New Attorney General Won't Be Any of The Favorites

I was listening to the radio this morning, and a talk show host in Topeka (Jim Cates) was telling what he had been hearing in regards to who the new Attorney General (in Kansas) will be. Surprisingly it seems he and I have been hearing the same thing.

So who will be replace embattled AG Paul Morrison? According to undisclosed sources I believe I now know who it will be. You can scratch Chris Biggs, he won't be the new Attorney General. Neither will Steve Boyda, husband of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. Nor will it be my personal favorite Dan Lykins, or Congressman Dennis Moore or the turncoat and former state Republican Chairman Mark Parkinson.

Nope all the indicators seem to point to the next Attorney General to be Charles Branson. The Douglas County District Attorney, who is currently serving his first term. Branson, was also a criminal defense attorney for years before he was elected as DA in 2004. In addition that win was a pretty decisive one, in year of major Republican gains elsewhere in the state and the nation.

Finally, sources say that the official announcement will be within the next 10 days.

Hitler Speaks

The following is an interesting video clip that is circulating on MySpace.

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: § Lori §
Date: Dec 29, 2007 8:25 PM


When Adolf Hitler bought Eva Braun a movie camera, to film the people and parties which occurred at their Bavarian retreat, the technology ... all » to include synchronized sound had not yet been developed.

So when soldiers discovered Hitler's private home movies, in the Berlin bunker where the Nazi leader took his own life, the tantalizing clips they unearthed, featuring leading members of the SS in a more relaxed mode, remained silent for 60 years.

Now, leading edge lip reading software has enabled German experts to re-voice these films and provide us with a chilling insight into Hitlers private world.

..

CIGNA Insurance Refuses Life Preserving Surgery

Did you hear about the greedy insurance company that refused to pay for a liver transplant? Seems CIGNA Insurance Company initially refused to cover the cost of the transplant for 17-year-old Natalee Sarkisian, saying the surgery was too experimental. A liver transplant Experimental in 2007? Despite doctors urging the insurance company to reconsider CIGNA wouldn't budge. So yesterday (Thursday 12/20/07) protesters gathered outside the company's Glendale, CA office to protest. During which the company called to tell the mother that they had changed their minds. However, the decision was to late. Her condition worsened and she was taken off life support within hours of the decision reversal.

I am glad that I don't have this insurance company. If I did, I would strongly consider dumping them. It appears that they don't really care about their customers, despite the claim that their hearts are with the family. Sounds to me their hearts are with their wallets.

Simply put they suck!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1942702/posts

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5278599&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

http://cbs2.com/local/nataline.sarkisyan.CIGNA.2.615167.html

Will New Energy Bill Really Save Us Money?

by DebtFree4ever.net

Congress outlaws the 100-watt incandescent light bulb.

"In this bill, we ban by 2012 the famously inefficient 100-watt incandescent bulb," said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who co-sponsored that provision.
- Chicago Tribune

With a vote of 314-100 the U. S. gave final approval to the bill that the Senate had approved 86-8, last week.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the bill would improve the energy efficiency of "almost every significant product and tool and appliance that we use, from light bulbs to light trucks.
- Chicago Tribune

But will it really? How many people actually use the 100-watt bulb? In fact, most light fixtures I have seen suggest that no bulbs larger then 60-watts be used.

Harman's provision would require that by 2020 light bulbs be at least three times more efficient than current ones. It also includes a provision that allows California to set stricter energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs.
- Chicago Tribune

On top of that, is it really Congress' business to tell us what type of bulbs we will be using? The goal of Congress is to eventually get rid of the incandescents altogether. Still, I think it should be a personal choice, made through education, much the same way Kansas has approached motorcycle helmet laws. ***In Kansas, the legislature has refused to pass legislation to require helmets. Instead riders are encouraged by education.***

Back to the bill that Congress approved, they also wrote into the bill a provision to require car makers to increase the minimum mileage to 35 mpg by 2020. Some critics believe that, instead of a savings, that the cars made to meet the new mileage requirements would cost $10,000 to $15,000 more than they do today.

Fire in Old Executive Office Building

Photo courtesy of CNN
With sketchy details the news came over the radio a few minutes ago. A fire has broken out in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. It is the building that the Vice President has his ceremonial office in. However, he is rarely in that office. Instead, he spends most of his time in his West Wing office.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Firefighters battled thick smoke and flames inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, on Wednesday.

Smoke could be seen from the White House driveway.

Video showed firefighters breaking a window and spraying flames with a hose.

- CNN

Thick black smoke billowed from windows of the Old Executive Office Building on the White House compound on Wednesday.

A fire appeared to be centered on the second floor of the building, which houses staff of the White House, National Security Council and other presidential agencies.
- WJLA, ABC 7

As horrible as the news of a fire is, maybe this actually is a good thing. Fiscally speaking of course. If the VP rarely uses the office in the Old Executive Office Building, then why do we need it. It seems to me to be a waste of taxpayer money. perhaps, we can tear it down and place any of employees that had worked in the so called Old Executive Office Building in other locations of the White House area. In so doing we could save you and me (as we are the Government) some hard earned money. Seriously, do we really need so many governmental buildings? Does the VP really need 2 offices? One of which is purely ceremonial.

Who Will Replace Kansas AG Now That He Has Resigned?

Now that Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison (D) has resigned, who will replace him? I have seen and heard several names.

Kansas Securities Commissioner Chris Biggs is the name most mentioned. Biggs ran against Morrison's predecessor Phil Kiline (R) losing to him in 2002. Biggs also was thought to be a candidate last year, but he refused saying he was happy in his current position. Now, once again his name has surfaced. But would Republicans be comfortable with him? In my opinion I think not. Of course it will be up to Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson, has also been mentioned. However, who is he. Maybe that is a good thing, that we don't know him. However, failure to know him, would severely hurt his chances for election in the 2010 elections. Sebelius would want a Democrat that could win in the next election.

Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson - Another turn coat Republican. Like Morrison, the Lt. Governor was a Republican up until 2006, when Gov. Sebelius asked him to switch and be her new running mate. What makes him worse then Morrison, is that he is the biggest political whore, that I have ever seen. In 2002, when Sebelius ran for Governor the first time, Parkinson was the Chairman of the Republican Party of Kansas. He called Sebelius a liberal and was very critical of her. Four years later, he was her running mate. However he has had his eye on the Governor's seat for a number of years. I can remember his name be on the list of potential candidates in the 2002 Republican primary. He chose to sit out that year. Conventional wisdom says that he will stay where he is and run for Governor when Sebelius term expires in 2010.

Dan Lykins - a Topeka attorney, is considered a personal favorite for Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who appointed Lykins in 2005 to the Kansas Board of Regents. He has been a long time treasure to the Kansas Democratic Party. Lykins has never been elected to public office but ran for the state Senate in 1976, attorney general in 1998, and for Congress against then Congressman Jim Ryun in 2002. In my opinion, Lykins is the one candidate that could keep the office in Democratic hands. For a Democrat, he is a social conservative which would be appealing to even conservative Republicans.

Only time will tell, who the Governor will appoint, but I will be keeping my ear to the ground as this story continues.





Related Articles:
Kansas Attorney General Resigns Amid Scandal

Kansas Attorney General Weakened by New Sex Allegations

Kansas Attorney General Resigns Amid Scandal

After 5 days of his inter-office affair with Linda Carter being in the news daily, Attorney General Paul Morrison has announced his resignation. Saying he must be accountable for his own mistakes, he realized that the people of the state of Kansas had lost respect and confidence in the office of the Attorney General.

"Because of my actions in my personal life, many people have stopped believing in me, which is damaging the office, my staff and the state," Morrison said. "Throughout my career, I have always fought for justice as a prosecutor. I've held others accountable for their actions, and now I must be held accountable for my mistakes."
- Topeka Capital journal

Claiming his priority was never politics but representing the citizens of Kansas, he was resigning effective Jan. 31, 2008. His reason was to bring public confidence back to the office, and take the public eye off his private life.

Political reporter Martin Hawver said that he believed that this was the biggest political news story in the past 50-years.

related article

Kansas Attorney General Weakened by New Sex Allegations

Here in Kansas, voters elected a new Attorney General who took office in January. This week, we have learned that he was cheating on his wife with an employee in his former office of Johnson County District Attorney. We also learned that he got a tattoo of his mistress' (and employee) initials in a private area of his body. The question many have been asking, including myself is how did he hide that from his wife.

This all came to the light of day, when that former employee filed a complaint with the EEOC. The complaint alleges that Attorney General Paul Morrison, a former Republican who turned Democrat at the bequest of Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D) to run against former AG Phil Kline (R). Kline is now the current Johnson County District Attorney, who was given authority yesterday by the Johnson County Commission (on a vote of 6-1)to hire an independent investigator to look into the allegations.

When the story broke Morrison admitted to the affair but denied other allegations of the complaint, but refused to be specific. Today at 3pm, Morrison is to hold a press conference in which he is expected to resign. I plan to be there to bring you this story. Stay tuned.

Why our country is in trouble:

Hard to believe, but funny. Why our country is in trouble! A Washington , DC , airport ticket agent offers some examples of why our country is in trouble!

1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a candidate's staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then she interrupted me with, 'I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts.' Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, 'Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.
'Her response - click.


3. A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.
He replied, 'Don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!' (OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, 'Is it possible to see England from Canada?' I said, 'No.' She said, 'But they look so close on the map.'
(OMG, again!)

5. An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, 'I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.' (Aghhhh)

6 An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 am and got to Chicago at 8:33 am. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker called and asked, 'Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?' I said, 'No, why do you ask?' She replied, 'Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!'
After putting her on hold for a minute while I looked into it (I was laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , CA is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

8. A Senator's aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, 'Would it be cheaper to fly to California, and then take the train to Hawaii?'


9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, 'How do I know which plane to get on?' I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, 'I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.'

10. A lady Senator called and said, 'I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?' I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , Fl. on a commuter plane. She said, 'Yeah, whatever, smarty!'

11. A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.' I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, 'Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!'


12. A New Mexico Congresswoman called to make reservations, 'I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .' I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, 'Are you sure that's the name of the town?' 'Yes, what flights do you have?' replied the lady. After some searching, I came back with, 'I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Rhino anywhere' The lady retorted, 'Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!' So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, 'You don't mean Buffalo , do you?'
The reply? 'Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.'

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it's in.

Survey - Presidential Race & the Economy

I recently signed up for dNeero. A website that pays you for taking surveys. They even pay you for posting them on your blog or myspace page, when someone else takes the survey to.

The first one I took is political in nature. I am an undecided voter, but the race will affect us economically and should be watched. The poll allows you you answer questions based on specific to certain issues and doesn't ask who you would vote for overall. In fact, the two presidential questions asked ended up with two different candidates as my choice. Both are in my top 3 choices. So without further ado, here is the survey for you to take as well.

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The 2nd one I took is about holiday parties: