Schwarzenegger signs greenhouse gas bill

In a desperate plea to pick up moderate/liberal voters, Ah-hold joined Al Gore in his quest against global warming manbearpig (see previous posts here and here) with this horrible piece of legislation. The greenhouse gas "rollout," as political pros call it, has little or nothing to do with global warming -- it's mostly a symbolic declaration to do something many years hence -- and everything to do with Schwarzenegger's triangulating strategy that already has generated a double-digit, and widening, lead over Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. Conservatives consider the main greenhouse bill, Assembly Bill 32, to be a sop to the environmental leanings of centrist voters, albeit one with a potentially serious impact on business if, in fact, the carbon dioxide emission limits it envisions are imposed sometime in the next decade. The measure has been labeled a "job killer" by the California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, saying it "increases costs for California businesses, makes them less competitive and discourages economic growth with little or no proven environmental benefit by adopting cap on carbon emissions." And just one Republican legislator -- San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Horton -- voted for the measure, carried by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. Even if it's really only symbolic, it sends a poor message. Why sign something that would be in the end meaningless? Why make business panic in an environment that already hamstrings business statewide, that has caused more people to emigrate from California to Nevada and Arizona? The US didn't sign Kyoto because of its world economic impact, nevermind the fact that over 13 of 15 European nations who signed Kyoto couldn't live up to it. It's political posturing Arnold, and you don't need it. You're running against Angelides who among other stupid ideas, wants to raise taxes. That usually goes over really well with voters. You don't need to sign this kind of garbage...

Colorado school standoff ends with 2 dead

Unfortunately one was a student... BAILEY, Colo. — For four hours, SWAT team officers had been shouting through a classroom door, trying to communicate with the unidentified man terrorizing Platte Canyon High School. The man had a gun. He said he had a bomb. He was holding two teenage girls hostage. And he was using at least one of the girls as a human shield. The man had walked into the high school shortly before noon Monday and had swiftly taken six girls hostage. Over the next few hours, negotiators had some success defusing the crisis; the gunman had released four of the students, one by one. The gunman threatened that "something dire" would happen at 4pm and by the time the four hostages were released it was 3:30. As the minutes passes and no progress was made with the gunman, Sheriff Fred Wegener ordered in the SWAT team which rescued one hostage, but not before the gunman shot the other, and then hiself. I've heard the comparisons all morning to Columbine. This tragedy occured less than 40 miles from Columbine, at the local high school, and tragically a student died. But that's where the similarities end. This was not done by angry, outcast students but by an older man described to be at least 30 years old. Columbine was indiscriminate killing. This sicko held only a handful of girls hostage. We need to wait for more info to come out, but can we please drop the Columbine comparisons? UPDATE @ 1:50pm: More info on the shooter, Dwayne Morrison. Authorities identify the gunman as Dwayne Morrison. They said he lived in his vehicle, and that he had no known connection to the area. They also said the gunman's assault on his hostages "was sexual in nature." The final age of the sicko was 54 years old. UPDATE @ 1:52pm: Another report goes with an alternate spelling, Duane Morrison, but has this picture of the killer which certainly appears to be a mug shot. Looks like the guy had a record. UPDATE @ 1:58pm: Morrison's criminal record is reportedly "minor," nothing to indicate that he was this large a threat to the community. It does appear that he was living out of he car and had plenty of camping gear inside. Morrison was a former carpenter and had been steadily employed as such for years.

Well, I've got to share the Cake or Death nameplate again...

... but on the bright side, my good buddy Chad is back at his Cake or Death blog. He went on sebattical checked in to rehab retired was on hiatus for a while, so stop by, welcome him back, and check out the new style. Looks pretty snappy Chad.

Hot Wing Conspiracy Fantasy Football: Week 3 recap

We've made it through 3 weeks of football and Sunday was an eventful day full of football fun! Hasselback and Brunnell decided to play this week, Favre is the best 82 year old QB in the league, Simms ruptured his spleen, and Shaun Alexander has a broken foot. But more important than all that are the fantasy football scores from the weekend! So let's see who the big winners were... Gumbo - 70 Gridiron Wookies - 59 I had my concerns going into this week since my starting QB Bledsoe had the week off so I had to start Byron "I can't throw the ball" Leftwich. And despite Gumbo leaving 2 inactive players (Trent Green and Sebastian Janikowski) in his starting lineup I still lost. That hurts... MVP: Jevon Walker and Clinton Portis scored 2 TDs apiece carrying Gumbo to victory Dud: The Gumbo coaching staff... for starting 2 players with byes this week. Fmragtops' spewers - 50 Robots Eat Babies - 72 FM outscored his projected point total for the weekend, but it still wasn't enough to take down the Robots who got big points from Peyton and Houshmandzadeh. People please keep the cheese grater away from fm... for his own safety. MVP: TJ Houshmandzedah caught 2 TDs in Cincy's big win over Pittsburgh Dud: Sinorice Moss and Chris Brown put up big, fat, goose eggs for fm. Hot Wing Chump-ion - 45 bRight & Early - 78 bRight had the right guys in at the right time. Hasselback threw 5 TDs against a hapless Giant defense and Brian Westbrook ran all over San Francisco including 2 TDs. The Chumps did alright, beating they're projected point total of 35, but it wasn't enough to make this much of a game. MVP: Matt Hasselback 5 TDs. Wow. Dud: Yahoo says Mike Bell had menstrual cramps last week, so he didn't get any PT which meant zero points for the Chumps. San Jose Arrowheads - 100 I Hate Hillary - 60 The Arrowheads look like they could be the team to beat. Brett Favre is playing like a man half his age, but he's down one star RB, Shaun Alexander. Hillary Haters would have gotten wins against 10 other teams this week... They just got a bad draw. Who makes up these schedules anyway? MVP: Brett Favre destroyed Detroit with 340 yards and 3 TDs. Looks like he's found the fountain off youth or something... Dud: Fran Gore for 4reasons: He plays for San Fran, 50 yards, rushing, a fumble, and, oh yeah, he plays for San Fran. Rose Hill Red Dogs - 33 RFTR - 20 Not a whole lot of excitement in this matchup. In fact they owe the fans their money back for this one... Neither team came close to their projected point totals. The Dogs managed to pull this one out thanks to Pittsburgh's defense, and since Pitt lost I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing. MVP: Cadillac Williams got TB their 2nd TD of the game, and of the season. Dud: Big Ben Rothlisberger with a whopping -8 points. Guess that appendectomy and motorcycle accident aren't helping Ben... The Columbia Crunch - 48 webcats - 20 Another barn-burner here... I don't think either team wanted this win since between them they started 3 players with byes this week. In this one Columbia's remaining starters outperformed the Webcats remaining starters. That and he had more people actually playing this week... MVP: Keyshaun Johnson took a break from his whining to score 2 TDs. Dud: Dante Culpepper posted his 2nd negative point total of the year. The Ball Sackers - 54 Mr. Wolf Cleaning Svc - 37 The BallSacks improved to 3-0 beating Mr. Wolf's "I talk fast because I work fast. So pretty please with sugar on top, clean the f'n car" Cleaning Service. This one was just a case of Wolf's guys not showing up for the game. 4 players had zero points, and 2 players combined for 54% of Wolf scoring, one of which was the Ram's defense. MVP: Kevin Jones got himself 81 yards rushing and a TD Duds: Stallworth, Blaylock, Heiden, and Addai combined for a grand total of zero points. Ouch Tax Dodgers - 41 Hector Vex O-Trons - 70 The Dodgers got bit be the "bye" bug this week too, starting 2 guys with bye weeks and that was all the Vex-o-thons needed. Hector got solid points from most of his roster to get himself his first win of the season. MVP: Vex-o-thon rode John Kasay's golden foot to victory. 4 FGs all of which were 40+ yds. For those keeping score at home, that's 20 points. From a kicker. Dud: Plaxico Burress caught a ball, fumbled a ball, and then found himself benched the rest of the game. That's a total of -1 points. And for those interested, check out the previous recaps... Week 1 Week 2

