Why do gun-rights advocates trust the GOP?

That was one of the big deals during the campaign, and it continues to echo through the Teabaggers sites, and on the signs at Tea Party rallies. You'd think the Democrats had "abolish the 2nd amendment" as a platform to hear the NRA and their lobbyists talk.

It's true, the President has some concerns he's been up-front with relating to assault weapons - the sort of rifle that has no place in the sport of hunting.

But when was the last time the government actually took away people's weapons in any sort of mass sweep of the citizenry, such as Obama's opponents seem to fear he'll do?

Oh, right, it was back in 2005. September of 2005, according to ABC news; it was under a Republican administration, of course, so it didn't provoke the outcry it might have.

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job!"
After all, former President George Bush is nominally a Texan, and if a Texan says you should give up your guns, that's different - right?

I mean, after all, Bush's Vice President was even a hunter - right?

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Super Bowl XLIVL: Zennie in Miami for Leigh Steinberg Party

Miami is hot. Miami is also the city host of Super Bowl XLIVL. That means parties, people, food, and fun, and my second time here. I'm here for The Leigh Steinberg Party Super Bowl Party more than for the Saints and Colts battle. My game plan, if you will, is to fly to Atlanta Sunday to watch the Super Bowl with my Mother. Miami's stadium is, OK, but this is my seventh Super Bowl and I'm not a fan of that facility. Plus, this trip is virtually free for me.

Super Bowls should be played in dome stadiums, under the lights; not outdoors. The last time I was here in 2007, the stadium was hard to get to, it rained like you've never seen before, and I got waterlogged and saw the game from a stadium TV.

But that written, everyone should experience the Super Bowl at least once.  The giant pulse of human energy that's emitted at kickoff is a drug worth the price of admission, and doesn't come through on television.  But I've felt it six times.

As this is being blogged, I'm siting at Miami International Airport's "J" Terminal, totally exhausted having traveled all night long to get here. My flight was crawling with Colts fans. Two flights, three cities - San Francisco, Washington, and Miami - and not enough sleep. I'm wiped.

The Super Bowl is an almost annual pilgrimage for me that started with my work to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland between 1999 and 2001. Seeing - and this is an unfortunate truth - how terrible the City of Oakland treated me as I was working to form the bid, NFL execs I will not name said "If there's anything we can do to help you build your business, we will." That's how the Super Bowl trips and the annual NFL Draft press pool came about.

Ok, an aside: What did Oakland do? Well, everything from then-Mayor Jerry Brown and City Manager Robert Bobb calling the NFL (or having others do so) with questions I'd already given them answers to; or refusing to cooperate with me in preparation for our Super Bowl Bid presentation to the NFL Owners; having meetings behind my back with Oakland business representatives who should have been on our sports commission; Oakland economic development heads who were so angry that I was working on the Super Bowl that they 1) would not cooperate, and 2) worked to deliberately harm my work in some way, either by inaction, lies, or character assassination.

This was the case from Brown, to Oakland Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente, and a number of people I could name. When I left Oakland, I silently vowed I'd succeed in a way they'd never forget. I've done that.

The NFL was, and has been, a better friend to me than the City of Oakland. Regardless of what's said and whatever idiot chimes in with some lie, the bottom line is Oakland will stumble all over itself to prevent anyone from succeeding at something large scale that calls for the City's involvement. Why this is, I don't know, but I see it all the time. Oakland can't seem to work together to achieve much.

That's why, even with three sports teams, there's no one major sports event that Oakland has consistently hosted or formed a bid for more than once. That's the culture of Oakland. In Jerry Brown's case, some observers in the media would say "Well, he's an intellectual, so he's not interested in sports", which is about the dumbest comment I've ever heard of. First, he's the Mayor, or was. Second, a Mayor's job is to serve the people, not his own tastes. Third, sports is an export industry that generates job in Oakland.

I pray the Oakland Marathon is the start of the end of that problem of Oakland's working against itself. I think it may be.

But all that's in the past. Now, I'm in Miami and looking forward to seeing my friends and attending Leigh Steinberg's great party. Leigh has been a friend since 1998, when he came to help me with Oakland Athletics issues while I was Elihu Harris' economic advisor.

This is my seventh Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party. I've met all kinds of people, from Jacksonville Jaguar Head Coach Jack Del Rio, to Steven Baldwin, Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, Bay Area Sports Writer Art Spander, former Oakland Raiders Exec (now Washington Redskins GM) Bruce Allen, then-Tampa Bay Bucs Head Coach Jon Gruden and his wife Cindy, ;and a group of people that are still my friends to this day - some of them who helped me on the Super Bowl: Oakland work, and all from the private sector.

For me the Super Bowl is a celebration of people who like to make things happen.  That's why I'm here.  For me, it's more than the game, but that written, Go Colts!

Stay tuned.

Brittany Murphy's death called an accident

The case of Brittany Murphy's death is now officially closed for now, after the L.A. County Coroner called it an accident. According to TMZ.com Brittany Murphy's death was caused by "community acquired pneumonia," iron deficiency anemia, and multiple drug intoxication.

