Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran and other Wednesday topics

Happy Wednesday. Do you wonder what Clients 1-8 are thinking these days? I liked Ben Montgomery's story about what goes through the minds of famous spouses in these situations.

My plan this morning, at least so far, is to write my Thursday print column about a favorite issue -- local governments using tax dollars to take sides in elections. We have seen a lot of cities and counties in Florida using tax dollars to try to "educate the voters" on which way the government wants them to vote on bond issues, tax referendums and such. There are bills in both our state House and Senate to outlaw this kind of electioneering with tax dollars, but naturally, the local governments oppose them. This would be a good thing to settle before this fall's baseball stadium referendum in St. Petersburg, seems to me.

Elsewhere:

* I am just a local schmoe speculating on this one, but do you really think this guy resigned just because a magazine article portrayed him as opposing the Bush Administration's plans to attack Iran? Is that really all it takes to knock out one of the senior commanders of the U.S. defense establishment? Or is it more likely that the article had some grain of truth to it, the admiral tried to engage in damage control within the administration without success, and either he (or his bosses) decided it was time to go?

* I see our editorial page came out against a mail-in primary for the Democrats. I don't especially care what the Dems do, but they ought to be careful about making it look too much like a banana republic. I would think there would be more ways to go wrong than right with an impromptu, on-the-fly mail-in vote. They SAID they were going to play by their national party rules -- maybe they should just stick to it. Sen. Bill Nelson said the other day it would be a "tragedy for America" if Florida's delegates aren't seated. A tragedy! I might save the T-word for, you know, Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and such.

* Have you ever visited Fort De Soto Park at the southern tip of Pinellas County? Do you think it is a great public asset? Do you think the Department of Transportation should be able to charge a toll that could eventually reach the outrageous price of $7.50 to get there, or for that matter, significantly higher tolls for the folks who use the Pinellas Bayway? Check out this story about the public meeting tonight on the DOT's plans.

* I hate to see this. But not nearly as much as I hate to see this. I am not sure what to make of this. And we are going to have to talk a whole lot more about this. But not right now, OK?

Comments

[Bland]

Howard,

A little different perspective.

Gen. Patton had a bad habit of opening his big mouth during WWII. It got him in hot water several times. Suspect same is true of Admiral at CINCOM. The country is at war and yes, Iran is a recognized terrorist state, America must speak with one voice and message. Personally, I thought we should have sent the B-52's to Tehran when they held our embassy staff hostage. I still feel that way, relations are not improved. That was an act of war and Jimmy Carter and Congress where whimps. The only good thing to come of that incident was the creation of CINCOM and Delta Force. Just ask any refugee Iranian family that had family executed when the government was taken over.

I suspect Sen. Nelson would be enraged if the Republican candidates where in a close delegate race and wanted a re-vote. To do this, is probably unconstitutional under our state law. This is the DNC’s and Howard Dean’s problem not the citizens of Florida who voted in their constitutional primary.

The one good thing about the charge to get on to Mullet Key at that rate is it will make the public beach less crowded. The same thing occurs on the private bridge over to Boca Grande and its state parks.

[None of the Above]

As to the article this morning regarding the fact that the Rays believe that there is adequate parking in the area…

Correct me if I am wrong, but during the permitting process that all commercial site construction goes through, or the impact phase, is not one of the criteria for determining whether or not something can be built on a site depend, heavily, on the number of parking space available to handle the customers…

If I am correct, then right from the outset it would appear that the current proposal – or any proposal for that matter – for a stadium on that site, a site having or providing little or no parking OF IT”S OWN, would not even be considered for permit under those circumstances, say if it were a 7-11, Wal-Mart, or some mom and pop type of storefront.

Just wondering…

[David Mathews]

"Do you think the Department of Transportation should be able to charge a toll that could eventually reach the outrageous price of $7.50 to get there, or for that matter, significantly higher tolls for the folks who use the Pinellas Bayway?"

Such a fee is outrageous. Of course. But I am certain that the era of people driving to Ft. DeSoto is coming to a swift close:

Oil crosses $110 a barrel!
http://www.upstreamonline.com/market_data/?id=markets_crude

Which is only partially explained by this:
http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=d12

And it does seem to coincide to a similarly limited degree to this:
http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html

What do all these numbers have in common? In what ways do these numbers influence and interact with each other?

You should write an article about this ... it is a very important story (though it might disturb the consumers who read your newspaper for its advertisements and spend their time walking like brainwashed zombies through the mall looking for the momentary pleasure of buying something).

Mr. Troxler, the St. Petersburg Times really does need to tell its consumers that their American Way of Life is coming to an end ... soon, very soon. Americans are going to lose their automobiles and the economy which was made possible by the automobile.

But Americans really should spend their time praying that the other consequences of our profligate lifestyle do not come knocking soon. Our food supply depends heavily upon diesel fuel not only for its production but also for its distribution. Diesel prices are skyrocketing and they will reach a national average of $4 soon:

http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/

At some point ... and it is entirely speculation as to exactly what point ... the price of diesel will rise so high as to bring America's truck fleet to a standstill. Should the people of Tampa Bay decide that they want to eat, they will need to pay a significantly higher price to get food here.

Eventually a day will come in which oil becomes so scarce and our supplies are constrained that the entire trucking fleet will stop moving forever. This may be ten or twenty years in the future but certainly within our lifetime.

What then?

Someone really does need to begin planning for the future. A failure to plan leads inevitably to catastrophe.

[Jan]

When I saw that Progress Energy had tripled its estimate of the cost of the nuke plant, it immediately made me suspect that they had decided to roll into the cost estimate right-of-way acquisition, a gambit designed to bolster their argument for Senate Bill 1506, a piece of legislation that would effectively remove public oversight and approval of acquisition of public and conservation lands for utility easements. It may be that utilities need some public land, but they should have to prove that need on a case by case basis, and not be given carte blanche to seize whatever they want.

[Rich]

Dave,

settle down. everything will be just fine. Oil was $10/barrel not long ago. Didn't they say we were running out of oil in the 70's when they last ran the prices up? It's more a function of the destruction of the dollar that is driving the price of oil. Maybe Bush was wrong and defecits do matter?? Time to short government bonds as inflation has reared it's ugly head again.

By the way, more expensive oil is a good thing if you want to find an alternative source. There is no incentive to find an alternative source when you can use cheap oil.