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El presidente del Gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, presentó hoy la Estrategia y el Plan de Acción para impulsar el vehículo eléctrico en España, que contará con un presupuesto de 590 millones de Euros y que beneficiará al fomento de la demanda, industrialización y desarrollo de infraestructuras de recarga y promoción.

El objetivo es contar con 250.000 vehículos eléctricos puros e híbridos enchufables en España en 2014, en el marco de la meta global de lograr que un millón de coches eléctricos e híbridos convencionales circulen por las carreteras españolas para ese año.

En principio, el plan se ejecutará sobre 145 localidades españolas con más de 50.000 habitantes, quienes recibirán un subsidio de hasta 6.000 Euros en el caso de comprar coche eléctrico. Con la ayuda de los fondos del gobierno español, se esperan unas ventas de 20.000 unidades en 2011 y de 50.000 unidades en 2012, correspondientes en su mayoría a flotas de empresas y servicios.

Desde luego que esta iniciativa es muy loable. El problema es de dónde saldrán los fondos para soportar semejante inversión, porque ya de impuestos bastará con el futuro aumento del IVA… a menos que planeen subir aún más los impuestos o incluso inflar aún más el IVA.

Vía | La Vanguardia

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Europe, BMW, Design/Style, Racing

The 17th BMW art car is slated to follow in its ancestors footsteps by competing in this year’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car, an M3 GT2, has been worked over by artist Jeff Koons. Though critics first cried foul at the notion of putting Koons in the same league as Worhol, Calder and the like, the guy’s preliminary sketches sound top notch.

Koons photographed multiple race cars at speed, then stretched the images and incorporated them into a massive digital collage. That collage is what’s getting spread all over the M3 GT2’s sexy flanks. Once finished, the car will get its debut at the Paris Center Pompidou before heading off to Le Mans to go fender to fender with the rest of the racing world.

The Paris Center Pompidou has hosted the BMW art car unveil since the center opened in 1977, where Roy Lichtenstein first showed off his fluid 320i. This year, the collage M3 GT2 will take the stage on June 1, and the car will boast the number 79 in tribute to Andy Warhol’s 1979 M1. Press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading BMW Art Car to compete in 24 Hours of LeMans

BMW Art Car to compete in 24 Hours of LeMans originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Tuesday, American Idol alum Adam Lambert announced that he will be releasing Remixes – a digital EP of remixes of six singles from his 2009 debut album, For Your Entertainment.

The Remixes EP will go on sale exclusively on Adam’s Official Website this Friday, April 9.

Adam Lambert Remixes Tracklisting:

1. Whataya Want From Me Fonzerelli Electro House Club Mix (5:51)
2. Whataya Want From Me Brad Walsh A Vivir Mix (4:31)
3. Whataya Want From Me Jason Nevins Electrotek Extended Mix (6:22)
4. For Your Entertainment Bimbo Jones Vocal Mix (6:29)
5. For Your Entertainment Brad Walsh Remix (4:56)
6. Voodoo (3:14)

iPad, iPad: Are you a toy or “business toy“? This is the question I am asking myself in the last few days. A toy is something I don’t need (at my age) but may be nice to have. A “business toy” is one I should get because it may make me some money one day. So it is a toy that is good for business.

May be I should wait 5 minutes and then get iPad 2.0 with the cameras (yes, two cameras). Or may be I should wait to see if I should give the HP Slate a try?

***

Via AdAge “iPad Day 1: 300K Sold; 360K Tweets; 1M Apps and 250K iBooks Downloaded“,

“[…] Yeah, I got an iPad […] I have to say that I’m surprised by how much I love the damn thing. Over the past few months, I refrained from publicly join the chorus of naysayers who pre-emptively dismissed Apple’s God tablet as just an iPod Touch on steroids; I secretly harbored the same suspicion, but decided to wait and see.

[…] On Saturday, there were 360,576 tweets name-checking the iPad. This morning Apple revealed that it sold over 300,000 iPads on Saturday

[…] Apple itself scored 121,135 tweets on Saturday

[…] iPad users downloaded more than 1 million apps from the App Store and more than 250,000 e-books […] on Saturday, according to Apple.”

Filed under: Business, design, Science & Technology

[JURIST] Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Monday submitted a new version of their proposed Constitutional amendments to the Grand National Assembly. The draft differs only slightly in substance from the previous version that the party submitted. One of the new additions is a proposal to alter Article 157 of the Constitution so that judges of the Military Supreme Administrative Court would have judicial immunity and be shielded from spurious claims. Perhaps the most significant difference between the old and new versions is the signatures. The new version has signatures from 265 AKP representatives excluding Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Shahin. Some controversy arose after Shahin signed the first version because of his obligation to remain impartial as speaker. As a result, there was a strong likelihood that the proposed changes would have been dismissed for technical reasons. In light of the new proposal packet from AKP, a parliamentary committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the previous version of the amendments was postponed.
The first version of AKP’s proposed amendments was submitted to parliament last Tuesday, despite warnings from Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the party should take more precautions before amending the constitution. The reform package contains seven revisions from the original amendments unveiled at the end of March, including a highly-disputed reform to the judiciary system that would allow military and government officials to be tried in civilian court. The reform would also make it harder for the government to disband political parties that challenge the country’s nationalist establishment and would ban the prosecution of the 1980 coup leaders. AKP says it created the amendments to promote democracy in Turkey and support its bid into the European Union (EU). The proposed amendments have been met with opposition by Turkey’s Supreme Court. In an interview in late March, the president of the court Hasan Gerceker declared that the proposed amendments threaten separation of power and judicial independence.

Obama to meet at the White House with black church leaders

By Hamil R. Harris and Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 6, 2010; A03

President Obama will sit down Tuesday with about 20 black religious leaders, including representatives of the major African American denominations, in the second White House meeting in three months to discuss the needs of the black community.

