13th District Is Represented By An Idiot

There are some real nuts in Congress, and many of them talk enough to be a constant embarrassment to their constituents. The 13th District of Texas is represented by a real idiot and right-wing nut -- Mac Thornberry. The only thing good about Thornberry is that until now, he has generally kept his mouth shut and stayed out of the national spotlight. I always figured it was because he understood his own incompetence and didn't want to show it to the world.

I was wrong. Ole Dingleberry has decided that he's going to fix this recession, and it's pretty obvious that he's drinking far too much of the Repub's red kool-aid. He thinks that all we need to do to stimulate the economy is to give rich people more money (and yes, that would be the same rich folks who have been making record profits each year under the current tax code, and yes, that would be the same rich folks who've destroyed our economy with their greed).

After all, if we give the rich all the money, they'll share it with the rest of us won't they? NOT! Where has this buffoon been the last few years? Bush and the Republicans did everything they could to see the rich made larger profits every year, but somehow none of it trickled down to anyone else. They just hoarded it, and whined about having to pay any taxes at all. Wages either remained stagnant or the jobs were shipped overseas.

Rep. Dingleberry has decided to do away with our income tax system and replace it with a sales tax. Never mind that the sales tax is the most regressive of all taxes. Poor and working class folks would probably wind up paying an even larger percentage of their income than they do now, while the rich will wind up paying a negligible percentage of their income. But that's OK. It's the Republican mantra to protect the rich while soaking the workers.

If he can't get that done, Rep. Dingleberry has a fallback position. He'll just lower the top tax rate to 25%. Never mind the ultra-rich have gotten even richer under the current tax rate, and control around 40% of our nation's wealth. Republicans like D-berry won't be happy until the rich control all the wealth and the rest of us are slaves.

Many of us in the Panhandle and West Texas have known this guy was a moron for a while now. It's just too bad he had to finally open his mouth and prove it to the rest of the world.

Right-Wing Dogma

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Pantex Shipments Are Highly Radioactive

This is what the B-W Pantex website has to say about it's plant near Amarillo:

"Pantex Plant, located 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas, in Carson County, is charged with maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is managed and operated by B&W Pantex for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.

Work performed at Pantex includes support of the life extension programs, weapon dismantlement, the development, testing and fabrication of high explosive components and interim storage and surveillance of plutonium pits.

All work at Pantex is carried out under these overarching priorities: the security of weapons and information, the safety and health of workers and the public, and the protection of the environment."

As a resident of Amarillo, I would really like to believe that last paragraph is true -- since we are talking about nuclear weapons less than 20 miles from our fair city. But it's kind of unsettling when you see mistakes like this.

Pantex has recently shipped 36 "legacy items" to Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico (about 280 miles). According to the Amarillo Globe News, "Legacy items are components or tools from dismantled weapons that are not part of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and cannot be re-used in modern warheads."

The items shipped were packaged safely according to the company, even though they were not supposed to be dangerous. However, when they were unpacked in Sandia, 12 of the 36 packages were found to be "highly" contaminated with radioactive tritium gas (which is used to enhance the explosive power of a nuclear weapon).

Pantex said they had spot-checked the shipment and found no radiation before the items were shipped. Obviously that check was not sufficient, since 12 dangerously radioactive items slipped through without their knowledge. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Pantex is revising it's inventory procedures. I should hope so!

There are some jobs where mistakes can be tolerated (even if unappreciated). However, if you are in charge of tons of nuclear weapons, I would hope there would be several levels of safety procedures that would catch any human errors before they left the plant or became serious.

This latest misstep does not inspire confidence.

A Good Bet

Political Cartoon is by Bob Englehart in The Hartford Courant.

S. African Peace Conference Called Off

The Football World Cup playoffs will be held in South Africa in 2010 (or Soccer World Cup as we Americans know it). The South Africans are pretty proud to be hosting it, and rightfully so. The organizing committee in South Africa decided to hold a Peace Conference in conjunction with the World Cup, with the topic being "football's role in fighting racism and xenophobia."

