This is “breaking” news, so I might have to update this later. 

Two of John McCain’s campaign offices have received threatening letters containing white powder.  The offices in Denver and New Hampshire have been evacuated and HAZMAT teams have been sent in to test the substance.  There are no reports on any of the office workers falling ill as a result of the powder.

Related articles:
CNN – “Powder, threatening letter sent to McCain office”
FOX News – “Two McCain Offices Receive Envelopes with white powder, threat”
Reuters – “McCain Colo. office evacuated after letter threat”
Denver Post – “McCain’s Centennial HQ evacuated for white powder”
Washington Post – “McCain’s Denver Headquarters Evacuated”
First Door on the Left – “Powder at McCan offices”

We are sad to announce the passing of Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat from Ohio. She passed away today after suffering a brain hemorrhage caused by aneurysm this morning while driving in her car.

According to the National Institute of Health:

A cerebral aneurysm (also known as an intracranial or intracerebral aneurysm) is a weak or thin spot on a blood vessel in the brain that balloons out and fills with blood. The bulging aneurysm can put pressure on a nerve or surrounding brain tissue. It may also leak or rupture, spilling blood into the surrounding tissue (called a hemorrhage). Some cerebral aneurysms, particularly those that are very small, do not bleed or cause other problems. Cerebral aneurysms can occur anywhere in the brain, but most are located along a loop of arteries that run between the underside of the brain and the base of the skull.

Most cerebral aneurysms are congenital, resulting from an inborn abnormality in an artery wall. Cerebral aneurysms are also more common in people with certain genetic diseases, such as connective tissue disorders and polycystic kidney disease, and certain circulatory disorders, such as arteriovenous malformations.

Other causes include trauma or injury to the head, high blood pressure, infection, tumors, atherosclerosis (a blood vessel disease in which fats build up on the inside of artery walls) and other diseases of the vascular system, cigarette smoking, and drug abuse. Some investigators have speculated that oral contraceptives may increase the risk of developing aneurysms.

Aneurysms that result from an infection in the arterial wall are called mycotic aneurysms. Cancer-related aneurysms are often associated with primary or metastatic tumors of the head and neck. Drug abuse, particularly the habitual use of cocaine, can inflame blood vessels and lead to the development of brain aneurysms.

We do not currently have any information detailing how the aneurysm developed at this time, and I’m not sure if the details will be released to the public. At this time, I would like to extend our condolences to her family during this terrible time.

Related articles:
National Institute of Health – “Cerebral Aneurysm Fact Sheet”
Yahoo News – “US Rep. Tubbs Jones of Ohio dies after hemorrhage”
Reuters – “Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones dies of aneurysm”
CNN – “Ohio Rep. Tubbs Jones dies after aneursym”
First Door on the Left – “Ohio Congresswoman dies”

As you’ve notice, my activity on the site has been a little light over the past few weeks. I would like to apologize about that since things have been rather busy over here. Between multiple trips out of town, marriages, and a weeklong Vacation Bible School at my church, time has been short to sit down and work through all of the news of the day, let alone post my views on them. HOWEVER, you are in for a treat tonight. I’m going to mix my events over the past few weeks with some political issues out there.

For Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church, I was helping the kids put on a couple plays during the week to share the lesson of the day in a format that the kids in attendance might understand. In a similar way, Barack Obama and John McCain joined with Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church in order to share their views on faith and morals to a wider audience. I have yet to finish watching the event, but from what I’ve seen, Warren did a wonderful job of providing the most civil “examination” of the candidates that I recall ever seeing in years. Asking both candidates the same questions and providing them time to answer them gave the viewers more information on the candidates than was obtained through the primary debates and probably in the upcoming general election debates. (If I have time this week, I will do a side-by-side comparison of the answers by Obama and McCain.)

Between trips from Raleigh, NC, Virginia Beach, VA, and Long Island, NY I noticed how gas prices drop the further South I drove. Also, I’ve noticed over the past month, gas prices in my backyard have dropped from $4.09 to $3.39 (or 70 cents). This drop is due to many factors, including the markets responding to Bush lifting the executive ban on offshore drilling, Republicans holding a recess protest against the Democratic leadership for refusing to allow debates on offshore drilling and domestic exploration, a drop in demand due to the spike in gas prices leading up to the Summer driving period, the strengthening US dollar, and more. Unfortunately, we risk the potential of entering our comfort zone when it comes to gas prices that me might fail to push Congress to enter the 21st century and work with our companies to increase domestic oil production as well as to speed our transition to renewable sources of energy.