The president has faced growing questions about whether he has done enough to help African Americans deal with the nation’s economic downturn. Blacks have been hurt more than other communities by the lack of jobs and the difficulty in obtaining bank financing, among other issues, and some — including political commentator Tavis Smiley and some members of the Congressional Black Caucus — say that Obama has not responded urgently.

As the criticism intensified last month, the White House paid little public attention to the critics while aides privately pushed back, citing examples of the president’s agenda, such as health care and education, that specifically benefit African Americans.

Tuesday’s meeting appeared to be a clear sign that Obama has heard the complaints, especially because it precedes a gathering with a larger group of ministers in the East Room for an Easter prayer breakfast. But a White House spokesman rejected the conclusion.

“This meeting is not about politics,” spokesman Corey Ealons said. “It is about connecting with key faith leaders on the challenges impacting our nation. President Obama appreciates the acute challenges facing African Americans across the country and respects the work these pastors are doing to support the communities they serve.”

The preachers, who represent some of the largest African American churches in the country, have written an open letter to the president that praises the job Obama has done and encourages him to “stay the course.”

“President Obama has pursued policies that are crucial for our communities and the nation as a whole, and we cannot afford to lose courage and fortitude at this juncture,” reads the letter, which more than 30 ministers signed. “President Obama has fought for us — and we must fight for him. . . . We have been troubled by the trivial debates that have become more prominent in Washington and across the country, while at the same time our families are facing historic challenges.”

The public show of support and its welcome by the White House is a shift from Obama’s seeming detachment from the question of whether he should have a “black agenda.” In the past, he has responded by saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats” and that his job “is to be president of the whole country.” This time, he is letting the ministers sing his praises.

“He is the president of the United States, not just the president of black people, the president of Latino people,” said Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, a leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “We expect him to put together policies and an agenda that will impact all of America and not just one special interest.”

The letter, to be presented to Obama by the Rev. T. DeWitt Smith Jr., president of the 2.5 million-member Progressive National Baptist Convention, outlines Obama’s accomplishments on behalf of “the least of these,” citing changes in education policy, health care and financial regulation.

“We are in the mix here,” McKenzie said. “If you are talking about health care, you are talking about African Americans. If you talk about unemployment, African Americans are losing jobs disproportionately.”

Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said that the president “is honored to have deep support in the African American church.”

Tuesday’s meeting is the second at the White House this year to discuss issues primarily affecting blacks. Two months ago, Obama sat down with NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, National Urban League President Marc Morial and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who had requested the visit.

Afterward, the civil rights leaders said Obama had been willing to hear their ideas, and they restated their support for the administration. But in the days after, Smiley criticized the men for not putting more pressure on Obama to carve out a specific black agenda.

Smiley then held a forum in Chicago — attended by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and academics Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson, among others — where a number of African American speakers said that Obama needs to do more for blacks.

“The bottom line is the president needs to take the issues of black America more seriously because black folks are catching hell, number one,” Smiley said after the forum. “Number two: This theory that a rising tide lifting all boats — that theory was soundly dismissed. Thirdly, because black people are suffering disproportionately, it requires a disproportionate response.”

Smiley’s forum drew criticism from Sharpton, who accused Smiley of being a “critic of the president” and creating unnecessary division.

A similar tug of war has occurred between the president and some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have said that Obama should do more to target aid and jobs for poor blacks. Caucus members have said that key people in the Obama administration have taken them for granted.

Despite such fissures with black political leaders, the president’s popularity among black voters remains sky-high, said David Bositis, a pollster with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank focused on black issues.

“Obama couldn’t be doing better among African Americans,” Bositis said. “There’s absolutely nothing there in terms of a problem in terms of African Americans. The opposition from Southern white conservatives . . . just makes African Americans more strongly bonded to Obama.”

Staff writer Michael D. Shear contributed to this report.

Got Georgia research? If so, you might be interested in the North Georgia Family History Bulletin. Edited by Mike Brubaker, the online monthly periodical deals with Georgia, as well as topics of National interest. The periodical is well done – and free! It’s also available in paper format for $10 a year.

The March 2010 issue, which I’m looking at right now has a number of interesting article, including:

• Confederate Memorial Day – Important to Remember
• The OR: An Important Source for Research and
• Announcements and Events

If you would like to get the online periodical, send Mike an e-mail at: [email protected]
or [email protected] and he will be happy to add you to the mailing list.

Mike also has an excellent blog at: http://www.historybybrubaker.blogspot.com/

Faced with billions in projected state budget deficits, the Democratic-controlled finance committee voted Tuesday to hike taxes sharply – creating a new hospital tax and increasing the estate tax for Connecticut’s wealthiest residents to the highest level in the nation.

The committee – on its final day to act under the legislature’s committee rules – also rejected Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s plans to legalize the Keno electronic gambling game. The money from keno was going to be used as the basis to borrow money under a complicated “securitization” process, but the committee decided to avoid keno completely.

Rather than using keno for securitization, the committee instead will use money collected every month in electric bills. That idea prompted a strong response from the state’s largest electric utility.

“With this bill, the legislature is effectively imposing a hidden tax on only a portion of Connecticut taxpayers – our Connecticut Light and Power customers,” said Jeff Butler, the president and chief operating officer of CL& P. “It is a blatant gimmick. It slips additional taxes into electric bills to temporarily plug a massive budget hole. This is not simply bad budgeting, it is bad public policy that singles out our customers to bear an unfair burden.”

The tax bill would also create a new hospital gross receipts tax of 5.5 percent as of May 1, but the tax  would “sunset” in 2014.

Under the complicated tax, all hospitals would be charged the tax, but they would receive money back for “uncompensated care.” As such, hospitals in the cities with high amounts of non-paying customers would receive more money back than suburban hospitals that have larger amounts of patients who are covered by insurance. In turn, places like Greenwich Hospital would be net losers under the scenario.

The bill calls for setting aside an extra $20 million in revenue to help the hospitals that would lose under the formula. The budget-writing appropriations committee would establish exactly how the money would be allocated.

