Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Power to Seize Firms

From Washington Post.com (March 24):

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner [tax cheat] today told Congress the administration will seek unprecedented power to seize non-bank financial companies whose collapse could jeopardize the economy, a move Geithner said would have allowed the government to bail out insurance giant American International Group at a far lower cost to taxpayers. The government at present has the authority to seize only banks. [Darn! That's not enough power! Obama thinks to himself.] [read more]

Yes we can take over most of the economy! Can you say Hugo Chavez? I don't hear about people flocking to Venezuela (other than far-left celebrities) since Chavez got into power. Let's call this broad power what it is (even though Dems don't want to admit it): Socialism. What is the exit strategy? When does the gov't takeovers stop?

The Banking Queen, Barney Frank says we need a system like FDIC for all financial services. Swell. Who's next? The insurance companies? (Wait a second. I forget they are villains.) The pharmaceutical companies? Again the villains. Oil companies? Nope. Then again the Left could take over those companies and them into their image. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy don't it? Not that I want any of those companies to be bailed out. I don't want any company to have special treatment from the gov't. It is not their responsibility.

I noticed in the video that the wacky far-left group Code Pink was in the background with their signs. How sweet. You can always count on them to get attention.

Democrat senator trying to stop clean power effort

From One News Now.com (3/21):

Nineteen companies have submitted applications to build solar or wind facilities on a parcel of 500,000 desert acres, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Friday such development would violate the spirit of what conservationists had intended when they donated much of the land to the public.

Feinstein said Friday she intends to push legislation that would turn the land into a national monument, which would allow for existing uses to continue while preventing future development. [more]

So much for alternative energy. Then again the Dems are in the back pocket of the envirofascists. According to the article this land is for benefit of the public, but isn't clean energy benefiting the public too?

I always see environmentalists put on TV ads about solar energy, but when a company actually tries to develop solar energy a bonehead senator shuts it down. Don't make sense. Conservationists say solar and wind technology would hurt the desert tortoise. I don't see how. The desert is already a harsh place. I would think the tortoise has more important things to worry about like predators. Heck you cannot even touch or harass (don't call a tortoise "slow poke"--it hurts their feelings) a desert tortoise or you'll get in trouble.

Feinstein said there are other deserts for solar and wind facilities. Sure right until those deserts are off limits too.

Having Veterans Pay For Their Wounds

The American Legion was ticked (and that's an understatement) that Obama was thinking about having veterans pay (or their insurance companies pay) out their pocket for their injures incurred during service of their country. Obama said he thought this would save money. Not bailing out failed companies would save money. Then he thought let Medicare pay for their injures. Yea, that is a brilliant idea. Not! Nonetheless. Now he has changed his mine because of the outrage of the American Legion and most probably most of the American people. I am outrage to say the least. Obama is the troops Commander in Chief. That thought should not even be in his mind. Veterans put their lives on the line in service of their country. The president (and yes even the Congress) should be looking out the troops and veterans best interests. Paying for their injures is the least the gov't can do our veterans. I guess we now know what Obama's priorities are.

McCain had a good idea. He said let the veterans pick their own doctors and then the gov't would reimburse the doctors.

Think about this issue in this way. The veterans and active troops work for the gov't. The gov't is the employer. Any injury an employee has on-the-job should be payed by the employer. No different for the gov't. It's that simple.

Coatings that 'self-heal' in sun

From BBC News (March 12):

Scientists have devised a coating that when scratched heals itself upon exposure to sunlight.

The secret of the material lies in using molecules made from chitosan, which is derived from the shells of crabs and other crustaceans.

In the event of a scratch, ultraviolet light drives a chemical reaction that patches the damage. [more]

The article said the coating works on car paint. Just imagine the possibilities. Self-healing wallpaper, sunglasses, Saran rap, upholstery, etc. It is almost as if it's alive like skin.

The Rules of the Game

These are UN diplomacy rules as told by Michael Soussan in his 2008 book: Backstabbing for Beginners. My Crash Course in International Diplomacy.

1. The truth in not a matter of fact, it is a product of consensus.
2. Never get stuck with the buck.
3. The assistant to your enemy is your friend.
4. Even the paranoid have enemies.
5. Always be more polite than your enemy.

The first rule could fit the climate change alarmists. It is no wonder the UN is so screwed up.

Virtual Reality Headset

From DailyMail.co.uk (March 5):

A virtual reality helmet that recreates the sights, smells, sounds and even tastes of far-flung destinations has been devised by British scientists.

The device will allow users a life-like experience of places such as Kenya's Masai Mara while sitting on their sofa.

They can also enjoy the smell of flowers in an Alpine meadow or feel the heat of the Caribbean sun on their face. [more]

Cool! This is the first time, according to the article, the manufacturer was able to simulate smells in a VR device. I just hope the manufacturer doesn't simulate toxic smells like smoke. Firemen who using the helmet don't need to smell smoke. They might need to know if it is in a building but not need to smell it. Also you don't want the other inputs of the helmet to harm the user either. This is just common sense.

It would be a good idea if the user was allowed to control the input of the helmet. That is to allow the user to turn off the sense of smell or hearing or whatever.

If it comes to a point that VR is indistinguishable between real life and virtual life there should be a "VR" symbol in the simulation so the user can know what is real and what is not.

59% Still Believe Government Is the Problem

From Rasmussen Reports.com (February 26):

In early October, as the meltdown of the financial industry gained momentum following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% of U.S. voters agreed with Ronald Reagan that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” [more]

To a conservative like me this makes intuitive sense, and to over 50% of the American people it makes sense too. Gov't can only make things worse by getting in the way of the economy. You can't run an economy from the top down. There are too many variables too keep track of--namely people. Ask any person in the social sciences. Predicting what people will do is tricky. That is why there are so many schools of thought in psychology.

Then there is the issue of power. As Lord Byron put it succinctly long ago: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was right back then, and is still right today. People are imperfect. Even if they intend to do good, they can screw up and still do bad. Multiply that by 10 for gov't. Utopia on earth is a myth.

There is a reason America has the Bill of Rights. It is to protect America from its own gov't--not the other way around. The Founding Fathers knew about gov't who had absolute power over its citizens and abused that power. Thomas Paine had it exactly right when he said: "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." Bingo.

Along the same line of thinking: 73% Trust Judgment of People More Than Politicians. It's too bad the Left don't trust the judgment of people. They are just too obsessed with gaining power and holding on to it.

Japanese: U.N. Man-Made Global Warming Theory Like 'Ancient Astrology'

From Newxmax.com ( February 25, 2009):

Japanese scientists have made a dramatic break with the United Nations’ view on man-made global warming with a report asserting that “this hypothesis has been substituted for truth.”

Three of the five researchers involved in the report disagree with the view of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that recent warming is due primarily to industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, and say it is instead driven by natural cycles.

Among the points made in the report:

• CO2 emissions began to increase significantly after 1946 and are still rising. Therefore, according to the IPCC, global atmospheric temperatures should continue to increase. However, temperatures stopped increasing in 2001.
• The global temperature increase up to today is primarily a recovery from the “Little Ice Age” that earth experienced from 1400 to 1800. This rise peaked in 2000.
• Global warming and the “halting of the temperature rise are related to solar activity.

[more]

Darn those Japanese global warming denyiers and their report! Oh, I'm sorry it's not "global warming" anymore--that's the old term. It's now called "climate change" because after all the world is getting colder. Climate change, huh. Isn't climate change just another name for the seasons?

In the article it said, "since 2003, the number of global warming lobbyists has risen by more than 300 percent." Wow! That's a lot of lobbyists. But that what happens when money influences science--science always loses. And since science is about discovering the truth--the truth looses out too. I know scientists have to make a living, but there is a line that should never be crossed. And that line is distorting or making up facts to fit a theory. If a scientist does that then any theory he devised cannot be trusted. He has ruined his reputation.

I Want America to Succeed

The press is asking people if they want Obama to succeed. Bill O'Reilly even had that question as a poll. What's important is not Obama succeeding so much is that the country succeeds and maintains its exceptualism. Presidents and even Congressmen come and go. That's how a democracy works. What is success for America? Winning the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. America having a strong dollar, high employment, low inflation, and not increasing the debt. Guarding the border so illegals and possibly terrorists cannot come in.

