Goodbye 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR

If you are someone who feels the need to shoot into the air to celebrate the new year, I have a favor to ask you. DON'T. Just do NOT shoot into the air please. See I really do not like having lead "rain drops" falling on my head. Thank you.

Some of the things reporters said in 2007. These are not gotcha comments but it sure does show the total lack of their objectivity or their total ignorance of history.

Finally, Christians returning to a Muslim country and why it is significant.

Face of a Killer

DSC_3468
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

As of late, I've been following the story of the young man who was mauled to death at the San Francisco Zoo by a tiger. This tiger. We were visiting at Thanksgiving and I took a few pictures near the end of the day as we were heading out. One of these two is Tatiana, who was responsible for the man's death.

Links to relevant stories:

Initial story
Remembrence for Carlos Sousa
Story on the police dispatch transcripts
Follow up by the SF Chronicle detailing concerns, post-event

Who knows what will come of this, but it surely sounds like more protection for the public is in store for zoos. Tragically, it's too late for one man.

Last week of the year

And the stories keep coming:

2007 was a good year for Ballistic Missile Defense. Those who said it could or will never work should be eating a lot of crow, but they have moved on to new things, like global warming.

Starting January 1, 2008, France and Germany will no longer allow smoking in bars and most other indoor places. While I like being able to go to a restaurant and not smell like smoke when I leave, I also think this should be left for the business owner to decide and not the state. Let the customers decide if they will patronize smoking or nonsmoking places.

Why are GE, Sylvania and Phillips happy with the new light bulb law in the US? Well they all will be able to make incandescent bulbs that meet the new specks by 2012, but they will cost a lot more then incandescent bulbs cost now. So we the consumers get to pay more if we want incandescent bulbs or we can have CFL if we don't mind the Mercury. I hope the LED's will be available by then.

And finally, stupid is as stupid does. Poor old couple withdrew their savings and got a bank check. They didn't open a new account and put the check in a safe deposit box for over 20 years and wonder why the bank says they no longer have the money. A check is stale after 6 months and after 3 years by law the bank (or any business) has to send the money to the State as unclaimed property. After 7 years or so if the money is not claimed I believe the State gets the money. Yes, we should feel sorry for the woman (her husband died a few years ago), but if they were competent about their legal and financial matters, it should be their problem and not the banks. Its called an expensive lesson.

Have a good weekend.

Chinglish

DSC_3758
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

My son received a flashlight for Christmas and, predictably, it was made in China. The Chinglish instructions written on the box made me laugh. Excerpt:

"The skull is opened before the use..."

I didn't know that flashlight operation involved a frontal lobotomy...

Click on the pic and read the rest of the box.

Global Warming, Hydrogen and politics

I honestly do not know if this article is meant to be a joke or not. I read it as a joke and it is quite funny. If the author is serious, then a) he has demonstrated his ignorance of the science of sea levels and b) he is a mean small minded person who glories at the pain and suffering of others. If he is serious, I can only pity him and or hold him in contempt.

I love news stories where wonderful claims are made but no backup is provided. In advertising or propaganda that is expected, but in news stories there are supposed to be some facts. Well a researcher is saying he has found a way to make HYDROGEN from rotten peaches. How? I can see making ethanol or methane but hydrogen?

Finally on a serious note, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today. The world is not a nice place at times and there are people who will kill us if they get the chance. I hope the government of Pakistan and the people are able to weather the storm they are in for. I also hope the people running for president in the US won't politicize the event, although I know they will.

Have a good day.

Automotive X-Prize

This sounds very cool on how cars can get very high mileage and not necessarily be beer cans or death traps. Hat tip Glenn Reynolds.

Consumer spending increases and yet it is bad news

Well it seems that every year I've been hearing retailers saying this Christmas shopping season is horrible in December, but in January when the companies report their quarter end results, most had a good quarter and Christmas season after all.

Well, again, this year I've been hearing that retailers are not doing well this year. Well according to the WSJ (subscription required) retail sales excluding automobiles increased 3.6% compared to 2006. Now if you back out gasoline purchases as well because gasoline has increased a lot in 2007, then the year on year increase was only 2.4%. Why are the stores unhappy? Well they were hoping (or maybe dreaming) for a 3.5 to 4.5% increase.

Well lets see what happened in 2007 that might have slowed down consumer spending. Oh yeah, the entire sub-prime mortgage meltdown and the subsequent layoffs across the financial service sector of the economy and the slow down in the housing market. Oh yeah, also the dollar has also fallen against the Yen and Euro this year making toys, games and other goods from those areas more expensive.

So in other words, the US economy has had several shocks and consumer spending still increases from last year at a rate faster then inflation and the retail stores are unhappy that sales didn't grow as fast as they had hoped. Some organizations seemed bound and determined to have a recession in 2008 and will write the news anyway they have to, to try and bring it about.

Christmas Lights

This entry should have been up a few days ago but now that all you have to look forward too are the bills coming in January, here are a few things to make you smile beforehand.

Want to compare how your neighbor with their out of control Christmas decorations compares to others? Well go over to Ugly Christmas Lights and compare.

Two You Tube vids on people who set their lights to music. I've enjoyed both on You Tube, but not sure I would be as happy if a neighbor did it with speakers every 15 minutes.

The song is called Wizards in Winter, and it's performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The Music is taken from "The Lost Christmas Eve" Album. (Hat tip You Tube commentator dimis3507grecan )




The second video has the Peanuts theme song. Very good too.



Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

From the Terrible Work Habits File

Woman fired for writing a romance novel at work. Ironically, she was caught because it was noticed she was typing almost constantly...in other words, she seemed busier than she should have been. Money quote, from an email from a friend and excerpted from the evidence entered during a hearing for unemployment benefits:

"FINISH THE BOOK!!!! Sure, it's a tawdry lust novel, but isn't that what people buy?"

Powered by ScribeFire.

ATF, Credit Cards and Politics

Jerry over at Cogito Ergo Geek has a story about Bill Atkins and the Atkins Accelerator. The question being asked is was the ATF justified in their actions against Mr. Atkins or not. In my opinion, based on the information available, I think the ATF was justified but hope for those wiser on the subject then me to provide more information. Well worth checking out.

Just in time for Christmas, the number of people who are delinquent with their credit card payments is increasing. This can be troubling for the economy because people can't refinance their homes to pay off their cards and now they can't make the minimum payments on their credit cards so spending will start to decline. This can lead to an economic slowdown unless exports increase or business spending increases. But that may not happen.

Finally, Mark Steyn has a wonderful article on Presidential candidates and their fear to say Merry Christmas until Mike Huckabee proved it wasn't political death to say it.

Have a Merry Christmas to one and all.

And this is bad news???

Congress will not approve 4 members to the FEC (Federal Election Commission), the organization that is charged with insuring our elections are fair and not tainted with corruption. Well, we all know how well they did in the 2000 and even the 2004 elections in Florida, Ohio and Washington.

Why won't Congress approve these 4 people? Well the FEC is made up of 6 members, 3 Republican and 3 Democrats. Harry Reid (Majority Leader) is demanding one of the Republican nominations, Hans von Spakovsky, be withdrawn because he does not like the person. The Republicans refuse and so we have an impasse.

The "crime" Senator Reid says Mr. von Spakovsky is he supported the idea that voters should have to provide ID to vote at an election. I can't check out a library book with out showing an ID, voter ID cards are free and I haven't heard of anyone who can't get a license or a State ID because they cannot afford it. So the Democrats are saying if they can't keep a Republican off the FEC who they don't like, then no one can be on it, well that is fine with the Republicans.

I guess the Republicans remember the other times in the past the Democrats have demanded their way or they would not allow anything to be done. Hint, think 1830s, 1850s, 1861, 1932, 1974, 1975, 2007 among others.

The second thing in the news is a new law starting January 1 in Arizona that is cracking down on businesses that employ illegal immigrants. Business' must verify the people working for them have the legal right to work in the US or they face fines. Illegal immigrants are now leaving the State on their own because employers are not hiring them and they can't find work. No need for ICE to be called, just enforce the laws we have on the books and many of the illegal immigrants will leave because they can't make a living here. Mexico needs their skills to transform that economy to one that can produce enough jobs to support the people there.

IAF F-35s

Israel is pushing hard to get the stealthy F-16, the F-35, into the inventory by 2012 and some think its because of the timetable to Iranian nukes. I, for one, would enjoy seeing what those guys can do with the platform since Israel is the next best thing to an operational test range.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Goodbye incandescent lightbulb

Well, if you are like the boss who hates the compact florescence light bulbs, this is a reminder to stock up on incandescent bulbs. By 2012, in 4 years, the incandescent will no longer be sold.

Hopefully by then the LED bulbs will be available in quantity and at a reasonable price.

News, News and News

Can't say a lot is going on, that is noteworthy to anyone but me, so here are 4 stories I found today.

Take a look at the video below, it is great and order their DVD.

Business is run by humans and humans make mistakes, here are the worst for 2007 in Fortune's opinion.

Will Hilary take down Bill if she doesn't win?

Lets see, ethanol production increases so more corn is needed. Since the ground can only grow one crop at a time, if more corn is grown, then less wheat will be grown. Less wheat being grown will mean higher prices for the wheat that is grown. Bloomberg is amazed that has happened. Doesn't anyone remember Econ 101 supply and demand in a market economy?

And finally, some ways to be really green. Just remember to keep a straight face when telling a green believer these ideas and see if they agree with you.

This is amazing

Straight No Chaser doing the 12 days of Christmas. Its very funny and work safe but be warned. Your co-workers may wonder why your trying not to laugh when your supposed to be working.

If you are interested in buying the DVD, go here.

Next Generation not welcome????

Mark Steyn has an interesting article at NRO about how some feel we should save the planet. No one should have kids because any child born will harm the earth. After all, a child expels carbon dioxide with every breath, eats food which takes oil to produce and will make the parents spend money on things for the child.

Here is the money quote from the column:

But here’s something new that took hold in the year 2007: a radical anti-humanism, long present just below the surface, bobbed up and became explicit and respectable. In Britain, the Optimum Population Trust said that “the biggest cause of climate change is climate changers — in other words, human beings,” and Professor John Guillebaud called on Britons to voluntarily reduce the number of children they have. Last week, in The Medical Journal Of Australia, Barry Walters went further: To hell with this wimp-o pantywaist “voluntary” child-reduction. Professor Walters wants a “carbon tax” on babies, with, conversely, “carbon credits” for those who undergo sterilization procedures. So that’d be great news for the female eco-activists recently profiled in London’s Daily Mail boasting about how they’d had their tubes tied and babies aborted in order to save the planet. “Every person who is born,” says Toni Vernelli, “produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of overpopulation.” We are the pollution, and sterilization is the solution. The best way to bequeath a more sustainable environment to our children is not to have any.What’s the “pro-choice” line? “Every child should be wanted”? Not anymore. The progressive position has subtly evolved: Every child should be unwanted.

The rest of the article is good too and shows how politicians are still using the birth of Jesus for their political gain.

My question to all those yahoos who think allowing children to be born is a bad idea, if humanity is so bad, why haven't you killed yourself to save the planet? Or are they such cowards to do what they preach to the rest of us??? Yes that is a rhetorical question I know.

Have a good day.

This weekend and the J-10A

I have a 2004 Prius, ordered it in December 2003 and picked it up in June 2004. I do enjoy the car and the gas mileage. Well starting this last August, after I finished up my MBA program, my wife started to drive my car two days a week when she worked in downtown Los Angeles. Now, before my wife started to drive my car, the only scratches on it were some from freeway driving and the car in front throwing up a grain of sand at the car.

Well my wife has managed to scrape the right front fender on the curb and yesterday didn't see the gate at the trash bin was open and backed the car into it. The rear bumper now has some deep gashes and scratches to join the right front fender. Sigh. Oh yeah, my wife's car? She got a 2007 Rav4 earlier this year and there isn't a mark on it. Well she feels bad and the scratches are more cosmetic then anything else so guess I have to keep everything in perspective, the wife is more important then the car. And yes I told her that too, so I can't even use that as an excuse when I want to get a new toy like a Mini-14.

Tonight some friends from Pepperdine who just finished up their program in December are having a graduation party so will be seeing a lot of old classmates. This should be a lot of fun and a chance to do some networking too.

And finally, this we have to decide what we are going to do about Christmas cards this year. We didn't send any out last year and have to decide if we are going to send a letter or just email it to people.

Now for the J-10A.

This plane is a joint development fighter by China and Pakistan and is based on the F-16 and Israeli technology. It was supposed to use a Chinese engine but they still haven't worked out the bugs enough so are currently using Russian engines.

China is supposedly going to sell Iran 24 of them for $1 billion. I think this is a good time to sell Taiwan about 200 F-35A and 100 F-35C (VSTOL version) to replace their F-5 and other old planes and sell them a lot of AIM 120 missiles.

As for the J-10A, from what I've read about them in the open press, the plane is about as capable as an early F-16A, but as is also said, buying the plane is the easy part. Letting the pilots have enough air time is often the deciding factor between an effective air force and target drones for the other side to practice on.

Have a good weekend.

A way to show support for the troops

Over at The Tank on NRO, Blackfive has another way to show support for the troops. Send them a video greeting. I copied the entire entry below from NRO.

BlackfiveTV: Salute The Troops [Steve Schippert]
Blackfive, never tiring of finding ways to honor and support our troops, has begun a project to compile a video 'Thank You' for them this Holiday Season. He's looking for
bloggers to send in 30-second video clips of themselves with a message of thanks
and support.

The rules:
1. Must be a blogger.
2. Video clip can be in standard formats (mpeg, wmv, quicktime, etc).
3. Clip must be of the blogger wishing the troops well. How you do that is up to you (except, mimes will not be used...I hate mimes).
4. Blogger must either send via email or upload to a file sharing site (url of file sharing site to be given upon request).
5. Please send me your URL of your blog. We will attempt to superimpose your url on your video clip.
6. Clip can be no longer than 30 seconds. "Hi! I'm Matt from Blackfive.net and I wanted to wish all of you overseas a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for your service to our country."
7. Clips must be received by midnight CST, Tuesday, December 18th.

In the meantime, also have a look at The Gratitude Campaign (the video also at YouTube.)

This could be bad

California bans .22 rimfire use in condor areas

I can't tell if this means the sale of lead bullets will be prohibited and if the ammo is taken from one part of the state to another through the condor area if the transporter is in violation to the law.

Can I put in my pre-order????

A news release from Boeing and commented on by Hugh Hewitt, a new air to ground laser (aka death ray) has been installed in an airplane and will be ready for testing in 2008.

Gee, see a target, flash of light and no more target. Osama . . . tick, tock, tick, tock (see Peter Pan about the clock).

The Washington Times has an editorial looking at the 34 years of experience Hilary Clinton is claiming in her presidential run.

