LIberal Womyn We'd Prefer Not to Enjoy (in bed, or anywhere else)

Recently, Playboy.com decided to run an article about the 10 Conservative women they’d most like to hate f***. Somehow, they thought this would curry favor with their mostly Liberal audience and they made a concerted effort to advertise this crap through the Internet via Liberal bloggers.

Somehow, they must’ve forgotten that there are some decent people on the Internet, and Conservatives, too, so, after a short time posted, Playboy took the article down, and semi-respectable Lib bloggers, like Anne Mullins at Politico had to issue mea culpas for their original links to the article (an article they clearly had not read).

If you want to see the original, Blogwonks has it.

Not that this is very hard, I decided to take a little revenge on the Left and choose my list of Liberal women we’d least like to, ummmm, well, you know. A few conditions – the women on this list have to have some clear leftist political leaning, must not be someone you’d want to introduce to your college pals as a conquest, and must be heterosexual, so that leaves out, well, the likes of Rosie O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow, and Ellen Degeneres (since they wouldn’t want to be with men anyway).

They are:

1. Arianna Huffington – founder of the Huffington Post, and turncoat to Conservatives (well, you’d feel jilted, too, if your ex-billionaire husband turned out gay).
2. Michelle Obama – if “angry black woman” were personified, it’d be her. She’d never been truly proud of her country until her husband locked up the Democratic nomination. Not even when Affirmative Action was securing her a slot at Princeton. Now she just spends the taxpayers’ money on date nights.
3. Andrea Mitchell – yech. A “reporter” so loose with the facts, and so hideous, she had to marry Alan Greenspan.
4. Katie Couric – if Drudge didn’t constantly remind CBS how bad it has gotten since she took over the anchor chair from another woman we’d hate to ummm, you know (Dan Rather), we wouldn’t remember her.
5. Barbara Streisand – the once great singer long ago decided to abandon Israel and her Jewish roots to shill for the Democrats. In her defense, she was smitten with Bill Clinton. So, I guess you could argue the Devil made her do it.
6. Hillary Clinton – I almost feel sorry for Hillary. Almost.
7. Nancy Pelosi – I know Nancy Pelosi isn’t a stupid woman. You don’t get to be Speaker by being stupid. You do, however, get to be speaker by being ruthless, shameless, and less than faithful to the truth.
8. Janeane Garafalo – I am glad that she contends she’s not a lesbian, thus making her eligible for my list. The much tattooed, unfunny comedienne, and former Air America talk show host has a penchant for saying the stupidest things while proclaiming her own Liberal superiority. Poster child for modern Liberalism. If we didn’t have Janeane, we’d have to invent her.
9. Helen Thomas – Worst reporter in American history. Enough said.
10. Ellen Goodman – The Boston Globe columnist compares global warming skeptics to Holocaust deniers and thinks empathy is an important qualification for Supreme Court justices (as long as it’s not empathy for the rule of law, the 2^nd Amendment or 10^th Amendments).

Honorable Mention:

1. Madonna – Just plain scary and definitely liberal, but, I used to have a massive crush, so I’d probably still take her.
2. Susan Estrich – I wanted to include her in the top 10, since she is definitely a left-wing apologist, but, I actually like her, and find her attractive in a weird way. Also, since she masterminded the Dukakis campaign, I think she might be a closet conservative.
3. Hanoi Jane Fonda – she deserves to be on the list, but, she was once hot, and she was married to Ted Turner, so she has an excuse now.
4. Eleanor Clift – if The McLaughlin Group had any viewers anymore, she might crack the top 10, cause, she ain’t much to look at, and she’s for sure a left-wing nut case. But, nobody’s listening anymore.
5. Maureen Dowd – The NYT columnist has the leftist bona fides, but, she’s just a tad too attractive, and you know she’s of low moral character, so, she can’t make the list, either.
6. Angelina Jolie – sorry, but, Jon Voight’s daughter may be more conservative than you think. One of the few Hollywood elite to suggest that the War in Iraq may have been a good thing.

P-8 First Flight

Friday, the P-8A Poseidon made its first flight (h/t NOS) from Renton Field in Washington. The nearly 3 hour flight also included a fly-by of NAS Whidbey Island.

The Navy plans to eventually order 117 of these, with IOC in 2013.

Here's hoping the aging P-3's make it that long.

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Trip to Cedar Point: Cincinnati

Yesterday, my 13 (soon to be 14) year old daughter and I completed a 1500 mile, 4-day venture to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, with a stopover in Cincinnati.

