The State Comptroller publishes an economic development flyer called Texas Rising. This publication gets sent to pretty much every local elected official in the State of Texas. I happened upon the June 2008 Issue and under the "TEXpansions" column there is the following:

Businesses and industries are expanding their facilities throughout Texas. Here is a sampling of recently announced expansions, tracked by the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division.

Midland

Dean Baldwin Painting LP

Aircraft strip and paint services company.

Midland Development Corp. lease and economic development agreement is worth nearly $23 million.

At least 200 full-time jobs by October 2011

Too bad the deal was killed on April 15...seems like enough time to pull that "TEXpansion" in a June issue.

Alright all you opinionated people. It seems the Midland-Odessa Metropolitan Planning Organization (MOTOR) has developed an online survey.

Thank you very much for taking the time to help the Midland-Odessa Metropolitan Planning Organization (MOTOR) better plan for the region's transportation future. The answers to this survey will help shape the MPO's long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan, a document that will be used to guide the development of the region's transportation system over the next 25 years.

Within this survey, you will be asked 20 questions that should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete. As an incentive to complete the survey, five lucky respondents will win a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart or Target. In order to be eligible to win, you must answer all the questions and enter your email address at the end of this survey.

Here's your chance to be included in one of those "Studies" that always seem to drive local decision making for decades.

The self-regarding Obama campaign has reached a new height. They're offering designer wear from Isaac Mizrahi and nineteen other designers. Who have all lined up to offer clothing marked with Obama's imprimatur.

How cool is that? Diane Von Furstenberg, and it frightens me that my spelling checker does not flag her last name, initially supported Empress Hillary, but decided that Obama was her guy after reading his autobiography. This is reported in New York Daily News. The article helpfully tells us not to expect that the new lines will come with a designer price tag; in fact one piece was originally a $400 silk Georgette dress for Michelle Obama but it was rejected to be replaced with an $80 tee-shirt. I think that I'll buy a whole closet full of $80 tee-shirts, advertising someone else. Paying to advertise someone else is sad. This is the saddest.

Up until recently the more affluent white voters had trended Republican, afraid of the nanny state and its taxes. But I've heard a theory, sensible to me, that this group is now postmaterialistic, in that they have enough money for their needs, and spend the excess in ways that make them feel good. And since they have the creature comforts that they want, they vote Democrat, wreathing themselves in virtue by reason of their fine feelings. Since they hire their needs done, why not use the Democratic party as their personal shopper for their conspicuous compassion?

There is a new blog in town. Borne of the fascistic, jack-booted crushing of his dissent here at Jessica's Well a new blog has been created by one-time frequent commenter "Stu".

Here it is in all of it's glory.

Like I have said before, I am not predisposed to doing the author of this new blog any favors so of course I am going to direct as much attention as possible to his commentary.

Anyone wanting backstory on this can read the post and comments here.

Wow. How is this for an introductory line for a website?

Bad Subjects seeks to revitalize progressive politics. We challenge progressive dogma by encouraging readers to think about the political dimension to all aspects of everyday life. We seek to broaden the audience for leftist and progressive writing through a commitment to accessibility and contemporary relevance.

I picture a main office where the women are all taller than the men.

There is a group of people who, in the last century, have relentlessly advocated the rights of mankind. They have identified themselves with the labor movement, for the empowerment of the worker. They have advocated ownership of the means of production, to enrich the workers instead of the owners.

And to make sure that their noble designs are carried through, they have murdered at least one hundred million people. These are the bodies of the victims of the coercive left. Over a billion more are not dead--yet--but are enslaved, living in a world without due process of law, where access to information is censored, and where rights, as we understand them, do not exist.

I am referring of course to the Communists, who have here endorsed Barack Hussein Obama.

Yes, it's a cheap shot. Obama's in much better shape.

I do not object to disputative people, rebarbative comments, calumny, objurgation, or even just plain old-fashioned contumely. I can handle that. And as I've said many times before, I can be wrong.

But I insist that you engage in the discussion and do not projectile vomit sodden liberal pieties. I will not brook the sneering, facile accusations of the thin-minded, feel-good, self-righteous left.

Nor will I take the jeering sniggering of anonymity. So any commenter who persists in this trollish behavior will have his comments moved to below the fold.

---------------

Update. Anonymous inside has proven that like all leftists he lives in his own little world, utterly refusing to believe that he has to engage in a debate, believing that he has a right to make himself heard regardless of whether or not his comment is responsive.

