AP Update -- Foolishly Destroying A Brand

And you thought their PR on this subject couldn’t get any worse. Must be nice to have an exemption from the same federal fair use statute every other content provider in America is governed by.

The AP’s disharmony with bloggers may have only just begun, as the alternative it’s now offering to being served with takedown notices involves paying an up-front sum for excerpting online articles — as few as five words…

The pricing scale for excerpting AP content begins at $12.50 for 5-25 words and goes as high as $100 for 251 words and up. Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions enjoy a discounted rate.

This scale is likely only a temporary solution, as it raises a truckload of questions. For instance: Suppose a news source holds a press conference, and makes a statement to several attendees including an AP correspondent. Does the citation of that quote count as an excerpt of an AP story? What if Reuters cited the same quote? Or worse, what if Reuters cited the quote differently, and a blogger noticed the difference and excerpted both for comparison? If the AP citation turned out to be in error, would the blogger still owe?

Bloggers like Ace are now summarizing and refusing to link to news they can't find elsewhere.
DKK
Hot Air -- AP wants $2.50 a word to excerpt its stories now!

Could GM Be Ahead For Once?

Bob Lutz has come out and said it again: "I would say there's almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work." And that isn't just that the Chevy Volt will work -- it's that it will work on time and as promised. In spite of the difficulties GM has had getting Volt technology up-to-speed within its timeframes, the man upstairs is apparently as confident as ever.

The Volt concept car was beautiful and the idea even better, but sometimes it seems GM has good ideas but falls behind on the implementation. I recall hearing first about the concept of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle from GM but Honda now has one in production while GM has a small fleet in test homes. But I could be wrong on that I guess.

Autoblog -- Bob Lutz on Volt: "no reasonable doubt... this is going to work"

The Subprime Six

1. Senator Chris Dodd-(D-Conn.)
2. Kent Conrad (D-ND.)
3. Alphonso Jackson (R-HUD Secretary)
4. Donna Shalala-(D-HHS Secretary)
5. Richard Holbrooke (D-ASecretary of State)(and future Sec. State?)
6. James Johnson (D-Obama Veep Selection)

Allegedly receiving special treatment, or at least VIP treatment for loans.
DKK

Obama Blames GOP Tactics For Failure To Catch Osama

Obama Blames GOP Tactics For Failure To Catch Osama according to an AP article.

Couple things:

• Osama is not the goal in the War on Terror -- that is a fallacy common among those who prefer using law enforcement to imprison terrorists rather then take the fight to them (which is a tactic that has worked so far).
• Iraq was not a distraction. Iraq was a major front in the War on Terror, one of many.
• It took 5 years to catch Eric Rudolph and he was here in America and everyone was looking for him!
• It took 18 years to catch the Unabomber, again here in America and as Obama is fond to point out about Osama he too continued to send messages to the media up just a few months before caught.

I really have to wonder if all of Obama's bluster is pure politics because it would really be hard to believe he missed or misinterpreted as much history as he seems to have.
DKK

Democrats Use Any Excuss To Block Judicial Appointments

The eight year campaign by Senate Democrats to prevent President Bush's judicial nominees from receiving up-or-down votes has been characterized by nearly every form of intellectual and factual dishonesty imaginable. At this late date, one wouldn't have expected any recently developed obstructionist arguments to stand out for cynicism.

Nonetheless, as this Examiner editorial notes, my two Senators (Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin) seem to have broken new ground.

These two are blocking a vote on Rod Rosenstein's nomination to the Circuit Court because he is doing too good a job as U.S. Attorney. Any excuse will do for the current Democratic Congress.
DKK
Powerline -- Maryland's Democratic Senators Embarrass Themselves

The Insanity Of The Coming Obama 'Criminal Justice' War

Gitmo Lawyers Say Detainee Was Not Read His Rights-- Therefore He Must Be Set Free

The guy threw a grenade that blew up an American soldier, was taped on a video messing with weapons and planting landmines.

This is what the Supremes have wrought.

