The DREAM Act in the 111 Congress

The DREAM Act has been reintroduced in both the House (H.R. 1751, by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)) and the Senate (S. 729, by Sen. Dick Durban (D-IL). Several cosponsors of the legislation have referred to the DREAM Act as a "narrow" proposal to deal only with the children brought here illegally by their illegal-alien parents. Unfortunately, the facts belie that claim. Here are the essentials of what the bills would do:

• They retroactively repeal the federal ban on in-state tuition for illegal aliens, so individual states would decide whether to grant this subsidy to illegal aliens at the expense of U.S. citizens and legal residents.
• They require DHS to award amnesty to every illegal alien claiming to meet minimal criteria: 1) present in the U.S. for the last five years; 2) a U.S. high school diploma or GED, or admitted to a U.S. institution of higher learning; and 3) of good moral character with no more than 2 misdemeanor convictions.
  • The Senate version also requires that amnesty applicants be under 35 years of age and not be subject to a final order of removal or exclusion.
  • Neither version requires specific documentation or other proof that amnesty applicants actually meet these minimal criteria.
• Once an alien files an amnesty application, he or she cannot be removed from the United States for any reason until the application is fully processed and a final decision to grant or deny amnesty has been made.
• All amnesty applications go to the front of the line for processing, thus bypassing millions of people around the world who have applied to come to the United States the right way.
• In order to deny any amnesty application, the federal government has the burden of proving an illegal alien's ineligibility for amnesty.
• There are no numerical limits to the amnesty and there's no end date for the application process.
• Amnestied aliens are required to complete two years of college or military service during their first six years of legal residence, but DHS can waive the requirement or grant additional time to comply for those who do not.
• At the end of the six years, amnestied aliens can apply for citizenship and petition to bring their extended relativesóincluding the parents who brought them here illegallyóto the United States.
• Amnesty beneficiaries are eligible for certain federal student loans and work-study programs.

Hat tip to NumbersUSA.com for this info. Notice there is nothing in this bill about border control. With the Swine Flu about to be pandemic according to the WHO it is now more important to get control of the border. Who knows who is crossing the border with that disease or any other disease. Not to mention drug gangs and terrorists that could cross over too. No, just about every politician is catering to the Hispanics like they want diseased people or dangerous people in their town. It's about safety and law and order.

The Home Builder-Economy Analogy

The following analogy is taken from Meltdown (2009) by Thomas E. Woods Jr. The author says this a summary of what the Austrian theory says:

Imagine a home-builder who believes he has 20% more bricks than he actually has. He will build a different kind of house than he would if he had an accurate count of his brick supply. (Assume he can't buy any more.) The dimensions will be different. The style may even be different. And the longer he goes without realizing his error, the worse the eventual reckoning will be. If he finds out his error, only at the very end, he'll have to tear down the whole (incomplete) house, and all those resources and labor time will have been squandered. Society will be that much the poorer.

The economy is like the home builder. Forcing interest rates lower than the free market would have set them makes economic actors act as if more saved resources exist than actually do. Some portion of their new investment is malinvestment---investment in lines that would have sense if the saved resources existed to sustain and complete them, but which do not make sense in light of current resource availability.

An adept analogy. Basically information affects what your actions are. Incorrect information or beliefs will take you down the wrong path.

Here is what the author says should be done about the current economic crises:

• Let the big companies go bankrupt. It's capital equipment doesn't disappear. Someone will come along and buy them and run the business.
• Abolish Fannie and Freddie. These are zombie companies according to the author.
• Stop the bailouts and cut gov't spending.
• End gov't manipulation of money.
• Let's have a debate about whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) is helping or hurting the economy.
• The Fed should abolish its Term Auction Facilities and return to making loans at its discount window only to its traditional customers. Interest rates should be allowed to float.
• End the monopoly money.

Good ideas. I like the zombie term for Fannie and Freddie. Basically they are companies run by the gov't. In other words they are in between a free-market company and a gov't agency. Weird. I think the Fed does more harm than good, because there is a lot of power to control the economy. And power corrupts. This is the same reason I am anxious about having a National Sales Tax--it would allow the gov't too much power to control how much you save and spend.

N. Korea Threatens S. Korea

From UPI.com:

SEOUL, April 22 (UPI) -- North Korea warned South Korea against joining a U.S.-led anti-proliferation program during talks Wednesday in Kaesong, a North Korea border city.

The North Korean delegation at the meeting said South Korea's joining of the Proliferation Security Initiative would lead to an inter-Korean "confrontation," officials told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyon confirmed the issue was raised. Previously, Pyongyang has warned joining the anti-proliferation campaign would be considered a "declaration of war." South Korea said it still intends to join the initiative. [read more]

Scary. Add to this N. Korea resumes its nuclear operations and they tested a missile that could reach Hawaii. Then N. Korea warns of a second nuclear test. This dangerous N. Korean dictator has to be taken seriously.

The question is if a war happens between the two Koreas will Japan get involved and be an ally with S. Korea. Japan feels threatened by that crazy dictator of N. Korea too. Japan not too long was thinking about what their constitution would allow to protect itself from N. Korea.

Chinese spies may have put chips in US planes

From India Times.com (April 17):

WASHINGTON: The Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the US system — ranging from its secure defence network, banking system, electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defence planes — that it can cause serious damage to the US any time, a top US official on counter-intelligence has said.

“Chinese penetrations of unclassified DoD networks have also been widely reported. Those are more sophisticated, though hardly state of the art,” said National Counterintelligence Executive, Joel Brenner, at the Austin University Texas last week, according to a transcript made available on Wednesday. [read more]

And The Great Appeaser Obama administration is worried about right-wing extremist groups (you know the ones who support third-party candidates) doing terrorist attacks? Geez.

