Nosey Online

Just lovely.

WASHINGTON - Frustrated by Democrats and even a few Republicans, President Bush on Monday circumvented the Senate and appointed embattled nominee John Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations.

“He is the right man for the job,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform.”

We're at war? I thought it was just a struggle. Don't you just love the fact that he had to do an "end-run" around a chamber of Congress that his party controls? Jeebus.

Via, George Nemeth, we have Bridget Ginley at erie.effusion. This is a must see for those who don't go downtown and have no opinion on the state of our local water source.

right outside the FLATS OXBOW ASSOCIATION - can you believe anyone stares at this on a daily basis whose job is it to attract biz to this area ? what a selling point ! stinking garbage !

Well put Bridget. It's a wonder why even Shooters is still doing so well, given the fact that the deck is right next to the stinking garbage. Then again, the drunk floozies and frat boys probably don't care.

It finally comes to Cleveland.

The Gund is about to become The Q.

Cavaliers fans will head to Quicken Loans Arena - or "The Q," for short - when the NBA season tips off this fall.

Quicken Loans, the nation's top online mortgage lender, bought naming rights to the downtown building - now called Gund Arena - for an undisclosed amount, a team spokesman confirmed Monday. [...]

The logo is expected to emphasize the letter Q, so the nickname "The Q" can catch on - like "The Jake" for Jacobs Field.

David Fitz, spokesman for Mayor Jane Campbell, said the design "needs some work." But he would not elaborate.

When Gilbert bought the team in January, he said: "We're not going to [rename] the arena something ridiculous. It's going to be classy and make sense."

Hey Steve, what are you doing tonight?

Well Dave, I'm going to catch the Cavs down at The Q.

How is this classy? Does it make sense? What a stupid name. Ugh.

Today and tomorrow. I have a paper to finish writing.

Today's the day. The last four weeks have seen an explosion of interest in this race, mostly thanks to the blogs. Paul Hackett is attempting to overcome the odds, destroy the DC conventional wisdom, and drive that first nail into the Buckeye GOP coffin. For those of you interested in updates, visit Swing State Project and Grow Ohio.

With this contest, one thing is clear; the netroots truly can have an impact. To be sure, the district would never get this kind of attention in a general election. But here we are, giving the Buckeye and national GOP heartburn.

As excited as I am about the possibility of sending a Democrat to Congress from the reddest of red districts, I don't think it's going to end up in a win tomorrow morning. I think there's a 10-20% chance of Hackett pulling it out. It's a 60-70% shot that Schmidt will win by 10 points or less. That final probability of ~10% represents Schimdt winning by a huge margin. If that happens, then there truly is something wrong with Ohio Republicans. They will believe whatever talking point is served up and/or ignore their better instincts just to keep the GOP in control.

Mind you, I don't think this election is an end all be all indication of the 2006 season, but if it breaks towards Schmidt by a large margin, then it'll be time to refocus again. Which sucks.

So here's wishing Paul Hackett the best of luck. You'd be a great representation of Ohio Democrats.

What Jerome says.

I know there are calls for Hackett to run for the OH 2nd again. He got 48% in a CD where Bush got 64% against Kerry. I would rather he run for statewide office in Ohio. Hackett built a movement in the 2nd CD. He can build a movement in Ohio. Neither of the current Democratic candidates for Governor that are running, Coleman or Strickland, are all that exciting for Ohioans.

I know Hackett has said that he would go back to Iraq, but the battle for Ohio has been engaged. He needs to stay at home and finish the job. Hackett should run for Governor of Ohio. Or, if Sherrod Brown decides not to run, Hackett should run for the US Senate seat against DeWine. Either way, Hackett's calling in 2006 is to run statewide in Ohio.

A 4% win for Republicans in the reddest of red districts spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. I'll say Hackett for Senate 2006.

I'll be out of town until Sunday night. Have a good weekend ya'll.

Yes, Sean is still here. Last weekend, my friends and a few of my closest guy family members threw me a bachelor party in Las Vegas. I did nothing that would make Christine ashamed. Although I did stay up all night Friday and didn't get to sleep until 8 AM. Anywho, it was a blast. Thanks to my friends and family for putting together such a fun time.

