Senator Nelson: vote no on cloture

On his website, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) emphasizes that he has only decided to vote to open debate on health care reform.

U.S. Senator Ben Nelson

Senator, we will be watching your vote on cloture to end the debate tomorrow very carefully.  Here’s the letter I just sent to Senator Nelson:

the looming cap and trade disaster

My letter du jour to Congressman Griffith:

Dear Congressman Griffith,

I applaud your vote against the Cap and Trade bill in this morning’s “test vote”.  It’s a massive tax hike/power grab based on pure pseudoscience.

I would request that you not only vote against this bill when it comes to a live vote, but also speak out strongly in a leadership role against it.

We Americans are growing very weary of these supposed “emergency” bills that must be rushed to vote right now or else.  We’re not being given reasonable time to review the text of these voluminous bills.  I suspect our representatives have no time to truly digest them, either.

Vote NO, lead NO on cap and trade.

Respectfully,

Dave K. Smith
Huntsville, AL

Linux-friendly audiobook mp3 downloads

(UPDATE 2009-09-23): LearnOutLoud.com has outstanding technical support if you ever have trouble with your downloads.

Today I found my Linux audiobook solution. LearnOutLoud.com allows paying for and downloading audiobooks in MP3 format. No annoying proprietary client-side app required. Books purchased in the past are available for later re-download from my LearnOutLoud account if I need them. Wow, it’s so nice not to be treated like a common criminal! Thanks very much, LearnOutLoud.

their customers aren't criminals

Jack Pelton gets it

Kudos to Jack Pelton, the CEO of Cessna, who’s showing the courage not to sprint off the zero-sum cliff with the rest of the economic know-nothings.  Make no mistake, the control freaks advocating curbed use of business jets are either environmental extremists, anti-capitalist zealots, or both.

a CEO with courage

why the outrage over $140 million?

Obama’s $140 million inauguration has been watercooler and talk radio fodder over the last week.  Is that because people can wrap their head around the concept of $140 million, but not $X trillion?  In terms of flushing money down the toilet, we’re talking orders of magnitude difference here, folks.

greens tiring of “stirring up the sheeple”?

Paul Chesser’s calling them out over on AmSpecBlog.  Great work, Paul.

common sense in the NPS

Finally, some pragmatism regarding concealed carry in our National Parks.  An agreeable trade for the old Boy Scout joke about pepper spray, bear bells, and how to tell the difference between grizzly and black bear scat in the backcountry.

now you can leave THIS at home

sleepy survival instincts

Today, many of us solve a slight pang of “hunger” with a waltz to the fridge or a slight detour to the drive-thru. We spend less of our time meeting basic needs, and more on discretionary activities.

Our next meal is rarely in doubt, and we can easily spend a lifetime without experiencing a true fight-or-flight response for fear of becoming a meal ourselves. So it’s understandable that our survival instincts are dulled. Understandable, but not excusable.