But Brittany Murphy's death could have been prevented if she were taken to the hospital in time. Murphy was found in the bathroom of her home by her Mother. She had "multiple drugs" in her system, not illegal, and all either doctor-assigned or over-the-counter. Still, it was the pneumonia and iron deficiency anemia that worked to engineer Brittany Murphy's death, December 20th, 2009.

Artie Lange doing better says Rosie O'Donnell

Artie Lange, the famous sidekick on The Howard Stern Show doing better says Rosie O'Donnell. A guest on Late Night with Craig Ferguson, last week, Rosie O'Donnell said "He's doing better. He's got a lot of trouble with addiction and depression in his life, and his dad when he was young and he tried to take his own life, and it really really was so painful to everyone who loved him including Howard (Stern)."



Artie Lange tried to commit suicide in January, although the news of his attempt wasn't immediately reported until the New York Times Page 6 article surfaced. Artie Lange's friends and co-workers have expressed love and support for Lange and he's welcome back on The Howard Stern Show.

Toyota Prius recall has Toyota in big legal trouble

The Toyota Prius recall has Toyota in big legal trouble. It was announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation is now looking into the braking problems surrounding the Toyota Prius recall issue as the problem of "uneven breaking" is now reported Worldwide.

Now, reports of Prius problems are surfacing in Australia. The Toyota brand, once associated with safety, quality, and reliability, has taken a massive beating.



Before the Prius braking problem, Toyota was already the focus of a massive recall effort. Toyota recalled the RAV4, Corolla and Matrix 2009-2010, Sequoia 2008-2010, Tundra 2007-2010, Avalon 2005-2010, and 2010 Highlander, and stopped sales of those cars.

Toyota has issued the following statement:

"Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company. This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized. We’re making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible."

Now the Prius, its new flagship, is being recalled. Before that, over 2 million Toyota cars were impacted. Now the number is much higher.

Stay tuned.

Scott Brown can wait his turn; Scott Brown supports can wait too

Massachusetts Senator-Elect Scott Brown is scheduled to be officially sworn in February 11th and after a long process that includes overseas vote counting and Governor and Secretary of State Certification, that date is set for February 11th.

Even with this, there's the irresponsible idea that all of the official procedures should be skipped over and Scott Brown should be seated today. The Scott Brown backers are still a bit too drunk with the cocktail of special-election victory over Democratic challenger, Mass Attorney General Martha Coackley and need a major dose of reality: Brown is a U.S. Senator that is now bound by traditional legal procedure; Brown didn't just win a city council seat. It's bigger than that.

That then is the problem. The emergence of "activism creep" and Couch Potato Conservatism has battled against intelligent thinking and statesperson discourse. With organizations like Fox News and at times CNN helping, and add to that Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, that dangerous and rouge fringe point of view has a voice much louder than it should be.

Still, such intellectually vapid voices are dampened by procedure. Scott Brown's title is Senator-Elect, and it's clear he and his office understand their new role in Washington. It's just too bad his supporters can't do the same.

Stay tuned.

Hayward and Calpine will get first plant with Greenhouse Gas limit

Hayward, California and Calpine will have the first the plant with a Greenhouse Gas limit, ending years of talks, battles, and controversy. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District approved a "Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit" which is the final federal regulatory approval needed for the Calpine energy plant to be built.

"Once again California is demonstrating leadership on greenhouse gas related issues. We applaud the BAAQMD and Calpine for going beyond existing federal law and being the first in the nation to require an enforceable greenhouse gas limit," said Linda Adams, California State Secretary for Environmental Protection. "This action furthers efforts at a statewide level to balance our economic needs while meeting our environmental challenges. Aggressive and early action like this is needed to fight global warming and is critical to our economic recovery."

Hayward, California will get a new energy plant that will result in 650 union construction jobs, a number of part-time and permanent jobs, and an estimated $30 million in one-time tax revenue and $5 million annually in property tax revenue.

This is a project I've long advocated for because we have never seen a plant that was created from the start with a Federal Greenhouse Gas Limit. The Calpine Russell City Energy Center will be a supplier of energy and jobs to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The approval ends a process that saw the California Energy Commission grant a license for the plant in September 2007, California Public Utilities Commission approval of a 10-year power purchase agreement in April 2009 under which PG&E will purchase the electricity generated by the plant, and a major public hearing on the plan on September 2, 2009:



But what's more, the natural gas powered plant will reportedly use 100 percent reclaimed water from the City of Hayward’s Water Pollution Control Facility for cooling and boiler makeup. The process conserves water and prevents nearly four million gallons of wastewater per day from being dumped into San Francisco Bay.

It's also a process that was first used on a major scale at Walt Disney World in Florida, when its power plant systems were built.

Calpine reports that Russell City Energy Center also will donate $10 million to help build a new library for Hayward.

Stay tuned.