I am, however, coming down with a cold. So I won't be back until at least tomorrow. So much has happened in the last few days. One thing I have to acknowledge is the passing of Peter Jennings. Everyone has their favorite newsman, and Jennings was mine. So goodbye Peter, and thanks for everything.

Why do I get the feeling that this will be just a flood of instant cash for tech companies specializing in the Y2K7DST problem?

When eBay's clocks failed to jump forward an hour in 2001 to reflect daylight-saving time, the timing on auctions ran into snags, prompting some head-scratching from sellers and bidders.

At the time, eBay blamed the glitch on a bug in Microsoft's Visual C++ code. Microsoft had released a fix.

On Monday, President Bush signed a sweeping energy bill that will lengthen daylight-saving time by four weeks starting in 2007--raising the possibility of a smaller-scale repeat of Y2K-like problems.

For most computer users, the effect would likely be an inconvenience at worst: Their computers will be updated with new software by then, or configured to connect to network time servers that will know the correct time. But because not everyone's computer is networked or updated, some glitches could occur--especially in consumer electronics devices that aren't designed to be reprogrammed. [...]

More complex networks of computers, such as systems that run power plants or financial institutions, would likely have to undertake more intense reprogramming, which could prove costly, said Robert Cresanti, vice president for policy for the Business Software Alliance.

"Those systems are generally nonstandard and so they're unique to that institution," said Cresanti, a staff member on the Senate special committee on the Y2K rollover. "I think there'd probably be some more work that needs to be done there."

Well, since the US uses 20 million barrels of oil in one day, 100,000 adds up to small potatoes. Arizona and Hawaii get along just fine without observing DST. It's about time we look at scrapping DST altogether. Lost productivity due to the change is enough to warrant an inquiry.

Things are going to get worse before they get better. That is, if they ever get better.

Washington - Anticipating a new burst of insurgent violence, the Pentagon plans to expand the U.S. force in Iraq to improve security for a planned October referendum and a December election.

Although much public attention has been focused recently on the prospect of reducing U.S. forces next spring and summer, defense officials expect that troop levels will first have to be increased.

Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, noted Monday that troop levels were raised in January during Iraq's first elections and returned to the current level of about 138,000 several weeks later.

No end in sight.

Ken Blackwell figures it out.

Columbus - Ohioans will not vote this fall on a constitutional amendment that would have capped the spending of state and local governments.

The sudden decision by an anti-tax group spearheaded by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell will allow embattled Republicans to pour more resources into challenging another ballot initiative aimed at dismantling political and elections rules that critics say have contributed to pay-to-play politics in Ohio.

Blackwell's Citizens for Tax Reform announced Monday that it will delay for a year the so-called TEL, or tax expenditure limitation, amendment to coincide with Blackwell's 2006 run for governor.

The group was on track to file 515,000 signatures Wednesday to get it on November's ballot.

"After consultation with legislative leadership, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett and TEL supporters, the committee decided this issue deserves the widest possible exposure and debate," Blackwell said in a statement issued while he was away on vacation.

Don't believe this for a second. If they were so close to filing the signatures, why would they stop now? This is an unpopular issue with Ohioans. In a state where education costs are skyrocketing and tax receipts are falling, capping spending by state and local governments would require even more cuts in services. This is not going to fly with most people in the Buckeye state.

The Ohio GOP isn't popular right now, and this initiative is seen as a Republican issue. Blackwell may or may not bring it back next year, but I highly doubt it. Coingate and the BWC fiasco will last well into 2006. Plus Bob Taft is the least liked governor in the union. With so many strikes against them, the Buckeye Republicans would be wise not to try any radical approaches.

I wonder if this will ever be a treatable condidtion.

MIDLAND, Tex., Aug. 8 - Tens of thousands of fans of all ages gathered over the weekend for the annual three-day Rock the Desert Christian music festival screamed for hit bands like Mercy Me and Pillar and kicked Hacky Sacks by a creek renamed the Jordan River and a small pond called the Dead Sea.

