Archive for February, 2010
Posted by Flap in Twitter
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Posted by Flap in Day By Day
Day By Day by Chris Muir
Chris, you are so politically INCORRECT!
Anyway, I am off early today to Venice Beach for Los Angeles Marathon training with my Roadrunner group. Today’s course will be north to 26th Street in Santa Monica and South to Marina Del Rey – 16 miles at race pace.
Only five more weeks to the Los Angelees Marathon.
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The Day By Day Archive
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Posted by Flap in Twitter
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When we spoke on Tuesday, he acknowledged speaking with Campbell about exiting the race for governor and entering the race for senator, making the point that Campbell had called him. He did not discuss, however, his conversations with Jim Cunneen.
Cunneen is a chair of the Campbell campaign. He was Campbell’s staff director in Congress and, with Campbell’s help (and that of Wilson and White), became a state assemblyman.
He is also a partner in White’s firm, California Strategies. Cunneen was intimately involved in shaping Campbell’s thinking on his candidacy.
+++++++
Meg Whitman has tried to clear the field but the truth has leaked out. Will she continue her plege to help Campbell financially at her political risk or screw Tom Campbell over? By the looks of today's fundraising numbers from Campbell it may be the latter.
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Wondering which members voted "aye" and "no" and who stayed on the sidelines d yesterday's rejection failed confirmation vote on Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado's lieutenant governor nomination?
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Note: Chuck DeVore is the only Republican not voting Aye. In fact, DeVore did NOT vote at all.
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Brandman University professor Mike Moodian tells Capitol Alert that he's invited Republican candidates Tom Campbell, Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina to square off on the campus of the university's sister school, Chapman University. Campbell and DeVore are on board and Fiorina's camp is expected to respond by early next week, he said.
Like the GOP gubernatorial debate Brandman hosted last fall, which Campbell participated in as a then guv-hopeful, this debate will integrate some questions submitted via Twitter. Also like last time, Bee columnist Dan Walters will join Moodian as a co-moderator.
"We think particularly with the Twitter angle, it's an effective way to engage the citizenry," Moodian said. "This would be a good opportunity for the candidates to come to Orange County and debate the issues … roughly five or six weeks before the vote-by-mail ballots are sent out."
The debate, tentatively titled "America in the 21st Century,"
+++++
Carly should accept.
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In an extraordinary legal power play, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted that Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, will be sworn in as lieutenant governor even after the Assembly failed to confirm him in a long, drawn-out vote Thursday.
Schwarzenegger's legal team said that Maldonado was effectively confirmed because the Legislature failed to put up a majority — 41 of 80 votes — to reject him.
The Assembly voted 37-35 to confirm Maldonado, with 28 yes votes coming from Republicans, eight from Democrats and one from the lone independent — four votes shy of the 41 needed for confirmation.
The administration said it plans to swear him in on Feb. 23, despite legal questions surrounding the confirmation vote and what would appear to be a certain legal showdown.
++++++++
Up to the California Supreme Court more than likely.
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Emily Robison and Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks will be releasing new music this spring under the name Court Yard Hounds. Check out the video above to hear Martie and Emily talk about the new project and the creative forces behind it.
+++++
But, the vocals??
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There is a move afoot among California Republican Party leaders to pressure Meg Whitman, the frontrunner for the party's nomination for governor, into a debate against rival Steve Poizner at the state GOP convention next month. The state party's board members, who are scheduled to discuss the issue in a conference call Friday afternoon, are weighing whether to require all candidates for governor and Senate to participate in a debate at the convention — and if they refuse, to deny them the ability to address the convention delegates in any other forum.
+++++++
Meg Whitman should debate Steve Poizner – PERIOD
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Californians are disgusted with the petty antics of the governor and the Legislature, polls tell us, and want them to balance the deficit-ridden state budget and otherwise do the public's business.
However, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders of the state Assembly are locked in a political, semantic and ultimately legal duel over something that should have taken about five minutes – confirming Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado to serve 10 months in the completely meaningless office of lieutenant governor.
