A regular cup of drip coffee has around 145 mg of caffeine in an 8 oz cup, or 18.13 mg/oz. Powershot, which comes in 1 oz portions, has around 100 mg of caffeine in every ounce.

Several years ago I started having an irregular heart patter called PVCs, or premature ventricular contractions. These feel odd because you can't feel a beat of the heart, making it seem like your heart has stopped beating. The heart is beating, but before the chamber fills with blood. They're not normally harmful (which my doctor didn't bother telling me) and are caused by a combination of stress and other environmental factors. One of the recommendations is to stop consuming caffeine. That of course meant no coffee, tea, coca-cola, and chocolate.

I didn't realize how dependent we were on caffeine until I went into a fast food restaurant and tried to get a drink. There's usually only one soft drink offered without caffeine, usually either root beer or Sierra Mist. Even the popular Mountain Dew is loaded with caffeine at 4.58 / mg.

Now people are ending up in hospital emergency rooms from caffeine overdoses, sometimes after consuming just one of these drinks. This is an indicator of the heavy toll this lifestyle is taking on our bodies.

Are we that obsessed with performance, constantly being on the go, never having down time? Moving to California I noticed the good weather allowed people to be outside a lot more often than the colder states I'd lived in. But people were rarely forced to stay inside together as happens during snowstorms in other locales. You could see the difference where people could handle differences by just leaving, rather than being forced to stay together and work out disagreements.

As a society we're spending less time together as we meet online more than in groups, and we're constantly more and more obsessed with productivity. But at some point we need to sit down, relax, and enjoy each other's company.

Thanks to skymondo.com

She doesn't think the public has any right to know about Mayor Gavin Newsom's affair that involved him, his campaign manager, and prior appointment secretary.

I disagree. This goes well beyond a life style choice and may include the violation of law as well. There are some real ugly facts attached to this affair.

Ruby Rippey-Tourk was Newsom's appointment secretary when the affair started according to Ruby. This is a betrayal of the employee/employer relationship and taking advantage of the power a boss holds over an employee, no matter how informal. This could result in charges being brought against Newsom for the violation of city ethics laws.

Ruby is the wife of Alex Tourk, Newsom's deputy chief of staff before becoming his campaign manager in September. So we have another violation of employee trust as well as a close friend and confidant.

If you're a military officer an affair or a relationship with an enlisted person can result in a court martial. If you have a clearance for classified work you can lose it. Obviously many people believe a violation like this, though legal, is an indicator that the person may not be trustworthy in other areas.

When you consider Newsom has responsibility for billions of dollars, the police, and general public trust, one wonders about the person behind this juicy news tidbit.

Certainly San Francisco politics can be strange and what happens may be up to the voters rather than an attorney general. But this is certainly more than yet another salacious affair (YASA).

Those for the change say that since California funds a large part of the election campaign they should be more influential.

Some accuse politicians of wanting to change the voting date so state politicians facing term limit ejections get an early vote so they can run again in November.

Here's a video of liberal Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs on CNN supporting the change.

Now the San Gabriel Valley Tribune is reporting that the FBI is turning up the heat on Rep Miller (R-Brea), contacting current and former city officials in Monrovia and Fontana and reviewing a videotape of a 2000 Monrovia city council meeting. During the meeting Miller is seen asking the council to purchase his 165-acre hillside plot. Miller then avoided capital gains taxes by saying the city forced him to sell the land.

What cost greed? I had someone tell me years ago to just go ahead and pay the taxes. In the end, it's not worth it.

As building in the Central Valley continues it will make any future right-of-ways more expensive. This has all of the foresight of removing the rail lines from Los Angeles so they can be re-installed, at a much higher price, decades later.

I think the Governor is brave in leading a large infrastructure project in the first place. But it would be nice if we could become active, not reactive, as a society.

If we can find $1 billion for a jobs program in Iraq I'd think we could fund a high speed train in California.

I'm still not sure he gets this Internet thing though. His web site is pretty boring, no audio, podcasts, blog, or forum. It's pretty much a straight brochure site. It's something called gohunter08.com, and with a Google Page Rank of 0 will have to mature in to the search engines. It's interesting to see something that Google denies exists, a sandbox, play such an important part of our electorial process.

The sandbox is kind of a purgatory for web sites where they wait until Google decides they're worthy of entry.

Campaign donations are raised through a site called yourpatriot.com, which I'll assume is similar to actblue.com.

You can volunteer to help and all of your information is securely raised. All in all I'm not sure it's a lot different from a web site I put together for Neal Andrews, a Ventura City councilman. I'd think a presidential run would have more, but we'll see. We have at least a year until the primaries as hard as it is to believe.

I've signed up for his newsletter. I wait with bated breath for news.

In the past she's been a staunch big business supporter voting for one-sided trade bills like CAFTA that don't help workers in our country or the countries of the other Central American co-signers.

Now in a move that the LA Daily News says makes here a centrist, she's trying to prevent Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger from regulating the CO2 emissions of state power companies. This seems to make her a centrist only if the other two sides are liberal Arnold and conservative anti-green Senator Inhofe (R-OK).

Says the LA Times article:

Under the clause, power plants would be exempt from any state laws regulating greenhouse gases, including several in New England as well as California. Feinstein said she had removed it for now because "I know the environmentalists have concern."

She's removed the provision for now, but is looking for some way to sneak it back in past fellow California Senator Barbara Boxer.

Her comments at a hearing pointed out that few have paid a personal price for decisions made by this administration.

Barbara Boxer during the hearing: “Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You’re not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families.”

Was Boxer pointing out Rice's infertility or making a valid point that Bushco is callously making decisions that they will never have to pay a personal price for? And even if she is pointing out their insularity, is it a fair point to make?

Bush certainly has a history of making bad decisions that his father has had to bail him out of. From Air Guard duty to oil fields to ball teams, Jr. had never had a real success until he ran for governor.

