Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Observations from the Coffee Shop

Today is the New Hampshire primary and it seems a perfect moment to drop some random bits of political information on you.

The Keystone XL pipeline is one of brother's favorite things to complain, vent, and curse about. It would carry oil and diluted oil sands from northern Canada to locations throughout the US, going as far as the Texas coast. Supporters claim it would create tens of thousands of jobs. Opponents counter that it would create less than one hundred permanent jobs, wreak havoc with the environment of the mid-west, and just further our dependence on fossil fuels. Two of the main people pushing for faster approval of the pipeline are Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. For the record Boehner has received $1,111,080 from the petroleum industry during his time as Speaker, McConnell received $1,277,208. Take that for what you will.

Kansas' Republican Speaker of the House Mike O'Neal sent an email to friends and supporters when he 'discovered' Psalm 109. He wrote in the email, "At last, I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up, it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an amen?" And what is Psalm 109? Bible.org describes it as a prayer for the punishment of the wicked. "May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children." I take that to mean that O'Neal wouldn't mind seeing the President dead and I really think the Secret Service needs to look into that the with same seriousness they would if a random drunk in a random bar threatened him.

This is a short one because I can't bare Rick Santorum being in my thoughts for any length of time. I saw him on Morning Joe this morning and he said a couple of things that make me think of the words revisionist history. He called a nuclear armed Iran the greatest threat western civilization has ever known. Greater than the Islamic expansions of the 8th century, the Mongol invasions of the 14th century, greater even than Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. Seems like more of the GOP tactic of winning elections through fear, just another excuse for another war in the middle east. Santorum also stated that he felt the working families of Pennsylvania could relate to him and his family history, I would remind the former Senator that the families of Pennsylvania showed him the door after his 2006 election campaign.

And last something only marginally political but something that may become more important as we move into the new year. Vibe is a new application for iPhones, iPads and Android that allows the user to send messages that are only visible to other Vibe users, and not to police or other outsiders. Vibe messages are anonymous, and users can control how far they are broadcast, from 150 feet to worldwide. The user can also control how long the messages are visible, they disappear after a set time period ranging from 15 minutes to thirty days thus leaving no trail.

And so it goes.

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