We have a verbal war between Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Pennsylvania's Environmental Secretary, Michael Krancer, told a Wayne County business group (the epicenter of Marcellus Shale country) Delaware really doesn't have a dog in the fight over regional restrictions on fracking, and sometimes "they (Delaware) smell like the tale of a dog. And (Delaware) is shaped like a dog with a tail. This is the tail wagging the dog."
Pennsylvania's Republican leaders are livid Delaware and New York have been able to delay fracking.
Loudell's sarcastic comment: Considering conservative Republican worship of the Founding Fathers and Original Intent, it's striking Krancer would show such disdain for the First State. After all, Delaware separated from Pennsylvania in utero, a month before the Declaration of Independence, so the tail (Delaware) is indeed detached from the dog (Pennsylvania).
More pertinently, can those of us downriver trust any drilling in Pennsylvania when that state's environmental secretary talks with so little restraint?
Jurors in the murder / rape retrial of James Cooke Junior voted 11-1 for death on one murder count, and 11-2 for death on a second murder count. Nearly seven years have passed since Kathleen Bonistall first learned the shocking news that her daughter, Lindsey, had been murdered.
The case of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng may either quickly come to a close (with Chen & family going abroad) or could linger for some time, much to the political discomfort of the Obama Administration. I suspect the Obama Administration thought it had an understanding with Chinese officials (i.e., those in the Foreign Ministry), only to have the deal quashed by harder-line officials.
This suggests vague parallels to the Iranian hostage crisis, when Carter Administration officials thought repeatedly they were on the verge of a breakthrough, only to discover the Iranians with whom they were negotiating didn't have the real power. China is undergoing a leadership transition, and some of this may reflect a power struggle. In such internal battles, it never hurts to be seen as unyielding on dissent and/or U.S. "interference" in China's internal affairs.
Russian Chief of Staff Nikolai Makarov threatens Russia would carry out a pre-emptive military strike on U.S.-led, NATO missile defense facilities in eastern Europe if the United States proceeds with plans to build a missile shield. Makarov's statement didn't seem to indicate an immediate threat, but appeared to be Moscow's way of increasing the pressure on Washington to accede to Russia's demands. This represents the final U.S./Russia get-together before a NATO summit in Chicago later this month. The Obama Administration famously sought a re-set in U.S./Russian relations but the missile shield seems to derail better relations every time. This latest threat from Russia's top military officer undoubtedly will buttress Mitt Romney's argument Russia still represents the #1 geopolitical threat to the United States. Obama Administration officials had seized on Romney's comments to suggest the former Massachusetts governor is caught in the Cold War, hopelessly out of touch. While we may have these flare-ups with Russia, I personally think China is our #1 geopolitical threat.
Former Presidential foes Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum get together in Pittsburgh Friday to find common ground in a state where Romney's polling numbers have slipped in recent weeks. However, Quinnipiac University's polling in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida find Mitt Romney ovetaking President Obama.
A survey from the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Ohio's Xavier University finds about a third of U.S. citizens would FAIL the civics portion of this country's citizenship test for immigrants.
For the past week we have heard over and over and over how Obama bravely took out Osama...and I agree it was a good decision. So, why did Obama promise to stop all operations in Pakistan that target Al-Qaeda?
Allan: Good commentary on the Delaware vs PA and fracking, and PA's Environmental leader's rather negative attitude towards Delaware.
That attitude was part of the reason the "lower three counties" left the Quaker State and became the First State back in 1776. So the more things change, the more they stay the same.
teatime
Fri, May 4, 2012 1:32pm
Not sure why any of us should care what happens to a political activist from China.
Are there people in China who are really concerned about activists in the United States?
Has the Chinese government been putting pressure on Mayor Baker to let Occupy protestors stay in Spencer Plaza?
Silly. Really silly.
Allan Loudell
Fri, May 4, 2012 3:36pm
And here teatime, we have a classic illustration of the profound difference between you, a libertarian conservative, and many other conservatives -- plus internationalist liberals.
Our afternoon conservative host, Rick Jensen, has been spending a lot of time on this story today.
Mitt Romney and some House Republicans are pounding on President Obama for not doing more.
A guy who served as director for Strategic Planning in the National Security Council in the Bush Administration just told me on the phone ways he thinks President Obama could've been more pro-active.
The fact that this dissident was imprisoned for resisting Chinese forced abortions and sterilizations make this story all the more salient to anti-abortion, pro-life people, be they conservative or even liberal.
Your complete disinterest in the issue may spell, in a nutshell, why Ron Paul supporters still remain out of sync with most of the Republican Party and even pro-life Democrats.
Some conservatives have already suggested the Administration (Hillary Clinton?) rushed the issue and inadvisably had U.S. Embassy officials persuade Chen Guacheng to prematurely leave the embassy when the U.S. side didn't have an ironclad guarantee from Chinese officials over how Chen would be treated. (Remember Ronald Reagan's "Trust but verify" with regard to the Soviets? Same principle.) That, because all this was taking place at a very awkward time for a human rights controversy with the People's Republic of China: Just before Secretary of State Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner were set to arrive in China for economic negotiations. And, of course, some of the President's corporate backers, such as G.M. and G.E., have seized the chance to expand their Chinese operations.
Allan Loudell
mrpizza
Sat, May 5, 2012 3:24am
Let's drill baby drill and frack baby frack!
Mike from Delaware
Sun, May 6, 2012 11:05pm
A friend sent me this cartoon on youtube. It features: Obama, Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, Both Papa and Jr. Bush, Nixon, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's well done and makes a good point. I think most of you here will agree with it and even if you don't, you'll enjoy it. It's also entertaining. Here is the link:
MFD: This one video settles every argument that's happened on this blog for the last 6 months! Great job, man!
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