“The goal is to reduce the impact on the losers,” said Rep. Cameron Staples, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the tax-writing finance committee.

But Sen. Andrew Roraback, who represents 15 towns in northwestern Connecticut, said the new tax would harm the small, local hospitals in his district in rural Litchfield County.

“This tax is going to do irreparable harm for community hospitals,” Roraback said. “I think we’re engaged in a very dangerous game. … We should think twice before we put a dagger in the heart of those with jobs we represent.”

Staples, though, countered that tiny Sharon Hospital in Roraback’s district would be a net winner. Greenwich Hospital, for example, could lose from $5 million to $8 million, officials said. Danbury Hospital, on the state border, is talking about a merger with New Milford Hospital – and they are both currently on the “loser” list under the Democratic proposal.

“The hospital tax can hardly be considered fair by any stretch of the imagination,” said Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury, who opposed the tax.

Some lawmakers noted that the state had a similar tax in the 1990s, which was controversial before it was disbanded.

Republicans were also highly concerned about proposed increases in the estate tax, which would last for two years.

“We’ve seen quite a bit of back and forth on the gift and estate tax issue,” said Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, the ranking House Republican on the committee. “We sort of had this trade-off for the elimination of the cliff in the gift and estate tax.”

“We’re looking at almost doubling the estate tax for individuals in Connecticut,” he said. “I’m concerned about what impact this will have on small business. … We would see a sell-off of those companies.”

Rep. Lile Gibbons, an Old Greenwich Republican who represents the Greenwich waterfront, said increasing the estate tax is “absolutely going down the wrong path.” She added, “People just aren’t going to stay” in Connecticut.

“In my region, farmers are telling me the estate tax will hurt them,” said Rep. Christopher Coutu, a Norwich Republican. “They are land rich and cash poor.”

“It’s my personal iteration of a reality show called The Biggest Loser,” said Rep. Livvy Floren, a Greenwich Republican who represents the famed “backcountry” district in the area north of the Merritt Parkway that includes multi-millionaires and some of the richest people in the nation.

Sen. Toni Boucher, a Wilton Republican, said the legislature had been considering eliminating the estate tax at one point and is now calling for pushing the highest tax rate to 20 percent for the portion of the estate above $10 million. She said that many Connecticut residents have changed their domicile to Florida, where there is no estate tax.

Rep. Themis Klarides, a deputy House Republican leader, said the reason for the tax increases Tuesday stems directly from the refusal of the Democratic majority to cut spending in the $18.91 billion state budget.

“We don’t want to make the serious cuts,” Klarides said.

Rep. John Piscopo, a veteran Republican in Litchfield County, said there is a direct cause-and-effect between changes in the Connecticut estate tax and various cars showing up in the state.

“Every time we tweak the estate tax, there’s more Florida plates in your district,” Piscopo said. “I compare the General Assembly to the British Empire where the sun never sets on the legislature.”

Sen. Andrea Stillman, a Democrat, said the state is facing budget deficits of more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year, and the legislature must make tough choices to close the budget gaps both this year and in the coming years.

“We know the decisions we have to make are difficult,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything today that we’re voting on that puts a smile on anybody’s face. … Today is not a pleasant day.”

Rep. Mary Mushinsky reminded her colleagues that some hospitals will receive more money than ever under the reshuffling of the money being funneled back to them, giving them “a new lease on life” that will help the hospitals. 

After passing the hospital and estate tax changes, the committee debated another bill on a complicated plan for securitization to plug a hole of $1.3 billion in the second year of the two-year budget. There will be an estimated 4 percent interest rate on the 10-year, special tax-obligation bonds. The state has not been forced into securitization since the state’s last major fiscal downturn in the 2002-2003 cycle when Republican John G. Rowland was governor.

The Democratic-controlled committee rejected Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s proposal to take money generated by legalizing the Keno electronic gambling game. Keno was expected to generate $60 million per year, and that revenue stream would have been securitized to pay off the bonds.

“Securitization is not an option we embrace lightly,” Staples told his colleagues. “It does not touch the energy funds that were originally proposed … for a source of revenue for this. … We feel this is the most responsible way to do it.”

The bill would increase electric rates by $1.8 billion over 10 years for residential and commercial ratepayers in order to pay off the bonds in the complicated securitization process. That revenue stream would be securitized, thus generating the money to plug the budget hole. Republicans described it as an unfair tax on electric customers.

The bill would apply only to CL&P and United Illuminating customers and not those who have municipal operations like Norwich and Wallingford.

“I feel this committee is enabling the appropriations committee to continue to spend,” Candelora said. “This is not a good decision for job creation in Connecticut.”

In a third controversial bill, the legislature tackled the difficult issue of “combined reporting” that has been strongly opposed by major corporations and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association – the state’s largest business lobby. Known as Senate Bill 485, it is titled “An Act Concerning Tax Fairness.”

The bill would apply to companies like Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., General Electric, and GE Capital.

For 2007, there were 105 companies in Connecticut that elected to file a unitary return, according to the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office. Any company that opts into the system currently must do it for five years.

“We are completely restructuring the corporate tax code with this particular piece of legislation,” Candelora said. “It may not result in any revenue gain at all. … It has a feel-good title of tax fairness. It probably should read: tax arbitrariness.”

While some of the data is unavailable, the legislature’s fiscal office is estimating that the bill would generate an estimated $15 million to $35 million per year.

The bill has strong support from the New Haven-based Connecticut Voices For Children, a think tank that closely analyzes state spending and taxes. Voices said that the bill “would close corporate tax loopholes by preventing multi-state corporations from avoiding state taxes by artificially shifting their profits to subsidiaries in other states” around the country.

“The problem is sometimes we don’t know the abuse until it occurs,” Staples said. “This just creates a system where there are very few opportunities for companies to take assets out of state. All those intra-corporation transfers would not make any tax advantages.”

