Riding the campaign roller coaster

This year’s race to be the Grand Old Tea Party’s presidential nominee could be compared to a roller coaster ride at King’s Island, not unlike the Twin Racers. There are even some remarkable similarities to the original ride: The right side train once ran backwards, just like the Gingrich campaign is doing after the candidate unexpectedly won in South Carolina.

Since then, Newt has been hit with a Romney money bomb in Florida, and not only is he losing traction; he actually appears to be, well, running backwards. So Newt’s train would be on the right, to match his march to the rear, and also because Newt has been claiming that he is the true conservative in the race who’s running against an (ugh) moderate.

But you’d have to concede that not everything in the real-life political twists and turns matches the realities of the Red and Blue Racers. The Twin Racers are called that because each track is identical. With the Romney Racer vs. the Newt Racer, one track is the exact opposite of the other.

When the Newt Racer begins to climb a hill, the Romney Racer starts down an incline and vice versa. That way, one campaign’s riders can enjoy the elation of seeing their namesakes numbers go up while the opposing train’s riders would be suffering through its namesake’s free-fall.

If you remember, in those hectic days before the Iowa caucuses, practically every candidate had the lead at one time or another, with the exception of Mitt. It’s the curse of the (ugh) moderate. That’s what comes of being a Northeast Republican. After all, if it hadn’t been for Romney and his days as the Governor of a blue state, Obama wouldn’t have had a pattern for his health care, would he?

But in the end, after seeing a newly-declared candidate, Rick Perry-think Bush without the brains-take an overwhelming lead, until he tripped over his own tongue several times, then seeing the once despised Newt get the lead, until he, too, had the effrontery to open his mouth, and finally seeing the former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum (aka Saint Orum, or Rick Sanctimonious) surge in the polls, voila, Mitt seemingly emerged triumphant over Sanctimonious by eight whole votes.

So Mitt moved on to New Hampshire, where he rode the momentum of that landslide from Iowa to a predictable victory in the Granite state. Yes! He was moving uphill, until the race moved into the Palmetto State.

And that’s when his train started downhill. Newt suddenly decides to become a talented debater. In a couple of good performances, he picks up momentum. At the same time, it’s revealed that Romney didn’t win Iowa, he lost by 12 to Saint Orum. After South Carolina, Mitt’s record, once a possible 3-0, is now 1-2 and Florida is in play.

Lucky for Mitt, he has more of one thing than Newt: No, not brains; money. That put him in front after carpet bombing Newt with some really negative ads.

Oh, don’t worry, Newt Racers. There are some more southern states coming up where Newt will have the edge. Your train will be on the rise soon enough.

But remember, these trains ain’t gonna pull into the station for some time. Only then the winning riders will have to hang on for a run against the Obama Express.

More support for industrial hemp

If there’s one thing you can say about me, it’s that I’m as tenacious as a bulldog. Let me get my chops into something and I won’t let go, even when it’s obvious I’m wasting my time; it’s my time after all.

That is why I have spent so much time and so many columns extolling the virtues of cannabis sativa, or industrial hemp. I firmly believe in this plant and the potential it has, not only for Kentucky farmers but for American farmers as a whole.

And if industrial hemp is legalized nationwide, it can have a positive impact on the American economy. Not only will it produce goods that everyone can use, it will reduce harmful pollution. Paper, for instance, that is produced from wood pulp, requires harmful chemicals in its manufacture; hemp does not. And hemp can be replanted year after year, unlike trees that require decades to regrow.

And unlike plastic produced from petroleum, plastic produced from hemp is biodegradable. In other words, hemp will help create a green economy.

And let us never forget the bio-diesel that hemp can produce. I suggest this would be a far better source for diesel than importing that gunk known as tar sand oil from Canada that not only releases far too many greenhouse gases but also requires strip mining Canada’s boreal forests, thereby endangering the nesting grounds of over half of North America’s bird species.

I can’t say how happy I was to read that James Comer, Kentucky’s newly installed Commissioner of Agriculture, is backing industrial hemp. This is but one of many steps Commissioner Comer is taking to make his department relevant to those it is meant to serve. And I would strongly urge the state assembly to enact House Bill 286 that would resuscitate the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission by placing Commissioner Comer at its head.

