Hell Hath No Fury...

like a garage sale mom who has had her garage sale going curtailed. Pheisty started a firestorm today.....

Have any of you heard about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008? If you have, you probably heard that it was passed to protect children from imported goods that may contain lead or other harmful contaminants. Well did you know that the bill also includes the government-sanctioned testing of resale children’s clothing?

That’s right. As of February 10, 2009, you will no longer be able to sell or buy children’s used clothing under the CPSIA. Not at the Goodwill, not at a consignment shop, not on eBay. Not even at a yard sale. If you do, you face a $100,000 fine and 5 years of imprisonment. That is, unless the seller can find a government-approved way to test the garments that won’t force them out of business.

She then goes on to quote this LA Times article on the subject.

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing.

The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead.

I decided to read the legislation - I apparently had nothing better to do tonight. Thankfully for me the section in question was right at the beginning of the bill! The pertinent section starts at the bottom of page 7 and runs through page 8 and details the accreditation time line. While you can read all of the other items that are covered on the time line, I want to focus on Section B (vi)...

ALL OTHER CHILDREN’S PRODUCT SAFETY RULES.—The Commission shall publish notice of the requirements for accreditation of third party conformity assessment bodies to assess conformity with other children’s product safety rules at the earliest practicable date, but in no case later than 10 months after the date of enactment of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, or, in the case of children’s product safety rules established or revised 1 year or more after such date of enactment, not later than 90 days before such rules or revisions take effect.

This section right here is the section that covers clothing and anything else not covered in sections B (i) through (v). Childrens clothing has been regulated by the federal government since 1972! Then (as now) the Legislature had only the best of intentions. After all - who could ever be against legislation that is designed to "protect" the children. The problem with all good intentions are the unintended consequences. In this case the unintended consequences are pretty steep for any non-profit that has ever funded a mission field through resale shops and garage sales. Every Girl Scout troop that has ever knitted booties to sell in a craft market, every crafter who has sold hand quilted baby bibs and blankets, every stay at home mom who has made barrettes and bangles to earn a little mad money is going to be put out of the market. Companies like Once Upon A Child and Kid to Kid will be put out of business - their employees out of work in a recession because they are not going to be able to certify clothing that their customers bring in!

The fashion industry is already discussing strategies for compliance and it is not good for small business.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this bill is unintentionally retro-active which is unconstitutional! This bill will make sure that clothing that was manufactured before the enacted date will not be able to be sold without being certified first. Basically with the stroke of a pen, both parties of our government (and our president) retro-actively put thousands of people out of business and out of work! All for the sake of "the children".....

I wonder who will save "the children" from starvation or from the elements when their parents can no longer afford food and clothing thanks to their "good intentions".

Founders Morning Quote

This mornings quote is one that all of our legislators should keep in mind as their respective sessions start today.

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be to-morrow."

--James Madison (likely), Federalist No. 62, 1788

Sadly it seems that there is a competition to make legislation as incomprehensible as possible so that only the "experts" can understand it.....

Scare Tactics

Quietly, over the last two to three weeks, a lot of information about Anthropogenic Global Warming has come out that has shattered the myth of scientific consensus. I have been gathering these links, with the intention to do an indepth post but there has just been so much information that I have to make it a "quick links" post instead. Please go visit all of the links so that you can get all the different reasons why these peer reviewed scientists disagree with Al Gore and the proponents of AGW.

First comes this story from Daily Tech which tells you what the MSM refuses to tell you about the Arctic ice loss. It illustrates just how agenda driven the agenda media has become.

Second was this column in the Times of London that goes under the title "Global Warming: Reasons Why It Might Not Actually Exist" and it goes into details under such categories as "Temperatures Are Falling Not Rising" and "The Earth Was Warmer 1,000 Years Ago" and "Ice Is Not Disappearing".

The TOL then followed up a couple of days later with this column entitled "2008 Was The Year Man-Made Global Warming Was Disproved!"

Then came this MSNBC (believe it or not) story that finally admitted that the global warming debate has been taking place without all of the necessary data!

The occasionally acrimonious debate about the planet's climate has been missing a key component: accurate measurements of how much carbon dioxide is in the air and how it is being recycled by Earth.

Which leads one to ask how can we be so sure CO2 is "bad" if we don't know how much is there and how the Earth uses it????? And even if it is bad what good will curtailing human activities do when it only accounts for 3% of the total CO2 output in the world? Are we going to kill off ALL animal life and plant life too?