Murrieta City Council votes in smoking ban

This is just one of those stupid things that somehow seem to get voted by City Council peons who're just trying to make themselves feel important. MURRIETA -- Lighting up in Murrieta just got a little tougher. Aiming to limit the effects of secondhand smoke in public places around town, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a new ordinance that bans smoking in restaurants' outdoor dining areas, children's play areas and schools. The ordinance also bans smoking within 15 feet of the "main entrance" of a wide range of businesses. So now restaurants who've been grasping at straws trying to salvage their smoking clientele can't have open air patios were patrons can smoke, you can't smoke at school (you couldn't smoke at schools to begin with, it's already illegal, so what's the point of this one), and now the infamous smoke break has undoubtedly been ruined since you can't smoke outside a business entrance. Just for the record, I don't smoke. An occasional cigar is nice, but I don't smoke cigarettes. I think it a disgusting habit. But what's worse is the government telling businesses how they should operate. Why can't a bar open that wants to cater to the smoking crowd? Can't we have a cigar lounge where people can light up? Shouldn't a restaurant decide whether or not it wants to allow smoking? For legal reasons all these places would probably have their workers sign releases saying that they're aware that by working here they will be exposed to smoke, etc. And besides it'd be the business that's taking the chance. Maybe a bar that allows smoking won't catch on and will fold after a couple months. That's how a free market economy works. To The Californian's credit they published this editorial as well that hammers the city for being redundant, not having the means to enforce these new laws, and just being generally ass-backwards.

It's the "Speak softly and carry a big stick" foreign policy

And to make that foriegn policy effective, you actually have to use the stick from time to time or else people forget it's there and ignore it (that's also known as the French foreign policy, but that's a different post). NEW YORK (AFP) - The United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age" after the September 11, 2001 attacks unless it supported the war on terror, President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview. Musharraf, whose support for the US-led war in Afghanistan after the attacks was instrumental in the fall of the Taliban regime, said former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage made the threat to Pakistan's head of intelligence. "The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age'," Musharraf said in the interview with the "60 Minutes" investigative news programme, according to selected excepts. "I think it was a very rude remark," Musharraf says in the interview, due to be broadcast Sunday. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation, and that's what I did." Flexing your muscles and using that big stick every so often, makes the diplomacy a more effective tool. "Help us or you're next" was an effective message in this case. Can I see why the Pakistani's feelings may have gotten hurt by the "rude" remark? Sure. Do I think Armitage should apologize? No. He was blunt and got straight to the point. After 9/11 we didn't have the time or the patience to sugar coat messages to avoid stepping on toes. It was get on board, or you're a target. Besides being blunt takes diplomatic double talk out of play. There's no hidden messages or extra meaning to be inferred. Simple and straight to the point. And guess what. It worked. Musharraf's been an ally, despite that being a largely unpopular course of action in his country.

Fantasy Football: Week 3 preview

GOP and College has taken it upon himself to give us a preview of the fantasy action this coming weekend... Gridiron Wookies vs. Gumbo Wookies are being shown to get 13 points from Ronnie Brown in Nashville this weekend, and the way the Titans have been playing that's very likely to happen. Gumbo though has 2 guys with a bye week this time, and if htat doesn't get changed, this is gonig to be a no contest match. The only hick-up I can see for Wookies is Minnesota's Defence playing against the Bears. The Bears have only allowed 7 points in 2 games, while averaging 30 per game for themselves. Look for Wookies to take this one pretty easily, 65-55. I appreciate GOP's confidence but, I'm not totally convinced... As much as I don't like Bledsoe or Dallas' defense, they've performed well, but have a bye this weekend. That means Leftwich gets the start at QB vs Indy and Minnesota has to try to reign in the Chicago offense. Neither of the prospects really appeal to me. On the plus side, Steve Smith looks to be back in action this weekend, so hopefully extra points out of my wideouts can offset my lack of confidence in my QB and defense.

Attempted suicide bomber sentenced to death in Jordan

This woman was wired to explode like any other suicide bomber and is sentenced accordingly. Yet Mohammed Atta Moussaoui [ed. wrote Atta, but meant Moussaoui. Thanks to starfox5253 for the heads up] conspired with the 9/11 terrorists, helping kill 2,996 people, and we sentence him to life in prison. Someone's going to have to explain that Moussaoui sentence to me... Sajida al-Rishawi was found guilty of conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts causing death and destruction, and illegal possession of weapons and explosives. A Jordanian military court sentenced to death an Iraqi woman who tried to carry out a suicide bombing and six other people on Thrusday for planning attadks which killed 60 people in Amman last year. Allegedly her defense was that she never intended to detonate the bomb, that she was somehow forced into this role, but the CSI Jordan team was able to determine that the trigger mechanism on the bomb had been activated, but had jammed. That's why she didn't splodey-dope.