For those who are roller coaster fans, Cedar Point is probably the US destination with the highest concentration of roller coasters, and some of the largest in the country. Since we're pretty much bored with the local Six Flags over Georgia offerings, we decided the trek would be a fun way to cap off the school year, and semi-celebrate a birthday (hers) as well.

With an eye on the weather, we left Wednesday, headed for Cincinnati, the goal being to make it their in time to check into our hotel (The Hyatt Regency) and walk to Great American Ballpark for the Reds vs. Astros game. Despite rainy travel on Wednesday, we made the 7+ hour trip in plenty of time to check-in, swim for a bit, watch the rain taper off, and head to the game, where the skies parted, and we enjoyed a victory for the home team. GABP lived up to its reputation as a hitter friendly park, with 3 homers hit by the Reds, 2 by star player (and Braves-killer) Jay Bruce. For baseball fans, his two homers would not have cleared the fences in most other parks.

It's a great place to see a game, and students get in for half price, and, military receive free admission to outfield reserved seats (not sure if that was a Memorial Day week promotion or always available), so we got in for $7. They also offer a meal deal of a hot dog, coke, chips, and a snack for $7, so, for $21, we got admission to a major league baseball game, and dinner! If you know of other great ballpark deals let me know - this one would be hard to top.

The Hyatt was reasonably priced for an upper-end, downtown hotel, but I have a couple of complaints:

1. Why these higher end hotels can not seem to offer free wi-fi in their rooms, or in the Hyatt's case, wired access, is beyond me. You're already charging a premium, get with the program. When Microtel offers free wi-fi, you can, too.
2. After the game, we wanted to grab a quick snack in the hotel sports bar. Apparently, we weren't good enough customers to be waited on, so we had to forgo that experience.

The next day, Thursday, we would be leaving early enough to arrive at Cedar Point in time to enjoy their Starlight park hours (4-8pm on this day). More on that experience in a subsequent post.

If you're in Cincinnati for only a short time, and have the desire to see a Reds game, by all means, do. It's a new park, so all the seats are good, and it's a small park, so you'll see some offense. The location is right on the Ohio River, so you can watch the barges and pleasure boats pass by, and the fans are knowledgeable and friendly. The homeless are also well behaved, unlike some cities where they are very aggressive.

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101 Freedoms the Left doesn't want you to have...

From Teh Resistance Blog comes this gem of a post, and I am glad they cleared it up, that "Once you step outside the bedroom, most every aspect of your life should be subject to the iron hand of the progressive state."

Some of my faves:

• The Freedom to take risks, and live with the consequences
• The Freedom to purchase and drive an SUV or any other vehicle you choose
• The Freedom to use your own property in whatever way that you may choose
• The Freedom to earn a living by logging, ranching, fishing, or any other activity they don’t approve of
• The Freedom to publicly celebrate a Christian holiday
• The Freedom to use nuclear-powered electricty
• The Freedom to critcize Islam
• Your Freedom to use or produce whatever amount of harmless carbon dioxide you choose

There are many more things the left doesn't want you to do...


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Idol Finale. Kris Wins (as predicted)

As predicted (by me), Kris Allen won the title of American Idol.

Also, if you watched Adam Lambert perform with Kiss, you know what I mean about him needing to be the singer in a rock and roll band.

I predict big album sales from Kris, Adam, Allison, and perhaps even Danny. After seeing the finale, I think Danny might want to consider a country career.

Meghan Corkrey still can not sing, and what was with Jorge hogging the screen time?

Finally, Kara Dioguardi and Bikini Girl killed the G rating by having a sing-off and bikini contest. Given Kara's 38 years, I think she won both, easily.

It was a star-studded cast, leaving me to ask - do these people really need album sales so bad that they are easily cajoled into appearing on AI?

Congrats to Kris - hopefully that little woman of yours can handle all the fame and adulation you're about to receive, and, to Adam, now you can cover all those Bronski Beat songs I've been hoping you would sing.



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Visit this new (to me) Global Warming Skeptic's Blog

John Blethen, PHD (physics) has a blog, Heliogenic, which you can enjoy to find interesting data and commentary to take on the Global Warming Alarmists.

He's away for a while vacationing, but I encourage you to check our past posts.

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Idol Finale!

Last night, we saw Adam and Kris sing it off. Based on last night alone, Adam would be the winner.

But, that's not how people vote. Kris has a loyal following, and my prediction is a Kris victory. He is much more contemporary (think Jason Mraz) and in tune with what the 12-25 year old set is listening to these days.

Adam really would make a great front man for a rock and roll band, with his ability to belt those big vocals out and seemingly sing all night. On his own, well, he's just a tad bit weird, and androgynous.

Dialidol.com has Kris leading, barely. They have underestimated his vote all season, so, I think he's the winner when all is said and done.

Don't be surprised, you read it here first.

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Liberals bashing Liberals? John Stewart takes Pelosi down.

I know thinking people knew Nancy Pelosi's various explanations for what she knew, and when she knew it, about enhanced interrogation techniques were tortured.

Turns out, Comedy Central's John Stewart has noticed, too, and he posted this video, chronicling Nancy's ride through the torture wasteland:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Waffle House
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

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Ann Coulter on Carrie Prejean

Unless you've been under a rock this week, you know that the first runner up in the Miss USA pageant (owned by perpetually bankrupt Donald Trump), Miss California, Carrie Prejean, had the audacity to hope that her views of gay marriage (shared by the Liberal Messiah, Obama) would be accepted by Liberal America, personified by the vile, stupid, vapid, and disgusting Perez Hilton (not sure I really understand how this guy came to fame, but apparently, it has something to do with drawings of penises).

Anyway, Ann Coulter opines, as always with biting wit, in her column today on this.

The best passage from the Conservative Liberals Most Love to Hate:

"Christians aren't people who believe they are without sin; they're people who know they're sinners and are awestruck by God's grace in sending his only Son to take the punishment they deserve.

"This is in contradistinction to liberals, all of whom believe they're on a fast track to heaven on the basis of being 'basically good' people -- and also believe that anyone who disagrees with that theological view is evil."

I couldn't have said it better myself, so I didn't.

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Idol, final 3

Last night, Danny, Adam, and Kris "worked it out" in the Idol final 3.

We haven't watched the elimination yet, but dialidol.com has Danny going, though it's pretty close. I wouldn't be surprised if Kris was in first, or if either of the other 2 go.

I thought the order last night was:

1. Kris
2. Adam
3. Danny

But 2 and 3 were very close.

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Final 4: Duet Night

Last week, there was no surprise as we saw Matt G go home. There was a semi-surprise as Adam joined him in the bottom 2.

This week, with rock 'n roll and a couple of duets, Adam shone, Allison starred with him, and Danny and Kris failed to "work it out."

So, they were, in order:

1. Adam
2. Allison
3. Danny
4. Kris

In danger - and my prediction - Kris.

Dial idol.com says: Razor thin between Kris and Allison. Dialidol has been underestimating Kris all season, and overestimating Adam. Could we have an upset?

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Idolatry: The Final 4 Awaits

Tonight, the remaining 5 contestants will wow us with their musical prowess. Tomorrow, Fox will NOT air Obambi, so you can count on Idol starting on time!

Tonight, the Rat Pack. With guest coach...Frank Sinatra...NOT!

He's dead, so it will be Vincent Pastore...NOT!

Jamie Foxx will be the guest mentor.

1. Kris Allen will go first, with "The Way You Look Tonight" - I thought it was a little boring, and too much copycat to me. A teensy Chris Isaak at the end. Randy liked it, thought it was great, and I agree the vocals were very good. Kara likes. Paula wants to jump his bones. Simon says good, "quite nice" not "incredible."
2. Allison again gets shafted with her placement second. Will this happen to Adam? "Someone to Watch Over Me." She can acually sing, and it would be a nice change from the rock songs on an album. I don't know if it distinguishes her in this group. Randy likes, Kara likes. Kara's not nervous, but, I am. Paula likes, too. Simon doesn't see her winning.
3. Matt G sings "My Funny Valentine." He gets to wear the hat to hide The Mole. Well, I liked it. The guy has the ability to hit some notes. Randy has not been able to say "pitchy" very much this year, so, he got it. Kara didn't feel the emotion, Matt clearly disagrees. Paula loves The Mole. Simon is going to agree with Paula, felt it was authentic. "Brilliant."
4. Danny is going next, so, SHOCK! Adam goes last. "Come Rain or Come Shine" I'm not familiar with the song, but, I thought he brought it home at the end. Randy can see Danny doing an album of these things. Kara loves the swagger. Paula loves (does she hate anything?). Simon loves the swagger, too. Simon wants to say, you came out to get Adam tonight.
5. Adam Lambert we will watch with the rest of America as he does "Feeling Good." Hmmm. He's over the top and he pulls it off. Judges tell us so.

So, tonight they were all good. Only Matt wasn't very good, and even he was good. Will Kris be hurt by the number 1 slot? Will Allison pick up any Lil votes? Time will tell.

Is Matt toast?

I think so.

Is there any stopping the Adam/Danny train?

What do you think?????

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Final 5 Idols Are Set

Well, folks, the save worked and got Matt G to the final 5. Allison, while in the bottom 3, was spared elimination.

Anoop and Lil were sent packing.

I was wrong about Anoop, and the bottom 3, but Mom had it right tonight.

Good job, Mom!

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Idol 7: No One Can Save You Now!

Tonight, we have Disco night, let's see who breaks out of the box, and which 2 are going home.

So, to give the judges ALL time to comment, we are getting straight to it, with Lil going first. Let's get to it:

1. Lil - I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan - Karaoke. It doesn't make use of Lil's substantial voice. Judges hate it, so do I. I agree with Simon - Lil is done.
2. Kris - She Works Hard For the Money - Donna Summer - Before he begins I tell the 13 y.o. AI fan - "you can make a disco song fit your style." Kris does this with this song. It's a great version, done well, and, I agree with Kara - something I could see on his album. Well done Kris!
3. Danny - September - Earth, Wind, and Fire - Danny has a unique enough sound, but, this strikes me as a little bit of an odd performance. People have it right about Danny, he screams everything. Randy likes. Kara likes. Paula likes. Simon agrees, but feels no star power.
4. Allison - Hot Stuff - Donna Summer - I thought she was doing Led Zeppelin at first (that's a good thing for her, in my opinion). I love Allison. I want her in the final 2 with Adam. Randy and Kara are not thrilled with the arrangement, Paula doesn't care, she loves. Simon says that was "brilliant." Simon's the man.
   
5. Adam - If I Can't Have You - Yvonne Elliman - is this what we can expect from a recording Adam? I don't know what to make of it. I really don't. The boy can sing. Randy loves, Kara loves, Paula was crying, Simon loved the originality and the vocals. Ok, everyone else is going for 2nd place.
6. Matt G - Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees - I like the version. I think it's original and modern, while fairly true to the original. But, there's something missing to me. Randy not a fan of the song choice or arrangement, but he loves Matt's singing. Kara liked the disco flavor, and the performance. Paula - really liked it. Simon wasn't feeling it.
7. Anoop - Dim The Lights - Donna Summer - Sporting a little facial hair this week. Is it real? Anoop can sing. But this song, doesn't even have the audience in it. Randy didn't love the arrangement, but loved Anoop's singing. Kara thought it was a good choice and liked the beat, really warming to Anoop. Paula - was she crying again? She loved the vocals, too. Simon? Didn't like it, "mediocre at best, worst peformance by a mile."

Best:

1. Kris Allen
2. Adam
3. Allison
4. Danny

In trouble:

1. Lil (for sure she is gone)
   
2. Anoop (pimp spot rarely gets booted)
   
3. Matt G
   

My prediction:
Lil and Matt G gone.

Early (10pm) dialidol.com predictions:
Kris, Matt, Allison. But, last week, and in previous weeks, dialidol has way overestimated Lil (they have her 2nd right now) and underestimated Kris and Allison. So, my prediction stays the same.

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$18B is chump change, John McCain! But look what Obambi is saving!

So, today, the Obambi administration trotted out $100M in savings, which, I might add, is .0003% of his projected 2009 budget.

Remember when Obama derided John McCain for suggesting that saving $18B in earmarks was basically chump change? Well, I do, and here is the clip from the debate where he made light of this:




Today, Jake Tapper decided to question Robert Gibbs on this massive savings. Politico has the video.

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Tea Parties, what do they all mean?

Today, hundreds of cities held Tea Parties to protest the massive spending increases championed by Liberals and to protest high taxes, which promise to get worse to pay for at least some of the spending.

Nearly simultaneously, the Department of Homeland Security is labeling anyone who opposes the government from the right as "Rightwing extremists," CNN's Susan Roper badgers Tea Party attendees and pretty much acts as a shill of the Obama administration,


and Anderson Cooper (appropriately) informs that teabagging usually makes it difficult to speak.


What are we to make of all this?

1. I have seen no reports of vandalism, looting, or rioting. Clearly these people are not professional protesters.
2. Fiscal responsibility is back in vogue. Maybe Republicans will take up the mantle, and, maybe they'll rediscover some other conservative principles to stand on.
3. CNN really, really, really hates Fox.
4. The people are smarter than the pundits give them credit for being. They recognize that to fund everything this administration wants to do, is going to require higher taxes on more than just the top 5%.