Most carbon dioxide — about 97 percent — comes from natural sources. That's roughly 300 billion metric tons per year of CO2 gas from breathing animals, decaying plants, forest fires, volcanic eruptions and other naturally occurring phenomena.

Then came this column in Townhall which talks about the left's opposition to "clean coal technology" and why their oppositions are based on a 40 year old paradigm.

Lastly is this column from a HuffPo diarist (yes you read that right - the Huffington Post) who called for Al Gore to APOLOGIZE to the world for spreading the climate change hysteria.

All of this leads to a long list of questions - starting with "Since when did the Scientific Method take on a political quotient?" I got that question (and the attached) from a friend who really put a lot of thought into what he wrote below.

The Polar Bear has become the poster child for climate change; they are being threatened by the melting ice and shrinking habitat. If this is the case, then Darwin was wrong, because the polar bear evolved practically overnight.

See, there are vast green growth areas under the ice above the Arctic Circle; areas that show there was a vast ecosystem that supported flowering plants, grasses and even trees. The evidence supports that this ecosystem suffered a catastrophic change anywhere from 50,000 -
10,000 BC, according to scientific measuring standards. The preservation of these areas proves that the climate change happened suddenly, due to the fact that there is little to no decomposition in the plants found there.

If this is the case, there wasn't biological time enough for the polar bear to evolve from another sub-species of bear into the animal environmentalists know and love today. It existed prior to the cataclysm in a form just like it does today - and it thrived and survived and found food and chased sea lions and frolicked in the autumn leaves... UNCHANGED!

So what is it - is Darwin wrong or is Global Warming the hoax that we think it is? Or perhaps, both? Global Warming is not the threat that it has been made out to be. Rather, it is a political argument by socialists to equalize the economic playing field of the masses. It's the only way they can scare us into accepting their agenda.

My only change/addition to my friends argument is that the global warming is not the hoax. MANMADE global warming is. I also think that the root cause of the hysteria is not necessarily a socialist agenda as it is an elitist agenda. Al Gore and the people pushing the hysteria on us have their money. It will not hurt them financially if we enact the extremist agenda that they are pushing in Cap and Trade policies and the Kyoto Accord. However, it will hurt the poorest among us the most and the poorest countries will get hit the hardest!

But then again, they have never really cared about the shrinking middle class. The poorer we become the more we are forced to rely on "Nanny government" to take care of us from cradle to grave. "1984" here we come!

Founders Morning Quote

"But of all the views of this law none is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the ultimate, guardians of their own liberty. For this purpose the reading in the first stage, where they will receive their whole education, is proposed, as has been said, to be chiefly historical. History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views."

--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude - pleasure derived from the misfortune of others.

As much as I hate to take too much pleasure at the misfortune of others, the events of the last few weeks have certainly given this conservative blogger many reasons to do so. The latest was this photo from an anti Israel demonstration in Indonesia. (HT Powerline).





This is for all of those who said that the Arab world would respect us as soon as Obama was elected.

There were many occasions when I posted that the Obama supporters were setting themselves up for disappointment by setting him up too high on a pedestal. I tried to tell you that he was not a "Superman" but merely a human being who chose to go into politics as a profession. I tried to tell you that the campaigning promises that he made were (in most part) promises of convenience - based on the limited "intelligence" that the candidates have. That is one reason why so many of the President-elects promises have fallen by the wayside now that he has become President-elect!

As I have said many times before, the Arab street does not hate us because of George W. Bush. They hate us because of the freedoms we have. Freedoms that include such "sins" as our women having jobs and wearing jeans. It hates us because our free society allows people to worship in the manner that they choose - even if it means not worshiping any God at all. It hates us because we allow the LGBT community to be OPEN in their lifestyle choices. It hates us because we are not Muslim!

Electing President Obama will not change any of that.

More Defending Blago

The Wall Street Journal has an op-ed today that takes Senator Reid to task for his refusal (so far) to seat Roland Burris as the appointed replacement to Barack Obama.

An Illinois court will eventually decide if Governor Rod Blagojevich is guilty of corruption. But on at least one issue he is more law-abiding than Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats: the seating of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

Mr. Blagojevich appointed Mr. Burris to represent Illinois on Tuesday, ahead of the official start of the 111th Congress next week. This was certainly an act of brash defiance given that nearly everyone had warned the Governor not to do so after he was heard on tape contemplating the sale of the seat for personal gain. But under Illinois law, Mr. Blagojevich had every legal right to do so...

