Have Primary Elections become useless?

Mac Johnson is pessimistic about the choices available to the voter.

Primary elections are rapidly becoming nothing more than vestigial ceremonies, like the vote of the Electoral College. In the guise of “sparing” the eventual winner (as if anyone knows for sure who that would be) the expense and bad press of an internal fight, party insiders now openly choose the winner of the primary for the voters. They then force out or financially strangle all those who would dare to “split the party” by competing in an actual election. Not surprisingly, party insiders are the candidates that are chosen for the voters most every time.

He points to the efforts of the Republican Party to eliminate a challenger to the worthless Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island.

Technorati Tag lincoln chaffee republican

Right now in Rhode Island, the national Republican Party is doing everything in its power to force Republican voters to re-elect unpopular Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, by actively campaigning against his Republican primary challenger, Steve Laffey. Rather than voters using the primary to tell the leadership who to support, the leadership is using the primary to tell the voters who to support. “Orwellian” is an overused word, but it applies here.

Check out the rest of his essay here.

Leakers Beware

AJStrata thinks that the leakers are being cocky in their efforts to smear the Bush administration. He follows the trail to two Senators and thinks that the summer will find them being investigated.

Canadians Flee Socialized Medicine

Until recently Canada was the only industsrialized country that outlawed private medical treatment. Recently the Canadian Supreme Court said that private health care must be permitted and now (Katie bar the door) private clinics are springing up everywhere. Cafe Hayek has the details.

Technorati Tag healthcare canada

Babe Theory Redux

You remember the Babe Theory of Political Movements as expounded by P. J. O'Rourk? If not take a minute and review this.

Now, there is a muslim pop singer who is opening a new front in the war on Islamofascism. Dr. Rusty says she is hot.

More Reasons for Social Security Reform

I don't belong to the under 30 generation but I feel for them (and the 30 to 50's as well). If Congress doesn't act, there will be hell to pay and they still won't have a government retirement.

For those of us under the age of 30, there's no reason to expect to retire at age 65. There's also no reason for us to expect to receive a meaningful Social Security check at retirement.

Willisms has this weeks Social Security Reform Post ready. Read it and communicate with your Congressmember.

Technorati Tag social security

Oregon Takes the Lead in Property Rights

Long a state with little regard for property rights, property owners in Oregon have struggled for years to limit the ability of government to strip value without compensation. They have tried for years through ballot measures to limit the oppression but up to this point, the courts have found their efforts inadequate.

Suddenly, things have changed.

The Closing of Civilization in Europe

Europe's current problems are entirely self-inflicted. This does not mean, however, that the result will be less catastrophic. By subverting the roots of its own Judeo-Christian culture – a process that started with the French Enlightenment – a religious and cultural vacuum was created at the heart of European civilization. The collapse of faith in its own values has, not surprisingly, led to a demographic collapse because a civilization that no longer believes in its own future also rejects procreation. Today, a new religion and culture is supplanting the old one. There is little one can do about it, but hope for a miracle.

This is the introductory paragraph from an article in the Brussels Journal. The author thinks that the victory has already been ceded by Europe. Read the rest.

Kyoto or not Kyoto

Feeling guilty that the US will not sign on to the Kyoto Protocol? Get a grip.

The signers aren't complying. 13 of the 15 have increased - not decreased- their emissions. The two fastest growing and highest polluting countries are not part of it. And it hurts the economies of the signing countries.

Willisms details the problems with the protocol and the positive program the US is embracing.

Technorati Tag kyoto protocol

Tolerance

The 'Why' behind the Cartoons

Flemming Rose, the editor at Jyllands-Posten tells why he published the Mohammed cartoons which is printed in the Washington Post Sunday Edition. You may already have read it but, if not, do it now. One quote to peak your interest.

Has Jyllands-Posten insulted and disrespected Islam? It certainly didn't intend to. But what does respect mean? When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy.

Technorati Tag cartoon Denmark

Fraudulent Signatures on PG&E Petition

PG&E has spared no effort to challenge attempts by its Yolo customers to escape from high electricity costs and low service quality. Do these efforts include fraud? You be the judge.

Nearly one-third of the 1,600 signatures checked during a verification process turned out to be fraudulent or invalid. If that percentage stands, the number of valid signatures would be close to the minimum required to put the petition on the ballot.

Technorati Tag PG&E electricity

Yolo Judge was for eminent domain before he was against it.

Yolo Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall granted a motion filed by the ranch owners to remove the land from the county's effort to take the 17,244-acre water-rich ranch by eminent domain.

Fall ruled in November that the county could use its power of eminent domain to force the ranch landowners to sell to the county. County leaders say they want to preserve the property for habitat conservation. The condemnation has been the subject of intense controversy in Yolo.

