The Seventh Sense

Animals Falling Asleep

Awwwww....

Obama And Wright (The Latter Gets Thrown Under The Bus)

Well, I think Obama is doing (as I type this) what he needs to do.  Here in WInston-Salem, he is STRONGLY denouncing Wright.

Hopefully, this will put an end to the matter.

UPDATE:  Reformed log cabin Republican Andrew Sullivan:

That was a very impressive, clear and constructive re-framing of the core message of his candidacy; and a moment given to him by Wright. No one will ever be able to say that Obama threw his father-figure and pastor under the bus. We all know that the reverse happened. We also know that this clear repudiation of Wright's toxic, indeed "ridiculous" views on AIDS, 9/11 and permanent immiseration of people of color could not have happened unless Wright had made it necessary. Skeptics may wonder whether Wright actually deliberately did Obama a favor. I doubt it. But a favor it unintentionally is.

Maybe God does bring good out of bad. Maybe these racial and cultural divides can help us understand how better to move beyond them. Cynics may scoff - and certainly will. They will parse every nuance and try to paint Obama as another cynical, positioning pol. I don't believe it. He has more sincerity and integrity than the vast majority of politicians, more honesty, and more resilience in a very tough spot.

And today, we found that he can fight back, and take a stand, without calculation and in what is clearly a great amount of personal difficulty and political pain. It's what anyone should want in a president. It makes me want to see him succeed more than ever. It's why this country needs to see him succeed more than ever.

Okay, then.

Next manufactured controversy?

UPDATE:  The video.....

NC Polls

Rasmussen. 4/28. Likely voters. MoE 4% (4/3 results)

Obama 51 (56)
Clinton 37 (33)

The demographic results in North Carolina are similar to the dynamics seen nationally and in most primaries—Clinton leads by fifteen points among White voters while Obama leads 80% to 11% among African-Americans. Clinton does well among White Women and older voters while Obama leads among those under 65.

Among White voters who earn less than $60,000 annually, Clinton leads by a 2-to-1 margin. Obama leads among White voters who earn more than $75,000 a year.

PPP (PDF). 4/26-27. Likely voters. MoE 2.9% (4/19-20 results)

Obama 51 (57)
Clinton 39 (32)

Obama is clearly the odd-on favorite here, but Clinton has narrowed the margin.

McCain's Gas Tax Holiday Plan

As a clear campaign ploy, McCain has proposed a gasoline tax “holiday” during the summer driving season.  Basically, it means that federal taxes will be cut from the cost at the pump, thus making gas cheaper.

Senator Clinton has endorsed a similar plan.

Good idea?  Nope:

But economists and energy analysts say it would have little impact on mitigating the rise in gasoline prices. In fact, it could lead to the opposite result.

The federal gasoline tax represents a flat fee of 18.4 cents a gallon nationwide. With gasoline currently averaging $3.39 a gallon, the tax represents a mere 5 percent of today’s pump price. While that’s not trivial, consider that gasoline prices have more than doubled since 2004.

The problem is that lowering gasoline prices at the pump would encourage more consumption. So in the long run, it would push prices up.

***

“You don’t want to stimulate consumption,” said Lawrence Goldstein, an economist at the Energy Policy Research Foundation. “The signal you want to send is the opposite one. Politicians should say that conservation is where people’s mindset ought to be.”

Mr. Goldstein said that instead of freezing the federal tax, the government should help lower-income populations pay for gasoline.  It would be cheaper and benefit those households that need it most.

Unlike McCain, Clinton's plan also includes taxing the big gas companies, to make up for the lost revenue (which is used to make the roads better through the National Highway Trust Fund).  Problem with that is that the gas companies will just pass on the cost to consumers, and therefore, we won't be saving anything.

The problem with rising fuel prices can't be fixed with a bandaid like a "gas tax holiday" (which will only save you $25 to $30 bucks this summer anyway).

The only true solution is long-term, and it involves raising minimum MPG on cars, and conservation policies (car pooling, etc.).  That's part of the Obama plan, and it's the only one that makes sense.  Unfortunately, it's not a politicallyt expedient as those proposed by the other candidates.  Hopefully, however, people won't be lured by the dollar sign they think they're seeing.

In Which I Weigh In On The Miley Cyrus Controversy

I don't get it.

UPDATE:  Of course, the "controversy" about her showing her back (huh?) only makes this little video more interesting and kind of creepy:

Sis And Family In The Paper

Must not be much going on in Auburn Maine.

My sister and her family attended the local Empty Bowls Supper, and it made the newspaper.  (I went to the Empty Bowl luncheon last week here in Winston-Salem).  As the article notes, my nephew Zach was unable to attend.

But not to worry -- his whereabouts were covered in another article in the same newspaper....

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

$7 a gallon in 5 years?

As oil prices soared to record levels in recent years, basic economics suggested that consumption would fall and supply would rise as producers opened the taps to pump more.

But as prices flirt with $120 a barrel, many energy specialists are becoming worried that neither seems to be happening. Higher prices have done little to attract new production or to suppress global demand, and the resulting mismatch has sent oil prices spiraling upward.

....The outlook for oil supplies "signals a period of unprecedented scarcity," an analyst at CIBC World Markets, Jeff Rubin, said last week. Oil prices might reach more than $200 by 2012, he said, a level that would probably mean $7-a-gallon gasoline in the United States.

Get Out Of Reno

Big earthquake coming?

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Scientists urged residents of northern Nevada's largest city to prepare for a bigger event as the area continued rumbling Saturday after the largest earthquake in a two-month-long series of temblors.

More than 100 aftershocks were recorded on the western edge of the city after a magnitude 4.7 quake hit Friday night, the strongest quake around Reno since one measuring 5.1 in 1953, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The latest quake swept store shelves clean, cracked walls in homes and dislodged rocks on hillsides, but there were no reports of injuries or widespread major damage.

Seismologists said the recent activity is unusual because the quakes started out small and continue to build in strength. The normal pattern is for a main quake followed by smaller aftershocks.

"A magnitude 6 quake wouldn't be a scientific surprise," John Anderson, director of the seismological lab, said Saturday. "We certainly hope residents are taking the threat seriously after last night."

Well, if it happens, I'm sure FEMA will be there to help, just like in New Orleans....

Interesting But Ineffective Solution To The Gas Problem

Okay, then:

Rocky Twyman has a radical solution for surging gasoline prices: prayer.

Twyman - a community organizer, church choir director and public relations consultant from the Washington, D.C., suburbs - staged a pray-in at a San Francisco Chevron station on Friday, asking God for cheaper gas. He did the same thing in the nation's Capitol on Wednesday, with volunteers from a soup kitchen joining in. Today he will lead members of an Oakland church in prayer.

Yes, it's come to that.

"God is the only one we can turn to at this point," said Twyman, 59. "Our leaders don't seem to be able to do anything about it. The prices keep soaring and soaring."

Well, before we get all holy-rolling, perhaps we can elect leaders who aren't gas men themselves, we can conserve, and reduced our dependancy on foreign fuel sources.  Just a thought....

Wright? Riiiiight.

So it seems that black pastor Jeremiah Wright gave a speech at the NAACP and to the National Press Club this morning, and said some controversial stuff.

So I've decided I'm not going to vote for him if he runs for President.

Now can we get back to the issues?