Hayseeds

Hayseeds No. 247

Honestly, while I voted for Hillary Clinton, at this point I hope Barack Obama wins one way or another in Ohio.

While I believe Hillary has a better platform, and better ideas then Obama, a lot of people in the activist community and liberals in the party want Obama to win. These people already are trying to spread rumors that today's vote will be stolen, or unfairly counted.

I'm sure they'll be questionable counting of some votes. That is what happens with all elections, particularly close ones, where luck often chooses candidates more then actual measure of public sentiment.

It's not good for democracy, if there is a group of people question the legitimacy of every election. Honestly, whoever gets picked out of today's close primaries, will represent the majority or close to majority of people will who get out and vote today in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

Joe Bruno's House on Google Maps Street View.

Some of you might be curious where the Senate Majority Leader lives or what his horse farm looks like at 345 Bulson Road in Brunswick (this address is public information—see his campaign finance filings).

View Larger Map

He lives in a relatively conservative white ranch-style house, with a tacky old "wagon" wheels next to his driveway. It's also being remodeled as of last summer, as evidenced by the dumpster next to it. South-West on the road is the Senator's office and below it, the garage for his other cars, with a farm worker housing in the back. His horse barn, with a tractor towing a manure spreader is North-East on the road.

Nice, but not really that nice. I guess some people have this view that Senator Bruno is some super-elite with an expensive house and a fancy horse farm. While he does have 120 acres, it's not like his out buildings are that fancy or wreak of the extreme wealth of some places in Rensselear County.

Honestly, I always envisioned Senator Bruno as having a McMansion, located several hundred feet from the road, connected to a model barn built to the highest standards, not a 1950-era house with a relatively nice A-frame located right on the road.

So Senator Bruno isn't as elitist as some of us might imagine. He's not that far from the family down the road with some horses in their backyard.

Pataki Blows Through Ol' PAC Money.

All the money that Pataki raised in his dashed Presidential-bid treated him well, spending it for a variety of political gatherings, Broadway Theater Tickets, and gifts to political loyalists.

After ending his exploration of a presidential bid early last year and all but disappearing from politics, former Gov. George E. Pataki spent more than $1 million from his political action committees for Broadway theater tickets, gatherings at the Yale Club and payments to political loyalists and advisers.
Mr. Pataki’s PACs were established to lay the foundation for a presidential run. In September 2006, he opened a campaign office in Urbandale, Iowa.
The money came from PACs used to raise Mr. Pataki’s profile nationally and to lay the foundations for a possible presidential run. They were organized in Virginia, where candidates are given broad discretion in spending.

Really nice for him. Of course, why would he care with him retiring after making a lot of money as governor of our fine state.

Link: Binghamton: Free WiFi Downtown.

Binghamton: Free WiFi Downtown

Link: Countdown to Digital Disaster: Our E-Waste Problem.

Countdown to Digital Disaster: Our E-Waste Problem

Link: Harvesting Vermont Forests.

Harvesting Vermont Forests

Link: Ohio, Texas Could Decide Democratic Race.

Ohio, Texas Could Decide Democratic Race

Link: Snow Flurries: Caused By Bacteria?.

Snow Flurries: Caused By Bacteria?

The Ins and Outs of Phil Steck.

Dan over at Albany Weblog this month has an amazing 2-hour interview with Phil Steck on almost all the issues one could think of interviewing a Congressional candidate on.

Honestly, if you have two hours to listen then check this out. It's amazing how candid Phil Steck is throughout the interview.

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Despite Fed Assurances, Stagflation Fears Grow

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Ethanol Demand, Prices Boost Farm Communities

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Cattle Farmers Pay Price for Ethanol Boom

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Albany police officer indicted in gun incident

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Activitists: Brownfield program languishes

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Vt. town votes on Bush 'indictment'

Wednesday: Maxed Out Video.

At 7 PM at the Bethlehem Library they will be showing Maxed Out which you can watch online.

It's quite interesting, I'm watching it now.

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Why Is the 1998 Ford F-150 No. 1 on Mexicos Most Wanted List?

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State travel office considering 'green' certification program

Link: blog.nyspra.org: New introductions A-10151, A-10154.

blog.nyspra.org: New introductions A-10151, A-10154

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Chevy Volt: In 2010?

