On-Line registration? Is on-line voting next?

Every election year you read stories about the low voter turn out and the apathy of the electorate. The next day someone comes up with an easier way to vote. I am happy with the way we vote and the numbers of voters who turn out. If you don't care enough to figure out who you want to represent you, for goodness sakes, don't vote. If you want to make things better, purge the voter roles after every election cycle. That will eliminate some of the fraud.

What I oppose is the gerrymandering districts where incumbents win 99% of the time. If you want to fix something, fix that.

Legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to
allow Yolo County to create a pilot project for online voter registration passed
off the Assembly Floor on a 47-32 vote Tuesday.
Assembly Bill 2191 would let
the county coordinate with the Secretary of State's Office to conduct a pilot
program for the November 2007 local election through which current voters could
reregister to vote online.

"My bill will provide UC Davis students,
staff, and faculty the opportunity to reregister using a secure online
connection," said Wolk. "The bill ensures that California's rapidly advancing
technology is used to make the registration process more accessible, helping
voters stay active.

What is Memorial Day Dad?

A question my son asked me a few years ago. While he knew it was three day weekend and the start to counting down the school year, he wasn't sure why he had a day off. I told him Memorial Day is day when Americans remember the soldiers who fought and died in war. A day to think about the price paid by young men and women long ago and yesterday who gave their lives to protect this nation. Protect us from threats all over the world, and right here on our soil.

Myrna Blyth has a great piece over at NRO

This is a three day weekend. Many people are just now waking up in tents and motor homes to burning bacon and instant coffee. Many are mowing the lawn in preparation for the BBQ they will have with friends and family. It is fitting that we do this, this is who we are, what we are about. .I would also hope that during this weekend that at some point you take a few minutes to remember why you are so fortunate, why you are able to leave your home and travel to see our great nation, secure in the fact that your house will be there when you return. There will be no revolution this weekend, no military coup.

As Americans we enjoy a very precious gift, a gift that few on this planet posses, the gift of freedom. Free to say what you think, free to protest your government, free to make other people angry, free to be a jackass. You are also free to reach as high as your talent and determination will enable. Free to throw off your past failures, free to start over and start climbing up that hill again. Your freedom is what you make of it. But no matter what you do with it, remember that it was purchased at great price. Those who are buried in your local cemetery and on foreign soil gave all they had that this nation would long endure.

I would leave you with portions of a letter written by Major Sullivan Ballou of the Second Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers. In July of 1861 he wrote to his wife Sarah.

My very dear Sarah:
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure -- and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing -- perfectly willing -- to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows -- when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children -- is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?

I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.

I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles I have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me -- perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours -- always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

Sullivan

Say Goodnight Larry, please.

Larry King the 'master of the news talk show' may be put out to pasture. CNN must keep looking at his time slot hoping that another Laci Peterson case comes along soon to get his ratings up. When King is forced to do real interviews, his ratings sink like a rock. No one cares what Merv Griffin is doing now Larry, really we don't.

Last night's shellacking came at the hands of;
Hannity and Colmes with an average of 300,000 viewers.
Countdown with Keith Oberman with 139,000 viewers.
And Larry with a magnificent 83,000 viewers in the 25-54 (money) bracket.

Good Heavens Larry, when you get smoked by Keith Oberman..... C'mon, its Keith Freaking Oberman! Wow, you got troubles.

"CNN sources say the network is starting to search for gentle ways to tell talk-show host Larry King that his long run may be ending,"

But wait, there is the dreaded 'vote of confidence statement' Just ask NFL coaches what that means. Don't buy any green bananas Larry.

A CNN spokesperson responds: "As we have said before, Larry King is going nowhere. There is absolutely no truth to this idle speculation. Larry is a talented broadcaster who continues to interview legends, newsmakers and heads of state every night. He pioneered cable television with CNN and we are proud to have Larry in our lineup."

It is time to call it a career. Go home to your 47 year old wife and be happy. If I were 72 years old and had a 47 year old wife at home, CNN would have to drag me into the studio kicking and screaming. But that's just me.

AT&T to Nunez - Your 2 Million Dollars, Delivered

I am thinking of running for office, seriously. I make decisions every day. Rarely, OK never, do those who would be effected by my decision offer to hold a fund raiser in my honor at Pebble Beach where I can raise almost 2 Million dollars. I want to be Speaker of the Assembly.

The Democratic Party raised nearly $2 million during a Pebble Beach fundraiser this weekend with the help of AT&T, a company that stands to benefit from cable legislation advocated by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.

