In honor of April 1st

With April Fools Day coming up, the Associated Press has a story on the best hoaxes.

Worth a read.

Nanny State lives

Ok, we need a new voter initiative in California. ANY politician who, while in office, is guilty of political grandstanding and hypocrisy should be used for animal research to spare the mice and rabbits.

What does the above have to do with the title? Well, the California Legislature is considering a bill that would ban smoking in a car if there is a minor child in the car.

The reasons given for the bill are the usual, its for the health of the children.

So where is the hypocrisy? Simple, California gets a LOT of money from cigarette taxes and the decrease in smoking is hurting the state programs financed by cigarette taxes.

So if the legislature really wanted to "fix" this problem, they should just outlaw the sale of cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco products in the State of California. People would have to go out of state to get their smokes but most would not be able to do that on a regular basis so the number of smokers would decline by 70 to 90%. Of course California would lose all that tax money on cigarette sales so they will never do it. The hypocrites should be used for medical testing instead of innocent animals for making such an asinine measure.

Full disclosure, I don't smoke, never have and wish my mom would quit, I still think the law is stupid and don't want the government to be my nanny.

Teen Fusion

Part-time student, part-time cross-country athlete, part-time nuclear physicist. Thiago Olson has achieved fusion reaction in his basement. Says Olson:

“I have cross-country and track, so during those seasons I don’t have much time to work on it,” says Olson, a high school senior in Michigan. “It’s more of a weekend project.”

So, what did YOU do this last weekend?

This is great, just great

Another reason to "love" the California Government.

Hundreds of thousands of Californians' Social Security numbers have been made publicly available for the past three years on the secretary of state's Web site, officials said Thursday.

So because I have a mortgage, that information goes to the Sec of State who puts it on the web site with my SSN and allows anyone to buy my information for $6. That is just peachy keen.

One, I really don't want the junk mail I have been receiving, all that waste paper (so much for being green California) and two I really didn't want to have to monitor my credit reports to see if someone dishonest got hold of the information.

Thanks again California.


On a different note, the USS Kennedy is being decommissioned which reduced the Navy to one carrier that is not a nuke. The Kitty Hawk which is based in Japan.

They don't have anything better to do???

I'm so "proud" of my Representative. Jane Harman, who is pretty good on defense and security, and not ashamed of the aerospace industry located in her district wants to play nanny 911 with us.

She has introduced a bill in Congress to BAN the sale of incandescent light bulbs in the US at some date in the future. So if this becomes law, at some point in the future (say January 1, 2009), stores won't be able to sell incandescent bulbs and will only be able to sell halogen and compact fluorescent bulbs. Yes boss, you read that right, you may need to head to Canada or Mexico to buy your bulbs and smuggle them into the country.

Of course its to save electricity (coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric generate over 95%) and prevent global warming.

One question, when the billions of compact fluorescent start ending up in the land fills, who can we sue for the mercury poisoning as each bulb has some of the stuff in it? That is hazardous waste.

Full disclosure, I currently use them in my house, but know the boss hates them.

Hat tip Lucianne

Definitely worth a visit

Visitors who have marveled at the Grand Canyon's vistas will now have a dizzying
new option: a glass-bottom observation deck allowing them to gaze into the chasm
beneath their feet.

Yes, that sounds like a great place to visit. Its funny to read the comments from others, it appears the comments are split into two groups.

Group 1 - You are NOT getting me out on that thing


Group 2 - Can't wait to visit.


I'm in group two.


Hat tip Lucianne

History Repeating Itself?

Copperheads, Then and Now
The Democratic legacy of undermining war efforts.
By Mackubin Thomas Owens

An interesting article at NRO.

James M. Mcpherson in his history book on the US Civil War, "Battle Cry Freedom" has a very good history of the Copperheads in that era.

There seems to be a lot of similarities between the Copperheads of the 1860's and the anti-war movement of the 1960's and now.

Something to think about

Saw this on Neptunus Lex and since he or they got it in an email, will repost it here, but also recommend you visit them. So this will beg the question . . . . why am I getting my MBA???

In 1923, Who Was……….
1. President of the largest steel company?
2. President of the largest gas company?
3. President of the New York Stock Exchange?
4. Greatest wheat speculator?
5. President of the Bank of International Settlement?
6. Great Bear of Wall Street?

These men were considered some of the worlds most successful of their days. Now, 80 years later, the history book asks us, if we know what ultimately became of them.


The Answers:


1. The president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.
2. The president of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.
3. The president of the NYSE, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.
4. The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooger, died abroad, penniless.
5. The president of the Bank of International Settlement, shot himself.
6. The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, also committed suicide.

However, in that same year, 1923, the PGA Champion and the winner of the most important golf tournament, the US Open, was Gene Sarazen. What became of him?


He played golf until he was 92, Died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of his death.

The Moral:


Screw work…… Play golf.

Its Friday

Another work week has come and gone and the boss still hasn't posted to the site. True, he has school, work and family but what can I say . . .

School is slowing down now that only have 5 more articles, 2 cases and two presentations for both classes which is a relief. But to compensate for that, tax season is here. Two of the corporate returns are done, one more to go and then 6 or so personal returns and that's done. Then have my normal work on top of that. Currently going through the year end audit and closing down one subsidiary.

Despite all that, and if you have read all of this so far, thank you for reading about my life, truly, but have two articles that I think are more interesting then the goings on of my life.

NASA: China could be the next to moon:
Question, how do you get more money from Congress when there is a war going on and the party in power would rather give your budget to other departments (read programs that will help the people who are more likely to vote for them)? Tell Congress a horror story.

The story is if Congress doesn't increase the funding for NASA, the PRC will be the first to get back to the moon, which we all know is the property of NASA, since they landed on the place a while ago. Congress doesn't want to have anyone claim they "lost" the moon because they didn't give enough money to NASA so NASA is likely to get its budget increased. Oh for a line item veto and a president who would actually veto some spending bills.

hat tip: Lucianne

The second story is political:
Diagnosis: Cheney:
Charles Krauthammer writes about Michelle Cottle article in the New Republic. Think about that for a moment. You have a blogger writing about a columnist who is writing about an article another columnist wrote about. Krauthammer is a talented writer and the story is worth a read.

hat tip: Lucianne

Amazing tech

Some very interesting research that might make heat stroke and hypothermia a thing of the past, not only for the military, but outdoor folks and athletes (and those of who pretend to be by working out).

Hat tip Instapundit

Story on Starbucks and how it may not have a lock on the market Wall Street thinks it does (enjoy Rob)

Hat tip Instapundit

A "good" arms race

Yes, the title seems to be an oxymoron. How can an arms race be good? Simple, when the weapon system doesn't threaten the other party.

During the Cold War, the US and USSR had a nuclear arms race and each side got more and more ICBM and SLBMs, and those missiles were pointed at each other. Both countries were threatening each other.

Now Russia is saying they will deploy their own new ballistic missile defense (BMD) system. I say wonderful. Please do and if you say your doing it because the US is deploying one to Eastern Europe, great.

Why is this good? Well a BMD system by itself can't hurt another country. It may modify their behavior, but it won't hurt them. No BMD system could stop a large determined ICBM attack, so the Russian and US missiles could still destroy each other, even though both sides only have about 1,000 of them now (compared to about 25,000 back in the 1980s).

But the BMD system will do wonders for stopping a limited attack by nations like Iran, North Korea etc. These nations can't produce large numbers of missiles so the BMD system will protect Russia and won't threaten Eastern Europe, the US or anyone else.

Besides, Russia knows radical Islamic groups do not like it even if Russia is supplying most of the weapons to Iran which gives it to other groups who give it to terrorists. Those groups (or Iran) have a long range missile, Russia is as likely a target as Europe or the US, so a BMD system protecting the country is a good idea.

Hat tip Lucianne.com

Common Sense won in Court????

There may be hope for our country and our legal system yet. Just when you think things won't improve, the justice system does something incredible . . . . it provides justice.

No, this isn't about the Libby trial, many have commented on it and since I can't improve on it, won't say anything. Check out NRO or Townhall for information on the case.

No, this case is much more interesting. A doctor sued an 11 year old girl. Yep, you read that correctly. The doctor was riding his bike down the road and saw the girl rollerblading ahead of him. He says he rang his bell and yelled "look out" when he tried to pass her on the left. When she turned her head, she drifted to the left and he collided with her. The girl (who is now 15 years old) said when she heard the bell and shout, the doctor was bearing down on her and she couldn't get out of the way.

The jury unanimously found for the defendant and it only took 15 minutes.

Every biker should know that when you over take another person, it is YOUR responsibility to make a safe pass, especially when its an adult over taking a child. This case should never have gone to court but am very glad the doctor lost.

Oh, the doctor also sued the girls parents, who the court dismissed from the case earlier, and the girl and the family didn't counter sue the doctor. As one commentator after the story said, "a 15 year old girl showed more class then you". I don't think I could have said it better myself.

Hat tip Lucianne

Sneaky Dems

http://www.sacunion.com/pages/state_capitol/articles/8841/

So both houses of state congress passed a bill that would create a seperate election for the California Primary in February. The supposed reason is to make the presendential candidates "listen" to Californians more.

Now that sounds all good and grand, but there are two issues in the fine print that no one is alarmed about. First off, the bill. State's not under any binding obligation to pay back the counties for the additional money (latest calculation puts it at 50% more than the 2005 Special Election). It took about 2 years for State to pay back the counties for the Special Election.

The second worrying piece is what's going to be on the February ballot: A measure to increase term limits on serving in the state congress. Guess who's term is almost up? Fabian Nunez. If the Primary was held at the regular time, then Mr. Nunez wouldn't be able to run for another term because the term extension wouldn't be voted on until it was too late. However, since the term extension will be voted on in February, if it's approved, Mr. Nunez and his fellow Dems can run for re-election in June.

That's right, boys and girls, the new Primary date isn't about giving California a bigger voice (as if we don't have an oversized one already). It's about Mr. Nunez getting re-elected.

Splitting Water

The holy grail of green energy. Taking plain old water and separating it into hydrogen and oxygen to use as a fuel.

From high school, you will remember that by running an electric current through the water, you can split the water into its two components. The only problem is it takes more energy to split the water then you get from the hydrogen when burned. Example, if you use 10 units of energy to split water, the resulting hydrogen will only return 8 units of energy.

But plants do just that and they do it efficiently or they wouldn't be able to grow and provide food for us if it took more energy to break down water to its basic elements. The secrete of plants? They use the sun. We humans cannot utilize the sun as an energy source as efficiently as plant do. Our best solar cells are only 6% efficient, or for every 100 units of sun light that hits the cell, only 6 units of electricity are produced.

Researchers have been looking at how plants use the sun to break down water and think they now have a better understanding on the mechanics, to the point they can start thinking how we can duplicate it. If they can, the transformation from a petroleum to a hydrogen economy will come sooner then later. Oh, and water vapor is a greater green house gas then carbon dioxide, but we will worry about that later, after all, it wasn't so long ago folks were worried about global cooling and the coming ice age.

Hat tip Lucianne.

Aircraft . . . . .

I don't know how else to title this post, two different topics:

1. What aircraft have been landed on US aircraft carriers?

Well the usual include, F3F, F4F, F4U, F8F, A4, F4, F8, A6, A7, F14, F18, F35 (someday) among others.

But what about the P51D, U2 and the C130? They did and were considered to make part of the Navel Air Arm. Take a look, and no these are not photo shopped (unlike the C17 photo).

Hat tip Arrgghhh!!!

2. Hunter-Viper Strike Team Completes Successful Missile Range Tests

The bad guys are going to find it a lot harder to hide hope the system can be deployed soon to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan (ok, fly it in from Afghanistan) and the Mediterranean (fly it over Gaza and West Bank and South Lebanon and see if it can pick out the terrorists there as well).

Hat tip Arrgghh!!!!

The Proverbial Fish

There's a cliche about teaching a man how to fish that I'd like to amend:

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
Buy the fish the man catches, and he gets to eat steak."

Ok, so the last line isn't *really* necessary, because it can be implied from the second that the proverbial man can generate income from his new skill. But sometimes I think people forget about that.

So currently Pres. Bush is talking with top Dems about compromising on trade deals. The main issue is that Bush actually wants to help poor countries not through pure aid (ie - giving them fish) but through trade deals (ie - buying their fish). However, this is in conflict with the Dems who are supported by labor unions whose members potentially could loose jobs because they're not competitive with the labor from the other countries. Now granted, labor does cost more here due to cost of living, taxes, health care, and whatnot. And so on the surface, the Dems' demands for fair labor practices in countries we engage with in bilateral trade agreements sounds all nice and humanitarian. But it clouds the issue of the fact that it's just another for of protectionism.

Example: The American automotive industry. The auto-industry unions demand a lot of Ford, GM, etc. Huge medical benefits, retirement, high wages, you name it. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, none of them allow unions. As a result, they're much more competitive because they have more money to throw at R&D, quality control, process improvement, all the things that go into make a better car. And the consumers know it, that's why Toyota's overtaken GM's market share. The American public are probably not explicitly aware of the no-unions thing, but they have a conscious choice in either buy a better product or supporting the bloated American auto-industry. And if labor practices were horrible since there are no unions at Toyota, wouldn't you think that labor would be running away not towards Toyota?

The other part of this issue is that people in poor countries are poor for a really good reason: they don't have industries to provide jobs. If die-hard liberals were serious about helping these nations out, they'd push for free-trade agreements everywhere. And there's also a side benefit to free-trade: stability. Columbia and Guatemala are right in Hugo Chavez's backyard, and they need our help if they plan to stay afloat. Best way is to shore up their economies with bilateral trade agreements that pumps goods and dollars to their people. And yes, I know, they don't have the same labor regulations we do. Well, they don't have the kind of money to even come close to paying what we pay our workers! America's labor regulations didn't appear overnight. Less-developed countries will always start out with worse labor practices than we do. But if we give them a chance to develop, over time they will. Their people will demand it, just like we do.

So Dems, stop your protectionist ways. Trust me, it's better for all of us in the long term.