Meanwhile, Mr. Reid and Washington Democrats are refusing to seat Mr. Burris, never mind their lack of authority to do so. As an initial matter, they're hiding behind the Illinois secretary of state, who is refusing to certify the appointment. But Mr. Burris has asked a court to order the secretary of state to carry out what under state law would typically be a nondiscretionary duty. In any event, Beltway Democrats can't inject themselves into what is clearly a matter of Illinois law.

It then goes on to cite (as Jazz did) Powell vs. McCormack.

Now it is coming out that in the days prior to Governor Blagojevich's arrest that Senator Reid was trying to dictate to Governor Blagojevich what candidates "were" acceptable in Senator Reid's mind. (H/T AP)

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

This information was confirmed by the Governor's spokespeople.

Honestly, his working against Jackson, Jr. and Jones shows how little Reid knows about Illinois politics. Jones has been around long enough that he does have a name for himself outside of both Chicago and Springfield (reminder - I moved out of Illinois almost 20 years ago and a pay only passing attention to Illinois politics and I know who he is!). Jackson, Jr. has instant name recognition (thanks to his Daddy) and a passable record as a member of the House of Representatives that will help ease the transition to the Senate.

However, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass has a reminder for all of this on who could have prevented all of this Blago-drama.

President-elect Barack Obama was not found as an infant, floating in a reed basket along the banks of the Chicago River. He is not the gentle faun, the Mr. Tumnus, of the Daley machine. Obama could have forcefully and publicly demanded that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and fellow Illinois Democrats support legislation for a special election to fill his vacated Senate seat. Obama had a responsibility to the people of Illinois to do so. But he kept his mouth shut. As always, he avoided conflict with machine political bosses, a consistent character trait stubbornly ignored by his media cheerleaders.

His top White House strategist and his chief of staff are creatures of the Daley machine, and Democrats didn't want to risk the Senate seat. What happened to the promise of transcending the old politics?

So when the freak show comes to Washington next week and political hack Roland "I'm a tool of the people" Burris is denied entry to the Senate, and the national political class shrieks in fake outrage and Blagojevich surrounds himself with African-American ministers and he sings "Let my people go!" remember who could have stopped all this: Obama, Madigan, Daley and the Illinois Democrats.

Emphasis mine.

THIS is the "change" we voted for.

A Taxing Idea

We all know that both sides of the political aisle are prone really dumb ideas. It is on display on a daily basis. Today's really dumb idea comes from Utah Governor John Huntsman.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants the Legislature to once again take up the thorny issue of taxing a whole host of services, from legal fees and accounting and medical bills to things like carpet installation that now go untaxed.

"It doesn't need to be a tax increase. We can balance it out by taking the rest of the sales tax off food, which is something I would propose to do," said Huntsman, who has made repeal of the grocery a priority since he first ran for office in 2004.

What - medical bills aren't high enough as it is for you Governor? There aren't enough people going WITHOUT health care now, you want to add another layer of expense to the equation?????

Seriously, these kinds of services are usually the FIRST cut out of most budgets during a time of recession. I mean would YOU install new carpet in your house if you were worried about losing your job? Somehow I think now.

If you really want to mess with the state's cash flow stability Governor, this is the way to do it....Who knows - if you try hard enough, we could be like Minnesota and have a $5 billion + deficit. Wouldn't that be great?????

A Radical Thought!

My friend Gary Gross has a post up about the ongoing debate (within Republican circles) about what to do next to move the party forward. The debate has been about technology versus message and Gary's comment is essentially "why not both?" a comment that was echoed by Patrick Ruffini. I agree that it can not be an either/or and it should be all of the above discussion, but I also think I have a way to make the message issue just a little easier.

Indeed, while sorting out their errors and considering their options, conservatives of all stripes would be well advised to concentrate their attention on the constitutional order and the principles that undergird it, because maintaining them should be their paramount political priority.

A constitutional conservatism puts liberty first and teaches the indispensableness of moderation in securing, preserving and extending its blessings. The constitution it seeks to conserve carefully defines government's proper responsibilities while providing it with the incentives and tools to perform them effectively; draws legitimacy from democratic consent while protecting individual rights from invasion by popular majorities; assumes the primacy of self-interest but also the capacity on occasion to rise above it through the exercise of virtue; reflects, and at the same time refines, popular will through a complex scheme of representation; and disperses and blends power among three distinct branches of government as well as among federal and state governments the better to check and balance it. The Constitution and the nation that has prospered under it for 220 years demonstrate that conserving and enlarging freedom and democracy depends on weaving together rival interests and competing goods.

