A Believable Outcome

From This Morning's National Review 2008 Predictions:

In the coming Republican administration, Mitt Romney will be secretary of the Treasury, Rudy Giuliani will be secretary of homeland security, Fred Thompson will be attorney general, Mike Huckabee will be secretary of health and human services, and John McCain will be secretary of defense — following a remarkable election where GOP voters nominate “None of the Above” as their candidate for president, who then wins in a landslide when matched up against the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

"Predatory" Lending Touched On

From today's Victor Hanson's 2007 review on National Review Online:

as if poor buyers had a gun to their heads when they bet that housing would continually appreciate

The Benefits Myth

So, my Girlfriend’s sister seems to enjoy making everyone in the world feel bad for her and a favorite weapon is to complain about not having a job with benefits. Basically, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in an unpopular field at an out of state college and is now riddled with debt while unable to find employment in that unpopular field. She does have a job and it’s not bad, just not up to her own untenable standards.

Part of the constant complaining that her presence comprises is about how “lucky” I am to have a job with benefits that pays well. In her eyes, I’m some type of cartoonish fat cat bad guy because I’ve never worked as an adult for nine dollars an hour. Lucky decision I made when choosing an employable degree and in-state college. Lucky interview I had for my current position. Lucky to work 50 plus hours a week and never say no to supervisors.

Fortunately I can summon the attention span of a praying mantis when I feel like it and I learned years ago that arguing with someone like that was about as useful as learning to fry crickets. In basic summation I am sympathetic to her and others in the same situation even in the face of criticism for being deemed successful. I can’t help though to believe her anger to be misguided and ill-informed. Misguided because I think everyone should own their decisions, including career. And ill-informed because of what I refer to as “The Benefits Myth”.

I started to think about benefits recently as the company I work for recently changed health insurance providers. The new company sent a regionally ethnic speaking (heavy and insultingly Hispanic accented) stooge to introduce them. I knew that everything was devolving once the speaker referred to the company’s goal as promoting my “health care destiny”. As I understand the presentation the new company’s goal is to encourage customers to take charge of their own health care from diagnosis to treatment, basically the worst thing a customer could do is get sick in any way that requires a real live doctor and anything stronger than can be had over the counter. I wish I was kidding when I refer to the presenter’s promotion of webmd.com and the virtues of aspirin.

Of course this new plan had the requisite increase in costs over the old one even though its actual usefulness was difficult to appreciate. This fact led me to do some looking on the web in regard to health care plans available to the individual. On eHealthInsurance.com I was able to configure a local quote from Blue Cross/Blue Shield with the same level of coverage as the company my employer chose for less. Now it was only about two dollars less a month but nonetheless I was stunned. In addition to the insurance stooge, my employer sent an HR tool to preach about how much the company cared about and contributed to employee benefits.

Besides feeling that I had learned the true health insurance contribution of my employer I also believe the benefits myth discredits those who complain of a lack of benefits. In five minutes of research I located an identical plan at a nearly identical price that anyone in my area can obtain.

It would be naïve of me to believe that my new argument would cause my Girlfriend’s sister to flinch. I’m lucky because I can afford my benefits, remember. Because I know that my argument can’t go anywhere with those devoid of logic is the reason why I’m writing about it.

Just because my employer negotiated with a particular insurance company doesn’t mean they’re the only option. Complaints about health care in this country are as common as Starbucks today and a lot has to do with the myth of lack of accessibility. Of course, the majority of complainers believe that the government can do a better job thinking about and providing healthcare for them and are simply too indifferent to explore any options before speaking. It’s that choice that they are really complaining about and the desire for simplicity that drives the universal healthcare bandwagon.

The unfortunate thing is that those pushing for such an extreme don’t bother with facts as they jump to conclusions. The assumption of righteousness on the subject only blinds ignorance and leaves the rest of us to deal with the consequences. Because of such pomposity we may one day be “lucky” to be relieved of 60% of our incomes as taxes to pay for it.

Drastic Climate Change

on Mars. Seems the Mars Rover was equipped with a V8 filled with premium Chevron, so now all the Martian polar bears are in danger!

But of course, this has nothing to do with the Sun. How can the Sun possibly cause climate change?

Thompson...Hunter...Brownback...Romney

The more I review the field of 08 candidates, one of these gentlemen so far would receive my vote for president. As time comes closer, primaries approaching, people dropping out, one not even making his official announcement yet, best chances of legitimately capturing ticket, etc. it really looks like Romney is gonna get my nod unless if something changes. Of course, we're probably gonna hear Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, so my point is probably moot...but these four gentlemen for me personally are the closest definitions of conservative you can get. Unfortunately though, these gentlemen don't have the name value (particularly Hunter and Brownback. Romney is picking up steam) to face the Clintons, Obamas, and Edwardss.

I WOULD throw in Newt Gingrich in the conservative mix, but Gingrich has proven time and time again to not being able to match up to the liberals. Historically, everytime this guy gets confronted by Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, or any other prominent liberal, Gingrich goes down in flames. And just recently Gingrich had a lovefest with John Kerry over global warming (that wasn't a debate. How many times did these guys agree with each other). Gingrich recently was at a women's conservative conference explaining the farce of global warming and it's just mere weeks later where now he thinks it's a major issue deserving of attention.

Very underrated candidate to me would be the other Thompson: Tommy. And if Jeb Bush would run........to me, of all the Bushes (including George Sr), he is the most qualified Bush of them all. Unfortunately, I think this country is getting a little tired of the Bush mantra. Since 1980, we've had some sort of Bush in office - nationally and gubernatorialy (sp).

I wouldn't mind supporting Tom Tancredo, but the only problem here is he seems to hinge upon the immigration issue and that issue only. You need a broader base of issues

Bill Frist dropped out, so he's off my radar.

Chuck Hagel would be fine with me if he's not so anti-military

So, in order so far and relying solely on issues perspective, I like 1) Hunter...2) Brownback...3) Romney...4) F Thompson

There goes the neighborhood

Well, it is Santa Fe. I'm sorry guys - I guess they're invading you from the east coast now too.

Global Warming as National Security

From the "How to make our country materially less safe" file. A "bipartisan" bill would direct the Pentagon and CIA to treat global warming as a security issue and conduct wargames, analysis, etc. The reason the Pentagon might conduct wargames for something like the invasion of the mainland US is that they could do something about it, namely send hot lead (or depleated uranium) and high explosives at the badguys. What are the Pentagon and CIA going to do against the environment? This is not their proper function! Passing a bill like this is akin to doing our enemys' work for them. Any personel/resources assigned to this task would not be doing their assumed previous task of protecting our country from its enemies. If Congress insists on some sort of global warming impact/readiness plan, a much better way to go about it would be to create funding for the scientific community. For that matter, just about any scheme for accomplishing that goal would be better than derailing our national defense.

Your tax dollars at work

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is apparently so busy that when the RIAA volunteered to write the USPTO's reports, the USPTO thought it was a win-win situation. The extracted content in the first link is the condemning part. The press release doesn't sound so bad. Probably because it leaves out mention of national security being harmed when the RIAA is forced to sue children and therefore look like a badguy. People installing file sharing software on sensitive systems (and configuring said software to share sensitive files from those systems) appears to be the only real problem. That doesn't mean file sharing software is evil, it means people are stupid.

No Wonder

The people of Michigan have spoken, "no more racism". Sadly, "virtually every major GOP official and organization, including the gubernatorial candidate, opposed the measure..." Is it any wonder that the RNC lost big? Using this issue as an example, there is no need to wonder. A clear moral decision and Michigan state Republicans were on the wrong side. Happily, the people were on the right side. In another example of ineptitude, Senate GOP leadership had to be thwarted by a vocal minority. Take it upon themselves to cut the pork? Nah, let's see what the Democrats do with it. Has the federal budget really increased by 50 percent over the last six years?
Finally, on a positive note,
here are some Republicans doing something useful. Maybe we could replace the guys on Capitol Hill with College Republicans?