More in the Bee
.
Technorati Tag kelo eminent domain

National Review Endorses Laffey

This is the first endorsement for Steve Laffey, the conservative, Republican challenger to Lincoln Chaffee for Senate in 2006.

" The worst possible outcome is only
that Rhode Islanders will trade a virtual Democrat
for a real one. "

The Chaffee campaign responds. Chaffee, through a spokesman, says that Laffey is no conservative but fails to argue that he is.

In contrast, Senator Chafee represents a winning blend of fiscal conservatism, traditional Republican values, and progressive ideals.

You judge. Anchor Rising has the details and be sure to look at the comments from Rhode Islanders.

Technorati Tage lincoln chaffee rino

Red Line Saturday

Saturday in Los Angeles without once getting our car out of the hotel lot. First stop - Langers for breadfast. Now they do make breakfast at Langer's but since we had our dinner already committed and lunch not in our plans, I had to have pastrami (and it was fantastic). Chopped liver and egg for my wife, half of which I carried around for the rest of the day along with a loaf of rye bread to take back to Sacramento.
Red Line from Civic Center to Westlake/McArthur Park, then one block to Langer's. After breakfast, back to the Civic Center for MOCA and a big comic book exhibit (maybe it's art but it doesn't grab me) and the Disney Concert Hall. The Disney is a real triumph. Pictures trivialize it's impact. Even better than the facades are the interior spaces. They flow in wonderful ways. On our self-guided tour, there were hardly any people in the lobbey and circulation spaces, but you can imagine them being even more fantastic filled with people. The curved walls are designed to capture light and bring it down into the interior spaces and they work wonderfully. Even the fire exits provide spectacular panarama's of downtown LA and the hills. We couldn't see the concert hall because of a rehearsal. We will just have to get concert tickets next time. I never would have imagined that the interior structural elements are paneled with wood. The interior is warm and welcoming in contrast to the cool, reflective exterior. Disney was the high point of the day.
Back to the Civic Center station for a trip to Hollywood which still isn't ready for prime time. Probably the best thing to do there is attend a movie in one of the classic Hollywood theaters like the Egyptian, El Capitan or the Chinese.
So much for Hollywood, back to the Hollywood/Highland station to visit Universal City Walk. It's a good diversion for a few hours and now we never have to visit it again so back to the Red Line and Hollywood/Highland for dinner at Musso & Frank Grill. Classic old Hollywood ambence, an old fashioned menu and real waiters in a room that looks like it did 50 years ago.
Then back to the Red Line to the Civic Center and our hotel where we closed down the Karaoki Bar. But that's another story.

I love LA.

Can't Live without New Underwear

But we won't buy anything else.

San Francisco is a hoot. Just when you believe it can't get loonier, the City digs deep and delivers another bunch of crazies.

About 50 teachers, engineers, executives and other professionals in the Bay Area have made a vow to not buy anything new in 2006 -- except food, health and safety items and underwear.

One member had this to say:

"It's just a relief to get away from the pressure to always have new clothes, gadgets and other things we don't need," she said. "And I find that I have more money to spend on the dried cherries for my Manhattans."

Don't miss the resto of the quotes.

Technorati Tag recycling San Francisco

P.S.

And maybe a bit of kick-ass Mexican food as well.

LA Weekend

Time for a great weekend in LA with my wife and a chance to see number one son. Flying into Bob Hope and staying in Little Tokyo, it is going to be a weekend of museums and dining... and a small matter of a couple of hours with my tax guy in Hollywood.

EPA Asbestos Story May be Inaccurate

Both El Dorado Hills weeklies (Village Life and El Dorado Hills Telegraph) report to day that recent tests ad analysis about the naturally occuring asbestos in El Dorado Hills show markedly different results from those done by the EPA suggesting that the EPA study MAY be flawed. The November R. J Lee analysis found that 63% of the "asbestos" fibers were identified incorrectly by the EPA study.

Given that the El Dorado High School District has spent $1.7 million in mitigation, the Rescue Union School District $2.7 million and the Folsom-Cordova Unified School District $5 million, this is not a trivial issue for taxpayers. When the flacks from the EPA cannot even tell what risk the community runs if their trumped-up analysis were correct, these mitigation costs are unconsionable. And the papers do not mention the increased development costs from the new County standards for dust control at construction sites which surely contribute to housing costs for the area.

Why doesn't the EPA do something useful and study what the actual risks of airborn asbestos particles. Next, they might avoid threatening local governments with possible legal action for groundless (or at least unproven) unsafe conditions.Then, finally, they might consider running good studies.

Technorati Tag epa asbestos el dorado hills

Cartoon Riots go Digital

We are inundated with news about Muslim riots about the Danish cartoons but the folks orchestrating these riots are more sophistocated than we think. Their attacks have gone digital.

Private Enterprise - To Infinity and Beyond

While NASA fiddles around with the disasterous, deadend of the space shuttle program, private enterprise builds an elevator.