Ahmadinejad and Chavez: The 1-2 punch of hate, death, and destruction

**updated @5:45pm with extra links and quotes** These two guys couldn't represent better everything the UN ought to stand against. Instead the UN gives them carte blanche to rant their heads off and then the delegates give them a standing ovation. It makes no sense. First, Wackypants Ahmadinejad got up there yesterday and was all puppy dogs, kitty cats, and ice cream as he discussed justice, love, and respect... Funny how he's the representative for a country that gives no rights to women, kills homosexuals, and represses the anti-government movement with an iron fist. It is in the country's laws that the stoning of women is legal. And just in case the quote below doesn't move you, try the video of women being stoned that was smuggled out of the country... Article 104 of the Law of Hodoud provides that the stones should not be so large that a person dies after being hit with two of them, nor so small as to be defined as pebbles, but must cause severe injury. This makes it clear that the purpose of stoning is to inflict grievous pain on the victim, in a process leading to his or her slow death. Read the rest of the quoted page. It outlines the dozens of offenses women can be stoned for; things like adultery, "immoral relations," or simply because she was raped. And Ahmadinejad says they should be allowed to develop their own nuclear energy because they'd never do anything bad with it like create nuclear weapons so that he could follow through with his desire to wipe Israel off the map. Right... I would also say the stoning wouldn't apply to men in general, unless of course you're gay. If you're gay you'll be executed as well, often by stoning. • November 12, 1995: Mehdi Barazandeh is condemned to death by the Supreme Court of Iran for acts of adultery and the “obscene act of sodomy.” The court’s decree is carried out by stoning. • January 24, 2002: Le Monde reported that: “Between March 2001 and December 2001, twelve men, aged between 14 and 57, have also been stoned for homosexuality and sodomy…. Sixteen men were killed by stoning between March 2000 and March 2001, and ten between March 1999 and March 2000.” • May 13, 2003: Agence France Press quoted a judiciary official as stating: “An Iranian was beheaded in public and eight others hanged for offences ranging from rape and murder to kidnapping women and girls, homosexual acts, sodomy and fornication.” A well-accepted principle of international law is that sodomy, even where criminalized, is not a crime appropriate for the death penalty. But the fear of punishment or death for gay men in Iran is so great that at least two Iranians who claimed to be gay and were denied asylum in the UK killed themselves... How tolerant of Mr. Ahmadinejad. And lastly lets not forget how open to the opinions of others Iran is. They're so open to contrary opinions that they kill the people who espouse them. Often it's student demonstrators, but lately Ahmadinejad has even called for the death of liberal university professors. He can talk all happy, happy, joy, joy as much as he wants, but he doesn't deserve to be speaking at the UN, and he certianly doesn't deserve free reign in the nuclear power realm... Hugh Hewitt also seemed to think that this was 12th Imam, end of the world type allusions in his speech. I emphatically declare that today's world more than ever before longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all, longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet. Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause. He does mention salvation and the coming savior a couple times. That certainly makes his speech that much scarier... Then we get to hear from Wackypants' new best friend Hugo Chavez fresh off their Axis of Evil Convention last week. Hugo's main point seemed to be George Bush is evil, and I'm sure that made Cindy Sheehan and the loonies from the moonbat fringe happy. The United Nations building still stinks of sulphur, after the "devil" -- President George W. Bush -- addressed the General Assembly, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the world on Wednesday. Chavez' speech to the General Assembly -- a personal attack on President Bush -- was greeted with sustained applause from the United Nations' member states. Chavez, after calling Bush a devil, said he thinks Bush needs a psychiatrist. Probably the most alarming sentence here is that his speech got sustained applause from the United Nation nitwits. But we don't exactly expect much from the UN these days, and if you need any reminders as to why, go read through Diplomad's archives about his travels. So basically the UN is a group of brainless idiots who will sit and clap at any moron that decides to get up and say something. Remind me why we fund this repulsive organization again?

Matt Damon punked by Jimmy Kimmel

Dude, I think it's freakin' hysterical, but Matt really didn't find it very amusing... I can't stay up late enough to watch Jimmy Kimmel, but if keeps up gags like this, it'd be worth it...

Bush speaks to the UN and reminds them what their job is

They've forgotten exactly what it is they were created to do, so Dubya smacks them upside the head with it. [...] The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that the "equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world." One of the authors of this document was a Lebanese diplomat named Charles Malik, who would go on to become President of this Assembly. Mr. Malik insisted that these principles apply equally to all people, of all regions, of all religions, including the men and women of the Arab world that was his home. Apparently they forgot about that whole justice thing and that the rights of the minority aren't more important than the rest of the worlds'. Dubya even gives a smack to the disinformation being blabbed by the left. [...] Today, I'd like to speak directly to the people across the broader Middle East: My country desires peace. Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. This propaganda is false, and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror. We respect Islam, but we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction. Our goal is to help you build a more tolerant and hopeful society that honors people of all faiths and promote the peace. Key words here: "Help you build." Your religion and culture has been hijacked by extremists crazies and you need to reclaim it. Fast. We'll help, but we need you to take your religion of peace back from the people who've turned it into the religion of killing people who disagree with us. And he closes strong, reminding the rest of the world that they need to pick up the pace and help preserve the freedoms we've come to cherish. [...] Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed -- it must be chosen. From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom. And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice, as well: Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East -- or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists? America has made its choice: We will stand with the moderates and reformers. Recently a courageous group of Arab and Muslim intellectuals wrote me a letter. In it, they said this: "The shore of reform is the only one on which any lights appear, even though the journey demands courage and patience and perseverance." The United Nations was created to make that journey possible. Together we must support the dreams of good and decent people who are working to transform a troubled region -- and by doing so, we will advance the high ideals on which this institution was founded. Aside from a lone statement placating the Palestinians as having to deal with "the daily humiliation of occupation", it was a good speech. Follow the link to read the transcript.

Fantasy sports recap...

