And the NIMBY Of The Year Award goes to.... May I have the envelope please.....

I usually don't post on stuff that's not West Virginia related, but this caught my eye on the NBC Nightly News Wednesday. There is a guy who wants to build 130 windmills (yes, I know that's the Free Republic, but just read it for the facts about the windmills, and ignore the partisan rhetoric) out in the ocean, off the shore of Cape Cod. These windmills would provide electricity to a bunch of homes on the Cape, and there'd be no pollution. It looks as though these windmills would be of the same type as those up around Parsons, WV. Evidently, the area off the shore where he wants to put these windmills is sort of unique. It's shallow enough they can put the bases in without much trouble (as far as building huge windmills go), and more importantly, the wind averages like 19 mph there, and the windmills need at least 8 mph wind to be effective. So, this area provides a better than average spot for these windmills. These windmills would still, however, be so far offshore they'd only seem to be about 1 inch tall if you looked at them from the shore. Hardly what I'd call an "eyesore."

One would think that Massachusetts, home of liberal heroes like John Kennedy and John Kerry, and countless other titans of liberalism would be the perfect home for this new, pollution free energy source. However, you'd be wrong. Leading the group OPPOSED to building those windmills, is none other than, environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Click on that link and take a look at what Kennedy does. If you are too lazy, here's just a snippet:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions: prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island sound; winning settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper; arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline; and suing sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act. "He's a pioneer as an attorney in the area of municipal and government responsibility for environmental problems," says Hudson Riverkeeper John Cronin.

He's an attorney for both the National Resources Defense Council, and for the Hudson Riverkeepers. Heck, he's even referred to as an "eco-warrior."

Kennedy, along with a bunch of other millionaire/billionaire muckety mucks, like Walter Cronkite, and author David McCullough (who's recent book "1776," is excellent, by the way) are vehemently fighting the construction of this pollution free energy source. Why? Because they would be visible from their multi-million dollar beach homes on the Cape and they don't want to ruin their pristine view of the ocean. So, they are willing to demand everyone else clean up their rivers, and not pollute this and not pollute that, but when it comes to someone making pollution free electricity, RFK Jr.'s response?

"I'm all for that and think it's a great idea, but NOT IN MY BACKYARD."

And for this display of elitist greed and hypocrisy, we at the West Virginia Political Sweatbox, hereby award our first ever NIMBY Of The Year, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I'm sure his father would be proud. [Golf clap]

All joking aside, this is why people dislike "limousine liberals." People who are quick to condemn your lifestyle, under the guise that they know what you need, better than you. But, they don't often practice what they preach, as in the instant example.

And it cuts both ways too, the bible banging Republicans do the same thing, just from the other side. See: Intelligent Design/Creationism/prayer in schools/ten commandments in the courthouse/and a thousand other things I'm forgetting right now. So, please, no emails from the Dems saying "But what about the Republican so and so who did x, y and z?" I'll save you from the time and bandwidth constructing your email. Yes, that Republican is a scumbag too.

I guess the main difference is that the bible bangers do (mostly) live what they preach (the obvious exceptions excluded, Jim Bakker, Swaggert, et al). That doesn't mean I agree with them, in fact, I think most of them are quite daft and I put creationism and ID proponents (more about them in the next few days here at the Sweatbox, keep watching for those fireworks) and the like only marginally above used car salesmen on my respectability meter. You just don't get the "limousine liberal" effect you get with the true believer Libs. But still, the shrillness from both sides is extremely irritating. And we here at The Sweatbox hate jackasses of all political persuasions with equal venom as stated in our very first post. We truly try to be an Equal Opportunity blog here, so D or R, lib or conservative, old or new, black or white, if you are being a jackass, we do our level best to call you on it.

And congratulations again, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on this evening's award!! You are the envy of NIMBY's everywhere.

Stop the presses!!! Our economy is booming...........NOT

WV doesn't have an booming economy. Severance taxes are up, because the price of coal is through the roof (coal prices go as oil prices go). Just a couple years ago, coal was around 25 bucks per ton. Now, it's around 60. And guess what? When coal is worth 60 bucks per ton, you can afford to mine more of it. If it costs 30 bucks a ton to mine it (because of low quality, or difficulty in physically mining it or whatever), it doesn't get mined when you can only sell it for 25 bucks per ton. But that 30 dollar cost coal can be mined when you can sell it for 60. And so, more coal is being mined, and thereofore, more miners are working. So, income taxes are up a bit too. However, I'm tired of listening to Furlip (Micheal Agnello - Hello, search engines) and company bleating like sheep about how the economy is turning around and it's happy days are here again. It's largely an illusion, and not indicative of anything other than increased coal prices.

I know of no new industrial manufacturing plants springing up. I don't see any new Toyota plants or Cabella's (and I don't really consider Cabella's "development" it's just a Walmart on steroids). No matter what happens, Joe Manchin (Papa Joe Cheerleader) can't take credit for anything this economy is doing. He's just the lucky recipient of increased severance tax revenues, that are essentially driven by the global market. This is why we should put the brakes on the rush to cut the sales tax on food, or whatever tax rollbacks the boneheads are spouting off about now. This surplus is not the result of Papa Joe Cheerleader doing anything other than being in the right place at the right time. I sure hope he doesn't strain his arm patting himself on the back. The surplus could be gone in a heartbeat if the price of coal drops, and then where would we be? Again, we are at the mercy of the coal industry. Shocking, I know. It's like in the Godfather III. Every time we think we are out, they pull us back in.

Oh, and did anyone see the Gazette on Tuesday? There was a letter to the editor about Furlip being an unprofessional jackass. Classic.