Record rains drench Chicagoland; Ike sending more

After the rainiest day in recorded Chicago history, residents across the area faced more storms, closed roads and flooded basements Sunday as the remnants of Hurricane Ike were expected to arrive. Saturday's rainfall, as measured at O'Hare Int'l Airport, was at least 6.63 inches, breaking the city calendar-day record of 6.49 on Aug. 14, 1987

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Barack Obama - Concord, New Hampshire - Here's What Change Really Means

If you've been looking for something to get you fired up, here it is: Barack Obama earlier today in Concord, New Hampshire, laying out the foundations of what change really means -- from energy to education to foreign policy to the economy.

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Hyperinflation Here We Come:Last Gasp of a Doomed Currency

Rather than solving the problems, the government’s bailouts merely confirm my worst fears, and increase the chances for a hyper-inflationary outcome. By nationalizing Freddie and Fannie, the government has merely delayed the crisis. The borrowed time will cost us dearly, as the day of reckoning will now likely involve much steeper losses.

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Anti-Palin Rally Draws 1,483 in Alaska - USA Today

As the nation learns more about Palin and how she is like George Bush, more people chant for Barack Obama as the real agent of change. Alaska Women lead the charge at this rally:

ANCHORAGE (AP) — 1,483 people protesting the policies of Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lined a busy street on Saturday, waving signs and chanting "Obama!"
The protest came about two hours after Palin delivered a rousing speech at Anchorage's new convention center before leaving the state to return to the campaign trail. Palin was named John McCain's running mate on Aug. 29. This was her first return since then to her home state.

The protesters, including supporters of presidential candidate Barack Obama and those who don't agree with Palin's positions on abortion, polar bears, Iraq and other issues, lined one side of the street near Anchorage's main library building.

A much smaller number of mostly pro-Palin supporters were on the other side of the street, chanting "Sarah! Sarah!"

Police were at the scene, but there were no immediate reports of clashes.

Angie Doroff, 46, helped organize the rally. The wildlife biologist, yoga teacher and artist said she was pleased and surprised at how many people showed up.

"We're not alone. A lot of people are worried about the nomination of Sarah Palin," Doroff said, as cars drove by honking their horns in support.

Barbara Norton, a 56-year-old midwife, stood near a sign that read, "Alaskan Women for Choice."

"I think America does not understand how absolutely extreme her positions are — even to the right of George Bush and John McCain," Norton said. "She is frightening."

Obama Has A Plan To Reduce Oil Prices And Manage Our Oil Reserve

In the face of still high oil prices Senator Barack Obama has a plan to reduce them and via the use of a "swap" of components of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Wall Street Journal covers this idea:

Obama Has A Plan To Manage Our Oil Reserve

By JOHN D. SHAGES
September 8, 2008; Page A17
Energy is playing a pivotal role in this year's presidential election. And a crucial aspect of America's energy security not widely discussed is how to best use America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Sen. Barack Obama is proposing a simple maneuver -- called an exchange, or swap -- that will help lower the price of oil for consumers, increase the amount of oil in the SPR, increase energy security, and leave taxpayers better off by about $1 billion. His proposal deserves to be adopted.

In 1975, after the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. created the SPR to protect against oil supply disruptions. That reserve now consists of 706 million barrels of crude oil, the largest stockpile in the world.

As the steward of that stockpile, the Department of Energy plays an important role in oil markets. Merely announcing oil acquisitions or sales from the SPR moves oil prices. The SPR's drawdown capability of 4.4 million barrels of oil per day surpasses the daily production capacity of Iran, Iraq or Venezuela.

The authority to sell oil from the SPR is contingent on a presidential finding of a "severe energy supply interruption." In the past 33 years, there have only been two sales from the SPR: in 1991 to support Operation Desert Storm, criticized for being too late; and a widely applauded 2005 post-Katrina sale.

There is also another, little understood statutory authority that allows the Energy secretary to "exchange" oil from the SPR. This authority was created to allow the secretary to periodically change the SPR's composition to ensure that it remains useful to refiners and consumers.

The Clinton administration used this authority in 2000, exchanging crude for heating oil. Later that year, facing a possible heating-oil shortage, the administration loaned 30 million barrels of oil to the market, which was repaid with interest in the form of additional oil at a later date.