It begins?

Are they already trying to pull out enough rope to hang themselves in '08?

What's Really Important

I've often considered the priorities of Gov Richardson to be smoke and mirrors, mostly image and not all that much concerned with issues in the state. From the braggadocious commercials detailing the recent film exploits of New Mexico (without mentioning the huge tax breaks for filmmakers or the fact the state has to pose as some other locale) to his enormous entourage at public events and insistence on being treated as a kind of royalty (Yes, the Governor of New Mexico has a list of demands when he graciously makes an appearance much like Brittany Spears or Madonna).

I've always considered Richardson to be nothing more than a politician, a very good one, but nothing more. Harsh, perhaps but the evidence is there and always has been. Now that the governor's race is over, many expect Richardson to focus on an 08 Presidential run and his statements on a recent poll give me no reason to think any different about his priorities...

Richardson said he's honored that a majority of voters consider him good presidential material. He said New Mexicans are proud when a local leader gets national attention and brings more visibility to the state.

Because apparently, what's important is New Mexico's visibility. Maybe Richardson's networking skills and visibility will get New Mexico a date with California. Now that's hot.

A Silver Lining?

A little fun from National Review this morning...

I always vote for people who do the least amount of damage on the populace — which normally would be a Republican. (I call this my “Run from Godzilla” Theory.) But now I’m inclined to believe it’s a Democrat who will do the least harm. Having no apparent belief system or coherent set of ideas, they can’t possibly do anything. And that’s the kind of government I can get behind.

Christmas at Rockefeller

So last night I'm ready for some prime time TV with the only goal in mind to avoid election coverage. It's not that I was nervous or anything, just can't stand the way it's covered as if it were a sporting event.

Thanks to my handy Dish network guide I see that NBC will be showing an actual program at 7, so I navigate there only to be bombarded by a "brief" interruption. At first it was the mostly harmless local stooges but then there were a few minutes for the NBC news team.

You would have thought it was Christmas for Brian Williams and Tim Russert. The glee in the pair's eyes as they projected the Honorable (and I mean that, I've met him and I've followed his votes and speeches and writings) Sen. Santorum's loss in Pennsylvania was just shameful. Donkey cheerleaders, that's all they are.

The rest of the night followed suit, from the local broadcast projecting Richardson with ZERO percent reporting to the obligatory use of the word democrat every sentence.

The question now becomes, since they got what they wanted, what next? Speaker Pelosi chills my veins but the potential for unintentional comedy intrigues me.

On the Verge...

As I stood in line this morning, eighth in line for precinct 355, I thought back over the past several weeks when my decision to vote was in question.

For whatever reason I seemed to have forgotten why I should vote. Be it my love of campaign ads, my current workload or just plain laziness I didn't even plan to.

But then a certain commercial caught my attention. Perhaps you've seen it. Sponsored by some PAC calling themselves the "September" fund, it is an ad promising the societal riches granted by the democrat fairy. Ugh. democrats, a better plan my butt.

I must admit that I am ashamed a commercial was the primary reason I got myself out to the polls this morning. Only partly really because that commercial got me to remember why I vote, why I believe the things I do and that became the real reason.

Earlier I was fine with believing that if this state was willing to elect Patricia Madrid, they deserved it and the connotation of having the dumbest congressperson which would inevitably come with it. But not anymore.

Happy election day everyone.

Bono: Hollywood Hypocrite

Nothing new.

Daily Nazi Comparison

So, here's today's comparison of conservatives to Nazis:

Global Warming Skeptics Should Have Nuremburg Style Trials

Actually, I don't even know if global warming skeptics are conservatives, but it certainly is more likely. I think it's just plain good science to be skeptical. One of the first things you are taught as an engineer is the danger of extrapolation. Heck, you can extrapolate anything and make it look bad, or good.

I'm sick of hearing people around me talk about Algore's "An Inconvenient Truth" as if it were gospel. Is it an "inconvenient truth" that this year's hurricane season is decidedly less damaging and lethal as last year's, in spite of the fact that more and more CO2 is pumped into the atmosphere? Well, they've still got a month left in hurricane season, so I bet they've got their fingers crossed, hoping a big one hits Manhattan...

Homer: It's pronounced 'nucular'. Nucular.

North Korea is now nuclear. Indeed, why wouldn't they be? Whatever slap on the wrist they recieve won't hardly affect the North Korean leadership. After all, it's a "worker's party," the leadership could care less about the peasants. One bit of news that might play in to this is that a South Korean is to be the next secretary general of the UN. Speaking of South Korea, maybe a temporary solution would be to arm them. A MAD scenerio to keep North Korea in check. Probably should arm Taiwan and Japan too. In this context, armed means nuclear missles hardwired to targets in North Korea. The missles could be tied into a sensor network which would only allow their launch upon detection of a nuclear blast in the host country.

Why would anyone think Islam is evil?

The Pope tried to soften his quotation that Islam is evil so that Muslims will stop vowing war, burning churches and killing nuns.

Crocodile Hunter

It really sucks that the Crocodile Hunter is dead. You've got to wonder about the revenge on the stingrays thing though. If one of you guys after being killed by a random animal would like other members of that species killed on sight, you should probably let me know those sentiments ahead of time otherwise I might not think to do it.

Zombies

Very short video link.

Security

A selection of entries from the Crypto-Gram (a "security guru"'s newsleter)

Hours-long waits in the security line. Ridiculous prohibitions on what you can carry on board. Last week's foiling of a major terrorist plot and the subsequent airport security changes graphically illustrates the difference between effective security and security theater.
[...] Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation.

Getting inside the terrorists' heads (funny cartoon):
http://www.wondermark.com/d/220.html

By January 1st, 2007, everyone crossing the border between the U.S. and Canada is supposed to have a passport. This is because of terrorism, of course. But now we learn that ferries and private watercraft will be exempt. One of two things is true. Either passports are required for security, in which case we should interfere with ferries. Or they're for show, in which case we can just do what's convenient. Or maybe we just know that terrorists never take ferries. I get that security is a trade-off, but this is kind of silly.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/18/chertoff-edmonton.html

Here's a collection of 11 prison shivs confiscated over 20 years ago in New Jersey. Think about these, and the adverse conditions they were made under, the next time you see someone's pocket knife being taken away from him at airport security.
http://www.designobserver.com/archives/016492.html

Israeli Pres. Accused of Rape

See here.

However, we've already beat them to this ...he should take heart, because nothing happened to Slick Willie!

Got all bases covered

What, exactly, is this guy protesting?

Old Hat

To me, the Reuters photo scandal just proves what we've known all along about these wire services. It's almost expected, so I'm not terribly outraged (as I should be), just exasperated.

Personally, I think they're on the button at Powerline by saying that a faked photo is much less serious than a staged one. Also bad are the "stories" that go out on the wire that are pretty much editorials, and crappy ones at that. I'd like to see a crackdown on these wire services. Of course, not a government one, but a market-based one. Problem is, of the majors (AP, UPI, Reuters), I've seen these problems in all of them.

They Can Have Him

Pat Robertson joins the environmentalist wackos on "global warming".

Must be Global Warming

Revised Atlantic hurricane forecast.

One Winged Landing

This is pretty amazing. An Israeli pilot lands an F15 after one wing is destroyed in flight.

More AP idiocy

Well, this time it's apolitical, but it's still utter incompetence and just plain bad journalism.

The AP headline says Ken Jennings "blasts" the show that made him. However, read his blog entry that was the source of the story. The AP has fallen for a humor piece. Every day, I hate the AP more and more....

Another AP "story"

The AP writes a love letter about Castro's "impossible mission" during the '50s. No mention of the prison camps, and the only time the word "dictator" is used is to describe Batista, not Castro.

Makes me wanna throw up.

age-old cliche....