And I am glad to see that Sen. Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville will have some help in the state assembly. Sen. Pendleton has long been an advocate for hemp. House Bill 286 will be sponsored by our own State Rep. Keith Hall, Richard Henderson, D-Jeffersonville and Ryan Quarles, R-Georgetown.

Of course, getting this bill passed is only the beginning. There is still that infernal federal government out there and it is not about to budge from its stance that industrial hemp equals marijuana equals all schedule one drugs unless it is dragged kicking and screaming all the way.

Yes, there is Republican presidential contender Ron Paul’s bill H R 1831, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011. It would amend the Controlled Substance Act by redefining marijuana so that it no longer includes industrial hemp. But it is stuck in the House Judiciary Committee and its chair, Lamar Smith, R. TX, won’t bring it up for a vote.

It’s only hope-and this is a long shot-would be a discharge petition. If a bill has not been acted on by the committee it’s assigned to within 30 days, the bill’s sponsor can file a discharge petition to release it from committee and bring it before the whole House for consideration. To be successful, the petition would need at least 218 signatures.

Of course it would be helpful if Kentucky’s own congressional delegation supported industrial hemp, but that, as they say, is a whole other kettle of fish.

Most peculiar, Mama

We are in an unusually mild winter to say the least.  It’s been my experience that January is either the coldest month of the year or the second coldest, depending on how you feel about February, but that is definitely not the case this year. 

We should be shoveling lots of snow, wearing long underwear, and dreading any trip out of doors, but not this January.  Not only has the cold been held at bay, we have seen fairly long stretches with temps in the 50’s and 60’s, for crying out loud, and in January.  I know I’ve pointed that out already, but it’s so unusual it bears repeating.

Januaries are, by their nature, composed of long periods of cold days, followed by a few days not quite so cold, then cold again.  This year the exact opposite is taking place.  We are seeing prolonged warm spells that are broken up by a few days that are not quite as warm.

In winters past whenever there was more snow or colder weather than usual, those who believe the theory about climate change to be wholly concocted by Al Gore were never hesitant to say, “Well, where’s your global warming now?”

Now this year, you don’t hear so much about why Al is only out to profit from his unproven theory.  In fact, you haven’t heard anything much at all about global warming, not explicitly anyway.  But there have been some implicit statements made by those to whom global warming is a myth, and this is as unusual as the warm days that are more like early spring than early winter weather.

Yes, the coal industry has now admitted this warmer than usual weather is costing the industry.  One columnist in the Appalachian News-Express (published in Pikeville, Ky., my paper) has noted this and half-heartedly wished for some colder weather to help out both the Power Company and the coal mines. 

WYMT-TV ( channel 57, Hazard, Ky) has also reported that the warm weather is affecting coal’s bottom line at least once, and one coal company has reported it will begin to lay off miners due to a decreased demand for coal.  Again, the mild January weather was cited as the primary reason.

I’m no fan of the Power Company; that ten day period over the Christmas holiday a couple of years back, when the power was off and Christmas dinner was cooked on a Sears’s kerosene heater may have played a role in that.  Pretty much everybody knew why the power was lost and why it stayed out so long:  AEP just stopped trimming the brush around their lines.

The truth is all fossil fuel producers and users are on record as disputing any evidence presented that supports global warming and climate change.  Don Blankenship, the former CEO of the company formerly known as Massey was very outspoken and even debated Robert Kennedy, Jr. over this issue.  Of course, the Don of Massey would have been better served if he had just paid closer attention to what was going on in his own mines. If he had, 29 miners might still be alive today.

How ironic would it be if the industry that has denied the use of coal has had anything at all to do with global warming suddenly found itself losing money because of it?  There is an old saying traced to Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus that addresses situations such as this:  The wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine

Tippecanoe and Tim Tebow, too

University of Kentucky football fans know Tim Tebow. He spent four years at Florida taking U. K.’s football team apart. Well, that has been happening for the last 25 years, and Tim is only 24. All he did was keep the streak alive during his four-year stay at The Swamp.

When the time came for Tebow to seek his fortune in the National Football League, there wasn’t a lot of interest in him. Why would anyone want anything to do with the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy? So he played a key role in two national championships for the Gators? And so he was the first quarterback to ever pass and run for over 20 touchdowns in the same season?

This could go on for a while because Tebow racked up an impressive number of records while in Gainesville. But none of that guarantees a spot in the NFL. There are an impressive number of Heisman trophy winners who were either undrafted (Charlie Ward, Florida State, 1993) or who put in a few years only to be cut (Gino Torretta, Miami of Florida, 1992).

