Canales News Briefs

August 13, 2004

"...Been dazed and confused so long it's not true

Wanted a woman never bargained for you

Take it easy baby, let them say what they will

Will your tongue' wag so much

When I send you the bill?..."

-Partial lyrics from the song

"Dazed and Confused", by

Led Zeppelin

To All,

Will the Party Bosses in the Democrat Party stand by any other position as much as their maniacal need for political power?:

They Are Expendable:

In 1998 the Democrat Party (including the New Jersey contingent) stood by Bill Clinton in the face of adultery revelations and a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former state government employee. To this day the echoes of their defense against the charges of harassment and perjury is well remembered as one questioning whether it is anyone's business as to what consenting adults do in private.

But in 2004, the Democrat Party of New Jersey, at least, has turned 180 degrees on the principle of defending the private activities of it's elected members. In an announcement today, New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey admitted to an alternate lifestyle orientation, adulterous behavior, a potential sexual harassment lawsuit by a former state employee, and announced that he would resign from office effective November 15, 2004.

Now, if one were to take McGreevey's announcement at face value, the only difference between the Clinton/Jones case and the McGreevey/Cipel case is the lifestyle orientations of the latter. Hints of corruption of McGreevey's administration have yet to be proven, though anecdotal comments from the New Jersey press seem to be leaning in that direction. Still, what will the vaunted base of the Democrat Party think of such a forced walk off the plank of one of their own?

In reality, experienced activists will expect that the Democrat Party regulars will shrug it off and soldier on. After all, if they are not in power it is clear that they do not have a death-grip on the steering wheel of political patronage. It would be interesting to watch the reaction over the next few weeks of those loyal Democrats who would normally have a reasonable expectation of equal treatment, and equal support, for the foibles and peccadilloes of a member of any particular Democrat interest group. But McGreevey's forced expulsion from the Governorship of the Garden State is a remarkable example of the primacy of political power over all other ideals in the Democrat Party's lexicon. Hopefully the voters will take this into account when they vote in November.

Story may be found at:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/
US/mcgreevey_040812.html?CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

All I Want For Xmas Is......:

Fox News is reporting on the next possible personal weapon system for the U.S. military.

Called the XM-8, it's use of composite mold forms gives it an unusually high profile for a firearm designated for troops that may need to hug dirt when the organic waste products hit the oscillating cooling device.

Still, it's modular construction makes it ideal for not only the standardization-happy Pentagon, but for civilians who would like to tinker with a semi-automatic rifle system in any post-1994 Crime Bill period. Given that additional sales of a "civilian-legal" version would help reduce set-up costs to the US government ( and thus save the taxpayer a bundle), the sunsetting of the 1994 Crime Bill is happening just in the nick of time.

Story may be found at:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128512,00.html

Both Sides Now Update:

Imagine the following scenario:

Next week staff from the EPA's Region 1 make short visits to the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. They politely inform said elected officials that, pending resolution of the issue of a Federal nuclear waste facility in Nevada, the states are to no longer permit the generation of additional radioactive waste products that require underground disposal. Naturally, when queried about the progress of the opening of the Nevada facility at Yucca Mountain, the EPA officials remain non-committal and note that the "political environment" makes it hard to say when the facility would be able to start accepting waste shipments.

Also imagine that similar conversations are being held in other EPA regions, where the governors of such states as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Arizona, Michigan, Oregon, and even California are given similar direction. Then stand back, and let the chips fall where they may.

In essence, all nuclear medicine would come to a screeching halt. Nuclear power plant operations may be curtailed, and the nation's strategic deterrent may become compromised.

Of course, citizens dependent upon the continuation of the above nuclear-related products will need to know why said events are coming to pass, and who may bear any particular responsibility for the current status of the Yucca Mountain facility. One answer would obviously be John Kerry, the current political candidate who is trying to "make hay" by telling the voters of Nevada that he has voted against the nuclear waste respository "...consistently...", as AP writer Pete Yost has put it.

Now, in a fair world, each state should be preparing it's own nuclear waste storage facilities. Unfortunately, geography, geology, and the hostility of potentially affected communities would most likely stand in the way of any additional facilities being created. For example, if Ted and the Rest of Klan Kennedy are adamantly opposed to non-polluting wind generators off the Hyannisport beaches, one can only imagine their reaction to the creation of a nuclear waste depository anywhere "upwind" of Cape Cod (Given that the winds generally blow west to east in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, every place is "upwind" to the Kennedys).

Or imagine that the hospitals and clinics of the Bronx and Brooklyn were to be required to dispose of their nuclear medical waste within their own communities. One can only imagine the "harumphing" from Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton as to such a fair-minded proposal.

But what would ideally be an affect is a public's calling Kerry to account for his politicizing of the problem of nuclear waste storage in this country. In this case, almost every other state but Nevada has an extremely parochial interest in "...sticking it to...", er, um....making sure that Yucca Mountain remains a viable disposal option when it comes to nuclear waste. This may be, in fact, the one time when Kerry's attempt to lip-sync the song "Both Sides Now" finally gets him kicked off of "American Idol". Stay tuned.

Story may be found at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/
archive/2004/08/12/politics1556EDT0579.DTL

Respectfully,

Anthony Canales

SFVMC-NRA