A message that focuses on the Constitutional base of this country would resonate with the many factions within the party. Fiscal and social conservatives, Ron Paul libertarians and Moral Majority conservatives can all find common ground within the confines of the Constitution. If the Republican Party can craft and STICK TO a message of Constitutional Conservatism, their years in the wilderness will be brief indeed.

The question is will the RNC listen?

Hang On To Your Wallets

Hang on to your wallets Minnesota - the legislature will soon be in session. Next Tuesday, the Minnesota Legislature starts to deliberate how it will tackle the estimated $5.2 billion budget deficit. Already some legislators are drawing "lines in the sand" between the cuts and their pet projects (such as education and social programs) even as Minnesota taxpayers are tightening the belts another notch tighter. Meanwhile, other legislators are going back to their district bearing the bad tidings of cuts to come.

If you want to have a say in how the deficit is resolved, the Minnesota legislature wants to hear FROM YOU. The House has set up a webform where you can tell them what you want to see happen to resolve the deficit. Let them know how you feel - TODAY!

This Is The Post In Which I Come To The Defense Of...

...Rod Blagojevich. I'll give my liberal leaning members a moment to pick their jaws up off of the floor before I continue....

Ready - OK here is the deal. Blago is STILL the governor of Illinois (last I looked) and as Governor of Illinois he IS charged, allowed, enabled...pick your descriptor...to appoint a someone to fill out the remainder of Barack Obama's term (two years in this case). Until he is replaced he has every right, given to him by the people of his state, to appoint someone - just as Governor Patterson of New York and Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota or any governor in the US are entitled to do!

The US Senate, on the other hand, does NOT have the right to deny the people of Illinois their Constitutionally guaranteed representation. I agree that having Blago make the pick is a bad idea (in light of what got him arrested and all) but as Jazz pointed out on Wednesday, until the PEOPLE of Illinois do something to strip him of that power (and remember the Legislature had the opportunity to do so last week and declined to do so) there is little that Senator Reid can do.

So while the partisan in me is giddy over the prospects of the pending confrontation, the pragmatist in me can not help but wish that Sen. Reid would just butt out! The people of Illinois are CONSTITUTIONALLY ENTITLED to two Senators and you do not have the authority to block an appointed Senator just because you don't like who made the appointment. It does not work that way.

Blago Update

It's been a while since my last Blago update mostly because there was a lot of smoke but not much heat in recent weeks. However there were a couple of interesting developments in the last couple of days. First off, Blago made the decision to appoint the designated seat warmer.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate…

Honestly Burris is not a bad pick. He is an unambitious career lower level politician. One of the few somewhat decent Illinois pols left in either party. The usual suspect chimed in. Including the Secretary of State who has decided that he can over-ride Blago. That led Burris to go before the Illinois Supreme Court to get the appointment certified.

Blago's appointment of Burris led to much speculation about whether the Senate can (or can not) block Burris from taking the seat.

Lastly, Fitzy has asked for a 90 day extension for his indictment. Generally when that happens it is because the prosecutor still does not have the evidence to build a case. That is not the case this time...

In the motion filed Wednesday, prosecutors ask for more time because "multiple witnesses" have come forward in recent weeks and investigators have to review "thousands of intercepted phone calls."

Oh yeah and Tony Rezko is STILL singing to the feds.

As my friend Rick Moran said on his Blog Talk Radio show a couple of weeks back - who needs soap operas in Illinois. Not when you have "As Blago Turns"....

UPDATE: My friend Gary has the latest and oh is it a doozy!

Democrats like portraying themselves as the African-American community’s best friend. That image will take a hit next Tuesday when Roland Burris will attempt to be sworn in as senator. The Democrats’ image will take a hit because Democrats won’t permit Burris to enter the Senate chamber:

Senate Democratic leaders think Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, will likely show up on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the opening day of Congress, according to a Democratic aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans.

They have prepared a contingency plan in case he does, the aide added. Burris will not be allowed on the Senate floor, according to this aide and a Senate Democratic leadership aide.

The aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans said if Burris tries to enter the Senate chamber, the Senate doorkeeper will stop Burris. If Burris were to persist, either trying to force his way onto the Senate floor or refusing to leave and causing a scene, U.S. Capitol Police would stop him, said the aide. “They (police) probably won’t arrest him” but they would call the sergeant-at-arms,” the aide said.