What is not successful is bailing out companies that cannot succeed. In other words, rewarding failure. Failure is when the universe tells you, you suck at this endeavour. Try something more align with your talents. Let's say I wrote crappy music or painted crappy paintings. Would you want the gov't funding me so I can continue to make junk? I don't think so. Whatever happen to survivor of the fittest? I thought the Left loves evolution. Failure is where America turns into a socialistic state. That would make the founding fathers roll in their graves. I am totally against nationalizing anything in the private sector. I don't care: Banks, Health care. It will destroy the economy. Gov't does a poor job of running the private sector mainly because it does not understand it. Also, it can be dangerous for the citizens because the more power the gov't collects the more the gov't becomes corrupted.

For Obama to succeed he has to keep America safe from another terrorist attack and encourage the private sector and not get in its way. Don't reward losers and punish winners. It is not right and it's not fair. That's what the free market is for. The free market is not perfect, but neither is gov't. The brain has no central neuron to control the body. Neither should the free market have a central bureaucracy to control what it does.

Which Countries are Economically Free

The partial list below comes from Heritage.org:

Hong Kong	90.0
Singapore	87.1
Australia	82.6
Ireland	82.2
New Zealand	82.0
United States	80.7
Canada	80.5
Denmark	79.6
Russia	50.8
Iran	44.6
North Korea	2.0

Wow, America is ranked 6th. Weren't we ranked first at one time? Keep in mind this is economic freedom. What the gov't tells you what you can and can't purchase, trade or invest in. We are still totally economic free. According to Heritage.org if a country gets a score of 80 or higher you are economically free. If you are 49.9 or lower you are economically oppressed. If you live in North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela (I can't believe the people gave unlimited term limits to that thug. Then again I wonder how much coercion and threats were involved) you basically are screwed and not in a good way. As soon as China takes over Hong Kong, its economic freedom score will be close to China's: 53.2 (mostly unfree).

Analysis of The "Stimulus" Bill

Or if you want to call it the Porkulus Bill. There's billions of wasteful spending going to Federal gov't employees. For example:

• $5.5 billion for making federal buildings "green"
• $198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters
• $75 million for the Smithsonian Institution
• $300 million more for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees
• $522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (There's a useless agency. Even the Native Americans don't like it.)
• $100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings. (Too bad they couldn't took this money and increased the U. S. Marshall's salary instead.)
• $300 million for constructing Federal Bureau of Investigation office buildings
• $2 billion for a FutureGen near-zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, Illinois
• $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI. (Actually I am not totally against this. All law enforcement deserve all the pay they get. Congress should have reduced the money for the FBI buildings and increased the money for their salaries.)

You can read more at the Reason.com website. In total this bill will cost the American public $800 billion. According to The Foundry it will actually cost $3.27 trillion.

Now, what's not in there that should be. There is no real tax cuts, that is no reduction in any of the tax rates. That more than anything would stimulate the economy and get people working like in Newt Gingrich's "12 American Solutions" plan. It's a pretty decent plan. A lot shorter than Obama's stimulus bill for sure. The E-Verify program was removed. That was an electronic system where employees could check if a potential employee was an illegal or not. Then again the Dems want the illegals over here. Here's a joke: What do Democrats call illegal aliens? Voters. Also, no money for border guards. Those guys need bullet proof vests and Uzis. I am serious. Security experts are saying Mexico is going to collapse. I just read on Stratfor.com there are three wars going on in Mexico: Drug gangs fighting each other. The gov't fighting the drug cartels and common criminals kidnapping people. It's really a mess over there. And if their country collapses where do you think the Mexicans are going to come? There is $10 million to fight Mexican gun-runners in the bill. That's good, but not enough. What about money for a border wall or fence?

It is said that no Congress person read the bill (except maybe for Nancy Pelosi--she wrote it). So, who knows what's completely in it? If I was in Congress and I was not allowed to read it completely before I voted on it--I would have voted against it. You don't allow me to examine it then I am not going to trust what is in it. That only makes sense.