The Pope says any solution to Global Warming would need to be based on sound science. Gee a religious leader saying we should rely on science and not on the belief of certain groups to make public policy. And who says the Church is anti-science today?

This weekend

Well tomorrow my wife and I are going to Vegas for 4 days. Well hopefully we will be going.

On Thursday my mom had surgery for breast cancer and the cancer had spread more then originally thought. The doc thinks he got it all but have to wait for pathology to say so. So the surgery was more extensive then originally planned, but my mom is doing ok. My wife is already out there helping my mom and my sister is coming down tomorrow to stay with her for a week. So after my sister arrives and everything is ok, we will go to Vegas. Still should be a fun time.

Today at work we had to take inventory of all the furniture in the building. Its a 3 story building and at one point there were over 700 people working there. You do the math for the number of desks, chairs, table, cabinets and bookcases that equals too. Fortunately we had an outside company come in to do the audit, but some of us folks had to observe them do the count so bang, there went today. We did manage to finish the 1st and 3rd floors and they will finish the 2nd floor on Saturday. Darn, I have to miss that because I will be in either at my mom's or Vegas.

Stay dry and will see you next week.

Work and news

Well we were to have an all hands meeting at 9:30 this am. I normally don't bother as they usually provide little useful information. But today I went and after waiting for 20 minutes for the meeting to start, gave up in disgust and came back to blog. As an all hands meeting we had people in our satellite offices on the phone as well. I don't know how many people were waiting on the phone, but in the auditorium there was over 200 people. So the 20 minute delay cost the company over 66 man hours of work. Next time send a bleeding memo.

Raise a beer or other alcoholic drink today to acknowledge the passage of the 21st amendment which ended Prohibition. December 5, 1933.

China's struggle to protect a giant soft shell turtle.

Some problems with mandating a 35 MPG fleet average. The large station wagons got better mileage then the big SUV's but we only have SUV's now because of the 1975 law. The unintended consequences to the law were bigger and less fuel efficient vehicles.

Freezing the rates on ARM sub-prime mortgages. In abstract its a bad idea because it rewards bad behavior. On the practical side, I can't see the government not doing anything and letting the banking system, housing market and the international fiance system being put all at risk in the name of economic orthodoxy.

Starvation or GM Foods. Seems a simple solution, but there are those who say starvation and not GM Foods. Of course the starvation will not happen to them but to others.

Death Before Burkas, enough said.

Sherri Shepherd exposed the depths of her ignorance. If she is this uninformed or just this stupid, why should we listen to her on anything?

Santa is under attack because the slang meaning of Ho might offend some women who are too ignorant to know the true meaning of the word. And it isn't likely Santa is meaning the slang version anyway.

Have a good day.

Funerals

There are somethings I really don't like doing. Going to the hospital, either for myself or to visit someone and attending funerals. I don't like going to the hospital because it means either I or someone I care about is hurt or sick and wish I didn't have to seem them like that. I of course go and am glad to see them, just wish they were not there and healthy and whole again.

Its the same thing with funerals. It means someone I know and care about is gone and seeing the sorrow of the families is hard. I still go, to say goodbye and to offer support to the families, but I do not enjoy them.

I'm attending the funeral of a friend's father, who past away last Monday. The father was a believer so know he is in a better place, one with out pain and in the presence of the Lord, but it is still hard to attend.

The tree squatters in Berkley, all they do is show the world how foolish they are. It also shows the world how foolish the UC Administration is. You prevent people from coming or going from the trees, no water or food, let the protesters leave and give them bills for the extra police time and if they have not been disposing of their bodily waste properly, give them toothbrushes to scrub the walkways to prevent any diseases from spreading. Job done and no one gets hurt. If the protesters are students, also expel them because they are not attending class and bill the parents for extra costs.

NYC is having a glut of attorneys. And I thought California was bad but apparently NYC is just being flooded. Guess they are all going to work in the financial industry either defending or attacking the mortgage bankers and the holders of such securities. I'm glad I am on the other side of the country. Good luck New York, it looks like you are going to need it.

Endings and Beginnings

We had our last fellowship meeting for the year on Saturday. For one family, our Youth Pastor, it is likely their last time at the fellowship as he is taking up a new position as a Congregational Pastor in January at another Church.

On Sunday we also commissioned a couple who will be heading towards Asia next year. It was hard in some ways, commissioning them means saying good bye soon to dear friends. But as they said, it should be a time of rejoicing because our Church as trained up, equipped and sending out another team to continue the work. So there is joy with the sadness as they end this phase of their life and get ready to embark on another.

This Thursday my mom is having surgery for breast cancer, we hope and think it hasn't spread so hopefully the surgery and radiation will take care of it. Her smoking is a concern because her lungs have been damaged by the decades of smoke. My wife is going out on Wednesday evening and I will join her on Saturday morning. When my sister arrives and if things are going well, wife and I will be going to Vegas for our last trip of the year. If things don't go well on Thursday, we will be staying with my mom instead of our trip of course.

With all of that (more then you most likely wanted to know), on to the news.

Mark Steyn has a very good contrast on how outrage is handled in the West today compared to Sudan and much of the Muslim world.

The Democratic leadership in Congress have failed to do anything and if the voters return a Democratic Congress in the 08 elections, it will be in spite of and not because of what this Congress has accomplished. On the other hand, if the voters return a Republican Congress in 08, it will because of their and President Bush's work in frustrating this Congress.

College Football. I admit I do not follow the sport very much. I let my wife take care of that and it works out fine. She enjoys watching football while I get bored and can do something else. But even with my non interest, I have to agree with Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN the current ranking system is a total joke.

Finally a Czech heroine verses a Czech tyrant. A very moving story about the mercy shown by the heroes of the Czech Republic towards the tyrants and the price some of the heroes had to pay. May they rest in peace knowing their dream of a free Czech Republic has not only come but the country is thriving.

Have a good day.

Rain, Electricity and the state of the blog

Rain, Electricity and the state of the blog

Yep, we actually had a day of rain in SoCal yesterday (Friday Nov 30). It rained basically all day. It was good because we need the water but in the burn areas they are also very concerned about mudslides that could destroy homes spared by the fire or wipe out the roads to those areas. The police have evacuated some areas of Northern San Diego late yesterday so if there were any mudslides, only property and not people would be lost.

In my neighborhood we had another problem. The electricity went out about 10 am on Friday. Originally the power company said it should be back on by 2pm. Well, it was about 10:30 pm when I went to bed last night and the power was still out. It came on sometime during the night.

But the funny thing about the blackout, it only effected certain properties. On my block, it effected 3 properties, the Apartment complex next door had power and the street that makes a T intersection into my street also didn't have power.

Being with out electricity quickly shows how dependent we as a society, and me individually, on the stuff. No garage door opener, no lights, no heat (furnace uses electricity to start and to blow the hot air), no computer or TV, no refrigeration, no coffee, need matches to get the stove working etc. Fortunately my wife likes to buy candles for decorations so we used some of them and our flashlights. We also have a good stock of batteries. So I read a book and my wife knitted and we had a very relaxing evening, the things we planned to get done in our home office just had to wait. I would hate to think what Los Angeles would do if power were cut for several days or weeks across the county.

But today the sun is out and the power is back, life is good.

This is the 203rd post for 2007, this blog as returned from the dead compared to the number of posts in 2006 (12) and 2005 (5), but we are unlikely to top the number of posts from 2003 (304) by the end of December. Especially if some of the other contributors (hint hint hint) don't start writing again. Oh well, its not like too many read this so guess its a wash.

