, thus, during the VP debate, Biden had to *ahem* clarify the position.



Now Gateway Pundit has come across a speech where Obama promises (to a San Francisco audience, again!) to "bankrupt coal".



See the entire post:
Gateway Pundit: <em>EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO--</em> Obama Promises San Francisco Audience He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry!!

YAPA (Yet Another Political Ad)

I chuckled a little bit at this one (ht: Gatewaypundit)



Gateway Pundit: Dictators Mock Obama's Ignorance (Video)

Marginal Tax Rates

An interesting calculation by Greg Mankiw at his blog (ht: Instapundit)

Debate & the Wilderness

I'll start off with a cliche:

There has been much ink and bytes spilled writing about what McCain has to do tonight.

I don't intend to spill much more.

I couldn't tell you if there is an argument available to McCain that would persuade enough undecideds to matter. Even if I did I would most likely be wrong. All he can do is fight for his principles.

That said, it is a distinct possibility that the principles we believe in will be pushed into the wilderness for a period of time with the next election. However, they must not go quietly. Quiet would not equate with dignity in this matter, but a lack of conviction.

Personally, if I found myself in the political wilderness I would dig a foxhole right inside the trees.

ReasonTV: Healthcare

Here is an interesting video from ReasonTV about just who the uninsured are

[I couldn't figure out how to get the video to appear nicely on my blog (and I didn't want to learn CSS today) so just follow the link] -- Ed.

Question

When the Washington Post publishes an article titled "The End of America Capitalism", I wonder what exactly they are advocating to replace it with?

McCain Web ad

Here is McCain's latest ad:

Reporters on a Plane

Ht: Drudge

CBS reporter Dean Reynolds writes:

Obama's campaign schedule is fuller, more hectic and seemingly improvisational. The Obama aides who deal with the national reporters on the campaign plane are often overwhelmed, overworked and un-informed about where, when, why or how the candidate is moving about.

In contrast, McCain's campaign:

The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps.

He ends:

Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama's that is focused solely on victory doesn't have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

But in politics, everything that goes around comes around.

What to make of this? I doubt many people will decide their vote based on how effectively a candidate liaisons with with the press, nor would many decide based on this article. It does, however, shed light on the organization that surrounds each candidate. At first glance it would seem to be a tale of organization and structure. Obama does not make it easy for this guy to do his job, while McCain does. Yet that analysis seems shallow to me. I think that it shows how each candidate values the press. John McCain can't seem to get a fair shake from the press. A Reuters piece here, says:

Down in the polls, Republican presidential nominee John McCain pressed his effort to sow doubts about Barack Obama's character on Thursday with a fresh attack on his Democratic rival's contacts with a former left-wing radical who is now a college professor.

With the first sentence the journalist has framed McCain's argument as weak. It downgrades Obama's association with Ayers to "contacts" and labels him a "former left-wing radical". The article continues by changing the subject to the economy, and repeats an Obama attack on a McCain proposal. Is this the writing of people who are upset with the way they are being treated? Has anyone seen an article, other then the CBS blog post, claiming that Obama's campaign is chaotic? It is clear that Obama can treat the press anyway he likes because they will not do anything about it, despite grumbles in a blog. If there is going to be a karmic backlash against Obama for this, I'm sure the press will reserve it for long after the election.

Or for the tell all campaign book that hardly anybody will read.

Summation

Might as well just watched the last one. No one helped themselves, but nobody hurt themselves either. Obama was incoherent at times on foreign policy and said all the Banks located themselves in his VP's state... McCain was his usual self, he really needed to hit Obama hard and make him play some defence, but didn't really...

All in all a waste of time imho, nothing new, nothing challenged the candidates.

Note to Obama

Musharref isn't in charge of Pakistan anymore...

Once again he almost sounds like he is going in to Pakistan

Really this debate is just like the last one.