Frankly, the Democrats’ strategy sounds eerily similar to when Gov. George Wallace stood in the doorway at the University of Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two black students from enrolling at the school. The world has changed but the Democrats’ racist tendencies still exist. In fact, it doesn’t sound like their strategies have changed since June, 1963.

Pass the popcorn please!

Bailout Mania

First there was the mortgage industry bail-out, then the auto industry bail-out - what's next? Well in at least one state it could be newspapers!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Connecticut lawmaker Frank Nicastro sees saving the local newspaper as his duty. But others think he and his colleagues are setting a worrisome precedent for government involvement in the U.S. press.

Nicastro represents Connecticut's 79th assembly district, which includes Bristol, a city of about 61,000 people outside Hartford, the state capital. Its paper, The Bristol Press, may fold within days, along with The Herald in nearby New Britain.

That is because publisher Journal Register, in danger of being crushed under hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, says it cannot afford to keep them open anymore.

Nicastro and fellow legislators want the papers to survive, and petitioned the state government to do something about it. "The media is a vitally important part of America," he said, particularly local papers that cover news ignored by big papers and television and radio stations.

Now my friends Gary Gross and Ed Morrissey have both said their piece on the story and I agree with them both (to an extent) as to whether we should bail them out. However, as Gary, Jazz and I started to discuss on our Blog Talk Radio show this morning, there are things the news media CAN do to stave off the necessity of bail outs.

The first and most important thing that they can do is to unblur the line between their news coverage and the editorial page. A classic case in point can be found almost daily in the NY Times - specifically this story from the business section.

T-Mobile and AT&T contended in their responses to Mr. Kohl that the pay-per-use price of a message is relatively unimportant because most messaging is done as part of a package. With a $10 or $15 monthly plan for text messaging, customers of T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint can effectively bring the per-message price down to a penny, if they fully use their monthly allotment.

T-Mobile called Mr. Kohl’s attention to the fact that its “average revenue per text message, which takes into account the revenue for all text messages, has declined by more than 50 percent since 2005.”

This statement seems like good news for customers. But consider what is left out: In the past three years, the volume of text messaging in the United States has grown tenfold, according to CTIA — the Wireless Association, a trade group based in Washington. If T-Mobile enjoyed growth that was typical, its text messaging revenue grew fivefold, even with the steep drop in per-message revenue.

If the core reason for the investigation is the high cost of text messaging and the cost of text messaging has gone DOWN how can that be anything BUT GOOD for the consumer. It should not matter to the NY Times reporter if people are texting more and thus causing the the revenues to the cell providers to go up. It is simple supply and demand! As costs of the goods go DOWN, the demand for that good goes UP!

The second step is the papers need to go back to reporting on local issues! One reason why the USA Today newspaper is successful is it fills a niche for national and world wide reporting. We don't need the Star Tribune or the Salt Lake Tribune regurgitating the same information. However, during last years transportation debate (in MN) the local papers never did talk about what was IN the bill - they just reported who said what about the bill. It took the efforts of local bloggers to uncover the nuts and bolts of the bill. Some (myself included) ended up live blogging many House floor debates so that our readers could see what was being said on the issues by the Legislature. We did the work our newspapers have abdicated!

Third they need to go back to being a real watchdog. If a Republican elected official is caught with his/her hand in the till report it, but by God if a Democrat is caught in the same position that too needs to be reported! Don't play favorites in your reporting. Right now the media picks and chooses which stories to report on based on who it embarrasses. A classic case in point is the flap over Caroline Kennedy Schlossburg. The media has been raking Mrs. Kennedy Schlossburg over the coals for her lack of qualifications to hold office - just as they did to Governor Sarah Paline. Yet they never said anything much about Senator Barack Obama's wafer thin qualifications to be President. Until they become a real watchdog again, they will find themselves targets of another watchdog....bloggers!

Personally - I love newspapers. There is nothing I enjoy more than sipping a cup of coffee while reading the morning paper. However, that does not mean that I will read the paper just to read a paper. I did not subscribe to the Star Tribune, but I did subscribe to my local paper. Why - because they reported on the local issues that the Strib never covered! They would talk about what was in the education bill that was being debated in St. Paul - something the Strib never did. I, like many other news consumers, will buy a paper IF it gives me a product that I wish to purchase! It is that simple. If the papers are bleeding red ink, maybe they need to re-evaluate the PRODUCT that they are putting out, rather than putting a hand out. Fix the product and I guarantee that the revenue stream will follow....