This is called psychosis. Any more and we'll have another Pandora's Box.

If you read the reviews of Speakerette Nancy Pelosi's book on Amazon you'll be amazed at how negative they are. "Tripe" is kind. There are a few obviously planted ones giving her five stars--one learns to recognize this sort of review, particularly when reading reviews of shady electronics stores on Long Island.

But evidently the Thought Police run Amazon too, and they are determined not to be too unkind to this utterly vapid, silly and vain woman. Reviewers have complained that over 200 negative reviews have been deleted, raising her rating from one star to two. One reviewer said that two of his were removed and even a third was removed. Some complaints are here.

Well, I do understand. It is essential that Ms. Pelosi be shielded from the consequences of her actions if we are to enter the Progressive World of Next Tuesday. I'd make a joke about goose-stepping into the Progressive World of Next Tuesday but that would require more organization that this frivolous woman is capable of.

If the link disappears, let me know in a comment. I emailed the page to myself and can post it here.

In case the Amazon Thought Police delete that too.

I cannot imagine the world without Google, or something like Google. It has for all practical purposes made dictionaries, inter alia, obsolete: if you are uncertain of a word, it's faster to Google it than to use the American Heritage dictionary which I have relied on for decades. But there is something about it that bothers me and it is symbolized by the fact that Google is a de facto verb.

In a comment I wrote that it reeks of the left and there is a reason for it. Google is in the process of scanning in all the books on earth: type in a phrase dredged from your memory and you may find it in a scanned book, delivered to you on your computer screen, by Google. Very handy indeed, and the blogger's best friend.

When Steve Jobs started the iTunes store he made agreements with the various holders of copyrights to sell their content by payment of royalties: there are occasional dust-ups when some network decides that iTunes can no longer carry their stuff, but the thing to note is that iTunes has made contractual arrangements with the copyright holders.

Google has done no such thing with the authors. They claim that it is impossible, legally intractable and anyway they're not really giving away copyrighted material for you cannot download the entire book, and can look only a few pages on either side of what you found.

Sounds very good, no?

No.

"Why won't America and NATO help us? If they won't help us, why did we help them in Iraq?"

Read the rest here.

The long term implications of Russia regaining control over this democratic country are just now dawning on the handful of folks that are paying attention. Putin/Russia just called our bluff and won a big hand. The death of hundreds of Georgians was immaterial to Russia's ambitions. The ex-KGBers in charge are reexerting their influence. And have no reason to stop now.

Georgia has gone blank on Google maps.

Google has some great products and tools.

And for a couple of years now I have used many of them with a profound level of distrust.

Maybe it is time to look elsewhere.

Any suggestions?

At least that is what I get from this article.

In its first year of operations in 2006, the venue hosted 70 events totaling 126 days. While in 2007, that number grew to 99 events totaling 157 days.

With its first two years of operations, it is estimated the venue has contributed more than $10 million in economic impact with more than 223,000 people in attendance.

But just to make sure we will hire some consultants to estimate the economic impact anyway.

The county also hired a third-party firm to conduct a study on the venue's economic impact. However, County Judge Mike Bradford said it won't be ready for a few weeks.

But we don't need to wait for the study we are going to go ahead and pay for to affirm our opinion that the facility is operating and having the impact as originally planned.

However, members of the Commissioners' Court still contend the venue has served its intended purpose: Giving the community a multi-purpose facility to hold events.

"I think the small operations lost we have encountered is a fair swap for the economic impact the facility brings," [Midland County Judge Mike] Bradford said.

But wait! In the first two years of operations we have turned down almost as many events as we have accommodated!

Since operations began at the venue, 122 events were lost due to dates already being booked, the report states.

So if the estimated economic impact of the events that have been held at the Horseshoe above is a given and the number of events we must turn down due to the venue already being booked is roughly 70% of the number we actually book and this number will necessarily rise because we cannot expand the calendar year...then it all becomes obvious:

We need to build a second Midland Horseshoe.

Because we have lost out on $7,000,000 million in economic impact and we just can't afford that!

Which reminds me.....isn't it about time for another Monthly Financial Report?

UPDATE: The County Auditor has now posted the County Financial Statements for May and June....but without the pages showing the performance of the Midland Horseshoe in those months. So what are the chances we will ever see those figures broken out of the main report again?

Over the course of just a couple of minutes, the U.S. Men win Gold in the 4x100 Relay.

