Wisconsin chickens are coming home to roost

MoonHowler

From the  Huffington Post:

Democratic State Sen. Dave Hansen Wins First Wisconsin Recall Election!

Sen. Hansen’s victory is a validation of the lengths he and the rest of the ‘Wisconsin 14’ went to in their efforts to stall the Wisconsin GOP’s extreme right-wing, anti-working family agenda,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Michael Sargeant. “His constituents understand that he fights for them, not for extreme ideologues.”

There are the nuts and bolts.  Scott Walker and crew did their best to recall Sen. Hanson’s last election  victory,  to no avail.   This victory will probably be the first of many for Democrats who stood their ground for public employees.  Wisconsin is a union state and things like what happened in Madison last winter just do not sit well. 

Three Democratic state senators  are being targeted for recall and  each have at least $140,000 in the bank, according to spending reports filed Monday with state election officials.

Insulting public employees is just not the way to  impress voters.  Walker and his gang need to find another way to balance their state budget, rather than doing it on the backs of the public employees.

 

Ty Cowherd, PWC Employee and High School Friend, Killed in Motorcycle Accident

Elena

You know when you “grow up” and have kids of your own, you sometimes forget that previous life you may have lived as a young person? 

I found out yesterday, a high school friend was killed in a motorcycle accident in Fairfax this past Saturday.  We were a trio, Ty, my best friend Debbi who was his girlfriend, and me.   I called her last night and we spent over an hour on the phone, remembering Ty, and all the hilarious and crazy stuff we did together.  Ty had the sweetest smile and was always laid back.   He didn’t care that I was the third wheel, I was Debbi’s best friend and I never felt like an interloper. 

I asked Debbi last night, “did you guys get sick of me? “And she said vehemently “No, you were my bud!”.   T hey dated most of their high school “career” and we shared some great memories.  My face hurt from laughing so much.

My sympathy goes out to all his loved ones. 

Life is tenuous, each day really is a gift,  we may think we control our lives, but in the end, our journey is on a path, set in motion, by a random set of choices we make each day.  Each choice containing a different outcome.  Rest in Peace Ty.

http://manassas.patch.com/articles/county-employee-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-manassas-area-man-also-injured

Two 2008 Harley Davidson motorcycles, operated by a 50-year-old Manassas-area man and Cowherd, were each traveling eastbound on Braddock Road in the left travel lane when the Lexus turned left in front of the motorcycles.

Both men applied their brakes but could not stop in time, police said, striking the passenger side of the sedan.

The two men and the female passenger, identified as a 44-year-old woman of Annandale, were all wearing helmets and transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital, according to police.

Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash. This investigation is ongoing.

Cowherd was employed by the county’s Neighborhood Services Division, a division of the Department of Public Works. According to its website, he was chief property code inspector for the department.

Sean Hoare, whistleblower, found dead

MoonHowler

From the Washington Post:

The Guardian reports that Sean Hoare, the former News of the World reporter who first claimed that Andy Coulson knew of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead at his home. The police told the Guardian that they do not know how Hoare died, but do not believe the cause of death to be suspicious.

Hoare gave an interview to the New York Times in 2010 that bolstered allegations the phone hacking was a widespread and accepted practice at the tabloid. He also said that Coulson encouraged the practice. Hoare was let go from the News of the World for problems related to drinking and drugs.

Hoare had been in contact with the Guardian and the New York Times only last week, stating that the News of the World staff used police technology to track phones.

Here is the 2010 BBC interview with Hoare speaking about the phone hacking.

So why do people just die but nothing is suspicious?  The guy doesn’t look old enough for it to have been from natural causes.  In fact, he looks downright chipper.  The more that is turned up, the more suspicious all of this story is beginning to sound. 

It can’t all be about phone hacking.  As nasty of a habit as that might be, it isn’t worth the head of Scotland Yard resigning and the Prime Minister (or 2 or 3) ducking and heading for cover.  Was Sean murdered to protect some big muckety muck in England?  Will the Murdoch scandal cross the Big Pond?  Will Steve Doocy continue to make up excuses and exclaim that the media is ‘piling on’ poor Rupert Murdoch?  Are the friends at Faux News getting a little nervous over their jobs?  If Murdoch crumbles, can their godfather be far behind?

Inquiring minds want to know. 