Israel Preparing for Attack on Iran, Officials Say

From NTI.org (April 20):

The Israeli military is increasing its readiness to conduct air strikes on nuclear sites across Iran, should the new government in Jerusalem decide such action is necessary, the London Times reported Saturday (see GSN, April 17).

"Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light, they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours," a high-level defense official said. "They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words." [read more]

Israel as a nation has a right to self-preservation. I don't blame them for preparing for an attack. What you do if you lived next to a crazy, dangerous dictator who wants to see your nation destroyed?

If Israel defended itself I am afraid that other nations would say the attack was unwarranted and just wanted to start a war. Then these countries would attack Israel. Even the Bible states this in so many words:

The Russian leader then "devise an evil plan" and marshal Iran, Libya, and these other countries to form a military coalition to surround Israel and try to destroy her (Ezekiel 38:10)

Thoughts and Stats on Guns

First here are some stats on gun laws from a Wikipedia article:

• New Jersey adopted what sponsors described as "the most stringent gun law" in the nation in 1966; two years later, the murder rate was up 46% and the reported robbery rate had nearly doubled.
• In 1968, Hawaii imposed a series of increasingly harsh measures, and its murder rate tripled from a low of 2.4 per 100,000 in 1968 to 7.2 by 1977.
• In 1976, Washington, D.C., enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134% while the national murder rate has dropped 2%.
• Among the 15 states with the highest homicide rates, 10 have restrictive or very restrictive gun laws.

And here are some gun stats around the world:

• Violent crime accelerated in Jamaica after handguns were heavily restricted and a special Gun Court established.
• While having a large amount of civilian owned guns, Norway has a low gun crime rate.

And here are some things to think about:

• OJ Simpson, Lizzy Borden (the OJ Simpson of her time--she wasn't convicted either) and the killer of the Moore family in Villisca, Iowa in 1912 never used guns in the commission of their crime. Simpson used a knife, Borden used an axe, and the killer of the Moore family who never was caught also used an axe.
• Most serial killers (like Jack the Ripper) don't use guns when they kill. If memory serves me right the only serial killer to use a gun was Son of Sam.
• Schools that put up signs that read "no guns allowed" will not stop a crazy nut with a gun. It's like sending a signal to all the unbalanced killers--come on inside we are unarmed.

I respect anyone who owns a gun. Our founding fathers put the right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights because they were afraid of an oppressive gov't. Remember for a dictator to keep the population oppressed all he needs to do is control the press & keep everyone illiterate, make everyone poor, and ban all firearms. If the Jews during Hitler's time had guns maybe there wouldn't have been a holocaust.

Earth Day

This being Earth Day I would like to share some interesting environmental facts I learned. The Economic Times.com website (April 18) reports that:

SYDNEY: New analysis has indicated that contrary to the belief that there is large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, ice is actually expanding in a large portion of the continent. [read more]

And from the Scientific American.com website:

California regulators, trying to assess the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, are poised to declare that the biofuel cannot help the state reduce global warming.

As they see it, corn is no better – and might be worse – than petroleum when total greenhouse gas emissions are considered. [read more]

Not mentioned in the article above is that corn-based ethanol produces as a by product in automobiles is formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and acetaldehyde! Isn't that nice?

Did you know that the co-founder of Earth Day (Ira Einhorn) murdered his girlfriend and put the body in a trunk he kept in his apartment? It's true. Also, the Unabomber and Son of Sam killer were environmentalists.

What? Were you expecting Earth Day advice? Okay, here they are:

• Put on some green clothing in honor of Earth Day. Wait a sec. I'm thinking of Saint Patrick's Day. Oh, I know. Go wear some recyclable earthy clothes. You know clothes that have natural patterns like leaves, flowers, squirrels, acorns, etc.
• Go drive a SUV to a natural park and enjoy the outdoors.
• Go outside and kill a deer. Just be sure not to insult it. They have feelings you know. I better not see you torture it. Remember to tenderize it after killing it. It makes it tasty.
• Plant a tree. They make good baseball bats and furniture.
• Buy one of those mercury-filled GE compact light bulbs. Just don't drop it. It might break and then you'll breathe in those toxic mercury vapors. Be sure to follow EPA guidelines when you clean up the mess. Your supposed to recycle those light bulbs by the way when they stop working. I've seen on TV that Apple Computers stopped using mercury in their laptops. Also, a lot of countries have banned mercury used in medical thermometers. Though they are still used in meteorological thermometers. But don't let that stop you. Remember you are saving the environment.
• Go hug a tree. Just be sure it isn't poison oak.
• Go hug a polar bear like that woman in Germany at a Berlin zoo tried to do. She's got no brains spunk!
• Pet a porcupine.
• Finally, as citizens of earth we must do our part in controlling the magnetic fields of earth, the solar activity of the sun, the tilt of the earth, volcanoes, and cloud cover. After all these effect global warming er I mean climate change.

How's that? Happy Earth Day everyone!

Mitigating Factors in Global Warming and Weather Patterns

Here is a list of factors in global warming and weather in general:

1. CO₂ uptake by plants
2. CO₂ release of plants (decomposition)
3. Likelihood of methane release from permafrost and ocean sediments due to warming
4. Temperature influences on the ability of the ocean to sequester CO₂
5. How the atmospheric particles interfere with sunlight reaching earth
6. How clouds effect daytime and nighttime temperatures
7. What effects cloud formation (including atmosphere particles)
8. Solar cycles (sunspots, etc.)
9. Reflectivity of ice versus ground and changes in earth's ice coverage over time
10. Impact of melting ice on ocean salinity and resultant changes in ocean currents
11. Volcanic activity
12. Shorter-term weather oscillation data (La Nina, El Nino)
13. Tilt and orbit of the earth

Note everything in bold face mankind can not make and can not control. Especially, items 8), 11), and 13). Even the non-bold face items will be hard to control.

Source: Lies, Damned Lies, and Science (2009) by Sherry Seethaler.

