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.