Romney Girls Put Out Hit Piece On Obama Girl

Presidential politics is nasty, but now it is spreading to the girls that adore them. Actually, it is just the new "Romney Girls" going after the already famous "Obama Girl." Will there be a response? Hmmm, do you even care?

The &%^#@* MTA!

So if you live in New York City or read/watch/listen to the news, you'll know that we had some pretty severe weather early this morning. Heavy rain and gusty winds caused a lot of damage in the area and snarled traffic across the city. I had to get up to Lincoln Center from 28th and 2nd Ave, which usually consists of a walk across town and then hopping on the 1 train to 66th St. I walked on the dry but muggy streets to 7th Ave. only to find the trains completely stopped. The next hour was a major ordeal as I tried to take the C train from Penn Station (but that wasn't running either) only to have to walk over a mile to Lincoln Center because the buses were packed and empty cabs were nowhere to be found. To put it lightly, it was a miserable commute.

Why oh why must rain shut down mass transit in the biggest city in the country? Because the MTA does not adequately pump rainwater out of the tunnels. The current system simply cannot handle a lot of rain in a short amount of time. Basically, it comes back to infrastructure. If our system (among others) was properly funded, we would not have problems like this. Europe laughs at us when it comes to things like this.

Now Governor Spitzer is ordering a review of the currently crippled system. The trains are still off as of 2pm (I tried getting on the 6 train downtown at 59th, it wasn't happening) and commuters are furious. But Governor, there is no need for a review. We know what the problems are and they should have already been taken care of. A competent federal government would have ensured that the pumping system could handle any amount of water. Electricity for trains above ground should be properly installed so that no amount of bad weather could affect them.

But no, there is no funding, all the money goes to Iraq, and to the weapons that have 'mysteriously' disappeared and found their way into the hands of insurgents that kill civilians and our troops. Our government would rather have the country languish and structurally fall part than give up any number of billions of dollars spent on the war machine.

Turning Down The Computer Screen

Saving our environment will consist of many different things. Governments must act on the macro scale to curb emissions and promote green technology when the markets refuse to do so. We as individuals must do our part as well. There are so many different actions we can take, from changing our light bulbs to fluorescents, using cloth bags for our groceries and refusing plastics, driving greener cars and now you can help by using a Google alternative called Blackle. What is that you ask and why does it make a difference?

From Gimundo:

In January, a blogger named Mark Ontkush wrote in his blog EcoIron that an all-black Google home page would save 750 megawatt-hours of electricity a year. What does that mean? We looked it up.

Turns out 750 megawatt-hours can power for an entire year:

-- 77 North American homes

-- 150 European homes

-- 268 African homes

-- 536 Asian or South American homes

-- 3,750 homes in Afghanistan

-- 6,000 televisions

-- 800 microwaves

Ontkush pointed out that an all-white Web page requires about 74 watts to display, where a black page requires only 59 watts.

In response, an Australian company called Heap Media created a Google-powered site called blackle.com. The site keeps a running total of the number of watts saved to date. At press time, that number was nearly 135 million watt-hours.

It won't make the Earth spin backwards, but like I said, every good action makes a difference. So when you need to google (which is something I do many, many times a day) remember to use Blackle and save some juice.

Rudy Shops At WalMart

This impromptu cameraman found Rudy Giuliani shopping in a WalMart the other day. The Mayor says he's a fan of the low prices (won't mention why they are so low of course) and a proponent of having more big box stores in Manhattan. He can have the one finger salute from me over that alone.

Congestion Pricing On Hold At The Fed Level Too

So Bloomberg was not telling the truth (i.e. lying) last month when he pressed Sheldon Silver and the New York State Legislature to pass his version of congestion pricing. Well Senator Silver didn't believe him and it seems there was good reason not to. Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation still have the matter on hold, and have not made a decision either way to grant p to $500 million in federal aid.