As predicted, the media is gonna shower our senses with images of helpless victims of countries that harbor terrorists *sighs*. Yet not one showing of all the Israeli victims of Hamas, PLO, Al-Aqsa, Hezbollah attacks over the decades. A big *middle finger* for NYC (where ABC, CBS, etc are). Stop bombing Lebanon? How about stop voting for killers to your government. Then we'll leave you alone. Morons.

Has anyone ever listened to Stephanie Miller? She's this liberal skidmark that's now on the drive home for me on the radio...It's the F-U Bush Praise Clinton hour with her. Seriously, I swear, I think she has staged "conservatives" call her because EVERY conservative that called on her show sound like stereotypical dumb hicks. I'm not kidding. Nobody combats her logically on that show in turn Miller & co mocks the guest and further spews liberal "facts" vs Bush......I actually tried calling several times but the lines were always "busy." I think she's a crock.

Coulter

This is hillarious. I never considered the politics of Google page ranking before. I even think now that this is probably just coincidence. Right now, 6 out of the top 7 Google hits for "ann coulter donny deutsch" are in the vein, "Donny Deutsch Shatters the Coulter Myth." The funny thing is that I downloaded and watched the segment and he did no such thing. He does a pretty good job repeating himself about how there is no liberal bogeyman. Coulter then has to repeat herself about how there is and it runs the DNC. The digg link above has some all over the place comments. If you follow through to the crooksandliars story you can see the dementia begin. I mean it's not like Coulter demolished him or anything, but neither did he "tear her apart." There really wasn't an overwhelming sense of confrontation in the piece at all. Some, but that wasn't the overall tone.

Panhandler

I don't claim to be the world expert on panhandling signs or anything. Still, I thought it to be fairly well understood that the sign should refer to to holder. For instance, if the sign says, "will work for food," it means that the guy holding the sign is offering to work for food. Likewise if the sign says, "Vietnam vet," the holder is indicating that he served in Vietnam during the war. So imagine my confusion when I saw a guy, on the side of the offramp, holding a sign which included, "POW MIA VA Hospital." Now if I'm wrong about him and he was actually telling his life story, e.g. a POW, then declared MIA, assumedly released, spent some time in the VA hospital, now wants your money, I hope someone buys him dinner then a house. The customary procedure though is to list _current_ descriptors on the sign. Therefore he is claiming to be a POW and MIA. Is he then a foreign soilder invading the US? Call the Army someone please. Or is he a US soldier claiming to be a POW and MIA on US soil? Sounds more like AWOL to me. Call the MPs.

it's just not surprising...

If Americans think WW III did not start on 9/11, then this should wake them up. The time for "dialogue" is over.....it should've been over a long time ago.

Israel vs the world

Someone didn't get enough attention from their mother

Are you freakin' kidding me?

The Happy Planet

Liberal environmentalist wacko group, The New Economic Foundation, has a study out being touted by the AFP in a recent story that comes to the conclusion that the Vanuatu is the happiest country on earth. Second? Get this: Colombia. Sixth, of course, is Cuba. Where does the US fall in this? Why, 150th, naturally.

(I'd link to the NEF's website, but, it seems, this great think tank has a pretty shabby website. I wonder if the AFP would write a story about the Heritage Foundation's index with the same sort of enthusiasm?)

Anyway, this index from the NEF is a liberal douchebag's fantasy-land index - it factors in "Ecological Footprint" and the nebulous "Life Satisfaction". Sounds like all they want to do is wag their finger in the face of industrialized Western nations in order to preach the happy, primitive, back-to-Gaia-mother-earth way of life that the noble savages exemplify. Somebody should tell these morons about how it was the industrialized nations that came up with the methods of controlling hunger, disease, and injury.

But what do I know? Of course, the proof is in the pudding, as we witness all those unhappy American refugees fleeing on boats to Cuba and across the border into Mexico on a daily basis.

Back to politics, holmes

Well, now that the World Cup is over, I can return to thinking about politics.