It is, after all, simple supply and demand.

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne ?

After the year I have had this year, these lyrics have more meaning than most can imagine. To say that 2008 was "turbulent" for the Logical Household is an understatement of epic proportions. We started the painful, lengthy process of selling our house in Minnesota, moving to Utah and then buying a new house. While this move was a long and often painful process the many joys of 2008 far outweighed them. Through out the process, 2008 was a year in which many new friendships formed and old ones strengthened. As a result, I could not let the year end without a couple of special shout outs.

To Gary Gross at Let Freedom Ring who not only was a sounding board on political issues, but he also spent a lot of time reminding me that I had to give control of my problems to God. Thanks.

To Ed Morrissey - what can I say about a man who is all heart. His friendship has been both a personal blessing and a blogging blessing. I can not thank you enough for all of your input, your assistance at the convention, the odd link at Hot Air and most importantly your friendship.

To Derek, AAA, Brian, Nancy, Mitch and the rest of the True North Junta. September 1 2007 started what has been an amazing ride! You guys started a great year off early and thanks to you I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to blog the convention. I never would have done it with out you!

Speaking of the convention...to Tracy and Julie. Thanks for letting me crash at the mansion during the convention. It was a great time!

To my wonderful MN legislators, Claire, Mike and Mark. I simply can not say you are my ex-anything. You all hold such a special place in my life that I simply can not let go - even from almost 1300 miles away. We simply shared so much in the last 6 years. Even though I am not there physically, I will be there in spirit cheering you on!

To my Blog Talk Radio partner in politicsTrue North Junta Jazz Shaw. Even though we have never met, I feel like you and Georg are old friends. Thanks for all you have done for me and mine over the last year.

To all my new Utah political partners in crime - Frank, Monte, Starfish Mama, Arc and the fantastic folks from the Chaffetz Campaign - thanks for giving me an outlet during the campaign. Even though I had more than enough to do at home, I needed a campaign outlet and not only did I find that, I found friends! What more can you ask for!

To all of my new friends from the convention - Fausta, Rick Moran, Duane Patterson (Generalissimo from the Hugh Hewitt Show) Skye, Chad, Liz, James, the Red State crew and many, many others - I cherish the memories of out adventures around St. Paul and Minneapolis and hopefully we will have future opportunities to do something similar again.

To my peeps over at BTR - Nikki Starr (who really ROCKS politics), Betty Jo Tucker at Movie Addict Headquarters, Kevin McCullough and Stevie B (Steven Baldwin), Media Lizzy (and the rest of the Heading Right crew) - I look forward to another year hanging out with you and having fun while we talk about life, liberty and rock and roll!

Each of you have touched, blessed and enriched our family in immeasurable ways and my 2009 wish for you is that you are all equally as touched, blessed and enriched. For you all deserve it!

Yes there was some sorrow in 2008. Leaving friends and family behind in the Upper Midwest was tough. My father in laws passing, while not wholly unexpected (he had been in very frail health for the last three years), was still hard on everyone. He was a rock for all of us and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

What astonishes me the most though about 2008 was the way it really felt like God wanted us here in Utah at this time. Even though selling the house didn't come in our time frame - it came in His and it allowed the Junior Logician to finish the school year with his friends back home. When we left we just knew it was going to be "impossible" to replace our old church home/family. Little did we know that what was waiting for us here! We left a house that was just about the house of our dreams and found another one that (when we are done with it) will be even better!

All in all 2008 was just the start of an amazing adventure for the Logical Household. Given that it was just the start, I can not even begin to imagine what 2009 will bring...and I can't wait for it to start!

Fun WIth Words

The fun story of theday has to be the annual list of banned words!

A movie about a "maverick," his journey "from Wall Street to Main Street," his "desperate search" for a "monkey" and a "game-changing" revelation about his "carbon footprint" probably would make the nation's word-watchers physically ill.

Especially if it were the "winner of five nominations."

All those words and phrases are on Lake Superior State University's annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. The 34th version of the list was released Tuesday, which means, "It's that time of year again."

My two favorite quotes had to be this...

"If I see one more corporation declare itself 'green,' I'm going to start burning tires in my backyard," wrote Ed Hardiman of Bristow, Va., in his submission.

and...

"I'm a maverick, he's a maverick, wouldn't you like to be a maverick, too?" offered Michael Burke of Silver Spring, Md., in his entry for the label embraced by unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

I can't wait to see what 2009 brings!

Founders Morning Quote

"The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position."

--George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796