In the same time, the French earn the Silver Medal but also now hold the record for the Worst "Bulletin Board Material" Disaster of All Time.

During the 14th century when Europe was being ravaged by the Black Death, there arose a cult of people who thought that the reason for the plague was the displeasure of God, earned by mankind's wickedness. These people hoped that God would forgive them if they acknowledged their perceived evil, and they went from town to town, carrying crosses, and scourging and beating themselves for their imagined sins.

It didn't work of course, if they were trying to mitigate the Black Death, but it did work in other ways. Women would follow them in their progression through the villages and catch their blood in cloths, and apply it to their eyes, claiming miraculous powers, and women would find them irresistible and they'd party--they were the rock stars of the day. Or perhaps the environmentalists.

They were the flagellants. The Catholic Church recognized a challenge to their totalitarian stranglehold on the populace but were advised, at first, not to say anything, fearing an uprising. And then the Pope spoke out at this direct challenge to his ideas and authority, and was ignored. The party went on--moaning, self-denunciation, drama, loud protestations of evil and sin, and of course the endless supply of groupies and debauchery which came with the dramatic profession of evil, renounced, loudly, for a holy cause.

I think I have finally figured it out.

Righties hate writing rules but are willing to live by them and Leftists looooove writing rules but are unwilling to live by them.

Generally speaking of course.

Drill! Drill Now! .... in Iraq.

Iraq said it's resuming oil exploration after a break of nearly 20 years due to United Nations sanctions, wire services reported from Baghdad. Exploration will start at the Al-Garraf field 220 miles south of Baghdad.

I have had the scales fall from my eyes in the last week. All of these years I have thought that the world was a cold, cruel place which didn't care about me or my ideas, and that it was up to me to fit in the world and to make sense of it. But I was wrong. I see that all I have to do is insist on my Ideas and Authority to make it all better. Better insofar as I am concerned and that's all that counts.

Islamists hate us and want to die to kill us. Well, before I would have worried. But now, by my Ideas and Authority, I decree that we shall all hug an Imam and all will be right and we'll meet for a macchiato at Starbucks. And if I'm lucky, using my Ideas and Authority, they won't cut my head off.

Gas prices are high, but I don't want drilling in my back yard, or windmills where I can see them, and the caribou don't really like the warmth of the pipelines that they cluster around in Alaska but by my Ideas and Authority I shall decree that gas prices...just...drop. And that no exploration for energy be done. But that the prices...just...drop. By my Ideas and Authority.

I don't like having to live on my income; it vexes me and I have so many good ideas on how to spend money, and whose money it is doesn't matter. By my Ideas and Authority I shall spend all the money that I want, and since it's OPM that's all right, and if they don't like it, that's even better because it's arising out of my Ideas and Authority and I like it when people are displeased by my Ideas and Authority.

And what about those times that I itch in the nether regions? By my Ideas and Authority I shall have complete suasion over any gym of my choosing. By my Ideas and Authority no one that I want to have suasion over will object, even if that person can bench press #250. Because by my Ideas and Authority I will bench press a hundredweight more.

Why stop there? I really want to be able to eat a half gallon if chocolate mint ice cream a day without straining elevators. And so I shall because by my Ideas and Authority I decree that I can eat what I want without getting fat.

This is great. Beats the hell out of working, thinking, being responsible or adult. Why, oh why, did I ever try to responsible when all I had to do was pitch a fit? And this way I don't have to be more than the sum of my resentments.

Moveon.org is currently running a radio ad attacking Representative Mike Conaway for supporting.... wait for it.... Oil Drilling!

The ScoreCard Blog over at Politico.com is predicting this will backfire, big time, and includes a choice quote from the National Republican Congressional Committee:

"We wholeheartedly endorse this colossal waste of funds," said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. "Not only is MoveOn.org's anti-drilling position out of step with 70 percent of Americans, but a member like Mike Conaway who represents the Texas oil patch will probably see his approval rating surge upward as a result of these ads."

Here's the text of the advertisement:

Why is Mike Conaway grandstanding in Congress instead of working toward real solutions to high gas prices?

Maybe it's because he's taken more than $200,000 from the Big Oil companies.

He's been part of a failed energy policy written by Big Oil. In the last eight years, we've seen oil profits soar as the price of gasoline has gone from $2 to $4 a gallon.

Big Oil keeps running the show, getting millions in tax breaks.