Insufficient Evidence Could Force U.S. Navy to Return Suspected Pirates to Somalia

From Fox News.com (February 13):

WASHINGTON — Questions emerged Friday about whether the U.S. Navy can continue to hold a group of suspected pirates captured on the high seas and kept for now in floating jail cells ringed with barbed wire.

At issue are nine men, probably Somalis, seized Thursday from a small skiff in the Gulf of Aden. A Navy ship fired warning shots and sailors boarded the skiff and arrested the men after a distress call from an Indian-flagged merchant ship. [read more]

Pirates huh. Let's call them what they really are--terrorists. It's not that they are wearing an eye-patch and singing, "Yo ho, ho and a bottle of rum." with a parrot on their soldier. First, the Marines cannot hold terrorists on Gitmo, now the Navy cannot hold terrorists on their ships. Not surprising at all. It's too bad the Navy cannot just accidentally push them over the side. The Navy can say they must of slipped and fell over. The Navy is too decent to do that. These pirates will just go back to being pirates again if you release to Somalia.

I don't know why these ships being attacked don't defend themselves. Don't make sense to me.

Angry survivors blame council 'green' policy

From The Age.com (February 11, 2009):

ANGRY residents last night accused local authorities of contributing to the bushfire toll by failing to let residents chop down trees and clear up bushland that posed a fire risk.

During question time at a packed community meeting in Arthurs Creek on Melbourne's northern fringe, Warwick Spooner — whose mother Marilyn and brother Damien perished along with their home in the Strathewen blaze — criticised the Nillumbik council for the limitations it placed on residents wanting the council's help or permission to clean up around their properties in preparation for the bushfire season. "We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said. [read more]

I agree with Mr. Spooner those council people are dickheads. This is exactly what happens when people put the environment above human life. Hey, envirofascists people are part of the environment! Didn't occur to the bonehead council that the bushfire itself might destroy the trees and bush? Fires are unpredictable. It does not matter if the citizens burn the trees or nature does it. The result is the same. Sometimes I wonder if the envirofascists have a braincell in their head.

Computer says Iran will not build nukes

From The Inquirer.net (2/09):

A COMPUTER simulation says that Iran will not build nuclear weapons and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will quickly disappear from power.

Political scientist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, an advisor to the Central Intelligence Agency built a computer model which looks at political and social indicators in various countries. [read more]

I hope the computer program is correct. The CIA says the program is 90% accurate. I have a feeling that this is the 10% of time where it is wrong.

The article did not go into the program's parameters, but I did some research. According to a Wikipedia article the program uses two mathematical models: rational choice theory and game theory. Both theories simulate rational and/or logical people making choices. The leader of Iran is not rational. He is not insane, but far from being rational. He believes he can bring on the end of days by starting massive bloodshed. This will bring back the 12th Imann from a well. Sounds like a horror movie to me--I believe it was called The Ring. Anyway, he did launch two missiles after all. I wonder if the model predicted that. Fanatical religious belief is driving him not rationality.

I having nothing personally against Mr. Beuno de Mesquita's program or even against the theories he is using. But any social theory that does not take into account emotions, instincts, and beliefs is not going to be very accurate. People are complex beings. We are not simple automatons. Economics went under the assumption people were rational beings. In his book Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig challenged those assumptions.

Glenn Beck's 9 Principles

On his TV show Glenn Beck lists nine principles he believes:

1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Mr. Beck wants anyone who believes in at least seven of those principles to send him a photo of themselves to show they are not alone. I have not decided to send one or not. But I believe in every one of those principles. Of the presidents I remember of the United States, Ronald Reagan would definitely believe in all them. He embodied the principles.
If you are far left-leaning then you probably don't believe 1), 2), 4), 6), 7), and 9). Principle three is iffy. The left is looking like they don't believe Principle 5) with Obama hiring tax cheats.

MIT researchers make 'sixth sense' gadget

From Breitbart.com (Feb 5):

US university researchers have created a portable "sixth sense" device powered by commercial products that can seamlessly channel Internet information into daily routines.