Nunez, D-Los Angeles, headlined the 'Speakers Cup' event at a Monterey County golf resort where lobbyists and business executives paid between $10,000 and $45,000 for a weekend outing with state lawmakers. The event raised $1.7 million for the Democratic Party, said Kathy Bowler, the party's executive director.

The event is among the most lucrative fundraisers for the party and has been sponsored by AT&T for several years. This year's event came a month after Nunez introduced legislation that would allow telecommunications companies to get into the cable business

Fabian says the two are unrelated.

Whew, do you smell that?
It smells like a huge load of horse manure.

Faith in the next generation? You bet.

I often complain about the twenty-something knuckleheads I see on the news and around Davis. The Birkenstock and cargo short crowd with an 'Impeach Bush!' bumper sticker on their Prius. Sometimes they bring me to the conclusion that the I-Pod/Gamer generation is going to be a drain on our nation. Contributing nothing meaningful to our society, just learning more effective ways to bitch about what is wrong with America.

Then I come across a story like this.

Crystal admits she wasn't thrilled with Brian's decision to join the military. When he first told her, she threatened to end the relationship. But the threat was half-hearted.

"I know if we hadn't stayed together I would have really regretted it," she said.

So Crystal married her high school sweetheart, vowing to support his decision.

Brian is expected to return from Iraq in September...

Stephanie Jaime also is expecting her husband back in the fall. David Jaime is a corporal in the Marines and has been in Iraq for three months....

The husband and wife, both 20, have been married for two years. They have a 2-year-old son, Jonathan, and Stephanie is expecting a second child in October.

She worries her husband is missing many of their son's milestones. Trying to explain to Jonathan why his father is away is the most difficult part of being separated, Stephanie said.

"I just tell him Daddy's at work; he's fighting the bad guys," she said.

These two average women, bearing a burden that we can little understand, make me feel as though our nation will continue to hold on to the basic principals that make it what it is.

I wish nothing but the best for Crystal Fowell and Stephanie Jaime. I will pray for their husbands safe return and think about how silly I am to complain about my small little problems. These two families are what is right and good in America.

Why the kook left is going to get you killed

Just listen to this guy. Can you imagine if people like him were in control of this country?

Also included, with about half of the names on the petition, are comments that people posted on the website. Almost all of them, Mr. President, are polite comments that need not have scared you way. Reading through thousands of them, I'm struck by the insight and the eloquence of the various points of view you so routinely ignore.

While the comments are for the most part not rude, many of them are angry, and even those that are not angry are opposed to your policies, Mr. President. In fact, a lot of them ask you to resign or promise that you will be impeached. I'm wearing a shirt that reads "Impeach Bush and Cheney" not because I'm angry with you, not because I hate you, and certainly not because I support the last president who was impeached or his corrupt warmongering wife. Mr. President, I want you impeached so that we can have peace in the world and a democracy in America, so that you will stop killing Iraqis and not begin killing Iranians.

Look, I don't care why you are wearing your impeach Bush/Cheney t shirt, and I couldn't give a rip if your mad. You are a danger to this nation. You and your peace at any price friends would sit back and allow Iran and every other mad man with enough cash to acquire nuclear weapons.

I thought all you pacifist hated nukes? Or is just American capitalist, imperial nukes that make your panties bunch up?

If Iran had such weapons, that would not justify the use of force, any more than any other nation would be justified in launching a war against the world's greatest possesor of nuclear arms, the United States. The most effective way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons would be to closely monitor its nuclear energy program, and to improve diplomatic relations -- two tasks made much more difficult by threatening to bomb Iranian territory. We urge you to lead the way to peace, not war, and to begin by making clear that you will not commit the highest international crime by aggressively attacking Iran.

Closely monitor its nuclear energy program? What world do you live in? Certainly not the real world, the one where you simply can't afford to trust that a nutter like Ahmadinejad is going to keep his word. He has already lied about Iran's nuclear program being built for energy, the UNAC found traces of weapons grade uranium in one of Iran's 'peaceful energy' sites.

But I guess that we have nukes, China has nukes, why not poor Iran. What is the big deal?
Because Iran is run by a guy who wants to bring about the end of history.

Now, if you believe him when he says he just wants to develop a peaceful civilian energy program, why won't you believe him when he says he wants to bring about the chaos that will lead to the return of the 12th Imam?

This is not the time to give peace a chance, this is the time to tell the Iranian people that you have allowed crazy, dangerous people to run your country. You had better summon up the courage to overthrow these Islamo-fascists or very bad things will happen to you.