Have a great weekend.

Iraq, Stem Cells, Guns and other news

Yeah, a lot of news out there today and we have rain in SoCal. This is the first major rain of the season as far as I remember and I have to claim full responsibility for it. My wife drove my car yesterday (a Prius with carpool lane stickers) since she had to go to downtown Los Angeles, and being the wonderful woman she is took my car to the car wash for me. So I had a nice clean car yesterday and so of course today we have lots of rain.

Stem Cells created without embryos. If this turns out to be true as the press is reporting, will those who decried President Bush for limiting Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research apologise?

Iraq, why are politicians in favor, against and now more in favor of the war and the reconstruction? Is it because the US and Iraqi people are winning? I have more respect for Sen. Obama who opposed the war all along (even if I disagree with him) then with Sen Edwards who was for the war, then against and now maybe for it again.

Why are Republicans who sign a pledge to uphold a Bush veto on spending voting to override his veto on said spending bill? My own two cents, the earmarks in the bill go to their districts or to their supporters. Another reason why we need transparency in the budget process so we can see who is putting these earmarks in and hold them accountable.

Guns in homes where children play. If you have a gun, make sure it is secure. Know who your kids spend time with. And remember train your kids in firearm safety so they will be safe if they come across a gun in a friends house. The article also selectively uses some statistics to make its case, the folks at Lucianne have some interesting comments.

Making a point about global warming in the Arctic was cancelled due to the extreme cold. So we had to put a lot more carbon dioxide into the air to rescue these fools. If you are going to go to the Arctic or Antarctic, be prepared and don't believe your own hype.

Have a good weekend.

The debate and other news

Well did you watch the debate last night? To be honest, I didn't. I can't watch people talk and talk and not say anything for very long.

Well today, all over the Internet, you can find someone who agrees with you on who won the debate. Hugh Hewitt thinks Romney won it. Patrick Ruffini at Hewitt's site things Huckabee won as does Captain Quarters. Others think others won and many comments on these sites say the whole thing was a sham.

Michelle Malkin has a long post on the various questions asked by Democratic Operatives who claimed to be undecided voters.

CNN did a very poor job in screening its questions and not making disclosures. Even if the questions were legitimate, by not disclosing the asker is a supporter or works for a democratic presidential candidate, it voids the question and make the dem candidate appear to be engaging in dirty tricks.

CNN acted like they never heard of Google to check the people selected to ask questions.

And the media wonders why Americans hold them in such low regard.

In other news:

The democrats are the new Tories from the Revolutionary days? Interesting article but I can't quite agree with the premise. Tories in the Revolutionary War days were actively supporting the British against those fighting for independence. They took up arms, worked for the British government and actively supported the British Crown. That is very different from what the Democrats are doing today. They are opposing the War in Iraq, but that is different from actively supporting the other side. Now if the Democratic Party starts to send people over to work for insurgents in Iraq, being foot solders, raising money etc. then they could be called the Torrie's or Loyalists from Revolutionary Days. As of now, they are just political opponents.

And finally, a look at the dollar, is it falling or are other currencies rising? Yes there can be a difference.

Have a good day.

End of the month events

Well I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving holiday. We did. Went to Portland OR and was a good time with my mom and two sisters. We drove up on Tuesday and came back Saturday. Long drive but better then flying these days.

But since took most of last week off, have to finish up last weeks work by end of business today so another busy day here.

Lot of stuff in the news as well.

Is English Only legal at work? If the worker is on their own time (lunch or break) and speak another language, I shouldn't care. But on the factory floor, yes I think there is a legitimate requirement for English Only and if a worker is not able to speak, read, comprehend English then that is legitimate grounds for not offering them a job.

A politician learns the hard way he works for the public. A mayor in Colorado is surprised the voters turned him out of office after he took a position that was in opposition to the will of the voters. He had seem to forget he works for the citizens and is not a king who knows best regardless of the wishes of the citizens.

Now a Muslim is demanding Mitt Romney put a practicing Muslim in the cabinet because only a Muslim will understand Islamic Jihad. If a Jew or Christian or atheist said that to a Democrat candidate, the papers would be all over those groups, and they should too. We want the best people in the positions of the cabinet regardless of race, sex, religion or orientation.

The story has been all over the net, a worker at PETA found she was pregnant by her boy friend and had an abortion and later was sterilized so she would be better to the planet. After all children will have a large carbon foot print. At least there will be fewer screwed up children since she won't be having any.

Stem cells from adults are just as viable or even more so the from destroyed embryos. Gee, Bush was right, again.

Haven't parents already provided this service? If a kid already has a cell phone why is the school demanding they have a school provided phone? Isn't college expensive enough?

More on the Rush Limbaugh verses the US Senate. And Congress wonders why their approval ratings are so low.

Have a good day.

Gas mileage

One of the contributors here wrote on his Xanga site about replacing his 01 Honda Accord with an 07 Honda Civic and in the end it wasn't worth it due to the fuel savings.

On his 01 Accord, he averages 19 MPG in city driving, this is real world and not EPA. If he is driving 12,000 miles a year, he will used about 632 gallons of gasoline and at $3.00 a gallon spent $1,863 in fuel last year.

The Honda Civic Hybrid will get about 40 MPG in the city under real driving conditions.

The Toyota Prius will get about 48 MPG in the city real world (I know because that is what I get with my 2004 Prius).

The savings would break down as follows:



Both cars can be purchased for about $25,000.00 out the door including tax and license for a base model in California. So the gas savings won't pay for the car, but they will help.



If gasoline goes to $4.00 a gallon, the savings would be as follows:



With gasoline prices at $4 a gallon, the savings from a hybrid can start paying for a significant fraction of the car payment. And the more miles driven, the bigger the savings. Hmm, maybe the hybrid makes more sense then before, unless you believe oil prices will decline back to $50 a barrel anytime soon.

Thanksgiving week

Well posting will be light this week, from me anyway. Maybe the boss can write some more posts this week.

Heading up to Portland Oregon on Tuesday to spend the holiday with my sister and her husband. Will be a long drive and interesting as Helen, my mom and my other sister will be in the car. 4 Adults in a Rav 4, doing a 1,000 mile drive in one day. It will be interesting.

Have a good holiday and remember, you DO NOT have to go to Best Buy on Friday morning for the super savings, spend it with your family, they are more important the that gadget you want to buy.

On to the news for today:

Iran is seeing a demographic collapse with its fertility rate dropping from over 6 to under 1 in 30 years. Iran will start to run out of people after this generation. That means if it wants to be an aggressor it will have to do it soon or develop high tech weapons so it won't need as many bodies. Is that why Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons?

Hindsight is always 20-20. Look at South Korea. In 1953 South Korea was a mess and did not look like it would have a bright future. Today, its economy is bigger then many in Europe and its quality isn't bad either. Iraq has the chance to be the same and its up to the Iraqi's to decide what they want to do.

Letter to Jay Nordlinger on a bumper sticker seen in the Seattle WA area:

On my way to work today I saw the following bumper sticker: “So Many Right-wing
Christians, So Few Lions.” I have lived most of my life in this area, but I’m
still sometimes surprised at how supposedly tolerant liberals here have no
hesitation in saying the most hateful things.

The sad thing is the marriage between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip is considered so strange because it lasted 60 years. We should be thankful they are both alive to celebrate their long marriage, not that their marriage has survived so long.

Mark Steyn is good as usual. Why should America be thankful.

What the politicians did was mean, but the reactions from the Muslim community just confirms in peoples minds the politicians were right to do it. Perm Link here.