He's had his successes in politics. He's a shrewd campaigner and assembled a strong team of very dedicated supporters. He'd gotten several initiative through which include the Patriot Act, Medicare Part D, and a carte blanche to go to war with Iraq.

But I don't know that we've ever had such a cabinet with so little personal experience with war. Rumsfeld comes close as a peace time aviator and Bush's stateside off-and-on guard duty is famous. The only person with actual combat experience was Colin Powell, who was completely ignored and treated as an outsider.

Nor have most Americans paid a price. No tax increases, no meatless days, no funny red coins or ration books.

Some around the bases have paid. I've heard of hardships around large Army bases like Ft. Bragg as businesses struggle to stay open.

Certainly Vice President Cheney hasn't paid as his friends at companies like KBR and Halliburton have profiteered on no-bid contracts in Iraq. Even when caught stealing red handed Halliburton has avoided fines. While Cheney has put his stock in trust does anyone not believe he'll be well rewarded when he leaves office?

The only ones to pay a personal price are the military members and their friends and family. Many say the military is all volunteer and have agreed to this lifestyle. But stop-loss orders and the military's decision to trash its 24 month citizen soldier deployment policy have completely changed the rules.

Bush has aged but will no doubt retire to the riches that speeches and honorary positions in the Carlyle Group, heavily financed by the bin Ladens, offer.

So many in this administration have profited from the 8 year presidency of George Jr. but few have had to pay a price for bad decisions. In fact the only way to lose it seems is to speak truth, like the now oft cited General Shinseki or Scott Ritter.

And as for the comment being too personal, we can only balance it with the comments by the First Lady who, when asked how a woman like Dr. Rice would handle the presidency, said, "Dr. Rice, who I think would be a really good candidate, is not interested. Probably because she is single, her parents are no longer living, she's an only child. You need a very supportive family and supportive friends to have this job."

His new team, the L. A. Galaxy had sure better hope so. Salary estimates are for $250 million over 5 years, or almost $1 million a week.

Beckham's star power is only approached by his wife, Victoria. She was once well known as Posh Spice, a nickname given her as a member of the Spice Girls.

During his 11 years at Manchester United, he won four league titles, the F.A. Cup and the prestigious Champions League Cup.He moved to Real Madrid in 2003, which was ranked as 'The 20th Century's Best Club' by FIFA But among so many soccer stars he's found it hard to stand out, under coach Fabio Capello he has started only seven of 25 matches. That and he didn't like Real Madrid infringing on income from his pretty face.

Beckham is more than just another athlete. Beckham is an industry unto himself and is the unofficial "metrosexual" poster boy with a range of cologne for men.  He and Victoria are a mainstay of British gossip rags with accusations of infidelity and other juicy tidbits. And it could be this aspect of him that attracts the Hollywood area Galaxy. In fact the deal was brokered by Simon Fuller, head of 19 Management and the brains behind American Idol.

All of this is sure to generate badly needed publicity to American soccer. Whether or not this will get soccer to be taken seriously by people over 15 is yet to be decided.

This could put a real crimp in the neo-cons mission to save the world by bombing it flat.

(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States possesses the inherent right to defend itself against imminent or actual attack, as codified in the Charter of the United Nations and embodied in the traditions of international law, but that right does not extend to undertaking military action in the absence of such an imminent or actual attack; and

(2) the House of Representatives disavows the doctrine of preemption because it poses a threat to international law and to the national security interests of the United States.

Do you think we could call off the restarting of the nuclear arms race with Russia and China?

So I'm not sure what to think when Representative Jerry Lewis complains about the Democrats pushing through a bill that implements the 9/11 commission's proposals to check air and sea cargo coming into the US.

Democrat proposals to require 100 percent screening of air and seaborne(sic) cargo will cost tens of billions of dollars in the coming years, and the only way to pay for it will be to dramatically raise fees and taxes, Congressman Jerry Lewis said Tuesday.

I'm not convinced every ship container needs to be checked. But it certainly would be nice to have air cargo checked, especially those containers riding under me on my next flight.

Congressman David Price (NC-04) , the new Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee said "We'll have to find additional resources," he said. "This bill is a critical first step in the process of making real security improvements."

With the military running out of equipment and unable to pay their utility bills, schools in terrible shape, and public highways being sold to the highest bidder so they can be kept up, we need to think deep and hard about where we're spending our money.

So I think Representative Lewis is in some ways right, but I wish he had thought about all of this penny pinching before the Democrats took over.

Then the National Arbor Foundation has redesigned their maps so trees can continue to migrate north (I don't know who will tell the trees).

Now, the National Climatic Data Center has announced that last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years.

I know a lot of people like to break records, but can't we find a better one to go after?

Facing an even more antagonistic Democratic Senate Presdent Bush formally withdrew the nomination of former Interior Department solicitor William G. Myers III.

Myers' background includes time as a former lobbyist and lawyer for grazing and mining interests and later a top official at the Interior Department where investigations over Native American and mining policy are ongoing created a sense of distrust among Democratic Senators.

His record as a conservative and hostility to privacy rights also contributed to a long list of organizations coming out against his nomination.

Myers was originally nominated on May 15, 2003 but a full senate vote of July 20, 2004 fell short of votes needed for cloture and his nomination was dropped.

Bush renominated Myers on February 14, 2005, September 5, 2006, and November 15, 2006. The renomination after the 2006 election led many Democrats to declare President Bush still openly hostile in his judicial nomination.

The last blow seems to be a Denver Post article in which Myers was tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. This piqued the interest of new Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Patrick Leahy.

I can certainly understand the donations to Governor Schwarzenegger and John Burton. I'm not sure on Los Angeles assemblyman Herb Wesson Jr..

You can also see the bills that the lobby group influences, pro and con.

Nothing really all of that interesting here. They're anti-tax, anti-glassy-winged sharpshooter, and pro pesticide use. It's not so much that there is a scandal, it's that they are an influential group and from looking at the votes of the politicians are pretty good at swaying positions their way.

Like Andrew Sullivan, I've been wondering how I went from conservative to liberal. Or at least from conservative libertarian.

I grew up in Colorado, where even the Democrats had a belief in fiscal responsibility, minimum government, and God & Guns.

Those who accuse PBS of being liberal forget the channel was the only one to carry William F. Buckley Jr, Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke long before Fox News Channel came along. These programs were a regular staple for me growing up. Okay, Fred Barnes is an absolute idiot. But there were conservatives aplenty. I guess even then I was a bit of a Alex P. Keaton type.

Now there seems to be a new litmus test for conservatives. Big government, foreign activism, and social intervention seem to be the new platform of the Grand Old Party.

And if you don't fully support President George W. Bush you're not one of them.

Conservative libertarians like Bob Barr have left the Republicans. Joe Scarborough is accused of being a liberal. Andrew Sullivan is accused of being a lefty. And somehow I find myself left out on in the cold. At least the Republican position on global warming has made sure I'm comfortable.

On the official test I'm neutral. Moderates are accused of being DINOs and RINOs. I don't know who I'm going to vote for when I go into the booth because neither party represents me. I guess if my name were John Chambers or David Lesar I might feel different. They have private planes, I have a blog.

An Andrew Sullivan reader provides this litmus test for the New Republican.®

First, do you believe that Jesus Christ ordained the US Constitution, and that there is no true understanding of that document except that one first believes in him? Second, do you believe it is America's Christian destiny to save the world from the false religion of Mohammed?

I flunk. But I don't feel like giving away all of my money to the government either. So what do I do? Beats me. And speaking of torture, no, that's not an invitation.

That Lantos, an unapologetic, unwavering supporter of Israeli's conservative government is threatening Iran isn't surprising. But he may be biting off more than he can chew by threatening China.

He's promising to conduct hearings concerning China's National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) investment in Iran.

Iran, who adamantly swears their nuclear programs are solely for domestic power production, has been a constant boogeyman for this administration. Despite most estimates that even if they could it would be at least a decade before they could develop a bomb and creating a reliable delivery device would take even longer.

Since the US has been attacking Iran both Russia and China have been moving in to corner contracts on their oil production. News that their oil infrastructure is failing and Iran will need new partners probably has a lot to do with that.

But since China now holds $1 billion in foreign debt and is one of the main holders of the incredible US foreign debt there's not much we can do that China couldn't counter by dumping dollars. So while Lantos probably sounds good to his constituency, he's mostly a toothless lion in this battle.

And oh yeah, President Bush thanks you for keeping the boogeyman alive.

The state has legalized marijuana use when there's a medical necessity and a doctor is willing to recommend it.

However, marijuana is still illegal according to federal laws. So while the local sheriff won't arrest you, the Drug Enforcement Agency will.

The Feds are so against marijuana use that I've read reports they've stopped medical research facilities except for the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research from getting marijuana to use in testing, just in case it would approve effective. Oddly enough, the CMRC is headquartered in San Diego, CA and run by UC San Diego. It's even come up with standards on smoking.

The "Cued Puff Procedure". Marijuana can be administered using cued-smoking procedure, which has been shown to produce reliable increases in heart-rate and plasma levels of THC (Foltin et al., 1987). Patients are signaled to "light the cigarette" (30 s), "get ready" (5 s), "inhale" (5 s), "hold smoke in lungs" (10 s) and "exhale". The participants take three puffs per cigarette, in this manner, with a 40-s interval between each puff. Participants are instructed that they could signal that they wanted to stop smoking by raising their left hand. Since participants can discriminate THC content by the color of the plant material (Chait and Pierri, 1989), cigarettes were tightly rolled at both ends and were smoked through a hollow plastic cigarette holder so the marijuana was not visible. Cigarettes were stored in an airtight container and humidified 12 to 24 h prior to use.

The problem the feds has is that there are now 170 marijuana dispensaries in the state of California alone, with eight more states having now passed medical marijuana laws.

So far they seem to be letting the dispensaries operate in most cases. But two people have gotten the interest of both the DEA and IRS.

Shon Squier of Hayward and Luke Scarmazzo of Modesto have both had their dispensaries shut down. They've made a good sized fortune operating as angels of mercy and in large part lost the support of the local community.

To add fuel to the fire, Scarmazzo made a video that showed him counting stacks of hundred dollar bills, blowing billows of smoke at the camera and flipping off federal agents.

Lawyers cry foul, that the dispensaries shouldn't be closed just because the operators are pulling out millions of dollars in profits.

The interesting part to me is that the feds left open another less conspicuous facility operating just down the street in Hayward.

Marijuana may cause schizophrenia-like symptoms but it's the feds that are acting schizo. Or you could compare the attitude to similar stances like military homosexuality and Israeli nukes. Don't do anything that gets public attention and we'll leave you alone.

I agree that marijuana use by children is dangerous and should be kept out of schools. I've also seen marijuana work better than anything else on the pain caused by cancer and cancer treatments. Maybe it's time the feds came up with an official policy and regulated marijuana production and dispensing.

As is the current policy isn't serving patients or school anti-drug programs well.

His PAC Peace through Strength has already started ads in North and South Carolina and South Dakota.

So now that this blog is starting to get attention I thought I'd find out more about his candidacy.

I'd have better luck finding out more about the secret CIA prisons or the latest NSA venture. His House web site has no media contact resource and only the warning that if you're not a constituent he'll ignore you. Not very friendly for a presidential candidate.

His only campaign site, hunterforcongress.com, still lists his Congressional campaign.

He's let all of the domain names for duncanhunter and duncanhunter2008 get registered by others. So evidently he doesn't have an Internet savvy manager that he listens to.