The Da Vinci Code, the wrong crowd for a premier, unless...

If you are going to premier your film to the ultra chic and sophisticated crowd at Cannes, you better have something more provocative than a married Jesus. The reception among the Cannes crowd was rather tepid. If Spielberg, Howard and Hanks wanted to woo the French Riviera and Hollywood types they should have made the movie's plot revolve around Jesus being gay.

That's right, The Brokeback Code.

At least co-star Ian McKellen would have been happy.

I am sure Hollywood is working on that one too.

Colin Powell - an unquestioning spearchucker in Mr. Bush's war.

I need a little help here. I understand the 'N-word" controversy going on inside and outside of the black community. I don't agree with it at all, but I understand the argument. Are you using the word with an 'a' at the end or an 'er'. Are you black or white. Is it being used as a term of endearment? Then it's ok in the minds of most young people in this country. If its being used as slander, then its not ok, and you could be fired or punched in the nose. I think people who use that word, regardless of color, are taking our culture down the wrong path.

Back to my question. When is it ok to call a black man a spearchucker?

Still, Powell rose higher than almost any black Republican by making the party faithful comfortable with his non-threatening and non-demanding presence on racial issues. Powell flamed out after his ego no longer allowed him to be an unquestioning spearchucker in Mr. Bush's war.

In my mind, never.

However, it seems that when the person writing the slander is black, then you get a pass from the same folks that would be screaming for your immediate termination as a columnists. Obviously, I don't get it. It could be my lack of education or my straight ahead view of life, but I believe columnist Sam Fulwood is full of crap.

"My deliberate use of provocative, incendiary - but not hurtful - language is to produce a reaction, to get people engaged, to cuss, to argue, to fuss with my ideas," he said. "If using that word made people mad, that's good."

Or it could be that Mr. Fulwood is a liberal and he was attacking Republican Ken Blackwell when he wrote the 's-word'.

Few black voters will forgive Blackwell for trying to suppress the black turnout in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. As Ohio's Secretary of State, he served as the Republican National Committee's leading storm trooper in the state, paving the way for George Bush to seize control of the White House.

I wonder what would happen if the roles were reversed. What if George Will called Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans fame an incompetent spearchucker in his war to place blame on the federal government.

Well, you can imagine the self appointed 'black leaders' Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson holding 24 hour a day news conferences from out front of Will's house. They would also be on Larry King Live every night until Will was forced to step down. Three days tops.

What will happen to Mr. Fulwood? A book deal and perhaps a few highly paid speaking engagements at Columbia or Harvard?

If I were a gambling man, that is where I would put my money.

Rove indicted?

Patrick Fitzgerald must like being the hero of the media elite. He wants another year of fame. If true, this one could hurt the GOP this fall.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald spent more than half a day Friday at the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm representing Karl Rove.

During the course of that meeting, Fitzgerald served attorneys for former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove with an indictment charging the embattled White House official with perjury and lying to investigators related to his role in the CIA leak case, and instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 business hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, did not return a call for comment. Sources said Fitzgerald was in Washington, DC, Friday and met with Luskin for about 15 hours to go over the charges against Rove, which include perjury and lying to investigators about how and when Rove discovered that Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA operative and whether he shared that information with reporters, sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said.

A new form of domestic spying.

Another Kos reader is born.

What a debacle, we win never win World War II

How the MSM of today would report World War II.

Just close your eyes and imagine Chris Mathews and David Gregory reporting in black and white from the Ardennes after the battle of the bulge.

Victor David Hanson is spot on.

We are only now coming off even more terrible losses in Europe, after being surprised by a supposedly defeated enemy in the Ardennes where another 20,000 Americans were killed and another 60,000 wounded or missing — again, due to our continued strategic incompetence and abject intelligence failures. Macabre reports of American bazooka shells bouncing off German Tiger tanks and our Shermans ablaze like Ronson lighters have only now come to light as we plow the Belgium countryside for yet another new American war cemetery. Tragically, this is not the first, but the fourth year of this war, when victory rather than endless bloodshed has been long promised.

We can't connect the dots if we can't collect the dots.

Lileks is brilliant. His off the cuff remark summed up this whole phone records controversy in one line. Do you want the Federal government to protect you and try to find the terrorists living down the street? You know how they do that? Data mining. If the NSA gets a phone number from a captured Al Qaida cell phone they look to see who he has been calling, then they look to see who that person has been calling. The mine this data looking for patterns, trying to find a terrorist cell.