Talking with the "Moderate" Taliban

The Obama administration believes that it can talk with "moderate" members of the Taliban. Really? Are they going to have seances? Because most moderate Islamofascists are dead. Or too scared to talk. Next to killing Americans and Jews, moderate Muslims are next on the list to kill. Especially ones who are apostates--who became non-Muslim.

In his book The Case for Democracy. (2006), Natan Sharansky talks about three groups of people in an oppressive or what he calls a fear society: true believers who believe in the official ideology of the society; dissidents who are ready to challenge, to speak openly, and to be punished for it; and double-thinkers.

When the Soviet Union existed dissents were sent to jail or were sent to "re-education" camps to become true believers. This where the term to be "politically correct" comes from. Natan Sharansky was a dissident and he was sent to jail. In the Taliban, Al Quada, Hamas, etc. they do not bother to re-educate you--they just kill you.

Of the three, I believe double-thinkers has the most members. A double-thinker is someone who is not a true believer but is too afraid to speak openly against the fear society. I believe this the group that Hillary was referring too. The trouble is to turn them into a dissident you have to get them away from the fear society, make them a brave dissident, and re-locate them back into the society. Good luck on that one. If double-thinkers were brave to begin with they wouldn't be double-thinkers but dissenters. Not that double-thinkers are cowards, but it is hard to be brave in an oppressive society. Especially when you could lose your life.

Finding moderate Taliban is going to be really hard. You be better off killing the true believers then the moderate Muslims (double-thinkers) can be themselves.

Tax Day

Today is the day where Americans gamble their income away. Not gambling at a casino but sending a check to the IRS. Who knows where it goes after that. You might as well throw your money out of a helicopter. You have a better chance of knowing where that money is going.

When a parasite lives off a host it takes enough food from the host without killing it. Because if the host dies the parasite dies. Gov't might take a lesson from the parasite. Don't kill off the private sector. The income stops if it does.

Here are some interesting notes about taxes:

• To get the Great Pyramid built, the Pharaoh King Khufu told anyone who helped build the pyramid they would have to the option not to pay any taxes while building the pyramid. Or they could get a wage. Historians are debating which it was. Makes you wonder what the ancient Egyptians taxes were. [read more]
• Quran 9:29, "Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission." Sounds like Mohammad was a gangster. A protective tax? Isn't that extortion?
• Legend has it that Lady Godiva rode naked on her horse to protest her husband's oppressive taxes. Evidently just talking to him did no good. Even then men and women had communication problems.
• Before the Revolutionary War, the colonial government had only a limited need for revenue, while each of the colonies had greater responsibilities and thus greater revenue needs, which they met with different types of taxes. Those were called the good old days. [read more]

And here is some interesting quotes about taxes (these people sound like militia men especially that Heinlein dude, and that Paine guy):

• He who builds a better mousetrap these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount discrimination--and taxes. -- H. E. Martz
• If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep. -- Will Rogers
• When there's a single thief, it's robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it's taxation. -- Vanya Cohen
• Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. -- Robert Heinlein
• What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue. -- Thomas Paine
• We are told that this is an odious and unpopular tax. I never knew a tax that was not odious and unpopular with the people who paid it. -- John Sherman
• Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. -- Author unknown, from a Washington Post word contest

You can also read my blog from 2007 on taxes. It discusses the Flat Tax and the Fair Tax + some other stuff.

The ACLU Agenda

I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. --- ACLU founder Roger Baldwin

• All legal prohibitions on the distributions of obscene material--including child pornography--are unconstitutional.
• Pornographic outlets can locate wherever they please--whether next to churches or day-care centers or near residential neighborhoods.
• Tax-funded libraries should not restrict access of children to pornography on the Internet.
• Parents should have no legal recourse when it comes to shielding their children from exposure to hard-core pornography.
• The military cannot enforce even the most basic codes of conduct--such as discipline for disrespectful behavior toward a superior officer.
• The military cannot stop open displays of homosexual behavior within its ranks.
• Parents cannot limit their children's exposure to, or participation in public school classes and assemblies, any topic--except Orthodox Jewish or Christian teachings---that violates the family's core religious and moral beliefs.
• Public schools cannot observe recognized religious, historical, and cultural holidays such as Christmas, Easter, or Hanukkah, despite hundreds of years of American tradition.
• All legislative, military, and prison chaplaincy programs should be abolished.
• All criminal and civil laws that prohibit polygamy and same-sex "marriage" should be done away with.

Scary, but true. An interesting book. Source: The ACLU vs. America by Alan Sears and Craig Osten. (2005)

War on Terror and the Politically Correct

It seems that the politically correct crowd has run amok again. The "War on Terror" phrase has been replaced with "Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)." Huh? That makes no sense. What freakin' bureaucrat thought that up? Here's a Wikapedia definition of the word "contingency":

In philosophy and logic, contingency is the status of propositions that are not necessarily true or necessarily false. [read more]

Is that helpful? In other words, the phrase OCO is just doublespeak. Someone thought "War on Terror" was offensive to the Islamofascists (oh, I am sorry did I offend them?) Then somebody on Hannity thought "War on Terror" was too general. Fine, I can maybe see that point. So, here are my suggestions:

• War on Islamic Terrorists
• War on Militant Jihadists
• Fight against Islamic Fascism

Oops! I used the word "war." I'm bad. That same person who said "War on Terror" was too general, and thought it should be changed to "War on Al Queada." That's too narrow. It does not include any other Islamofascist group (like the Wahabbists, Hamas, etc.), and it does not include any future ones either.

Then you have the words "enemy combatant" removed from military documents. Come on! Okay, fine. Here are my suggestions for those words:

• Passionate Muslims with Tendencies to Explode
• Muslims with Explosive Personalities
• Rival Warrior
• Muslims who Disagree with Swords

Okay, I was having a little fun with terms.