Richard Sipe, a retired Catholic priest living in La Jolla, had this to say at a gathering of Catholic clergy abuse victims in 1992:
“The current revelations of abuse are the tip of an iceberg; and if the problem is traced to its foundations the path will lead to the highest halls of the Vatican.”

That’s right, I said 1992.
Sipe told me on Monday that he felt pretty lonely out there, 18 years ago, when he began warning of the systemic molestation and cover-up scandal that would spread from parish to parish, country to country.

The latest news, of course, is that Pope Benedict XVI earlier in his career approved the transfer of an abusive priest in Germany and did not act to defrock a child-molesting priest in Wisconsin.

“We still don’t have the whole story out there. There will be more and more people, and more and more corruption,” said Sipe, who believes the church’s claims of reform are exaggerated, and that things might have to get worse before they get better.

Maybe, Sipe said, some bishops or cardinals will have to go to jail to rally the masses, and he believes some of them should. Sipe has been a fierce critic of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, whose archdiocese has been the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into the questionable handling of molestation by priests, including the transfer of abusive clergy on Mahony’s watch. 

Let’s hope Mahony’s successor, Jose Gomez, doesn’t make the same mistakes. Let’s hope Gomez — currently the archbishop of San Antonio — continues real reform and cares more about protecting children than his PR image. [Updated at 11:40 a.m.: Already, Gomez was questioned at his introductory press conference this morning about his handling of the abuse scandal.]

Sipe said he thinks reform of the greater church can happen if major donors stop bankrolling the Church, and if a few brave insiders speak out. Eventually, Sipe said, the Church will be forced to lift the ban on clergy celibacy, allow clergy to marry and women to be priests, and a true reformation will be under way.

Pardon me, but shouldn’t all that have happened long ago?

Readers have defensively argued in the past that the Church is defined by the faith of its people, not the misdeeds of its hierarchy.

That’s a rationalization.

When the hierarchy protects abusers rather than their underage victims, it’s time for the faithful to call the police, fight for change, or walk away.

If you’ve already left, tell me why. And if you haven’t, tell me why not.

Tell Steve Lopez what you think below. 

Times coverage:

Pope selects Latino bishop from Texas to succeed Mahony

Mexico-born archbishop to lead Los Angeles Catholics

For all you people that love to be organized, this is a great app for you. This app will log every call you get or you can select a particular number to log. It’s a very lightweight app and when you open it, all there’s only a few options to choose from. So if you like bells and whistles, this may not be for you. But if you’re like me and want to get right to the point, then you’re going to love this. It’s a free app but it’s only available to Android 2.0.1 and up devices.

Market Description:

“CallTrack logs your phone activity to your Google Calendar. You can select the type of calls to log (incoming, outgoing, and missed) and the calendar to log them in. You can also dump your current call log to your calendar.

Currently only Android 2.0.1 and higher.”

WASHINGTON–Who is the president who never tossed out a pitch on a baseball opening day? That would be Jimmy Carter. President Obama on Monday threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Nationals home opener. Click below for every stat dealing with presidents and baseball.

below, from the White House/MLB…..

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO THROW CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCH ON OPENING DAY AT NATIONALS PARK

• U.S. President Barack Obama will throw the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. on Opening Day when the Washington Nationals host the defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, April 5 at 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

• Historic Event Marks the 100th Anniversary of Presidential First Pitches on Opening Day of Baseball Season

• U.S. President William Howard Taft (the 27th President of the United States) first threw an Opening Day first pitch on April 14, 1910. That day the Washington Senators defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0 behind a one-hit, complete game shutout by Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson.

• Obama will be the 13th President to throw a ceremonial first pitch at the home opener of the Washington Senators or Nationals.

• This game will be the second time President Obama has thrown a ceremonial first pitch while in the White House. Obama threw the first pitch of the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis on July 14th.

• The event will mark the 48th time a President has thrown an Opening Day first pitch in Washington D.C. and the 64th time it has occurred in any city on Opening Day.

• The Senators and Nationals hold a record of 25-23 during Opening Day games when the President has thrown the first pitch.

• Six Presidents have thrown out an Opening Day First Pitch outside of Washington D.C.: Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush threw out ceremonial first pitches on Opening Day a total of 15 times in nine cities between 1973 and 2006.

• The only recent President who never threw out a ceremonial first pitch at an Opening Day game was Jimmy Carter.

THE TRADITION OF OPENING DAY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Each Major League Club has its own unique celebration to mark the opening of the Major League Baseball season, but Opening Day in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., was always a special and sometimes historic event.

Washington, D.C.’s Opening Day tradition dates to April 14, 1910. William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, attended the home opener of the Washington Senators against the Philadelphia Athletics. Numerous other government officials, including Vice President James Sherman, joined President Taft at the ballpark.

An overflow crowd of 12,000 fans–the largest baseball crowd in Washington at that time–gave President Taft an standing ovation as he made his way to his seats on the first-base side. Team president Thomas C. Noyes then took the two managers–Washington’s Jimmy McAleer and Philadelphia’s legendary Connie Mack–to meet the President.

Just prior to the start of the game, umpire Billy Evans walked over to President Taft’s box and presented him with a new baseball. Evans instructed President Taft that he was to throw the ball from his seat in the stands to Senators pitcher Walter Johnson, who was standing at home plate, to officially commence the start of the American League championship season. After giving the ball briefly to First Lady Helen Taft, the President adjusted his gloves and made a good throw to Johnson, who immediately gave the ball to catcher Charles Street to have it secured in a safe place.

President Taft watched the entire game, a 3-0 Washington victory in which Johnson hurled a one-hit, complete-game shutout. After the game, Johnson sent the historic ball to the White House accompanied by a note to President Taft asking for his autograph on the ball. President Taft returned the ball after penning the following on it:

“For Walter Johnson, with the hope that he may continue to be as formidable as in yesterday’s game. William H. Taft.”

