Daily Archives: March 3, 2008

Russia shocker — Medvedev wins!

March 3, 20081:30 p.m.

medvedevputing.jpgThe outcome of Russia’s election Sunday wasn’t exactly a surprise: Official Kremlin candidate Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin’s handpicked successor, won a landslide victory in an election marred by ballot stuffing, suppression of votes and harassment of serious opposition candidates.
This is what a sham election looks like. And sadly enough, most Russians don’t seem to care.
Now America is laying the groundwork for working with the 42-year-old lawyer, who is largely an unknown quantity and is widely seen as Putin’s man.
Meanwhile, Putin — now prime minister — has redefined his new position as the “highest executive office in the country.”
Who really will run Russia remains to be seen. But Putin, it’s safe to say, won big.

By Randy Scholfield | Filed under Foreign affairs | Comments (12)

Here is Jack for Hillary

March 3, 20081:23 p.m.

Jack Nicholson’s video for Hillary Clinton is entertaining, but it may work best as a showcase for his acting prowess over an amazing career and as inspiration for a pro-Obama parody.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (8)

No more pillows for Obama?

March 3, 20086:05 a.m.

obamaNow that he’s the Democratic front runner, Barack Obama is attracting a lot more pointed media criticism. Here’s an interesting dissent on Obama by Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson. The central premise: that Obama doesn’t represent real change. His agenda is “completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.”

Obama’s economic plan, Samuelson says, is “standard goodie-bag politics: something for everyone.” He goes on: “A favorite Obama line is that he will tell ‘the American people not just what they want to hear, but what we need to know.’ Well, he hasn’t so far.”

By Randy Scholfield | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (50)

Open thread 3/3

March 3, 20086:04 a.m.

thread

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (229)

Actually, abortion issue is more like opera

March 3, 20086:03 a.m.

abortionprotestNice line from an analysis by the Associated Press’ John Hanna about abortion politics in Kansas: “The Legislature’s annual hearings and votes on the issue have become the political equivalent of shows from touring companies for ‘Cats’ or ‘Oklahoma!’ However differently they’re staged, the ending remains the same — a veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.” Anti-abortion activists are relentless about the need for more laws and enforcement, but as Hanna notes, the reviews are in and reflect well on their efforts: “In its 2008 assessment of states, Americans United for Life ranked Kansas as the fifth-best anti-abortion state in the nation. Meanwhile, NARAL Pro-Choice America’s latest report card gave Kansas a grade of D minus.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Abortion | Comments (83)

Coal plant smokes out creative captions

March 3, 20086:01 a.m.

contestCongratulations to Jim Holler of Bentley who won this week’s cartoon-caption contest. Here are some of the other entries:
Jason Griffin: “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are…are…oh, forget it.”
Bill Hess: “It’s to the stars through greenhouse gases!”
Drew of Great Bend: “Sure most of the electricity goes out of state. But the pollution made the illegal aliens leave.”
Karen Wallace: “Is this what they mean by a state coal-ition???”
Becky Hilt: “To the stars through dinosaur dust!”
Burt Parry: “Add aspirator per coal plant.”
Richard Gottlob: “I’d rather see haystacks than smokestacks.”
Richard Brown: “This really is the Sunflower State. Sunflower writes the laws and the legislature rubber stamps ’em.”
Kim Dunakey: “Rough road to the stars my foot. Just line the right pockets and the road becomes an 8-lane expressway.”
Cheryl Sullenger: “That’s no coal plant! That’s Tiller’s incinerator! Is he burning babies or incriminating abortion files?”

By Richard Crowson | Filed under Current Affairs | Comments (24)

Sending wrong signals on net metering

March 3, 20086:00 a.m.

A Kansas House energy committee last week rejected a bill that would have allowed “net metering,” in which individual homeowners who install wind turbines and solar panels receive credits for generating more electricity than they use.

Some 44 states have some form of net metering, and among wind power utilities, it’s widely considered a sign that a state is serious about promoting wind energy. Isn’t that what Kansas is supposed to be doing? Promoting wind? Guess Kansas lawmakers still haven’t gotten the memo.

By Randy Scholfield | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (11)