Diane Meyer points out a few good items, now that the Belgians own A-B:

Now that Bud is owned by the Belgians, Pabst is the largest American owned brewery.  And it’s not by default either.  They’ve taken over many regional beer companies and now own what a Salon story calls, “many of the best known, mediocre breweries in the country.”  These are locally popular budget beers like Stroh’s, Old Milwaukee, Lone Star, etc, etc.

Why is it, when my neighbor and I complete a mowing of our yards, we now reach for a Stag?

How ’bout some random thoughts on this mornings news coverage?

Rasmussen reports something hotter than the weather, the race for the Presidency:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows the race for the White House is tied with Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 44% of the vote. However, when “leaners” are included, it’s McCain 47% and Obama 46%.

Remember margins of error.  There is little significance to this story other than the race is tied nationally, like it’s been for the past few weeks.  But even this statistic is meaningless, because Presidents are elected by an Electoral College.

But, I found these little tidbits interesting:

A week ago today, Obama had a three-percentage point lead and the candidates were even among unaffiliated voters. Today, McCain leads 52% to 37% among unaffiliateds. [...]

Forty-six percent (46%) of voters trust McCain more than Obama on energy issues while Obama is trusted more by 42%. Two months ago, Obama had a four point edge on the energy issue. [...]

Forty-six percent (46%) of voters nationwide now say that Obama views U.S. society as unfair and discriminatory. That’s up from 43% in July and 39% in June. By a three-to-one margin, American voters hold the opposite view and believe that our society is generally fair and decent. [...]

Polling data released earlier today showed that 46% say Affirmative Action programs are no longer necessary, but 32% believe they should continue. [...]

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters have seen or heard news coverage of McCain’s ad including Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Just 22% believe the ad was racist. But, most say Obama’s comment about not looking like other Presidents on the dollar bill was racist.

Why was I scared about our country’s future after watching the movie Idiocracy over the weekend?

Honestly, would Rep. Chet Edwards be the biggest unknown VP candidate since Dan Quayle?  His biggest accomplishment?  Being elected from the same district as GW’s ranch in Crawford.

Meanwhile, the most underreported story of the weekend:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday said it was time for Russia to rebuild links with former Cold War ally Cuba, news agencies reported.

The Kremlin is angry at U.S. plans for a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, and last month a news report suggested Russia might use Cuba, a thorn in America’s side for half a century, as a refueling stop for nuclear-capable bombers.

Nah, it shouldn’t worry the American public that the our former enemies are restarting the Cold War while we are “taken” by our Presidential Pageant.

Wonder if a President Obama will get to tour any of those Russian nuclear bombers when he fulfills his pledge to immediately meet with Casto?  Wonder if he’ll wait to actually be elected President to make that trip?

And if the Presidential Pageant and our former communist enemies haven’t depressed me enough on this Monday morning, I remembered that NBC will start it’s two-week-long promotion of China on Friday.

Where oh where has Partisan Discourse gone?

…Prompting me out of my hole to write at least this much.  I need to call Mark and see why he’s been so quiet lately.  Is it fair to say that I’m still exhausted from flipping all those hamburgers on Friday and Saturday night at the Troy Homecoming?  It was hot this weekend, even hotter in front of the grill.

Speaking of Diane, congrats to her Fourth Anniversary of blogging:

I’ve never tired of doing daily postings, there is always so much going on in the world, the community, that every day brings something new.

During the past four years I’ve skipped only two days on the blog due to the death of my father, with a current total of 4,732 posts.

I’ve tried to post here at least every other day, but sometimes things just get busy.  Diane posts at least three/four times a day!  As the ESPN guys say, “You could only hope to contain her!”

Congrats, Diane, you’re definitely the leader of the metro-east bloggers!

Madison County officials’ plans to close the county’s sheltered care home in Edwardsville violate public votes, previous promises and an agreement with the Illinois Department of Public Health, according to a lawsuit filed today on behalf of several of the home’s residents and their families.  The plaintiffs want a judge to rule that their rights were violated and bar the county from closing the home.

More from the Telegraph:

“We plan to ask a judge to issue an injunction to determine if residents’ rights are being protected,” said John J. Ammann, a professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law.  Ammann said the Clinical Law Offices is a group of law students who represent indigent people. Attorney Thomas E. Kennedy also is a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Last word from the News-Democrat:

“At this time, we are not asking for monetary damages,” Amman said.

Glad to hear that fact, considering that “monetary damages” means taxpayer dollars.

So let me get this straight: Missouri taxpayers are funding a law school in St. Louis to file a lawsuit against the taxpayers of Madison County over an issue that’s already been decided by a bipartisan super-majority of legislative members representing the public.

I’m even further bewildered about the “violating public votes,” considering the board came back and took another vote when supporters questioned the first vote.  But, how bad could it hurt to have a judge try to interpret the minds of the 29 board members?

I guess somebody forgot to tell me that, as a Madison County property taxpayer, I am some how obligated to be a nursing home operator.  It’s a subtle reminder that Madison County is one of only two counties in the entire State of Illinois in this business.

No doubt there are a lot of folks out there with grand schemes and blue-sky brainstorms about how to tackle America’s energy problems.

But T. Boone Pickens is more than just an opinionated fellow who talks a big game. He’s an opinionated fellow who talks a big game and is backed up by an even bigger bank roll, estimated at $4 billion.

Have you heard T. Boone’s ads?  He’s got to be spending a fortune (just a little of his, in fact) on the ads.  But this guy means business.  He’s almost self-funded the Oklahome State sports program ($165 million), and now he has what he calls the Picken’s Plan.