Now we have John McCain who's taken more than a million dollars from Big Oil in the last few months.

What do McCain and Mike Conaway want to do next? Drill offshore?

That's a gimmick. Not a solution. We wouldn't see a drop of oil from offshore drilling for at least ten years. By then, who knows where prices will be?

But Mike Conaway is more interested in political stunts than honest solutions to rising gas prices. Tell him to hop out of Big Oil's pocket and to start paying attention to the people who elected him.

It might be possible that Mike Conaway received $200,000 from Big Oil, but that seems a little light compared to his contributions from Small, Medium and Independent Oil.

So, do ya Think Mike Conaway is "paying attention to the people who elected Him?"

Idiots.

One of our indefatigable commenters became exercised when I excised some of his comments which made even me blush. He responded with

(Bleep) you, you (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)!! How dare you censor me, you (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)!! Why don't you and your (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)buddies go (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep) yourselves. The next time you (bleep)(bleep)(bleep) my ideas and authority I'll (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep) your (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep) to (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)!!

So there!! Oh, yeah; and Bush sucks like his (bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)(bleep)!!

The emphasis above in bold is mine.

I could not help but think of this:

And, Anonymous, I did today have a reason to trawl through YouTube--which is so well done that the video clip I wanted was the first one on offer.

--------------------

Update August 7:

I am not the one who added in the (bleep)s. They were in the original comment.

This is not my title but rather the title of the movie below, which is about 10 minutes. It's a history of the tricks that the Obama campaign pulled, and tried to pull, in Texas.

Skullduggery and vote fraud. Why be surprised? I'm still angry over what the Goracle's people tried to do, and did do in Florida. Not well enough, thank God, to have the Goracle installed in the White House but they disqualified four times as many votes in military counties as others--blinding bad faith.

There is nothing new in election fraud, especially among Democrats, who have it as their middle name. Daley = election fraud, and the same for JFK and LBJ. What is disturbing is that this Obama chicanery is not just usual Democrat election fraud but is tinged with a true cult feeling--one of the people said that they love-bombed you until you came aboard, and that the Obama people were smarter, prettier, better educated, and you could be like them. That's what they wanted you to believe to get on board. "Come join us and be cool." When did cool mean simple? Always?

Unlike the last YouTube video that I posted (saving me the trouble of actually working to write), this one is by and large not funny, except for a white man rapping.

Which is always funny. Even funnier than regular rapping.

Rocket explodes scattering Star Trek's "Scotty's" ashes all over the Pacific instead of taking them in to space.

Perhaps that's the true defining characteristic of the left: that amour propre that admits of humor no more than an old woman's cosseted fat poodle does. For humor, distinguished from their political sneering, would puncture them.

These precious, self-regarding, and very silly people can breed, talk, drive, and vote. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

But you gotta admit: it's the funniest thing on earth. Quite unintentionally.

The Bad News: The AstroPlay surface that was installed just six years ago at a total cost of $775,000 is in need of up to $600,000 in repairs.

The Weird News: We now need to install irrigation in order to water the artificial surface.

And the cost also includes adding irrigation. Officials said irrigation helps extend the life of the turf. It helps pat down the rubberized material underneath the turn so that it doesn't stick to shoes or cleats, [City of Midland Parks & Recreation Superintendent Max] Reyes said.

The Good News: The seating and the parking lots should last forever.

Take a look at this MyWestTexas.com article on the recent Amateur Softball Association tournament held at the Ezell Softball Complex recently.

The numbers are pretty amazing:

The ASA 14 and Under Nationals has attracted 86 teams from about 18 states to the Freddie Ezell Softball Complex at Ulmer Park this week.

The week-long event is generating an estimated $44,000 in hotel and motel taxes for Midland, said Nancy Swallow, the sports director for the Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to her department's calculations, 4,876 room nights have been generated with 1,900 attendees staying in Midland hotels -- some checking in as early as Monday.

As far as a return on investment, the Ezell Softball Complex is head and shoulders above The Lemon Bowl.

If we must spend tax dollars on sports venues it would be better to create several high quality venues that can be used and promoted extensively by the masses.....the unpaid masses....rather than big complexes that only a very few events can utilize and that just don't draw any people.

With that in mind here is my suggestion to County officials regarding the Horseshoe: The next capital purchase you make needs to be some sort of softer flooring that can be easily laid down and picked back up. Then go out and buy as many volleyball net set-ups as will fit in the building.