New Kid in town–Cafe Rio

MoonHowler

There is a new kid in town–Cafe Rio, that opened recently on July 13 on Sudley Road in what is known as the K-Mart Shopping Center.  Cafe Rio is in the old Hollywood video  building, near BB&T Bank. 

Cafe Rio is part of a high end chain that originated in St. George, Utah in 1997.  This restaurant does not have freezers or microwaves so all food must be brought in fresh daily.  The lines stretched around the building last weekend, even at 7:30.  People are eager to try the new cuisine.  For those who don’t have time to dine out, carry out is easy.  Call the store and pick up your meal in 15 minutes.  The store has 2 dedicated employees to provide excellent service for curbside. 

What I found interesting is reading the Northern Virginia blogs. I read all sorts of sneering and jeering about ‘another Mexican restaurant’ opening up in KMart Shopping Center.  The tone was not one of anticipating a new high end restaurant.  In fact, what I was reading sounded like bloggers were anticipating a dirty spoon type of establishment.  The joke is on them.  I saw the lines while I battled my enemy–the BB&T ancient ATM.   They were long.  The line I saw reached around to the back of the building and included a diverse population. However, if pressed, I would have to say the majority of those waiting in line were Anglo.  So the joke is on the nay-sayers. 

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Let’s pick on Eric Cantor for picking on students

MoonHowler

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been a bit of a pain in the arse lately.  He has acted as one of the chief spokemen for the GOP in the debt ceiling talks and rumor has it that Rep. Bonher is less than happy with him.  Cantor’s main problem seems to be combating that old problem of just looking mean.  According to the Daily Beast:

As Monday’s White House budget talks got down to the nitty-gritty, Eric Cantor proposed a series of spending cuts, one of them aimed squarely at college students.

The House majority leader, who did most of the talking for the Republican side, said those taking out student loans should start paying interest right away, rather than being able to defer payments until after graduation. It is a big-ticket item that would save $40 billion over 10 years.

President Obama responded: 

“I’m not going to do that,” Obama said. “I’m not going to take money from old people and screw students,” not without some compromise on the tax-increase side.

And screwing students is exactly what that move would be.  How can a student pay interest  when he or she is still in school and in all probability does not have a job?  Where is the common sense here?  Does Cantor just speak to hear himself talk?  There are some very realistic cuts that can be made in the economy.  Student loans aren’t the place to start curbing the deficit.   Do these people really believe half that comes out of their mouth?

 

Pray Away the Gay?

MoonHowler

Michele Bachmann’s husband Doctor Marcus Bachmann has come under fire for using what is known as reparative therapy in his Christian psychology clinic in Minneapolis.   Reparative therapy supposedly converts gay men into straight men via prayer.  There is little scientific evidence that this method of ‘therapy’ creates permanent change. 

According to the Huffington Post:

MINNEAPOLIS — The husband of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says counselors at his family’s Christian clinics are not focused on converting homosexuals to heterosexuality through prayer.

Marcus Bachmann told the Star Tribune in a report published Friday that his Minnesota clinics “don’t have an agenda or a philosophy of trying to change someone.”

Bachmann’s comments follow the release of a gay activist’s undercover video that appears to show one of the clinics’ counselors offering reparative therapy to help him become heterosexual. The video produced by gay advocacy group Truth Wins Out was first aired Monday by ABC News.

Marcus Bachman, whose business has collected government funding from Medicaid-backed programs, says counselors follow the wishes of patients and don’t force any treatment.Read More

Another look at the debt and debt ceiling

MoonHowler

From the Washington Post:

Who raised the debt ceiling?

Since 1980, the debt ceiling has been raised 39 times. It was raised 17 times under Ronald Reagan, four times under Bill Clinton and seven times under George W. Bush. Congress is currently in a contentious debate with the White House on whether to raise the ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline, which would make the fourth raise under Obama.

Its just time for everyone to pull their fingers back in from that point.  Clinton gets the atta boy award.  Republicans need to man up and take their fair share of the blame for debt and move on. 

Reminder:  We are still paying for World War II. 

 

After WWII, the debt was a greater percent of GDP.  We have had 2 wars and a Great Recession. 

We need to raise the debt ceiling without histrionics, blame gaming or politics.  Just do it.  This is no time to play Russian roulette with our economy. 

 

Bachmann still an American Girl

MoonHowler

And obviously, every artist has his price. 

From Politico:

From POLITICO’s Jon Allen:

It looks like Michele Bachmann can remain an “American Girl” — she paid fees to two music licensing companies the at the end of June, according to her latest campaign finance report.

