Politicians and government officials you just have to love them. Okay you really don’t have to love them, but they do the darndest things. As I sat through a recent presentation by a transportation official who was selling a program to construct additional roads within his district. I don’t know if you have heard, but there is a lot of stimulus money for shovel-ready projects to create billions of new jobs. It should not be a surprise to have a transportation agency wanting to build more roads. That’s the left hand.
Blowback on windmills was the headline that caught my eye in the “letters” section of Pittsburgh’s Tribune Review. The letter was from Sarah Howell, the vice president, public affairs, for the American Wind Energy Association. Ms. Howell’s response to the original article titled The Windmill Sham was understandable given her position advocating windmills.
The original editorial piece was critical of the number of jobs created by government subsidies of the alternative energy industry. The author made the mistake of siting actual data from the Spanish government showing that the actual cost of each new job was around $333,333.00. Of course the response from the wind folks touted how many jobs were created because of government support/subsidy of the industry.
I was looking for a quick book to read as I took a break from Tim Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week. It is not that the book is bad, but there is so much to absorb that I wanted something mindless. The Silent Man
caught my eye as I searched the newly released paperbacks. None other than the New York Times extolled it virtues; “The Silent Man succeeds in seizing the attention from the start and never letting go.”
Departing Democrat Representative Eric Massa gave us a behind the scenes look at how the Obama White House runs its business…the Chicago way. Massa’s stories about his encounters with Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel provide detail on what ends this administration will do to achieve its goals. There were plenty of stories about Emanuels’s language, behavior and outbursts, but they were usually tinged with doubt because of the sources. Massa is a Democrat.
Perhaps the perky, Pulitzer Prize winning Katie Couric had her greatest moment when she seemed to stump Sarah Palin when she inquired about what the former Alaska governor reads. Months later Palin spun it that she was rather perturbed at Couric’s sophomoric [my description] question and not caught off balance. Only she knows for sure.
After extensive research we at GMZ have discovered what magazines celebrities read. No laws were broken by GMZ in obtaining this information:
Ralphie Parker: Growing up in Indiana, all nine-year old Ralphie wants is a “an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.” His parents, other adults and even Santa discourage him from this gift by telling him that “you’ll shoot your eye out.” Ralphie got his wish and promptly took a shot and hit himself in the glasses.
Update – March 4, 2010: Texas’ Governor Rick Perry has been one of the most outspoken national voices critical of the Washington power grabs. So what does Texas Senator K. Baily Hutchison do? She runs against him. The conservative-lite Hutchison decided that Texas no longer needed a strong voice in their Governor’s mansion.
Texas Republicans disagreed. Yeah Texas! Governor Perry trounced Senator Hutchison on Tuesday by a 52 percent to 30 percent margin. I used to have great respect for Ms. Hutchison, but I am tired of conservatives going after other conservatives while letting RHINOs alone. Hopefully another real conservative will challenge Senator Hutchison when she wants another term in the U.S. Senate.
News briefs are my collection of interesting news stories that may not warrant a full post…
Brief 1: It seems like the citizens of Japan want the U.S. out of their country. The UK Daily Mail reported that thousands of protesters called for the removal of all of the estimated 47,000 U.S. troops. Apparantly our troops are noisy and pollute as they protect the pacific rim. I say bring em home. Why spend our tax dollars to boost the Japanese economy. There are a lot of communities in the United States that would welcome them and the money they spend. We also need to take all of our equipment and defense technology too. While we are at it, we can take them out of Germany too.
Ayn Rand’s famous character from Atlas Shrugged railed against big government and a nanny state. Many of us find inspiration in his words and actions to bolster capitalism;
“I ask for nothing more or nothing less than what I earn. That is justice. I don’t force anyone to trade with me; I only trade for mutual benefit. Force is the great evil that has no place in a rational world. One may never force another human to act against his/her judgment. If you deny a man’s right to Reason, you must also deny your right to your own judgment. Yet you have allowed your world to be run by means of force, by men who claim that fear and joy are equal incentives, but that fear and force are more practical.”
I have had varied experience with unionized labor. My father belonged to the Communication Workers Union and was an adamant supporter his whole life. As I got older I wondered how he came to almost despise the company that he worked for and paid his salary. I have never been in a union, but I have been around them throughout my career. An interesting issue has been raised about the fastest growing segment of unionized labor…government workers.