Then let the local volleyball parents/fans/organizations go to work bringing in people for their's and the county's mutual benefit.

One big volleyball tournament will bring in more people than the constant parade of Gun and Blade shows combined.

McCain's message is that I don't "look like the other presidents on the currency"

Money Generated Courtesy of Festisite!

With about one in every 100 people suffering from epilepsy, Ruiz said, they estimate about 10,000 suffer in just the Midland area, though they're currently only serving about 80 clients who come from Midland, Odessa and surrounding areas.

I think a decimal point was misplaced.

There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy. Making sure your tires are properly inflated -- simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling -- if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You'd actually save just as much!

The Chosen One's energy policy amounts to a Public Service Announcement from 1974.

I'm comforted.

Oh, yeah, and just chock full of Hope.

When Nansy Pelosi was first made Speaker of the House after the disastrous November election, I indulged in a spasm of hatred for the woman. After all, her smug left-coast elitism, her solipsism (is that redundant?) and most of all her self-righteous meddling and her willingness to interfere in anything so long as it is flashy and showy and, in what she is pleased to call her mind, makes her look good.

She was on The View. Elisabeth Hasselbeck had the guts to say the truth, the the Iraqi Surge was actually, er, working. That casualties were lower.

Some of it may be seen here.

Now Pelosi is merely a frivolous vote whore. Nothing that she has said has indicated to me that she has any interest in anything more than her posturing, which is calculated to play to her blinkered, leftist electorate; consequences mean no more to her than to Paris Hilton, but her wantonness is so much more destructive. Pelosi's remarks above are a nonsense, birdlime to the touchy-feely crowd who believe that a group hug will solve all problems. Odd, isn't it, that these are the people who are called useful idiots. And it's true that a group hug will solve all problems: that is if you're the one who's being hugged by useful idiots while your twin brother is making bombs which the useful idiots think won't be made or used.

I have a friend, a medical researcher who gets drugs past the FDA. He had used her in her capacity as a private attorney in the past and told me that she was intelligent and competent. He now has utterly no use for her. He is no fool.

If power can corrupt so entirely, turning her from a useful person into an autoproctological demagogue, it means that we are never safe.

Oh. I knew that.

--------------------------

Addendum July 30

Although I esteem this blog, no one could conflate it with The London Review of Books. And there's nothing wrong with that. Nonetheless this may be the first time that anyone has cited The National Enquirer for a story on the marital fidelity of that loathsome ambulance chaser John Edwards. I cite it because it's too much fun not to.

Warning: although NE states that Fox News has independently (their emphasis) confirmed its story, I don't find it on the Fox website, or at least in a reasonable time. And NE is not noted for sterling journalistic standards, although before you sneer too much, remember CBS and Dan Rather. His betrayal is worse than their sensationalism, nor is NE as tendentious or political as the sensationalism of Michael Moore, who, like all hard-left people, has designs on your your life, money, thought and freedoms, all of them, 24/7.

And in the ranking of supermarket tabloids, it is possibly the top of the heap, which is like saying that Oprah is the top of the heap of talk-show hosts, or that heart attack is top of the heap of terminal diseases.

Next time you're in line, you might pick up The Weekly World News. It is the single funniest thing on earth. Twenty years ago they were obviously making it all up, but now they don't even pretend that they're not. Which means that they're either writing for snotty people like me or that the unwashed masses are, in their experience, that credulous. Am example: "Fear of AIDS slashes vampire attacks." Yes, they're writing for an audience that gullible.

But then the university educated are going to vote for the Obamessiah. Who, actually, is the credulous demographic? When you take into consideration the supposed, and I emphasize supposed, intellectual abilities of the target audience.

I'm so confused. I may tear up my degree from Pricey Private University, go to Wally World and get a wife-beater shirt, a tattoo, grow interesting facial hair, and pitch the wine cellar in preference to a pony keg. My peeps might have more sense.

The London Times has a rather nice piece on The Man Who Would Be President, and if you read what Gerald Baker wrote, you'll find something which is not possible in America in a mainstream paper--it would be sneered out of existence by the smug elites closing ranks to protect the Anointed One from criticism. Or a question of substance. Or a funny look.

But times do change. Instead of having his ass walk on palm fronds, this hauls his ass:

Perhaps he feels it would be premature to put an American flag on the plane, or perhaps the change we can believe in is a new flag. Well, change, change, change. Just what sort of change? Going where? What's the roadmap? Would you vote for a president as a teenager goes shopping with daddy's credit card, not knowing what she'll come back with? Evidently more than half of the likely voters will.

