CHARLOTTESVILLE --- TONIGHT PITTSBURGH

I know that this is beginning to sound like a broken record ... but once again I was met by a large and enthusiastic crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia last night. My Charlottesville affiliate, 1070 WINA did a tremendous job setting up this event. The ballroom at the Omni Hotel was packed ... and those in attendance were even treated to coffee, drinks and desert prior to the event!

Tonight we have a much-anticipated event with my Pittsburgh affiliate 1020 KDKA! You can find all the details for the event at the Southside Works Cinema right here!

I want to say a special thanks to Columbia Aircraft and their Atlanta region sales rep and demo pilot Kristi Cherry for a wonderful experience yesterday. Kristi met me at the Norfolk airport in a brand new Columbia 400 for me to fly to Charlottesville! This was my first experience with a side-controller .. and for the curious among you, the learning curve is really quick. It's really very intuitive. Now .... I do have to clarify the record on one issue. Columbia promotes the 400 as the world's fastest certified single engine piston aircraft. They're right ... for a turbocharged engine. Mooney still holds the title for the fastest certified single engine normally aspirated piston airplane. I will say that this 400 is not only very fast, it's sleek and beautiful .. and a joy to fly. I get to drive it to Pittsburgh after the show today! My sincere thanks to Kristi and Columbia for this great experience.

Friday evening ...... Hyannis! Get ready Cape Cod!

BEND OVER ATLANTA

OK .. here's the way it works:

1. Steve learns to weld.
   
2. Steve would rather be an artist than working in a machine shop
   
3. Steve obtains some scrap metal and starts welding it together in odd shapes which he declares to be art.
   
4. Steve can't find anyone who will voluntarily pay for the piles of scrap metal he has welded together.
   
5. Steve changes his name to Stephano and drops his last name.
   
6. Still nobody will buy Stephano's art, though there is one Buckhead matron who has taken a rather prurient interest in some of Stephan's other talents.
   
7. The Buckhead matron allows Stephano to place a pile of scrap metal in her garden and begins to refer to it as a sculpture.
   
8. Buckhead socialites, after encountering Stephano's "sculpture", and desiring to pander to the matron's artistic tastes, decide that Stephan is being greatly wronged because nobody will pay him for his artistic efforts.
   
9. The buzz among the Buckhead social set is heard in the halls of the Atlanta City Council and the arts community.
   
10. A sense of anger builds that we have yet another artist in our midst who simply cannot manage to find a willing buyer in a free market environment.
    
11. Stephano and his backers become increasingly frustrated with the lack of respect the great unwashed have for his artistic talents.
    
12. The arts community -- which, by the way, won't buy any of Stephano's art either -- tells Atlanta's political leaders that Atlanta simply cannot survive or be considered a world class international city unless Stephano's "art" is displayed citywide.
    
13. A plan is hatched to use the police power of the Atlanta city government to fun the purchase of Stephano's piles of junk.
    
14. The city seizes money from residents and writes some fat checks to Stephano for more artwork.
    
15. Stephano, no longer needing to service the needs of the Buckhead matron, tells her to find another cabana boy.
    
16. Atlanta residents wake up one morning wondering when someone is going to come along and remove those piles of scrap metal someone left in their neighborhood overnight.

This scenario, or something very close to it, is playing out in Atlanta right now. A task force appointed by the Mayor has determined that Atlanta needs a cultural investment fund in the amount of at least $10 million that will provide money to artists, arts organizations and what it refers to as "cultural organizations." The suggestion is that there should be a tax on businesses operating in Atlanta to provide the funds. The story in this morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that "Many of those who work in the arts in Atlanta said they hope to see some progress on arts funding soon."

At this point you shouldn't need a translation of that quote from the AJC. But then again, many of you went to government schools, so I'll provide that translation for you. Many of the people in the arts community in Atlanta remain frustrated by the fact that Atlanta residents will not voluntarily pay for their art. So, of the Atlanta residents won't voluntarily buy their art, the government should step in and make them buy the art by seizing their money and transferring that money to artists and arts organizations.

And what about this idea of placing a special tax on Atlanta businesses? What we have here is the arts community taking advantage of the ignorance of our government-educated residents. They know that many people think that if the tax is placed on the businesses this means that the rank and file Atlantans won't be paying for the art. Sadly, they're possibly right. Our education is so pathetic that most people can't noodle out the fact that all taxes paid by businesses are passed on to the consumers of whatever service or goods they sell.

When I was driving from the Charlottesville, Virginia airport into downtown Charlottesville yesterday I noticed many piles of scrap metal scattered around the local highways and biways. No ... seriously. I did! I learned later that this is all from a taxpayer-funded program called "Arts In Place." You should have heard the shouts of approval from the audience at the Charlottesville Omni ballroom last night when I made a less-than-complimentary comment about this "art." Then I wake up this morning to see that the welfare artists in Atlanta are after even more of our money.

BOHICA!

NOT TODAY EITHER

No ... we will not be talking about Anna Nichole's baby on the air today. I do wonder, though, how many people would be crawling all over themselves to prove that they are the baby's father if that baby didn't stand to inherit a mighty big fortune. What pigs. By the way ... I don't care who was voted off American Idol this week. I can't name one single American Idol finalist, and I couldn't name one winner from previous years. Of this I am tremendously proud.

THE PET FOOD SCARE

Why all the fuss? Am I not correct in that all of the pet fatalities, save one, were to cats?

A WONDERFUL GIFT

I want to say a special thanks to Manley Butler and the gang at Butler Parachute Systems, Inc. out of Roanoke! Manley came to Charlottesville last night to present me with a Butler parachute! No ... I don't wear a parachute when I'm flying my Mooney .. but I will when I'm flying upside down and doing all sorts of strange stuff in the Decathlon! Thanks, Manley, for the wonderful gift. I hope I never need it.

