Okay, so much for political correctness and sensitivity and all of that nonsense. This just pisses me off:

St. Louis County • Two people were killed and 13 injured — one critically — Tuesday in a catastrophic crash that closed eastbound Highway 40 just west of Interstate 270 as the evening rush hour was beginning, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Sgt. Al Nothum of the Highway Patrol said 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, were involved in the double-fatality crash at about 3:45 p.m.

The accident started when a tractor trailer apparently plowed into a line of stopped cars waiting to get onto I-270.

“The driver of a large tractor-and-trailer unit was traveling eastbound on (Highway) 40 in the far right lane and basically ran over several vehicles,” Nothum said at a news conference.

I know the rhetoric about how the trucking industry keeps America’s economy moving and that this is an isolated incident and that most truckers are just trying to make end’s meet, but I can’t help be angry at this, especially since this is on my commute during the school year and a spot where I wait in traffic just a little bit earlier than the time frame for this accident.

Nothing against truckers since I know almost every single one of them drives more safely than most of the rest of us, but this is a great moment to mention how strongly I feel about this nation needing to rebuild its railway system, for a variety of reasons.

Lovely video on YouTube of a 61 year old librarian being given a ticket for trespassing at a McCain Town Hall meeting in Denver?

Her infraction? Carrying a sign that says “McCain = Bush”

I love her question at the end: “Why would Republicans who voted for bush find it offensive that a sign says Bush = McCain or McCain = Bush?”

Exactly.

I’ve been taking a bit of break from politics over the past month or so, so last night as I was running through my links on the right, I ran across this message on the Rockridge Institute’s Website:

While the Rockridge Institute closed in April 2008, the Institute’s staff remain committed to fulfilling the progressive vision it advocated and are available for consultations, trainings, and speaking engagements.

Disappointed is the only word that comes to mind. I truly enjoyed their articles and books, especially those of George Lakoff whose discussion of “framing” in political discourse opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at the politicians and what they say. It’s a bit sad to see a progressive think tank go out of business.

I guess they didn’t have an oil company for a sugar daddy.

I wrote this on July 24, 2007 in response to the linked article from MSNBC:

If you don’t feel like reading the article (from MSN.com), the premise is that the United States needs a gasoline tax to push prices above the $4 per gallon threshold in order to generate a greater demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and thus push automobile makers to produce more efficient cars for the U.S. market.

Though I am far from an economist, I’ve been thinking about this issue for quite some time and think that the author makes a great deal of sense. It would initially be an extra financial burden for anyone who commutes, and political suicide for whoever proposes the legislation, but in my opinion, the potential to reduce our national dependence on foreign oil as well as the benefit to the environment seem to make a great deal of sense.

Of course, the obvious libertarian argument is that we have the right to drive whatever car we want, regardless of fuel economy and that it should be the market that decides the price of gasoline. I can respect this opinion but it is my belief that nothing will change until us consumers stop purchasing cars bigger than what we actually need. It may happen on its own, but I’m not holding my breath.

The market has spoken and now that these prices seem certain to become more than just a flight of journalistic fancy, I’m curious (especially with my 200 commuter miles every week) to see if any of these predictions come true. In a little less than a year, it turns out that we probably don’t need an extra tax after all, just a world too thirsty for energy.

Jerry Holbert, from the Boston Herald via Daryl Cagle’s Professional Cartoonists Index.

It’s all over the news of course, but it you haven’t seen it in its 40 minute entirety and have any interest in the speech, I urge you to take the time to watch it through.

If you had told me a year ago that the message that would sweep America during the 2008 election would be that we Americans need to examine ourselves and take responsibility for our own future, I would have laughed. After all, this is a country where our leaders think that giving each of us an extra $300 will solve all of our economic problems and that foreign policy starts with a shotgun pointed off the front porch.

I saw this cartoon by Daryl Cagle over on the Daily Dish this morning and had a good laugh.

The much publicized concert by the New York Philharmonic in North Korea is apparently over, and despite several searches looking for signs of controversy I haven’t really been able to find anything of any significance. I suppose the “Super-Cons” are busy gearing up the Anti-Obama smear campaign and really don’t have time for anything else right now.

I did read that the president downplayed the concert, saying that “At the end of the day, this is a concert.” The simple fact that he was able to identify what an orchestra does should be encouraging to all of my colleagues teaching music appreciation.

Apparently Fidel Castro has resigned. I know that recently he’s been in poor health, but is anyone else skeptical?

Another major primary day and another day of intra- and extra-party mudslinging going on between the candidates. My favorite low blow for the day is the video of Michelle Obama with a key word edited out of the audio track to make it look as if she hates America. It is amateurish and transparent. In other words, perfect for the Limbaughs and Coulters of the world.

Speaking of blank looks and drool, I started teaching diminished leading-tone seventh chords yesterday.

I thought I was pretty clever with the lesson, but when I started talking about borrowing the lowered SD6 from the minor, I think I lost them. (Duh!) I’ll try to be more clear on Wednesday, but they should at least be able to complete their homework, which fortunately doesn’t include any fully diminished chords in the major mode. I’ve got to dig into a few recurring problems on Wednesday and start being a bit more firm with my expectations.