So far other than a few conservative web sites and television commercials I've never seen he's not doing much to get his message out. He's been pretty good at getting in front of waiting cameras, at times asking who the camera was for before speaking.

I'd guess this is going to be a whistle stop campaign, maybe even from a real train.

So Congressman Hunter, where ever you are, I'd like to hear your positions or even have a conversation that I can post here. Just let me know.

Many people are waiting for what happens next. I think Republicans as well as Democrats are ready for some house cleaning after this last Congress broke that important rule, don't foul your own nest.

Senator Biden is already threatening to use hearings to intimidate Bush into not escalating forces in Iraq. But what of any real bi-partisan hearings?

I'll be looking to Representative Henry Waxman of California's 30th district for real investigations. Waxman has spent the last 12 years doggedly investigating abuses in government. Now that he has subpoena power he has some real teeth and the ears of a lot of journalists. Everyone enjoys a good scandal.

As well fellow Californian and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seems to be entrusting a lot of the investigatory work to Waxman for agreeing to stay away from the slippery slope of impeachment.

Looking at his web sites and some of the headlines gives us an idea of what his direction might be.

GAO Finds Millions in Overpayments to Iraq Contractors

GAO Analysis Refutes Industry Myths About Drug Development

Government Reform Leaders Call for Evaluation of Authority to Recover Billions from Oil Companies

Time will tell and we'll see what sins lobby groups and campaign donations cover. I don't expect investigations into AIPAC's handling of classified information or labor unions, but oil companies, Halliburton, and pharmas will be hiring all available white-collar lawyers for a while.

Unfortunately, in time those who write the laws come to believe they are above the law and the cycle will repeat. For now, the people have spoken and Representative Waxman seems ready to act.

Satan came in at 1% as did Vice President DIck Cheney.

Now the head of the BLM Kathleen Clarke has announced her resignation. The good Ms. Clarke is the same person that urged ranchers to sue the BLM so the could continue grazing on sensitive lands. She was accused of pursuing the needs of the special interests over the interests of the government.

She apparently has a long record of being pro-business and helping large companies in leasing resource rich lands for a minimum cost. The Cooperative Research site has some more dirt on Clark.

I have to but wonder if she'll be involved in investigations into the governments reluctance in collecting royalties from oil and mineral mining companies.

Now that the Republicans have suffered huge losses in the elections and the placement of polar bears on the endangered species lists forces them to admit to global warming, will they appoint someone a bit more environmentally friendly to replace her?

Naaah, I didn't think so either.

The program assists low-income files by preparing a tax return with information supplied by employers. These are simple returns with a single employer and no special deductions.

The return is printed and sent to the taxpayer to sign.

Sounds easy right? A government program, making life easier for the poor, and the odd step of making tax season easier.

It seems like tax software powerhouse wasn't satisfied that they weren't getting every drop out of the California market. The poor company barely eeked out a miserly $2 billion dollars out of the 2005 market.

So they along with the Chamber of Commerce used influence and money in the form of campaign donations to get the easily pliable state Legislation to squelch the program.

SB 1355 (Republican Dennis Hollingsworth) repealed the ReadyReturn program as of July 1, 2006.

I'll have to dig out the legalize. But lets just say the good guys won in the end.

Outgoing state Controller Steve Westly and his incoming replacement, John Chiang sought and received a legal opinion allowing the Franchise Tax Board continue on their own.

While not providing free government sevices to average citizens (not related to the oil, war, or pharma industries) is a basic Republican platform, this action by Intuit et al. just seems to be dumb. And makes the Chamber of Commerce, Intuit, and Hollingsworth look greedy.

Okay, I can understand the Carolinas. His ads are crying foul on unfair trade practices that give China uneven advantages. Those states are losing a lot of jobs in the textile industry to China. But South Dakota? I hope this isn't a redux of George Junior's confusion.

Still, after the last election I'm still pretty fed up with political advertising. Unless of course, I can get some of that money. Hey Guys, I got a video camera!

I've known two cancer patients that have used marijuana. One took chemo treatments and an occasional puff helped her deal with the nausea that is part of this treatment.

The other person had an inoperable tumor on her spine. The tumor pinched nerves causing incredible pain. The really interesting thing is that she later took laetrile treatments and is still alive today, 30 years later.

Both of these people used marijuana for short periods and then stopped. They're both socially productive and neither has succombed to the slippery slopes of an occasional joint.

Listen to The Tonight Show or Montel Williams and you can tell very quickly that marijuana has become a regular part of American life.

Like everything, marijuana can affect people both positively and negatively. But that is true with everything. Just read the reports of marathon runners dying from drinking too much water.

It is, however, absolutely unconscionable that so much money is spent stopping marijuana when everyone agreest that methamphetamine is the real enemy.

Sentence minimums and unnecessary prison terms are not the way to deal with the people that have trouble with marijuana. 1 in 32 U.S. adults are in prison, on parole or probation. This is destroying urban families and taking fathers and mothers away when treatment programs would be much more effective.

We need to stop this needless war on marijuana, allow it's use in medical practice, and get real treatment for addicts, not put lots of people in jail to create great statistics for the next election.

However, this can only happen if both sides wage effective campaigns, which the Democrats haven't done in a while. I hope groups like this help raise a new generation of Democratic candidates ready to step up to the plate.

This in from Campaign for a National Majority.

Campaign for a National Majority Endorses John Chiang for State Controller of California

SACRAMENTO, (September 28, 2006) – Being CEO of the sixth largest economy in the world is no simple task. Democrats, therefore, recognize the magnitude of the California State Controller’s race because winning this office creates a real opportunity for progressive reform and management of the California economy. Among the candidates vying for the position, John Chiang stands out as a professional who understands the intricacies and principles of a sound fiscal policy. Today, the Campaign for a National Majority, an innovative, pragmatic political action committee, officially endorses John Chiang for State Controller of California.

“CNM believes that John Chiang’s leadership style and government philosophy serves as proof that probusiness policies and pro-people policies are not mutually exclusive,” said John Sheehan, Director of Research for Campaign for a National Majority. “John Chiang’s message serves as a model not only for Democrats but for any politician committed to the public good.”

Chiang is the fifth endorsement made by Campaign for a National Majority in the 2006 election cycle. The organization began their research looking at over 400 candidates, contacting over 100 journalists, Democratic party officials, and academics and spending nearly 1,200 hours in the process before selecting their 2006 endorsements. With broad-based financial and tax knowledge unrivaled by his opponent, Chiang is the candidate committed to making that knowledge work for everyday Californians as well as private enterprise.

“This is a great endorsement for us”, said Trisha Murakawa, campaign manager for John Chiang. “CNM’s research model is the most thorough in the country of all their peer groups. When an organization like that identifies our candidate, it goes to show not only the tremendous stakes at hand but also that our message is resonating, and that’s something we couldn’t be happier about,” added Murakawa.

About Campaign for a National Majority
Campaign for a National Majority is a pragmatic political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for state executive and mayoral offices across the country. Our candidates are viable in tough races, and show promise as contenders for progressively higher offices. Our goal is to build a “farm team” of Democrats who can win statewide and national elections. It is no secret that governors consistently make the best presidential candidates. Their experience as State Executives prepares them for higher leadership and encourages them to articulate innovative policies and messages. Our research shows us that most governors are typically elected from other State Executive offices, such as lieutenant-governor or attorney-general. CNM is focused on achieving clear results by winning these races for Democrats and building the base for a Democratic national majority.
To learn more about CNM and our above endorsement, please visit us at: www.nationalmajority.org.
###

From the New York Times:

From 2002 until this year, NASA 's mission statement, prominently featured in its budget and planning documents, read: “To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.”

In early February, the statement was quietly altered, with the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” deleted. In this year's budget and planning documents, the agency's mission is “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”

We'll see how the war between LAUSD Superintendant Roy Romer and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa affects this.

The success rate on the California High School Exit Exam inched higher in May as an additional 1,759 students in the class of 2006 passed the test.

For California high schools the total pass rate is now 90.8 percent, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Education.

An excellent quote from Roy Romer.

"It has tremendous consequence for this city because if you indoctrinate — propagandize — a population long enough into a mistruth they believe it," Romer said during his annual state of the schools address.

In the Democrats will complain about anything department.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed a $150 million bridge loan Thursday to California's fledgling stem cell institute, timing the move as a day-after response to President Bush's veto of expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research.

The Republican governor sought to characterize the state-funded loan as a boost to a biotechnology industry potentially deflated by Bush's action.

Opponent Angelides' reply

Phil Angelides, the committee's chairman, took credit Thursday for initiating the $200 million interim funding process last May.

"Today's action is another gubernatorial campaign smokescreen to cloud the memory of California voters that it was Arnold Schwarzenegger who campaigned for President Bush in Ohio and helped put him back into office," Angelides said in a statement. "For the past year, while I was fighting for immediate funding for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the governor failed to lift a finger to stand up to the anti-research activists who thwarted the will of the voters."

And from Arnold Watch.

Arnold's largess with the taxpayer's money came with no controls.

Without rules governing such things as ownership of discoveries and payback to the state firmly in place, the beneficiaries of the loan will be biotech and pharma, not the people of California who were promised the benefits of ground-breaking stem cell research.

That's a good start by Arnold, who is also proposing a new prescription health care policy. But a five year waiting period?

With the governor set to host a symposium on affordable health care Monday, his administration announced Friday that he has a new position on drug discounts for the uninsured.

For the first time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger favors allowing the state to financially punish drug companies that fail to offer price cuts to needy Californians. But first, he wants to give the pharmaceutical firms five years to comply voluntarily, California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshé s ..]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=300 Sat, 22 Jul 2006 12:57:43 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=300#cmt The Senate passed HR 810 today, to authorize federally supported research projects to use new embryonic stem cell strains. President George Bush has threatened to veto this bill, which would be the first veto of his presidency.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore appeared with Frist during the day, saying she was very disappointed by Bush's stance.

"This is an intelligent human being with a heart, and I don't see how much longer he can deny those aspects of himself," she said.

I wonder if she meant the aspect of Bush as intelligent, with heart, or both?

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=298 Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:51:00 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=298#cmt

Update: From House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Americans should not be held hostage by a requirement to sign an agreement to repay transportation costs before evacuation. A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon.

“I call upon the President to remove one worry from the minds of stranded American citizens in Lebanon and their families back home by declaring immediately that their country will bear the costs of bringing them to safety.”

At last, some common sense.

Lebanon Situation Update - July 15, 2006

A message to the American citizens in Lebanon:

The Department of State continues to work with the Department of Defense on a plan to help American citizens depart Lebanon. As of the morning of July 15, we are looking at how we might transport Americans to Cyprus. Once in Cyprus, Americans can then board commercial aircraft for onward travel. Commercial airlines provide the safest and most efficient repatriation options to final destinations.

The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date. In a subsequent message, when we have specific details about the transporation arrangments, we will inform you about the costs you will incur. We will also work with commercial aircraft to ensure that they have adequate flights to help you depart Cyprus and connect to your final destination.

The Department of State continues to work around the clock and will continue to send updates as appropriate.

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=297 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:10:44 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=297#cmt The San Jose Mercury has an interesting article today concerning Abel Maldonado's alleged faux pas.

They're talking about how the ambitious state senator may have ruined his fast political career by accusing Arnold and crew with only using him to draw the Latino vote. Once Arnold had used him for his own personal gain the governator abandoned the senator when Maldonado needed a leg up.

And bring the vote Maldonado did. He and representative David Dreier seemed to be all over the place during the recall of governor Gray Davis. Maldonado campaigned tirelessly for Arnold.

When Maldonado was running for state senator the governor did return the favor and endorse the young politician for office. Maldonado then did a quick turn and ran for the state controller's office, but this time the race was too close to call. Neither candidate received the governor's thumbs up.

Between not getting Arnold's endorsement and carrying a bill on minimum wage for the governor that left him embarrassed, Maldonado had had enough. In a phone interview with the LA Times July 11th Maldonado exposed what most voters already know, that politicians are really about themselves. He accused the governor of not caring about Latinos. What he meant is that the governor didn't care about him. I'd guess both is true.

Is their really any shock that politicians use groups as stepping stools to further their own career? Whether it's the Democrats and the black vote, the Republicans and the evangelicals, or the governator and the hispanic vote, politicians are really about getting themselves re-elected and then campaigning for the next higher office in their power career ladder.

The Christian Evangelicals have found that none of their "family friendly" issues have been passed by the Congress. Not that much of anything but gas has been passed by this Congress.

Gerrymandering and pay raises are about the only things that seem to hold politicians interests for more than five minutes.

The one politician that I think really did get left out? Representative David Dreier. Passed over to take Tom Delay's old job, he hasn't gotten much in return for all of his work. But I don't hear him complaining.

Maldonado's complaints couldn't have come at a worse time. The governor is falling behind Angelides in polls and is identified with a party accused of being anti-Mexican. This was a critical blow to the governor's campaign. And it came just hours after Arnold had held a photo-op at a Mexican restaurant.

Howard Dean was the keynote speaker on the second day of a three-day conference called DemocracyFest at San Diego State University last weekend. He continues to get out as part of his "50-state strategy" of enlisting the power of everyday voters. With the advent of the Internet and the ability to get a little participation from a lot of people, rather than a lot of participation from a few people, he's a pioneer in true US democracy.

The much hyped Daily Kos founded by Marcos Moulitsas is a natural evolution of that concept and getting people involved. It's a progressive site that reaches out to moderates and liberals. But so far, even with organizations like this the Democrats are the proverbial herding cats. They're chasing a variety of topics with a variety of opinions. Where Internet blog sites like Free Republic require members to be in lockstep or they get thrown out.

Even their methods of removing people are different. dKos has a convoluted troll rating where any veteran user can vote to remove articles, eventually leading to banning.

Freepers have power users that are the deciders and throw people out based on personal judgment.

The California College Republicans is a web site that I ran across en route. It's not very active, with no new postings in over a month. Guess even Republican collegians are taking the summer off. Or have they already given up on the upcoming elections? I'd ..]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=296 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:35:19 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=296#cmt Valerie Plame and her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, filed suit against Dick Cheney, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove and a host of other White House officials today. I'm not sure if this is about revenge for killing her career or an opportunity to put Rove et al. under oath and ask them some questions about the Whitehouse leaking of CIA operation.s.

It would be nice to see someone held accountable for their actions in this Whitehouse. And in case you say that Valerie wasn't a covert agent, the leak I'm talking about is the exposing of front corporation Brewster Jennings & Associates, key in tracking illegal nuclear alarms and weapons materials.

At least someone in federal government has tried to do something about the new usury techniques of credit card companies. Representative Bernie Sanders of Vermont proposed the The Loan Shark Prevention Act. Which was promptly buried in bureaucratic red tape.

The San Diego Democrats are hosting DemocracyFest this weekend at San Diego State University.

Brads Blog discusses his appearance with Monterey County, CA Registrar of Voters Tony Anchundo concerning electronic voting machines and paper audits. When asked how Mr. Anchundo would handle variations in counts between paper and electronic totals, Mr Anchundo said the voter/citizens should trust him to make the right decision. The problem with that? Tony's been charged with 43 counts of criminal charges accusing him of spending more than $70,000 on personal purchases using county-issued credit cards, then trying to cover his tracks. Obviously not too well.

Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach) will chair the new Senate Select Committee on the Integrity of Elections. With some of the irregularites sighted with electronic voting and San Diego sending voting machines home hers is a critical part of our Democracy.

 

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=295 Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:52:37 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=295#cmt Democrats are getting it. Phil Angelides, Jerry McNerney, California Nurses and Gay Activists.

What are they getting? The new YouTube phenomena. They're not only getting their ads on television and radio, but now they're getting them out on the Internet.

Has Arnold and his eminent campaign machine gotten it? Not unless this video of what appears to be the Governor smoking a joint is part of his new "kinder, gentler" campaign.

YouTube.com has taken off with such force that the television networks have thrown in the towel and are now actively contributing to it.

What is YouTube? It's a public site where people can place video clips and others can view them. Clips may be short clips from favorite movies or television shows, but my favorite are often the home produced segments.

With new Digital 8 movie cameras and digital cameras with built-in video capability, a lot of people have become interested in producing their own movies. Faster computers and cheap or free video editing software make it child's play to film, edit, and upload movies to YouTube.

This has created a huge audience of young people and techno-philes. The perfect audience for political campaigners, especially more idealistic, progressive, or liberal campaigners.

I'm sure Howard Dean gets it. He and campaign manager Joe Trippi were pioneers in organizing and fund raising on the Internet. And I think it was the media's clear bias in broadcasting 'Dean's scream' that caused a lot of young voters to lose interest and drop out of the presidential election by November 2004.

But the democratization of the US continues as more and more information and control is distributed into every voter's home through the magic Internet tubes.

So while the Democrats seem to get the new media and Republicans are having trouble getting their email through the tubes, I think we're going to have a couple of interesting elections upcoming.

 

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=294 Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:39:40 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=294#cmt I've often thought that the new bankruptcy laws have created a new indentured servant class. Those that are making minimum wage (that $200 an week or I'll replace you with an illegal alien) but can get easy credit. Or the middle class couple that got used to the pre-Bush lifestyle of easy income and easy spending, but has had to borrow off their house and credit cards to keep it up.