This met two objectives. The swap added oil to the SPR at no cost to taxpayers and it put downward pressure on prices.

The Bush administration has used the exchange option extensively. As a matter of policy, however, it has used this option only for minor supply disruptions, and not to intervene in markets due to high prices.

Today, with historically high oil prices, it is time to debate using the SPR. Some argue that the reserve should only be used in emergencies. Others say that we should use all the tools at our disposal to help consumers.

Fortunately, we do not have to resolve these philosophical differences. Instead, we can improve the management of the SPR and maximize its value to the taxpayer. The oil in the reserve now is all light crude, which is easier and cheaper to refine into gasoline, a reflection of refining capability at the time the SPR was created. Over the past three decades, however, U.S. refining capacity has become increasingly sophisticated and complex, because the world's oil is increasingly heavy and harder to refine. Today, about 40% of our refining capacity is configured to handle heavier crude oil.

We now confront a mismatch between U.S. refining capacity and the oil mix in the SPR. In a 2007 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that in an emergency this mismatch could reduce U.S. refinery capacity by 5% or over 735,000 barrels per day in total as some refineries scale back production to accommodate the SPR oil. The GAO recommended that the Energy Department change the reserve's oil mix to at least 10% heavy oil, roughly 70 million barrels.

This could be accomplished through a swap. From a policy perspective, this would enhance the utility of the reserve, aligning its oil with U.S. refining capacity, while also putting short-term downward pressure on oil prices. From a business perspective, the DOE could craft an exchange to either increase the oil in the reserve, yield a cash bonus, or both. Light crude is more valuable than heavy crude (by about $12 to $18 a barrel), so swapping one for the other could bring in about $1 billion at today's prices.

The House and Senate are considering legislation to mandate such a swap, and Mr. Obama has adopted the concept as part of his energy plan. The public benefits are compelling. Swaps that help energy security, refiners and consumers should be a routine part of managing the SPR.

Mr. Shages is a former deputy assistant secretary for petroleum reserves at the Department of Energy.

The Fans Corner#2-The PSL Commentary

The Fans Corner#2-The PSL Commentary
By Willie “The Pizzaman” Mariano for Football Reporters Online

As another opening day approached for my football team. The only football team I have faithfully rooted for since my birth. Check that, since the womb. Whether it be the two and twelve seasons of my youth gone bye. (and there were more of those then I care to remember) or as defending Super Bowl Champions yet again. (The third in my 46 years) I found myself missing something. I had a feeling that I have never experienced in my life. You have to understand one thing folks. My Dad, like almost all Big Blue diehards has had season tickets for years and years. Dear ol' dad since 1954. My brother and myself, since 1976.That is five decades and three decades respectively, and then some that we have bled blue. It was taught to us right along side of always being proud to be an Italian American or a God fearing man who is morally sound and respectful to all of mankind. Like bathing. Like eating. Like drinking water. Like breathing. It was a necessity of life. It was even more important then religion. Only because God did not give Dad his season tickets way back when. No way. God gives to all freely and there was nothing free about being a New York Football Giants season ticket holder. You either renewed your seats every April or May or lost them to the next NYG fan on the list of a hundred thousand strong.
What was also a given of being a season ticket holder, was that you were expected to always be respectful to all fellow fans on football Sundays. This was not a written rule by the Giants organization. It was one ingrained in you by the name on the account who paid the bill season after season. Only then, were you allowed to earn the right to have them passed down to you. Generation after generation. I might be wrong but that sure sounds like ownership to me. Don't get me wrong folks. I totally understand the economics of a now billion dollar industry called the, "National Football League." What I fail to understand is without "us" the fans filling the seats and buying the products endorsed by each and every team, there would be no National Football League. So what do we get for our unwavering loyalty for all these years? Something called, Personal Seat Licenses or "PSL's."
As we all know by now, this is a mandatory one time fee that will allow us to continue being a season ticket holder. To own our seat that we have already owned since forever, in the brand new stadium slated to open in 2010. A stadium that when planned was estimated to cost almost seven hundred million dollars. Then we get, opps we mis-calculated a little. The cost is now 1.4 billion and we the multi millionaire owners of the Giants and Jets can not afford to build it without the help of our faithful fans. What a crock! First of all, who ever was in charge of figuring out the cost of building the new stadium should have been fired on the spot. We are talking double the original estimate. A seven hundred million dollar mistake for a stadium that will not even have a dome? Are they serious?