Between the Prayer Tent and an abstinence-promotion booth, however, worshipful revelers also stumbled into a more sobering pavilion, the North Korea Genocide Exhibit. [...]

The displays were part of a growing movement by conservative Christian groups to press the White House on human rights in North Korea, much the way they drew attention to the civil war in Sudan and kept pressure on Mr. Bush after his first days in office.

Many of the speakers and exhibitions will travel to churches, campuses and events in the United States and Europe.

"God has picked us to be their voice," Deborah Fikes, executive director of the Midland Ministerial Alliance and the main organizer of the Korean display, told a cluster of children gawking at the gas chamber figures. "Christ commands us to be their voice." [...]

"God has put a man in office who has a heart for the nations, and for the pain and suffering that is happening all over the world," Ms. Younger said near a "sponsor's tent" as she recalled a talk with Mr. Bush about Mr. Kang's book when she visited the White House early last month.

Because the president's "hands are tied" at times, she added, "we are his arms reaching out to the nations."

Onward Christian soldier. Talk about selective compassion. I guess the 1,800+ dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq were picked by God to be Bush's arms as well.

What a truly repugnant idea.

The British government is preparing to test new high-tech license plates containing microchips capable of transmitting unique vehicle identification numbers and other data to readers more than 300 feet away.

Officials in the United States say they'll be closely watching the British trial as they contemplate initiating their own tests of the plates, which incorporate radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags to make vehicles electronically trackable.

This is one of those things that would make privacy such a good Democratic issue. Would any resonable moderate Republican support further tramplings of privacy? I don't care what they say, 9/11 only changed everything to a certain degree.

There's a line in the sand and Democrats need to highlight it.

When I read stuff like this, I don't know whether to pull my hair out or cut myself (of course I'm joking, only the boys in James Dobson's world react like that). Brad R. reads Focus on Fascism so we don't have to.

James Dobson's Focus on the Family has posted this delightful series of articles on how to instill your children with the proper "gender identification." The first piece is called "Is my child becoming a homosexual?" and it basically says that if your child exhibits "gender confusion," there's a good chance that he'll turn into a fruit:

Evidences of gender confusion or doubt in boys ages 5 to 11 may include:

1. A strong feeling that they are "different" from other boys.

So if your son is different from other boys, he's well on his way to becoming a homosexual. Make sure to stamp out his individuality at all costs, and discourage him from developing any original thoughts or ideas.

I didn't copy the links in Brad's text because Dobson doesn't need more linking. But really, read the rest. I can't wait for the day the religious fringe returns to the obscurity that they had been accustomed to.

Reform Ohio Now has taken the first step towards fair elections in the Buckeye state.

Columbus -- A group that hopes voters will embrace fundamental changes in the way Ohio's elections are conducted and financed filed nearly twice the number of signatures needed Tuesday to place the proposed constitutional amendments on the November ballot.

Reform Ohio Now supporters are banking on investment losses at the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and other scandals to fuel voter outrage and provide money and volunteers needed for their campaign.

Spokeswoman Scarlett Bouder said the 521,000 people who signed the petitions show "that over a half-million Ohio voters want to clean up the corruption" that has all but paralyzed state government.

The amendments would: create a nonpartisan commission to approve boundaries for legislative and congressional districts; change campaign finance laws to limit contributions from individuals to $2,000 for statewide candidates and to $1,000 for legislative candidates; and create an independent panel to oversee elections -- duties that are handled by the elected secretary of state.

Of course this would require an end to the Buckeye Republican Musical Chairs^TM, so the GOP won't take this lightly.

Republicans - who control the legislative map-making process and secretary of state's office - are expected to lead the opposition through a new nonprofit group, Ohio First.

Ohio First spokesman David Hopcraft disputed assertions that the measures would increase citizen participation.

"They would take the right to decide elections one step farther from the voters by setting up appointed panels to do the work elected officials should be doing on behalf of their constituents," Hopcraft said.