I have been cruising the lefty-independent sites and the predictable '1984', the Constitution is being trampled, ect.

Even if they didn't listen to the actual telephone conversations, a pentrap (capturing numbers dialed) is ILLEGAL without a court order.

Bush deserves Hell. The FBI, ATF, CIA, and NSA deserve hell along with him.

It's treason to the Constitution and our laws. Pretty soon we won't have the laws and the Constitution to cite because all of these people are doing everything they can to try and abolish them and put in new laws that strip us of our rights.

I am sure the President and Dick Cheney are buying up all the surplus railroad box cars to start sending us off to the re-education camps just as soon as the Sperry Super Computer in the basement at the NSA has the list completed.

I don't like the idea that anyone is keeping track of who I call or where I go on the web, but it is happening. Mostly by the people you do business with. Somewhere out there you have a e-profile. What you buy, how you buy it, if you pay your bills on time, what websites you visit, for how long, how many minutes you spend on the phone during what times, and yes, who you call. You are a file that is bought and sold.

"As a general rule, Qwest does not release customer account information to unaffiliated third parties without your permission unless we have a business relationship with those companies where the disclosure is appropriate."

If the NSA can crunch this data, the same data the phone company uses to market products and services, to catch the next sleeper cell before they blow up my kid's school, I will live with it.

Is it legal? It depends on what your view of Article II is.

To summarize, my very preliminary sense is that there are no Fourth Amendment issues here but a number of statutory problems under statutes such as FISA and the pen register statute. Of course, all of the statutory questions are subject to the possible argument that Article II trumps those statutes. As I have mentioned before, I don't see the support for the strong Article II argument in existing caselaw, but there is a good chance that the Administration's legal argument in support of the new law will rely on it.

So I guess I will wait for President Bush to repeal the Bill of Rights while I pack my bag for the camps, or will I need any luggage?

I have used my cell phone while I gassed up. Why?

Because it safe, that's why.

The media keeps pumping out the stories. In 2004, the Poughkeepsie [N.Y.] Journal ran this scary headline: "Cell Phone Ring Starts Fire at Gas Station."

The story quoted the local fire chief, Pat Koch, as saying gas vapors were ignited by the ringing of a cell phone. But -- stop the presses and start shoveling -- just days later, Koch said: "After further investigation . . . I have concluded that the source of ignition was from some source other than the cell phone . . . most likely static discharge from the motorist himself." The truth is that anything that involves static or sparks can ignite gasoline fumes, including rubbing your rear end against a cloth car seat on a dry winter day.

At the University of Oklahoma, there's a "Center for the Study of Wireless Electromagnetic Compatibility," which researches the effects of electronic devices on our lives. The center examined incident reports and scientific data, and concluded that there was "virtually no evidence to suggest that cell phones pose a hazard at gas stations." The researchers went even further: "The historical evidence," it said, "does not support the need for further research."

Text of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Letter to President Bush, Exclusive!

This was leaked to me from an un-named source in the State department.

They believe the color of crayon is Crayola 'Tickle me Pink' or 'Pig Pink'. The CIA is doing exhaustive analysis of the colors to get inside the Iranian President's mental state. If Ahmadinejad used "Pig Pink' my source says he has become dangerously unstable.

The man is obviously crackers.

Flight 93

Very few movies leave an audience quiet and somber when they walk out the doors and back to the real world. I remember the same strange quietness when leaving Saving Private Ryan. My wife and I had watched it with another couple and when we walked to our cars I remember looking at my friend and saying, wow, that was powerful.

The story of Flight 93 is one we all know and there was no intrigue or plot twists to keep you wondering where it all would end, we all know where it ended, with a smoking hole in the ground near Shanksville Pennsylvania. But this movie kept me nervously fidgeting in my chair until the final credits rolled. The director chose to use more of a documentary style when making Flight 93. The quick cuts and moving camera angles makes it seem very first person, again a comparison with Private Ryan is in order.

I was hoping that the savage attacks inside the plane would not be too graphic and they were not, while you know what has happened, there are no close-ups or special effects of the murders of the flight crew and passengers. It is however, unflinching and powerful.

The passengers on that plane were in fact our first response to 9/11. They knew if they did nothing, they would die along with many more Americans. They chose to act, with the knowledge that they faced a very slim chance of success in re-taking the plane. But they acted. We will never know how many lives they saved, but we know what it cost them. It cost them everything.