Bachmann shelled out a total of $900 to the American Society of Composers and Broadcast Music, Inc., in separate payments on June 28.

The singer Tom Petty sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Minnesota congresswoman and Republican presidential candidate after she came to the stage at her launch to his familiar tune “American Girl.” The kickoff event in Iowa was on June 27 — the day before the campaign recorded checks to the two licensing company.

Petty’s protest spurred a couple of days of cable television and print media debate about whether musicians should be able to tell politicians they don’t like to hit the pause button

I am still thinking Petty was being petty.  Actually $900 is pretty darn cheap to be an American girl.  It makes you wonder why she would continue to use the song after Petty made such a stink.  She ought to have one of her adoring fans write a song for her–one of her very own. 

The hackers and the hackees, according to Fox News

MoonHowler

This video shows one of the clumbsiest attempts to skirt an issue I have ever seen. Doocy confuses hackers with hackees. Why he attempts to connect companies who have been hacked into with a company that hacked into other people’s emails is beyond me. He also speaks of the mythological ‘they.’

Fox News has been remarkably silent on the Murdoch scandal. Doocy was lame.  Does he expect news agencies to not cover the News of the World case?   Did the media really ‘pile on’ or is Steve Doocy just a little bit touchy?

 

Overnight News

MoonHowler

1.  2 jets collide on the runway at Logan Airport in Boston.  I have always felt Logan was an accident looking for a place to happen.  There were no serious injuries but a regional jet got beaten up pretty badly.

2.  Harry Potter is over.  The final movie has been shown.  That marks the end of an era.

3.  Rebeka Brooks, CEO of News Corp  International in UK, has resigned. Murdoch and son James have agreed to appear before Parliament.   The problem appears to be moving across the big pond.  The FBI is getting involved. 

Does this touch Fox News?  Should it?  They aren’t saying much about it.

SFC Leroy Petry-Medal of Honor Recipient

MoonHowler

Let’s look at honorable for a moment.  Jon Stewart interviewed the Medal of Honor recipient  SFC  Leroy Petry.  SFC Petry received his medal Tuesday in a ceremony at the White House.

 

 

SFC Petry is amazing. He has sustained a life altering injury  and has maintained his sense of humor. He epitomizes American heroism.

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McDonnell squawks on CNBC

MoonHowler

Governor McDonnell squawked loudly for Virginia and crowed about lower unemployment numbers and Virginia’s growth. VRS compares very favorably to most other pension plans but needs some tweaking to stay solvent, according to McDonnell.

McDonnell needs to be reminded that the VRS is not the state’s personal ATM. It was very solvent for many years, since 1908 to be exact. Funny how the Republicans discover its woes after all these years. Could it be that Mrs. Cantor wants to shift the burden of payment off the state and and the localities? Isn’t that the Republican way? Maybe the state should keep paying and the employee chip in a little more. That would should good faith. I sure don’t want to hear the Republicans chest thumping about how much money they saved the state in a few years.

A little Senate non-binding resolution–Shared Sacrifice?

MoonHowler

  A BILL

To express the sense of the Senate on shared sacrifice in resolving the budget deficit.

 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 

Section  1:  SENSE OF THE SENATE ON SHARED SACRIFICE. 

    (a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:

 

  •  
      (1) The Wall Street Journal reports that median pay for chief financial officers of S&P 500 companies increased 19 percent to $2,900,000 last year.

 

  •  
      (2) Over the past 10 years, the median family income has declined by more than $2,500.

 

  •  
      (3) Twenty percent of all income earned in the United States is earned by the top 1 percent of individuals.

 

  •  
      (4) Over the past quarter century, four-fifths of the income gains accrued to the top 1 percent of individuals.

 

    (b) Sense of the Senate- It is the sense of the Senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort.

Yea 51  Nay 49

Harry Reid needed 60 votes to pass this resolution.  He didn’t have it.  What he did get was 49 Republicans saying no to  millionaires having any sense of responsibility towards making a more meaningful contribution to help reduce the budget deficit.  Who is to say what ‘meaningful contribution’ means.  It could mean each of them paying $100 more a year towards budget reduction.  The wording was vague.  Yet all 49 of the Republican Senators voted NO. 

The vote speaks volumes and will continue to speak volumes for many years.  Republicans need to rethink their protection of the very rich.