Wah-wah, boo-hoo.

The proposal to end political gerrymandering calls for an appointed, five-member board to determine the boundaries of legislative and congressional districts. It would replace a system in which the lines are drawn every 10 years by the Ohio Apportionment Board, a panel composed of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a legislator from each party.

This sounds good to me because no one party should have so much control. Screw Blackwell and the rest of 'em. This should be a much fairer system.

This is real interesting. Everyone should take notice. Nice to see the Plain Dealer doing some real investigative reporting. In the weeks leading up to the CAFTA vote, I was happy with the fact that my representative, Steve LaTourette was planning on voting NO. But alas, the day came and he flip-flopped. Now it's beginning to look real bad for the Congressman.

Washington -- KraftMaid builds kitchen cabinets in Middlefield, and for that it needs wood.

So when U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette said he suddenly learned that the company had been socked with tariffs on Central American plywood -- and that they jeopardized the company's jobs in Ohio -- he decided to vote for a controversial trade pact to eliminate those tariffs.

"Absolutely," he said after the vote two weeks ago, confirming that his motivation was solely to protect KraftMaid jobs.

At the time, I called bullshit. One company could effect his vote? Well, I guess if it was really important.

One problem: No U.S. company has to pay tariffs on plywood from Central America, according to trade records reviewed by The Plain Dealer and interviews with industry and trade officials.

Plywood, and almost every other wood product from Central America, is exempt from tariffs under arcane but long-standing trade rules.

"He's either been duped or is not being honest," Lori Wallach, a Washington trade lawyer, said of LaTourette.

Oh, snap! What a guy! And wouldn't you know it, this leads deeper into Republican politics. No, you don't say!

But in the afternoon before the final vote, LaTourette got a phone call from KraftMaid's president, Tom Chieffe.

Chieffe said the tariffs on Central American plywood, used to make cabinets, was making it harder for the company to stay viable, according to an interview with LaTourette after the vote.

Chieffe is not a player in the world of Washington power politics, and LaTourette has said he didn't know him well.

But KraftMaid is owned by a larger corporation, Masco Corp., whose Michigan-based chairman is a major Republican donor. Richard Manoogian donated $115,000 to the Republican National Committee and its affiliates between 2002 and 2004, as well as $4,000 for Bush's re-election, records from PoliticalMoneyLine show. He has stayed overnight at the White House as a guest of Bush, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

You know, I shouldn't be this surprised. But on a vote with such close margins, this kind of baloney really irks me. LaTourette's on vacation, and the canned response from his office claims that no concessions were given to the Congressman. But none of it adds up. The Plain Dealer has done a great job getting to the bottom of this. Hopefully they will continue on this track well into the 2006 election cycle.

If I were in charge of his opponent's campaign, this would make for a great TV ad; to be repeated over and over and over...

I don't care what anyone says, Cheney will never run. He wouldn't stand a chance.

Woodward's half-hour talk, punctuated several times by well-received jokes, was followed by 11 questions from the audience. He theorized that Hillary Clinton would earn the Democratic nomination in 2008 and would run against Dick Cheney, and he rejected the likelihood of a third party being a threat to Democrats and Republicans.

If, and I mean if, Hillary got the nod, Cheney would make it competitive (possibly). But there is no way, because of his health and low popularity, that he would get the GOP nod. There's just no way. This is "what color is the sky in your world" kind of talk.

The hilarity of it all.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that Americans need to ease their concerns about turning over personal information to the government — especially if they want to fly safe from terrorism.

Chertoff said there is too much worry over a plan by the Transportation Security Administration to collect passengers' full names and birth dates before they board.

"The average American gives information up to get a CVS (drugstore discount) card that is far more in-depth than TSA's going to be looking at," Chertoff told reporters and editors at USA TODAY's headquarters in McLean, Va. "But I actually make that case that giving up a little bit more information protects privacy."