For starters, I'd been glued to the Mexican election results when there wasn't a game on. PAN candidate Felipe Calderon (successor to the current Pres., Vicente Fox) eked out an apparent victory by half a percentage point - this is after the obligatory recount following a narrow victory in the preliminary results. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-leaning candidate (and former mayor of Mexico City) has vowed to dispute the results, Algore-style, even though the non-partisan election commission has stated the results are irreversible. We'll see what happens, but I hope AMLO's beef peters away and Mexico proves that they can join the rest of the developed world in peaceful democracy by holding a fair election that all parties can recognize.

What does this mean for the US, provided the results hold up? Well, Calderon is a free-trader (well, more of a free-trader than AMLO), which is the best news for us unless you are one of those protectionist psychos who says Mexicans are stealing all our jobs, in which case I recommend you get a little refresher in economics. In fact, the red/blue (well, blue/yellow) map of Mexico shows that border states favor Calderon, as they are the ones that benefit most from free trade. (I'm also happy to say that all Mexican states to which the wife has relations - Baja, Jalisco, and Chihuahua - all favored Calderon). So, it can only mean good news because 1) it demonstrates our influence on our southern neighbor that they can now hold a peaceful and fair election, and 2) free trade is good for both countries. In terms of the border, however, both candidates were not seeing eye-to-eye with US. Well, you can't have everything, I guess. The best thing to do is to just let free-trade raise the level of both countries to the point that they stop exporting their poor to us. In the meantime, we'll guard our border and say, "sorry, Felipe, but we gotta do what we gotta do."

French World Image

Don't worry, this is a foreign policy post... sort of. Zidane might well have cost France the World Cup by getting himself redcarded and not being there for the PKs. In doing so, though, he has done more than anyone in memory to reduce France's surrender monkey image.

nice threat LOL

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5752440

Even soccer has their fair share of threats. Rooney will "split Ronaldo in 2." Gotta love the English...

yes, another World Cup posting

Being on vacation for the last week allowed me to catch up on games. Thank you TiVo. As for the KO stage,

bracket 1: I said Argentina will come out of this one and I'm sticking with it. Although Germany will give them a tough test. This can really go either way....

bracket 2: I'm personally glad Italy eliminated Australia, but you know why because of my bias ;-) - Shockingly, I think the Ukraine-Switzerland game was one of the better games of the Cup, but Ukraine pulls it off by PK. Italy should win this group

bracket 3: Again, as much as I like England, they're basically riding on Beckham's foot. I think their run ends vs Portugal a few days from now. But man, what a carded game that was between Portugal-Holland. The story of this Cup, unfortunately, will be the refs. Warn them, THEN card them! An instant red card is simply unheard of unless if it was something blatantly obvious (de Rossi's elbow on McBride causing blood)

bracket 4: Starts today, but I think Brazil will win this group. I'm sure everyone's inspired by Ghana....what's ironic is you have the most carded team (Ghana) playing the least carded (Brazil). That MAY go against Brazil but for the life of me, I can't see Ghana beating them. And then.....I don't think Spain nor France has a chance vs Brazil. Possibly Spain but their ghosts will come back.

Yep, I'm plaing it safe and I see Argentina vs Italy and Portugal vs Brazil. Although this ain't scientific....predicting soccer games is almost guessing.

As for the US: keep Eddie Johnson, Bobby Convey, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Pablo Mastroeni, Tim Howard and build them. The rest of the roster? We'll find out for the next 4 years. There are plenty of players in Europe (EPL) that should be noticed as well as Adu and Twellman. I know their magical #5 ranking is probably gonna tank after this World Cup.

what a sad day for US soccer....

Well, the US proves their inconsistencies once again by losing to Ghana. Actually, that PK should've never happened. What Onyewu did was something I see high schoolers do often. This World Cup has been chokeful of yellow cards. Many can blame the US and rightfully so but they were robbed in many ways throughout the World Cup. They should bounce back in 2010. After all, it's being played outside of Europe. There should be young stars that can shine in 2010 as we're hearing swan songs from Reyna, Keller, Pope, etc.

As for Japan, once again they strike first.......and then get obliterated as the game goes by. As for favorites and looking at how the brackets are set up, I see Argentina, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil in the semis.......