From The NYT CityRoom:

Supporters of the mayor’s congestion pricing proposal will have to wait a few more days before getting a crucial federal go-ahead on the plan. The United States Department of Transportation, which had been slated to make an announcement on Wednesday about New York’s status in a federal competition for more than $500 million in funds, now says the decision will be delayed.

“We won’t be making the announcement tomorrow,” said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the department. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

Mr. Turmail would not elaborate on a cause for the delay, but at least one source with knowledge of the situation believed that the department may be redirecting its resources to the federal response to last week’s Minnesota bridge collapse.

Helping the situation in Minneapolis is far more important than any desire for a quick solution to approving funds for congestion pricing. Of course, it still has to be taken care of eventually.

The Second City Gets It's Second Democratic Forum

Ok well tonight was a debate, but I really do not see too much difference between forums and debates. The only thing is in forums they try to make the candidates play nicer, but they are too quick for that. So YearlyKos is over but the candidates are back to debate in front of the AFL-CIO in the windy city.

This debate in particular is a good one because it focuses on the issues of working people. Job insecurity, health care and income inequality are serious concerns (in addition to the war). Our next President has a lot of work cut out for them after eight disastrous years for the American worker. George Bush has stopped at nothing to undermine regular people to help his corporate buddies. That includes the ones at the top health industry leaders. They do not care about affordable health insurance, and they do not care about people like this:

From Crooks and Liars:

If this man’s genuine passion and anguish doesn’t move you, you’re not human. Steve Skvara, a disabled, retired steel worker from Indiana tells the story of how he lost his family’s health insurance after the company he worked for, for 34 years closed two years after they forced him to retire. Skvara received a standing ovation, and rightfully so. He represents millions of hard working Americans who have lost their jobs and benefits and face the humiliation of not being able to provide for themselves or their families. Can you imagine a Republican fielding a question like this?

Download (56) | Play (63) Download (24) | Play (34)

The question was directed toward John Edwards and his answer was passionate and on the money. Edwards vowed to stand up with the American people, calling for Universal health care for all.

Funny how Edwards stands out on questions like these. I wonder how Hillary and the corporate lobbyists that pile money on her campaign feel about all of this?

YearlyKos Is No More!

Yes, sadly there will not be a third YearlyKos next year. But the good news is that there will be the first Netroots Nation at an undisclosed (or undetermined) location in 2008. Here's Gina Cooper telling us all about it this past weekend:

Kristol Could Care Less About America

America runs on top of the strength of our infrastructure. Commerce would grind to a halt without properly maintained roads (as it did last week in Minneapolis). Extreme weather would kill thousands more every year if it wasn't for electricity (and steam here in NYC) that remained on to power homes. Levees protect large cities from floods and other natural disasters (except for in Louisiana). Are you starting to catch my drift here? Thats why ridiculous comments from neo-cons like William Kristol tend to piss me off. He thinks there is no problem.

From RawStory:

Fox News political contributor Bill Kristol, appearing on the August 5 broadcast of Fox News Sunday, made comments minimizing the significance of a bridge collapse in Minnesota last week. At least five people were killed and 100 injured when the bridge collapsed Wednesday.

"I don't think this symbolizes any great failure of our infrastructure," said Kristol. "Once every twenty five years some bridge falls down unexpectedly due to engineering problems and it is unfortunate obviously but the idea that the whole country is crumbling is not, I think, credible."

The callousness is disgusting. Of course for Billy, there are more important things to spend our nation's money (and its debt) on, like illegal wars and whatnot.

Con Ed Chief Can't Be Bothered By City Council

The City Council convened today to address concerns and investigate the steam pipe explosion last month near Grand Central Terminal. One witness you would think should show up is the #1 guy at Con Edison. Those pipes are controlled by the utility giant and as the chief, Kevin Burke has a duty to testify. Mr. Burke apparently disagrees, and didn't bother showing up for the hearing.