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Yet we shouldn’t overlook that he definitely was not a fiscal conservative when he was state finance director, nor in his comments since then about the state budget. In his biography on his campaign Web site, he boasts, “During Tom’s tenure as State Finance Director, California’s budget was balanced with no tax increases, no new borrowing, and no accounting gimmicks.†True enough. But that was at the height of the housing boom mania, when the state’s coffers were overflowing with tax money.
But just like when Gov. Gray Davis enjoyed a similar excess tax take during the dot-com boom half a decade earlier, the money was not saved, but was used for new spending. Tax revenues soared from $82.2 billion in fiscal 2004-05 to $93.5 billion in fiscal 2005-06, the only year in which Campbell had full involvement in the budget process (before he left the post). That’s an increase of $11.3 billion in just one year. Who couldn’t balance a budget with that kind of revenue?
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But by combining selective facts with an over-the-top tone, the ad paints Campbell as a profligate tax-and-spender. Anyone who's watched his career in the state Legislature and Congress knows that's ridiculous. Ask card-carrying Democrats whether Campbell is a fellow traveler. Their eyes will light up like the demon sheep's.
The ad's focus on ideological rigidity says more about Fiorina than it does about Campbell. Despite being fundamentally conservative, Campbell has reached across the aisle. The message of the demon sheep is that Fiorina will not — and that, by the way, she's likely to play fast and loose with facts.
It's not what we expected of a Silicon Valley executive making the shift to public life.
+++++++
The ad was a big mistake
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The gubernatorial campaign of Meg Whitman paid $20,000 for advertising on the conservative blog, Red County, that another advertiser only paid $300 for the same ad space. NBC Bay Area writer Jackson West:
Twenty thousand dollars will buy you a lot of advertising online. A lot. Especially on a site with a limited readership — like Chip Hanlon's right-wing blog Red County.
But that's how much the former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign paid to Green Faucet, the investment firm owned by blogger Hanlon and parent company of Red County.
Hanlon told Calbuzz that the money was for advertising, however other advertisers seem to be much better at negotiating than Whitman's campaign — another advertiser is only paying $300 a month.
Chip Hanlon, the blog's proprietor, recently fired a blogger from his site that was found to receive payments from Whitman's campaign rival, Steve Poizner. Jackson West wondered if this means Hanlon will fire himself?
++++++
Disgraceful
Comments Off
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When we spoke on Tuesday, he acknowledged speaking with Campbell about exiting the race for governor and entering the race for senator, making the point that Campbell had called him. He did not discuss, however, his conversations with Jim Cunneen.
Cunneen is a chair of the Campbell campaign. He was Campbell’s staff director in Congress and, with Campbell’s help (and that of Wilson and White), became a state assemblyman.
He is also a partner in White’s firm, California Strategies. Cunneen was intimately involved in shaping Campbell’s thinking on his candidacy.
+++++++
Meg Whitman has tried to clear the field but the truth has leaked out. Will she continue her plege to help Campbell financially at her political risk or screw Tom Campbell over? By the looks of today's fundraising numbers from Campbell it may be the latter.
-
Wondering which members voted "aye" and "no" and who stayed on the sidelines d yesterday's rejection failed confirmation vote on Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado's lieutenant governor nomination?
+++++
Note: Chuck DeVore is the only Republican not voting Aye. In fact, DeVore did NOT vote at all.
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Brandman University professor Mike Moodian tells Capitol Alert that he's invited Republican candidates Tom Campbell, Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina to square off on the campus of the university's sister school, Chapman University. Campbell and DeVore are on board and Fiorina's camp is expected to respond by early next week, he said.
Like the GOP gubernatorial debate Brandman hosted last fall, which Campbell participated in as a then guv-hopeful, this debate will integrate some questions submitted via Twitter. Also like last time, Bee columnist Dan Walters will join Moodian as a co-moderator.
"We think particularly with the Twitter angle, it's an effective way to engage the citizenry," Moodian said. "This would be a good opportunity for the candidates to come to Orange County and debate the issues … roughly five or six weeks before the vote-by-mail ballots are sent out."