So much to do so little time! Baseball playoffs are upon us and this week is the Championship. But before we preview the championship game, let's take a look at GOP and College's take on my victory from last week. Wookie Will Win - 8 bRight & Early - 1 bRight ran out of steam after "eating me" in a tie. This game was close in pitching, but not much else. Wookies dominated the hitting catagories, as usual, then sealed the game up with an average effort on the pitching side. Wookies as predicted are going to the Championship game with a full head of steam. Game MVP: Rafael Furcal - 5 runs, 4 RBI's 3 homeruns and a stolen base. Talk about clutch. Game Wash-Out: Craig Biggio - .067 batting average for the week, He was 1/15 batting the week, and that was a one run home run. He also fanned 4 times. The offense was all me, thanks mostly to a quick start last Monday from my cornerstone guys Pujols and Delgado. But I've got to give my pitching staff a hand... They battled to overcome to horrible starts, one from Smoltz who only went 2 innings and gave up 5 runs and Marquis who got shelled as well. Strong showings from Woody Williams and AJ Burnett brought that sky high ERA back down to a very respectable 3.50, which was enough to win the ERA category. That puts me in the title game against fmragtops. Should be a good matchup and as of right now, fm's jumped out to an early lead. Looks like I'll have to make a comeback to win the cup. As the regular season champ I'm favored to win but, someone forgot to tell fm that... That brings us to fantasy football and I once again managed to snare victory from the jaws of defeat. Gridiron Wookies - 60 Mr Wolf Cleaning Svc - 51 Call John butter, because he is on a ROLL. This game came down to who's players performed the best. Wookies had one goose egg, but with Wolf having 3 of them, it wasn't too hard to see who'd come out on top. Game MVP: Jag's defense - 2 sacks and 2 picks in a shut-out win over the Steelers Game Wash-Out: Tony Gonzalez - the number 2 TE last season only got seven yards versus the Broncos. Another close game but another "W" in the win column for the Wookies! As much as I don't like Dallas or Drew Bledsoe, Big D came through for me big time. Bledsoe and the Dallas defense accounted for nearly half of my points, 26 out of my 60. I do give the edge to Mr. Wolf for the best team tag line though... "I talk fast because I work fast. So pretty please with sugar on top, clean f'n the car." Ha.

Adventures of a first-time father to be... part 6

Well that settles it, she looks like me. Over the weekend, in between a high school reunion and birthday bash, we were able to squeeze in a 4D sonogram appointment. And this place is incredible. It's totally elective and caters to future parents like us, who just can't get enough of their "still cooking" babies. You purchase packages that result, in one form or another, in one or two 30 minute sitting for you and 8 of your closest friends or family. They've got the plush couch, 2 TVs, and a 100 inch projection screen so that everyone can see how damn cute your baby really is. It's a brilliant idea, which really means "why the hell didn't I think of that." Anyhoo... you get a ton of 4D sonogram pictures as well as a video of the whole sonogram. She totally looks like me... Be sure to check out some of the history behind Baby Wookie! Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

The Religion of Peace Destruction is after the Pope now

Can we really live in a world where a major religion is offended by the slightest comment and then goes on a rampage of death and destruction? Hot Air says no, and I agree. Check out the latest Vent. Now what was it the Pope could have said that was so inflammatory? "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Actually sounds like a fairly accurate description of the Islamofascists, a minority of the religion as a whole, who've taken it upon themselves to speak for their entire religion. I'd like to say the Pope was wrong, but until the 90% of Muslims who are peaceful practionners of their faith decide to step forward and reclaim their religion from the crazies, you can't. It's that simple. UPDATE @ 3:16pm: WuzzaDem brings us to Islamic Extremists' Rage-O-Meter. It currently reads normal, that is to say they're whipped into a murderous rage, just like normal... Heh. UPDATE @ 4:41pm: Cox and Forkum are getting into the act now...

I'm the #1 Yahoo result if you're looking for National Guard...

... and breast implants. How do I do it? It's a gift really... It's like I can't control it...

This is scary. An Axis of Evil convention

Since they're all in one place, one little smart bomb could really come in handy right here... President Ahmedinejad of Iran, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, rubbed shoulders with President Chávez, the Venezuelan leader who has branded President Bush a dangerous imperialist. In the background, top-ranking Syrian, North Korean and Belarussian politicians drummed up support for their regimes. Officially, this is the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, an organisation of 116 Third World nations set up during the Cold War as a counterbalance between the US and the Soviet Union. But the constant stream of America-bashing has led some to dub it the “Axis of Castro”. I guess when Fidel throws a party all the big guns come. And guess who else was in attendance... Kofi Annan, the moral pillar of the UN. If the UN wasn't a joke after the Oil for Food scandal, or levelling the playing field for terrorists, or completely missing the boat on at least a half dozen genocidal crusades over the past couple decades then they'll never be. But this is sure a great chance to get a peak at the UN's true colors.

Rest in peace Grandpa...

Just a small personal note here... My grandfather died yesterday evening. Fortunately for the family (specifically my mom), it wasn't a surprise, and he had family there with him when he passed. My grandpa had been battling esophageal cancer for a couple years, and every couple months went to the Mayo clinic for laser treatment to remove the tumors. But laser treatments weren't a permanent fix, so at the beginning of this year he decided to have his esophagus removed completely which meant moving his stomach up to the bottom of his throat. The surgery went well, but the recovery was a struggle. Acid reflux was no longer an inconvenience, it was now dangerous. It meant a several bouts with pneumonia and severe damage to the throat. He could no longer lay flat to sleep; his head had to be kept above his torso to keep his stomach acids from leaking into his throat and down into his lungs. All this while eating went from uncomfortable to painful. He lost his appetite which hampered his recovery which kept him from one of his true passions: golf. So after 7 months of recovery and depression, he decided he would stop eating. The fetching Mrs. Wookie and I made the trip one weekend at the end of August to see him shortly after he made that decision. He looked emaciated, but he was still as sharp as ever. He insisted I take his golf equipment, and I nearly refused. I kept hoping the promise of playing my first round with my grandpa might encourage him, might give him hope. He still insisted, so I said I was only borrowing his lifetime supply of golf balls and practice targets. I really did want to give them back. I didn't want to take away one of his only passions left. His wife, my grandma died maybe 12 years ago and he lived in a nice gated community on a course in Las Vegas. I hoped the thought of it might inspire him. I introduced him to his great-granddaughter, and he got to feel her growing and kicking in my wife for the first time. Sure he had a dozen other great-grandkids but they were from a slightly more aloof side of the family, and he never got to spoil them the way he spoiled me and my cousin as grandkids. When we were kids, my cousin and I would fly out to see grandma and grandpa for a week every summer. Everyday it was hot dogs for lunch and as many cookies as we wanted. Grandpa would teach us card games and we'd help him do yard work after which we'd go swimming. As I got older and went to visit grandpa as an adult, I got to know him a little better. What a fascinating life. He was in the merchant marines, was a hunter, he worked construction on the Hoover dam, was an entrepreneur, and casino pit boss. With all that, I hoped maybe he would stick around longer so I could learn a little more about his life. But recovery got to be too much and he stopped eating. I think he figure it would be relatively quick, but he was too healthy. He lasted almost 2 months without eating a thing. I didn't agree with it, still don't; figured it was depression and hoped he would snap out of it. But now at least he's at peace, playing the back nine with St. Peter, Ben Hogan, and Byron Nelson. Bye grandpa. Love you. You can have those golf balls back anytime you want.

