Spoke David Drucker, Roll Call, to learn that Harry Reid has had a come to Jesus meeting with John Kerry, and they will shelve the cap and trade bill that has been hanging around like an unloved child since the New Year. The House cap and trade bill last year was a rough vote that left many Democrats broken armed and hapless, especially those in the energy states such as the Appalachia Trail. Kerry bragged and boasted and schemed, but he could not find the votes on his own side of the aisle for global wamring control. There is a slight chance there will be a modest energy bill next week. The warning is that a slight energy bill could be put together in Conference with the massive cap and trade bill from the House and then, by main force, turned into a green hybrid of hybrids in a Lame Duck. Maybe.
Anti-moratorium rally hosted by Gov. Jindal was well attended.
Energy States:
Coal: VA WV IL MT
Gas: TX AK WY OK NM LA
Oil: TX AK WY OK NM LA
Dems might as well kiss off all these states.
Environmentalists will be very angry the energy bill was dropped, it may not return for many years.
Except for WV, Il, and cherished but vain dreams about Virginia, the Dems had nothing to lose from shafting all of those states. Only the taxpayer and the economy had anything to lose from exterminating the economy base of all those states. Perhaps coincidentally (?) many of them are also being crushed by The One's self-righteous and tone-deaf moratorium. Now that the well is plugged, the moratorium is the greatest economic threat to the region.
Sorry, the following is admittedly off-topic:
I am deeply saddened tonight. A middle aged Ecuadorian man was beaten to death on Saturday night. He was sitting on a bench in a small park across the street from the Indian restaurant where he worked as a dishwasher. At around 9:30 in the evening he was approached by three youths. Two sat down beside him. One threw a white cloth over his face; a second beat him; while a third video taped the action. The attack appears to have been unprovoked.
This happened smack in the center of town where I have lived off and on for over 50 years. In all that time, I cannot remember anything like this ever happening. The victim was taken to Overlook Hospital where he died on Tuesday.
It took the police and mayor till Tuesday to release a statement. They were hoping the man wouldn’t die so the incident could be swept under the rug and forgotten. Meanwhile, the video had made the rounds on the internet long before. Citizens are understandably outraged. What had taken the mayor so long to warn residents? He claimed that an immediate statement would have compromised the investigation.
An 18-year old was arrested. A 17-year old, who is said to have inflicted the fatal blows, has also been taken into custody, though his name was not released due to his age. The camera guy was let go.
Summit is one of the wealthiest towns in the state. Property values have barely been affected by the recession. The prosperous commercial center where it happened consists primarily of banks, up-scale restaurants and hair salons. Though, since the recession started, there have been some businesses that have closed.
There is a sizable and close-knit Hispanic community here. There will be more blood. It got me to thinking that the race war the White House seems so intent on provoking will misfire. The battle is coming alright. But it will not be fought between whites and all others. Whites will know enough to steer clear.
Somebody tell the White House.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
My son's friend, 24 years old, with no criminal record (as far as I know) was accused of stealing an Ipod; the police went to his house (the accusers knew where he lived (?!)), set up surveillance outside, and when the young man came out, unarmed, shot him dead. The police are investigating the incident. This happened in an "upscale" area in Orange County. To date the family has not received an explanation or even an apology from the police.
This kind of incident is why I myself am much more afraid of the police than I am of any gangs or minorities or whatever. This is also why I'm a Libertarian and not a Republican. Republicans tend to love cops and protect them; I view cops much as I view rattlesnakes I come across on my hikes - part of nature, nothing I can do about them, just wait for them to pass and hope they strike and kill somebody else besides me.
God forbid that our ridiculously overpaid and coddled law enforcement officers should actually risk their lives when a Columbine-style massacre takes place. Instead, they follow their "training," which means that they not only for wait the killers to run out of ammo but for the last gunshot victim to bleed to death before doing anything remotely useful.
However, when it comes to Tasering little old ladies, beating the hell out of bicyclists, and gunning down unarmed suspects, America's steroid-addled cops are second to none.
When I see a police uniform these days, I freeze up inwardly, much the way an Occupation-era Frenchman must have at the sight of a German soldier strolling causally down a sunny Paris street.
Kerry looks like he's just been told he has cancer. Now he may never have the same kind of splashy legacy in government programs that Ted Kennedy achieved posthumously with Obamacare.
That is beyond obscene Peter. Premeditated murder should be treated as such. Instead our Justice system will treat it as an assault case, and throw in a "hate crime" indictment. I always find it difficult to make something criminal based upon the thoughts or words of the perpetrator.
If you hit someone and they die, you get charged with murder!
Illegals work unbelievably hard for little pay. We are all children of a common God and need to respect one another.
The respect has to begin with the person respecting our immigration laws and thus not coming here illegally in the first place. Everything after that is the poisoned fruit of the poisoned tree. If we want to do away with immigration laws, fine, I'll vote for that. If we're gonna have laws, then enforce them. Period. This will have two advantages: (i) equal distribution of justice and (ii) no regime uncertainty.