With Hurricane Katrina slamming into the Gulf Coast over the weekend, oil rigs, pipelines, and refineries are pretty much out of commission for at least the next two weeks. This has caused gas prices to go through the roof across the country. Here in Milwaukee, I just paid $2.99 a gallon yesterday. Twenty dollars sure doesn’t go as far as it used to.

With prices soaring and expected to get even higher in the next month or so, it makes me wonder why we haven’t pushed our elected representatives to advocate for alternative fuel sources. Hybrid vehicles are all the rage right now. What bothers me is that our politicians in Washington continue to pander to the special interests with regard to energy policy reform. We’ve had the technology for years to switch from gas-guzzling vehicles to cleaner and more efficient fuel sources. Gas-Electric hybrids are just one way we could reduce our dependency on oil, especially foreign oil. General Motors has been working on a hydrogen fueled vehicle. I still don’t know the specifics, partly because I’m too lazy to look it up, but it sounds promising from both an environmental as well as a supply standpoint. My question is why do we let our politicians get away with this? I long for the day when politicians stop letting lobbyists determine government policy. Not just energy policy, but ALL policies. On both sides of the political fence politicians keep taking the hand-outs from big businesses to advance their interests instead of what’s best for us as citizens. Write to your congressperson today to express your outrage at high fuel costs and demand they sponsor a responsible energy policy that doesn’t pander to the large oil companies. We need to remind them that, regardless of how bad the political climate seems, this is still a government Of the People, By the People, and For the People and not one Of the Politicians, By the Politicians, and For the Politicians.

UPDATE: Gas prices have now hit $3.49/gallon at some stations here in Milwaukee. Damn I wish my bike was up and running. I know what my next vehicle’s going to be though; a Toyota Prius.

Looks like Bolton is already rearing his ugly head over there at the UN. The Guardian Unlimited has this nice little excerpt concerning the Millennium plan to stamp out world hunger:

But it was revealed this week that Mr Bush’s new ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, was seeking 750 changes to the 36-page draft plan to be presented to a special summit in New York on September 14 to 16. Mr Bolton’s amendments, if successful, would leave the plan in tatters.

Hate to say I told you so, wing-nuts, but I told you so. And so did Congress, but what Bush wants, Bush gets apparently, even at the expense of diplomatic relations with our most trusted ally. Crap like this just shows those of us on the left were right all along about Bolton: He’s an asshole of the utmost degree.

Hat tip to the Guardian via Common Dreams:
Guardian Unlimited - Britain heads for clash with US

Jesus, in John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

I’d like to expand on that a bit by saying this: “Greater love hath no woman than she who has lost a child and wishes to prevent other mothers from suffering the same grief.”

If you haven’t heard about who Cindy Sheehan is, don’t worry, you will. Cindy Sheehan lost her son, Casey, in April 2004 and is completely and devastatingly heartbroken. The loss of a child is hard enough. The loss of a child in war is even worse. But the loss of a child in a war that was brought about by falsehoods and lies by a President with no personal stake in it, has to be the worst of all. Cindy is a remarkable and admirable woman who, to me, wishes to not diminish her Casey’s death, but to use it and honor it by speaking out against this war in Iraq and hopefully prevent further loss of American and Iraqi life. The writing is on the wall depicting the lies and “fixed” intelligence that got us into this mess. The sad fact is that too many in this country are illiterate to the language used in that writing.

As most of you who read my little piece of the blogosphere know, my brother is still stationed in Iraq. Another family member, who shall remain nameless, is on their way soon. With that in mind, I hope to never be placed in the situation Cindy Sheehan finds herself now albeit with a sibling instead of a child.

Cindy’s protest outside President Bush’s Crawford, TX ranch is something that need not go on as long as it has. She just wants 5 minutes of the president’s time. She wants to know why. She wants to know what makes this war in Iraq the “noble cause” he claims it is. All it takes is 5 minutes. Even if she doesn’t get the answers she’s looking for.

Just a quick post about the Space Shuttle Discovery.

At 5:12am PDT this morning, Discovery touched down. Like many across the country, I was worried about potential problems that may arise with re-entry. Considering the numerous problems that have come to light since Columbia’s disaster 2½ years ago, the successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base this morning was a borderline miracle. Thankfully, unlike the sick joke that made its rounds after the Challenger accident in 1986, NASA does NOT mean Need Another Seven Astronauts.

I remember being in school in late January of 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded mid-flight killing the first seven astronauts. Prior to launch, it was a momentous occasion with the addition of teacher Christa McAuliffe as part of the crew. I was in sixth grade at the time. I remember our teacher bringing a TV into the classroom and watching replay after horrifying replay the destruction of what was then heralded as one of our most innovative accomplishments of the NASA space program. The image of the fireball that erupted 73 seconds into launch is burned into my memory forever.

I also remember watching the devastating Columbia tragedy on February 1st, 2003. I was at work monitoring our computer network on our screen wall when the images of Columbia’s disastrous re-entry were, again, replayed ad infinitum on CNN. The subsequent grounding of the Space Shuttle program was supposed to facilitate massive changes to program as a whole. Many changes were made, but I wonder if it’s not time for a near-complete redesign of the Shuttle orbiter. One would think, with the advances in technology since the first shuttle was launched in April of 1981, that we could resolve the lingering issues surrounding an aging fleet of Space Shuttles.

With all that said, however, I’d like to give three cheers to the crew of Discovery and the NASA engineers on the ground who guided the crew’s repairs in space. Let’s hope that more scrutiny is placed on the space program and its much needed revamping.

I normally wouldn’t get involved with this, but the man I am about to introduce to you is, indeed, a Great American Hero. Paul Hackett is the Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. He re-enlisted and volunteered to go to Iraq for 7 months to do his part to fight a war he disagrees with. He also happens to be a Marine Corps Major.

Maj. Hackett is fighting for his political life right now for a hotly contested seat in Congress in a primarily Republican district. All of this came about when Rob Portman resigned his seat to become the US Trade Representative. Paul Hackett is the kind of man we need representing us in Congress. He isn’t afraid to speak freely either. He has been quoted recently as saying Bush is a Chickenhawk.

With not much time left until the August 2nd Special Election, I want to urge all of you dedicated readers of my site to contribute to Paul’s campaign. Corruption in Ohio needs to be defeated. Jean Schmidt’s lies need to be uncovered and a fresh start undertaken in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. Thanks and Semper Fidelis.

Hackett For Congress
You can contribute to his campaign at ActBlue