The debate, tentatively titled "America in the 21st Century,"
+++++
Carly should accept.
-
In an extraordinary legal power play, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted that Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, will be sworn in as lieutenant governor even after the Assembly failed to confirm him in a long, drawn-out vote Thursday.
Schwarzenegger's legal team said that Maldonado was effectively confirmed because the Legislature failed to put up a majority — 41 of 80 votes — to reject him.
The Assembly voted 37-35 to confirm Maldonado, with 28 yes votes coming from Republicans, eight from Democrats and one from the lone independent — four votes shy of the 41 needed for confirmation.
The administration said it plans to swear him in on Feb. 23, despite legal questions surrounding the confirmation vote and what would appear to be a certain legal showdown.
++++++++
Up to the California Supreme Court more than likely.
-
Emily Robison and Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks will be releasing new music this spring under the name Court Yard Hounds. Check out the video above to hear Martie and Emily talk about the new project and the creative forces behind it.
+++++
But, the vocals??
-
There is a move afoot among California Republican Party leaders to pressure Meg Whitman, the frontrunner for the party's nomination for governor, into a debate against rival Steve Poizner at the state GOP convention next month. The state party's board members, who are scheduled to discuss the issue in a conference call Friday afternoon, are weighing whether to require all candidates for governor and Senate to participate in a debate at the convention — and if they refuse, to deny them the ability to address the convention delegates in any other forum.
+++++++
Meg Whitman should debate Steve Poizner – PERIOD
-
Californians are disgusted with the petty antics of the governor and the Legislature, polls tell us, and want them to balance the deficit-ridden state budget and otherwise do the public's business.
However, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders of the state Assembly are locked in a political, semantic and ultimately legal duel over something that should have taken about five minutes – confirming Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado to serve 10 months in the completely meaningless office of lieutenant governor.
-
Yet we shouldn’t overlook that he definitely was not a fiscal conservative when he was state finance director, nor in his comments since then about the state budget. In his biography on his campaign Web site, he boasts, “During Tom’s tenure as State Finance Director, California’s budget was balanced with no tax increases, no new borrowing, and no accounting gimmicks.†True enough. But that was at the height of the housing boom mania, when the state’s coffers were overflowing with tax money.
But just like when Gov. Gray Davis enjoyed a similar excess tax take during the dot-com boom half a decade earlier, the money was not saved, but was used for new spending. Tax revenues soared from $82.2 billion in fiscal 2004-05 to $93.5 billion in fiscal 2005-06, the only year in which Campbell had full involvement in the budget process (before he left the post). That’s an increase of $11.3 billion in just one year. Who couldn’t balance a budget with that kind of revenue?
-
But by combining selective facts with an over-the-top tone, the ad paints Campbell as a profligate tax-and-spender. Anyone who's watched his career in the state Legislature and Congress knows that's ridiculous. Ask card-carrying Democrats whether Campbell is a fellow traveler. Their eyes will light up like the demon sheep's.
The ad's focus on ideological rigidity says more about Fiorina than it does about Campbell. Despite being fundamentally conservative, Campbell has reached across the aisle. The message of the demon sheep is that Fiorina will not — and that, by the way, she's likely to play fast and loose with facts.
It's not what we expected of a Silicon Valley executive making the shift to public life.
+++++++
The ad was a big mistake
-
The gubernatorial campaign of Meg Whitman paid $20,000 for advertising on the conservative blog, Red County, that another advertiser only paid $300 for the same ad space. NBC Bay Area writer Jackson West:
Twenty thousand dollars will buy you a lot of advertising online. A lot. Especially on a site with a limited readership — like Chip Hanlon's right-wing blog Red County.
But that's how much the former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign paid to Green Faucet, the investment firm owned by blogger Hanlon and parent company of Red County.
Hanlon told Calbuzz that the money was for advertising, however other advertisers seem to be much better at negotiating than Whitman's campaign — another advertiser is only paying $300 a month.