Here's the overlooked point. The militant jihadists don't care what we call them. It's just war to them. Being nice too them won't make them change. It just makes you dead. It's not like they are having a bad day or being moody. This is their culture. It's what they do.

Oh did you hear? The Freedom Tower is being now called "One World Trade Center." Isn't that just peachy? Like the Islamofascists are offended by the word "Freedom." Then again maybe they are. But I don't think the words "One World" would make them ecstatic. Probably, "Islamic Trade Center" would be better.

Is me or is the words "One World" a little bit spooky? As in One World Government? Nah, I am just being paranoid.

AIG and the AIC

If you look at the bar graph on the Open Secrets website you will see that up to the year 2000, AIG gave both political parties in the Arrogant Incompetent Congress (AIC) equally. This makes sense because if both parties more or less share power equally a corporation wants to hedge its bet. Only in the year 2002 did AIG gave more money to the Republicans than to the Dems. After that year only the Dems got more bribes--er I mean contributions more than Republicans.

Who got the contributions? In 2008 including the House and Senate, 54 Dems got contributions, and 38 Republicans got contributions. Here are some of the people that got bribes contributions from most to least:

Barack "the Messiah" Obama	$104,332
Chris Dodd	$103,900
John McCain	$59,499
Hillary Clinton	$37,965
Mitt Romney	$20,850
Joseph "Hair plugs" Biden	$19,975
Rudolph Giuliani	$13,200
Dick "Turban" Durbin	$11,000
Charles Rangel	$9,000
John Edwards	$7,850

Some of the top receivers were people in the presidential race. Again, AIG was hedging their bets. If the AIC is going to make AIG execs return their bonuses, shouldn't any person on the incomplete list above return their money they got from AIG? Makes sense to me.

The Political Observations of Will Rogers

Will Rogers was a well-loved political humorous in the 1920's. Here is a sample of his observations. All these observations come from a book called The Best of Will Rogers by Bryan Sterling (1979):

• The bad part about our whole structure of paying our congressmen is that we name a sum and give 'em all the same, regardless of ability. No other business in the world has a fixed sum to pay all their employees the same salary. If some efficiency expert would work out a scheme where each one would be paid according to his ability, we would save a lot of money.
• If we could just send the same bunch of men to Washington for the good of the nation, and not for political reasons, we could have the most perfect government in the world.
• This new senator says he is going to use "common sense" in the senate. That's what they all say when they start in. But then, if nobody don't understand you, why, you naturally have to switch.
• We all joke about congress but we can't improve on them. Have you noticed that no matter whom we elect, he is just as bad as the one he replaces?
• Politics and self-preservation must come first, never mind the majority of the people in the U. S. A legislator's thoughts are naturally on his next term more than on his country.
• Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, they don't hurt anybody. When they do something is when they become dangerous.
• Senators are a never-ending source of amusement, amazement, and discouragement.
• A president only tells congress what they should do. Lobbyists tell 'em what they will do.
• A politician is just like a pickpocket; it's almost impossible to get one to reform.
• Don't take politics serious, it's just another American racket.
• What this country needs is more working men, and fewer politicians.
• In 1612 some wise guy decided that he would like to live off the other Virginians instead of off the forest, so they called him a politician.
• There is very little dignity, very little sportsmanship, or very little anything in politics. It's only: Get the Job and Hold It!

What he said back then is still rings true today. For more quotations from Will Rogers you can go to BrainyQuote.com and The Quotations Page.com.

Robot achieves scientific first

From FT.com (April 2):

A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators.

Adam formed a hypothesis on the genetics of bakers’ yeast and carried out experiments to test its predictions, without intervention from its makers at Aberystwyth University.

The result was a series of “simple but useful” discoveries, confirmed by human scientists, about the gene coding for yeast enzymes. The research is published in the journal Science. [read more]

There was an AI program called Bacon written in 1987 by two computer scientists (Patrick Langler and Gary Bradshaw) that made scientific discoveries using experimental data.

Evidently, the chief creator who made the robots must have a god-complex: He named the robots Adam and Eve. He says: "Adam is a prototype. Eve is better designed and more elegant." Women around the world smile.

Black Cars are Banned

At least in California if regulators get their way. From Wards Auto.com (Mar. 24):

If California regulators get their way, auto makers may soon be forced to rewrite a cliché from the Ford Model T era and start telling customers they can have any color they want as long as it isn’t black.

Some darker hues will be available in place of black, but right now they are identified internally at paint suppliers with names such as “mud-puddle brown” and are truly ugly substitutes for today’s rich ebony hues. [read more]

The regulators want to ban the color black on automobiles because they want to decrease "man-made" global warming. Black colored cars are warmer in the interior in the summertime than white color cars because black colored cars absorb more heat than white color cars (scientifically that is true). Therefore when driving an automobile in the summertime with a black finish you will put your air conditioner more often than with a white color car so the theory goes. Putting on your air conditioner makes your car use more gas. You see where this is going hopefully.

Here's a question: How much more gasoline is used with black colored cars verses light colored cars? That needs to be answered. Also, the sun's rays come through the windows too increasing the interior temperature (probably more than any black paint). This is the greenhouse effect. That factor needs to be eliminated, not to mention the heat of the engine. So those two factors need to be controlled to get an accurate reading.

There is another issue: On cold days driving a black car would be nice because you would want the interior to be warm and would never use the air conditioner. I know California probably does not have many cold days, but if this stupid measure gets implemented in other states (17 other states follow California's regulations according to the article) that do have cold weather people will get upset. They might get upset anyway if their color options are limited.

Finally, what about houses that use black colored roofs? Wouldn't their interiors be warmer than lighter colored roofs? Thus using more air conditioning increasing "man-made" global warming? Something more to be controlled.

By the way, this is not an April Fool's joke. I wish it were, but it's not. The real joke is those regulators. But nobody will be laughing.