Rosie O'Donnell makes a splash on The View

So what was it exactly the creampuff said on her new show the View? Try this on for size: "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America" Are you joking? Can she really be serious? Christians aren't out there trying to come up with creative new ways to build a better IED that will kill as many innocent civilians as possilbe. Christians didn't blow up the World Trade Center. We're fighting a islamofascist ideology that spans all of southeast Asia and is not relegated to any single country. We can't pinpoint the source of terrorism to only Iran, Iraq, or any other country, we've got to get them where ever they hide. And long ago we made the point that we would not distinguish between the terrorists and the people who fund or harbor them. That puts a lot of the Middle East in the target. Fortunately the president has realized that we can't just go balls out and invade the entire region and kill anything that moves (as satisfying as that may be) because then we'd be no better than the terrorists. Some countries can be invaded and have their despots toppled, others must be forced to change and become allies via more diplomatic means. Still, at no point are we ever targeting civilians. Are civilians caught in the cross fire? Yes, and it's tragic. But the 2996 that died on September 11th weren't caught in the middle of a fight; they were the targets. They were murdered. The terrorists do not discriminate; they simply kill. So Rosie while you're ranting about Christians, why not slam the Jews too? They were hunting down and killing any Hezbollah agent they could find, and some civilians lost their lives in the process. Nevermind that Hezbollah used innocent women and children as human shields... But hey, what do you know? Amnesty International has come out and accused Hezbollah of, wait for it now, war crimes since they *gasp* targeted innocent civilians. Who'd have thunk it? Terrorists targeting civilians... it's not like that's the first time that's happened... Ignore for the moment that this levels the playing field, boosting a terrorist orgainiztion to the same level as a country. AI has said terrorists are bad. I had to read the story twice to make sure I wasn't hallucinating... So Rosie, why don't you go back to your daytime fluff show and pine some more about Tom "I've locked myself in the closet" Cruise and leave the politics to people with half a brain.

Senate looks to vote to "legalize" Terrorist Surveillance Program

Of course it's already legal, but still, I like it... put a bill critical to our national security in front of the Democrats up for reelection and see what happens. WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans blocked Democratic attempts to rein in President Bush's domestic wiretapping program today, endorsing a White House-supported bill that would give the controversial surveillance legal status. [...] The developments come amid a sustained White House campaign to persuade Congress to give the administration broad authority to monitor, interrogate and prosecute terrorism suspects. The administration is up against an election season in which Republicans are struggling to keep its majority with approval from a war-weary electorate. The LATimes of course takes the negative spin and says Republicans up for reelection won't support a bill that's got Bush's stamp of approval on it. Poppycock. Every poll and survey taken shows Americans overwhelmingly in favor of the NSA wiretaps because, duh, they're spying on suspected terrorists not soccer moms. And so far the bill's made it through to this point without being ammended. Republicans have managed to shoot down all the Democrats proposed ammendments; that really sounds like a party afraid of Bush's stamp on anything...

All things fantasy...

This is one of the best times of the year. Not only is baseball coming down the home stretch, but football is just getting going. What's that mean? It means fantasy sports a plenty. It's enough to waste almost an entire day of work. How awesome is that? As for as the Hot Wing Conspiracy Baseball playoffs, I had a bye last week since I was in first place, so how about a preview of the 2nd round matchup for me this week. bRight & Early took on Baghdad Bombers and the Bombers are pissed. They led going into the final day and bRight pulled out some killer pitching, tied the score up, and won based on regular season matchups. Wow. So I'm facing the #5 team, bRight, and it's looking good so far. I opened an early lead (up 7-4), pounding him with Albert Pujols and Carlos Delgado. I just hope my pitching can keep up with his. And now let me introduce you to fantasy football! We've got the Hot Wing Conspiracy league going for football as well. Here's how our league breaks down. Offense QB - Passing Yards (50 yards per point; 2 points at 300 yards) Passing Touchdowns (6)Interceptions (-2)Sacks (-2) RB - Rushing Yards (20 yards per point; 2 points at 150 yards) Rushing Touchdowns (6) WR - Reception Yards (20 yards per point; 2 points at 150 yards) Reception Touchdowns (6) Other - Return Touchdowns (6) 2-Point Conversions (2) Fumbles Lost (-2) Offensive Fumble Return TD (6) Kicking Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3)Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3)Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3)Field Goals 40-49 Yards (4)Field Goals 50+ Yards (5)Point After Attempt Made Defense (1)Sack (1)Interception (2)Fumble Recovery (2)Touchdown (6)Safety (2)Block Kick (2)Points Allowed 0 points (10)Points Allowed 1-6 points (7)Points Allowed 7-13 points (4)Points Allowed 14-20 points (1)Points Allowed 21-27 points (0)Points Allowed 28-34 points (-1)Points Allowed 35+ points (-4) It's not quite the straight stats like baseball, but it's close. Then you add up your stats, and if it's more than the opponent you're matched up against, you get the win. Having done so well in baseball, I was hoping some of that would rub off on my football team, but after the draft, I thought I was a dead man walking. The 2 quarterbacks that I got were Drew Bledsoe and Byron Leftwich. Ugh. QBs are big point guys and I'm not a fan of either of those QBs. Beldsoe might as well be a statue... he's gonna get sacked at least 3 times a game and those are negative points. The running back situation looked a bit better, Ronnie Brown in Miami and Jamal Lewis. Brown's projected to do well as the #1 RB in Miami since Rickie "I love the ganja" Williams is gone but Lewis is thought to be perhaps a bit over the hill, so we'll have to see. The wide receivers were my bright spot. Steve Smith, Darrel Jackson, Eric Moulds and Nate Burleson are excellent to solid week in week out performers. Smith's hurt at the moment, but should be back soon. I got a steal in the TE department. I got Ben Watson in the draft, but found Kellen Winslow on waivers. Awesome! My kicker is Jason Elam. Kicking in Denver has got to be the best job in pro football. Finally my defenses are Dallas or Minnesota neither of which is really good. Dallas will get the start, but only on a week to week basis. That being said I didn't expect much from my team this week, and I got pleasantly surprised. GOP and the City has week 1's recap... Gridiron Wookies - 51 webcats - 38 Al Michaels asked the Magic 8-ball to see if The Wookies will dominate football, as they have done in Baseball. All signs point to yes. MVP - Ronnie Brown (RB - MIA) 14 points (2 TDs) Goat - Daunte Culpepper -5 points (49.6 passer rating, 2 INTs) Brown actually saved my ass because even though Bledsoe threw for nearly 250 yards and 1 TD, he was picked off 3 time and sacked twice. What's that in fantasy points? A big fat zilch. I told you Bledsoe was no good. And as it turns out Leftwich did pretty well, but was on the bench... And for those interested in a preview for next week, we go to GOP and College... Gridiron Wookies v Mr Wolf Cleaning Svc Wookies will face their first football challenge this week, as they face the streaking Wolf. Eli is predicted to get all of 3 points for Wolf, but when they said that many last week, he came back with 12 points. Vegas shows Wolf losing, but I think Vegas is crazy. Wolf wins this one 55-50. Wolf cleaned up in week 1, so I've got my work cut out for me this week.