Think of another person who goes by the single letter O. Sad, isn't it, when a talk-show host is of more substance than the Democratic presidential candidate. And she, at least, uses her own money to do good.

Fair Havens has reached their goal, but there is no reason not to continue to donate to this great cause.

As a native Midlander, one of the things that makes me proud is the philanthropic and community service spirit that is a major part of the fabric of our community. I know I owe the development of my "servant leadership" heart to the generosity of many Midlanders and Midland intuitions. I think there is no better example of that spirit, than Midland Fair Havens.

I've know about Midland Fair Havens since they started accepting clients in 1998. At the time I was single, and heavily active in a local Singles Ministry. I had the privilege to be involved in the spiritual and social support of several of Fair Haven's first clients. Most of what I did at the time was small and simple, but looking back, small, simple and kind meant a lot to those women and children.

Today, Midlanders can do something small and simple, give a few dollars. That small, and simple act will make a big difference in the lives of several single women and their children right here in Midland.

So what's the rare opportunity? I've volunteered to spend some time on the lift with Jimmy the "P". So come by in the middle of the night and drop a few bucks on a very worthy cause.

The well written story by Courtney Bacalso in the MRT today does a real good job of outlining the difficulties TRACE is experiencing and why they need to amend their development agreement.

From the story, it seems the investment in the aircraft maintenance program at MC has developed a good pool of skilled craftsmen and mechanics to produce the engines. Their engineering problem, won't be rectified quickly, or easily.

Developing engineering talent isn't a short time horizon process. Unlike funding community college based job training programs for skilled craftsmen, aircraft mechanics and call center employees, you can't produce engineers in a couple of years. Professional publications estimate the post K-12 education and intern experience investment needed to produce a competent professional engineer is approximately 10 years. On top of that, many individuals won't even attempt to become Engineers without receiving exceptional math and physical science instruction starting in the 7th or 8th grade. All the hype about the lack of engineering talent in the United States is real.

So how hard is it for TRACE to find aerospace engineers? Well, the State of Texas has 155 Professional Aerospace Engineers currently licensed, with close to 1/2 living out of state. In contrast, there are 2,755 Professional Petroleum Engineers and 2,705 Professional Chemical Engineers licensed in the State of Texas.

TRACE has the unenviable task of hunting in a very small pool for aerospace engineers willing to relocate to Midland to oversee their plant so they can bring additional production on-line, which is where the bulk of their job creation comes from.

For completeness, TRACE may not have to hire Licensed Professional Engineers to oversee their plant, due to government and industry exemptions to licensure. This is why I cite Petroleum and Chemical Engineers for comparison, since these fields, like aerospace have lots of engineers who are exempt from licensure. If we have trouble getting enough petroleum engineers in West Texas, imagine how hard it is to find aerospace engineers when the pool of qualified individuals is about 200 times smaller.

Here are some figures pulled from the latest campaign finance filings regarding each candidate's Midland-based donors:

MyWestTexas.com has more here.

A new bumper sticker from the Tennessee Republican Party.

From the Midland Development Corporation July 25 Agenda:

Consider a motion authorizing the President of the Midland Development Corporation to negotiate and execute an amendment to the existing economic development agreement between the Midland Development Corporation and Trace Engines, L.P.; said amendment may modify or reduce the employment and/or letter of credit obligations of Trace Engines, L.P. under said agreement or other terms of the agreement.

This agenda item is kind of vague, and could mean anything.

Which brings up an interesting point, why aren't potential changes to an existing economic development agreement publicized before the meeting? It isn't like there is some "potential economic deal" to protect. In essence, the MDC is considering a material change to a public funding agreement and it would be nice to know what the potential change is and what precipitated that change.

From MyWestTexas.com:

Burning carcass of electrocuted squirrel cited as cause of blaze

Three structures were destroyed and one firefighter sent to the hospital after an electrocuted squirrel started a grassfire Tuesday evening.

Fire crews found the squirrel's body below the power line's transformer in the 2800 block of West County Road 116 and said the burning carcass likely ignited the grass when it fell to the ground.....

[Midland Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken] Whiting said electrocuted animals start more grassfires than people are aware of and that the heat, wind and overgrown brush helped propel this fire to a higher level than most started by animals.