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

From Reuters.com (March 24):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible. [read more]

Ah, those poor, poor newspapers. It seems the gov't is bailing out every business now--which is what newspapers are. Could it be that people are getting their news online at various news sites for free like I do? If you read one newspaper you are limiting yourself news wise. Newspapers are not making money because they are not getting subscribers and advertisers. Mainly subscribers because advertisers will only advertise if there are enough subscribers to the paper. There has to be someone to see the advertisement or else the ad does not work. Newspapers can do what the New York Times did--find someone to borrow from. New York Times found a wealthy Mexican investor to make it stay afloat. No negative stories about him I guess.

As for the part they will be prohibited from making political endorsements--they'll get around that. They can do that by running stories positive for a politician and throw one or two stories that are negative against the politician for good measure and bury them in the back pages. Or they can have a reporter do a story about a politician and slam him/her then the paper can say the reporter's view is not our own.

Note that newspapers can't endorse a politician but the bill doesn't say anything about endorsing an issue like gun control, etc. I would rather have newspapers be factually accurate as possible. That's more important to me. Being bias one way or another just goes along with the territory.

Again this is not Congress' responsibility. It might even violate the Freedom of the Press right. What is next? Having TV news go nonprofit? NBC News ratings aren't very good. If that happens then Fox News could go nonprofit too. Wouldn't that make the Left happy. I wonder if the bill passes how many newspapers will be nonprofit and have the gov't tell them what they can and can't do.

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.

Our world may be a giant hologram

From New Scientist.com (1/15/09):

For the past seven years, this German set-up has been looking for gravitational waves - ripples in space-time thrown off by super-dense astronomical objects such as neutron stars and black holes. GEO600 has not detected any gravitational waves so far, but it might inadvertently have made the most important discovery in physics for half a century.

For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."

Interesting. I alluded to this in my "The Holographic Universe" blog entry toward the end of the blog entry.

Obama Should Emulate Ronald Reagan, Voters Tell Pollster

From CNSNews.com (January 21, 2009):

Americans would like to see incoming President Barack Obama use Ronald Reagan as a role model.
When given the choice of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, JFK, Dwight Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan – registered voters overwhelmingly said they want the new Democratic president to emulate the late conservative Republican president, who held office in the 1980’s. [read more]

Not only did Republicans put Reagan on top of the poll but so did voters overall. The pollster was surprised by the poll. I wasn't. President Reagan was optimistic and stressed conservative values and beliefs. He also connected with people on a basic level and made the citizens of America feel important. Reagan had faith in the individual citizen. He is the president most people remember recently. No-one is hardly alive today to remember Lincoln, Washington, and Andrew Jackson. These were good presidents but people only remember them from history books. Older adults remember FDR, Truman, JFK, Dwight Eisenhower, and Theodore Roosevelt personally but I think none of them connected with the populous like Reagan did.
I hope every Republican running for office reads this poll. Let this be a lesson to them. Conservative values are not dead. If they emulate Reagan more often they would win more often. They don't have to act like him or talk like him--just take on Reagan's philosophy of life. If John McCain would have done this he would have been president instead of Obama.

Scientists measure methane at the source

No this is not a photo of new cow accessory. According to Popsci.com (9/18/2008):

Researchers from Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology connected inflatable tanks to the cows’ first stomach, where methane is made, through a small hole between their ribs. By measuring methane production directly inside each cow, biologist Silvia Valtorta hopes to more accurately determine the country’s overall agricultural contribution to global warming. [read more]

The article does not say how much that tank weighs on the cow but I don't think it is too comfortable for it. I wonder if PETA knows what these researchers are doing. Oh well. Even cows, I guess, have to be inconvenienced for the cause of stopping global warming. The article also said they had to make a small hole in the cow's second stomach so they could put a tube in there. Ouch! The tube connects to the tank on top. I hope they tranquilized the cow before they did all that.

Are the researchers putting tanks on deer and water buffalo too? They probably contribute to global warming too I would think. Or are cows just easier to catch?

I agree with one of the comments that this is just stupid research and a waste of money. I wonder if this idea is going to catch on in America. Could be. There's people in this country that like to waste money too for stupid causes.

Earth's Magnetic Field Changes Climate

From Discover News.com (Jan. 13, 2009):

The Earth's climate has been significantly affected by the planet's magnetic field, according to a Danish study published Monday that is unlikely to challenge the notion that human emissions are largely responsible for global warming.

"Our results show a strong [my italics] correlation between the strength of the Earth's magnetic field and the amount of precipitation in the tropics," one of the two Danish geophysicists behind the study, Mads Faurschou Knudsen of the geology department at Aarhus University in western Denmark, told the Videnskab journal. [read more]

Well isn't that surprising! Not! How dare that darn magnetic field that blocks solar wind from reaching the earth increase global warming! I remember reading that Mars has global warming on it too. Well Mars has a magnetic field too. I wonder if its magnetic field is causing global warming for it. Global warming on Mars can't be man-made. No people are on Mars. The only other thing in common with both planets is the sun. Hmmmm. The article says that the climate is an "incredible complex system." Duh. Ask any meteorologist and they would agree.

Obama's 'climate czar' tied to socialism

This is the headline of OneNewsNow.com's website. Is this really news? It almost warrants a "duh." A climate czar is basically going to try to stop "man-made" global warming. Or as it is called now since the world is getting colder "climate change." The fight against global warming is part of the plan to try to create a one world gov't. Just a power grab. As the article states she (the climate czar) is part a group that "calls for rich countries to shrink their economies in order to combat climate change." One of those rich countries is America. So, who do you think Obama would pick as a climate czar? A meteorologist? Most meteorologists think "man-made" global warming is a hoax and it is just nature going through cycles. No, he could not pick a skeptic. He had to pick a socialistic believer.