Crude oil at lowest price in over a year

Oil's below $64 a barrel, the stock market's within 225 points of it's all time high and unemployment is still waaaay low at 4.7%. Pretty damn good economy, huh? Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks had their biggest advance in a month, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average within 225 points of its all-time high, as revenue at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. set a Wall Street record and retailers rallied on a plunge in oil prices. Best Buy Co., the biggest U.S. electronics merchant, surged 9.2 percent, the best gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, after its profit beat analysts' forecasts. Goldman Sachs, the second-largest U.S. securities firm by market value, rose the most in six months after saying earnings topped estimates. Oil's seventh day of declines, the longest streak since October 2003, bolstered the market. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, had its biggest gain in six weeks as investors bet that lower gasoline prices will aid car sales. Oil finished at $63.76 and for the first time in I don't even know how long, all three grades of gas are now pricing under $3.00. Damn...

Jeffrey M. Dingle, killed Sept. 11th, 2001

Project 2,996 Jeffrey M. Dingle, age 32. Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of New York, N.Y. (USA). I didn't know anyone killed on September 11th, and I know that for whatever reason, that is a blessing that I am still grateful for. So while I don't have the personal connection with Jeffrey Dingle, that doesn't make his death any less tragic. As I researched Jeffrey's life, I saw nothing but love and respect for the man in comments left for his family on bulletin boards around the internet. Jeff went to West Hempstead High School, and after graduation Jeff went to Villanova. He joined a fraternity, and according to commenters Jeff was a scholar and an athlete. He finished his education there in 1990. He was working on the 106th floor (of which building I'm not sure) for Encompys that Tuesday, a networking solutions company. His cousin has a memorial for Jeff at Van Courtland Park Golf Course in the Bronx. He was married and had two children. Those are the nuts and bolts about Jeff, but it doesn't tell you about the kind of guy he was. But this anecdote was left on of the BBS memorial sites, and I think it's more illuminating about the type of person Jeff was. I went to HS with Jeff and shared many classes and he helped me with many issues both scholastic and personal. Jeff made my little league career. The only year I got a trophy was the year I played on the team with Jeff. He helped a kid that couldn't play baseball (.125 batting average) enjoy one moment in the sun. With 2 outs and me at the plate as the bats got packed Jeff had faith in me to get on base with the best pitcher on the mound. With tears in my eyes I swung when Jeff said so from behind the backstop... I remember the first two strikes brought a lump to my throat that was the size of TX. Jeff's look gave me the confidence to step back in the batter's box and swing away. I recall the moment like it happen yesterday, Steve DiMarco threw HEAT all I had to do was get a bat on it and we did. Jeff barked his order and the ball went sailing into left center field to the surpise of everyone including me. The bats were unpacked and the top of the order came up to save the game and secure our trophy. I still carry that trophy and tell the story of how the faith of one person can influnce you forever. As I conduct initial entry training in the US Army I am inspired to higher levels through Jeff's example... I will always remember and never let others forget. SFC Jimenez-Uribe US Army Reserve It sounds like the world lost a truly wonderful person in Jeffrey Dingle. The kind a person that made others around him better... We will not forget...

Bush admits CIA secret prisons

Why admit the existence of these prisons now? Is he diffusing another New York Times exposé? President Bush on Wednesday acknowledged previously secret CIA prisons around the world and said 14 high-value terrorism suspects - including the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks - have been transferred from the system to Guantanamo Bay for trials. He said a small number of detainees have been kept in CIA custody including people responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 in Yemen and the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in addition to the 2001 attacks. Send the bad guys to Gitmo, that should be OK, but by admitting the procedures we use to keep this country secure you open yourself up to these kinds of comments from the lunatic left. [...] The announcement from Bush was the first time the administration had acknowledged the existence of CIA prisons, which have been a source of friction between Washington and some allies in Europe. The administration has come under criticism for its treatment of terrorism detainees. European Union lawmakers said the CIA was conducting clandestine flights in Europe to take terror suspects to countries where they could face torture. "Today the administration finally recognized that the protections of the Geneva Convention should be applied to prisoners in order to restore our moral authority and best protect American troops," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "Today's shift in policy follows the sad legacy of five years during which this administration abused our Constitution, violated our laws and most importantly failed to make America safe." Now some will argue that letting the moonbats like Kerry, Murtha, and Pelosi in front of the microphones is rarely ever a bad thing. There's truth to that. They continue to expose themselves as weak on the GWOT. They'd bow to foreign pressures and place international treaties ahead of the national security. Most Americans will hopefully see that, recognize the weasel that's speaking, and vote against them. But at what point does the flood of negative information drown any positive messaage. Just look at Kerry's message above. Nevermind that terrorists aren't protected by the Geneva Convention. It makes for a nice sound bit though, and puts psueddo-egg on the face of the Republicans. Nevermind that the NSA wiretapping/terrorist surveillance program was an huge asset in the GWOT. The Democrats made students and soccer moms across the nation paranoid that their cell phone calls about dinner plans and study groups were being recorded. So Dubya, why are the laundry now? How is any of this a new story anyway? The WaPo tried to break this story back in December, shortly after the NYT exposed to TSP. This does nothing but continue to weaken our national security. Defending the prison program, the president said the questioning of these detainees has provided critical intelligence information about terrorist activities that has enabled officials to prevent attacks, including with airplanes, within the United States. Other attacks thwarted through intelligence gathered in the program include a planned strike with an explosives-laden water tanker on U.S. Marines at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, an attack with car and motorcycle bombs on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, and a plot to fly passenger planes into London's Heathrow Airport or Canary Wharf, Bush said. Bush would not detail interrogation techniques used through the program, saying only that they are tough but do not constitute torture. He did use language that suggested its nature, saying the CIA turned to an "alternative set of procedures" that were successful after Zubaydah and others had stopped providing information. "This program has helped us to take potential mass murderers off the streets before they have a chance to kill," the president said. I'm glad you're out there trying to drum up support for the GWOT and all its fronts, so I'll say hopefully this diffuses any media explosion that may have occurred if you had not brought the situation to light. Hey, at least you know the government's trying to do it job and protest us.