Although President Taft was the first to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, it was not the first time a President of the United States attended a Major League Baseball game. Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd U.S. President, is believed to be the first sitting President to attend a Major League game when he witnessed a NL game between Cincinnati and Washington in June 1892. That wasn’t even the first interaction with a professional baseball team as nine years earlier President Chester A. Arthur welcomed the Cleveland franchise of the National League to the White House.

Having the President throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Washington’s home opener was such an enormous success–not only in the nation’s capital but around the country–that it led to the American League granting Washington permission to open the American League championship season one day before the rest of the League. This action was approved on December 13, 1927, in recognition of the U.S. President throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Including President Taft’s precedent-setting throw in 1910, 12 different Presidents have attended a home opener of the Washington Senators a total of 48 times. The Senators posted a 23-23 mark in home openers with a President present.

President Taft (2-0) and Woodrow Wilson (3-0), the 28th U.S. President, were the only two to never see the Senators lose. The only U.S. Presidents never to see Washington win a home opener were Lyndon Johnson (0-3) and Richard Nixon (0-2).

Following is the breakdown of Washington’s record on Opening Day, listed by President:

WASHINGTON’S RECORD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ON OPENING DAY
Woodrow Wilson (D)…………………………. 3-0 (1.000)
William Howard Taft (R)……………………. 2-0 (1.000)
George W. Bush (R)…………………………… 2-0 (1.000)
Calvin Coolidge (R)…………………………….. 3-1 (.750)
Warren Harding (R)……………………………. 2-1 (.667)
Dwight Eisenhower (R)……………………….. 4-3 (.571)
Franklin Roosevelt (D)………………………… 4-4 (.500)
Harry Truman (D)………………………………. 3-4 (.429)
John F. Kennedy (D)………………………….. 1-2 (.333)
Herbert Hoover (R)……………………………. 1-3 (.250)
Richard Nixon (R)………………………………. 0-2 (.000)
Lyndon Johnson (D)…………………………… 0-3 (.000)
TOTAL 25-23 (.521)
Democrats 11-13 (.458)
Republicans 14-10 (.583)

Prior to the Senators move to Texas in 1972, each President since Taft was in attendance for a Washington Senators home opener at least once. Several Presidents had to miss on occasion, including President Taft in 1914 because of the sinking of the Titanic and President Wilson in 1918 and 1919 because of World War I.

Since 1972, the tradition of Presidents and Opening Day has continued in other Major League cities. The only President to never throw out a ceremonial first pitch at an Opening Day game was Jimmy Carter. President George W. Bush has continued the legacy, having thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at RFK Stadium on April 14, 2005 to usher the return of baseball to the nation’s capitol. He also did the honors at Miller Park in Milwaukee in April of 2001.

With President Barack Obama now in office, note that President George W. Bush attended five Washington Nationals games in DC after baseball returned to Washington, DC in April ’05.
The Nationals went 3-2 with the 43rd President on site. While awaiting Obama’s first trip to Nationals Park, a complete list of all games attended by Bush:

Thu., April 14, 2005 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (43,861 attendance)
Final Score: WASHINGTON 5
Arizona 3
NOTE: President Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch as MLB returned to nation’s capital for first time since 1971.

Fri., June 24, 2005 vs. Toronto Blue Jays (36,689 attendance)
Final Score: WASHINGTON 3
Toronto 0
NOTE: President Bush attended with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Sat., July 8, 2006 vs. San Diego Padres (27,060 attendance)
Final Score: San Diego 5
WASHINGTON 2
NOTE: President Bush attended with Mrs. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The contest marked Mrs. Bush’s first visit to RFK Stadium for a Nationals game.

Thu., July 5, 2007 vs. Chicago Cubs (22,594 attendance)

Final Score: Chicago (NL) 4
WASHINGTON 2
NOTE: President Bush kick started his July 6 birthday with a final trip to RFK Stadium

Sun., March 30, 2008 vs. Atlanta Braves (39,389 attendance)
Final Score: Atlanta 2
WASHINGTON 3

NOTE: President Bush baptized Nationals Park with first pitch in front of national-television audience as part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Ryan Zimmerman hits game-ending solo shot in 9th inning to give Washington its initial Nationals Park win.

OPENING DAY – WASHINGTON NATIONALS/SENATORS (1901-PRESENT)

