The view from MY right

Back to blogging

2009-03-11T15:25:00.002-05:00

Frankly, I haven't blogged since August for one reason - I was just not motivated. The GOP candidate was crap, Obama winning was a fait accompli, and I was just too depressed to get wound up and blog.

With all the stuff that has been going on since the Big O was inaugurated, I'm motivated again. Look for more.

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska

2008-08-29T11:29:00.009-05:00

It's a striking image. Striking enough to bring me out of blogging malaise.

Right now I am looking at Senator McCain and Governor Palin speaking in Dayton and it's compelling. The more I learn about her and her background the more appealing she is. Her story is compelling, if a little short for now. The more she speaks the more I like her.

11:37- She speaks strongly on ethics and energy. Two good topics for this campaign.

11:39- I think this is good for McCain. It's certainly bringing this member of the base into line with the campaign.

11:41- She's a forceful speaker but not overwhelming. Not the brow-beating harshness of Hillary, but a good strong voice. I really want to see more from her next week at the convention.

11:42- I hope they drop the "commander of Alaska's National Guard" line. I know it's true, and probably a lot more applicable than most of us know, but it just reminds me of how lame I thought that line was when Bill Clinton's campaign used it.

11:45- I think she is going to play very, very well in middle America.

I know, I have not posted in FOREVER

2008-07-16T15:00:00.002-05:00

I promise I am trying to get back into posting, but I am so down on both political candidate's that I am just not excited. Maybe I can broaden my horizons....

We'll see, I really will try to start posting more.

Gorbachev is a Christian

2008-03-20T09:55:00.000-05:00

He has publicly said so. I truly feel like this explains so much about about how the Soviet Union was brought down. Very, Very interesting.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union, has acknowledged his Christian faith for the first time, paying a surprise visit to pray at the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.
Accompanied by his daughter Irina, Mr Gorbachev spent half an hour on his knees in silent prayer at the tomb.

His arrival in Assisi was described as "spiritual perestroika" by La Stampa, the Italian newspaper.

"St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ," said Mr Gorbachev. "His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life," he added.

Mr Gorbachev's surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light.

Is this what modern American society is becoming?

2008-03-15T19:51:00.002-05:00

Or is the NY Times ridiculously out of touch?

You can take this statement from an article on trans-gender college students one of two ways... which way do you take it?

Then he took a typical step for someone going to high school in the first years of this century. He went home and typed “transgender” into Google.

John McCain Speaks at Dell - LIVE BLOG

2008-02-29T10:26:00.017-06:00

10:25 - a few minutes late due to webcast issues...

10:27 - follow Osama "to the gates of hell" - good applause line

10:28 - He reiterates his support of NAFTA - countering the Obama story yesterday. He promises to Canada and Mexico that we will not back out...

10:29 - "The surge is working. It is succeding". Applause "We are blessed to have General Petraus" More applause.

10:30 - Specific goods words about the Texas National Guard. Crowd likes it.

10:32 - Jokes about the status of his campaign a few months ago - "It's always blackest before it gets totally dark - Chairman Mao"

10:33 - "I'd rather lose a campaign than lose this war" - good line

10:34 - Good short comments, proceeding to open questions

10:35 - Question from a Iraqi Freedom veteran asking about treatment for new veterans - "we have passed legislation, but we have got to do a lot more" "we have got to expand the VA system"

10:36 - "The only way that the price of gas will go down is if we become energy independent"

10:37 - He let's Kaye Bailey Hutchison address a question about AmTrak - huh.

10:40 - We have to modernize the air traffic control system

10:41 - Answers a question on international highway system by blatantly dismissing the notion of a "North American Federation" or anything like it

10:42 - "I'm totally in favor of it" - on tax breaks to help companies globalize without layoffs

10:45 - Long question about relations w/ Latin America, Cuba, and immigration
- Reiterates support for free trade in Latin America
- 70% of Latin America votes in his Arizona reelection
- Cuba: "state sponsors of terrorism" "gulags that would make Stalin blush" - Does not accept comparison to China
- Raul was Fidel's hitman
- We should send a clear message on how we can re-establish relations now that Fidel is no longer in control

10:50 - Hits (convincingly) Obama on his "al Qaeda in Iraq" gaffe - draws distinctions on Iraq between himself and the two Dems

10:52 - Very good answer on vaccine-induced autism. Congress needs to act and he admits it.

10:55 - He is pretty funny and disarming. Much better than he tends to come off on TV.

11:00 - He did well - lots for me to think about going into Tuesday...

John McCain to visit Dell's Round Rock Campus

2008-02-28T12:07:00.005-06:00

As sharp readers of this blog can probably assume from many of my posts, I work for Dell in Austin. I love my job and am proud of the company I work for, but I have never brought up my employment before and I don't intend to much in the future.

Here is why it is relevant today: tomorrow morning, not more than 100 yards from my desk, John McCain will have a town hall meeting for Dell employees. Due to the complicated and confusing registration procedure I am not sure if I will be able to attend in person, but at a minimum I will be watching the internal webcast of it.

So what am I looking for from him? Well, I am an undecided Republican primary voter and while the race for the nominee has all but been decided by now I always take voting seriously and I have to vote my conscience. That being said, he has an opportunity to win my vote tomorrow if he can demonstrate most, if not all, of the things below. I have to say, I do not think he will do this even though my expectations are somewhat lowered at this point.

Show that he can be the conservative standard-bearer in the fall campaign. Let's face it, he is saying the right things now except on a few points - but its the primary season of course he is running to the right. When the fall comes, what is going to keep him from running right to the center, or even the left? I don't expect closure on this tomorrow - I simply would like to see an indication based on the strength of his statements
Taxes. Bush tax cuts permanent? Will he resist calls to raise the capital gains tax? How strong will he emphasize supply-side economics in his policies? This is key for me
Health care reform - sure I think our system sucks. But does that mean I want our government providing it for me through a socialist system? HELL NO! So, our task as Republicans will be to fight this issue on tow fronts. Number one we need to effectively articulate our own solution to the current mess - we certainly do not need to ignore the situation. The vast middle of American political opinion will not consider listening to us without a substantial plan of our own. Second, point out the many, many flaws of a government administered, mandated system that the Dems are hawking. Americans will lose their rights and freedoms in such a system, and we need to point that out!
Show no fear. He will have to take on a historical first regardless of who wins the Dems beauty pageant, and he cannot be scared of that. Sure, run a clean campaign and stick to the issues - but do not back down or concede anything to them out of fear for the game of identity politics.

If Johnny boy can show me those things tomorrow he will have my support on Tuesday. If not, I'll be voting for Huckabee before jumping on the McCain bandwagon for the fall.

I believe the strongest chance the GOP has this year (or any year for that matter) is to stand up and state why we are right and they are wrong. In a strong war of ideas we will win - I just hope the Senator from Arizona gets this too...

Larry Kudlow endorses McCain

2008-02-11T14:14:00.000-06:00

Larry Kudlow is a smart, smart guy that I respect a lot. He has endorsed McCain in the general and made some good points:

McCain is also good news for business and the stock market. He wants to cut the corporate tax and keep dividend and cap-gains tax rates low. He’s tough as nails on restraining government spending and blowing up earmarks. On top of all this, he’s a very strong free trader who knows America can compete with the rest of the world.

...

This also happens to be a good time for the GOP to nominate someone who served bravely and courageously in the military. McCain is much more than a POW who somehow survived the Hanoi Hilton. He is a true military man. It flows through his veins, posing a whopper of a problem for Hillary or Obama. Guaranteed, there will be no chicken-hawk taunts.

And let’s not forget that military leaders who know all about war, security, and defense are exactly the people who cherish peace the most. When John McCain talks about the global terror war and how to deal with it, and how to protect this country, and how to move toward peace, voters will listen. So will folks around the world. This is all part of McCain’s character.

Read the whole thing.

Well, we're stuck with McCain

2008-02-06T15:13:00.000-06:00

Yep, I said it. Stuck.

I have a list a mile long of why I do not like Sen. McCain. That is precisely why I will not be voting for him in the Texas Primary come March 4th. I will even vote for Mike Huckabee before I vote for "Straight Talking" John. I could sit here and catalog my disagreements with him over immigration, taxes, and his absolute disregard for the First Amendment - but I won't. There is simply no point in it anymore.

When he wins the nomination, which he will, I will support him. But only by default. I can't in good conscience vote for one of the two socialists the Dems will put up, and my sense of duty compels me to vote, so there you go.

To all of you real conservatives out there in my shoes I beg you, please consider your votes this fall very carefully. Sure McCain is a bad choice - but can you imagine the alternative?

Crunchy Con: A New Addition to the Blogroll

2008-01-21T13:31:00.000-06:00

I am very happy to announce an addition to my blogroll. I have been reading Crunchy Con by Rod Dreher daily since finishing his book by the same name.

I do not agree with everything Rod professes, but I do believe the worldview that is laid out in his book is great and certainly truly conservative. His criticisms of the Republican party and its blind loyalty to economic libertarianism is very thought provoking and hits home with me.

Hit up his blog, I'm sure you'll find something interesting.

2008 GOP Presidential Candidates Breakdown

2008-01-21T12:06:00.001-06:00

Well, I mentioned here earlier today that I am throughly unimpressed with the lackluster field we have in the GOP primaries. So, here I am to present my breakdown of the candidates. Admittedly these are short and shallow, but I will certainly be discussing them more as we head to the Texas primary.

Romney - The Robot:
I don't get much from him when I watch him speak. Don't get me wrong, in many ways he is the leading guy for me at this point in time - but I can't connect with him. This certainly does not disqualify him in my mind, but I think it does hurt his electability. Policy-wise he is solid for me, and his experience as an executive, his turnaround of the Salt Lake City Olympics, and his performance running the bluest state in the country all make him attractive to me. I just hope that Rod Dreher and Dan Larison are not right - he does come off a bit like Algore.

Huckabee - Snake Oil Salesman:
This one is tough for me - Huckabee is the guy I want to like, but just cannot. I do like his method of blending faith and politics for me personally, but I really dislike two effects it has. First, he comes off sounding like a "big government conservative", which is such an oxymoron that anyone with that label should have everything else about them as a candidate questioned. He should be focusing on personal responsibility, community and faith-based groups helping out socially, and focus on the fight for life. Second, his record is not consistent economically and his foreign policy experience leaves A LOT to be desired. He's just not ready to go for the big time, and even if he was I have serious policy concerns.

McCain - Open Borders:
While he is certainly the best man when it comes to foreign policy - by far - I just cannot get over McCain-Feingold and his stance on illegal immigration. I just can't see giving him my primary vote.

Giuliani - The Question Mark:
Seriously, where did he go? I don't think his strategy of waiting until Florida to get started will work. I think he is very electable, but I don't know if he is really a serious candidate now.

Thompson - Crash and Burn:
OK, he had great buzz going into his candidacy announcement and did nothing with it. Again, I just don't think he is a serious candidate now. I would wager that he drops out fairly soon.

I'm Back, Again

2008-01-21T11:32:00.000-06:00

Well, I am sure by now any readers out there have left me - so I guess its a fresh start! Anyone seeing this because you have not cleaned out your RSS reader, thanks for hanging on! ;)

Truthfully, there are many reasons why I have not been blogging lately - major (but good) changes at work, buying a home, OSU football season, and a general malaise about the elections this year. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly interested in what is going on, and I have been following the news just as much as ever, but I just don't care yet. Here's why: I could never vote for any of the Dems, and the Republican field is just so lackluster. I'll address the GOP field in a follow up post, but suffice it to say that I am throughly unimpressed.