The director, Paul Greengrass, also used this movie to show the terrorists as people. The movie begins with the plotters praying and reading the Koran in a hotel room, they seem sane, and acting with a purpose. I am relieved that this was not a Chuck Norris type of film, where the bad guys are crazy and stupid.

The film shows just what we face in this war. A patient, calculating and determined foe who cannot be reasoned with, or bargained with. They want to kill us, every one of us, down to the last innocent child. I believe that Al Qaida is here in America, waiting and plotting, planning to give us another day on the calendar to remember. We have 9/11, the English have 7/7, the Russians have 9/3, how many new days of infamy will we suffer through before we get it through our collective heads that if we do not kill these killers, the America we inherited from our fathers and mothers is going to be very different from the one we hand to our children. An America with armed soldiers on the street corners and suicide bombers at our malls and schools.

Flight 93 is a bucket of ice water thrown on a nation that has hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.

Throw another dachshund on the BBQ.

There's never a villain dwelling in all Denmark.

Well maybe not a villain, but a Prince with some exotic tastes.

Princess Mary's royal father-in-law Prince Henrik of Denmark has spoken of his taste for dog meat.

Prince Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark and father of Mary's husband Prince Frederik, has likened the flavour of dog meat to tender veal.

If there was ever a man who could afford veal, it would be the Prince of Denmark. On the other hand, he could afford to buy and eat every dog at the Westminster Dog Show.

Dude, just stick with the veal.

Things you don't have to worry about when you live in the city.

Someone stealing your irrigation pipe. This is no trivial matter, these jackasses cut up the pipe and take it to the recyclers where they get scrap price for it. I hope they make these guys irrigate the farmers field for two seasons to pay back the price of the pipe, plus 6 months in jail. That would be a fitting sentence.

Two suspects were arrested Thursday morning theft of irrigation pipe, arrested at gunpoint by Yolo County sheriff's deputies just south of Zamora. According to Capt. Larry Cecchettini the theft was reported at 11:30 a.m. when a local farmer viewed two people taking the pipe, later valued at around $1,200. The witness followed the suspects while calling notifying authorites by cell phone.

Woodland City Council 06'

From deep within the bowels of the Woodland Library, three men entered into a struggle to represent the people of their city.

Ok , so it was in the Leake room at the Library and the candidate were on their best behavior. The Woodland Republican Club held the candidate forum last night, Kirby Wells and Doug Young put together a very professional and informative evening for the fifty or so people in attendance. After a slight confusion with the starting time, it is Yolo County after all, the forum started with a two minute introduction from the candidates, then several question were asked covering a variety of topics. Most people wanted to hear each candidates positions on a proposed Permanent Urban Limit Line, or PULL on the June ballot as Measure A and flood protection for the city.

The first candidate to speak was Marlin 'Skip' Davies, a former Woodland teacher and administrator for the Los Rios Community College District. Mr. Davies spoke about his service to the community where he has served on many commissions and boards. He is a very polished speaker, while he retains his small town charm. Skip has a good deal of experience and he is not afraid to speak his mind. He supports a PULL as the best way to manage growth. He says that growth, in and of itself does not pay for itself. He proposes that any growth must be economically feasible. While he did not say a much, I am thinking that development fees and assessments must keep pace with the cost of delivering services.
Davies also said that the floodwall is a dead issue and other studies must be done to look into how to bring the city's flood protection up to the 100 year level.

Second up was local dentist Dr. Bill Marble. Dr. Marble has an impressive educational resume and service in the Air Force. He is very involved in community service and his church. Dr. Marble looks like a politician. He is smooth and speaks in generalities unless pressed. He reminds me of Senator Bill Frist. I'm sorry, he does. He also supports the permanent urban limit line and wants to find a 100 year flood protection plan that everyone can agree to.

The most interesting item of the night was a question from the audience about the City's agreement with 'Los Caporales' a Mexican Charo rodeo group who has held the lease on a city arena. The group has had some management shakeups recently and the City has had complaints about the safety of grandstands and other areas. The City is also looking into the group's insurance coverage and the lease agreement's price, which is considered low by some for the size and scope of the property.

Although the question was asked in English, Dr. Marble who is bi-lingual, answered the question in Spanish. There was a small silence after he finished and some one from the audience finally asked him what he said. He said that there must be better communication between the parties and he hoped that the situation could be worked out so they could stay on the property. It seemed a little glib that he would answer the question in Spanish and not translate it to English.