The new bankruptcy laws stopped deadbeats from claiming bankruptcy. It also stopped people like Terri Schiavo's husband from claiming bankruptcy from high medical bills. However, the laws didn't put any limits from committing usury and charging interest rates in the 30%s, late fees, and other penalties. Not to mention my retired mother living on Social Security who recently had her balance raised to 24% because she wasn't using her card often enough.

The Federal Reserve is still raising Fed Fund Rates with no stopping in sight, despite no real signs of inflation. Other than the high price of gas that Middle East unrest has pushed sky high.

With the Fed raising interest rates variable home mortgages and other prime linked consumer loans are going to be following.

As the middle class and lower end homeowners feel the squeeze from higher mortgage and other loan payments, they may start defaulting on their mortgage payments. Home ownership is great, but if you can't pay you can just walk away and start over, right? The bank takes the house, and you find a rental apartment somewhere that you can afford. Just pack your stuff and leave the keys.

It seems that you might as well leave your stuff too. Since so many California homeowners have added refinanced loans, second trust deeds and home equity lines of credit, they've made the rest of their assets vulnerable too.

And what the banks don't take, the IRS will go after.

But in California, refinanced loans, second trust deeds and home equity lines of credit are generally considered recourse loans. In these cases, a lender can file suit and go after almost any of the borrower's assets once they obtain a court judgment.

"They can literally go after everything you have," Hall says.

There are a few limited exceptions. Retirement accounts are excluded, and declaring bankruptcy could protect some homeowners.

In the past, lenders have been reluctant to go after borrowers personally because it takes time and can involve costly litigation, but Hall says things might be different this time, especially if a borrower has substantial assets.

The tax man

Even if a lender doesn't go after a homeowner's personal assets, a foreclosure can trigger income tax consequences.

Barbara Boxer has started worrying about our military's mental health while they're taking the majority of the burden of the Afghani and Iraq war. There are reports that our troops are being sent into combat while on anti-depressants.

Here's a good synopsis with some links to articles.

That was very nice of him. It seems that Representatives Ken Calvert and Gary Miller promoted earmarks in bills that profited real estate deals they were involved with.

A Republican House member from California, meanwhile, received nearly double what he paid for a four-acre parcel near an Air Force base after securing $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles away. And another California GOP congressman obtained funding in last year's highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial development that he co-owns.

Have no life? Want the latest dish on your local Congresscritter? The new Congresspedia web site sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation is just for you. For a more conservative slant try Judicial Watch.

 

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=293 Wed, 12 Jul 2006 21:31:46 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=293#cmt Wondering if we've made a difference in the every day lives of Afghanis? Here's proof that they've already fallen under the influence of Western democracies.

This Reuters photograph is from their first women's fashion show.

All of the models showing the conservatively cut clothes that included designer burqas were expatriate women, to the disappointment of some in the audience.

The organizers said they did not want to court controversy in what is a deeply conservative Muslim country by having Afghan models.

Kudos to San Francisco Gavin Newsom for stepping up in the war on government invasion.

City officials are investigating AT&T's alleged cooperation with the National Security Agency and considering possible "consequences" the company could face in its extensive municipal contracts here if it is violating civil liberties, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.

"If what I'm reading is true, I've got some serious problems as a San Franciscan, as a taxpayer and as mayor," Newsom said in interview with The Associated Press. "And I don't like it."

An arrogant politician? Go figure.

As politicians go, Phil Angelides isn't a particularly sympathetic figure. He's aggressive to the point of arrogance and often condescending and evasive about what he'd do if elected governor of California.

That said, one could almost feel sorry for Angelides, the Democratic challenger to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, because whatever momentum he gained from June's primary election has evaporated and he's being ground up by Schwarzenegger's ruthlessly efficient campaign apparatus.

What Californians do well, they like to overdo.

In the past two years, campaign and political action committees controlled by Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) paid ever-larger commissions to his wife's one-person company and spent tens of thousands of dollars on gifts at stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co. and a Ritz-Carlton day spa.

The use of such committees, especially "leadership" PACs, for purposes other than electing politicians to Congress is a common and growing phenomenon, but campaign finance watchdogs say Doolittle has taken it to new heights.

Sounds like once again Democrats are their own worst enemy.

This is what the slash and burn Democratic gubernatorial primary in California wrought.

The California GOP is now running an ad that resurrects the entire quotes from Steve Westley's attack ads.

The tagline? "Quotes from Democrat Steve Westley about Phil Angelides."

The announcer signs off the ad, "What if Steve Westley was right?"

That temperature change that is only a natural cycle and isn't affected by man made activity so we don't need to make business do anything or even reclassify CO2 as a pollutant may destroy the California Wine Industry.

Global warming and its potential to harm premium wine-grape production is beginning to get the attention of California growers.

A study released Monday by the National Science Foundation, NASA and Purdue University, said that warmer temperatures could significantly reduce suitable grape-growing areas — by as much as 81 percent — by the end of the century. ...

Stacie Jacob, executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, said global warming is not a topic that's widely discussed here.

"However, the growers who do track the weather ..]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=292 Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:41:13 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=292#cmt I'm a vet. I served for the basic freedoms listed in the Bill of Rights. One of those is Freedom of Speech. The other is to have a quiet cup of coffee without being harrassed by a bored security officer.

"This afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago’s south side, a Veterans Administration cop walked up to me and said, "OK, you’ve had your 15 minutes, it’s time to go."

"Huh?", I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"You can’t be in here protesting," officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt."

From Selves and Others

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=291 Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:18:45 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=291#cmt The news of Bills Gates stepping down to run his foundation full time and the contribution to the foundation of the bulk of Warren Buffets wealth was certainly good news for world health. I wish them luck in their mission to find cures for many of the world's worst diseases.