LET THE SUBPOENAS FLY

The showdown is beginning between the Congress and the administration over these U.S. Attorney firings. Soon they Democrats say they will actually issue subpoenas to White House officials. The president will claim executive privilege and it will be thrown into the courts. All over nothing. So far, there is absolutely no charge that anything illegal took place. There is no crime in firing U.S. Attorneys for political reasons. These are political jobs. Maybe what President Bush should have done was fire all 93 like Bill Clinton did. Then nobody would have noticed.

This really has nothing to do with the U.S. Attorneys. It's all about the Democrats #1 agenda: embarrassing the White House and diverting attention from their empty agenda. Really..what have Democrats done since taking over Capitol Hill in January? Does anybody remember any landmark legislation from their first 100 days? Raising the minimum wage, well there was that. Yawn.

So now the White House says if the House issues subpoenas for Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, the deal of being able to meet with them both in private is off. Still, there are signs Democrats may be backing down, just a bit. John Conyers and Chuck Schumer say they are continuing to negotiate with the administration. Is this because they know their subpoenas won't hold up in court? Perhaps.

This is just like the Valerie Plame non-affair. A lengthy, expensive investigation into...nothing. Welcome to the Democratic Washington.

OBAMA OPERATIVE BEHIND VIDEO

The mystery of who produced the video portraying Hillary Clinton as big brother...the one viewed by over 1.5 million people online...has been solved. It's a Barack Obama supporter. What a surprise! You can bet Hillary is fuming...after all, she expected to walk to the nomination...and it's
not going to happen that easily. To understand her frustration, you have to look at a bit of history.

The Hildabeast has been plotting her ascendancy to the Oval Office for a long time now. After doing 8 years in her husband's White House, she ran for the Senate from New York. She was re-elected easily. All the big candidates for 2008 have stepped aside, to allow her to become the front runner. She had all the big Democratic donors lined up long ago, or so she thought. This was going to be easy...there would be no serious competition for the nomination. Her biggest concern was going to be Dennis Kucinich.

Enter Barack Obama. Now she has a problem. Not only does this well-spoken (notice I didn't say "articulate") clean-cut politician from Illinois attract votes, he attracts black votes. This is another problem for Hillary. She needs those minority votes to push her over the top. So now she has some serious competition for the nomination. This may be bad for Hillary .. and that means I'm enjoying it immensely.

GORE TESTIFIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Al Gore testified on global warming yesterday up on Capitol Hill, but refused to take a pledge to use no more energy than the average household. In other words, do as I say, not as I do. Everybody is supposed to drive a hybrid car, turn down their thermostats, shun gasoline and use less energy. Everybody that is, except Al Gore. But Democrats and the media can't stop fawning anyway.

So with all sorts of special treatment, Al Gore testified about global warming to the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday. In order to not have to listen to Republican opening statements, he arrived late. That's a bit rude, isn't it? But a Republican panel member got even by reading a newspaper while Gore rambled on. Then there was the issue of Gore's written testimony. According to the rules of the committee, he's supposed to have it in 48 hours before his appearance. But Gore didn't submit it until yesterday morning. Oh well ... he's a Democrat. Rules are for Republicans.

After that, it was the usual nonsense. Global warming is going to kill us all...and so on. To hear Gore tell it, we are in the middle of a national emergency...and if we don't act, the planet will be lost. Yet the discussion and the debate is one-sided. Nobody wants to talk about the possibility that there just may be another view. The cause of global warming has become an anti-capitalist religion for Leftists who hate the United States.

Then it was back to Nashville. Got to be sure the local power company gets their $1,200 a month.

One lousy degree in over 100 years. Yeah ... we're in trouble.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Business in the front, party in the back. 'Nuff said. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

John McCain is warning against the spread of socialism in Latin America. Perhaps the good Senator could also caution people about the spread of socialism in the United States. Oh...and he says he won't lift the Cuban embargo until there are free elections.

Media bias about global warming and Al Gore has begun to come from the strangest of places...this time the Weather Channel. Turns out one of their on-air meteorologists likes to call Al Gore "President-Elect." Oh, and Katie Couric got into the action over on CBS too.

Robert Novak takes exception to the assertion by Democrats that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA agent. In fact, Novak points out that Plame was outed years ago by somebody else...and was in an administrative position at the CI...not a covert one. Which would explain why nobody was indicted for outing her.

The movie '300,' which is doing big box office and is about the Persian army in 480 B.C. has been criticized for being historically inaccurate. Victor Davis Hanson takes up the task of separating fact from fiction.

Ann Coulter calls Al Gore a hypocrite for preaching the conservation of energy to prevent catastrophic global warming. She points out that the only place Al Gore conserves energy these days is on the treadmill. Ouch..that's not nice, is it?

And now some random thoughts from Thomas Sowell. In one observation, Sowell points out that government makes more off the sale of a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do. Yet for some reason, the government is never accused of being greedy.

George Will points out that it used to be Western states liked to limit government intrusion into people's lives. That seems to have gone by the wayside, as it is now illegal to call yourself an interior decorator in New Mexico without actually being certified. You can go to prison for a year. Really.

President Bush's speeches have become lackluster and he is losing his voice on important issues. At least this is the opinion of Cal Thomas, who wonders where the Bush of a couple of years ago has gone. He criticizes the president for no longer leading on certain issues.

So who is going to win the GOP nomination for 2008? Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell doesn't know...because so far, the candidates running haven't really given us anything to go on. But he does say there are some good signs in the current debate.

Here's a video for no reason: puppy or chicken?

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