Uh, no. First off, I can choose not to sign up for a CVS card. Given the fact that the federal goverment has shown reckless abandon for the way major companies handle private data, who is he to speak on such authority? Names can be faked, as can IDs. Giving up more personal data will not make flying any safer. Besides, I feel fine flying right now. Only paranoid Fox News Watchers worry about the Arab man in seat 2C. But alas.

"Would you rather give up your address and date of birth to a secure database and not be pulled aside and questioned," he said, "or would you rather not give it up and have an increased likelihood that you're going to be called out of line and someone's going to do a secondary search of your bag and they're going to ask you a lot of personal questions in the full view of everybody else?"

Chertoff vowed to implement Secure Flight, a plan by the federal government to screen out potential terrorists by scrutinizing the backgrounds of passengers. Under the plan, passengers will be encouraged — but not required — to give their full names and birth dates when reserving a seat. The TSA hoped to begin testing Secure Flight this month but that timetable is in doubt.

The current system, in place since before the 9/11 attacks, requires airlines to do the background checks. Passengers must give only their last name and first initial to book a flight.

American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Tim Sparapani said collecting more information from passengers is a waste of time and money.

"The public does not get any advanced security by giving up more information," Sparapani said. Would-be hijackers can easily foil background checks, he said, by either keeping a clean criminal record or by stealing someone's identity. Money would be better spent on machines that detect plastic explosives on passengers or in bags, he said.

Exactly. Just scan the bags before they're put into the cargo hold. Make sure the TSA screeners are properly trained. No amount of personal data will make up for that. These guys are not going to be satisfied until the goverment has a detailed dossier on every citizen. So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave. This kind of shit lets the terrorists win. Why can't they figure that out?

I've got finals, so I'll be busy most of the day.

Read Sidney Blumenthal on Robert Novak. It's on Salon, so spend the 10 seconds and watch the ad. It's worth it.

Anyone else think that Fox News already has a show lined up for Novak? That is, if he's not in jail soon.

Hey Bushies, how about a fucking Freedom Walk for these people?

People are starving to death in Niger, but famine is also whittling away the populations across the region and beyond, in Mali, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Eritrea and southern Sudan.

Saminou, 16 months old, died hours after emergency treatment at a Maradi, Niger, feeding center.

But then again, we're only concerned about brown people from the Middle East. Where's your goddamn compassionate conservatism now?

While the wingnuts are revisiting fairy tale WMD land (thanks Atrios), the truth is far, far more real.

For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents.

The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain munitions the insurgents use. But more than a year after military officials initiated an effort to replace the armor with thicker, more resistant plates, tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system.

The effort to replace the armor began in May 2004, just months after the Pentagon finished supplying troops with the original plates - a process also plagued by delays. The officials disclosed the new armor effort Wednesday after questioning by The New York Times, and acknowledged that it would take several more months or longer to complete.

One thing's for sure. If there is better proof that this war was a rush job, I don't know. Talk about a major fuck up. Why is the process to replace simple things like body armor taking so long?

Where's the outrage?

We were not prepared for this debacle, nor do we have the capability to adjust dynamically to any given situation. (Before all you haters out there start beating your chests, it's obvious we can't adjust to fighting an insurgency. If we can't properly armor troops or humvees, how do you think we could handle war on multiple fronts?) And Bush has the balls to talk about attacking Iran?

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said on Israeli television he could consider using force as a last resort to press Iran to give up its nuclear program.

"All options are on the table," Bush, speaking at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said in the interview broadcast on Saturday.

Asked if that included the use of force, Bush replied: "As I say, all options are on the table. The use of force is the last option for any president and you know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country."

Oh, he's just, so, MANLY!

So my friends on the right, what's it like viewing the world, on weed? [/Jon Stewart]

I'll have more tomorrow when the full article comes out, but this is certainly not good news for the region.

Cleveland and Shaker Heights are no longer in the running to land OfficeMax Inc.'s new global headquarters.

As had been feared by local leaders, the giant office supplies retailer said today that its 1,300 corporate employees split between Shaker Heights and Itasca, Ill., will consolidate in the Chicago area. The company is considering several sites there and expects to decide by October.