I wonder if all those dry tumbleweeds over at Eric's new place were placed by Squirrels waiting for the right moment to use their new tactics?

I am awaiting, with bated breath, the 3G iPhone that I ordered. You'd think that they'd be able to find the odd few thousand Chinese to make them, so that I wouldn't be inconvenienced. I realize that most people are saner than I am and don't abandon a perfectly serviceable iPhone for one with so few extra tweaks, but if you play with Google maps using GPS and WiFi, you will be hooked. And who knows? The satnav on my car might go out. Again.

Now the worry. If you've not used the iPhone, it has a wonderfully intelligent method of typing, with a virtual keyboard. It's small, perforce, and it makes guesses, often right ones, of the word that you meant, even when you don't hit the right keys but their neighbors. If it makes a guess you have the ability to reject its correction, and it learns. It will also autocomplete a word for you if it sees no alternative.

I was so pleased this morning to learn that it has embraced the word "moonbat."

Now. Will I have to train the new one?

According to MyWestTexas.com, the Midland City Council denied a specific use permit to some investors who wanted to open a bar in the Village Shopping Center at Garfield & Wall.

As one of the first developments to start the retail/office exodus from our City Center, this intersection is suffering like other parts of our fair community, with the large, empty Folgers/HeartPlace building, empty store fronts, and the abandoned bank building across the street.

From the quotes, it appears the Council was not deterred in its efforts to validate every study, focus group and wish list that has the development of entertainment and night life as a high priority for the Community as a whole. I'm sure the project would have gone forward in one of our economic opportunity zones like Downtown, ClayDesta/MC or the Airport. Since it wasn't in one of those, I suppose the 70% response of people opposed who received notice and the 90 petition signatures to block the permit had weight.

"While we are denying it, I strongly recommend that you do not halt your efforts to open your business," Councilman Michael Trost said. "We need entertainment like yours."

Councilman John James said downtown Midland would be a better location for something like this.

The developers seemed nonplussed about the idea:

However, the businesses partners, who intend to still open their venue at another location, said they are setting their sights somewhere in north Midland where "their target clientele live." (Emphasis mine)

I wonder if somebody forgot to dangle a check to help the developers change their plans? If they did, does that mean no amount of money will spur nightlife development in Downtown Midland?

Maybe the developers could have taken the tact the Blue Ridge Apartment complex did with Whitman/Plantation Hills residents and just keep submitting and submitting forcing the council to turn down key components of the community development and master plan again and again and again.

By now you've heard that Senator Phil Gramm said

You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession

We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.

To my mind this so banal and obvious that it needs no remark. But it of course became a campaign issue and Senator Obama weighed in, in his featherweight way, stating that we already had a Dr. Phil. This is more evidence, not that evidence was lacking, that Obama really is a nullity--a luxury brand sold to the shallow and the self-righteous who want a talking mirror of themselves on the television for four or eight years.

Obama's response is proof that Gramm hit the nail on the head, or as Jeeves said, "Rem acu tetigisti." Even the completely evanescent stories of P. G. Wodehouse seem as deep as Spinoza when compared to the utterance of He Who Would Be President, conflating a professor of economics, one of the most sensible senators we've had, with that bumptious charlatan, that television mind quack with the glutinous voice.

America is a nation of whiners, and it is the direct result of the politics of personal fulfillment and radical individualism. It is the result of the left's relentless politicization of everything--"Render unto Caesar" is a wise statement because it implies that some things just aren't in Caesar's purview and are our own responsibility. The modern political animal expects there to be a political solution to everything. Have a bad hair day? President Obama will set up a department for Bad Hair Days. This is the Nanny state writ large.

UPDATE: Welcome! arrivals from Michelle Malkin and HotAir.com. Be sure and click on the t-shirt to see the larger version of the image. It is easy to miss a lot of the gag by just viewing the small image.

Michelle Malkin is holding a "Design the Obama World Tour T-Shirt" contest and since I am a sucker for just such contests here is my entry.

Click on the T-Shirt for a larger image.

In the comments section of this post it is observed that Craig Anderson devoted a good portion of his morning radio show to the costs associated with the operation of the Midland Horseshoe...a story broken here on Jessica's Well...but that he never would go so far as to mention us by name, rather he would merely refer to "a local website."

So how does one go about the problem of being referred to only as "a local website" or "a local blog" instead of by our proper name?

Simple. You can't change what they call you, but you can make them correct in what they are saying.

Ladies and germs, I give you....