[NOTE: ALL OPPONENTS LISTED IN AL FROM 1901-1971] FIRST PITCH
YEAR DATE/SITE/OPPONENT RESULT WP LP ATT. U.S. PRESIDENT
1901 April 26 at PHI W5-1 CARRICK Fraser 10,000 —
1902 April 23 vs. BOS W7-3 ORTH Dineen 6,253 —
1903 April 22 vs. NYY W3-1 CHESBRO Orth 10,000 —
1904 April 14 vs. PHI L3-8 Plank WILSON 6,000 —
1905 April 14 vs. NYY L2-4 Chesbro PATTEN 9,161 —
1906 April 14 vs. PHI L3-4 Bender HUGHES 12,962 —
1907 April 11 vs. NYY L2-3 Orth HUGHES 12,902 —
1908 April 14 at BOS L1-3 YOUNG Smith 18,752 —
1909 April 12 vs. NYY W4-1 SMITH Newton 12,078 —
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 4-5
1910 April 14 vs. PHI W3-0 JOHNSON Plank 12,226 Taft
1911 April 12 vs. BOS W8-5 WALKER Wood 16,000 Taft
1912 April 11 at PHI L2-4 Coombs JOHNSON 15,000 —
1913 April 10 vs. NYY W2-1 JOHNSON McConnell 20,000 Wilson
1914 April 14 at BOS W3-0 JOHNSON Collins 20,000 —
1915 April 14 vs. NYY W7-0 JOHNSON Warhop 15,557 Wilson
1916 April 12 at NYY W3-2 JOHNSON Caldwell 20,000 —
1917 April 11 at PHI W3-0 W.JOHNSON R.Johnson 8,000 —
1918 April 15 vs. NYY L3-6 Mogridge JOHNSON 15,000 —
1919 April 23 vs. PHI W1-0 JOHNSON Perry 14,000 —
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 8-2
1920 April 15 at BOS L6-7 Russell JOHNSON 7,000 —
1921 April 13 vs. BOS L3-6 Jones JOHNSON 18,212 Harding
1922 April 12 vs. NYY W6-5 MOGRIDGE Jones 27,000 Harding
1923 April 18 at PHI L1-3 Harriss JOHNSON 20,000 —
1924 April 15 vs. PHI W4-0 JOHNSON Harriss 25,000 Coolidge
1925 April 14 at NYY L1-5 Shocker MOGRIDGE 50,000 —
1926 April 13 vs. PHI W1-0 JOHNSON Rommel 25,000 VP Dawes
1927 April 12 vs. BOS W6-2 COVELESKI Harriss 30,000 Coolidge
1928 April 10 vs. BOS L5-7 MacFayden GASTON 25,000 Coolidge
1929 April 17 vs. PHI L4-13 Rommel JONES 25,000 Hoover
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 4-6
1930 April 14 vs. BOS L3-4 Smith BRAXTON 20,000 Hoover
1931 April 14 vs. PHI L3-5 Grove CROWDER 32,000 Hoover
1932 April 11 vs. BOS W1-0 CROWDER MacFayden 18,000 Hoover
1933 April 12 vs. PHI W4-1 CROWDER Freitas 24,000 Roosevelt
1934 April 17 at BOS W6-5 CROWDER Johnson 33,336 —
1935 April 17 vs. PHI W4-2 WHITEHILL Cain 20,000 Roosevelt
1936 April 14 vs. NYY W1-0 NEWSOM Gomez 31,000 Roosevelt
1937 April 19 vs. PHI L3-4 Williams CASCARELLA 33,000 Roosevelt
1938 April 18 vs. PHI W12-8 FERRELL Williams 29,000 Roosevelt
1939 April 20 at PHI L0-2 Caster DESHONG 7,000 —
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 6-4
1940 April 16 vs. BOS L0-1 Grove LEONARD 31,000 Roosevelt
1941 April 14 vs. NYY L0-3 Russo LEONARD 32,000 Roosevelt
1942 April 14 vs. NYY L0-7 Ruffing HUDSON 31,000 VP Wallace
1943 April 20 vs. PHI W7-5 CARRASQUEL Christopher 25,093 —
1944 April 18 vs. PHI L2-3 Berry CANDINI 27,000 VP Wallace
1945 April 17 at PHI W14-8 LEONARD Newsom 7,846 —
1946 April 16 vs. BOS L3-6 Hughson WOLFF 30,372 Truman
1947 April 15 at BOS L6-7 Dorish WYNN 30,822 —
1948 April 19 vs. NYY L4-12 Reynolds WYNN 31,728 Truman
1949 April 18 vs. PHI W3-2 SCARBOROUGH Fowler 26,000 Truman
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 3-7
HALF CENTURY OPENING-DAY RECORD: 25-24

YEAR DATE/SITE/OPPONENT RESULT WP LP ATT. U.S. PRESIDENT
1950 April 18 vs. PHI W8-7 SCARBOROUGH Scheib 29,320 Truman
1951 April 17 at PHI W6-1 MARRERO Schantz 8,285 —
1952 April 15 vs. BOS L0-3 Parnell PORTERFIELD 25,869 Truman
1953 April 16 vs. NYY L3-6 Sain PORTERFIELD 25,112 Eisenhower
1954 April 13 vs. NYY W5-3 DIXON Reynolds 27,160 Eisenhower
1955 April 11 vs. BAL W12-5 PORTERFIELD Kretlow 26,634 Eisenhower
1956 April 17 vs. NYY L4-10 Larsen PASCUAL 27,837 Eisenhower
1957 April 15 vs. BAL L6-7 Loes PASCUAL 23,872 Eisenhower
1958 April 14 vs. BOS W5-2 RAMOS Sullivan 26,675 Eisenhower
1959 April 9 vs. BAL W9-2 RAMOS Harshman 26,850 VP Nixon
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 6-4
1960 April 18 vs. BOS W10-1 PASCUAL Sturdivant 28,327 Eisenhower
1961 April 10 vs. CWS L3-4 Baumann DONOVAN 26,725 Kennedy
1962 April 9 vs. DET W4-1 DANIELS Mossi 44,383 Kennedy
1963 April 8 vs. BAL L1-3 Barber RUDOLPH 43,022 Kennedy
1964 April 13 vs. LAA L0-4 McBride OSTEEN 40,145 Johnson
1965 April 12 vs. BOS L2-7 Monbouquette ORTEGA 43,554 Johnson
1966 April 11 vs. CLE L2-5 McDowell RICHART 44,468 VP Humphrey
1967 April 10 vs. NYY L0-8 Stottlemyre RICHART 44,382 Johnson
1968 April 10 vs. MIN L0-2 Chance PASCUAL 32,063 VP Humphrey
1969 April 7 vs. NYY L4-8 Stottlemyre PASCUAL 45,113 Nixon
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 2-8
1970 April 6 vs. DET L0-5 Lolich BOSMAN 45,015 —
1971 April 5 vs. OAK W8-0 BOSMAN Blue 45,061 —
DECADE OPENING DAY RECORD: 1-1
1972-2004 *** NO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ***
2005 April 4 at PHI L4-8 Lieber HERNANDEZ 44,080 —
2006 April 3 at NYM L2-3 Glavine HERNANDEZ 54,371 —
2007 April 2 vs. FLA L2-9 Willis PATTERSON 40,389 —
2008 March 30 vs. ATL W3-2 RAUCH Moylan 39,389 Bush
2009 April 6 at FLA L6-12 Nolasco LANNAN 34,323 —