Have a good and safe holiday. Don't know if I will be able to blog while on holiday so have a good week.

Iraq, Government, Israel and Taxes

Yep a lot of news today some of it makes me just shake my head.

Iraq:

Grave diggers have less work because fewer people are dying. This should be good news but of course the grave diggers are not earning as much. So its Bush's fault.

Why did Saddam pretend to the world he had WMD when he didn't? He could still be ruling in Iraq if he had just told the truth. Well he seemed to be more afraid of Iran then of the US.

The war continues in Iraq, does America care?

Government:

Why the Left continues to think the government is the answer to every problem I just do not understand. Often what happens is someone looking at a form and making a decision instead of using their heads. Here is a good example of that and of a lawsuit to come.

Israel:

Israel is a Jewish State. Why is that so hard for people to accept? Especially for Muslims?

Taxes:

Why Warren Buffet likes the death tax? He makes a lot of money from it that is why. To oppose the death tax would be to hurt his bottom line and like all good capitalist he doesn't want to do that. Of course he won't say that in his public statements.

Oh one more thing, good ideas are all over, the political party that takes good ideas and makes them their own, even if the opposition thought of it will be the winner.

Have a good day.

His Wife is a Real Bitch

No, really, pictures of the happy couple after the link.

P. Selvakumar married the sari-draped former stray named Selvi, chosen by family members and then bathed and clothed for the ceremony Sunday at a Hindu temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu...

From the sounds of it, his life became a wreck after he stoned a couple of dogs 15 years ago. I don't know, but to think he's being held by the power of superstition to the point he would open himself up to this is just a wee bit off.

Work is work

Well for the month of November, we are down 3 people in my group and they are not being replaced, so the rest of us have to pick up the slack. Fortunately we were able to give some of the work to another group or it would have been impossible.

But with Thanksgiving holiday, which our UK masters do not recognize, and I'm taking two other days off that week, family much more important the work, means a hectic close this month. Oh, I forgot to mention we also have internal auditors coming in December to make sure we are in compliance with all the rules and regs. What fun.

Well on to the news.

Being on strike is no fun, having to walk a picket line all day. If there isn't a picket line, then other unions can cross without violating the brotherhood of unions. Well the WGA doesn't seem to be able to man the picket lines. Hopefully the studios will find others to write and then the poor WGA will see they are not as important as they thought. If the SAG members won't work without WGA scripts, well there are lots of other people who want to be actors and sure they will be happy to get their big break. Please WGA, keep to your principles, demand $1,000 for each writer for every DVD sold. Stay out there until your demands are met. Even if that takes years, you must defend your principles.

A great story on someone helping their community and NOT wanting the lime light. A great example for us to follow.

A new way to get hydrogen cheaply. Be nice if true, please prove it and then lets convert the economy to hydrogen if true.

China one child policy is having an effect on the demographics there. China has a surplus of 18 million men. That is young men outnumber young women by 18 million. So if every Chinese girl gets married, there are 18 million guys who will have no one to marry. So what to do with those men? Well there is always the army and 18 million can make a big one.

The following items are from The Tank at NRO

Chinese sub surprises US carrier in the Pacific. This is not good if they can get their subs in this close. The Navy will need to fix some problems to keep our carriers safe.

Lebanon to get jet trainers from the US. The US can't sell Lebanon front line planes, but the trainers can be used as light attack jets. Fortunately Lebanon doesn't have to worry its Air Force will have to go up against Israel or even Syria. It would lose against either. But the local terrorists don't have an Air Force so even the basic trainers can be useful against the bad guys.

Have a good day.

Blog Readability

Saw this on another blog and thought why not see how this blog is in terms of readability.

I'd like to say its the quality of our comments and articles that earned us this ranking, but since no one visits, I guess it does not matter.

Hat tip Cogito Ergo Geek

Happy Veterans Day

At Church yesterday, the pastor asked all veterans in the congregation to come forward so we could thank them and honor them and pray for them and all veterans and active service members. We had veterans who served in Iraq/Afghan, Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea and World War 2 stand up. We gave them a long round of applause and then prayed for them.

Hope you get the day off on veterans day and remember why you get the day off and honor a veteran or an active service member. Just say thanks and buy them a drink if they like. Starbucks or Jack Daniels what ever they want.

On to the news:

The Democrats in Congress seem desperate to force the US to lose in Iraq. They are trying to required the immediate withdrawal of US forces from Iraq as a rider to the bill funding operations in Iraq. May they continue to lose.

Its funny that people keep saying they want free speech until they hear something they disagree with and then demand the offender be silenced. Daily Kos just did this. What happened to the free expression of all ideas?

Now the Democrats are claiming they are the reason crime fell so much in the 1990s. Here's a hint. The Democrats can claim some of the credit. The Republicans can claim more of the credit. The US economy can claim even more of the credit. And the US demographics can claim most of the credit. But why let facts get in the way of a good story right?

Finally an article listing many of the supposed scare stories of the past 20 years, the reaction to them from the politicians and comparing the harm from the politicians actions to the actual harm.

The US economy will recover. Well I do hope so and believe so if and only if we can keep the politicians from mucking up the economy.

Are polar bears in danger from Global Warming? Well in Roman times they grew grapes around London. What did the bears do then?

Have a good day.

PGIF yes in deed

Yep we made it through another week and lots of news to talk about today.

Peggy Noonan compares Lady Thatcher to Hillary Clinton as leaders. Great article.

California is heading for an economic disaster and Governor Arnold, the Legislature and the people (we elected them remember) are responsible.

In a related story Arnold says the new universal health care program won't cost anything because it will be paid for by new fees on companies and more federal money. Nice pipe dream but fees is the new word for tax, companies don't pay taxes, they pass them along to us the consumers in the form of higher prices and the program will cost more then the government expects it too. It always does.

Who are these people that support a carbon tax in California? Regardless of political affiliation, I've never run into one. If the politicians think their is such strong support, put it on the ballot so we can vote on it. They won't because it will fail and they know it.

The US tried this before, separate but equal. It didn't work out too well. Why does Canada think it will work better for them?

New York's Governor, Eliot Spitzer, is having his own problems with doing what he wants and not worrying about what his employers (the voters) may want. Don't know if NY can recall a governor like CA can, but maybe Grey Davis should give him a call about what happens when the voters get angry.

Portland schools are trying to keep kids away from inappropriate web sites on school computers and tell parents how to secure their home computers. All well and good, but the same district will also help a girl get an abortion, get birth control and treatment for STD without telling the parent. Why are both not treated the same? I really do not understand.

Digital Cameras

Well the boss is an amateur photographer and knows quite a bit about the subject. He is constantly talking about new cameras and lenses on the market and what he would like to get if he could afford it.

His work is also pretty good, having seen some of it.

Well to help him and our other 1 or 2 visitors, looking for the ultimate camera, check out Michael Yon's comparisons of cameras used in combat. Which camera has the right stuff to get the picture and absorb the abuse of combat should mean its a pretty good bet for civilians as well.

For me, I'll stick to my Cannon S50 because it works for what we need and we have a water proof case so can take it diving.

http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/consumer-reports-geared-for-combat.htm

Ultra-capacitors

Capacitors are being used on a limited basis for short range vehicles.

Now capacitors instead of batteries are being used in one drag racer, yes you read that right drag racer.

While the modified EV1 isn't the fastest car out there, yet, its the fastest in its class (electric) and ran the quarter mile in 15.79 seconds. Its top speed was almost 80 MPH. Yes, there are gasoline and alcohol powered vehicles that will top out at 200 MPH and this electric vehicle won't be challenging them at the moment, but this vehicle is powered by capacitors not batteries or any other energy source.