Evidently they are and we the "fans" are being forced to make up the difference. Not the sponsors, who in one short season will most likely generate enough money to build two stadiums. In closing all I can say with all due respect is that, Mr Wellington Mara is not turning over in his grave, he's doing cartwheels. By meeting him more then a few times and even having the honor to feed him and his wife at my tailgate parties through the years. I can venture to say he would not be to pleased with what his son's and Tish's sons are doing to what he humbly called, "The Greatest and Most Passionate Fans In Sports." I think he would tell them he pays them darn good money to go out and get the sponsors to pay for the new stadium and leave his "friends/fans" alone. Unfortunately this will not happen so we are stuck in the new world of PSL's. "Professional Shylock Licenses!" So in a few short months the money hungry owners of NFL teams have succeeded in making my "Passion Suddenly Lost" for what was always regarded in my family as a given right. You either bleed blue or your an outcast. What a travesty!

NFLPA Needs Assistance for Successor to the late Gene Upshaw

NFLPA Needs Assistance for Successor to the late Gene Upshaw

September 11, 2008

By Slavica Milosevska for Football Reporters Online
The NFL Players' Association have some big shoes to fill after executive director Gene Upshaw's death in August and will be hiring a national search firm to help after consulting with all 32 teams. The union's board will take potential firms into consideration in the few weeks to come. Additionally, the actual NFL players are being questioned on the qualifications of the ideal successor.
NFLPA 's Interim executive director is uncertain regarding the time it will take to find Upshaw's replacement. “The choice of an executive director would not change the players’ bargaining agenda,” he stated. Berthelsen says that the executive board and himself are working with hiring procedures should not affect labor issues and that they are also discussing terms with the NFL.
When asked about taking Upshaw's old position, Berthelsen says he doesn't want that commitment. There are many headaches at this level. For instance, before Upshaw's passing, he had a concern that if the NFL opted out of the CBA that it would never return. This is the current status, making 2010 an uncapped season if no new agreement is settled. There is yet time until the spring of 2009 to make a deal. Only time will tell who and what will happen.

Hurricane Ike May Dwarf Katrina In Wreaking Havoc

Hurricane Ike May Dwarf Katrina In Wreaking Havoc. Hurricane Ike's storm surge flooded the historic district of Galveston, Texas, with 7 feet of water and knocked out power, officials said. Heavy winds continue to pummel coast

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Big Media: Just Say No! We've had Enough Lies & Distractions

There is something sinister about the press's complicity in allowing campaign coverage to feed hungrily on endless lies. It smacks of McCarthyism. Stop repeating stuff that isn't true. It's time for news organizations to stop being shills and for serious political reporters to stop being hacks. Mark Halperin and Campbell Brown have showed the way.

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Hurricane Ike Hits Houston - Power Outage In Houston

Hurricane Ike VIDEO (Power Outage In Houston):- Devastating Hurricane Ike hits Houston - Hurricane at FSN Houston 3 - Hurricane Ike Downtown Houston Tornado- The IKE hurricane attacks Texas. [...]

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Andrew Sullivan Says's Karl Rove Is "Playing" Netroots Who Cover Palin - He's Sorta Right

Blogger Andrew Sullivan advances the idea that we liberal bloggers are being "played" by Karl Rove in that we're giving too much coverage to McCain Palin gaffes and not enough to the good deeds of Barack Obama.

There's a good point and I think it's a byproduct of the newness of the addition of Palin, but we've also got to get back in to the habit of telling Barack and Joe Biden news. I have worked to do this myself, but we have to counter the online effort of the GOP, which is spamming YouTube of late with these Palin videos.

Someone on a video channel is working to pump up views artifically and dump Palin videos. What's good about this is that we all will get sick of her that much faster.

Barack Obama's Change Ad - Obama Talks About Changing Washington

Senator Obama's latest ad features him talking to America, which I think is the best approach. He's telling what he brings to the White House.