BASEBALL IN WASHINGTON, D.C. OPENING-DAY RECORD: 35-41 (.461)

WASHINGTON, D.C. HOME OPENERS DAY WHEN SEASON BEGAN ON THE ROAD (1901-PRESENT)
[NOTE: ALL OPPONENTS LISTED IN AL FROM 1901-1971] FIRST PITCH
YEAR DATE/SITE/OPPONENT RESULT WP LP ATT. U.S. PRESIDENT
1901 April 29 vs. BAL W5-2 CARRICK McGinnity 10,000 —
1908 April 22 vs. BOS L3-5 Winter SMITH 10,000 —
1912 April 19 vs. PHI W6-0 JOHNSON Brown 9,000 VP Sherman
1914 April 23 vs. BOS L0-5 R.Johnson W.JOHNSON 18,000 —
1916 April 20 vs. NYY W12-4 JOHNSON Keating 12,000 Wilson
1917 April 20 vs. PHI L4-6 Johnson GALLIA 7,000 VP Marshall
1920 April 22 vs. BOS W8-5 ERICKSON Karr 16,000 VP Marshall
1923 April 26 vs. PHI W2-1 ZACHARY Harriss 22,000 Harding
1925 April 22 vs. NYY W10-1 JOHNSON Shocker 35,000 Coolidge
1934 April 24 vs. BOS L0-5 Welch RUSSELL 25,000 Roosevelt
1939 April 21 vs. NYY L3-6 Gomez KRAKAUSKAS 32,000 VP Garner
1945 April 20 vs. NYY L3-6 Bevens HAEFNER 24,494 —
1947 April 18 vs. NYY L0-7 Reynolds NEWSOM 28,579 *Truman
1951 April 20 vs. NYY W5-3 CONSUEGRA Byrne 27,331 Truman
2005 April 14 vs. ARI W5-3 HERNANDEZ Vazquez 43,861 George W. Bush
2006 April 11 vs. NYM L1-7 Bannister ORTIZ 40,530 VP Cheney
2009 April 13 vs. PHI L8-9 Moyer RIVERA 40,386 —
BASEBALL IN WASHINGTON, D.C. RECORD IN HOME OPENERS WHEN SEASON BEGAN ON ROAD: 8-8 (.500)

*Truman threw one ball right-handed and one left-handed.

Other nuggets:
– In the 1924 World Series, the Nationals took on famed manager John McGraw and the New York Giants. The Series was one of the closest in history as four games were decided by a single run, including the deciding Game Seven. On the strength of Walter Johnson’s four innings of relief pitching – on two days’ rest – and the Series clinching hit by Earl McNeeley in the bottom of the 12th inning, the Nationals won their first and only World Series Championship.

– United States President Calvin Coolidge, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch on three occasions during the Series, paid tribute to the hometown victors immediately following the victory:

“I have only the heartiest praise to bestow upon the individual players of both teams. Naturally, in Washington, we were pleased to see Walter Johnson finish the final game, pitching for our home team. Everybody was pleased to see him come back at the close of the last game. The three contests I witnessed maintained throughout a high degree of skill, and every evidence of high-class sportsmanship which will bring to every observer an increased respect and confidence in our national game.”

*April 14, 1910 United States President William Howard Taft became the first President to throw the first pitch prior to a Major League Baseball game.

*April 11, 1966 Emmett Ashford became the first African-American umpire to work a Major League game when he worked the Cleveland-Washington opening day game at D.C. Stadium. U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was among the crowd of 44,468.

*April 8, 1969 NYY spoiled the managerial debut of Ted Williams at RFK Stadium in Washington, 8-4. More than 45,000 fans – including President Richard Nixon – were in attendance.

By Matt Holdridge

“I don’t worry about the Constitution on this.” 

Yes, that was a comment by Phil Hare, a Democrat Congressman from Illinois in reference to the recent health care legislation. 

As Fox News reports,

Confronted by an angry Tea Partier with a camera Thursday, an Illinois congressman said in front of several constituents at a town hall that he doesn’t care whether the new health care law violates the Constitution, as some critics have claimed.

In a video posted on YouTube, Adam Sharp of the St. Louis Tea Party asked Rep. Phil Hare which part of the Constitution authorizes the government to mandate that all Americans buy a private product such as health insurance. The Illinois Democrat replied, “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this.”

The Congressman later revised and extended his remarks in his own video saying he meant that he wasn’t worried the health care bill would be ruled unconstitutional (you can watch his full response and judge for yourself here). 

In another similar, less publicized, incident, Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) stated at a health care town hall meeting over the summer that, “the central purpose of the Constitution is to provide for the common good.” 

Regardless of what these men really meant, it further illustrates the extreme amount of ignorance regarding the Constitution on Capitol Hill.

As Judge Napolitano wrote in his book The Constitution in Exile,

Today the federal government recognizes no limitations on its power. It has utterly rejected the idea, integral to the Constitution, that it is one of limited powers, carefully and precisely delegated. Today the federal government does whatever it wants to do.

Philosophy aside, at the most basic level, the Constitution simply provides a sense of direction and organization for the three branches of the federal government. It outlines the individual and combined powers of these branches while reserving the bulk of governing authority to each state.

But how do we get from there to Phil Hare and Tim Bishop’s interpretation of the founding document? 

The Judge explains, 

The Founders gave us a small, discrete federal government, one of strictly limited powers; powers to address issues that are federal in nature. The Congress has confused federal with national, and has chosen to regulate any issue that it thinks affects more than one state, irrespective of the absence of federal power and the true presence of state power.

It is up to us to not tolerate this willful ignorance. We should use every chance we get to educate not only our neighbors about the role of the federal government but our elected officials as well. 

A giggling Charlie Rose plays a racing game on the iPad. “This is fun, even at my age.” Hulu clip not working? You can view the show at CharlieRose.com (this clip starts at 8:25 in).