The last candidate to speak was Dan Ryhal, a local business owner and a former City Councilmen. As a matter of full disclosure, I have known Dan for a long time. Our softball team used to eat pizza and drink beer at Ricos after every game. That being said, Dan has what I call a workingman's education, University of Phoenix if memory serves me right. He was asked about the use of eminent domain for private development and said that he believes it to be un- Constitutional. He was also the only candidate that did not support a permanent urban limit line. His thought is once the line is drawn, that's it. The developers will start a bidding war for the land, and developers from all over California will buy up every piece of ground inside the line. Mr. Ryhal thinks that an urban limit line that is reviewed and amended by the city and the voters every ten years or so is the way to go. He is also very opposed to the floodwall idea and want to aggressively look at ways to improve the capacity of Cache Creek.

Notables in attendance included John W Jones, candidate for the first Congressional District. Also present was Roughstock Journal reader John Gould, candidate for the 8th Congressional District. Barbara Deiter spoke on behalf of Jeff Reisig, candidate for Yolo County District Attorney.

A bright spot in the night belonged to Brenda Cedarblade, candidate for 3rd District Yolo County Supervisor. Her two minute statement, ok four minute statement about flood control on Cache Creek from Lake county to the bypass was insightful and was referred to frequently by the candidates. She may be a Democrat, but I think she might be coming over to the darkside. Join us Brenda, and together we can rule the galaxy, or at least a small part of Yolo County.

A straight 'A' Mayor

The Mayor of Ault Colorado, achieved a high score yesterday.

Are we talking about his GPA? Nope

He scored a mind-blowing .04 on a Breathalyzer test. A 'four o' is better known as an 'A+' to the guys who drive the black and white cars.

His blood alcohol level of .04 was so high it broke the machine.
Dude, get some help.

Candidates forum in Woodland

Last night at the Woodland Republican Club meeting, three candidates for city council spoke and answered question from the moderator and from the audience. All three were Republican and while the Democratic candidate was also invited he did not attend.

I was impressed by all three candidates and while they did not agree on every issue, all were respectful and very professional.

I will post more tonight on the details.

This will send the left into a tizzy.

Administration Conducting Research Into Laser Weapon

The Bush administration is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit.

The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive. No treaty or law forbids such work.

The laser research was described by federal officials who would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of the topic's political sensitivity. The White House has recently sought to play down the issue of space arms, fearing it could become an election-year liability.

Again I ask, who is leaking this to the Times?
Why are our classified nation security secrets in print?

No War for Oil? How about natural gas?

Bueller? Bueller?

Where is the outrage? Hollywood? Elite Academia? George Clooney? (sound of crickets)

President Evo Morales of Bolivia has ordered the military to seize 56 foreign-owned oil and gas fields in a nationalisation move that hit shares of companies operating in the Latin American country today. - The leftwing President, who came to power on a platform of re-nationalisation, warned of similar action in other sectors. "We are beginning by nationalising oil and gas. Tomorrow we will add mining, forestry and all natural resources – what our ancestors fought for," he said in a May Day speech at the San Alberto gas field in southern Bolivia

Oh, I get it. When a government send troops in to actually take the gas fields away from the people who drilled and developed them, its ok as long the people getting screwed are the oil companies. I wonder what would happen if the oil companies had an army in Bolivia?

Candidate forum Wednesday evening in Woodland

If you live in Yolo County and want a little more information than what is on the candidate's yard signs, you should come to the Woodland Republican Club's candidate forum held on May 3rd at 7:15 in the Leake Room of the Woodland Public Library.


Jeff Reisig, candidate for Yolo County District Attorney will be available for questions and comments. Also attending will be John Jones, Republican candidate for 1st Congressional District and John Gould, Republican candidate for 8th Assembly District. I believe three of the City Council candidates will also be there.

I will post on the forum's highlights ASAP.

Recepco`n a los Estados Unidos, voto temprano y a menudo para los demo`cratas.

Roughly translated. Welcome to the United States, vote early and often for Democrats.

I think I heard someone say they should rename the Guest Worker Program the Guest Voter Program. I wonder how many Democratic voter registration forms were filled out today?

On the other hand, if I just left the third-world poverty of Mexico City to find work and opportunity in the US, I would vote for whoever would make it easier for me to stay. I don't know if I would protest the fact that I want to work and make a living here by not working.


I probably wouldn't know that these rallies were organized by ANSWER, a hard left communist organization. They have fooled most the protestors into thinking the marches are about immigration, when in fact they are just large May Day marches. The fever swampers have a new angle, if you can't get Americans to embrace communist socialism, just get new Americans who will.

I don't think the average protestor has a clue about the all the different forces working behind the scenes to get their messages out.