Anyway, I am back and will be posting alot more. I'm even going to try some new things this year, so let's see how it goes!

Blankley to social conservatives: "It would be an act of historic ingratitude to sabotage the GOP candidate at this point"

2007-10-05T10:14:00.000-05:00

Tony Blankley hits the nail on the head with this piece on social conservatives and the GO P:

The GOP is now less trusted than the Democrats on every issue except terrorism -- and even on that issue, they are a point or two down. But on that most vital issue of supreme national interest, the GOP has the good fortune to be not only instinctively in the right, but to have the one presidential candidate in either party who genuinely is seen as the nation's leader on the issue. That would be Rudy Giuliani. He is the one candidate who the Democratic operatives privately fear. Moreover, as a social liberal, he would be competitive in such usually reliable Democratic states as New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania and others.

...

They also would be walking away from a coalition that, since 1981 (and particularly since 2001), has delivered a higher percentage of their agenda than it has to any other part of the conservative coalition. Fiscal conservatives received tax cuts but not spending cuts. Hawk conservatives received assertive foreign policy but bad management of it and a dangerous running down of the Army. But social conservatives received first-rate Supreme Court justices, a real effort at faith-based initiatives, constant rhetorical support for biblical values, and in fact, they have been denied nothing of consequence that brought them into politics. It would be an act of historic ingratitude to sabotage the GOP candidate at this point. It also would be a short path to undermining everything they have gained in national politics in the past quarter century.

He is dead on. There is nothing good for any conservative if Hillary wins the White House - how could anyone think there would be? We need to get our house in order... quick.

myLeaderbaord: sometimes it's the little things...

2007-08-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

Sometimes technology makes your life better and sometimes it goes the other way. For me at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills on Sunday, it was a bit of both. One of my frustrations with attending golf tournaments is the no cell phone rule. Now, let me be very clear, I think it is a good rule as most people are not responsible with their phones - but it still bugs me. That being said I had an experience with a device that helped - but not relieved - my iPhone withdrawals.

I knew not being able to use the internet on the phone to keep track of what was going on everywhere else on the course - enter myLeaderboard. myLeaderboard is a device (and company) that debuted at the PGA Championship last year, and I had my first run-in with it this past weekend.

First the good:

The first 1000 American Express cardholders got them free this past weekend
The system is incredibly easy to use - intuitive, simple, and efficient in locating information
Good integration with the entire tournament experience - directions, locations of critical facilities, and other content made this very useful
Fantastic idea considering the cell phone rule

Now the bad, and some of it is very bad:

For a system named "myLeaderboard" one would expect timely updates on the, you know, leaderboard. I could not get updates late in the afternoon to save my life - for example when Tiger was on 15, his score on the device showed his score through 4 only. No error message, no updates, nothing except for a spinning refresh indicator. As someone who manages software development projects for a living I can tell you, this is a poor user experience that should be remedied ASAP. Don't add a single new feature or update until the system can be made more reliable, and give the user appropriate error information
The UI design is simple, but it is not graceful - it looks like a web page circa 1999
Also, update the technology. A 'web 2.0' technology upgraded could really improve the user-friendliness and usability

All in all it was an OK experience - for free. This system was not ready to be sold for $25 a day at a major championship. But to you guys at myLeaderbaord keep it up, this is a great idea - you just need to step up your execution on it.

Obama vs. Rudy on Judicial Decision Making

2007-07-18T16:29:00.000-05:00

From TheHill.com:

After a speech heavily critical of the new Supreme Court in front of a Planned Parenthood Action Fund conference in Washington, the presidential candidate said he would look into potential nominees’ hearts when deciding whom to select for vacancies in the country’s highest court.

“[Chief] Justice Roberts said he saw himself just as an umpire,” Obama said. “But the issues that come before the court are not sports; they’re life and death. We need somebody who’s got the empathy to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom.”

Obama said that 95 percent of cases can be judged on intellect, but that the other 5 percent are the most important ones.

Wow, seriously? Is he really advocating that only "95 percent of cases" should be judged based on legal reasoning, jurisprudence, and the Constitution? How in good faith can he have taken an oath to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" if he believes it should be ignored in 5% of cases decided by the Supreme Court?

He is either lying, or admitting that he does not believe the oath he took, or the one he wants to take. I suspect it is the latter.

Compare that to this from Mr. Giuliani:

Americans are concerned that special interests and partisan politics are compromising the integrity of our legal system. In too many cases, there is no accountability and no evident common sense. That’s why our nation needs to eliminate frivolous lawsuits while ensuring that responsible judges are appointed to our courts.

Some people believe judges should “evolve” the law to reflect short-term political and cultural trends. I disagree. The individuals responsible for updating our laws are our elected representatives. Federal judges – who are appointed for life – are responsible for interpreting our laws. And the Constitution can only be amended by the American people.

I don't think I have to point out which one simply sounds better, and smarter.

Friends point out mistakes and flaws...

2007-07-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

One of the best traits of a good friend is one who is willing to point out mistakes and foibles when necessary. In that spirit, as a Christian and conservative I am embarrassed by this (via Althouse):

This is so wrong, even thought the text of their comments is right. In this country we have freedom of religion, but that does not translate into "Freedom of religion, only if you are Christian". Essentially what these protesters shouted is correct, but I would submit that the actions were not right. If the logic of the protesters was followed to the logical conclusion then there would only be Christian prayers allowed in these situations, and that would make the practice unconstitutional. So, which is the better approach for these guys? To keep their mouths shut and not overrun another person's beliefs when they are being appropriately expressed. There are many, many ways they could have gotten their message across without casting shame onto themselves and their goals.

If this was a church and not the Senate chamber I would probably be taking a much different stance, but in this case you have to respect the rule of law and the constitutional guidelines. I do not think the Christian thing to do is try and humiliate and persecute people of other faiths, but to love them and share the gospel - do you think that this was either loving or a good witness for Christ? I don't think so.

Sony has not learned a lesson from other's woes

2007-07-06T20:40:00.000-05:00

You would think with all of the publicity the PC industry has gotten that companies would be learning a lesson from others' misfortunes. Heck, Dell has been listening, improving, and investing in customer service heavily since the Jeff Jarvis blogswarm, so it should be on the radar for all companies.

Well apparently not Sony, because their VAIO customer service experience sounds like hell.

Sprint: we don't want your money

2007-07-06T15:51:00.000-05:00

Can you be dumped by your wireless carrier? Apparently.

At least not if the squeaky wheel is a Sprint Nextel customer. On June 29,
2007, Sprint sent letters notifying some customers that their service would be
canceled by the end of July due to excessive calls to customer service.

"Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from
you regarding your billing or other general account information," the letter
reads. "While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of
our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has
led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless
needs."

"Therefore after careful consideration, the decision has been made to
terminate your wireless service agreement effective July 30, 2007."

Wow. Of course, as a very displeased former customer of Sprint's I would have danced for joy to have received this letter.

iPhone: My Thoughts - Take 2

2007-07-06T01:31:00.000-05:00

So, I have had the iPhone for 5 days now, and I would like to add to my earlier post.

I LOVE the UI. I am so impressed with the intuitiveness and ease of use. I also love to see people's reaction they start to play with it
The recessed headphone jack is a real pain - REALLY. I have a great pair of Etys that I use on my 5G iPod religiously, and now I am going to have to buy a crappy $10 accessory that I will probably lose just to use them. I would like to think Apple would have bee smarter than this - I get the issue with the shape of the edges, but they should have came up w/ something better
Email client is not great - but at least I only use it for personal email. for that functionality it is just fine for me
iPod functionality is awesome, especially Cover Flow!
I'm impressed by the build quality, it just feels solid

The future of transportation in the US

2007-07-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what my views on Algore, global warming, and his movie suggest I am quite concerned about the future of transportation in this country. But it has nothing to do with carbon emissions. Here are my top 3 reasons for worrying about the state of getting around in this country:

Energy independence, and the national security problems it could solve and prevent
Economic waste enabled (or encouraged) by the current system
Personal convenience and economic benefit

First off, I will comment on the energy independence part of this. Being able to sustain your own economy yourself has been a key strategic goal for countries and empires for the length of recorded history. Now, we should certainly not take steps like the Japanese did in their WWII actions, but we must consider the need to sustain ourselves. If we were to be cut off from our foreign sources of oil for any reason our economy would stop in an instant. We need to change the way we acquire, use, and distribute energy. Everything should be on the table solution-wise, and the government should use incentives (tax cuts) as opposed to disincentives (new taxes or hikes) to encourage behavior changes in the citizenry.

Second, the amount of wasted resources is a drag on the economy. Having traveled to many large international cities in the last few years I can attest to the fact that public transportation systems can work, and work beautifully, if they are setup and constructed in line with the public's way of life, transportation needs, and economic situation. Subway systems like NYC's impress me on all these levels. They deliver value and benefit to everyone who uses them - and the same goes for my experiences in Tokyo and London. By contrast, failed efforts like the past ones here in Austin are doomed from the start because they do not match up well to this criteria. For example according to the most recent proposal, the routes and operating times do not match for anything other than workday commuting - ignoring the huge amounts of people traveling downtown for the much touted, and pushed by the city, nightlife and entertainment district. Also, the only route is on the western half of the city and would not service large portions of the suburban population that could be ideally served. In the end, there is no way this is an economically viable option, yet it keeps being pushed. We need to design solutions that work and serve the public, not ones that are designed to appease some environmental agenda and give the city council a warm fuzzy feeling.

But here is the main reason I feel like we need an overhaul of the national transportation systems - my own personal convenience and benefit. I know, I know, that's a selfish reason - but at least it's a real one. I truly think the quality of life in this country can be improved by a shift in the way Americans think about transportation. Now, as I have stated before, I do not believe this is cause for big federal projects and an excuse for more ugly earmarks, but an issue that local and state governments follow market based principles can influence and shape. I have one good example, Austin does need a rail system. "But wait," you cry "you were just complaining about a proposal for one!" Yes, but that was because it was a badly designed idea. Here is what needs to happen:

Recognize that buses cannot serve the full metro area well enough to be viable for the large numbers of riders. Adjust routes and funding from the city accordingly
Resurrect the downtown rail trolleys as a starting point. Many of the tracks still exist and could used with work
Build a line that works well and start small. Maybe only run it out to northwest Austin and out a bit to the south as well to start, then add on as ridership grows
Build a central station - that's actually downtown! The first plan had the hub ridiculously far from downtown. No one would walk or cab it that far
Build your schedule around peak travel hours, and peak downtown use, not just commuting hours

Now, I am no expert but that looks like a much more sensible plan than the one proposed prior. If one that is useful to the people cannot work then one must look for alternatives, not keep trying to shove a square peg into a round hole.

I don't have all the answers obviously, but I do think that a discussion needs to take place at the local and state levels to address our transportation infrastructure and growth. This needs to be a rational discussion that searches for economically viable (not even money making, hot about just not money losing ventures!), beneficial, and energy efficient solutions. In a free market economy to reach those kinds of solutions we need to focus on incentives, research and development, and trust the consumers. Remember, the beauty of the free market is its ability to allocate limited resources more efficiently than any other system, and shouldn't that be our goal as conservationists?

Anger and frustration with the Mainstream Media

2007-07-03T18:47:00.000-05:00

I really hate the state of today's MSM. They take time to report on the tiniest, slightest possibility of scandal in the government, oh wait that's only when it's the Republicans. Anyway, they are so biased that they cannot bring themselves to report anything that may, even slightly, help the GOP and Bush.

Perfect example, read this story about an atrocity committed by al Qaeda against an entire village in Iraq and ask yourself - have you heard about it anywhere else? If not, why not?

I submit very simply that the media is so biased they will omit, lie, and probably do worse with the news as long as it can advance their anti-Bush agenda. Half of me wants to see the Democrat party win the Presidency next go around, even just so the American people can finally get the real story on the Global War on Terror.

UPDATE: More on this from Instapundit. It's sounds so blunt coming from a member of the media themselves I almost don't believe it. Here is an excerpt:

It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.
Our words, images, arguments and skills can’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we won’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.

Also from Glenn's post, check this out from Hot Air, in their own words:

On May 17, NBC reported a blockbuster exclusive report on the superiority of Dragon Skin body armor over Interceptor, the body armor that the US Army issues to soldiers in combat zones. But NBC’s story has a major flaw: It’s wrong about nearly everything.

Smashing Pumpkins are back!

2007-07-03T01:26:00.000-05:00

I don't do a lot of posts on music, but I am a huge fan of all types and it plays a large role in my life. That being said, the Smashing Pumpkins were my biggest influence in high school and now they are back - and rocking just as hard as ever!

Here is the new video - Tarantula. Enjoy!

My iPhone: Thoughts

2007-07-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I got an iPhone this weekend. Now, I did not go stand out in a line for 24 hours or anything, in fact I was planning on waiting for awhile, but that did not last too long.

I went into the new Apple Store here in Austin knowing ahead of time that they had none in stock. I knew this and went because I wanted to get my hands on one and see how they actually performed. I spent 10 minutes waiting for an available demo model to use, and spent ten minutes playing around. I was impressed, the reviews I had seen were all accurate except for the keyboard issues - I really had no major problems and got used to it in a few minutes. After playing around with it for a few minutes, and the hours of review reading I had done in the last 18 hours, led me to decide that I was going to buy one. However I really should wait, I told myself, for more info and reviews - good thing they were out, right?

Then I heard the fateful words from a salesperson, "Guys, we just got some 8GB iPhones in."

So I bought it... and I love it. The positives and negatives are all over the web, so I will not repeat them here. However, here is my list of differences and/or strong observations with the conventional wisdom:

The UI and touchscreen is great. It's so intuitive and easy it deserves the label of revolutionary
The web browser IS awesome, and the EDGE network here in Austin is slow, but certainly not deal-breaking for me
WiFi support is seamless and great
If you customize your phone book, the steps to call your "favorites" are not too many
This is not a phone that does other stuff, it is a consolidated device that makes phone calls
As stated elsewhere, this is not a BlackBerry killer, but then again I'm quite sure it was not designed to be

I really like it so far, and if you are a gadget-head with the money I recommend it, provided you understand and are OK with all the caveats and drawbacks mentioned. It's not the perfect phone, but it IS a game changer.

The people speak...

2007-06-22T00:10:00.000-05:00

According to a new Gallup poll released today, American's confidence in Congress has reached an all-time low. So when are all the stories going to pop up in TIME, Newsweek, and the NYT about the weakening political power of Reid, Pelosi, and Co.? Oh wait...

But here is the real interesting fact: most of the Democrat Party's usual targets rank far above them in this poll. A few examples: #1- the military, #2- small business, #4- organized religion. Even further down the lists the news seems to get worse: the Presidency, big business, and even HMOs rank higher than Congress - in fact Congress is at the bottom of the list!

from gallup.com:

Go take a look at the full info over at gallup.com - it's quite interesting.

Triumph at the Tonys

2007-06-19T14:09:00.001-05:00

Too funny.

Did Apple make a BIG mistake?

2007-06-15T02:25:00.000-05:00

Could we have just seen a major misstep on Apple's part? The trendy computer maker has always been known for reliability and security in its software, but could the release of its Safari browser for Windows show that Apple software is no different than that of other companies? There has been another security risk exposed in the touted browser:

Security researcher Robert Swiecki disclosed yesterday another vulnerability within the new Safari 3.0 for Windows beta, bringing the total of public vulnerabilities to nine. The latest flaw allows an attacker to steal a cookie. The flaw exists in the Javascript's window.setTimeout()implementation where the content the timer-triggered function is processed after window.location property is changed.

Is it possible that the often spouted argument that their work is not held up to the full scrutiny of consumers and hacker alike, and if it were it would be revealed as less than hyped in those areas? Or in fact does this prove that Windows is inherently a less reliable and secure platform? (to be fair: this new one does not show this directly as it relates to Safari's Javascript implementation which has nothing to do with the OS) It will be very interesting to see how the tech community's opinion begins to form on the browser as these events unfold.

Scoreboard!

2007-06-12T18:31:00.000-05:00

"There are no asterisks in this life, only scoreboards."
-Ari Gold, Entourage

So, with that inspiring quote I simply wanted to update the scoreboard for those at home:

President Bush favorable rating: 36%
Majority Leader Reid favorable rating: 19%

Huh, I wonder when we will hear this from the mainstream media. Oh, wait...

Must view video: Evan Syaet - "How Modern Liberals Think"

2007-03-29T00:21:00.000-05:00

You must see this video - very, very good.

Via Power Line

Unoriginality: the engine of the blogoshpere

2007-03-28T20:14:00.000-05:00

If the only posts out there were original thoughts, ideas, or opinions the blogosphere would be a very empty place.

The (Alleged) Evolution of my Social Politics

2007-03-27T00:11:00.001-05:00

Awhile ago I surprised some of my close friends (at least the ones I talk about politics with) by telling them that my stance on capital punishment may be changing. This may not shock any particular reader, but believe me my friends were surprised. For the longest time I was a staunch supporter of the death penalty, in fact I was in favor of extending it to 1^st degree rape. Then several things happened.

First there was the death of Pope John Paul II. Now I am not Catholic, in fact I was raised Southern Baptist so I obviously have no particular attachment to the Pope. However, through all of the coverage of his death and funeral there was much made of his consistent view on the defense of life. Of course the MSM pushed this as anti-war, which of course he was, but the thing that got me thinking was his unity of mind on the subject. This kicked off my examination of my stance on life. My pro-life stance was starting to feel artificial. My death penalty views and my anti-abortion stance seemed to be in conflict, and it had started to bother me.

The second thing that really started me down the path to opposition to the death penalty was a discussion with a good friend of mine about the legitimate powers of the state. This is where I am currently stuck: should the state have the power to take life? Philosophically the argument can be made that only that which can grant a right to an individual has the authority to deprive the individual of that same right. Obviously the state does not grant an individual life, so can it take it away? However, the alternative stance would be that the state has the authority based on the social contract granted to the state by people themselves. Of course this would only apply to democracies or republican forms of government, but it is still a valid point.

The third thing happened a few days ago. I was re-reading Les Miserables (my pick for best novel in western literature) and I stumbled upon a certain passage. The speaker is the bishop from which Jean Valjean steals silver candlesticks, and when caught the bishop gives them to him. This bishop is held up as the paragon of Christian virtue and righteousness. He is mumbling about an execution he had just witnessed:

'I did not know that it was so monstrous. It is wrong to become so absorbed in the Divine Law that one is no longer aware of human law. Death belongs only to God. What right have men to lay hands on a thing so unknown?'

This passage solidified a thought that was hazily forming in my mind. This expressed both my theological and philosophical concerns about capital punishment.

Now I am not 100% committed the anti-death penalty camp, but I am certainly on my way.

The price of fame

2007-03-19T17:50:00.000-05:00

Looks like the kiddos over at Twitter are not quite ready for primetime. They were a huge hit at SXSWi, and now it looks like the site might be down. For the last week or so the site has been slow, then the IM bots went down, and now you just get a blank page.

I'd be very concerned with this if they made a concerted effort to increase usage via SXSW, but I am not sure if that was the case (I did not get to go this year - bummed about that). If they did in fact try to drive traffic and did not prepare for it, I would not have much faith in their ability to provide service as a central point. And obviously that opens the door for competitors. I think there will be a development of many different "nano-blogging" platforms just like there was with blogging - but major issues for Twitter could accelerate that. This is a good idea, I hope this is not too serious for them.

6:30 CDT: Maintenance message up. My org would have our teeth kicked in for a 40 min. response time...

7:28 CDT: Back up now, not sure exactly how long they were down.

Barone on the "Blame America First Crowd"

2007-03-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

I have never understood those people who leap to America for every problem and injustice that exists. What I find even more amazing is that those who are always there to place blame usually don't even recognize the pattern. So I was incredibly pleased to read Mr. Barone's take on these people and the causes of this mentality.

Where does this default assumption come from? And why is it so prevalent among our affluent educated class (which, after all, would seem to overlap considerably with the people being complained about?). It comes, I think, from our schools and, especially, from our colleges and universities. The first are staffed by liberals long accustomed to see America as full of problems needing solving; the latter have been packed full of the people cultural critic Roger Kimball calls "tenured radicals," people who see this country and its people as the source of all evil in the world.

This rings very true to me. I graduated from one of the most conservative public universities in the country (so conservative that President Bush received an exceedingly warm welcome for his graduation speech during a time when he was taking fire from every side) and I can tell you this attitude exists even there in a majority of the faculty's minds. What is even more disturbing to me is how right his conclusion is:

"There is something profoundly wrong when opposition to the war in Iraq seems to inspire greater passion than opposition to Islamist extremism," Sen. Joseph Lieberman said in a speech last week. What is profoundly wrong is that too many of us are operating off the default assumption and have lost sight of who our real enemies are.

Interesting art

2007-03-19T01:11:00.000-05:00

This is WAY off topic for this blog, but I am definitely an art fan. And as a capitalist there is something incredibly interesting about this series of paintings to me. I'm seriously considering reserving one, I just don't know what number to get...

UPDATE: I think I am going to reserve "$160" & "$161"

ANOTHER UPDATE: I just reserved US "$159" & "$160". I really like the idea of having two in sequence, and the rollover into the 160's is kind of cool.

ONE MORE UPDATE: I can see my first one, "$159".
I like it, very interesting. It also may be the first with the artist's signature on the top of the painting. This is very cool.

Adoption of Web 2.0 ideas by Presidential campaigns

2007-03-13T03:23:00.000-05:00

I mentioned Twitter in an earlier post, and I'm not quite sure what to think of it. What is interesting is that there is a Presidential campaign out there ahead of the curve on some things. It seems that when John Edward's tech advisers aren't insulting Catholics they can make one or two good decisions. Take a look at John Edward's Twitter profile, it seems like a good way to connect with a certain demographic - and even gain some confidence in the candidate.

So, who do I think will be the most tech-advanced on the Republican side? My guess is Giuliani, mainly because his man Patrick Ruffini knows his stuff.

Unions oppose a Republican? No way!

2007-03-12T01:52:00.000-05:00

Is this because of what they say, or just who they are?

While he touts his leadership in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as a key component of his 2008 presidential bid, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is facing bitter opposition from the union representing the 343 firefighters who died that day.

FOX News has obtained a scathing letter prepared by the influential and politically active International Association of Fire Fighters union, written late last month but never released. The letter informs the more than 270,000 members that it would not be inviting Giuliani to a forum for presidential candidates on March 14, citing what the union called Giuliani's "egregious acts" after Sept. 11.

Contemplating techology

2007-03-12T00:46:00.000-05:00

I am restless and wide awake late tonight due to a very long and complicated project launch last night at work. Due to the complexity of our environment and the scope of the change some issues were to be expected, but the process got me to thinking about technology and it's role in our culture.

Specifically, social software is very interesting. Now, I work for an "old" tech company - not one of these new fancy startups that we all watch like little fanboys - but even so I am certainly an early adopter with friends and family that are decidedly not. It's actually been quite funny, even the most tech adept of my F&F are not fascinated by technology in daily life like I am. This is quite frustrating sometimes, I mean if I can't get them to use Flickr, how in the world can i get them to Twitter? And it's not like I am living in the backwoods of West Virginia (not a dig, I love country folks!) - I'm in Austin Texas and with the ideal demographics to have my crowd start living the "digital lifestyle" or whatever it's being called these days.

All of this has lead me to believe that we (i.e. tech crowds) are vastly overstating the life-changing effects of our particular brand of obsession. Sure, we know how game-changing and disruptive some of these technologies are, but they are not filtering to the masses. My question is, is that because the masses "don't get it" or are the new technologies just not that important?

The kind of news we should be hearing from Iraq

2007-03-10T18:40:00.000-06:00

Bill Ardolino interviews a Civil Affairs Marine serving in Fallujah. Where is the MSM with this kind of great reporting?

INDC: So, overall how do you assess the state of your mission. Have you made progress? Where you at? What's your opinion of Fallujah?

Belshe: "My opinion of Fallujah?" (laughs)

"As far as progress - I can only speak for my little team out here - I think we've seen some good progress. We set pretty lofty goals when we got here, not fully understanding what's going on in the city and not being able to foresee some of the events that have unfolded."

"But I think we've been pretty effective, as far as what we have. Have we had failures? Yeah, we've had failures along the way. But it's those little projects. When you go in and you talk to students and just giving them that 15-20 minutes to stand up and speak their minds. And a lot of times you'll ask them. You'll sit there and say, 'go ahead, tell us anything. We don't care. This is what it's about to have freedom of speech. You can stand up and say anything.'"

"And, the teachers will try to control them and say, 'no, don't say that, don't say that,' but our interpreter's pretty good about telling them, 'Hey, back down. This is what we want. We want them to engage with us. We don't care if they spit in our face, they yell at us. We want them to start exercising that.' And just to have one girl stand up and really express herself, or one small boy or one adult finally express himself ... I think that's worth the seven months I've been here."

"We don't measure our success by the money we've spent. Our measure of success is whether or not peoples' lives are affected in a positive way."

Word 2007 Blog Post Support

2007-03-10T16:05:00.001-06:00

As I mentioned previously I just got my new Dell Inspiron with Vista, and I have just been using Word 2007 for a little while – and I must say I am impressed. From the nifty new format of the toolbars, to the cool new blog posting functionality – I like it. I use Outlook at work, and I am not quite as impressed with it, but I am still getting used to it and digging into the features.

Update: One caveat, it does not support Blogger’s labels.

I hope this take hold

2007-03-08T18:16:00.000-06:00

We need more of this to win this war on terror.

Hmmm, I wonder why this isn't being covered in the MSM....

Lindsay Graham on Meet the Press

2007-03-04T10:36:00.000-06:00

I'll try to find a transcipt or You Tube clip, but right now Lindsay Graham is putting on a great show on Meet The Press. He's not killing Tim or anything, but his pro-victory points this morning were stellar.

Windows Vista

2007-03-03T14:37:00.000-06:00

I just got my brand new tricked-out Dell Inspiron E1405 with Vista Premium Home Edition. It is actually pretty cool! I have only been playing with it for a day or so, and I certainly have some complaints, but overall I am pretty pleased. I was skeptical about many things I had heard, but I am happy with it. I'm working on coding a sidebar gadget that retrieves some of my photosets from Flickr and shows them as a slideshow so I'll be digging into this new stuff more.

Steve Jobs knows more than just tech...

2007-02-20T10:47:00.000-06:00

I really admire Steve Jobs in many ways his spirit of innovation, his business sense, and how he connects to his customers. But now, I am even more impressed:

I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way, this unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy.
Steve Jobs

Read the whole article, it's very interesting.

"Hugo Chavez in a pantsuit"

2007-02-05T13:15:00.000-06:00

From Larry Kudlow's excellent blog:

KUDLOW: P.J., what would Adam Smith say about a carbon tax, or a carbon cap, or Kyoto to deal with global warming?

P.J. O'ROURKE ("On the Wealth of Nations" author): Well, I happen to know exactly what he'd say. But first let me say that Hillary Clinton is Hugo Chavez in a pantsuit.

LOL! Great one-liner. Larry also mentions in the post his classic post, "Why tax profits?". You should read the whole thing.

Bush's SOTU polled well

2007-01-24T22:18:00.000-06:00

CNN is reporting that Bush's speech polled really well.

Some key numbers:

41% had a "very positive" reaction
37% had a "somewhat positive" reaction
67% stated "they believe Bush's policies will move the country in the right direction"

Good Ole' Fashioned Communist Opression

2007-01-24T22:05:00.000-06:00

Some things never change... Communism = Tyranny.

China vows to 'purify' the internet. I wonder why some people still idolize this form of government?

Quick Obeservations on the SOTU address

2007-01-23T20:20:00.000-06:00

8:16pm - Why does Hillary always look so smug?

8:19pm - Good statement on earmarks. Yea!

8:22pm - Was that a school voucher reference? ;)

8:23pm - Affirmation of private health insurance. No Pelosi applause. Tax cuts (or new deduction) for health insurance? Love it!

8:26pm - Expand HSAs - good... IT reform in the field - better...

8:28pm - Employer verification of immigration status sounds great to me. No Amnesty! Let's see if it sticks.

8:30pm - Good remarks on alternative energy, including nuclear and bio-diesel (ugh, the ever-present ethanol pander - yuck!)

8:31pm - 20% gasoline reduction, that's a good goal. But let's make sure the free market does it, but I have a feeling we are going to see some meddling by the fools on the Hill.

8:33pm - 100% increase in the SPR - eh, whatever...

8:34pm - Asking again for judicial confirmation votes - and I'm sure he'll get them now... But not in the way we want.

8:35pm - "To win the War on Terror, we must take the fight to the enemy". Nice line - fake applause form the Speaker.

8:38pm - "Take almost any principal of civilization, and [al Qaeda's] view is the opposite". He is doing a good job of framing the debate on terrorism. Problem is, the MSM and the Democrats done such a good job of spinning the issue, will anyone be listening?

8:40pm - I think GWB and Jack Bauer would get along just fine. :)

8:41pm - "What every terrorist fears is human freedom"

8:42pm - Is McCain asleep?

8:43pm - The Cedar Revolution, Iraqi elections - proving that democracy is taking hold - as well as al Qaeda fighting back.

8:44pm - First mention of Iranian support of Iraqi insurgents

8:45pm - Apparently victory in Iraq is not a shared goal of the parties. How would Congress have reacted to similar words from FDR about the Nazis?

8:46pm - "Iraqi leaders know that our commitment is not open-ended"

8:48pm - He really is framing the debate - outlining consequences of failure or withdrawal and linking it to our security interests.

8:49pm - Very impressed so far.

8:50pm - Democrats: WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS! (Kind of...)

8:52pm - Civilian Reserve Corps - Interesting... would like to know what this looks like.

8:53pm - We "will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons"

8:54pm - Not quite as tough on North Korea, but he may not need to be.

8:54pm - This speech is so informed by the thoughts of Natan Sharansky that it is eerie. That's a good thing by the way...

8:57pm - Dikembe Mutumbo, nice touch. Is he a Republican?

9:02pm - I really like the guests of the President tradition. It always says something good about this country.

9:04pm - Strong ending. Nice work Mr. President.

Thoughts:
I was impressed. He gets better and better, and his job of framing the debate about the War on Terror was very, very good. I still like this man - and I do think he is a good President.

P.S. - I really hate the disgusting, fake, sucking up that the members of Congress perform evey year. Maybe it's me, but the lack of any authenticity really makes me sick.

No one is talking about this economy

2007-01-23T18:12:00.000-06:00

This economy is incredibly (and if you believe the MSM, shockingly) strong yet no one seems to be talking about it. Except Mr. Kudlow.

Here are a few short quotes from his excellent summary of the state of things. You should read the whole thing.

"Economist Michael Darda points out that real wages over the first five years of the Bush expansion are actually growing more rapidly than over the first five years of the Papa Bush/Bill Clinton boom"
"Unemployment today is only 4.5 percent. Federal, state, and local tax collections are soaring through the roof. Budget deficits are plunging. Inflation-adjusted GDP is averaging just more than 3 percent. Family wealth stands at a record of slightly more than $54 trillion. Total employment is at a record 146 million"
"More than 55 million Americans, or four out of every ten workers, left their jobs in 2005. Since there were more than 57 million new hires that same year, this is good news. It also means that new hires exceeded employee separations by an average of 364,000 per month. Per month!"

How to explain Capitalism...

2007-01-22T15:10:00.000-06:00

Great little illustrative story from Kudlow's Money Politic$:

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like many others her age, she considered herself a liberal Democrat, very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a staunch Republican.

One day she challenged her father on both his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking her how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load, constantly studying and had little time to go out and party like other people she knew.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus, college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades. I've invested a lot of time and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Apple's new iPhone

2007-01-10T22:30:00.000-06:00

If I am nokia, samsung, or motorola I would be seriously scared right now. Cingular won a huge coup in getting to be the exclusive carrier.

For me it's just a matter of deciding which size, and waiting until it's stable. Jobs and Apple hit another home run.

Mexico v. Iran

2006-06-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

How am I supposed to root for anyone in this game? Mexico is the most hated rival of US Soccer (c'mon, they throw bags of urine at our players!) and Iran is, well, Iran. How do I choose? I guess I root for a draw...

World Cup '06

2006-06-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am not a soccer blogger... but I am blogger who loves soccer! I'm going to be posting about the games, stories and whatnot.

Oh, of course I am a HUGE US fan, but my other team is the English. :)

"I hate you too!"

2006-06-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or is the Middle East a lot like 7th Grade with RPGs?
-Instapundit.com

Ha Ha!

You gotta love those lefties!

2006-06-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

Greenpeace PR disaster, from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

We present it here exactly as it was written, capital letters and all: "In the twenty years since the Chernobyl tragedy, the world's worst nuclear accident, there have been nearly [FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE]."

Do I actually agree with Barney Frank?

2006-05-24T13:57:00.000-05:00

... I don't think I ever have, until now. His remarks from the House floor yesterday:

I have listened to many of my conservative friends talk about the wonders of the free market, of the importance of letting the consumers make their best choices, of keeping government out of economic activity, of the virtues of free trade, but then I look at various agricultural programs like this one. Now, it violates every principle of free market economics known to man and two or three not yet discovered.
So I have been forced to conclude that in all of those great free market texts by Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and all the others that there is a footnote that says, by the way, none of this applies to agriculture. Now, it may be written in high German, and that may be why I have not been able to discern it, but there is no greater contrast in America today than between the free enterprise rhetoric of so many conservatives and the statist, subsidized, inflationary, protectionist, anti-consumer agricultural policies, and this is one of them.
....

Read the whole thing at the Club for Growth Blog, it's worth the quick read.

John Stossel: The smartest guy in the room?

2006-05-15T09:58:00.000-05:00

Maybe. John Podhertz puts on a good show too. Take a look at his appearance on Reliable Sources discussing the media.

KURTZ: Stossel faults the media for simplistic and exaggerated reporting, a case he makes in his new book, "Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel, Why Everything You Know is Wrong".

John Stossel joins us now from New York.

You spent years as a consumer reporter in New York, talking about phony diets and all the cures and the like, and now you're a pretty big critic of the kind of reporting you used to practice. What happened?

STOSSEL: I got smarter. I wised up and started putting things in perspective. If all these things are big risks, where are the bodies? We're living longer than ever.

KURTZ: Let me quote from your book, John, now "the scarier and the more bizarre the story, the more likely it is that our bosses will give us more airtime and a front-page slot." So are you saying that many journalists are deliberately hyping the risks out there?

STOSSEL: Deliberate is a tough word, but we know that more of you are going to watch "Tonight on CNN, Howard Kurtz is going to kill you," than if we say things are OK.

KURTZ: You say that the media are clueless, especially on science and economic matters. That sounds like a pretty sweeping indictment to me. Are all journalists clueless or just some journalists clueless?

STOSSEL: I would say most journalists are clueless when it comes to science, and there this pride in the newsroom of not being able to do your expense account. We hear all these stories about record-high gas prices and this being so evil. I'd say journalists are hostile to capitalism and clueless about science and economics. What do you base it on? KURTZ: Hostile to capitalism. What do you base that on?

STOSSEL: I base it on the people I work with. People just don't like business. We hate our employers who pay us but love the government, which takes a third of our money and squanders it. There's a bias against business.

It's good stuff.

I love my Senator!

2006-03-15T11:16:00.000-06:00

Read this letter from Sen. John Cornyn of Texas to Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff (via Power Line):

Dear Secretary Chertoff:
I write to you regarding Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, the former Taliban spokesman currently attending Yale University on a student visa.

In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act and expanded the terror-related grounds of inadmissibility. Under current law, an alien is inadmissible or removable on terror-related grounds if he is a representative of any designated or nondesignated terrorist organization. Further, an alien is inadmissible or removable if the alien endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization. The REAL ID is clear that the grounds of inadmissibility and removal apply regardless of when the conduct in question occurred.

Mr. Hashemi was an official spokesman for the Taliban, which gave safe haven and other material support to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and continued to do so even after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted him into the United States on an F-1 student visa. I would like to know what steps the Department of Homeland Security is taking to determine whether Mr. Hashemi was properly admitted and whether the Department of Homeland Security will seek to deport Mr. Hashemi under one of the terror-related grounds of removal.

I am also concerned about the Department of Homeland Security's role in reviewing Mr. Hashemi's student visa application prior to its issuance. The report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States concluded that the key officials responsible for determining alien admissions (consular officers abroad and immigration inspectors in the United States) were not considered full partners in counterterrorism efforts prior to September 11, 2001, and as a result, opportunities to intercept the September 11 terrorists were missed.

Congress subsequently passed the Homeland Security Act, and section 428 allows DHS to assign staff to consular posts abroad to advise consular officers, review visa applications, and conduct investigations. Yet it is not clear that DHS officials were afforded an opportunity to review Mr. Hashemi's visa application prior to its issuance. Please provide an update on the progress DHS is making in assigning officers to the consulate in Islamabad and whether those officers are fully integrated into the visa screening process.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator

The record labels are going down...

2006-02-02T23:20:00.000-06:00

As I have said before, they are going to lose the battle for their own existence if they do not re-position themselves for the new "digital culture". The record labels just had their worst year ever, and if they don't do something about it things will just get worse.

P.S. Even though I am generally pro-business I'm cheering for their downfall. The free markets will punish them for their sins. :)

Ads on a paid service?

2006-01-31T10:22:00.000-06:00

Apparently video iPod users may soon have the privledge of paying to see ads in their video content from iTunes:

“Some companies are attaching recycled TV spots to the beginning of video files, or podcasts, that can be downloaded from popular Web sites. Others are creating new, subtler pitches to bracket shows attractive to their target audiences,” reports the Journal. “And still others are creating their own podcasts that blur the line between entertainment and advertisement in hopes of enticing people to watch the commercials for their own sake.”
Large firms are currently trying a range of different concepts. Nintendo is reusing 15-second Mario Kart DS TV commercials at the beginning of video podcasts on GrindTV.com. Anheuser-Busch is blending entertainment and advertising with its humorous Ted Ferguson Bud Light campaign, and GM’s Hummer division sponsored a GQ magazine video podcast with two 15-second spots.

To me, if I am paying for content it better be ad-free. This is a good way to piss off customers and drive more piracy.

Jobs' new gig

2006-01-30T10:55:00.000-06:00

Steve Jobs has a new gig, and the deal could be the spark of something huge. Disney has accquired Pixar, of which Jobs was chairman, CEO and majority shareholder. BusinessWeek has a really good article on this, well worth the read.

A small taste:

The alliance between Jobs and Disney is full of promise. If he can bring to Disney the same kind of industry-shaking, boundary-busting energy that has lifted Apple and Pixar sky-high, he could help the staid company become the leading laboratory for media convergence. It's not hard to imagine a day when you could fire up your Apple TV and watch Net-only spin-offs of popular TV shows from Disney's ABC Inc. Or use your Apple iPhone to watch Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's video blog, delivered via Disney's ESPN Inc. "We've been talking about a lot of things," says Jobs. "It's going to be a pretty exciting world looking ahead over the next five years."

If the Democrats really filibuster...

2006-01-29T15:21:00.000-06:00

If the Democrats really filibuster the Alito nomination it will be the end of their hopes of becoming the majority party any time soon. The Republican Party was in a massive tailspin coming into the Alito nomination - Scooter Libby, Harriet Miers, the public perception of the war, Tom DeLay, and on and on and on. The Alito nomination energized the party faithful, re-affirmed Bush's campaign promises, and set the stage for the Democrats self-desctruction.

And of course they have obliged. They made fools of themselves in the hearings, they catered to the far left crazies with their questioning, and they generally came out looking like petulant children who weren't getting their way. Then John Kerry stepped up and built the gallows - he lead out with a move to filibuster.

Personally I hope it goes through, Senators Clinton, Feinstein, and Kennedy have all signed on now, and if it goes through they will be leading their party into the wilderness for an even longer trip.

So to all you Democrats out there: bring it, we'll kick your ass again.

I joined the dark side...

2006-01-29T15:09:00.000-06:00

So I bought an Apple iPod Video and I have a confession to make... I love it! It pains me to admit that, not because I dislike Apple, but because of three specific reasons:

I always took the position that iPods were a fad because of the 'cool' factor, and nothing else
Apple "people" always piss me off - just too yuppie elitist
I work for a competitor of sorts, even though I don't think we are competing for the target markets at all - we don't appeal to Apple people, and that's fine with me.

Bottom line is, the iPod with iTunes may just turn out to be the multimedia killer app. Their podcast integration is excellent, I can see myself becoming a podcast addict because of the ease of use (I can listen to Sean Hannity's show eveyday now! Woohoo!). If you're in the market for a new MP3 player, then I recommend this one heartily.

Everything is good until the politicians get ahold of it...

2006-01-29T15:05:00.000-06:00

Check this out.

The staff of U.S. Rep Marty Meehan wiped out references to his broken term-limits pledge as well as information about his huge campaign war chest in an independent biography of the Lowell Democrat on a Web site that bills itself as the "world's largest encyclopedia,"

Good work guys, way to get everything dirty.

Kucinich: Non-union members are not "American"

2005-12-07T11:28:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Instapundit for this one:

"This is about our children and grandchildren," he said. "We have to get the word out - 'Buy American.' This is a matter of our allegiance to our own communities, our belief in each other, our commitment to each other."

While Ohio has about 16,000 workers building Honda automobiles, engines and transmissions, Kucinich later said he defined "American" as being made by a union. The UAW has failed in its effort to organize the Honda plants.

Ha. My view on unions might actually espouse the opposite point of view.

The coming obsolescence of records labels and music companies

2005-11-19T14:01:00.000-06:00

In the past few years I have gotten more and more angry with the music business establishment. They will serve no useful purpose in the (quickly) coming future, and their obsolescence is already becoming clearer.

Here is why I hate the music companies:

They serve as a filter to the mainstream listener
They corrupt the radio airwaves with marketing driven song selections they practically force onto broadcast companies
They rip us off
They are willing to compromise your privacy, computing security, and I'm sure more just to keep themselves relevant

The fact of the matter is that in this day and age no up and coming band needs a record company to have their music released to the world. Soon we will see a band or artist rise up from one of the many "open-source" online music communities into the mainstream consciousness - of course the record companies will not go along with this willingly, but it will happen.

At some point iTunes, Napster, and the others will get on board and cut deals directly with bands or their agents. The songs could of course be cheaper than the songs published by the big boys, especially if they start to manipulate pricing to signal popularity. Think about the current business model of an old-fashioned music label:

find a band that will appeal to the most people possible - not necessarily one that makes the best music
shoehorn their (or others writers') songs into an over-produced album - which of course passes all the key criteria set by their focus groups
strong-arm radio stations into playing the resulting music
charge you and I $15 for the privilege of owning this garbage

The day is coming where a song will work its way from a garage in Columbus Ohio to the front page of iTunes in a matter of weeks - and I can't wait until the music companies have nothing to do with it. Keep in mind I am not anti-business, I am a huge proponent of the free-market and as few business regulations as possible. The music business today is a cartel: they limit the options of the consumer and drive the price higher - that is why they need to simply disappear.

Alito round-up

2005-10-31T13:44:00.000-06:00

Here are some thoughts and information on the new nominee that I think are worth your time:

Ann Althouse really likes the pick
Orin Kerr examines Alito's dissent in Planned Parenthhod v. Farmer (via Instapundit)
Power Line reports that Frist is ready for the fight
SCOTUSblog has a profile and decision round-up (via Instapundit)

Alito gets the nod for Supreme Court

2005-10-31T11:12:00.000-06:00

I will post my opinion as I learn more, I am not a dedicated judicial junkie so I can't really offer anything other than this: We are now happy. W, thanks for listening to you base.

From everything that has been written and said about this nominee I am confident that W has fulfilled his campaign promise on judicial nominations. The big fight is coming... let's gear up and play to win!

Wal-mart strikes back

2005-10-27T12:19:00.000-05:00

I bet the anti-business folks love this.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. today called on Robert Greenwald to correct the factual errors and misrepresentations in the trailer for his video: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Mr. Greenwald’s missteps include claiming Wal-Mart forced the closure of a Middlefield, Ohio hardware store, when, in fact, the store closed before Wal-Mart opened its doors, and the hardware store has since reopened under new ownership.
“We at Wal-Mart welcome a fair and honest discussion,” said Wal-Mart Vice President for Corporate Affairs Bob McAdam. “But what Mr. Greenwald has done in his latest trailer is neither fair nor honest to his audience or the American people. He should fix these errors or take down the trailer altogether.”

In addition to Mr. Greenwald’s misrepresentations about the Middlefield, Ohio hardware store, he uses interview footage to make broad assertions that don't line up with the facts about Wal-Mart.

Greenwald uses footage of one interviewee saying Wal-Mart told her: “…There’s no place for people like you in management.” The fact is that Wal-Mart is considered one of the most diverse employers in America and was recently named by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “30 Best Companies for Diversity.” In addition, more than 40% of Wal-Mart managers are women.

Greenwald uses footage of another interviewee who states: “No Wal-Mart in Chicago, they don’t pay a living wage, they can’t come to Chicago.” However, the average wage for full-time hourly Wal-Mart associates in the Chicago area is $10.69 – more than $4 above the Illinois minimum wage of $6.50 and $1 above the $9.68 living wage recently established in Chicago.

“100 million working Americans shop at Wal-Mart every week,” added McAdam. “They deserve to know that the store where they spend their hard-earned dollars provides them with the best value and cares deeply about their communities.”

Smear documentaries are interesting to me for several reasons, one of which is the idealogical echo chamber they seem to reside in. Chances are the only people who watch the usually mind-numbing films are the ones who alreay agree with the premise. So what purpose does that serve excatly? Business is good, progress is good, and Wal-Mart - on the whole - is good. If the "debate" is filled with lies, what's the point?

via Instapundit

John Stossel on pork...

2005-10-26T13:53:00.000-05:00

I really don't know what to think of John Stossel, I've never really liked him, but I don't nessecarily dislike him either. Anyway, his column on pork and the Coburn amendments is a good read.

What Congress did is disgusting.

You heard what the Senate did to Tom Coburn's attempt to impose some sanity on spending.

How do they live with themselves?

Years ago, interviewing economist Walter Williams for a show ABC News called "Greed," I was perplexed when Williams said, "a thief is more moral than a congressman; when a thief steals your money, he doesn't demand you thank him."

That was silly hyperbole, I thought, but watching Congress spend, I see that I was naive and Williams was right.

WaPo gets it right re: Federal Louisiana relief funding

2005-09-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

For once the editorial board of the Washington Post says something I agree with (via Instapundit). Ok, it's not the first time, but it does not happen often either.

They make some very salient points about why LA is in the mess its in now, and how the pols running the show can't fix it - because they are the problem.

Like looters who seize six televisions when their homes have room for only two, the Louisiana legislators are out to grab more federal cash than they could possibly spend usefully. For example, their bill demands $7 billion for rebuilding evacuation and energy supply routes, but it also demands a separate $5 billion for road building and makes no mention of the $3.1 billion already awarded to the state in the recent transportation legislation. The bill demands $50 billion in community development block grants, partly to get small businesses going, but it also demands $150 million for a small-business loan fund plus generous business tax breaks. The bill even asks for $35 million for seafood marketing and $25 million for a sugar-cane research laboratory. This is the equivalent of New York responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center by insisting upon a federally financed stadium in Brooklyn.

But it gets even better:

Rather than grappling with the lessons of Katrina, Louisiana's representatives are demanding an astonishing $40 billion worth of Corps of Engineers projects in their state. That is 16 times more than the Corps says it would need to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane.

Where is ABC bitching about the "fleecing of America"? I bet we don't hear from them on this.

And the parting shot:

The Louisiana bill is so preposterous that its authors can't possibly expect it to pass; it's just the first round in a process of negotiation. But the risk is that the administration and congressional leaders will accept the $250 billion as a starting point, then declare a victory for fiscal sanity when they bring the number down to, say, $150 billion. Instead, Congress should ignore the Louisiana bill and force itself to think seriously about the sort of reconstruction that makes sense. Katrina has exposed mistakes of policy: water-infrastructure programs that made flooding more likely, and levees and insurance schemes that encouraged human settlement in dangerous places. Now that Congress is getting ready to spend tens of billions on reconstruction, it must seize the opportunity to correct those past errors.

Well played indeed.

The crazies got loose in DC!

2005-09-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

Bill from INDCJournal is perfectly covering stories in the DC area like he always does, this time looking at the anti-war protests last weekend.

Some notable quotes:

The exchange between the LaRouche supporter and the Iraqi was amusing. The LaRouchie asked the Iraqi, "What about how Dick Cheney and Wolfowitz lied about weapons of mass destruction?" To which the Iraqi responded, "I don't know about that, but only God or the United States had the power to remove Saddam. There are no more mass graves in Iraq!" Notice the pamphlet cover on the Larouchie's sign: a picture of Dick Cheney that reads "Children of Satan II: The Beast Men."

I wasn't sure what to think; I was torn between anger and laughter the whole time. It's difficult to get that angry with them; a good portion of these people are ill, channeling their emotional pain into a political struggle, and no amount of reasoning with them would have any effect. Luckily, the worst elements marginalize themselves with their overt displays of lunacy, and fortunately, no more than a couple of hundred people showed up for this event. I'm certainly glad that the Iraqis showed up; they likely won a media victory.

Read the whole thing.

If this really is the big anti-war movement in America, I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them.

Michael Barone: The smartest man in politics

2005-09-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Once again Michael Barone makes a strong showing for the title of "smartest man in American politics". Read his latest effort.

lack of refineries = high gas prices

2005-09-07T11:28:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder why gas prices are so high if we have oil available? Why can’t we just increase production to meet demand? Read this.

Here are the salient points:

A new oil refinery has not been built in the United States since 1976. During that time, our gasoline use has increased over 25 percent. The nation's 149 existing refineries have been running at maximum capacity trying to meet record demand and, as a result, not only do we import oil, we actually have to import 10 percent of our daily gasoline from refineries overseas.
So when Hurricane Katrina or a refinery fire or anything else causes even just a few refineries to shut down for awhile, there is absolutely no excess capacity nationwide to make up the difference, and prices at the pump skyrocket.

Why are we in this spot?

But getting an oil refinery built is next to impossible, hence the 30-year construction drought. There will always be environmental activists who fight any new proposed refinery, regardless of where it might be located and how environmentally safe it is. And our environmental rules give them the upper hand.
The environmental impact-report process mobilizes the "not in my back yard" elements to oppose any proposed refinery, but it does not mobilize people or groups who are looking at national energy needs. You wind up with a very lopsided discussion where potential problems are thoroughly and perhaps overly represented, but the only group pointing out the benefits of the refinery is the "evil" oil company asking to build it - even though every automobile driver would benefit.

Environmentalism is costing us financially. There are many who think this is good, but I wager that most Americans today would rather not be suffering from these gas prices.

Army re-enlistment rates up

2005-08-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

The re-enlistment rate for the Army is up, especially among active combat troops. Click over to Power Line for more.

Every one of the Army's 10 divisions — its key combat organizations — has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent.
What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president.

Jerusalem Next?

2005-08-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

So I guess appeasement works, huh?

Via Power Line:

Hamas terrorists vowed yesterday to drive Israel out of the West Bank and Jerusalem. "Gaza is not Palestine," a masked spokesman for Hamas' armed wing declared, making it clear the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip will not satisfy the fanatical terrorist group.
"As for Jerusalem and the West Bank, we will seek to liberate them by resistance just as the Gaza Strip was liberated," said the spokesman, surrounded by gunmen with rocket launchers.

"This retreat [by Israel] does not mean the end of our battle, but it is the beginning," said one of the gunmen.

"Our arms removed the Zionist enemy and therefore we will not abandon our weapons and we will not hand them over to anybody," said the Hamas spokesman.

Ward Churchill won't back down - He is still anti-American

2005-02-09T13:31:00.000-06:00

From Little Green Footballs:

But when Churchill stepped to the podium following ceremonial American Indian drumming and singing, plus a fiery introduction by AIM activist Russell Means, it was clear the crowd wasn’t going to punish him for the delay.
“Bill Owens, do you get it now?” he asked, following the 40-second standing ovation with which he was greeted. That cued another strong wave of applause.

“I do not work for the taxpayers of the state of Colorado. I do not work for Bill Owens. I work for you. . . . The Board of Regents should do its job, and let me do mine.”

The battle lines were drawn and underscored repeatedly, in overtly political colors.

Churchill, his voice strained at times and keyed to a fighting pitch for most of his talk, said “there is not an inch of give” in his stance, and that “This institution needs to be protected from the ravages of the rabid right wing” elements that he perceives to be behind the attacks on his credibility and his scholarship.
[emphasis added]

This man is an idiot, as a employee of a public university he absolutley works for the taxpayers in Colorado, just as the governor and the university prsident do. Hopefully they will listen to the public.

He is free to say whatever he wants, but the people of Colorado do not have to pay him when he exercises his right to free speech. This man needs to be fired. Yesterday.

BACKGROUND: Rocky Mountain News

Dick Morris: "Rice candidacy would destroy the electoral chances of the Democratic Party"

2005-02-09T13:03:00.000-06:00

Condi Rice for President? I'd vote for her.

Dick Morris' new column takes the point of view that Hillary will be a very formidable opponent in '08, and I think he's right on that account. His solution? Condolezza Rice.

Morris' characterization of Secretary Rice certainly fits her,

Americas first black female secretary of state is doing in public what she has always done in private speaking frankly about Americas priorities and the realities of the post-Cold War world. As she jokes with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, loosening up his dogmatic anti-American policies, lectures Russia about freedom and warns Israel of tough decisions ahead, one thing is obvious: A star is being born.

The meat of his argument however is in the demographic matchup that a Hillary-Condi race would set up. Because you would have a liberal woman running against a black conservative woman the normal demographic voting patterns may just fly out the window.

The political fact is that a Rice candidacy would destroy the electoral chances of the Democratic Party by undermining its demographic base. John Kerry got 54 percent of his vote from three groups that, together, account for about a third of the American electorate: African-Americans, Hispanics and single white women. Rice would cut deeply into any Democrats margin among these three groups and would, most especially, deny Clinton the strong support she would otherwise receive from each of them.

Make no mistake, a female GOP candidate could face some troubles in the primaries, but Rice is perfectly situated to placate the right while appealing to the moderates and centrists in this country.

As a social conservative and deeply religious person, she would face no bar in winning the votes of the Christian right, so crucial to winning the Republican nomination. Unlike former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani[sic] (R) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both of whom could probably win in November she would be very attractive to the pro-life, anti-gun-control, anti-affirmative-action base of the GOP.

When the religious right and gun advocates step into the primary booth and their choices are Rice, McCain, and Giuliani who do you think most would vote for? And Morris' final point may very well be the one that could put her over the top,

America longs to put the period on the disgraceful chapter in our nations history that began when the first slave arrived at Jamestown, Va., more than 400 years ago. We also want to send a message to every girl, and every African-American or Hispanic baby, that there is no ceiling and that you can rise as far as your ability will carry you. The day Condi Rice is sworn in as president, regardless of the fate of her administration, that message and the punctuation of our history of racism will be obvious.

Bottom Line: Rice could be a very viable candidate in the national election against Hillary, if the GOP will nominate a woman. I think the time is coming, will it be here in 3 years? We'll see.

HAT TIP: GOP Bloggers

Bush's Approval Rating - 57%

2005-02-09T10:19:00.000-06:00

From Blogs for Bush:

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey shows that President George W. Bush's approval rating has increased to 57%, up from 51% three weeks ago. The approval increase appears to be related to the recent Iraqi elections, which the poll shows went better than most Americans expected. In general, the public is more positive now than it was before the elections about the way Bush has handled the situation in Iraq, as well as how the war is faring for the United States.

I'll second the B4B guys, this just screams that the President has a mandate to follow through on his agenda.

Easongate Roundup

2005-02-08T09:57:00.000-06:00

I have not jumped on this story because there are so many covering it so well. But here is a rundown and a roundup of links.

Here are the basics. At the World Economic Forum Eason Jordan, a CNN executive, made the accusation that US soldiers were deliberately targeting journalists and dismissing it as "collateral damage". Rep. Barney Frank was on the same panel as Jordan and offered the following quote to the Washington Post:

At first, said Frank, "it sounded like he was saying it was official military policy to take out journalists." But Jordan later "modified" his remarks to say some U.S. soldiers did this "maybe knowing they were killing journalists, out of anger. . . . He did say he was talking about cases of deliberate killing," Frank said.

So obviously this is a problem, right? Well like the trusty medium it is, the conseervative blogosphere jumped all over this. Below are the best posts on the issue I could find, in close to chronological order.

Best Source: Easongate.com

Commentary:

Blogstorming CNN - GOP Bloggers
My Rebuttal to Eason Jordan - Captain's Quarters
Blogstorming CNN Part II - GOP Bloggers
Eason Jordan - Kudlow's Money Politic$
The Eason Jordan Scandal on CNBC - Instapundit
Blogstorming CNN Part III - GOP Bloggers
Blogstorming CNN Part IV - GOP Bloggers
Kurtz Breaks Silence on Jordan - Power Line
Blogstorming CNN Part V - GOP Bloggers
Eason Jordan Updates - INDC Journal

Interviews and Eyewitness Accounts:

Easongate: Barney Frank Talks - Michelle Malkin
Easongate: David Gergen Speaks - Michelle Malkin
Easongate: Chris Dodd Speaks - Michelle Malkin
Easongate: Kaus vs. Kurtz - Michelle Malkin
Easongate: Another Eyewitness Account - Michelle Malkin

New Blogroll Entry - Libertarian Girl

2005-02-07T14:55:00.000-06:00

I have added a new site to my blogroll, Libertarian Girl. I encourage you to go read it.

Except for her anti-Super Bowl post ;), I have found she has some very interesting things to say, and she knows what she is talking about. It's a well done blog and I encourage you all to check it out.

UPDATE: "She" was a fraud. I was fooled, feel free to launch into a salvo of ridicule now... ;)

The flap over Google News

2005-02-07T14:39:00.000-06:00

The discussion over blogs' admittance into the Google News service has me a little mystified. I understand that all blog authors want recogntion for their hard work and good writing, but are blogs really news sources? They are certainly a source for news, I definite get the quick hits for the day from my favorite blogs, but I don't see us in the same category as Fox News, MSNBC, USA Today etc. But that is a good thing. Whether the MSM is unbiased and objective is certainly up for debate, well maybe not, but I think of blogs and bloggers in a different light - the medium is mix of news and opinion not straight news.

Now, the fact that Wonkette and the Democratic Underground are listed in Google News is disturbing, and it certainly could indicate a bias in the service, the solution should not be to list conservative blogs there too. I agree with Libertarian Girl, the blogs currently listed should be removed. In fact they shoudl go one better, they shoudl launch a seperate blog aggreagation service, I know their technologoy would make it a really good service and wildly successful.

Sec. Rice starts off with a bang

2005-02-07T10:34:00.000-06:00

I ralize she has been on the job for a bit now, but this is the first home run I think she has hit. This unbelieveably perfect quote from an address to a European audience comes via New Sisyphus,

"There cannot be an absence of moral content in American foreign policy," she says. "Europeans giggle at this, but we are not European, we are American, and we have different principles."

Nice line! I believe that sums up the President's view quite nicely.

Richard Clarke is a stooge of the Left

2005-02-07T10:31:00.000-06:00

stooge n.

The partner in a comedy team who feeds lines to the other comedian; a straight man.
One who allows oneself to be used for another's profit or advantage; a puppet.
Slang. A stool pigeon.

That is Richard Clarke. Clarke found a calling as the general detractor of the Bush Administration, and for this the Left has made him a minor celebrity.

Go read this post over at New Sisyphus and you realize something -- Clarke is wrong. He claims no one listened to him, that 9/11 was the Federal Government's fault. Yet look at his own testimony in front of the 9/11 comission,

[Former Senator Slade ]GORTON: Now, since my yellow light is on, at this point my final question will be this: Assuming that the recommendations that you made on January 25th of 2001, based on Delenda, based on Blue Sky, including aid to the Northern Alliance, which had been an agenda item at this point for two and a half years without any action, assuming that there had been more Predator reconnaissance missions, assuming that that had all been adopted say on January 26th, year 2001, is there the remotest chance that it would have prevented 9/11?

CLARKE: No.

GORTON: It just would have allowed our response, after 9/11, to be perhaps a little bit faster?

CLARKE: Well, the response would have begun before 9/11.

GORTON: Yes, but there was no recommendation, on your part or anyone else's part, that we declare war and attempt to invade Afghanistan prior to 9/11?

CLARKE: That's right.

There you have it. This man has made a name for himself as the "premier" terrorism expert in America, and even he did not get it right. According to him, if the Feds would have looked to him for a solution 9/11 still would have happened. This man is making a fool of himself, and the fact that the media does not recognize this just shows their bias.

The Real Democratic Party

2005-02-07T09:59:00.000-06:00

Power Line brought a fantastic piece in the Weekly Standard to my attention, it shows the real face of the Democrats. In this column Noemie Emery puts this events of the last year into perspective,

Republicans want to win wars and spread freedom; Democrats want to save their rear ends. Bush thinks freedom is better than terror and tyranny; Democrats think they themselves are better than Bush. In 2004, Bush made it clear he was willing to lose on the basis of his convictions--and won in spite or more likely because of this. Democrats had no convictions beyond the end goal of winning, and therefore quite properly lost.

When a party has a majority for so long like the Democrats have a couple of things happen, all of which we are seeing the effects of. First, they fail to recognize when power starts to slip away. Think back to the 1994 mid-term elections, the Republican groundswell that took over the House should have signaled to the donks that something was afoot. Instead they took heart in Clinton's reelection over a weak Republican candidate and ignored what was coming.

Second, as a result of the first they dismissed the Republican threat and continued to fight the same fights as always, running plays from the same book. All the while the unrecognized backbone of the party, longtime Democrats and everyday Americans in the South and Midwest were slowly slipping away from the party, and as this happened the liberal fringe groups and money started to take their place. Pretty soon the Democrats could be characterized as the party of eco-wackos, abortionists, and pro-tax semi-socialists. Needless to say this did not play well with John Q. Public. This in addition to abandoning the legislative process for the judicial system in pursuit of their agenda has left them weak and unable to fight back when it matters.

Third, when power has completely slipped from their they stubbornly refuse to adapt, and this is what Ms. Emery has pointed out in her column, this party cannot play the game anymore.

For mysterious reasons best known to themselves, a small diehard clique of old-line insurgents hiding out in the depths of the U.S. Senate decided to make confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice the venue of a bomb-throwing session, on the basis of two cherished liberal theories: one, that the war in Iraq is an utter catastrophe; and two, that while criticism of liberal nonwhites and women is always racist and sexist in nature, nonwhites and women who are right-wing or centrist are less than "authentic," and therefore deserve what they get. Thus, Margaret Carlson in the Los Angeles Times found nothing amiss in Boxer's calling Rice a liar and a lackey, but insisted Boxer's critics were somehow attacking all women.

This followed by weeks an unprecedented onslaught from liberal cartoonists and columnists, who compared Rice to a parrot, a house slave, Aunt Jemima (with one hell of a weight loss), and Prissy in Gone With the Wind.

They pick the wrong battles, and they lose them. Sen. Boxer used her attacks to raise funds for her PAC, and the other Dems got plenty of face time on the nightly news, but what did it accomplish. I am sure that the Democrats of the '60's who fought so hard in the civil rights movement were proud of their party members standing on the floor of the Senate and opposing the appointment of an extremely well qualified black female Secretary of State. They just don't get it. And did you hear a defense coming from NOW or the NAACP? Not that I am aware of.

The Democrats have to fix this problem for their own sake, yet I think we won't see it until it is too late. I will not be surprised if their party goes into an long-term exile from power and has to reshape and craft their basic beliefs, because this incarnation to the Democratic is dead.

This is just sad

2005-02-05T19:42:00.000-06:00

The Democrats are trying, and for that I will give them credit. But come on, how lame does this sound?

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has convened a group of Democratic lawmakers to develop a "faith agenda" for the party, a Capitol Hill newspaper reported Monday (Jan. 31).

The "working group" of 15 to 25 members would help Democrats cast issues through a faith lens in a way that would help them speak to "faith-minded" voters, Roll Call reported.

Like I said, at least they are trying. The article goes on,

Pelosi, a Catholic from San Francisco, has been soliciting ideas on the proposal for two years from faith and political leaders, including former Clinton White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry. Pelosi said religious voters have been co-opted by Republicans.
"House Democrats are people of deep faith and share the values of faith communities," Pelosi told the newspaper.

Pelosi's group will have an uphill climb after exit polls from November's presidential election showed the so-called "values voter" flocking to the GOP in record numbers. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has made similar overtures in recent weeks, attempting to moderate her party's position on abortion in an effort to broaden support with swing voters.

"I knew that we had a problem two or three days after the election when I started looking at the exit polling," Clyburn said. "I saw that our Catholic nominee for president lost the Catholic vote."

Heh. Yeah they have "a problem". But even with this effort they do not get it, look back at the definition of this group - they are charged with "cast[ing] issues through a faith lens". What they don't understand is people of faith don't need to have the issues defined for them, they know what is right and wrong -- it's that simple.

The Democrats will fail if they try to bring men and women of faith to their sides of the issues, they have to change their stand first. Moral equivalence and relativism will not sit well with most Christians in this country, and that is what the Democrats are firmly espousing these days.

But at least they are trying.

Anti-terrorism "Light"

2005-02-04T10:34:00.000-06:00

If you don't get serious about a problem you will never solve it. Our "allies" have proven they are not serious, when will we force them to be.

Saudi Arabia has convened a conference on anti-terrorism in Riyadh. Via Power Line, here is a quote from the Arab News:

"We have invited all countries that have suffered from terrorism to the conference, and all have agreed to take part, said Prince Turki ibn Muhammad, assistant undersecretary for political affairs at the Foreign Ministry.

Can you guess who is not invited? You guessed it, Israel. No viable solution can be reached without Israel at the table. This is getting tiresome, I am not sure who I am more disappointed with, Saudi Arabia for being a a disingenuous ally, or the White House for sending Condi Rice to this charade.

CORRECTION: The US has not sent Sec. Rice, we sent a delegation of 18, listed here. Via Power Line.

Iraqis are fighting back

2005-02-04T08:28:00.000-06:00

From Ali, formerly of Iraq The Model, by way of GOPBloggers.org, through Citizen Smash:

Citizens of Al Mudiryiah were subjected to an attack by several militants today who were trying to punish the residents of this small town for voting in the election last Sunday. The citizens responded and managed to stop the attack, kill 5 of the attackers, wounded 8 and burned their cars.

I'm not taking sides...

2005-02-03T14:32:00.000-06:00

... but this is a nasty little disagreement between a 13 year old and another blogger.

Cynics Beware

2005-02-03T14:10:00.000-06:00

For those of us out here who believe that real emotion and passion can exist in politics and do not dismiss everything as propaganda the much talked about embrace between the female Iraqi and the mother of Sgt. Byron Norwood, a Marine who was KIA in Fallujah, does hold significance. As for those that dismiss it as staged or contrived, I echo Bill from INDC Journal's comments,

If you're too cynical to note its power without also being compelled to minimize it as propaganda, then part of me feels sorry for you. Sometimes, it's ok to just be moved.

This war in Iraq has been hard. It has been hard on the Iraqis, on the families of our servicemen, and the soldiers themselves. But if you can look past the MSM filter, you can see that all these people believe in what they are doing, they believe that the outcome is worth the battle, the death, and the sadness.

The parents of Sgt. Norwood of Pflugerville TX (outside of Austin and just down the road from me) have said in several interviews that they and their son believe in fighting for the freedom of the Iraqi people. This is the legacy of our great country, our young men fight to free others, not oppress them as the opposition wishes to. We have always stood for freedom, this is the basic American belief. I for one am proud of our country and thankful to our servicemen and women, its too bad the cynics dismiss their contributions so easily.

New Public Art in Baghdad

2005-02-03T11:23:00.000-06:00

Public art is starting to show up in Baghdad, on blast walls that protect buildings from bombings. Prreviously the only public art in the country was portraits of Saddam, this is a great step towards the true reconstruction of Iraq. Click over to the BBC to see some of the images.

For some reason art in the midst of violence conjures the image of the Phoenix to me, hopefully an appropriate metaphor for Iraq.