Some are skeptical of the Pickens Plan, which calls for the government to help fund construction of new wind generation facilities to produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and slash one-third of foreign oil imports over the next 10 years.

Some are skeptical, too, of his motives, saying Pickens is looking to benefit his BP Capital Management company, which invests heavily in renewable energy.

Watch the video on his website.  It’s like Ross Perot dictating Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth.

He has a map of world wind patterns.  His money quote about America: “We have more wind than anybody else does.”  He won’t be telling Congress anything they don’t know.

In less than one week, the Fight Back Express Bus Tour will roll into Illinois starting in Chicago and making its way throughout the state. Sponsored by The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the Fight Back Express bus tour is building a grassroots movement united in its mission to make cancer a top national priority through research funding, more support for cancer screening and treatment, and expanded access to healthcare.

The tour will host 18 events throughout Illinois during the week of July 20-25th–we hope to see you when we are in or near your community!

Here’s the local stops:

Mt. Vernon - July 21: 5:30 PM

The Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care, 4117 Veterans Memorial Drive, Mt. Vernon 62864

Alton - July 22: 9:00 AM

Alton Square, 200 Alton Square, Alton 62002

Slobodan “Slobo” Ilijevski, 58, a fan favorite on the St. Louis Steamers, died Monday in a Seattle hospital after suffering a rupture of his aorta while participating Saturday in a national soccer tournament in Seattle for the Kutis Over 55 men’s team representing St. Louis.

During his last game, a semifinal match Saturday, he suffered pain after a high ball save and complained of stomach pain and dizziness. After a CT scan, doctors discovered that blood was leaking from a rupture in the wall of his aorta.

Soccer has been talked about in a big way in the metro-east this past year or two.  But, the Steamers always seemed to be bigger than all the other attempts to at pro soccer in St. Louis.  You just have to admire these athletes, most of whom didn’t make enough in their sport to fully support their families.  So different than other sports.

In the Major Indoor Soccer League’s heyday, crowds of 18,000-plus would pack the former Arena and chant “Slobo, Slobo, Slobo!” The Macedonian goalie for the Steamers, the Storm and the Ambush, helped the teams reinvent themselves repeatedly to keep pro soccer in St. Louis. [...]

In 1980, prospects of a better life in the United States looked bleak for the goalkeeper from Yugoslavia; his visa was about to expire and he had two failed tryout attempts with MISL teams in Philadelphia and Chicago. A friend from Detroit had arranged for Mr. Ilijevski to meet Steamers coach Pat McBride. With six goalies already at camp, he knew the odds of getting on the team were slim, but he had only $20, so he took a chance.  His visa expiration date was Oct. 30. He signed with the Steamers on Oct. 28.

What an incredible story.

In a lively appearance before the National Council of La Raza, one of the most important advocacy groups in the United States for Hispanic Americans, McCain rejected the organizers’ attempts to cut off audience questioning of him, at one point tossing his microphone to a man so he could pose his query. [...]

Obama took aim at McCain when he addressed the same group in San Diego on Sunday, saying he had admired McCain for bucking his party and pushing for the legislation, but that eventually McCain “abandoned his courageous stance, and said that he wouldn’t even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote.”

Emphasis added. Contrast Obama’s statement with this report (hat tip: IlliniPundit):

Barack Obama’s campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq, the Daily News has learned.  The presumed Democratic nominee replaced his Iraq issue Web page, which had described the surge as a “problem” that had barely reduced violence.

Flip. Flop.  I just ask myself, “Why did Reagan’s first term fall in the middle of my elementary school years?”  It seems like so, long, ago…

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

I’ve recently been thinking about the concept of free markets and its relationship with government regulation.  How much better to put it in a contemporary context within the gas price debate.  I’m still not convinced that there’s not a supply problem when it comes to oil, but it’s interesting that oil consumers like the airlines would take up this argument.  Although, how could it hurt the airlines by pushing for regulation, how could the airline industry be any more regulated?

SOS Now suggests repealing the “Enron Loophole,” and I think I’ll work on getting up to speed on that first.  Meanwhile, oil set a record this morning.

However, despite that fact, the numbers in Illinois are not stacking for Obama to thump McCain at the same level as Obama’s 70-27 drubbing of Alan Keyes in 2004.  According to the latest Rasmussen poll, Obama leads 50-37 in a generic ballot test and 52-41 with leaners.

The more interesting aspect of the poll is this: “The two candidates are essentially tied among voters not affiliated with either major political party.”

Perhaps the Democrat avalanche thought to be headed towards Illinois in November is not as fueled by the “Obama Factor” as much as everyone thinks.

Other interesting factoids:

• Both candidates are viewed favorably by 60% of Illinois voters.
• [A] plurality of voters in Illinois (49%) sees the economy as the most important issue of Election 2008.
• Fifty-seven percent (57%) favor drilling in offshore oil wells to ease gas prices, while 32% are opposed.
• By a 36-30 margin, Illinoisans still say “free trade” is good for the US economy.

I remember Edgar’s 70 percent in 1994 being the high-water mark for the GOP.  But, you have to think the national mood fueled both Edgar’s popularity and the GOP sweep in 1994, as well.  At least, it wasn’t ALL just an Illinois trend that year.

Obama set a “70″ in 2004, but there wasn’t as much of a coattail that year and perhaps with the lack of straight-party balloting in Illinois, a year like 1994 will never happen again for either party.  But, it would seem unlikely that Obama will get anywhere near 70 in Illinois this year.

With all the hype that down-ballot Republicans should fear a tsunami this year, do these polling numbers indicate that the Illinois political waters don’t look quite as bad?