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High Gas Prices: People Stop Buying Pickup Trucks

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Oil Falls on OPEC Worries

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Aging Corporate Campuses: NYT Photo Show

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The Life and Death of the Modern Suburban Office Campus

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Food Market Chain Halts Tobacco Sales

Link: From bill to law, wine to icecream?.

From bill to law, wine to icecream?

Link: Dairy Coalition Calls For Revisions in Pricing System.

Dairy Coalition Calls For Revisions in Pricing System

Link: Albany Councilman Proposes Residency Requirement.

Albany Councilman Proposes Residency Requirement

Link: Officials expect record turnouts.

Officials expect record turnouts

Link: Drop in N.Y. Prisoners Bucks Nationwide Trend.

Drop in N.Y. Prisoners Bucks Nationwide Trend

Link: Texas Primary: A Number Game.

Texas Primary: A Number Game

Link: Brownfield cleanup funds stalled.

Brownfield cleanup funds stalled

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Students support revised bottle bill

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Agreement aims to block inflation of home values

Link: NYS Assembly: Bring Back the Tax Surchage on Wealthy New Yorkers?.

NYS Assembly: Bring Back the Tax Surchage on Wealthy New Yorkers?

Link: Clinton & Obama Playing A Funny Game.

Clinton & Obama Playing A Funny Game

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Two Vermont Towns Approve Bush-Cheney Indictment Articles

Link: Gas-Saving Tips: Sierra Club.

Gas-Saving Tips: Sierra Club

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Ex-CEO to seek McNulty's seat

Link: Assembly Plan Would Add to Taxes of More Affluent.

Assembly Plan Would Add to Taxes of More Affluent

Link: Highway Privatization, Taxes, and Picking the Public Pocket.

Highway Privatization, Taxes, and Picking the Public Pocket

Still No Democratic Nominee.

It looks like after last night's primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island there is still no favored candidate to win the Democratic nomination for President. The Republicans have gone ahead, and with their rules picked John McCain in a rather quick fashion.

I'm rather amazed how deadlocked the party is over the two candidates. It seems like almost every state will have a significant voice over who becomes from the Democratic candidate for President, although it seems likely that Barack Obama will continue to pull forward and be the likely nominee. Hillary would have to do an awful lot of catching up now, and almost all the big states except for Pennsylvania have had their say, making it more difficult for her.

I guess it's good to see that so many people are getting a chance to vet our party's candidates. Most reassuring is that the spread was great enough in Ohio, that people didn't spend the whole night claiming that one candidate or another stole the race from the other. I hate to see people believing that the political system is corrupt or that elections are always stolen.

Some Observations from the Phil Steck Interview.

Yesterday, I spent about 2 hours listening to the Phil Steck tapes that Albany Weblog posted to it's blog and had some thoughts on a few specific sections of the tapes.

Steck on Agriculture. Phil Steck is quick to criticize some of the farms in our district for their environmental impact. His description of dairying suggests that farmers "abuse" their cattle, rails against prosilac as the root of all evil (what activists call bovine growth hormone that extends the lacation cycles of cattle), and talks about the poverty that "those farmers" live in. He certainly is no Congresswomen Gillibrand, and his ignorance on these issue comes out in this discussion.

Dairy cattle aren't cheap, they are a $1.5k a head investment. Do you think your going to do anything that isn't going to protect that investment? Yes, there is livestock insurance, but they aren't going to cover you if your mortality rates are high or if you abuse your stock. And I don't think farmers like being told that they are poor.

His remarks are cute when he says: "everything I know about agriculture is from Sandy Gordon". I'm sure that makes Sandy proud with his couple of cows on his pasture in his backyard in wind swept Knox. At least Sandy grew up on a farm and knows a little bit about agriculture, unlike Mr. Steck.

I have to say I thought Tracey Brooks' positions on agriculture on her website where offensive—making a mockery of the farm community, then I listened to what suburbanite Phil Steck had to say about farmers. All I can say, after listening to this tape—is that we get a real politican to run like Paul Tonko who isn't so ignorant or politically stupid.

