Nuke Youngstown!

No, not really. Doing that would sort of go against the whole "let's make our area a better place to live" thing we have going on here. However, I came across this site where you can enter a location and then choose a weapon of mass destruction to smack it with.

The good news is that if Cleveland Browns fans ever get their hands on a nuclear weapon the greater Mahoning Valley will remain relatively unscathed when the Steelers are finally and irrevocably dealt with.

Here's the link, have fun.

Bank Bailout Money for Sheryl Crow? Maureen Dowd Tells You All About It

Maureen Dowd has a great column today at the New York Times regarding Northern Trust of Chicago and the money they spent on a trip after taking 1.5 billion dollars in bailout funds. Hundreds of workers were laid off but the bank found a way to fly "hundreds of clients and employees to Los Angeles last week and treated them to four days of posh hotel rooms, salmon and filet mignon dinners, music concerts, a PGA golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club with Mercedes shuttle rides and Tiffany swag bags."

This is the kind of stuff that makes me shake my head in anger when CEO's go before congress and claim that bonuses and high salaries are the only way to keep the best of the best. If these are the kinds of decisions they are making I want it known that I can screw up half this much for about a third of what these guys are being paid.

Northern No Trust had a lavish dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Wednesday with a concert by Chicago (at a $100,000 fee); rented a private hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Thursday for another big dinner with a gig by Earth, Wind & Fire, and closed down the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on Saturday (at a cost of $50,000) for a dinner and serenade by Sheryl Crow.

Click here to read the rest of this sordid tale.

'A Day of Reckoning Has Arrived'- Blogging the Speech

President Obama is striking the right notes with his speech to Congress tonight. His straight talk is not dour and his optimism is tempered by the reality of the challenges facing us. I think we have been waiting a long time for a leader to tell us not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. This is the kind of straight up sit-down-at-the-kitchen-table conversation you may have with your parents when you know things are serious.

He clearly sees a role for government in repairing the economy but states we all have a role in its long term success. When he speaks about education it is plain he feels that while government can provide an opportunity for education, it is the individual's responsibility to work hard. In fact, he just said dropping out is quitting on your country. In addition, he speaks as a father when he says that responsibility for education begins at home. There is a not so subtle message here that having kids means having responsibility.

His long term ideas are good. Investment in renewable energy, cutting payments to agri-business, cutting the deficit and cutting waste. these are all good ideas but I wonder if the entrenched politicians in Washington will help or continue to be obstructionist.

He is definitely using the bully pulpit to press home the fact that when the Bush tax cuts expire next year, it won't affect you unless you make $250,000. That leaves out me and probably everyone else reading this.

And now the plan to get out of Iraq. Good. He comes across as ready to defend the country but doing it by taking the fight against al-Qaeda in a different direction. More money for veterans. Good, they deserve it.

Man, what is with this audience reaction graph MSNNC is running? It's just annoying.

We don't torture. When he says it, I believe he means it. It's like we have our ideals back now. It will be interesting to see what happens with Guantanomo Bay and the prisoners held there.

This was the president's chance to instill confidence in the nation not only with his natural optimism but by laying out his plan for recovery. Much has been made lately about his change in tone, that perhaps hope and change have given way to trepidation and doubt. Clearly, that is not the case. He has siezed this opportunity to rally us and hopefully he has been successful.

Natural Gas Rate Comparisons

I'm not sure if this applies to everyone but natural gas rates seem to be coming down. My provider just sent me a new offer because my contract was expiring. Their offer knocked $2.00 off each MCF. I did some Googling and came across Energyshop.com. You can compare natural gas providers for your area and determine whether you should switch or not. I found a rate of $8.97 per MCF with a different provider so my savings are actually $3.02 per MCF. At that rate, last month's bill (16.8 MCF's) would have been $50.74 cheaper.

This does not change your utility. If you are with Dominion East Ohio you still will be but the company selling them your gas will do so at the rate you agree to. If you get a good enough deal you may be able to turn up the thermostat from "I can see my breath" to "Don't need a fridge".

GOP Chairman Plans to Get Jiggy With One Armed Midgets

Fresh from a November butt whooping that is still stinging, Republican National Committe Chairman Michael Steele is set to modernize the GOP and get down with the young folks.

From this CNN article:

“We need messengers to really capture that region — young, Hispanic, black, across section…” he said in an interview published Thursday. “We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”

He added, jokingly, that “we need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets.”

At first glance, it appears that Chairman Steele lifted this strategy from a bad movie from the '80's, something like Breakin' 2': Electric Boogaloo or any other flick where a group must cross the culture gap in order to save the rec center, or in this case, a political party.

