HoodaThunk?

Krystle Weeks of Crystal Clear Conservative interviews Tag Greason

I actually saw this interview being shot but I was way too far off to hear what was going on. Krystle Weeks interviews Tag Greason, GOP candidate for Virginia’s 32nd House district.

June 1st, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Politics, Virginia Politics | no comments

Both sides of abortion debate denounce the murder of Dr. George Tiller

I heard of the murder of George Tiller yesterday after I returned home from Richmond. What one thinks of the abortion debate is immaterial. The murder of this man was tragic, immoral, and just completely wrong by any yardstick you care to use. Today, leaders of various anti-abortion groups met at the Supreme Court and denounced the murder.

Police have arrested Scott Roeder for the murder and they think he was simply acting on his own. Operation Rescue, a well-known anti-abortion organization, called the killing vigilantism and “a cowardly act.” I agree with the coward designation though I’d question the notion about whether to call it the act of a vigilante. Roeder, if he is indeed the shooter, walked up to a church and shot a man who was performing duties as an usher for his congregation. I can’t imagine God would be impressed with that.

Let’s hear the rest of the investigation, however, and be sure of what we’re doing. If he did it, however, make damned sure he’s incapable of ever doing it again.

June 1st, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Crime & Punishment, Human Interest, Politics, Religion | 2 comments

GM declares bankruptcy, Obama administration forces taxpayers to invest in it. Again.

Shortly after the Obama administration forced the removal of GM’s CEO, Fritz Henderson was named (selected, not elected?) as the new boss. It wasn’t even 2 weeks before he publicly suggested that GM might have to enter bankruptcy, an event we were all told could not be allowed to happen. Here we are, 2 months later and we’ve now gotten to witness this one-time titan of America’s industrial might file for Chapter 11. (I think it’s 11. Of course they’re writing new stuff to deal with the administration’s contortions on the matter so it might be a whole new chapter by now.) The US taxpayer, with the Obama team as managers, now “owns” better than 70% of what was a publicly held though distinctly non-governmental company not even a year ago. Hey, what could go wrong with that arrangement, eh? After all, Obama says it’s just a short-term thing so the company can emerge stronger than ever and pay off all this money he’s thrown at them – with interest, no doubt.

But wait. Does that sound familiar, somehow? Could it be that we’ve tried this scheme before?

General Motors is trying to prove that it is the little engine that could. But the bankrupt automaker may never fully climb the mountain ahead of it, if Amtrak is any example.

Some analysts say the federal government’s effort to prop up the nation’s largest auto manufacturer is eerily similar to a 40-year effort to revive the nation’s ailing railroad system. Billions of taxpayer dollars later, Amtrak still needs the government to survive — and critics say General Motors appears to be headed down the same track.

“I see no hope whatsoever for the situation,” said Wendell Cox, a policy consultant who sat on the government-appointed Amtrak Reform Council a decade ago and draws parallels to the GM intervention today.

Yes, we’re all very happy with the cash Amtrak has paid back and we’re all just delighted with the impressive train service we have as a result of the government’s takeover. Any bets about whether GM will fare better?

June 1st, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Economy, Politics | no comments

Air France A330 disappears over Altantic, feared downed in storm.

I was in a conference today so I just got the news that an Air France Airbus A330 is missing over the Atlantic and is feared to have crashed into the sea. The plane was headed from Rio de Janeiro to Paris and apparently dropped off of radar off the tip of Brazil. The only landmass I can see in the area is Fernando de Noronha, a very small island chain about 220 miles off Brazil. The flight left radar contact beyond the island and no reports of a crash are yet to be had.

Officials are saying there were storms in the area and it’s possible the plane was hit by lightning. While it’s a very uncommon event, planes do get struck. Those that get hit can fly away from it with minor damage but that doesn’t rule out a strike to a very sensitive part of the structure or a hit that completely disabled key control systems. Either way, it’s a big ocean and any search is going to take time.

Keep the passengers and crew in your prayers.

June 1st, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Aviation, Human Interest | no comments