Want to know how to defend yourself? Take a lesson from Power Line

2005-02-03T10:31:00.000-06:00

The Power Line trio have fired their own salvo in their on-going battle with the Star-Tribune. Their response to the apparently incorrect column by one Camille Gage. This a particularly effective rebuttal to my eyes, and it portrays Ms. Gage as a someone who is not presenting any facts to back up her assertions, and the editors of the Star-Tribune as presenting a piece which they have not checked for accuracy. I have heard it said before that opinion columns are not usually fact-checked and if this is truly the case then this debate shows that it should be done. Here is the section (the last half) of their response that I particularly liked:

Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR report, far from having no factual basis, has been the subject of a criminal investigation.

Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR representatives have submitted sworn affidavits saying they went to deputy registrars in Racine and Milwaukee who accepted their registrations to vote, even though they made it clear that they were not eligible Wisconsin voters.

Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR representatives made tapes of their conversations with the deputy registrars which are consistent with their sworn accounts, and have been turned over to federal and state law enforcement authorities.

Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that two liberal activists are already under indictment for voter fraud in Racine County.

Last August deputy editorial page editor Jim Boyd falsely called us fraudulent smear artists. Last December Metro columnist Nick Coleman falsely suggested that we have taken money under the table from undisclosed benefactors. We're beginning to take these libels personally.

Oh, one more thing. The Star Tribune has yet to run a single article reporting on the Racine voter fraud story. Meanwhile, the broader topic of voting irregularities in Wisconsin has exploded into a major national news story. Maybe if the Star Tribune spent less time libeling us and more time reporting the news, it would be a better paper.

From what I know of the situation, through reading Power Line, I am going to side with the guys here, it seems that Ms. Gage has an agenda and is pursuing it through verbal bomb-throwing. It's sad really that a newspaper would stoop to that level.

My (Short) Observations on the State of the Union speech

2005-02-03T07:16:00.000-06:00

Bush = good, Democrats = bad. ;)

While true, its not really that simple. The President took a well-deserved, but short, victory lap on the success of late in Iraq then moved right into the future of his Presidency. While the Inauguration address was sweeping and grand in its vision, this speech had a practical, policy minded approach. Social Security will be a big fight, his proposals got jeers from the donks at one point. This fight will be big and nasty, but I think we can get this done -- and we have to, it is too important.

But one of the things which really disappoints me is the current views and tactics of the Democratic party. Their party has became one of blind opposition, petty politics, and obstruction. If they don't change this in 2006 we will see an even bigger Republican majority.

New Era for Labor?

2005-02-03T06:59:00.000-06:00

Megan McArdle has a great post with her thoughts on the Labor movement. Some really good insights, including her take on airline deregualtion.

But even in non-budget industries, it is the lower income quintiles who are most hurt by the kinds of oligopolies needed to sustain strong union bargaining power. The airlines are an excellent example of what I've said above. The twilight struggle of the major airlines with bankruptcy has made it clear that the lavish union jobs they provide, which seem to pay at least double the market rate, were really only economically viable when regulation protected their oligopoly, and allowed (hell, forced) everyone to price at cost-plus. Without such regulatory protection, it seems likely that eventually every one of the major airlines will either shed their high-cost unions (unlikely) or follow Pan-Am and Eastern Airlines to the grave.

And who has benefitted from deregulation? Companies? Nope; until recently, at least, they paid through the nose for their last-minute, flexible tickets. First class? Honey, if you're flying first class, you aren't worried about the cost of your travel. No, the beneficiaries are the 85% of Americans who had never been on a plane as of 1970. In my mother's youth they used to dress up to go pick people up at the airport; it was the province of luxury. Now people who saw far flung relatives only rarely, when they could get away for long enough to justify a couple day's driving, can, usually for less than a day's wages, get to Mom in a matter of hours. The cost of those high-priced union jobs was that most Americans had fewer, and less varied vacations, and less time with family--and the working class and the poor were hurt the most. That hardly seems like a liberal dream.

She has a really good point here, unions cause prices to rise due to the increased wages and benefits they demand. It might be good for the workers in the short run, but in the long run it's a losing strategy.

A view from Baghdad

2005-02-01T19:42:00.000-06:00

This email was received by an acquaintance of mine and I felt that it serves as a excellent example of what our men, and women, in uniform are thinking and feeling. This is from a service person currently serving in Iraq.

Howdy from Baghdad! What an incredible weekend. Here's what I have heard and encountered:

- As you probably saw on the news, people have been dancing in the streets! They are very excited about voting for the first time in their history and having a chance at a better destiny.
- The guy doing the chicken head dance on the street is my new hero! We need to digitize his dance and put it to music.
- Blue thumbs are a badge of honor here. People show it off like the medal of honor (and it is). They say they have never been happier! Iraqis who voted were hugging each other in the chow hall; engineers, interpreters, cleaning crews were all thrilled.
- You heard of course of the old guy (60 or 70 yrs old) who lost a leg thanks to an insurgent bomb in Oct 04. He traveled 17 miles on crutches to go vote.
- An 80 year old woman told her son to carry her in a wheel barrow several miles to a voting booth so she could vote.
- Some men went to vote early in the day to make sure it was safe, then went back for their wives and families to make sure their wives had a chance to vote.
- Women had an incredible turn out; for the first time in their history, they had a real personal say in their nation's future. This is almost unheard of in this region.
- When suicide bombers struck some polls during the vote, uninjured people got back in line immediately and continued to vote.
- When a guy tried to blow up his car, the button to the bomb failed; others caught on, dragged him out, beat the crap out of him w/ their sandals, and had him arrested. I wonder what was worse for him - bomb not going off or getting smacked around w/ sandals.
- The Iraqi army took hits but they protected their people. Two Iraqi police officers immediately went after a guy who looked suspicious. They did not let him into the polling area and challenged him outside of the main cordon. He pressed the button and killed himself and the two Iraqi police officers. No one else was hurt.
- An Iraqi Army Col heard a voting poll was going to be attacked by insurgents hiding in a safehouse. He already had all polls protected by his soldiers (aiding the local police force) and was down to his personal security detachment of 10. He personally led them to the safehouse, attacked about 30 insurgents, and arrested the survivors. The day was saved.
- When attacked by insurgents, an Iraqi soldier held his ground between the voters in line and the insurgents. They fired at him, he fired back. They threw a grenade at the crowd and ran away. The Sgt threw himself on the grenade to protect the people. He died, no one else was hurt. They continued to vote.

Without great sacrifice, there can be no freedom.

Well said.

The right kind of election reform

2005-02-01T16:50:00.000-06:00

In Wisconsin they are reforming the election system the way it should be done, at the state level. Republicans in the state legislature have introduced a bill that would require voters to show photo identification in order to cast their ballots.

The voter ID legislation, which Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) and Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) introduced, is similar to a bill that Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed in 2003. The two lawmakers said the measure is a "reasonable and sensible" approach to correcting some of the problems that emerged in Milwaukee and that rattle residents' faith in the system.

Hopefully this goes through without trouble. A Democratic initiative to block this legislation would send a terrible, but accurate, portrayal of the donks' opinion of how to deal with voter fraud -- ignore it.

HAT TIP: GOP Bloggers

More iPod Shuffle discussion

2005-02-01T13:57:00.000-06:00

I have still not ordered my iPod Shuffle yet, but I am still planning on it.

However, this post on The Long Tail made me think twice about it. Chris Anderson's points in this post are very well taken, the signal-to-noise ratio in my library would be very low as he predicts.

You can think of the thousands of songs on your hard drive as a Long Tail of sorts. Even though you've bought, ripped, or downloaded them all, they're not all your personal "hits". Some of those tracks are songs you don't care for on albums you otherwise like; others are albums you wish you hadn't bought or ripped in the first place. And yet others are songs that you've simply grown tired of. In other words, the signal-to-noise ratio in your own collection can be nearly as variable as that in any commercial music service.

As my regular MP3 player is not an iPod I have an option available to me, handpick the songs to import into the iTunes library in effect filtering them before so the odds of the Shuffle feature producing a good playlist would be much higher.

However in the end this is a moot point for me. I am ordering the iPod Shuffle to replace my current flash-based MP3 player I use for working out and running, for this purpose it is uniquely well suited. First off for 512MB at $99 it is cheap for a flash-based player, the size and weight are big advantages whether I have it in my pocket while at the gym or strapped to my arm while running, and finally I never use the visual interface anyway as I have pre-set playlists I always for my workouts -- literally set it and forget it.

I know I am not the only out there looking at the Shuffle in this light, in this manner I think Apple has produced a really great product and I must disagree with Chris -- I think it will do very well.

Teddy Kennedy -- Abandoned out on the Left

2005-02-01T13:17:00.000-06:00

How far to the Left do you have to go to have Nancy Pelosi be to your right? Ask Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Pelosi have publicly disagreed with his call for immediate establishment of a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Reid said this about timetables for troop withdrawals:

As far as setting a timeline, as we learned in the Balkans, that's not a wise decision, because it only empowers those who don't want us there. And it doesn't work well to do that.

Sensible enough statement, it's surprising this came from a Democratic Senator.

New Blog - Boxer Watch

2005-02-01T13:11:00.000-06:00

Check out this new blog dedicated to watching the donk Senator from California. It looks to be a nice addition to the blogosphere.

One of our fallen heroes...

2005-01-28T16:32:00.000-06:00

1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe.

The Washington Post has an excellent piece on Lt. Hoe. It's definitely worth the time.

HAT TIP: INDC Journal

You don't really believe that do you?

2005-01-28T16:11:00.000-06:00

I have long thought the Left calling us anti-intellectual is ridiculous, and I think this proves it. Over on Michelle Malkin's blog she posted the following letter to the editor from the Rocky Mountain News:

'A bad case of fleas'
The act of war deliberately and thoughtlessly wounds, poisons and handicaps the life-sustaining womb of all mankind. The Earth reacts, as any living thing would, when attacked. Earthquake, tsunami, flood, tornado, hurricane, mudslide, and resulting loss of life may be the natural emotional response.

We must behave responsibly and live peacefully or we may all be "shaken" off like a bad case of fleas.

Millie Mitchell
Fort Collins

Wow, now the Earth has "natural emotional response[s]"? This is an example of environmentalism gone too far. The suggestion that the Earth is reacting to war by earthquake is ludicrous. What a moron.

Sen. Barbara Boxer

2005-01-28T11:50:00.000-06:00

I think the most frustrating thing for me is that the Democrats have lost this battle and won't admit it.

Boxer was up there sounding like a pissed off over-the-hill hippie, because that is what the core constituency of the Democratic Party wants. The donks have shifted to the left, their alignment is now with the left wing special interests and not with the people that made them the dominant party for over 40 years. In a speech yesterday Teddy "I like bridges" Kennedy came out and all but said that the "insurgents" (terrorists) are winning the war for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. If this was true, we would not see the massive turnout for the election we will see this weekend. The Democrats will continue to bang away at this issue, but no one has told them the truth -- it's dead horse.

John Kerry and the Democrats tried hard to make the 2004 election a referendum on Iraq, they wanted every voter to walk into their polling place thinking about the war. And it worked, all the media, pundits, ads, campaign surrogates, and bloggers were talking about was the war. The problem for them was it did not turn out the way they wanted.

They lost. Big.

George W. Bush and the Republicans turned out one of the best performances in a national elections in quite awhile. The Republicans have not held such a large majority in the Senate since the 1920's, the attitude of Americans are shifting (or already have) away from a party that long ago sold its soul to the fringe. The posturing, insulting of nominees and obstructionist tactics that the Democrats have turned to are a desperate play for relevancy, and it may be their death rattle as well.

The best thing they could do is reevaluate where their party is heading, and get back to representing the American people -- but they won't do it.