Riehl World View

Or, Maybe: Bruce

A Lefty blog claims Clear Channel is censoring Bruce Springsteen. Or, maybe people simply don't want to be lectured about politics by a sixty-year-old with a guitar?

Springsteen's early stuff was great, but he's been averaging one good track per release if lucky for years.

The Mormon Issue

Like Ace, I wish people would get over it. There is no religious test to run for office in America and there shouldn't be.

Kucinich's Hidden Charm?

He's a sixty-year-old close encountering, unabashedly flaming liberal now questioning Bush's mental health when most people think it's Dennis that's the crazy one. But the dude obviously has something going on we're not seeing.

For the record, she's a 6 ft. tall, 29 year-old tongue-studded "hippie chick." And Kucinich wants to take up all of his time being President? He must be crazy.

A British girl from Essex, in southern England, may be the first lady with a tongue stud to have set her sights on the White House.

The wife of Dennis Kucinich, a left-wing Democratic congressman and 2008 presidential candidate, is a 29-year-old hippie chick from Upminster at the end of the London Underground’s District line.

Finally: Government Waste I Can Support

While it might be nice to think they'd accomplish something positive if they actually did anything, that does seem like a lot to ask when it comes to DC. While a house divided cannot stand, could we really stand one that wasn't divided while under the control of the current crop of Democrats?

“Congress is not getting it’s work done. We’re near the end of the year and there isn’t much to show for it. The House is wasting valuable time on a constant stream of investigations and the Senate has wasted valuable time trying to pull our troops out of Iraq.”

Another Zogby Farce

Simply reading the headline and kicker for the latest Zogby poll should tell you it's a bit of a farce, pumping up Hillary when the facts don't support it. It's accurate enough, but is it "true?"

Zogby Poll: 52% Support U.S. Military Strike Against Iran

Most see Clinton as the presidential candidate best equipped to deal with Iran, followed by Giuliani and McCain—but many express uncertainty

Define most. Given that it's still primary season and the lines between Democrats and Republicans are fairly well drawn between confrontation and appeasement, if anything the 52% number above suggests an edge for Republicans across a divided and ultimately undecided electorate. Below is the key graph.

When asked which presidential candidate would be best equipped to deal with Iran – regardless of whether or not they expected the U.S. to attack Iran – 21% would most like to see New York U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the country, while 15% would prefer former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and 14% would want Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain in charge. Another 10% said Illinois Sen. Barack Obama would be best equipped to deal with Iran, while Republican Fred Thompson (5%), Democrat John Edwards (4%) and Republican Mitt Romney (3%) were less likely to be viewed as the best leaders to help the U.S. deal with Iran. The telephone poll of 1,028 likely voters nationwide was conducted Oct. 24-27, 2007 and carries a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Support for Hillary, Obama and Edwards equals 35%. Support for the Republican alternatives equals 37%. That leaves 28% undecided but the 52% Iran-related number suggests a slight lean toward confrontation, or the Republican line on Iran.

In short, post-primaries, 2008 is a horse race with a slight advantage going to the GOP. After all, 52 - 48 would be a fairly decent win in the Presidential stakes, wouldn't it? While accurate, the notion that most Americans see Hillary as the answer given where things stand right now is just a Zogby invention to give Hillary a little more buzz. And given her significant national presence over years, frankly, any broad support simply isn't there.

When The Rainbow Just Isn't Enough

Click through and read it all.

It ain’t so easy being a ex-Muslim in ever-tolerant multi-culti Europe....

Rounding Another Corner In Iraq

This is news unlike what we are used to coming out of Iraq. It suggests much better intelligence, an on going trend - and that a divide and conquer strategy is working. With Al Qaeda on the run in Iraq, getting the rogue Shia weeded out is major.

Just 24 hours after the capture of 11 Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi Army has freed eight of the sheikhs. Meanwhile, Multinational forces Iraq has identified the Mahdi Army commander responsible for the kidnappings, and has begun to name other Mahdi Army leaders as being involved in criminal and insurgent activity.

I Guess Blogs Matter

Following up on a question I posited here - journalist Mike Drummond responded in email and asked if I'd mention it on the blog - see below. I think it only fair that if blogs are going to ask questions and often criticize media, we owe it to them to update the record as appropriate and treat them as fairly as we want to believe they report.

PS - Did Drummond quote a McClatchy colleague as a source without disclosing it as I questioned here? Or is there a no comment on that?

via email

Dan,
The piece in which I quoted Jenan Hussein was for Inventors Digest, a small, niche publication. I wasn’t on McClatchy’s dime when I wrote that freelance story. Her employer was wholly irrelevant in the context of that article.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Mike

Cesium-137 Detected In Scan

Here's the brief on Cesium-137, that's what was discovered in an outbond shipment of debris, ultimately headed to Hong Kong - link below. Without knowing the amount, or the source, the most likely guess would be someone disposing of it improperly.

What is it used for?

Cs-137 is used in small amounts for calibration of radiation-detection equipment, such as Geiger-Mueller counters. In larger amounts, Cs-137 is used in medical radiation therapy devices for treating cancer; in industrial gauges that detect the flow of liquid through pipes; and in other industrial devices to measure the thickness of materials, such as paper, photographic film, or sheets of metal.

TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Honduras authorities have found strong traces of radioactive material in a Hong Kong-bound shipping container carrying steel debris from an Atlantic coast port, officials said on Monday.

During a security scan on Sunday, officials detected high readings of radioactivity emanating from the container at the Puerto Cortes port, 115 miles (185 km) north of Honduras' capital, Tegucigalpa.

"We immediately declared an alert and have seized the container for inspection," Edwin Araque, the manager of Honduras' port authority, said on Monday.

The container belonged to a local company.

Docks and ports across the world are scanned for materials that could be used to produce nuclear or dirty bombs. Puerto Cortes was declared a safe port by the United States more than a year ago.

A government official said the material found in the container was Cesium-137 and could have come from a hospital.

It is often used to sterilize medical equipment and also has a wide range of industrial applications. In March, Spain halted production at a steel plant after workers found the material in a truck.

A Sure Sign You're "Around The Bend"

Call it over the top, around the bend, disconnected from reality, or just plain crazy, but when you post statements like this one, you are certainly beyond the point of being taken seriously.

Another few hours and right-wing blogger Howard Kurtz will have a full Washington Post column on this. Add this to their always-expanding list. I'm honestly interested in knowing: what else besides abject stupidity can explain this? I mean that as a serious question.

That's Glenn Greenwald posting on his email flap, a round up of blogging on the issue available here.