KTRK 13 is reporting a welding-tank explosion at the Hughes Christensen plant on Grogans Mill Road.

Despite my being only .4 miles from the explosion, not only was I not engulfed in a fireball, I continue to sit on my fat butt in climate controlled air-conditioning, drinking individually-brewed cups of gourmet coffee while writing absurd reports telling out-of-state politicians how to manipulate public opinion.

According to news reports…

The tanks continue to burn, filling the sky with smoke.

While I can hear multiple choppers in the air, I see no smoke in the sky… although this may have something to do with my refusal to walk outside the air-conditioned bubble with my individually-brewed cup of gourmet coffee.

I’ll update as warranted.

UPDATED– Sounds of choppers still in the air; additional cup required, have decided to go with Diedrich’s “Paradiso House”.

UPDATE II– Both my cups of coffee and the crisis appear to have passed.

Algore knows shopping

Cancel the appointments, rush to the car, dash home and plant yourself on the couch. This afternoon, Oprah and The Goracle are going to save the world.

As Oprah’s website promotes:

It’s an urgent crisis that cannot be ignored and you could be part of the problem. Simple changes you can make that make all the difference. A huge eye-opener – what Al Gore wants you to know right now! And why he says our future depends on it.

Listen, people, Al Gore wants you to know something. So get with the program and hear His Gasbag-ness. Now - today. Tomorrow it could be too late.

(By the way, is there a woman in the world who likes to see her face splashed all over the place more than Oprah - except Hillary of course?)

And don’t forget - YOU are part of the problem. Oprah said so.

UPDATED BY BENZION– Good news; if I understand my email exchange with RickG correctly, he just promised to go home, get drunk, and live-blog Gore’s appearance on Oprah.

Way to take one for the team RickG!

UPDATED BY RICKG

I am doing show prep now. Burp. Excuse me.

UPDATED BY RICKG

The lovefest is on!

Algore and Oprah play footsies

(Hat-tip Benzion for “Gorprah” photo)

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) must be tired of people misrepresenting his religious views by now, as his rather heated discussion with an Iowa radio host shows. But more important to the voting public is that during the discussion, he made it clear that he would not impose his religious views on anyone.

“My church says I can’t drink alcohol, right? OK, should I say, as governor of Massachusetts, we are stopping alcohol sales? No. My religion is for me and how I live my life. So don’t confuse what I do, as a member of my faith, with what I think ought to be done by government.”

In other words, what part of “separation of church and state” don’t you understand?

That is a great answer. And in fact, while he was governor of Massachusetts, he managed to keep his religious beliefs to himself.

That’s not to say that because Romney was a Mormon, he could do no wrong as governor. Sure, he did nothing as governor, but that had nothing to do with being a Mormon.

As for his beliefs, I’m not a Mormon and don’t know much about the religion itself. I’ve known many Mormon’s and, as a group, they are people of high morals and character.

its pragmatic effect is to encourage people to become their best selves, to strive for good, to love their families, to be good citizens.

Who could possibly be afraid of that?

Regardless of what some pundits say, morals and character do matter in a president. Should people dismiss Mitt Romney simply because he professes faith in a minority religion? I think not.

Why not take the time to watch the discussion? The Republicans have a very good cast of characters running for President this time around, don’t listen to someone else’s opinion, form your own.

The still wet-behind-the(very big)-ears Barack Obama continues to reel from the brutal machinations of Hillary Clinton.

Like her or hate her, one had better respect her abilities. Since luring Obama into her trap of responding to charges - and by responding proving his incredible naivete - that his foreign policy positions are dangerous and foolish, Hillary has been beating him like a drum, and proving he is hardly in her league. Consequently, her numbers have been steadily rising and his falling.

WASHINGTON — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has significantly widened her lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of a dispute over handling foreign policy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.
The survey, taken Friday through Sunday, puts Clinton at 48% — up 8 percentage points from three weeks ago — and Obama at 26%, down 2 points. Among Democrats and independents who “lean” Democratic, former North Carolina senator John Edwards is at 12%.

It is somewhat refreshing to know that folks are starting to see through the phony that is Obama - all style and no substance. Oprah may still pant after him, but fewer of the voting public are.

The bad news? We’re left with only Hillary.