From 1010 WINS:

NEW YORK (AP) -- City Council members criticized Con Ed's CEO Tuesday for not appearing in person to answer questions about last month's steam explosion in midtown.

Images from Steam Pipe Explosion

The Council members also blasted the company for not being able to say why the July 18 explosion near Grand Central Terminal took place.

A Council committee had invited Con Ed chief Kevin Burke to testify.

Business leaders say that money lost by nearby stores that are still closed could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Burke needs to be held accountable for the explosion, especially as midtown businesses continue to suffer with ongoing repairs. The larger infrastructure problem is bigger than Burke, thats for sure. Yet Con Ed is under his control, and he should at least have the decency to show up for New Yorkers who want to know what happened and why.

Grays Papaya Let Me Down

No it isnt' their hot dogs, god no. Nor is it their drinks. It was this sign in their window on the corner of 72nd and Broadway today (flipped on its side for comic relief purposes):



Don't they know he doesn't ride the subway quite like the rest of us?

"I Pledge Allegiance To The Kansas GOP"

Things are getting worse by the day for the Kansas Republican party. Thanks to Governor Sebelius, many moderate Republicans have bolted their party and switched over to the blue side. We aren't talking precinct captains here, this goes all the way up to the State Attorney General. The GOP also lost a Congressional House seat and in a state where there are only three districts, thats a huge loss. So if you were the chairman of all Kansas Republicans, what would you do? Make people sign a loyalty oath? Nah.....or would you?

From The Wichita Eagle:

Before taking office in January, chairman Kris Kobach promised to reorganize and reinvigorate the Kansas GOP. He and other Republicans have said GOP activists need to show unity in elections so that Democrats don't take advantage of their disagreements.

"The motive behind this is, 'Let's make sure Republicans are supporting Republicans,' " said Christian Morgan, the state GOP's executive director. "If you want to hold a party post, you should at least be supporting Republican candidates."

The state committee's actions struck a sour note for some Republicans, particularly moderates on issues such as abortion. Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist, suggested the loyalty committee could prove a "public relations disaster."

The PR disaster is just the beginning. This spectacle stinks of anti-democratic behavior. Beatty went as far as calling it communist (a big red herring for Republicans). Why is it so hard for these people to understand that in this country, citizens are allowed to vote and endorse anyone they want to. Sure, suffer political consequences for your actions, but demanding loyalty is crossing a huge line.

Of course, it isn't democracy that people like Kris Kobach care about, their only concern is power. Now that they are losing their might, they'll do whatever they think it takes to hold on to it.

A Terrible Mayor Would Make A Terrible President

Jerome Hauer knows Rudy Giuliani quite well, he served as the top anti-terrorism aide to the mayor for several years before September 11th. While Rudy keeps on running under his 'experience' during that horrific day in New York City, there are more and more reports of just how bad a mayor he was, both on September 11th and beforehand. Hauer knows what he is talking about here.

From The Telegraph:

Jerome Hauer, New York's emergency management director from 1996 to 2000, said Mr Giuliani was closely involved in locating the city's crisis control room in the World Trade Centre complex, even though it was a known terrorist target after the 1993 truck bomb attack which killed six people at the site.

The location proved disastrous in 2001 as the building was set ablaze in the collapse of the adjoining twin towers.

The condemnation by Mr Hauer, a leading US expert on biological and chemical terrorism, provides fresh ammunition to Mr Giuliani's foes, who want to undermine the widespread acclaim for his actions in the aftermath of al-Qaeda's attack on the towers. It follows similar criticism from the main firemen's union.

Giuliani came out swinging, saying that Hauer is bitter and playing politics, while asserting that it was his recommendation to place the emergency command center downtown. Too bad for Rudy that the evidence is in Hauer's favor. It is another defensive lie on the mayor's part. I'm sure he doesn't feel too bad about it, since lying and sacking people who get in his way is standard operating procedure for Rudy.