I think Steele is missing the most important thing in politics; that ideas come first and then come the supporters. It wasn't simple voter backlash that cost the Republicans the elections of 2006 and 2008. The public perception of them is that they cannot be trusted and this perception was well earned. Michael Steele can't just tell everyone they have a new and better idea and expect everyone to believe him

Steele described the new multi-platform PR offensive as “avant-garde, technically. It will come to [the] table with things that will surprise everyone — off the hook.” Asked whether that meant cutting-edge tactics, Steele demurred. “I don't do 'cutting-edge,’” he said. “That's what Democrats are doing. We're going beyond cutting-edge.”

Perhaps he means bleeding edge or some other buzzword that gets thrown around corporate offices. One thing is for sure, I doubt we're going to see anything from the Republican party that is "off the hook", unless it involves an admission that about a dozen things that happened over the last eight years were a mistake. Don't hold your breath.

Working During a Recession

Rush Limbaugh Needs Tech Support

So I'm driving out for lunch and I turn on the radio. Limbaugh is railing against the stimulus bill like he's expected to pay for all of it. Then he says something that I find incredible. He claims the bill was reformatted for release on the internet in .pdf format and now the document may not be searched by keyword. He further explains that this means the file is essentially a picture of a document and not a text document and that's why we can't search the bill by keyword. We can only scroll through the 1000 page monster.

What a jackass.

I got back to the office, Googled the bill and had no trouble searching it by keyword. I opened it using the most ubiquitous software on the planet, the ever present Adobe Reader. I'm using version 8 if you are keeping score. Sure enough the document could be key word searched. I would like to spout off some hi-tech solution here but all I did was enter some keywords into the box labeled "Find" and press enter. Sure enough, the expected results were found.

For our friends who are more familiar with Microsoft Word, pressing ctrl + F highlights the Find box.

Honestly, it's things like this that make me realize what tool Limbaugh really is. In his rush (excuse the pun) to slam the media and anyone who supports this legislation for not taking the time to read it thoroughly, he makes some wild claim that he didn't verify. Can you smell the hypocrisy?

This is why Democrats shouldn't worry about the Fairness Doctrine. There is a small but persistent group of liberals who want equal air time enforced by the government. They think Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh get too much air time and that if the government would only force their producers to give equal time to the left everyone would finally hear their message. I say, let them talk. They don't think clearly, they spout nonsense and their conclusions are garbage. Republicans have lost two elections in a row because people don't think they can execute their ideas. I say, let the cheerleaders shout and yell to their heart's content. Democrats have the Congress and White House. All we have to do is be successful. If we aren't, people will figure it out. After all, actions speak louder than words.

ETA: Media Matters has helpfully provided the audio of Rush's claim.

Abandoned Places

I was looking at some of the entries on Warren Ellis' website (which may be NSFW) and came across this entry for a LiveJournal group called Abandoned Places. The community posts pictures of places that time has passed by. Some of them reminded me of pictures taken around the area by our own Phil Wilson. His photos are posted here on Flickr.

There is a stark bleakness in both sets of pictures. I suppose the difference between the two is our area is attempting to clean up some of these sites while the homes, hospitals and factories on the LiveJournal site seem destined to rot into the ground. They are a stark reminder that we have to do something or suffer living with ghosts.

The photo at the top of the post is from Abandoned Places. The photo at the bottom is from Phil's Flickr stream

ETA: Reader Debra Weaver dropped me a note about Sean Posey, who has a very nice set of Youngstown pictures up at his Flickr site. Most of them are right in the theme of this post. Click here to see them.

No one as Irish as Barack OBama

Here's a bit of history. before the video...

Moneygall is a small village in County Offaly , Ireland . It has a population of approximately 300 people, has a Roman Catholic church, five shops, a post office, a national school, a police station and two pubs.

President Barack Obama's great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, emigrated from Moneygall to New York City at the age of 19 in 1850 and eventually resettled in Tipton County , Indiana . Kearney 's father had been the village shoemaker, then a wealthy skilled trade. Later, the family moved to Kansas where Barak's maternal grandparents lived before moving to Hawaii with their daughter and where Barak was born.

And now for the SONG...Crank up your speakers.

Here's a link to the site.





No one as Irish as Barack OBama


O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

You don't believe me, I hear you say
But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK
His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall
A small Irish village, well known to you all

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew
He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too
He’s in the white house, He took his chance
Now let’s see Barack do Riverdance

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

From Kerry and cork to old Donegal
Let’s hear it for Barack from old moneygall
From the lakes if Killarney to old Connemara
There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

2008 the white house is green, their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen.
The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama,
Are cheering for President Barack O’Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

The Hockey Moms gone, and so is McCain
They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,

In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama, for our Famous president Barack o Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God,
He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod
They came by bus and they came by car, to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes’s Bar

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama



By

Hardy Drew