Chip Hanlon, the blog's proprietor, recently fired a blogger from his site that was found to receive payments from Whitman's campaign rival, Steve Poizner. Jackson West wondered if this means Hanlon will fire himself?
++++++
Disgraceful
Comments Off
Courtesy of the Missile Defense Agency
Airborne Laser Testbed Successful in Lethal Intercept Experiment
The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile. The experiment, conducted at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, serves as a proof-of-concept demonstration for directed energy technology. The ALTB is a pathfinder for the nation’s directed energy program and its potential application for missile defense technology.
At 8:44 p.m. (PST), February 11, 2010, a short-range threat-representative ballistic missile was launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the ALTB used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.
This was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform. The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies.
Less than one hour later, a second solid fuel short-range missile was launched from a ground location on San Nicolas Island, Calif. and the ALTB successfully engaged the boosting target with its High Energy Laser, met all its test criteria, and terminated lasing prior to destroying the second target. The ALTB destroyed a solid fuel missile, identical to the second target, in flight on February 3, 2010.
The high-powered Airborne Laser system is being developed by Boeing Co., (BA.N) the prime contractor, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
Boeing produces the airframe, a modified 747 jumbo jet, while Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) supplies the higher-energy laser and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) is developing the beam and fire control systems.
Boeings Airborne Laser (ABL) will locate and track missiles in the boost phase of their flight, then accurately point and fire the high-energy laser, destroying enemy missiles near their launch areas.
President Reagan who initiated the development and deployment of national missile defense would be proud.
Technorati Tags: Missile_Defense, Airborne_Laser
Tags: Airborne_Laser, Missile_Defense
1 Comment »
California Republican State Senator Abel Maldonado
I have previously posted about California Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore failing to vote yesterday TWICE in the Abel Madonado, Lt. Governor confirmation vote.
Photo courtesy of @KQED_CapNotes
Now, after much discussion on Twitter and the Blogospher comes the laughable explanation from Chuck DeVore.
“One year ago, I resigned as Assembly Minority Whip because I would not support the budget deal that led to the failed Proposition 1A — which would have been the largest state tax increase in American history. Senator Maldonado, by contrast, played a decisive role in putting 1A before the people. I won’t reward bad behavior with high office. It is in that spirit that I abstained from this vote.”
So why not just vote no on Maldo? As Chuck D explains in a Twitter exchange Friday with Fresno Bee reporter EJ Schultz, “The Assembly GOP Caucus decided to support Maldonado. Voting ‘no’ would be more a slap at them than the nominee.”
Continues Chuck D: “As you know, an abstention has the same net result as a “no.”
Well, Chuck, if the “failing to vote” is the same as an abstention which is the same as voting no, why didn’t you just vote no?
Or were you afraid of the Republican donors who you are smoozing in your U.S. Senate race might just object to YOU being the only Republican Assemblyman to vote against the Republican Governor’s appointee, Abel Maldonado, who also turns out to be a Republican?
I mean, hey, if you don’t like Abel or have some deep feelings why he should not be confirmed then, by all means, man up and explain it in a speech on the Assembly floor. You were there on the floor for the morning vote but were a “no show” in the second and afternoon vote. I guess you figured why bother.
Or, Just vote NO and keep your mouth shut if you are worried about your fellow Republican colleagues or the donors.
That is what a “principled conservative” would do, now wouldn’t he?
But, guess what Chuck?
You will get another chance to “fail to vote” for Abel Maldonado.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that he plans to withdraw the nomination of Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor, then re-nominate the Santa Maria Republican for the post.
The move will reset the 90-day window the Legislature has to confirm or reject the governor’s pick. In case you missed it, Maldonado failed to make it out of the Assembly yesterday, setting off a debate over what constitutes a rejection under the state constitution.
A third chance to represent your constituents, Chuck.
Such a deal.
Don’t blow it.
Technorati Tags: Abel_Maldonado, Chuck_DeVore
Tags: Abel_Maldonado, Chuck DeVore
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