The Maryland Public Service Commission is notorious for its fundamental inability to effectively regulate the energy business in Maryland.  And O'Guvnah O'Malley's inability to move beyond Progressive/Fascist mandates -- like compulsory subsidies for the sales of compact fluorescent bulbs -- is legion.

Government is lousy at picking winners and losers.  And the insistence that we all throw our incandescent bulbs in favor of mercury-laden CFLs is just another perfect example.  Why?  Because private industry is working hard to create another alternative:  LED-based light bulbs.

Sheila Pratt Dixon has named new leadership for BACVA and the Convention Center.  She has essentially merged the boards, and renamed the new board the Baltimore Convention and Tourism Board.

And, in a move that is completely indescribable and totally amazing, she has named Baltimore banker Ed Hale, Chairman of 1st Mariner Bank, to head the new board.

The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting thatboth Wachovia and Bank of America are now under fire for their handling of auction-rate securities.  Wachovia is being investigated, while Bank of America is facing a sizeable lawsuit alleging that Bank of America misled investors over the nature of the securities.

After watching the Pickens plan a few times, and reading this excellent post by Mark Newgent over at Red Maryland, and giving it some serious thought, I am pretty much coming out against the chattering class' clamor for alternative energy sources.

Why?

As I watched the meltdown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week, I was reminded of the old adage that worst words you can hear in America are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help".

Why?  Because government is largely inept, incompetent, and unable.  Government could not plan a fart after lunch at Taco Bell .  And when government gets into areas that would be best left to the private sector, it's one disaster after another.

So the word on FoxNews today was that General Motors -- the largest automobile and truck manufacturer in the United States -- may have to declare bankruptcy, and the other two parts of the Three Stooges may not be far behind.

I say Let Them Die.

The concept of leverage is interesting.  In physics, we use levers and fulcrums to increase lifting power.  In relationships, we use (unfortunately) leverage to get what we want.  In politics, we use leverage to manipulate the levers of power.

An article in today's Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter sheds some serious light on the trend toward the "straight vegetable oil" fuel options.  It turns out that using vegetable oil in your diesel engine is illegal on both the State and Federal levels.

As Brian Griffiths has already noted over at Red Maryland, O'Guvnah has pledged to spend $1.1 billion of your hard-earned money on new biotechnology research initiatives in order to make the state of Maryland a "hub" for this kind of work.

But what Brian doesn't get into, is why are we spending even more money when we already have a large and established set of incubators at Maryland's premier research institution -- the University of Maryland, Baltimore?

The Red Line is a walking, talking "charlie fox".  The long hoped-for, long-awaited, long-dreamed-for transportation line to link the west side and easte side of the cities is too expensive, according to this article in the Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter.