My Personal Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

"Gold rising the way it has, and the dollar falling the way it has, is a surefire inflationary signal and a lack of confidence in the U.S. economy is it not?"

Only a few more days until you can get the phone that's location-aware. Voice-recognizing. App-mashing and multitasking. It can connect you to anyone or anything at break-neck speed. It's more than a phone. It's a Droid. Check out the new site today. You’ll find many of the features Droid does for you.
In a world of doesn't, DROID DOES:

• Voice-activated search w/GPS
• High-speed mobile web
• Runs simultaneous apps
• SmartShade messaging

A poll released today by the Club for Growth shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman surging into the lead in the special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district to replace John McHugh, the former congressman who recently became Secretary of the Army.

The poll of 300 likely voters, conducted October 24-25, 2009, shows Conservative Doug Hoffman at 31.3%, Democrat Bill Owens at 27.0%, Republican Dede Scozzafava at 19.7%, and 22% undecided. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 5.66%. No information was provided about any of the candidates prior to the ballot question.

This is the third poll done for the Club for Growth in the NY-23 special election, and Doug Hoffman is the only candidate to show an increase in his support levels in each successive poll. The momentum in the race is clearly with Hoffman.

“Hoffman now has a wide lead among both Republicans and Independents, while Owens has a wide lead among Democrats. Dede Scozzafava’s support continues to collapse, making this essentially a two-candidate race between Hoffman and Owens in the final week,” concluded Basswood Research’s pollster Jon Lerner, who conducted the poll for the Club.

The white, split-level house sits in a middle-class Lawrenceville neighborhood, walking distance from an elementary school.

"The only that was was missing, it didn't have a picket fence," Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said.

Authorities said Thursday the house was a meth lab -- one of the largest federal agents have ever seen -- used by the violent Mexican drug cartel La Familia.

"I'm shocked because this neighborhood is full of kids," said Brooke Payne, 30, who lives next door with her husband and son. "My son is 6, he runs around, across this yard to the kids who live over in the next house...It's just unreal."

Wednesday, she watched as authorities seized 174 pounds of crystal methamphetamine from the house on La Maison Drive and took La Familia members out in handcuffs.

It was part of a nationwide sweep officials called the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the U.S. In all, 303 people were arrested in 38 cities from Boston to Seattle.

In metro Atlanta, authorities arrested 31 people in Gwinnett County, three in Cobb and one in Clayton while recovering a total of 188 pounds of crystal meth, 17 kilos of cocaine, 13 guns and $50,000.

Gwinnett police officers raided 10 locations in that county alone. Rodney Benson, special agent in charge of the DEA's Atlanta Field Division, said metro Atlanta, Dallas and the Los Angeles area were La Familia's biggest operational centers.

“I endorsed the Republican who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, opposes the Obama health plan, signed the ‘no-tax-increase’ pledge, and supports a comprehensive energy plan like I do,” says Gingrich.

Third-party candidates like conservative Doug Hoffman, Scozzafava’s challenger, often serve only to divide the GOP, says Gingrich. “Just look at what’s happening in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race,” he says, pointing to the campaign of independent candidate Chris Daggett, who has siphoned support from Republican candidate Chris Christie. “What’s happening in New York and in New Jersey should be a sober warning to every purist in this country.”

“If you seek to be a perfect minority, you’ll remain a minority,” says Gingrich.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, if you want to talk about bias, shall we look at bias at every other network?

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Oh no, that's the fascinating conversation. I totally agree.

SCARBOROUGH: The bias at every other network in America except it's a different type of bias, it's a left-wing bias. You and I both know --

BRZEZINSKI: I totally agree with you.

SCARBOROUGH: -- as being in these organizations, Fox News is no more biased in its own way than the rest of the networks are in their own way. If you just look at the make-up of the people who work for every television network. How many Republicans do you see running around ABC? You worked at CBS. How many around CBS? How many around NBC? They aren't here.

BRZEZINSKI: Yes, although I don't think that CBS and NBC are actively pushing a perspective.
SCARBOROUGH: No, no they're not.
BRZEZINSKI: I think they try their best to be objective. And I think the issue there is the make-up of the population within those networks, perhaps may be predominantly one world view, which is an issue, but it's not an intent.

SCARBOROUGH: But Mika, based on what you've argued through the years, Fox is more intellectually honest than every other network, because you say we all have biases, we should put it out on the table. What is more dangerous, a network that says yes, we're center-right, or a news organization, let's just take one, CBS, that says we're objective, we're down the middle --

BRZEZINSKI: -- but we're all liberals and Democrats.

SCARBOROUGH: You know that everyone you worked for, they were all liberals, they were all pro-choice, they were all pro-gun control, they were all, I mean, let me ask you this question: when did you work at CBS?

BRZEZINSKI: Collectively, over a course of 10 years.

SCARBOROUGH: Give me years.

BRZEZINSKI: '90, 2001 to 2007.