The device created by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists can turn any surface into a touch-screen for computing, controlled by simple hand gestures. [more]

Fascinating. This device is what is called augmented reality technology. You combine virtual reality and real-world elements.

Obama to allow anti-terror rendition to continue

From telegraph.co.uk:

According to a detailed reading of the executive orders signed by Mr Obama on Jan 22, renditions have not been outlawed, with the new administration deciding it needs to retain some devices in Mr Bush's anti-terror arsenal amid continued threats to US national security.

"Obviously you need to preserve some tools – you still have to go after the bad guys," an administration official told the Los Angeles Times.

"The legal advisers working on this looked at rendition. It is controversial in some circles and kicked up a big storm in Europe. But if done within certain parameters, it is an acceptable practice." [read more]

So, it's not okay for the U.S. to waterboard (the new Attorney General says that) but it is okay for other countries to do it? Rendition was started in the Clinton administration to allow other countries to interrogate suspected terrorists. When those other countries interrogate those people sent to them they do not have to abide by our parameters and don't have the ACLU to worry about. Being waterboarded is the method anybody sent to those countries has least to worry about. If I was a terrorist in Gitmo I would rather be there than sent overseas to a place that hardly has any rules about torture.

When you watch these ads, the ads check you out

From Physorg.com (January 30, 2009):

Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there's a slim - but growing - chance the ad is watching you too.

Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity - and can change the ads accordingly. [read more]

Interesting but a little unnerving. Instead of Big Brother it's Big Marketing watching you.

Al-Qaeda Reportedly Suffers WMD Mishap

From NTI.org (Jan. 21, 2009):

An apparent mishap during efforts to develop a biological or chemical weapon forced a branch of al-Qaeda to shutter a base in Algeria, a high-level U.S. intelligence official told the Washington Times on Monday (see GSN, Jan. 5).

The official could not say whether press reports that the accident had killed 40 terrorist operatives were accurate, but rejected the claim in the London Sun tabloid that the cause of death was bubonic plague. [read more]

Yes! I am not happy that al-Qaeda were trying to build WMDS. I am happy that it backfired on them and got some of the terrorists killed. Serves them right. I hope it was 40 or more, but I'll settle with less. Any number of dead Islamofacists is fine with me. Better them killed than US soldiers or civilians. Would you call this cosmic karma? Actually, them trying to develop WMDs is worrying but not surprising. I wonder if a militant Jihadist still gets his 40 virgins by killing himself and other Jihadists but no infidels? Probably not.

Obama and The War on Terror

So, President Obama wants to shut down Gitmo and send those terrorists overseas or to prisons here in America. Nice. Well, what if their countries don't want them then what? Or say a country like Yemen takes them back and then early releases them (or they escape) so they can terrorize another day like Said Ali al-Shihri or Khalid Duhham Al-Jawary who is about to be released.

Sensible lawmakers don't want these detainees in their states because of the threat they would cause if they happen to escape. I don't blame them. Even Obama admits there are some dangerous detainees in Gitmo. The word "some" is an understatement. "Most" is a much better word Mr. President. After all they were found on the battlefield. There might be two or three that wondered into the battlefield by mistake. I guess that could happen. A guard in Gitmo told a 60 minutes correspondent that a detainee told the guard if he were ever released he would come back and kill the guard. Not go out and have a beer with him but to kill him. After all it was the detainee's duty.

Short of putting a bullet in the head of these terrorists (after all a dead terrorist is a good terrorist--they can't terrorize again. Also, don't they want to meet their 40 virgins?) and dumping them in the water, we can prison them in Washington. I mean Obama (and most Dems) thinks these detainees are safe people right? Or at least innocent until proven guilty. Then put them in Washington. If Obama does not like that idea then he better re-think closing down Gitmo. These Jihadists are not criminals. They are warriors. Warriors don't stop being warriors until the war is over. Jihad is holy war. A military tribunal is the only court for these detainees. A criminal court is not the right venue. US security is on the line. If ever any of these detainees are released into society the judge or jury better darn make sure they are not a threat to this country. If another 9/11 happens Obama and the Dems are through being in power.

One other thing. Obama is thinking about keeping Bush's wire tapping overseas. I thought Obama was all about change.