The paper shows there is room for improvement and areas the students will be looking at to increase efficiency of the vehicle and the energy source. It would be very cool if they were able to work out the issues so the car was able compete and beat the conventional drag racers.

Another week

This past weekend, we went to Northern California for a friends wedding. Actually the boss of this blog was one of the groomsmen. It was a grand wedding and fun reception. Now the happy couple is either on their way or have arrived in the South Pacific for their honeymoon.

Wishing them all the best as they start their new life together.

We drove up and back and I do like my Prius. It only took one tank of gas to go from LA to San Jose area and another tank to get home. We were averaging about 40 MPG and our speed . . . well we were not the slowest car on the road. And as for power, well we were able to accelerate going up the Tejon Pass, yep, accelerating while going up hill in a 4 cylinder car.

Have a good week.

Oct 30th and all is NOT well

Well at work anyway.

My group of 6 workers and 1 manager has seen two people let go in the last month and tomorrow another worker is leaving. So we are down to 3 workers and 1 manager. None of the positions will be back filled. So a little busy here.

On the plus side, this weekend will see the marriage of a very good friend and I will be heading up North to witness the happy event. I've known Kalvin since UCLA, good grief that was like 18 years ago and am very happy for him and Karen.

In the news:

Zero Tolerance is something that sounds good in theory but doesn't seem to work in practice (kind of like communism). If ZT was around when I was in school, I would have been expelled and arrested for all the war pictures I drew on paper in school.

Saddam built a dam, he had it built on gypsum, the dam is now in danger of collapse, the price to fix $10 billion. The loss of life if the dam collapse 500,000. What will the US do? Fix the dam. The cost of the war in Iraq just went up because of course we (US Taxpayer) will pay for it. Hat tip Hugh Hewitt.

Torre to the RedSoxYankee!Dodgers

Broken by Peter Abraham, of The Journal News.

Good news for the Blue Crew and I wonder if Grady doesn't feel a little stung, like the Yankees have been shadowing him all his life. Still, it doesn't solve the problem that we need some veteran talent. And no, Jeff Kent doesn't count. I wonder if A-Rod is in tow...

Powered by ScribeFire.

What a weekend

Spouse and I went to Catalina this weekend to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. We stayed at the Zane Gray Hotel. If you read western novels or watch western movies, you most likely have seen his work. The hotel was originally his house, built in the 1920s. Its biggest selling point, no phones or TV's in the rooms. No Internet access on site and each room is named after one of his books. The hotel only has about 12 rooms and he wrote about 70 or more books.

We stayed in a room with an ocean view and was incredible to see Avalon Harbor at night.

While there is one 20 inch TV and VCR player in the lounge, we didn't watch any. Instead, we played the game Settlers. We first played it a week ago at a friends house and then played it Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. The game is a lot of fun and even better, can be packed in one l gallon zip lock bag so easy to carry around as well.

We had a blast on Catalina and were sorry to have to come home and back to work. But such is life.

Don't Mess With California

Sure, most of the time California could care less about the rest of the country, but if you start burning down our houses or are suspected of burning down our houses, you're likely to pay the ultimate price.

The chase started after campus security officers at California State University, San Bernardino, found [the suspect] inside a car in a brushy area near campus. Police say the officers were concerned and wanted to make sure he wasn't trying to start a fire. When they approached, he drove off.

And then they shot him.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Door to Door Meat

So, I just finished putting off a couple of salesmen trying to sell flash frozen beef, chicken, and seafood door-to-door. They actually got inside the door with their wares. Although this didn't seem to be as much of a scam as selling magazines door-to-door, there was still a sense of uncertainty as to the protein's provenance. In asking a couple of questions about other door-to-door meat sales teams, they listed off quite a litany ofoutfits.

I didn't know that this was such a business!

Anybody else out there have experience with door-to-door protein?

Powered by ScribeFire.

What is important?

Well the news continues to roll in, problems with Iran, strife in Iraq, California burning and the housing industry in the US crashing.

Well, being in Los Angeles, I am getting lots of information on the fires, fortunately my home is not near any of them. The smoke has been an irritant but compared to those in San Diego and other places who have lost homes and loved ones, I have nothing to complain about.

Lots of stories comparing the situation at the stadium in San Diego where fire evacuees went to the stadium in New Orleans were hurricane evacuees went. It basically boils down to leadership. The local leaders in San Diego have done things correctly.

And finally today is a special day for me because 9 years ago today I married the most wonderful woman in the world. Were going to Catalina this weekend to celebrate. Can't believe how fast time has gone by. Looking forward to the future with my wonderful wife.

So what is important? Linking to news stories you have already read or telling you about my wonderful wife? Well for today, telling you about my wonderful wife is more important then linking to news stories.

Its FRIDAY!!!!!!

Well the boss has departed from his old job and will be starting the new world of telecommuting next week, after taking today off.

What happened at Haditha. Will those who slandered the troops apologize now? I won't be holding my breath.

70 year old steals gasoline to resale. I know Social Security won't make one rich, but this is nuts.

Its sooo brave of code pink to demonstrate in this country. If they tried it in any of the countries they appear to support, they would face jail or death. Here they have police protection and a mostly friendly press. And they claim they are brave in daring to protest.

Another European country is getting nervous about immigration.

Bush's tax cut has increased tax revenue by $785 billion, the Iraq war has cost $460 billion, so the war is paid for maybe we should be cutting other spending to bring the budget into balance? Just an idea.

That's why we don't have any traffic

Our blog doesn't use the word sex very often. Google released the stats on which country uses which word most for search purposes.

Internet users in Egypt, India and Turkey are the world's most frequent
searchers for Websites using the keyword “sex” on Google search engines,
according to statistics just provided by Google Inc.

So all we have to do is change the format of this blog and we will get lots of visitors from around the world. I figure that will happen about 10 minutes after we get a foot of snow in South Bay (cold for us is 60 degrees F, so ain't going to happen).

Save the world, end cremation and feed the dead to a tree. Well that is what one environmentalist is saying we should do.

But is Global Warming all bad? Depends on where you live. Greenland seems to like the idea, they may be able to have the land they did back in the 1200s, the last time the place was warm enough to live on.

Two new tax bills being introduced. If you make more then minimum wage, hang on to your wallet. Oh, the price tag on his bills??? $1 Trillion, with a T.

Christine Lagarde France’s finance minister has a radical idea. Workers in France should work more then 35 hours a week to help grow the economy which will reduce the high unemployment there.

Today is the boss' last day at his current employer, soon to join the world of telecommuting, doing his part to save the world.

Have a good day.

That darn Murphy . . . . .

McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act has unintended consequences. Good or bad, the jury is still out.

Person enters the police station, stabs two officers with a knife and is killed by the police. The local community riots because the police killed the attacker and because they feel they are being stigmatized by society because the bad guy came from their community. Sound ridiculous? Well it happened in the Netherlands. If the community wants to be something other then Dutch, they should go home.

Britain is a place with a lot of drinkers. And this is news because???

Liberals in New York can't believe Rudy Giuliani is doing so well in the Republican primary according to polls so far. Reminds me of reading about liberals who couldn't believe Nixon won in 1972 with over 60% of the vote "because no one I knew voted for him". Giuliani isn't perfect, no one is but Republicans and conservatives are looking for the best of the group. We will see over the next few months if Giuliani is the person or not.