House, Season 3!! And he looks funny when he runs...

What? He does... Everyone's got their own gait when they run, but he looked like he was having arm spasms when he moved... But if I needed a cane for umpteen years, I might look kinda funny running too... I'm just glad House is back on, and like we did with 24, there's the Blogs for House site up and it's up and running too... It was another good episode. House lays hands on the paralyzed and makes them walk, Wilson and Cutty lie to him about it and he feels like crap. Go figure. So now House is gonna start popping pills again, right before he gets next week's patient who's been abducted by aliens. Should make for great TV. I also happened to catch Inside the Actor's Studio last night with Hugh Laurie as the guest, and man is that dude talented. Worked comedic skethces with Rowan Atkinson, plays the piano, and is just an all around cool guy.

Pakistan vows to help Afghanistan combat the Taliban

Pakistan has the potential to be a hugely important ally here since they've been a bit of a waffler in the past. Hopefully they can keep up their end of this deal. KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan, criticized by some Afghan leaders over cross-border infiltration by the Taliban, vowed on Wednesday to help its neighbor fight terrorism as Afghanistan battles its worst violence in five years. After lengthy talks with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he was committed to crushing the Taliban, their al Qaeda allies and "Talibanisation," a reference to the spread of hardline Islam. [...] The use of Pakistani territory by the Taliban, other militant groups and criminals has soured relations between the two countries. Rebels and criminals can freely cross the rugged mountainous frontier, barely controlled in parts. Musharraf professes to be an ally in the GWOT, but he's not the most popular guy in a country with plenty of anti-American sentiment. That makes it tough to crack down on terrorists in your country. Oh wait they're not terrorists, they're "militant groups." Right. And one of those militant groups, supposedly hiding in the area is a small little group... maybe you've heard of them... al Qaeda.

Ahmadinejad wants to kill all liberal university professors as well as all Jews

Of course a "liberal university professor" in Iran would probably be so conservative as to not exist on a US college campus. TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president urged students Tuesday to push for a purge of liberal and secular university teachers, another sign of his determination to strengthen Islamic fundamentalism in the country. [...]Iran still has strong moderate factions, and since taking office a year ago Ahmadinejad has moved to replace pragmatic veterans in the government and diplomatic corps with former military commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners. His administration also has launched crackdowns on independent journalists, Web sites and bloggers. Speaking to a group of students Tuesday, Ahmadinejad called on them to pressure his administration to keep driving out moderate instructors, a process that began earlier this year. Dozens of liberal university professors and teachers were sent into retirement this year after Ahmadinejad's administration, sparking strong protests from students, named the first cleric to head Tehran University. The country's oldest institution of higher education remains home to dozens more professors and instructors who outspokenly oppose policies that restrict freedom of expression. "Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with students. For all the moonbats who think Dubya is the second coming of Hitler, I think we ought to send them to live in Iran for a couple months. Then maybe they'll understand what true oppression and censorship is...

Fantasy Baseball Playoffs!

It was a mediocre performance last week, but it was enough to cement my spot in first place as well as a bye for the first round of the playoffs. GOP and College has the round up as well as a playoff preview. Baghdad Bombers - 6 Wookies Will Win - 6 I cna't believe I tied this one. After the wookies had a 10-1-1 routing of The Man's Robots, I was sure that I was going to be slammed like a bad wrestler. But the Bombers pitching staff held their ground and took 5 of the 6 pitching stats, and offensive K's to tie the ball game up at 6. I am going into the playoffs in the 4th seed, but like I said more on that later Game MVP: Albert Pujols - 3 Home Runs IN ONE GAME...nuff said. Game Wash-Out: Chone Figgins - This boy's hit a huge slump. After being the Base Bandit, he hasn't taken a base in weeks and batted an aweful .048 with 6 K's. If only my pitching staff hadn't gone into nuclear meltdown... My pitcher with the lowest ERA was Tim Hudson with a 6.75 ERA for the week. That's not gonna cut the mustard, so thank God I get a bye this week. Hopefully these guys figure out what the hell's wrong and get it back in gear. Fortunately the offense is still in pummel-the-crap-out-of-the-opponent mode... So the final standings ended like this... The Cardinals and I get the 1st round byes. I get the winner of the bRight & Early and Baghdad Bombers matchup, while the Cards get the winner of the fmragtops and Robots Eat Babies game. Let's get it on!