(Listen to Part 1 at about 20 min)

Steck on Suburban Sprawl. Phil Steck likes suburban sprawl, although he claims that he was pushing for more smart growth and planning as Colonie was built out. He thinks that suburbanization is natural and that he as a Congressman can't do anything to stop it. He doesn't talk much about how Congress could push main street redevelopment or provide funds for our small cities to renovate their aging infrastructure.

Not that any of this should be surpising. Steck is a product of suburban sprawl, and he's quite happy living in his house on a squiggly development a long ways from any form of mass transit. Keeps them underclass blacks away, as you know by living there. He might as well just build a wall around his house, so well protected in the suburbs.

(Listen to Part 1 at about 25 min)

Steck on Global Warming. "Love me I drive a Prisus." "I am morally virtuous, and your just a dirty hick who can't afford a fancy Prisus car." He mentions he's concerned about global warming, yet doesn't actually mention any particular approach to the problem, except to say "those poor people who can't afford to buy a Prisus".

He seems to be pretty lacking on this issue, although maybe the interview didn't tease out all the possibilities. He talks briefly about the he supports "solar and wind alternatives" and "getting energy costs down" before talking about economic development. He doesn't say if he supports any particular trade and cap system or other program to reduce greenhouse emissions, or if that would be too bothersome for his subrurban standard of living.

(Listen to Part 3 at about 18 min)

Steck on Mass Transit & Electric Cars. He thinks mass transit is a joke and that people will be driving cars forever to getting to work regardless of gas prices. He doesn't believe that mass transit is pratical for most people, and that efforts to expand it would be futile. Not that Saratoga's massively popular expansion of CDTA means anything to him, as that's in Kirsten Gillibrands District.

And for getting around the city, bikes rock, despite what he claims as bikes as useful toys.

He pens his hopes on electric cars as the solution to all our problems. He figures that we have plenty of coal to burn and make all the electric we could ever waste as inefficenctly as possible in our cars. 15.5 cent a kilowatt electric doesn't phase him as it's guzzled down by massive batteries used to power massive electric motors for the first few miles of a commute, in the regular 80 °F weather of Albany after global warming (which we will need for the electric batteries and motors to work anywheres near efficiently).

The Chevy Volt will have a 16Kwh (with an acceptable range of 8Kwh or 0.2Kw/h per mile) battery that will cost you $1.24 to charge for a theoritical 40 mile range. On regular gas, it looks like this car will get 50 MPG thanks to the hybrid function and it's small size.

Coal (our most popular source of electricity) produces 966g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hout. Gasoline has 2421g of carbon dioxide per gallon. Do the math there. I think you'll find a burning gasoline in this car will create less global warming, and be better for the environment.

8Kw/h from coal power plant (for 40 miles) * 966g equals 7,728 g carbon dioxide.

8Kw/h from natural gas power plant (for 40 miles) * 335g equals 3,038 g carbon dioxide.

0.8 gallons of gasoline burned in car (for 40 miles) * 2,421g equals 1,937 g carbon dioxide.

Clearly, it's much more efficient and better for the environment to burn gasoline then it is to burn electricity in a car. But, it's more complicated then that as gasoline engines and electric engines have different levels of inefficiency, depending on temperature and design.

Just stop praying for electric cars or future cars that will get a million miles per gallon. It won't happen, as humans can't exempt themselves from the laws of physics. It takes a lot of energy to propel 2 tons of steel forward at 60 MPH within seconds of a light turning green. Generating that energy on site, in a conventional gasoline engine, is much more efficient then moving it over a wire hundreds of mile and storing it in batteries.

(Listen to Part 4 at about 20 min)

I give it Phil Steck for being so candid in the Albany Weblog Interview. But he comes off as so ignorant and unthinking on environment and agriculture policy. He stuck in the suburban mindframe and can't escape the notion of the car as king. He always refers to his county legislator experience, but doesn't ever see beyond that.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to support him for County Legislator—I mean Congressman.

Link: Nipping It In the Bag | New york city and Los Angeles County, Calif., pass legislation to remove plastic bags from the waste stream..

Nipping It In the Bag | New york city and Los Angeles County, Calif., pass legislation to remove plastic bags from the waste stream.