NO KOBE! Say it ain't so...

Through this entire sordid <a href=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3065296>episode with the Lakers</a> I have come to realize one thing: <b>I'm more of a Kobe fan than a Laker fan</b> right now. Despite Kobe's inability to get along with a lot of his team mates, I still would rather watch him play than any other in the NBA right now, including <b>D-Wade</b> and <b>King James</b>. Sadly, it seems that soon is the time when I will no longer be able to watch him on the local broadcasts. Alas, sad will be that day.

It may be a while before I can watch the Lakers again if they do trade Kobe, quite a while. <b>I blame the owner, Jerry Buss,</b> for this situation and I'm not blindly loyal to a team. Granted, it's his right to run the team as he sees fit, but <b>don't expect me to partake of the resulting product if I don't like it</b>. I drink Coke only; you can't make me drink another brand.

<p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p>

Monday Roundup

This is in the LA Times. How did it get through the censors there? The article is nice to Clarence Thomas.

Be careful what you put your name too, it could come back to haunt you. Rush Limbaugh is having the last laugh on the letter of censure signed by 41 Senators and the proceeds go to a good cause.

If you can't win on the issues try another route. I thought politics was supposed to end at the waters edge, especially during war time. I'm sooo proud of the Representatives from California (sarcasm big time)

News Roundup

Demographic time bomb in Europe. They appear to be committing voluntary suicide as a society.

Even the liberal city of San Francisco is having trouble with homeless people. Amazing when it becomes a quality of life issue, liberals are not that different from conservatives.

Let's cut trash pick up from once a week to once every two weeks, that will reduce rubbish. Oh, people are now dumping their trash along the road, lets give police the power to search and seize cars that are carrying trash. Hmm, another feel good law leads to less freedom in the UK.

Volunteer fire fighters are opposed by the fire fighters union and want to shut them down.

Happy Columbus Day

Yes today is Christopher Columbus's birthday. The Italian mariner who convinced the Spanish Crown to finance his expeditions to find a shorter route to India and China. Unfortunately, the America's got in the way so he never found the route to Asia. Of course now, many people say Columbus was a bad person because his finding of the America's extended slavery and lead to the downfall of earlier immigrants to the America's. These folks used to be called Indians and now called Native Americans but they only arrived earlier from Asia and were no more native to America then the Europeans are. So government workers and some school kids get the day off but the traffic was just as bad as always so guess not too many private sector people get it off.

Good news from Iraq? Will the Iraqi government be able to act on it? Time will tell.

Some interesting reasons on what makes a country and society rich, and its not just natural resources. The comments are also worth reading.

Jeff Flake is still leading his crusade against earmarks. Its a lonely battle but many good things start off as lonely crusades while the public is educated on why the change is needed. Keep fighting the good fight Congressman Flake.

Who was the richest man in British history? Well the nephew of William the Conqueror who was given land and villages to rule in the North of Britain. When he died, he was worth 11,000 British Pounds which today equals about 81 billion pounds, he was dealing with a devastated land. Because of the pacification policy of William, the land was abandoned so he would have to invest a lot of money to bring improvements and people to make the land productive.

Have a good day.

A Good Friday to You

I thought about sending this to people, but didn't want to lose all my friends so post it here. Work safe and funny . . . . well the first time.

Will the folks in SF put their money where their mouths are? Trying to get a 10 cent surcharge on gasoline to pay for global warming. As a resident of LA I say why stop at 10 cents, SF should make the extra tax $5 a gallon if they want to do something. This is only for the SF area which is why I support it.

Not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand I see the point of the organization they have the right to fly the PRC flag. On the other hand I see the protesters point that the flag represents a State that killed millions of its own citizens and thousands of Americans directly or indirectly (Korea and Vietnam).

A few days ago on Jeopardy, there was a question on Presidential succession. I got it wrong so looked at the Constitution and then had to look at the Presidential Secession Act of 1947. I'm so glad the web makes finding even information like this easy to get too. It also helps to remind us how close we are to President Pelosi.

Another example for those who stay at home on election day void their right to complain about the government.

Finally, space and last 50 years.

Have a good weekend.

BMD and Ford

In 1983 Ronald Regan gave his SDI speech where he said the goal was to make ICMB's "impotent and obsolete". Ted Kennedy dubbed the speech "Star Wars" and said it was impossible. Today SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) is an operational BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) system.

No, the system will not stop a full scale nuclear attack launched by the old USSR, or even Russia's current nuclear forces. It will give the US protection against North Korea or China's nuclear weapons. It will also insure any country trying to launch a single rocket to take out Los Angeles, New York or Washington DC, is likely to fail and we can give them a choice, surrender or be bombed back to the stone age.

The BMD system will not protect us from all attacks, but it will ensure that any country thinking of trying to blackmail the US by threatening to take out one of our cities (Iran, North Korea) or saying if we help an ally, we will lose Los Angeles (PRC general has already said the US will not defends Taiwan because we will not be willing to sacrifice Los Angeles for Taipei) will have to have enough force to penetrate our BMD system and then they would be open to massive retaliation of our nuclear forces. The system will make others think before attacking and that is the true worth of the system. Like nuclear weapons, if they ever have to be launched in anger, their primary function of deterrence has failed. Hopefully these missiles will never need to be used and can be dismantled at the end of the service lives.

Ford Motor Company is having even more problems. Poorly selling vehicles, declining sales, massive debt and no agreement with the UAW yet. Can it be turned around? If it makes a successful come back, it will be a source of business case studies for years to come, how they got into trouble and how they got out of it. Of course that is in the future and at the moment, it is not clear they can or will be turned around.

Rocket Powered X-Wing

21 foot long scale model of an X-Wing, rocket powered and ready for flight, October 10th. Gallery of pictures after the jump to Gizmodo.

Holy cow!

Who does Al Gore sue?

TORONTO - A volcano has erupted on a tiny island off the coast of Yemen, spewing
lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air, a Canadian naval vessel near the
island in the Red Sea reported Sunday. There were no immediate reports of
deaths, but at least eight people were missing.

So starts the AP story. Now with a volcano spewing out tons of sulfur dioxide and other nasty stuff into the air, who do we sue for the release of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants?

Al Gore call your office we need you to tell us who is going to pay for this blatant pollution problem.

Ummm, doesn't this mean war?

Iran shelling targets deeper inside northern Iraq

So goes the headline on an wire service story. Iran is now shelling places 10 1/2 miles into Iraq. If Germany started to shell France or Mexico started to shell the US, war would be declared and if not full scale operations took place, at least the batteries doing the shelling would be silenced by counter battery or an air strike.

While Iran is saying it is shelling camps that support rebels operating in Iran and therefore the camps are legitimate targets, Iraq and the US can say Iran is supporting the insurgents in Iraq and therefore the Republican Guards and the Iranian leadership are fair game for US retaliation.

What is going on??

News roundup

Lot of news to share today and so without further ado . . .

In Austria, a gorilla still isn't considered a person. The lawsuit has now been thrown out of three courts but the group says they will appeal. I'm glad Austria is still showing common sense, a gorilla isn't a person, but its scary that they only need one judge to change the basic definition of what a person is.

British Airways is buying a lot of airplanes and decided to split the order between the Boeing 787 and Airbus 380. Personally I think BA will quietly cancel or sideline the 380s when their true operating costs are known.

Now we can see if yanks care where things are made. Toy stores are starting to set up areas in their stores where all toys are made in the US or Europe so shoppers can avoid toys made in China. Be interesting to see how long that will last.