Some people think Obama might move toward the center. I hope he does, but I am not holding my breath. Let's see. He has Congress and House dominated by the left. So, where's the pressure for him to move to the center? Does he have any conservatives on his staff? That would be a real "team of rivals" the press talks about. Having moderates on the team does not count. This climate czar is definitely not a conservative. I'm going to take a wait and see attitude about him moving toward the center.

The Hemenway-Solnick Study at Harvard

Economists David Hemenway and Sara Solnick did a study at Harvard where they asked people if they would prefer to receive an annual salary of $50,000 when others are making $25,000 than to earn $100,000 a year when others are making $200,000. Most of the respondents said they would rather earn the smaller figure.

What this is just plain envy. This emotion is also what the Left loves to exploit. Raise taxes on the rich. "Economic justice" and all that. Well, Soviets did exactly that--implemented economic justice (read: Marxism). What happened? The poor stayed poor, the rich became poor, and the gov't became rich.

The Left tells people you will feel better if the rich lose their money. But this feeling is only temporary because your situation has not changed--only the situation of the envied people are. Your envy toward the once-rich may have gone away and replaced with satisfaction but again does this in the end help you at all? Think of this: wealth is relative. If you are envious of someone else because of their wealth then someone else is probably envious of you because of your wealth. You want your income reduced? Politics is not only local, it is also very personal when it effects you.

Most people who are envious are envious of strangers. If you are envious of friends--you friendship will be harmed. If you are envious of family members--then you are causing strife in the family. Envy is a very pernicious negative emotion because you not wishing someone else well because of what they have or even because of their talents. That I think why it is one of the deadly sins.

Impulsive Behavior Can Make Life Hard

This is almost a "duh, so what." What I mean by the blog title is if you are impulsive as a child, later on as an adult you will live a much harder life. In his book The Time Paradox (2008) Dr. Phillip Zimbardo talks about a simple study that was done at Stanford University's Bing Nursery School. In this study four-year-olds were given a choice to eat a single marshmallow now or wait later on for two marshmallows. Some kids at the marshmallow later on and others waited for the two marshmallows. It did not matter what the reward was--same behavior.

Later on when the kids grew up they were interviewed. The kids who resisted the single marshmallow had developed a range of superior emotional and social competencies compared with the children who had eaten the treat immediately. The non-impulsive adults were better able to deal with adversity and stress, and they were more self-confident, diligent, and self-reliant. Even the intelligent was higher with the non-impulsive adults. It is something to ponder. I guess according to this study patience is its own reward.

Islamic Nations Push to End Free Speech at UN

From Newsmax.com (December 17, 2008):

GENEVA — Islamic proposals to ban criticism of religion, which have gathered strength since the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad two years ago, threaten to derail an already troubled U.N. anti-racism conference planned for next year.

The European Union rejects suggestions by Algeria — backed by other Muslim and African countries — that limits on free speech are needed to stop the publication of offensive articles and images.

Supporters of the proposal, who have been pushing for such a ban to be included in international anti-discrimination charters, want it discussed in April at a high-level United Nations anti-racism meeting in Geneva. [more]

Substitute "the world" with "UN" in the title and you have what the Islamofacists really want. No criticisms of Islam at all in the world. It doesn't surprise me though. You don't hear Christians, Jews, Hindus or the other religions want to ban criticisms of their religions. Sort of makes a person wonder if Islam is so strong and secure a religion why can't it take any criticism? No believer likes its religion poked fun (like Monty Python's the "Life of Brian" movie which made fun of Jesus Christ, or the new movie "Religulous") or criticized, but if they have a strong faith it should not matter to them if it is criticized.

I am glad the other countries are standing up against these Islamists. If they don't then that is exactly what the Muslim fanatics want. Total fear or submission.

eHarmony.com potential issue

I believe I found a potential issue on eHarmony.com's site. It does not filter out or allow the subscriber to filter out people (s)he does not want to date such as relatives, exes (that would be funny, if the service matched you with your ex), etc. I looked at their website closely and did not see a filter of any kind. Since I don't use their service I cannot say for sure they don't have filters, but just reading the description of their service I did not see any.

The tricky part is to create a filter. One possible way is to have the subscriber create a "block list" of people who (s)he never wants to be a potential mate. This list could contain at the very least the person's first and last name. Maybe a middle name or initial. To rule out people with the same name you want to date, a birthday field could also be included so you don't get false positives.

Is this really a problem? It could be if you have a lot of friends or relatives who use the service. It is interesting to note that eHarmony does not do background checks. So, you could potentially be dating someone who is secretly stalking you.

Good Code, Bad Computations: A Computer Security Gray Area

ScienceDaily (2008-11-03) -- If you want to make sure your computer or server is not tricked into undertaking malicious or undesirable behavior, it's not enough to keep bad code out of the system. New research shows that the process of building bad programs from good code using "return-oriented programming" can be automated and that this vulnerability applies to multiple computer architectures. [more]

Basically, a hacker hacks a website for example and rewrites some of the existing code instead of injecting his own outside code on the website to do some potentially malicious behavior. Good job for the researchers for imagining the unimaginable.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 12

• I may not know anything about how match-mating services (like eharmony.com, match.com, etc.) work but wouldn't their customer base drop off if they were really worked? Eventually, everyone looking for a soul mate will be happily married and won't need the business again. One exception would be is if their spouse died then they would use the business again.
• If people could record their nighttime dreams on DVD, it could be useful (you could playback a problem you solved for instance) and it could be potentially embarrassing (your erotic dream could get uploaded to Youtube). Either way dream interpretation psychologists would find the technology helpful to them in dealing with their clients' issues.
• Don't own a pet that can kill you.
• They should make alimony optional. From a feminist point of view I would think a man paying alimony to a woman would be disrespectful. I mean it says that a woman still needs a man monetarily even when they are divorced. Most women work now so why do women need alimony? Child-support I can understand. But alimony in this age where men and women are supposed to be equal? And what about a man getting alimony from an ex-wife who has more money or a better paying job than he does?
• The difference between a good man and an evil man is that a good man feels bad when he has to kill a person even in self-defense, war or in justifiable homicide.
• I wonder what a pro-abortion woman would think of a pro-life woman sacrificing her life for her unborn child. That is to say giving birth could put the mother at serious harm or even death. After all doesn't the mother have that (pro-)choice to sacrifice herself for her child?
• Two monkeys swinging in a tree is better than one monkey throwing poo at you.
• If everyone worked for the federal gov't then who would pay their salary? It is the private sector who pays for the federal employees salaries. Without the private sector there is no government workers.
• In the heart of every liberal lurks a Marxist anxious to come out.
• It is better to have the gov't poor than the private citizen poor. A rich gov't and poor citizens only leads to oppression. Like Cuba and the defunct Soviet Union.