And that could have easily happened to Tebow, but in his case he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round in 2010. Not that anyone expected him to get the starting position right off. But Tebow came with a ready-made fan base that was always ready with the call of “Let Tim Tebow have the ball!”

And still that might not have happened had it not been for the unique set of circumstances that preceded this year’s NFL season. First of all, there was a labor dispute which ended in a lockout of the NFL players and that almost canceled the whole season. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and after a very brief preseason, the regular season was on.

Then there was the undeniable fact that Denver was not and still is not the favorite to win this year’s Super Bowl. It was picked somewhere around the bottom of a division that is arguably the weakest in the league. And to top it all off, Tebow was somewhere around 4^th on the Bronco’s depth chart. So, guess what, Tim Tebow, no starts for you!

But then the Broncs limped out of the starting gate at 1-4 under their starting QB, Kyle Orton. I think that’s when the light came on in the Bronc’s headquarters. If the fans want Tebow, let’s give them Tebow. He’ll come out and stink up the joint. After all, we know he can’t play in the NFL coz that’s what the analysts told us. Once that’s done, we can bench him and we’ll never have to listen to “Let Tim Tebow have the ball!” anymore.

But a funny thing happened to Tebow on his way to a waiver. The 1-4 Broncs were suddenly 8-8. They even managed to back into the playoffs against the AFC champion Steelers. And because the Broncs were division champs and the Steelers were the wildcard team, this would be a home game.

And behold, a miracle occurred. Oh, sure, the Broncs beat the Steelers, in the shortest overtime game ever, in striking fashion. But Tebow also managed to render his biggest detractor, ESPN's Steven A. Smith, speechless the next day in what was truly the greatest miracle of all.

Support a state-supported UPike

Kentucky’s coal severance tax is a levy on coal producers enacted to make up for the loss of the coal fields’ main asset and meant to compensate for the environmental, social and economic impacts on the coal-producing areas. It also has as an aim diversification of the area’s economy against the day when coal is no longer king.

But there were others who’ve had their eyes on this prize. This golden goose did not escape notice by the state assembly, and as it is controlled by areas outside of the state’s coalfields, that tax money has been seized upon by the legislature and governors and a lot of it has been put to work in areas other than the coalfields.

According to the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, by 1992, coal severance tax had produced $2.7 billion. Of that prodigious sum, the coal producing counties got back a grand total of 7.6%. To add insult to injury, the state got the final say on how the coal-producing counties could spend their severance tax money.

Recently an incredible idea has been floated around the state. It is an idea that would help fulfill the promise made by those who enacted the coal severance tax; to help diversify our local economies. Yes, it will take coal severance tax away from other projects in other areas of the state. But then again, the state has been promising this area more of that tax money back.

This idea-the brain child of UPike President Paul Patton-that has been whole heartedly endorsed by leaders throughout our area, is to establish UPike as a state-supported school. Now when you stand up in this area and declare that this is not being done before it was needed, you, of course, would be preaching to the choir.

It’s when you hear the reaction from outside our area that you noticed a bit of negativity. Morehead State, for instance, the state supported school that is closest to UPike, would be affected and its President is already on record as saying that such a move should require a study. An editorial in the Louisville paper, The Courier Journal, is also on record supporting a study to see what impact the newest state supported college would have on the existing schools.

President Patton, in an op-ed in the Courier-Journal, in my humble opinion, ably refuted the argument that a study is needed in order to justify establishing the University of Pikeville as a state supported institution.

Patton points out that there is ample evidence supporting the establishment of a state supported school in Pike County. Patton points out that the state overall has almost twice as many college graduates aged 22-44 (17.1%) as the 12 major coal-producing counties (9.1%).

When this comparison is made between the proposed home county of a state-supported UPike and counties that already have a state supported school, the number of college graduates, ages 22-44, ranges from 24.7% (Warren Co. and WKU) to 21.9% (Rowan Co. and Morehead) to a mere 9.9% for Pike County and UPike.

President Patton quotes State Rep. Greg Stumbo who called a state-supported UPike “a no brainer.” Patton further states that “This action would be the most important improvement in Eastern Kentucky since the construction of the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway.”

In the words of Barney Fife "That's good enough for me."