The announcement ends an underdog bid by a regional coalition that included Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, Shaker Heights Mayor Judy Rawson and various civic organizations.

It also severs the last local thread of a company founded in Cleveland in 1988 and drains the tax pool in Shaker Heights, which annually receives more than $1 million from OfficeMax.

With all the talk of "brain drain" over the last few years, actual job drain will prove to be worse. I'll be waiting for the Plain Dealer to run another "Quiet Crisis" series. Maybe next time they'll acknowledge that the crisis ain't so quiet.

PS...For a moment I will step into the role of psychic. Within 12-18 months, Bank of America will move the MBNA jobs out of the region. If this does happen, it will be tantamount to dropping a nuke on the Cleveland job market. By the way, I think this is a good reason to regionalize the Cleveland Metropolitan area. Time to get things together, n'est ce pas?

Sorry I haven't been around much the last few days. I'm between semesters right now, so I've taken a mini-vacation away from blogging. However, I couldn't pass this one up.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - While Wal-Mart Stores blamed higher gas prices for cutting into its sales in the second quarter, CEO Lee Scott said Tuesday he's concerned that the worst may be yet to come.

"I do feel good about the economy, but I worry about the effect of higher oil prices," Scott said during the pre-recorded call that was monitored by telephone in New York. "Wal-Mart will continue to face a challenge as the year progresses."

Wal-Mart (Research) stock was down over three percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, chimed in during the call, adding that Wal-Mart was hit with a double-whammy because of the escalating price of fuel.

On one hand, higher gas prices will continue to cut into the pocketbooks of Wal-Mart's predominantly low-to-mid-income customers.

"That will impact our operating income," Schoewe said.

Wal-Mart maintains that it averages about 100 million customers a week to its stores, making the retailer a good barometer of the mood of the consumer.

At the same time, Schoewe said more expensive fuel was costing Wal-Mart more on the back end of the business, primarily to use its vast trucking fleet to move freight around the country to its stores.

"This impacted our operating profit by $30 million and our total utility expense rose by $100 million in the quarter," Schoewe said.

So to summaraize, Wal-Mart is blaming rising gas prices for their declining sales. Not only are the high gas prices cutting into family budgets, but their backend operations are suffering as well. Does anyone else spot the irony here?

More than any other company, Wal-Mart has increased the overall flow of cheap Chinese goods into this country. That in turn has enriched China and allowed them to go on a huge industrial binge. Therefore you get a higher demand for oil in China, pushing the overall price for crude through the roof. Thanks to that, Dick and Jane America can't buy enough knick knacks for their houses because it costs too much to fill up the family Hummer. Nasty circle, ain't it? I weep for Wal-Mart.

Yes, I do understand that a lack of refineries or disruptions to the supply line are to blame as well, but it's not a large part of the big picture. Chinese consumption is to blame for the rise in global oil prices...and concrete...and wood...etc...

I take a few days off, and the wheels come off the freakin' cart for Bob Taft. Great updates at Grow Ohio and Hypothetically Speaking. So Taft will face four criminal charges? Ha. Seriously, this is ultimately about Buckeye Republican slimeballs. I'm sure (like how sure I am that the sky won't fall tonight) that this is all about Noe. One man will single-handedly take down the Ohio GOP. The stench of stagnated state politics has finally begun to lead the Bloodhounds to the corpses.

The only question remaining, the only thing I want to know, is whether or not Taft will resign. I mean, if he's charged, doesn't he have to step down? I don't think the Party would want its state leader involved in a trial that could last well into 2006. No matter. This will bring down the Buckeye Republicans.

Hear that guys? The music stopped and you're left without chairs. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Will the Ohio Legislature do the right thing?

The Constitution says the governor, judges and any state officer can be impeached if they are charged with a misdemeanor, even if they are not convicted.

The Ohio House of Representatives has the sole power to initiate impeachment proceedings. A simple majority -- or 50 of 99 members -- would have to vote for impeachment.

The Ohio Senate would conduct the impeachment trial, with a two-thirds majority vote -- 22 of 33 members -- required for a conviction.

Ohioans should demand as much.