respublica

Those student loans

College students with loans have until the end of today to consolidate them before interest rates rise.  They rise tomorrow.  This link, a video news story about the deadline features John Schwarm, an employee of  Illinois' student loan association, ISAC.  He is also a doctoral student at Concordia University River Forest.

What year do you belong in?

A quiz to see what year suits you best.  My results were 1969, hardly surprising until I read how a 1969 person was characterized.  Hardly me at all.  Take the quiz.

You Belong in 1969

If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Photographing fireworks

If you've ever wanted to take pictures of fireworks but never bothered because it seemed too difficult, the Digital Photograph School website has some tips.  Most obvious and most difficult for the average person, use a tripod to prevent shake because your exposure is going to take longer which means holding a camera equals movement.  Most of the tips are for SLR or film cameras, but the information is useful for digital buffs as well.  I'm going to root through the closets and dust off the tripod I haven't used in years.

2006 congressional election forecast

Congressional Quarterly (CQ) has early prognostications on House races for the November election.  They predict these numbers overall:  Republicans will win 224 seats and the democrats 202 with 218 needed for a majority.

A nice interactive map is included on this site which enables each district to pop up with the click of a mouse.  Also, CQ runs down major contested races and describes which way they think the district is leaning.  In the Illinois 19th pitting incumbent republican John Shimkus against democratic challenger, Danny Stover, CQ sees this as safe for Shimkus. 

2006 Congressional baseball game

The annual baseball game pitting democratic members of congress against their republican counterparts was played last night at RFK Stadium in D.C.  The annual game began in 1909 and the won-loss records can be found here.  Roll Call described this year's game like this:  This year’s tussle between Republicans and Democrats heralds both the sunset of one era and the dawning of another.  Whether they used a political or sports crystal ball is not noted.

Once again the republicans beat the democrats, for the 6th straight year and 9 out of the last 10 years.  This year's score was 12-1.  Rep. John Shimkus (Collinsville, Illinois) pitched for the repubs.  Shimkus has often pitched in this game, but last year he was only able to be a sideline coach while recovering from heart surgery.  He chose to wear a uniform from Metro East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville, Illinois, a school in which he taught back in the 80's.

The annual game raises money for various D.C. charities.  $100,000 was raised to help D.C. area children. 

Wonkette has more photos of last night's game, but they seem to be all of Florida congresswoman Katherin Harris for some reason.

A democrat's view of the losing side of the game from Smell the Glove.

Missouri congressman, Kenny Hulshof was the game's MVP. 

The Washington Post has a wrap up, featuring a photo of Rep Shimkus, and a funny recounting of how hard the democrats practiced the past 6 weeks.  Still lost. 

Hot days splashing water

Had a meeting today which was held at Collinsville's Splash City water park.  As I walked around it occured to me that the kids and adults who were there to enjoy the water were smarter than those of us sitting in a meeting.

Each area of the park has a sign, this one letting visitors know the area was for little kids.

This was the most popular venue, with so many ways in which to get soaked.

A verticle view of Monsoon Mountain.

I don't know what this is but it looked like "chute the chutes".

A "Chrome sandwich"

Pete Rahn, MoDOT director, said something I finally agree with yesterday.  He wants the I-70 traffic lanes from St. Louis to Kansas City to have separate lanes for cars and large trucks.  He is also promoting adding a lane in each direction, but the major change would be keeping the big trucks restricted to one lane.

Hurray.  I hope this happens.  Anyone who drives to Columbia knows how frightening that stretch of highway is with the big trucks veering all over the place with car drivers fearing, as Rahn said, "they will become part of "a chrome sandwich" if their cars are crushed between two trucks."

70 is horrible, unnerving, scary, and for good reason.  We drove to Missou many many times over the years, always seeing near misses involving trucks and frequently seeing the aftermath of truck crashes along the way.  Almost never did we see state troopers out with their radar like we see traveling up and down the state of Illinois.  A state, by the way, where you rarely see big trucks out of the right hand lane.  Travel 70 north and east toward Indianapolis and those trucks stick like glue to the right hand lane.  (once they leave the Metro East area, that is.) 

So, kudos to Rahn this time.  Fix 70.  Fast.  And, work for a new bridge over the Mississippi. 

Bridge tolls: Not while he's governor

Governor Blagojevich was in Collinsville yesterday talking about alternatives to a new bridge over the Mississippi, effectively plugging a plan which would be a four lane connector next to the MLK bridge paid for with mostly federal and Illinois money, leaving only a small amount in Missouri's lap. 

MoDOT director, Pete Rahn, was quoted shortly after the speech:  "A cheap price for a bridge that doesn't work is no deal."  And, "This idea of a coupler bridge does not meet the needs of the St. Louis region. We could never get an environmental document cleared for where it's located. If you can't build it and it wouldn't meet the need if you could, it's not a bargain."

Missouri has stood firm on making the new bridge a toll road, while Illinois stands firmly opposed.  Blagojevich reiterated his view on tolls yesterday:  "It will never happen as long as I'm governor." "Never."

The toll amount being bandied about from Missouri officials seem to be in the $3 range.  Comparable tolls in cities which have tollroads, like Chicago, are 50 cents (with I-Pass) for a much longer stretch of road.  The Governor is right to stand firm here.  However, a connector bridge is only a stop gap, a gap that would be obsolete in the blink of an eye. 

The ball is really in Missouri's court.  The federal funds have been allocated, Illinois is ready to do their part.  If St. Louis and Missouri wants to make this a viable area, it must think regionally and bring some serious alternatives to the discussions.  Metro link is great, but it just does not go everywhere drivers need to be.

The federal money will go away if the two states do not agree on a bridge plan by the end of the year and as Illinois state representative Jay Hoffman said, "We can't let the federal money go away. "We must build the bridge."  What a horrifying thought that this money might end up as a bridge in Pittsburgh or some place.

W sings U 2

Via Pundit Guy, a video of George W. Bush "singing" Sunday Bloody Sunday.  Great video work by somebody. 

Clapping according to Obama

Illinois senator, Barack Obama, speaking to a Conference on Call to Renewel, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty, took his fellow democrats to task for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people." "Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters." 

More interestingly he chided the many politicians, mostly his fellow democrats, who show up in African American churches each election cycle.  "Nothing is more transparent than inauthentic expressions of faith: the politician who shows up at a black church around election time and claps _ off rhythm _ to the gospel choir." 

I might go further than the awkward clapping, embarrassing as it is to watch.  Politicians should not use Sunday morning pulpits for political purposes ever.  Take it outside. 

He also encouraged his party not to abandon the field of religious discourse, but instead reach out to evangelical Christians or else the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons will continue to "hold sway."  Obama does not hint at exactly what form his religious discourse will take, but I agree that discussion in the public square would be better off without the constant trumpetings of Falwell and Robertson. 

That will only happen when cable and network news producers find other spokesmen when issues of faith are in the news.  I believe most news people are just too lazy to find thoughtful churchmen for religious insight and so trot these two out because they're familiar and it's easy.   Via Instapundit and The Plank.