They got the blessing of soccer's governing body, FIFA, and invited many Nobel Peace laureates and other well-known peace activists. They were going to not only celebrate the upcoming World Cup, but also show off South Africa's commitment to human rights. There was only one problem. The South African government couldn't live up to the high ideals of the organizing committee.

One of the high-profile invitees was Tibet's Dalai Lama (pictured above). Of course, this upset the Chinese government. Since their brutal invasion of Tibet, they don't like for the Dalai Lama to appear on the world stage and will stop him whenever they can. Beijing told the South African government the Dalai Lama's appearance "would harm bilateral relations."

So what did the South African government do? Sadly, they folded like a wet paper towel. They knuckled under faster than the Democratic Congress during the Bush administration. They refused to give the Dalai Lama the visa he needed to enter their country.

When they learned the Dalai Lama had been banned from entering South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African president F.W. de Klerk both withdrew from participating in the Peace Conference.

The grandson of Nelson Mandela (and one of the conference organizers) said, "I am very saddened today to see that someone like the Dalai Lama, who all our laureates hold highly, has been turned down on their visa application. This rejection by the government... is really tainting our own effort of democracy. It's a sad day for South Africa, and it's a sad day for Africa."

The organizers have now put off the Peace Conference -- indefinitely. This is for the best. It wouldn't have been much of a conference without Tutu, de Klerk and Mandela. And that probably wouldn't have been the end of the withdrawals.

The truth is that South Africa doesn't deserve the honor of hosting an international Peace Conference -- not if they are willing to knuckle under to China (or anyone else).

Gluttony

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

A Strange Route To Justice

James Brewer recently suffered a stroke in Oklahoma. His condition was very serious and Brewer thought he was going to die. He decided to unburden his soul and asked to speak to a policeman. Detective Tony Grosso, who interviewed Brewer in the hospital, said, "He wanted to cleanse his soul, because he thought he was going to the great beyond."

Brewer told the detective a rather shocking story. He said that 32 years ago, he had killed his neighbor in Hohenwald, Tennessee. He thought the neighbor had been trying to seduce his wife, so he shot him.

Brewer was actually arrested for the murder, but was allowed to post bail and secure his release pending trial. Once he was released, he jumped bail and went to the city of Shawnee, Oklahoma. He changed his name to Michael Anderson, and with his wife, settled down and lived there for the next 32 years -- until he had the stroke.

There was only one thing wrong with the deathbed confession -- he did not die. In fact, he has fully recovered. Oops!

Of course, the Oklahoma police have notified the Tennessee police, and Brewer has been returned to his home state where he will now stand trial. I'll bet he doesn't get bail this time.

Justice will usually be served, but sometimes it can take a strange route to the truth.

Looking The Wrong Way

Political Cartoon is by John Trever in The Albuquerque Journal.

Congratulations Senator Davis

It looks like congratulations are in order for Senator Wendy Davis. The rookie senator from Fort Worth just got her first piece of legislation passed in the Texas Senate (SB576). Even better, the bill was passed unanimously. It's always nice when you propose a bill that everyone thinks is a good idea. Here's how the bill was described in a press release:

"SB 576 is a bill designed to help make Tax Increment Financing districts (TIFs) a more effective economic development tool. SB 576 would improve the economic viability of TIFs by allowing cities to use TIF funds to make infrastructure improvements outside of the district boundaries, if those improvements directly benefit the district. The bill would also improve historic preservation efforts inside TIFs by allowing cities to grant historic preservation incentives without requiring historic property owners to be "carved out" of the district."

Senator Davis said, "I'm very proud to have passed Senate Bill 576 -- my first bill -- on the Senate floor today, and I think it is fitting that my first piece of legislation was about improving an economic development tool often used back home in Tarrant County. I am eager to continue working on the issues my constituents sent me here to address, and I look forward to passing many more bills on their behalf."

I also congratulate the people of Fort Worth. They have elected a good senator, who is interested in helping Fort Worth and the state of Texas.

Humpty AIG

Political Cartoon is by R.J. Matson in The New York Observer.

