Mr. .NET

The Wall Street Journal’s OpinionJournal has come up with a much better list of Peace prize nominees.  With the exception of the Burma monks (because the latest protest was so recent) I think all of them would have been eligable for nomination and winning.  All of them more deserving than Gore and a UN group.

Found via one of the political blogs I subscribe to, but when I saved the link I forgot to save the source as well.

It starts already?!? I was watching one of the cable news networks when I saw a commercial for Mitt Romney. I don’t think its too much to ask that the parties get a little bit closer to having a nominee before pushing them, is it?

At least I have TiVo so I could skip the commercials when I watch something recorded.

A post from Jason shows us how much Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm knows about Michigan geography.

Immortal words from Bob Hope

Off to work with me now

According to Fox News (don’t see an article about it on the website yet); Michigan is apparantly safe from the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding Eminent Domain because the State Supreme Court previously ruled that ED could only be used for truly “public” project like parks and roads.

But since the SCOTUSA has ruled otherwise, and because it trumps all other courts, wouldn’t Michigan’s previous ruling be nullified?

I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to be a lawyer….besides the inability to be confrontational to people I don’t know.

The SCOTUS descision regarding eminent domain has been big today. Lots of analysis about what it could mean is going on; but what can be done to stop our worst fears from coming true?

I think the obvious solution is to amend the constitution to define what “Public Use” means and restrict it enough to put us back to what many of us believe is right. We shouldn’t even have to leave a hole to allow future developments. While we currently accept that public use means the likes of interstate freeways it is clear we can no longer leave loose definitions in this case. Any amendment must be specific in what it considers “public use” or we could be revisiting this issue in another generation.

OnlineCoalition.com

I haven’t posted many political rants lately, but any attempt by the FEC to regulate my words is an infringment of my First Amendment rights and I want them to know it.

This is the post that had me angry earlier: Senator Ted Stevens [and Rep. Joe Barton R-TX] Wants to Take Your Skinemax Away (I added the bit about Barton). The title is meant to be funny, but the topic is definately not. I’ve been angry about this topic since I heard Joe Barton on Neil Cavuto’s show yesterday…which reminds me, I set my TiVo to it record the replay last night.

So far I have sided with the FCC when it comes to the indecency policy because the public airwaves are just that…public. And going from memory the government has promised us that “indecent” material will not be allowed between 6am and midnight. However, there is no such promise when it comes to pay-for-access broadcasts, nor should there be. The only regulation the government should enforce is that all pay-for-access broadcasters offer the ability to block unwanted channels, for free. This ensures that someone can still pay to access the content they want, but leave other bundled channels blocked. An even better move would be to offer ala carte choice; but possibly at a higher cost to the subscriber.

The last point is where I disagree with other libertarian/conservative bloggers; in a family that has no qualms about what is on cable our tastes are varried enough that I can’t imagine we would pay less if we went ala carte with our programming. That isn’t to say I can’t see the benefits, I really can; but it wouldn’t benefit everyone.

Maybe this is why the Bush campaign sticks to Country bands to provide live entertainment before the speeches.

The Bush campaign abruptly stopped using the 1970’s hit “Still the One” at campaign rallies Friday after the songwriter, no fan of the president, claimed the Republicans never got permission.

The song was playing Thursday morning in Saginaw too, and I remember thinking then that the song writer must have been a Bush supporter. I was wrong.

Edit: I should clarify, the song plays during a slideshow on the video screens; not by a live band.

Just got back from the Bush campaign stop in Saginaw (Michigan). It was the first campaign event I’ve ever attended and I would have to say I would do it again without a second thought. One thing that surprised me was the number of high school aged people there, and just how many were there by themselves, not in the tow of a parent.

I would post some pictures of the event, but I have a shaky hand so every single one of my pictures turned out blurry. I did have my sister take some pictures for me, but she got tired of my directing long before Bush took the podium. I haven’t had a chance to look through all of the video I took with my camera, but the ones I have looked at have lighting and sound issues.

After I got back I happened to see that there were some protesters at the event, but I didn’t see them at all on my way in or out. Unfortunately, I overheard a woman telling a police officer that an old man was “just about to collapse” because he stood for too long. By the time I worked my way around the arena an ambulance was at the doors and the EMTs were inside.