ADDENDUM

Is this whistling past the graveyard?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign sought on Monday to assure his supporters he is a potent force and that national polls showing a big lead for Hillary Clinton are of little consequence at this stage.

Doesn’t this sound similar to what John McCain’s people said when his campaign started circling the drain?

Ok, I feel compelled to respond separately (again) to bigjolly’s post regarding GOP presidential candidate and erstwhile governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. Huckabee isn’t within earshot of winning the nomination, I don’t want anyone to get the idea that he’s the pure, unadulterated conservative while the major candidates (including Thompson) all possess crippling flaws.

The skinny on Huckabee? He’s a lousy fiscal conservative.

Now, this gets thrown around a great deal, but I’ll start out with the basic facts. As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee was responsible for 37% higher sales tax, 16% higher motor fuel taxes, and 103% higher cigarette taxes. He opposed a repeal of the sales tax for groceries and medicine, opposed an internet sales tax ban, and criticized the Bush tax cuts for being tilted “toward the people at the top end of the economic scale.” On top of it all, state spending increased by well over 60% during his tenure.

Of course, I’m aware that Huckabee has “responded” to these allegations with letter emphasizing, in part, that he cut taxes 94 times, that when he raised taxes it was the public doing so, not him, and that the budget was beyond his control. However, none of these justifications wash. First of all, Huckabee’s tax cuts were dwarfed by his tax increases. In 1996, when Huckabee first entered office, Arkansas ranked 30th in the nation for its state tax burden. By 2006, it had risen to 13th with an average state tax burden well above the national average.

Secondly, it’s highly, highly deceptive for Huckabee to claim, for instance, that “over 80% of the voters of Arkansas supported a 4-cent tax on diesel fuel to fix the roads.” Sure, if you couple a tax increase that doesn’t apply directly to you (most people use unleaded) to a good cause (fixing roads) and then whip up a poll question based on this scheme, people are going to overwhelmingly support it. However, that’s not good policy.

Thirdly, Huckabee cannot argue that he lacked control of the budget process. As governor, he submitted initial budget proposals and ultimately had to approve the entire budget. He could have compelled spending cuts had he tried to use the full power of his office; he simply failed to do so. He is no more helpless in this process than President Bush is.

In short, Huckabee isn’t much of a fiscal conservative. If anything, he leans left on the issue.

However, Huckabee knows that his true intentions and his true record aren’t palpable to the Republican voting public, and so he’s trying to cover himself and make excuses. However, when you’ve presided over substantial overall tax increases and a much higher state budget, you’d better own it. Otherwise you certainly aren’t the only genuine candidate; you’re just another politician.

SNARKY INSERT: It’s a good thing BigJolly’s around to give Owen ideas to blog about.

CORRECTION: It is incorrect that Huckabee has not signed the no-tax pledge. He apparently refused to do so in January, but as changed his mind in early March and signed the pledge. The reference to Huckabee signing the pledge has therefore been deleted.

The Honorable Dr. Ron Paul is known among his supporters as a strict constitutionalist. He reportedly carries a pocket edition of the Constitution around with him. He’s railed against rampant and wasteful government spending, particularly at the federal level:

But today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don’t cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future — and yours.

That’s good, right? He’s a fiscal conservative. Not so fast. According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), it turns out that Dr. Paul may not be practicing what he preaches:

Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul — who is campaigning as a critic of congressional overspending — has revealed that he is requesting $400 million worth of earmarks this year.

The Wall Street Journal reports Paul’s office says those requests include $8 million for the marketing of wild American shrimp and $2.3 million to pay for research into shrimp fishing.

Well, he must have a good explanation for this. Here’s what his spokesman had to say:

Reducing earmarks does not reduce government spending, and it does not prohibit spending upon those things that are earmarked,” the spokesman said. “What people who push earmark reform are doing is they are particularly misleading the public — and I have to presume it’s not by accident.

Wow! That’s spin right out of Senator Robert “Barbaric!” Byrd’s play book, and reminiscent of Tom Delay’s “no more fat left to trim” comment a couple of years ago.

Here’s a pdf containing all of Dr. Paul’s earmark requests.

Flying the freindly skies of the Persian Gulf.

Click the pic for something you won’t see in the MSM.

Photo Courtesy of the United States Navy

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