Adventures of a first-time homeowner, pt. 7

Well, this weekend was the one weekend that we didn't have any plans. Since the first weekend of August and until the end of September we're gone every weekend. Literally every weekend, we've got somewhere to be... weddings, birthdays, bachelor parties, reunions, etc... This summer's been crazy. So what'd we do with our one free weekend? House projects. The first thing on the agenda was a major trip to Lowes. $600 in supplies so we could tile the two bathrooms upstairs. We got two different types of tiles, wonderboard, mortar, two different colored grouts, spacers, trowel, wax rings for the toilets, a new ceiling fan (master bedroom's fan broke), and remote control for the ceiling fan. Now for those of you who've read previous installments of this series, you'll note that I'm not handy. That being said I'm sure many of you are now snickering at the thought of me trying to pull off this project. Fortunately, my brother-in-law is well versed in this arena and he actually did most of the hard work. I got to clean up after he'd laid the tile and grouted it. I'll be sealing it tonight. We were hoping to get both bathrooms done, but just the guest bath took forever, so when the fetching Mrs. Wookie and I leaving for the weekend (our 3rd wedding of the summer, this one is back in Rhode Island) her brother said he'd do the master bath while we're gone. That was project one, and while he was doing most of the work there, the fetching Mrs. Wookie and I sanded down the cabinets in the master bath and repainted those. We used a watered down white and left it with an unfinished, antique look. Very nice if I do say so myself. Project three was clena the garage. To be honest, we've still got boxes from the move that we never unpacked. Our garage actually has a lot of storage space and we weren't using any of it, so it was me and a broom, killing spiders and organizing the garage. I got half of that done, but that half of the garage looks fabulous... And we didn't even get to hanging the new ceiling fan... We did make a trip to Home Depot as well where we picked up paint for the baby's room, then went next door to Best Buy and got a video camera to document the baby Wookie (got a sweet little Sony hard drive camcorder) , then went to the mattress store where the fetching Mrs. Wookie got such a killer deal for a twin mattress to put in baby Wookie's room that the store thought she was a secret shopper. And on top of that we had a good friend of mine and his fiancee come and spend the Saturday with us. Didn't do anything special, went to dinner, watched Carlos Mencia's stand up special on Comedy Central, went to the driving range the next morning.... Overall a productive weekend...

British arrest 16 men in anti-terror raids

And in a new twist, while they were eating at a Chinese restaurant. Not sure what the relevance to that is, but we'll go with it. LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Saturday they had arrested 16 men in two separate anti-terrorism operations just three weeks after uncovering a suspected plot to bring down U.S.-bound airliners over the Atlantic. Fourteen of the men were held in London in an operation that a police source said focused on suspected "training, recruitment and encouraging others to take part in terrorist activity." Anti-terrorist police in Manchester arrested two men early on Saturday and were carrying out three searches but this was not linked to the London arrests, police there said. The BBC said 12 of the London arrests were made at or near a Chinese restaurant in south London that police in riot gear raided on Friday night, questioning diners for hours and taking some away in handcuffs. The BBC said the probe may be linked to alleged "training camps" in Britain, saying there had been reports of militants getting together for adventure training as a means to develop closer ties. What's with the Chinese food thing? More importantly, however, this was not necessarily in connection to the attempted plot to bomb several airliners a few weeks back. What is a scary thought is the theory that militants terrorists are getting together for training type exercises in Western countries. I would think the likelihood of this type of training would be more prevalent in the US, simply because we've got more room, from a geographic view, than Britain. Who's to say what's going on up in the Sierras, Rockies, deserts, or other extreme corners of our country... I saw HotAir post on this a while ago. His sixth sense/all seeing eye must have alerted him that evildoers were being brought to justice. One last tidbit... British authorities also mentioned that not even an hour into custody the suspects demanded that they be taken back to the restaurant for a few more egg rolls complaining that they'd not gotten their fill...

Late night insomniac posting, humor division

I briefly heard Hugh Hewitt question Christopher Hitchens on this the other day, and whether or not he regretted giving Bill Maher's audience the finger. Hitchens of course had no regrets at all, but I came in late and didn't hear what all the fuss was about. Well the guys at The MoxArgon Group have the video and a brief tutorial for the dimwits in Maher's audience. Enjoy...

Schwarzenegger to sign most restrictive CO2 emmisions bill in nation

***Updated and Bumped*** Scroll down for updates. Last week I gave Arnie a thumbs up for his solar power initiative that makes new home manufacturers offer the panels as an option on new construction, but this bill could be disasterous for the California economy. ... Although the deal in California is strongly opposed by Republicans in the Legislature and many business leaders across the state, it ensured that a bill on the restrictions would be passed before the legislative session ended Thursday and would be signed by Schwarzenegger, the leaders said Wednesday. The first major controls are scheduled to begin in 2012, with the aim of reducing the emissions to their level of 1990. The legislation allows for incentives to businesses to help reach the goals, but opponents warn that the state may be sacrificing its economic interests for a quixotic goal. "If our manufacturers leave, whether for North Carolina or China, and they take their greenhouse gases with them, we might not have solved the problem but exacerbated it instead," said Allan Zaremberg, president of the state Chamber of Commerce, which led opposition to the measure. I can't help but agree with that. I was a big fan of Arnold because when he led the recall of Gray Davis, one of his platforms was bringing business back to California. This won't help that. And if business leaves California, some will stay in the US, but how much will go to the cheaper labor, better tax codes, and less restrictive environmental codes? Whether that's Arizona, Nevada, Mexico, or China it's not California. I guess we don't value our economy that is ranked 10th in the world... UPDATE @ 3:59pm on 9/1: An interesting article from the utility companies' perspectives. PG&E reversed its position on the bill after a revision was added that would allow for suspension of the law should the economy be "significantly hurt" by the reduction in emissions. The article also points out that PG&E is less likely to be as greatly affected by the bill due to the fact that they don't rely on coal for energy production. The major utilities will be the most affected because of their reliance on coal-fired power whereas smaller, independent producers rely more on natural gas and some renewable resources.

Crude oil and gas prices drop as chicken little, the sky is falling, hurricane/global warming disaster speculation is downgraded

Basically that post title means that the world record in hurricanes we were supposed to have this season isn't projected to be quite as bad as Al Gore said it would. I guess that means he'll have to go back to his quest to destroy manbearpig... Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell to a two-month low on speculation a less-active hurricane season and a drop in U.S. demand will cause inventories to jump. Gasoline use usually dips after the Labor Day holiday. Supplies of crude oil, gasoline, diesel and heating oil are above the five-year average. Colorado State University forecasters cut the number of hurricanes they expect to form in the Atlantic this year to five from seven. A year ago prices rose to a record when Hurricane Katrina shut rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. [...] U.S. crude oil supplies rose 2.48 million barrels to 332.8 million last week, according to a U.S. Energy Department report released Aug. 30. The gain left inventories 12 percent above the five-year average for the week, the department said. Gasoline stockpiles rose 367,000 barrels to 206.2 million, the report showed. Gas prices out here fell under $3.00 this week for the first time in a long time, and all because the global warming freaks scared the pants off of skittish investors... Now we've got to hope the Iran doesn't do anything stupid or prices will go right back up to where they were...