Note To Blue Dog Dems About Budget

I want to direct this post to those in Congress known as Blue Dog Democrats, or "conservative" Democrats. To those of you in Texas and those of you in other states. It's time to step up and help your president, your party and your country.

There have always been Democrats like you -- even in the 1930s. But those conservative Dems in the thirties knew there was a time to show their conservatism and a time to help save their country, and they recognized when their country needed them. They swallowed hard and voted with President Roosevelt for the good of the country.

Well, the Bush conservatives in the Republican Party have run our country into the ground and thrown us into a serious recession that could easily turn into another Great Depression if it is not handled right.

President Obama has proposed his first budget, and it is a fairly large one -- as it needs to be to cope with the serious problems facing the United States. The Republicans almost unanimous response has been NO. After years of their own wasteful budgets that resulted in enormous deficits while only helping the rich, they all of a sudden want to cut the budget.

Please don't join in this subversive budget-cutting nonsense. Before you decide the president's budget is too large and needs to be cut down, please consider the following:

*The Republicans want our economy to fail, so they can claim that President Obama and the Democrats have failed. It is their only hope of surviving the 2010 election without even further losses.

*The people and most businesses have cut back on their spending. If the government did the same at this time, it would throw our economy into an even more serious tailspin and almost certainly bring on a Depression.

*One of the reasons the budget looks so large is that this is a real budget with all the expenses listed -- not one of Bush's phoney budgets that tried to hide the expense of two wars (and many other items).

*The president has included adequate funds in the budget to start the process of weaning the country off of carbon-based fuels, decrease our dependence on foreign oil and transfer to the use of cleaner and greener fuels. Many presidents have promised this, but only President Obama has actually included funding for it in the budget.

*The president has also included funds to start fixing our broken healthcare system. Over 40 million citizens don't have any kind of health insurance, and among those that do, large medical bills that insurance refuses to pay is the single largest cause of bankruptcies in this country. A good health insurance system that controlled costs and covered everyone, would not only help the citizens but also businesses (who are having trouble competing because of government healthcare insurance in other countries).

*For the first time in many years, our educational system will be adequately funded. Without a fully-funded and functioning public education system, how long would our democracy survive?

*The budget includes some cost-cutting measures by cutting unwarranted, ineffective and unnecessary programs.

*Further cutting would be realized by going back to competetive-bidding on all contracts (unlike the Bush administration that awarded non-competetive open-ended contracts to their friends and political supporters).

*More savings would be realized by the winding down (and eventual ending) of the Iraq War.

This is a large budget, but it is also a good budget. It is also a budget that addresses America's serious needs. Don't join with those who would cut this budget and hurt the country. Your president and your country need you to help pass this budget as it is. It will take political courage, especially for you "Blue Dogs", but it is necessary.

Comrades

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

A New Car For Less Than $2000

Today, the world's cheapest car is to be introduced in Mumbai, India. The Tata Motors car named the Nano (pictured above) will be priced at 100,000 rupees -- or $1979 dollars brand new. India's Tata Motors is the company that bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford last June. So now they have the world's least expensive car to go with their ownership of two of the world's more expensive cars.

The Nano is a whole 10 feet long, and yet it is configured to seat five passengers. But it will do so without the comforts and extras most Americans and Europeans expect when they buy a car. There are no air bags, no air conditioning, no radio and no power steering or automatic transmission. It is no frills transportation for the world's poor who until now have not been able to afford an automobile.

The price is comparable to the price of a new Volkswagen "Bug" about 45 years ago. But don't expect to see the Nano on any American streets. In addition to no air bags, I'm sure it lacks many other safety features required on cars sold in this country.

However, if the car proves to be popular in other parts of the world, they might decide to enter the American market in a few years. With the basic car priced at under $2000, they could probably put in the required safety features and a slightly more powerful engine (it's currently 33 bhp), and still sell it for quite a bit less than $10,000. That would be half the price of an American car (or less).

It just goes to show what a car company can accomplish when they put their mind to it.

The Blame Game

Political Cartoon is by Nate Beeler in The Washington Examiner.