SCARBOROUGH: OK, how many people that you worked for at CBS do you think voted for George W. Bush? Of all the thousands you worked for, how many people at CBS do you think voted for George W. Bush?

BRZEZINSKI: A very small percentage.

SCARBOROUGH: Maybe 1%?

BRZEZINSKI: I don't know.

SCARBOROUGH: Can you think--seriously--you don't have, just use your insight, your inside head voice here, can you think seriously of one correspondent, of one producer, of one anchor, that was a George W. Bush fan?

BRZEZINSKI: I can. I can think of one, yes.

SCARBOROUGH: How many did you work for?

BRZEZINSKI: Many more than that. And that's my point. You're making my point.

Over the last few weeks there has been an increasing amount of buzz about an unannounced Motorola smartphone due to come out some time between late October and early December. Rumored specs include a powerful OMAP3430 processor, 5 megapixel camera, slideout QWERTY keyboard and touch screen, all housed in a super-compact package and running Android 2.0. A handful of potential names have swirled around, included the Sholes and the Tao, but tonight Verizon has made it perfectly clear what the upcoming phone will be called: Droid. And Verizon is positioning it to be a direct threat to the iPhone in a new advertising campaign it launched at the site DroidDoes.com.

The sports media elicited comments from a handful of players, none of whom I can recall ever meeting. Among other things, at least one said he would never play for a team I was involved in given my racial views. My racial views? You mean, my belief in a colorblind society where every individual is treated as a precious human being without regard to his race? Where football players should earn as much as they can and keep as much as they can, regardless of race? Those controversial racial views? 

If you have given to the NRCC, RNC, or Newt Gingrich under the impression that they are using the money to support conservatism, you might want to ask for your money back.

As I mentioned in my column post on the NY23 special election, the NRCC is using conservatives’ money to back a radical leftist and attack a bona fide, viable conservative candidate for Congress in a safe Republican district. Gingrich has endorsed the radical leftist.

In addition to Scozzafava’s radical leftist record that I outlined this morning, Scozzafava is the proud recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award from New York family planners.

A recent ad for Vodafone featured Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton piloting his F1 steed, as if it were an RC car, using a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone. Many were fooled, some were not, but really it was just a wishful-thinking play by clever ad people.

But one such convergence of smartphones and automobiles apparently is legit. Computer science researchers at Berlin's Free University worked up this Chrysler minivan that can be controlled remotely by an iPhone app.

The team developed its iDriver app to manage the highly modified "Spirit of Berlin" autonomous vehicle using WiFi and the smartphone's controls. The unit's accelerometer controls steering, accomplished at hand by turning the device, while screen buttons control braking and acceleration. The system also sends a live video stream of the road ahead to the iPhone screen.

"As the old saying goes: Life doesn't last longer in socialist countries; it just feels like it." - Ann Coulter

"Government has never increased the standard of living of one single human being in civilizations history. For some reason that simple truth has evaded everybody. The only thing that creates an increased standard of living is giving someone a job, the demand for their labor." - Steve Wynn

This week's column is going to be a little different, as I'd like to discuss human nature and the paper we call money from a slightly different perspective.

I was recently thinking about what has transpired in this country in the past decade: first the equity bubble, then the real estate/credit bubble and the steady debasement of the dollar (where a trickle of trouble threatens to turn into a flood).

I have been struck by how few people seem to understand how all these events are related -- in that, at the root, they each have the irresponsible printing of money as the cause. (The sociological and psychological phenomena that go with that -- e.g., the regulators not doing their job -- are just part of the process.)

Each problem led to the next, and one year ago the financial system was bailed out at the risk of the country ultimately enduring a funding crisis.

One fact that strikes me is how few people seem to have been able to protect themselves from the first two (even though they were so obvious) and how so few will be able to save themselves from this third, huge problem.

In my own little world, I wrote until I was blue in the face about the risks inherent to each of those bubbles -- and others did, too -- but still only a small subset of folks avoided calamity.

Similarly, I have droned on forever about the weakness in the dollar and the necessity for folks to protect themselves via precious metals or some other idea. (I don't know what that idea is, or I would say, but there will turn out to have been other options.)

Give it up for the real rock star
Let's face it. Dollars -- the things we call money -- are simply pieces of green paper. They are just a state of mind. They have no intrinsic value and are just wampum. Thus, they're not worth anything. Furthermore, all paper currencies historically have lost all of their value.

Let’s get this straight. On Saturday, at a breakfast meeting of the Cherokee County GOP, U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal makes a reference to ghetto grandmothers. Two opposition campaigns are in the audience and catch the gaffe on video.

On Monday morning, Deal issues a quick but definitive apology: “I regret my choice of words and in no way meant to offend anyone.”