Russia, Iran and Qatar Discuss Forming Gas Cartel

From Newsmax.com (October 21, 2008):

TEHRAN, Iran -- Russia, Iran and Qatar made the first serious moves Tuesday toward forming an OPEC-style cartel on natural gas, raising concerns that Moscow could boost its influence over energy markets spanning from Europe to South Asia.

Washington and Western allies worry that closer strategic ties between Russia and Iran could hinder efforts to isolate Tehran over its nuclear ambitions. In addition, the United States opposes a proposed Iranian gas pipeline to Pakistan and India, key allies. [more]

That sounds like something directly out of a Joel C. Rosenberg novel like The Ezekiel Option (a great novel by the way). In the novel, Russia and Iran team up against Israel (actually almost all the world is against Israel) and the president of the United States has to make a decision to support Israel or not. His novels are based on observations of the world and Biblical prophecy.

America only imports 18,352 million cubic feet of natural gas per year from Qatar. None from Iran and Russia. Most of the natural gas comes from Canada, Egypt, and Trinidad (yea, that's right Trinidad). The article mentioned Mexico but we only get 54,062 million cubic feet from them. Not bad, but not nearly as much from the above three. So that cartel won't hurt America too much. Although, The Wall Street Journal makes a good point that a natural gas cartel won't have much control over prices as much as an oil cartel does because the natural gas market is fragmented. This is just Russia trying to exert more control over their neighbor's economy. Iran maybe thinking the same way. Still, them teaming up in anyway makes me nervous.

This cartel makes sense politically. Russia and Iran has become partners in different deals so I can understand them teaming up. Qatar and Iran has teamed up too. June of last year they have backed a Hamas coup.

The Drive-by-Media Attacks Again

What the drive-by-media is doing to "Joe the plumber" (Joe Wurzelbacher) is just terrible. He is just a working guy that asked a politician a question and because of that he gets an anal exam from the media. Is he really a licensed plumber? Was he a Republican plant? All this is really misdirection from the media and the Dems. Look over here (Joe) and not at the real story (Obama showing his true colors). This isn't much of a story. It seems that either Obama is getting over confident about the polls and letting his guard drop or he must have not realized his conversation was being filmed. Either way Obama being a far-right liberal is not surprising to me. The American Conservative Union website rates Obama an eight from a scale of 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) of being a conservative. An eight! Can you believe that? That's almost a Communist! On a side note Google's search engine got bogged down when users did a search for Mr. Wurzelbacher.

Mr. Wurzelbacher's dealings with the media reminds of another working guy that got overly scrutinized by the media: Richard Jewell. If you remember he at first was declared hero by the press because he found a pipe bomb at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia then later on the press declared him a suspect. He never was charged and later on was exonerated. He died in August 2007 from natural causes. He had diabetes, kidney disease, and severe heart disease. What the drive-by-media did to him did not help his situation.

In America the press has freedom from gov't influence, but it seems anymore they are abusing that right. It does not give them the right to ruin people's lives or give them an anal exam. There is such things as ethics and responsibility. The media never investigates their friends (Obama, Bill Ayers) but they will put a microscope on their perceived enemies or enemies of their friends. Or they will attempt to discredit people or events that could potentially negatively effect their friends. Mr. Wurzelbacher was just being an informed voter. He was just inquiring about Obama's economic policy in a calm respectful manner. What's wrong with that? We should all be that curious about people running for office. That's what makes the political system a better system. Mr. Wurzelbacher did not even say who he was voting for. For just being a curious and doing his civic duty he got a rectal exam from the media.

Anymore, the media is not about reporting the facts it is about agendas. One agenda being discredit your enemies and protect your friends. You don't have a genuine media anymore when you do that, you just have a propaganda machine. And that is just plane sad.

A Conservative Candidate Strategy

Here is a tip for a republican or conservative candidate that is running for office:
Differentiate yourself from your opponent. A political candidate is like a product you would buy. If you are buying a car and two cars are very similar to one another it does not matter very much which one you buy. You have to stand out from your opponent. Glenn Beck said about the second presidential debate it was like watching a Marxist (Obama) verses a bad Democrat (McCain). Don't be your opponent!
The way to differentiate yourself is to talk about conservative principles passionately in your own voice without using the word conservative. People who aren't politically savvy do not know what a conservative is. Talk about how entrepreneurs are the engine of the nation. That we should not punish the successful by raising their taxes. Control gov't spending. That gov't isn't the solution to most problems. That the rich, the poor, and the middle class are all Americans. Playing divide-and-conquer helps no-one other than the divider himself. President Ronald Reagan did not have to mention the word conservative. He did not have to. What he said resonated with most Americans because most believed that America is an exceptional country like he did. He got his message across without worrying what the press thought of him.
Secondly, a conservative needs to go on offense. Put the liberal on defense. Make him show his true ideology. What do you have against wealthy people? How are you planning to pay for all billions of dollars given to the United Nations for the poor overseas? Name three things you love about America?
One last thing, Reagan did not worry about the independent vote. If an independent is a conservative he will vote for a conservative candidate anyway.

The Intelligent TV

Here are some of my idea for the intelligent TV. This TV could:

• Turn down or mute the volume when a commercial comes on.
• Turn itself off when there is no-one in the room. It could do this by reading heat signatures in the room. There could be a time delay before it turns itself off.
• Mute/turn down the volume/turn itself off if all the viewers fall asleep. You don't want this action happening if someone is still watching the TV. Again a time delay could be set.
• Mute itself if a phone rings in front of the TV and you pick up the receiver. The trick is having the TV unmute when you hang up or if you don't pick up the receiver.

All functions above can be toggled.

Son of Stimulus Package

If Nancy Pelosi is talking about another huge ($150 billion) stimulus package (like the first one worked really well) what the gov't should do to get people to spend money is to send out a gift card to a store of a taxpayer's choosing. Otherwise if you just send out a check the taxpayer would just deposit it in their bank account. This is how the idea would work. When the taxpayer fills out the tax form (s)he can indicate what store (s)he wants the gift card from. The only problems are is that it will take longer for gov't to get the cards from a specific store and the store may not have a gift card in that exact mount. The gov't may have to send out out multiple cards. Hat tip from the Glenn Beck show about this idea although the guest's suggested was to send out coupons to the taxpayers. I think the guest was joking. But sending out coupons to the taxpayer restricts the taxpayer to one particular product.

Actually better idea is to send out a debit card with the exact amount of the "refund." That way the gov't does not have to worry about what stores the taxpayer goes to.

An even better idea than the above two is just scrap the stimulus package and cut every one's (not just 95% of the population) taxes and cut the payroll tax too.

Elderly riots?

Bill Clinton crony James Carville has suggested that if Obama loses by a close margin that "it would be very, very, very dramatic out there." Hmmm. Sounds like he is suggesting (and other Libs are suggesting this too) that there will race riots.

What about the flip side? What if McCain loses by a small margin? Couldn't be possible that the elderly would riot? I could see hordes of elderly people entering the streets very slowly with their canes and walkers about to protest Obama getting elected then forgetting what they came out in the street for in the first place.

The question is would Obama do the Al Gore and have a recount and turn the country inside-out if he does loose by a close margin? It depends on how power hungry he is.

Operation Chaos Part 2

If Obama becomes president and the Congress and the House become even more liberal, what the conservatives could do to possibly block stupid spending bills from passing is to put innocuous riders on them that will tick off the libs. For example, a national holiday for President Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, and President George W. Bush (the holidays do not have to be on all on the same bill). See what happens when you don't have line-item veto? Operation Chaos continues!

Putting A 'Korset' On The Spread Of Computer Viruses

ScienceDaily (2008-09-15) -- Prof. Avishai Wool and his graduate student Ohad Ben-Cohen of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Engineering have written a program called the "Korset" to stop malware on Linux, the operating system used by the majority of web and email servers worldwide. They have modified the kernel in system's operating system so that it monitors and tracks the behavior of the programs installed on it. Quoting from the article:

If the kernel senses abnormal activity, it stops the program from working before malicious actions occur. “When we see a deviation, we know for sure there’s something bad going on,” Prof. Wool explains. [more]

Interesting article. Their approach could probably work on PC's, Apple computers, cell phones, or any other computerized device that contains software. I have always thought that individual software programs could use a similar approach by monitoring their pgm size and date modified. If either of the two have changed since installed on the computer then the pgm would not run and alert the user of a possible virus attack. Of course, if the pgm gets updated then the pgm would take this into account. On a similar note, I found this patent on the web:

A computer virus trapping device (10) is described that detects and eliminates computer viruses before they can enter a computer system and wreck havoc on its files, peripherals, etc. The trapping device (10) creates a virtual world that simulates the host computer system (28) intended by the virus to infect. The environment is made as friendly as possible to fool a computer virus into thinking it is present on the host (28), its intended target system. Within this virtual world, the virus is encouraged to perform its intended activity. The invention is able to detect any disruptive behaviour occurring within this simulated host computer system. It is further able to remove (52) the virus from the data stream before it is delivered to the host (28) and/or take any action previously instructed by a user (38).

Both are good ideas. Instead of removing a specific virus by its "DNA" or virus-print, you are removing any virus by its behavior. If a virus changes then the anti-virus companies have to update their anti-virus pgm. They always have to play catch-up.

Computer Hardware 'Guardians' Protect Users From Undiscovered Bugs

ScienceDaily (2008-10-01) -- As computer processor chips grow faster and more complex, they are likely to make it to market with more design bugs. But that may be OK, according to researchers who have devised a system that lets chips work around all functional bugs, even those that haven't been detected. [more]

This is pretty cool. Here is more from the article:

The approach keeps track of all the configurations the firm did test, and loads that information onto a minuscule monitor that would be added to each processor.

The monitor, called a semantic guardian, keeps the chip operating within its virtual fence. It works by switching the processor into a slower, bare-bones, safe mode when the chip encounters a configuration that has not been validated. In this way, the monitor would treat all untested configurations as potential threats.

Who Caused the Economic Crisis?

FactCheck.org lists on their website who they think caused the economic crises. Guess what, it's almost everyone. Below is their list. Count how many times the gov't is listed.

• The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.
• Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.
• Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.
• Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.
• The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and down payment requirements for working- and middle-class families.
• Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.
• Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.
• Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.
• The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.
• An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.
• Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up.

I counted six times the gov't, three times the private-sector and once the consumer. The last one included everybody. Will the economy eventually recover? Of course it will. It is a dynamic non-linear system. Those systems have a strong tendency to self-correct. But if you tamper or mess with them too much they can become chaotic and never recover their previous state. When it comes to the economy, it is the gov't (especially Congress because they enact the laws) is the one who can really make things worse. Gov't can screw up the natural workings of the economy if they do not know what they are doing. Which is most of the time.