Is this the insanity of the coming Obama 'criminal justice' war?
DKK
Gateway Pundit -- Gitmo Lawyers Say Detainee Was Not Read His Rights-- Therefore He Must Be Set Free

Victory For Oil Could Be Victory For Republicans

With oil prices shaping up as the dominant issue of this campaign season, evidence is growing that Republicans can win in November if they get behind a program of aggressive energy development. Our friend Michele Bachmann showed how it's done yesterday, with a proposal that she (and the House Republicans) estimate could cut gas prices in half at the pump:

Gas prices could be slashed in half if Congress would open up the country's Arctic slope, deep-sea reserves and oil shale fields for exploration and drilling, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said Monday. ***

The plan, contained in a half-dozen bills that Bachmann has cosponsored, also includes opening new oil refineries (three of them at closed military bases) and incentives to invest in alternative energy sources such as wind, nuclear energy and clean coal-to-liquid technology.

The paper contacted Bachmann's Democratic opponent for a comment; it's striking how lame and whiny his response was. In truth, though, it's about as good as the Democrats are going to do.

Poll data indicate that the American people are anxious to start drilling. This Rasmussen survey, which came out today, says that by an overwhelming 67% to 18% margin, respondents favor offshore drilling. Even a plurality of liberals are in favor. Other poll data yield the same conclusions.

The Democrats are boxed in between the rock of environmental extremism and the hard place of hate for companies that make money, so they will be endlessly wrong-footed on the issue.

Powerline -- The Path To Victory

Representative Donald Manzullo should get behind this and get this out to the local press. As the election approaches he has got to get far more specific then his 12 point plan released earlier this year. This bill would do that!

While Don's challenger Robert Abboud has a resume that gives him some credibility on this issue his proposal is nothing but the Democratic Party boilerplate that is really behind the eight ball! Tax oil producers, get off oil, but no action today.

Today there is no replacement for oil and the failure to tap our resources while replacements are developed is foolish.

Oh, and Manzullo really needs to do some work on his campaign web site. It is completely worthless. I found Abboud's energy policy with one click -- I have been looking at Manzullo's for 3 months now and not only hasn't it changed, his policy positions are not easy to find. They should be linked on the front page! The news section is worthless. This is the 21'st century and Abboud net presence is impressive while Manzullo's is simplistic and non-informative.

DKK

Why Are the Democrats still in primary mode?

Why Are the Democrats still in primary mode?

Obama and the Democrats are continuing to hit the, "evil oil companies," mantra and promising to tax the heck out of them. But you have to wonder why they can't see that, besides hurting every American they seem to be politically tone deaf.

With polls overwhelmingly favoring domestic control of our energy future domestically as well as showing that the majority of Americans do NOT blame the oil companies for the high gas prices you have to wonder why Obama and the Democrats are so far off the mark on this issue.

Are the Democrats so afraid of the eco-wacko's in their base that they can't do what is right for the country or do they honestly believe gas above $5 is what is right for America, including the slower economic growth and higher food prices that are sure to follow.

While I have continued to strongly encourage domestic drilling even I understand, as most Americans do, that it isn't a cure-all. We have to diversify our energy sources, but Americans also know that oil will be a major source of energy for years to come. The Democrats argument that drilling is not a solution for today is the same wrong headed policy that got us where we are today. It is the same non-answer they have given us for 30 years now and it has been a foolish policy.

Americans are saying, "Do Something!" Taxing Americans and American companies is not doing something.
DKK
(Again I got half way into this one and lost complete concentration, sorry if it rambles)

Bush To Join McCain In Call For Offshore Oil Exploration

President George W. Bush will call on Congress to lift the ban on offshore drilling tomorrow!
--Via FOX News.

DKK
Hat Tip -- Gateway Pundit

$2 Billion In US Made Auto Parts And Cars For Sale In China Soon

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. will send nearly $2 billion worth of vehicles, parts and machinery to China during the next few years, part of a package of 30 deals between American businesses and China announced Monday before trade talks.

DKK
Freep.com -- GM, Ford to send $2 billion in parts, vehicles to China