Three days later, the Deal campaign sends out this fund-raising e-mail:

Once again, the liberal Atlanta media has unleashed its venom on the Deal campaign and we’re fighting back

When Nathan was explaining his fight in Washington against health care benefits, one of our Republican opponents made an out-of-context video clip and placed it in the hands of the Atlanta media.

It is a classic example of desperation politics.

Nathan Deal: “It’s time for my opponents to put down their video cameras and stop taking my words out of context and join me in standing up for the taxpayers of Georgia. Providing health care for those who have violated our laws and are in this country illegally is costing hardworking taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Gwinnett County’s Superior Court judges have relieved Senior Judge James “Jim” Oxendine of his duties after learning of Oxendine’s involvement in negotiating a land deal for a developer.

The judges’ decision revolves around a Superior Court rule that prohibits senior judges from practicing law on the side, according to a Gwinnett County court official who asked not to be identified. Senior judges work part-time by doing fill-in work for Superior Court judges.

The action comes after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Oxendine’s involvement in a $1.16 million land deal in a Sept. 20 article.

Oxendine, the father of state Insurance Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine, did not return phone calls to the AJC. He issued a brief statement Wednesday through his son:

“Because of questions that have arisen regarding my executing certain documents with a power of attorney, last week I accelerated my retirement which had been planned for the end of the year. I want the people of Georgia to know that I have been honored to serve them.”

Oxendine previously told the AJC that he did not believe he was practicing law when he negotiated the land sale because the deal did not involve litigation.

The court official said the majority of judges disagreed.

Oxendine, who has worked as a senior judge since 2002, negotiated the deal for developer and family friend Joe Dixon, the stepson of prominent businessman Randall Dixon.

Joe Dixon sold the land — a total of 8.27 acres along Lakes Parkway, west of Lawrenceville — to Gwinnett County government, which plans to develop the property into a park.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- A Superior Court judge in Gwinnett County abruptly cleaned out his office last week and left the bench -- Jim Oxendine, father of Insurance Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine.

The judge signed papers for a land deal that is now under investigation.

Since 1992, Jim Oxendine worked as a Superior Court judge in the Gwinnett County Courthouse.

Last week, according to one Gwinnett County official, "The (other Superior) Court judges informed him that they would not utilize his services as a senior judge any longer."

Three additional Gwinnett County court officials confirmed that for 11Alive News, but did not want their names used. Oxendine vacated his office Friday, according to Court Administrator Philip Boudewyns -- but he would not say why.

The Gwinnett District Attorney's office provided 11Alive News public records with Judge Oxendine's signature. It appears several times in a real estate transaction that is now under investigation by the DA. The land, near Lawrenceville, was sold to Gwinnett County. The DA is asking a grand jury to investigate whether the county illegally used tax dollars to purchase this and other parcels from well connected landowners.

Jim Oxendine is listed on the paperwork as the power of attorney for the seller of the land near Lawrenceville. His secretary's signature appears as the notary public -- and Oxendine gives his address as the Gwinnett County Courthouse.

Porter says the signatures show the judge was practicing law on the side.

"A full time judge cannot practice law, period," said Jim Elliott, associated dean at Emory Law School.

Elliott says a judge who practices law on the side can be removed from office.

Judge Oxendine lives in Duluth, where 11Alive's Doug Richards tried to reach him Tuesday afternoon.

A woman identifying herself as his wife said the judge was out.

Richards called Judge Oxendine again Tuesday evening to ask about his abrupt departure from the bench. Oxendine himself answered the phone.

"I don't have anything to say to you sir," he said after Richards identified himself as a reporter with 11Alive News.

The judge then hung up the telephone.

And it's not just Exxon Mobil that's paying the freight. From 1977 to 2004, according to Tax Foundation data, U.S. oil companies cleared $630 billion after taxes while paying $518 billion in federal and state corporate taxes at an average rate of 45%.

Over the same period, an additional $1.34 trillion in excise fuel taxes was collected from consumers by the oil companies and turned over to various governments.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's big city police chiefs are backing an anti-terrorism community watch program to educate people about what behavior is truly suspicious and ought to be reported to police.

Police Chief William Bratton of Los Angeles, whose department developed the iWATCH program, calls it the 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch.

Using brochures, public service announcements and meetings with community groups, iWATCH is designed to deliver concrete advice on how the public can follow the oft-repeated post-9/11 recommendation: "If you see something, say something." Program materials list nine types of suspicious behavior that should prompt people to call police and 12 kinds of places to look for it.

Among the indicators:

• If you smell chemicals or other fumes.
• If you see someone wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the season.
• If you see strangers asking about building security.
• If you see someone purchasing supplies or equipment that could be used to make bombs.

The important places to watch include: government buildings, mass gatherings, schools and public transportation.

The program also is designed to ease reporting by providing a dedicated toll-free phone number and Internet Web page through which the public can alert authorities. Los Angeles has already begun its toll-free number and planned to put its Web site up this weekend.

"A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around the smart phone and spiritual poverty will come upon you like a robber."