SURRENDER!!!!11!!1!!!

President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons.

Well, this oughta be fun.

Powertools sees yet another Munich.

The problem is that our enemies understand symbolism and maybe take it too seriously. To them, today’s announcement is another sign that our government has gone soft, and one more inducement to undertake aggressive action against the United States.

Erick Erickson wonders,

How many Americans are going to die because of the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of our national security?

(ed. note: Hopefully fewer than under George W. Bush, Erick!)

Noted tough guy and decorated keyboard warrior Dan Riehl spits,

We can’t get this weakling out of the WH fast enough.

Atlas Juggs predicts our looming national date rape.

Obama says to our enemies, bring it on, we won’t fight ya — leaving us bare naked vulnerable like a virgin slipped a Rohypnol on her first date with a Chicagoland gangsta.

And Roger L. Simon asks exactly the same rhetorical questions he always asks.

What are we to make of this and the man who is adopting this policy? Does he hate us? Does he hate this country?

Speaking of America-haters: St. Reagan of California wanted to abolish nuclear weapons.

Have a nice day, morans.

 

If you ever doubted your value to Google and its targeted advertising, just suggest to it that you’re considering signing off for good. [Digg via The Daily What] More »

HERE’S your quote of the day, from a new(ish) working paper by Alberto Alesina and Andrea Stella:

In 1947 at the end of the second world war there were 76 countries in the world. Today there are 193 (with a seat at the UN). Unless one believe that there is a natural “law” according to which each country has to have its own currency, either there were too few currencies in 1947 or there are too many today!

The paper includes a nice and detailed analysis of the successes and failures of the European monetary union. Crises are unpredictable, and the current European sovereign debt mess could end very badly, but it does seem to me that as member states really internalise the lesson that the single currency isn’t going away, the pace of structural reform in places which perceive themselves to be disadvantaged by policy in Frankfurt should increase.

This morning we reported how The White House had taken to trumpeting the success of Cash-For-Clunkers, once again taking a shot at car website Edmunds.com, a battle that actually started brewing last October.

Below is Edmunds.com’s response:

——

Today, the White House unexpectedly presented its latest defense of last summer’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. In the process, it took issue with Edmunds.com, whose analysis of the program was widely adopted and supported by independent economists and media.

 “One has to wonder why the White House continues to feel the need to defend a program that is no longer being debated,” observed Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. “Trying to add a spin to old news seems pointless when there are more pressing issues for the government to address.”

 The White House claims that car sales are much stronger thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program. Edmunds.com offers the following counterpoints:

1.      The White House seems to have missed the simple point that car sales were beginning to recover before the Cash for Clunkers program was introduced.  Even the program’s proponents would have to agree that it was too little, too late.

2.       A properly designed Keynesian stimulus is structured to stimulate the market for 12 to 18 months, providing support while the economy recovers.  Cash for Clunkers created an unhealthy spike, distorting the marketplace by suddenly generating about 125,000 incremental new car sales and pulling ahead hundreds of thousands more.

3.       Independent economists generally agree with Edmunds.com’s analysis of the program. For example, on November 2, Freakonomics author Steven Levitt blogged about the topic for nytimes.com “Cash for Clunkers mostly just turned out to be a gift from the government to people who happened to be in the market for a new car at the right time…It is relatively easy to move around the timing of when someone purchases a durable good, but much harder to affect whether they buy a durable good or not.”

4.   Relatively strong March car sales, which the government specifically celebrates in its report, were artificially stimulated by remarkable incentives programs initiated by Toyota in attempt to deal with its well-publicized woes. March sales were an aberration.

5.       The government reports that in the months since Cash for Clunkers, the average Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) has been 10.7 million car sales. However, if you eliminate data from December and March – two months when consumers believed they could get unusually good deals on new cars – the average SAAR drops to only 10.3 million. Today’s car sales are still abysmally low by historical standards.

“This White House report conveniently avoids an accounting of the program’s costs.  For example, new and used car prices were wildly inflated during the program, which especially hurt the car-shoppers who didn’t have a qualifying ‘clunker,’” noted Anwyl. “And what about the costs to the beleaguered taxpayer?”

Join the conversation about this story »

One by one, the powerful Democrats of coal country are calling for an investigation into yesterday’s explosion that killed at least 25 coal miners in Raleigh County, W.Va.

The latest is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who just issued a statement vowing that he “will demand answers.”

We will leave no stone unturned in determining how this happened and in taking action for the future.

Rockefeller’s comments follow those by West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall (D), who called this morning for “a thorough investigation” into the explosion, which struck Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Rahall’s district.

“It’s unfortunate, but every mine safety law we have on the books today was written in the blood of coal miners,” Rahall told reporters this morning.

Dominion of British West Florida

Are the Gulf States actually part of the British Commonwealth?

Certainly, the British government used to control the thirteen original colonies, and though you may have thought that the Revolutionary War (and the War of 1812) solved that conundrum, according to some, you would be wrong.
It seems that the southern sections of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Louisiana are technically “the Dominion of British West Florida” according to the Treaty of 1763, signed by Charles I.
In 1810, President James Madison signed the “Annexation by Proclamation” that revoked the land from the Spaniards and claimed it as American soil. There were ensuing battles, but the Spaniards were pushed from the land in 1813. The United States government paid Spain for the land, but never acknowledged that the British had some claim to the land, too. It is historically unclear if the British thought they had some claim to it either.
In 2005, the Third Restoration effort was begun on the World Wide Web (it is somewhat unclear who is behind it, though the thrust of it can be found here: http://dbwf.net/history/index.html), to petition the Queen of England to recognize British West Florida. Currently the British government refuses to acknowledge the individuals claiming to represent the Dominion, as any claim would disrupt relations between Great Britain and America.

Read more about Dominion of British West Florida on Atlas Obscura…

Category: Intriguing Environs, Micro-Nations
Location: Florida, US
Edited by: M Rebekah Otto, Dylan