Israel, Syria, the US and the rest of the Middle East are still not talking about the Israeli air attack on Syria last week. Here are some suggestions on why that may be.

John McCain is a smart man, but in a serious article on energy independence he makes a stupid premise. We need to become oil independent so lets increase the use of nuclear power for generating electricity. Ok, first, increasing the use of nuclear power is not a bad idea. But we DO NOT use much oil to make electricity. We use natural gas and coal for the majority of our electrical generation. Oil accounts for less then 5% of our electricity generation needs. We use oil for TRANSPORTATION. So building a lot of nuclear plants won't solve our oil use unless you think we will all drive electric cars.

And speaking of cars, here is an interesting article on the future transportation modes.

The new Iraqi Army and why it has taken so much time to get them up to speed.

The sub-prime bailout and costs to landlords and the tax nightmare being envisioned.

Have a good day.

Global Warming: Excuse for Taxes

Democrat wants to increase taxes around the board in order to reduce greenhouse gases. There would be a 50 cent tax increase per gallon of gas, a tax on carbon emissions as well as the elimination of the interest deduction on housing loans for houses over >3000 sq ft. Just how would you enforce that? Wouldn't some smart cookie figure out that if you split your house into a lot of smaller houses that there would be ways around this? Would I count stairs into that 3000 sq ft? What about the garage? Great, more legislation, more opportunities for loopholes.

What you don't understand is how the money is proposed to be spent. The tax gains will be applied to

...highway construction, mass transit, paying for Social Security and health programs and to help the poor pay energy bills.

Last I checked, Social Security, health programs (national insurance??), and welfare weren't contributing to global warming. So why the need to funnel the money there? Because global warming has just become a handy excuse to tax you and me to pay for somebody else's programs.

Beagles and Balrogs

Beagles and Balrogs
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

Just in case you thought it was necessary to armor your dog prior to venturing out into the world. Check out http://www.organicarmor.com.

Are the scammers THIS stupid???

I received an email claiming to be from Bank of America saying someone had tried to access my account and now I needed to click on the link and verify my account information.

Of course the email was sent by pp-verify@yahoo.com.

I started to write a nasty reply asking how STUPID these folks were and even gave them the curse of the 4th grader "may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits", but decided in the end to hit the spam button and mock them here.

Ok, feel better now.

Politics, bias and the world

Where to start today. . . . .

This cartoon says it all about the wisdom and irony of the UAW strike.

An article supposedly about how small donors are changing the political landscape (which Pres Bush demonstrated back in 2000 and 2004) turns out to be a puff piece on Obama. Go figure.

NPR, the folks who are supported by us the taxpayers didn't want to give Pres Bush an interview, so Fox got it. And people wonder why Fox is doing better then other news networks. Can we PLEASE make NPR truly private so they can do what they want ON THEIR OWN DIME.

And finally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is requesting US help in securing the release of hostages from FARC (rebel group in Columbia). The comments at Lucianne are worth reading.

Have a good day in this strange place we call home.

Whoops

Man loses house on the freeway, and there it sits, near the Cahuenga Pass.

Oil and Unions

Turning Oil into Salt: R. James Woolsey & Anne Korin write we need to not just become imported oil dependent but make oil like salt. An important commodity, but not something countries go to war over. The authors solution is plug in hybrid and ethanol from bio mass. Basically a pipe dream. Unless there is a major breakthrough in battery storage technology and or ethanol manufacturing we won't be replacing oil or making oil as common as salt.

More on the UAW, GM and the effects on the State of Michigan.

George Soros a threat to democracy? Don't know I would go that far. . . .

Steve Laffey and his new book and his future plans.

New Jersey, most people think Democrats corrupt in State but will vote for them anyway. Why?

"...they lost."

Lt. Col. Mike Silverman, commander of the 3rd ID in Anbar Province was asked by Michael Totten, "What’s the most important thing Americans need to know about Iraq that they don’t currently know?” His answer is this (emphasis mine)

“That we’re fighting Al Qaeda,” he said without hesitation. “[Abu Musab al] Zarqawi invented Al Qaeda in Iraq. The top leadership outside Iraq squawked and thought it was a bad idea. Then he blew up the Samarra mosque, triggered a civil war, and got the whole world’s attention. Then the Al Qaeda leadership outside dumped huge amounts of money and people and arms into Anbar Province. They poured everything they had into this place. The battle against Americans in Anbar became their most important fight in the world. And they lost.”

Totten and Silverman have a great interview that discusses the outcome of Anbar, insights into the conflict there, and how it became a victory. Baghdad may not be brimming with great news, but this is a good sign of what can be if the US plays smart and remains committed to success.

O Columbia, Where Art Thou?

Apparently hiding behind a black backdrop. Speaks volumes to me.

Biofuel, famine, unrest, war

Hope you all had a good weekend. Spouse had a friend down and they went to the UCLA-Wash game on Sat. Friend is a Huskey alum. So it turned out to be a pretty good weekend for all. UCLA beat Wash Yeah, USC beat Wash State, well that was a boo and a yeah. UCLA wants USC to lose to everyone (and vice versa) while Friend was glad Wash St lost. Ok, that's not quite true. Folks from Wash rarely think of Wash St, ignoring them is better then getting angry at them. But fun was had by all.

UAW is striking GM. Does this make any sense? The Union says they want better job security. But the company is losing money, going BK is looking more likely which will void all contracts and the union is demanding more job security? How about helping the company getting profitable again with a profit sharing provision so you will enjoy the fruits of your labor? And remember UAW, if GM goes bk, all your retirees pensions and health care are either gone or at best reduced 50 to 70%. I don't know if retirees still vote in UAW elections but I wouldn't want to explain to them the Unions actions cost them their pension.

Iran has confirmed its shelling Kurdish positions in Iraq. Uhhhh, isn't that an act of war? Just asking.

Bio-fuel is the current hot ticket. However, as more food is diverted to fuel, the safety stocks of food are getting smaller. If there is a crop failure in the US or other large food producing countries, urban poor in China, India, Mexico could see major food costs increase which could lead to unrest.

Anti-war movies don't seem to be doing well in the box office. Capitalism still works.

Is Disney bowing to political pressure in not releasing a show on DVD? I thought this was the US and not Russia.

Have a good day.

What was she thinking? What were they thinking?

MIT student walks into Logan airport with a circuit board on her sweatshirt looking much like a terrorist.

"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," [State Police Maj. Scott] Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it."

The device had wires connected to a battery, allowing it to light up, he said. Simpson [the student]also had Play-Doh in her hands, he said.

Play-Doh?? Yeah, okay, this sounds a little stupid considering our current conflict. I'd have to ask what WAS she thinking? If at all. Is this a publicity stunt? Some sort of statement? Just a silly oversight? I'm looking forward to see how how this develops. (and why do college students feel the need to go out of their way to be controversial in the most stupidest of ways? Push the boundaries; don't jeopardize the public.)

On the other hand, if I were a terrorist, the last thing I would do would be to strap a bomb to my sweatshirt. I'd wonder what the cops are thinking at this point in time. Of course, in the heat of the situation, you can't analyze the situation--better to err on the side of caution. A little analysis would have helped defuse the situation, but you'd have to have somebody familiar with circuits (like an EOD tech). Perhaps police departments should be trained in electrical engineering.

Powered by ScribeFire.

My Kingdom for a Broomstick!

Imagine being able to fire up your PSx, and hopping up on your broomstick controller. I thought it was kind of amusing, although I would feel like a complete tool playing a game on this thing.

Quidditch anybody?