The Crows Nest
Crow's Nest Mostly Unmanned
Yes, I know the Crow's Nest has mostly been moribund since the site's relaunch. I do plan on using it more often in the future, I promise. I'll be spending a little more time on these posts as a way to link out to the blogosphere. Keep an eye on this space.
Also, please note that I've put the Amazon search bar on the main page, in the right sidebar. If you want to do some shopping at Amazon -- and who doesn't? -- be sure to shop through Captain's Quarters. Amazon does pay a small percentage of the sale to me, and it helps pay for a few sundries related to the blog. Much appreciated!
OpenCongress Web Widget
Ever wanted to announce your support or opposition to Congressional legislation? OpenCongress now has a web widget that allows bloggers to do exactly that. Take a look at this, and check out how easily you can build your own.
Maybe They're Flotation Devices?
The Australian Navy foots the bill for breast augmentations. The Labour Party would like to know why, and probably so would most of the voters in Australia.
The Thinking Blogger
Congrats to Fausta, who won a Thinking Blogger award. She thanks me for my friendship, but the truth is that Fausta makes it easy to be her friend. She's always positive and energetic, and she epitomizes the notion of a thinking blogger. Make sure to put her on your must-read list!
Ensign Calls For Return Of MoveOn Money
NRSC chair Senator John Ensign calls for Democrats to return all campaign funds donated by MoveOn, after their despicable New York Times ad today accusing David Petraeus of treason. "If Senate Democrats are serious about moving our country forward, they will denounce this outrageous ad and return the campaign funds MoveOn.org has lavished on them as well as the donations made through MoveOn.org -- the choice is theirs." Ensign's right, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the refund ...
Support The Al-Dura Petition
Roger Simon at Pajamas Media is circulating a petition to demand accountability for the discredited al-Dura report from France's Channel 2. This is, as Roger calls it, the "Father of all Fauxtography," and C-2 has never acknowledged its fault in airing the supposed murder of a Palestinian child. He wants C-2 to show all of the unedited footage of the incident in order to show that C-2 faked the murder. If they're resisting the demand, I'd say they have something to hide ....
There Goes The Undefeated Season
Notre Dame managed to get its first loss out of the way as soon as possible -- and as badly as possible. Georgia Tech came to South Bend and stomped the Irish, 33-3, in the worst home opener loss in school history. The offense fumbled twice and allowed seven sacks on Evan Sharpley, who must have longed to have Brady Quinn back on the field instead. If Charlie Weis doesn't turn this debacle around fast, he may want to start asking Ty Willingham for some career counseling ....
Would Early Primaries Allow More Donations?
Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot believes that candidates will benefit if primaries and caucuses get pushed into 2007. A loophole in campaign finance regulation appears to allow an extra $2,300 per donor for candidates if those elections are held this year. Be sure to check out Jim's analysis, and the surprising candidate that may benefit the most.
When Tom Met Jeralyn
One of the interesting aspects of politics is finding out that opponents are people, too. Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft met Rep. Tom Tancredo backstage at NBC's studios, and found him more likable than she had anticipated. Perhaps it was their mutual interest in Dog, The Bounty Hunter ...
Joe Lieberman A Right-Wing Nut?
That's what CAIR says, according to Joe Kaufman. He has a link to a CAIR official's blog post that calls Lieberman, along with John Bolton, former CIA director James Woolsey, and the Heritage Foundation's Peter Brookes as "extremists". Affad Shaikh also calls Dick Cheney a "fat bastard of a liar," apparently not meant as a pop-culture reference to the Austin Powers movies. (via Let Freedom Ring)
Broadband Homelessness
The Japanese have made homelessness more efficient, and more Net-friendly, too. Their Internet cafés have become homeless shelters for the struggling manual-labor sector. The problem has grown into such a problem that government intervention will shortly become a political priority.
Found My Law Firm
Power Line links twice to this story regarding an attorney at Faegre & Benson who refused to become a victim and helped capture a very dangerous man. Keith Radtke is a partner in the firm as is Power Line's John Hinderaker. Radtke is listed in satisfactory condition after getting shot in the back, but that didn't keep him from locking up his attacker in a wrestling grip until police could arrive. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of man I'd want as my counsel ....
Don't Click That YouTube E-mail
The latest in spam seems to be redirections from YouTube links in e-mail to IP addresses without domain names. They attempt to entice people by making it seem that they have been inadvertently YouTubed. I'm sure most people can see through this scam, but just in case, you've been warned ....
Rick Moran Escapes The Floods
Rick Moran has kept us up to date on his travails along the Algonquin River. Yesterday, the police showed up to get him evacuated before the river flooded his home -- but today, Rick finds that a minor miracle has taken place, and that his house survives ... at least for now. Keep Rick in your prayers, and keep checking in at Right Wing Nut House for updates.
Rule 1: Drag The Corpse On Over First
If I've learned anything in four years of blogging, don't try to be out in front of the death rumors, especially with the villains of the world. Saddam died a hundred deaths before we caught him alive in his spider hole, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost as many before his demise last year. Osama may or may not be alive, but everyone's avoided speculating on his fate for a while now. Maybe Val at Babalu Blog will get luckier with his "Castro Is Dead" story. We all hope so. I'll wait for the announcement ....
Comments (8)
Posted by Tom S | October 8, 2007 7:22 AM
I'm waiting for the headline in the Strib to read, "Democratic Party Out of Step With Public."
http://wcco.com/politics/local_story_135173411.html
DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher called Pawlenty's stance on roads and transit "a bit out of step with the needs of the state in terms of transportation."
Posted by Mwalimu Daudi | October 8, 2007 7:42 AM
It would appear that Minnesotans are not a dumb as the MSM had hoped. And given the fact that al-Strib's own poll showed a majority opposed tax increases, you cannot help but wonder how big the margin would grow to if they were to do an honest poll.
Still, MSM prospects may brighten considerably if the GOP does its usual roll-over-and-play-dead act.
Posted by justsomenonminnesotan | October 8, 2007 8:11 AM
"We want to know why an agency that already gets almost 9% of the entire state budget couldn't see the collapse coming, and we want to know why our politicians think bike paths should get priority spending ahead of bridge inspections and repairs."
The premise of this statement is incorrect, and it's why you are having a hard time understanding how things work.
In fact, the politicians you folks elected DID see the bridge collapse coming. They pay smart people to tell them which bridges are nearing collapse, and the engineers told them this bridge was structurally unsound. Many other bridges await their collapse at any moment. The state has a list of them and will tell you exactly where they are.
Those very same politicians then did nothing about it. And you know what ... the people of Minnesota re-elected them.
Why? Because they got bike paths. Politicians understand that they aren't at risk politically when bridges collapse killing Minnesotans. Hell, now they want to TAX you for it! But if you vote against a bike path ... woe is the politician who tries that.
Until Minnesotans get serious about de-electing the politicians skating in their elections (just go look up the percentage who are re-elected every election cycle), then you can look forward to getting that which you so richly deserve.
Good luck with that.
Posted by unclesmrgol | October 8, 2007 10:09 AM
Of course Minnesotans don't want a road tax! <sarcasm>It's the federal government's job to fix the roads, isn't it?</sarcasm>
Posted by Red Wolverine | October 8, 2007 10:34 AM
With this guy on the ballet with say a Guiliani or a Thompson we coudl concievably win MINN, Wisc And Mich. . . . .
Posted by Red Wolverine | October 8, 2007 10:37 AM
With this guy on the ballet with say a Guiliani or a Thompson we coudl concievably win MINN, Wisc And Mich. . . . .
Posted by Bob Mc | October 8, 2007 10:38 AM
This Minnesota attitude towards taxes hearkens back to the days of whether or not the citizens should pay for a new stadium. Each time the issue came to a vote, the citizens said "not one thin dime" to millionaires for a new venue, even when threatened with losing the franchise to another state.
I lived in Farmington at that time, since moved to Virginia, and I'm glad to see the citizenry still standing together against un-needed taxes.
Jackals.
Posted by Conrad | October 8, 2007 3:08 PM
It is amasing to me that a bridge falls down and all that goes on is finger pointing? Now it comes out that MNDOT is broke and looking for money out of the general fund to replace the I-35 bridge. Also the cost for the new bridge is approaching 400 million and it looks like some legal battles are coming from the competing contactors - two of which think they were shortchanged by MNDOT. Looks like a new bridge to replace the I-35 is a long way off in the future.
I think since this is a federal bridge situated on the route that will be the future NAFTA super highway, someone should be thinking about an alternate plan. Why not get the Army Corps of engineers to build a temporary bridge off to the side of the path of the I-35 bridge that collapsed and keep that "black hole" MNDOT out of it? Then when the federal government is ready to put the money up for the new I-35 bridge for the NAFTA super highway they vision, they can build the bridge then.
In the mean time it looks like MNDOT also needs an overhaul, and maybe some dead wood can get removed.
I am still trying to fathom why no one in MNDOT called for the I-35 bridge to be closed when it is apparent that they knew it was in bad shape.
I would think that the federal government must have had a budget for the maintenance of this bridge? If MNDOT was responsible for the maintenance of the bridge, where did the money get spent? Surely there was more money than just for inspections. What good are inspections if no one reads the conclusions, recommendations, etc., and acts on them???
I don't get it.