On my trip back from New York this past weekend, I spent two hours sitting in traffic at toll booths waiting for a chance to make it to the window to pay my toll and continue on with my journey. The tolling stations not being fully manned during peak traveling time on the weekend caused these days. As one of my coworkers asked, “Why didn’t you use the FastPass system,” I had to point out that traffic was backed up over a mile at two of the tollbooths, making the FastPass option meaningless, as I would not have gotten to the window any faster. This failure at planning by the operators of the tollbooths equal the failure by the Republicans and Democrats over their props they are passing out to reporters and supporters over the energy debate. The Republicans handed out tire gauges labeled as “Obama Energy Plan.” The Democrats are now handing out stress balls shaped as oil drums labeled as “ExxonMcCain ’08.” These silly gimmicks distract the attention from the real debate. (Also, I am not sure if the Democrats use of the “Exxon” logo isn’t going to result in some sort of lawsuit against the party.)

Just as a reminder, we are now less than 90 days from Election Day. Next week is the Democratic National conventions with the Republicans holding theirs the week after that. Both candidates are expected to announce their Vice Presidential picks before their conventions, so we should have plenty of campaign stories to cover over the next three weeks. Stay tuned!

He just won his 10th Olympic Gold medal; the first person to ever achieve that mark. Making records is not anything new to Phelps, as he set records with each of his Gold medals this year. As he races for perfection, we will follow. Keep up the good work Michael, and go team USA!

In antiquity, an international truce would be in place during the Olympic games. Unfortunately, someone forgot to inform Russia about this. On the eve of the opening ceremonies, Russian forces launched strategic attacks within the borders of Georgia, a former Soviet State that is now a young Western Democracy. Georgia has been petitioning NATO to allow the nation to join with the defense alliance; an action that irritates Russia.

Looking to interrupt the oil economy of Georgia while hoping to splinter small regions into autonomous bodies (South Ossetia and Abkhazia), Russia has started sending in ground forces, taking over military installations and destroying airfields. In the process of the air and ground assaults, over 2000 Georgians have been reported as being killed, along with numerous others being injured. While denying the impressions of the assault, it is viewed by outside parties that Russia intents to siege the Capital of Georgia to topple the government and the pro-Western President Saakashvili.

The international community was quick to condemn the actions of Russia or call for a cessation of aggression. While at the Olympics, President Bush has been in talks with Putin, including a famous scene caught on video during the opening ceremonies where the President pulled Putin aside. The Presidential candidates have also entered the fray, with McCain taking a hard stance against the Russian action, with Obama quickly following his lead after a softer stance over the weekend. The Security Council of the United Nations have been in discussions for the past five days, thought it is unlikely that any action being approved of due to Russia’s permanent veto power.

Where will this lead to in the next week? If the analysts are correct, we can see Russian forces continue to push through Georgia until the government caves in to their demands. It is difficult to see Russia simply pursue this action just to withdraw without any sort of change of status either in Georgia’s government or borders. Hopefully some sort of pressure is applied to Russia short of third-party military engagement in order to protect the sovereignty of Georgia, and Russia is held financially responsible for repairing the damage they have caused.

Related articles:
The Seattle Times – “Inevitable Russia-Georgia war brewed for years”
The Times – “Another battle in the 1,000-year Russia-Georgia grudge match”
The Chicago Tribune – “McCain to voters: Russia-Georgia matters”
Reuters – “Bush: Russian response to Georgia ‘disproportionate’”
Bloomberg – “President Bush Condemns Russian Escalation in Georgia”
Voice of America News – “US Backs EU, OSCE Mediation in Georgia Crisis”
Xinhua News – “McCain takes hard stance towards Russia”
Bloomberg – “Russian Troops Launch Ground Offensive in Georgia”
CNN – “Obama moves closer to McCain on Russia stance”
Tom Rants – “Russia and the lessons of history”
The Spitting Vessel – “The Gaffe in Georgia’s Gamble”
The Law of Politics - “Russia flirting with Cold War 2″
Republican Ranting – “Russia is Overstepping It’s Bounds by Invading Georgia”
MLoger – “Georgia’s Right to Self Determination, What You Really Need to Know”
Kayloo – “My Strategy On Russia”
Globally Rational – “The International Poli(tical)ce Force… are we siding with Georgia or blindly opposing Russia?”
Disillusioned Words – “I’m Sorry to Say that Georgia Has Learned a Tough Lesson.  (It Seems Obama May Have Too)”
The BoBo Files – “From Russia with Love!”