It was actually Ted Turner who embarrassed Bill Gates into becoming a bigger player in the world of philanthropy. In April of 1997 he had chided both Bill Gates and bridge partner Warren Buffet for being too miserly with their money. To up the ante, in September of 1997 he donated $1 billion dollars to United Nations programs.

Larry Ellison followed Ted Turner into the world of yacht racing, but evidently he's not very competitive when it comes to parting with his money and toys. In today's news:

Ellison Pulls Plug on Harvard Donation. Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison has decided not to give Harvard University a planned gift of $115 million, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

Ellison canceled the gift because Lawrence H. Summers stepped down as Harvard's president this month after a stormy tenure at the university, Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne said. Summers announced his resignation in February, after being embroiled in controversy throughout 2005. Wynne said Ellison began to reconsider his donation when it appeared that Summers would step down.

Now I guess he'll just take his toys and go home. You're making California look bad Larry.

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=290 Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:54:33 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=290#cmt Today's Rant

NSA wiretapping, Iraq troop withdrawals, immigration, social security and medicare restructuring, port security, recort federal debt and trade imbalances. So which of these important issues did the Senate decide to take action on today?

None of the above. Today it's all about S.J.RES.12, more commonly known as the flag burning amendment.

Not to belittle an issue that is important to people on both sides of the issue. But to me, this is just another example of how the senate is more focused on their own re-election than the business of the people.

I had a manager, Chuck, in the Air Force that believed strongly in protecting the flag. If Chuck saw a damaged flag flapping in tatters or one left out in the night or rain, he would stop his car to advise the home or business owner on the law regarding treatment of flags. Don't let him find a flag in the trash either. Abuse of the flag was illegal and he felt strongly enough to do something about it when he saw it. If Chuck stood up and took a stand against flag burning I'd listen to him.

But listening to these politicians to whom nothing but their own tails is important seems to be the heighth of hypocrisy. They stand not to protect the flag, but to sound patriotic and great defender of this nation. As long as they think the polls support them. Republican Senator Dianne Feinstein took the opportunity to cater to the Orange County and Central Valley conservatives and took a brave position in coming out stronly for the amendment. Were she to be so brave in condemning the Iraq war or Free Trade agreements that prevent American interests from using trade to influence Central American pollution standards.

The flag is important as a symbol. But we've long let this icon slide into commonality by using it on swimming suits, patches, tableclothes, napkins, and about anything else merchandisers can fit it on. Yet we would now limit it's use in free speech. This I don't understand.

But whether or not I am for or against this amendment is of relatively little importance. This country has many more important issues at hand and it is about time federal politicians got off their tails and down to the serious administration of this great country that the American Flag flies over.

News Bits

Five days before the beginning of a new fiscal year, legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday they had reached an agreement on a state budget that includes compromises by Democrats and Republicans. sacramento bee

Unsuccessful in getting prisons into the state's infrastructure package, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Legislature to convene a special session to give him more than $1 billion in bond money to build two new institutions to depressurize the correctional system's overcrowding crisis.

Scientists OK Gore's Movie for Accuracy. The nation's top climate scientists are giving "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming, five stars for accuracy. SF Chronicle

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, after declining to enter a plea in his first court appearance since being indicted last week on corruption charges, said Monday he is innocent and will fight efforts to oust him before his term expires at the end of the year. SF Chronicle

Concluding an eight-month investigation, the Ventura County Grand Jury announced Monday that it had found no merit to a county supervisor's claims of corruption at Channel Islands Harbor near Oxnard.

In a 13-page report, grand jurors said they failed to uncover evidence that Harbor Director Lyn Krieger made a "sweetheart deal" in recommending a harbor lease to the Board of Supervisors. LA Times

Two local congressman have authored a bill that would allow the city of San Diego to sell the Mount Soledad cross to the federal government, a step they hope will preserve the La Jolla landmark.

Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, introduced the bill late Monday, according to Hunter's office. SD Union Tribune

Mars ..]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=289 Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:11:36 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=289#cmt /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=288 Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:10:18 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=288#cmt Are you a software or hardware engineer? Have experience in data mining or splitting telecommunications signals? Voice recognition?

The NSA eavesdropping program is expanding rapidly and is looking to recruit. The following ad appeared in the Washington Post.

Software/Hardware Design Developers

The National Security Agency has exciting career opportunities available for entry level and experienced Software/Hardware Design Developers. As a Developer, you will be part of a team tasked with delivering a revolutionary data collection and analysis system. The work carries a high level of importance, and offers direct participation in unique problem solving, testing approaches, and extensive research.

Qualifications
Ideal candidates should possess at least a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer/Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics, a minimum 3.5 GPA, and experience with some of the following:

•Data Indexing/Information Retrieval

Don't worry about contacting them. Just pick up you phone and say "I want to work for the NSA". They'll contact you.

Nancy Pelosi has stepped up and is becoming more vocal on the Iraq war. She's been taking a lot of heat for not showing the leadership skills to become the Speaker of the House. Ergo, say the Republicans, make sure you don't vote in the Democrats. I'd rather Pelosi took a stand on something and showed leadership than the continual shifting to make moderates happier. I may not agree on everything that Senator Barbara Boxer stands for, but at least she stands for something.

U.S. inflation may be worse than what is showing up in government data and the Federal Reserve may have to keep raising interest rates if it persists, a Fed official said Friday. So said Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole. Inflation and a slowing economy. I'd say the Feds have been pumping too much cash into the economy, but since they stopped reporting M3 we man never know. But since our economy has been bought with record debt I'm not even that impressed by the "robust" economy. And the stock market certainly doesn't reflect any great confidence.

 

]]> /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=287 Fri, 16 Jun 2006 10:22:23 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=287#cmt /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=286 Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:34:48 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=286#cmt /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=285 Sun, 30 Apr 2006 21:31:30 +0000 Politics /blog/Don_Blog.php?id=285#cmt <