I was pleased and gratified to see so many people pissed off about the uncontrolled orgy of spending that is going on. Maybe this will translate into real change in Washington.

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Idol Results

Dialidol.com was way off last night, wrongly predicting Lil in 2nd, and Kris in last, and missed Anoop in the bottom 3. However, I had them right, but, I predicted Lil would get booted, and instead, Matt G did. The judges decided to save him.

The use of the save could prove problematic, especially with disco week coming up.

My fear is that Allison, who is the only person who could crack the Danny/Adam duo, could falter during next week's performance, and she is really the only person they needed the save for. But, since these are the last 2 weeks they could have used it, perhaps with confidence that Allison has built some fan base, they felt comfortable using it. The odds-on favorites to get kicked out next week will be 2 of Lil, Matt G, or Anoop. So, we will see...

Was anyone surprised by tonight's bottom three?

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Idol 7: Surprise in Store?

Looking at Dialidol's predictions tonight, does Idol have a surprise for us tonight?

 

They have Kris Allen in last place, but, dialidol has consistently underestimated Kris's support (they had him last last week, and he wasn't even in the bottom 3), so, it's not going to be him.  Last week they overestimated Lil's support, but this week, they have her number 2 (ahead of Adam and behind Gokey). 

 

Taking the next lowest, it would appear Matt G is in trouble tonight.  A forgettable performance, and a difficult mid-pack of guys with Anoop and Kris, probably means it's the end for Matt G tonight, and I doubt the judges would use the save on him.  I doubt also, at this point, that they would use it on Lil, who undoubtably benefited from her pimp spot last night.  Allison, conversely, was hurt by her placement at the front of the show.

 

I would not be surprised to see a Matt, Lil, Allison, or Matt, Kris, Allison bottom 3 tonight.  In either of those scenarios, I think Matt G goes home.  If Allison is picked for elimination, I expect to see the save used at this point.

 

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Idol - 7 remain, who will go home next

Because the producers and Ryan suck at time management, we only get to hear from 2 judges at a time. Come on, they sing 2 minute songs, so 14 minutes of performance, 16 of commercials, with the other 28 minutes, we can't get more judge time? We ALL await Simon's comments.

1. Allison - Aerosmith, I Don't Wanna Miss You - I thought it was not that great, but I love her anyway. Simon - "You're the girl's only hope." He's right.
   
2. Anoop - Bryan Adams, Everything I Do - Tough one for me to like, because I HATE Bryan Adams. So, he was good, but, yech, borrrrring song. Judges (Randy, Kara) like.
   
3. Adam - Steppenwolf, Born to be Wild - sounds like it would if it were in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Paula's going crazy in her dog collar. Simon, explain what she means, please. (I wrote that about Rocky Horror BEFORE Simon said it)
   
4. Matt G - Bryan Adams, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman - Again, I don't need to express my hatred for Bryan Adams. Matt was - just alright. He could probably do this song justice in 4 minutes, vice 2. Randy - interesting, but, I think Randy for the first time blamed "pitch." Finally, Randy and pitch!
   
5. Danny - Lionel Ritchie, Endless Love - okay, they are choosing some songs I detest. This is one of them. But, I like his version, and, I think it was better, more interesting than Adam's, and less manic, for sure. Paula - incomprehensible, as always. Simon - who cares, he's disappointed that it was so "traditional."
   
6. Kris Allen - Falling Slowly - I don't know. I really don't. It was pretty. Randy - not into it, but he's on the "pitch" train. Kara - loved it, as did Paula.
7. Lil - Bette Midler, The Rose - I hate this song, too. And, I hate this arrangement. And, I really have lost my initial love for Lil. Paula - huh? Simon - hated it, not enough goodness from her. She needs to join Mandisa on the Gospel circuit.

Even with the 2 judge rule, they managed to go 2 minutes too long.

Good tonight:

1. Danny
2. Adam
3. Anoop
4. Allison
   

Rotten tonight:

1. Lil

Everyone else just average.

Going home: Lil
Bottom 3: Anoop (just doesn't have enough fans), and Matt G, and Lil

Dialidol (at 9:30) is showing Lil safe. But, we'll see in the morning.

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Adam Lambert and Immigration Policy

No less an authority than the NY Times opines this weekend (H/T: Mom) on the prospect of a almost-certainly-gay contestant (Adam Lambert) winning American Idol, and what it means for gays in America.

While the Times tries to draw parallels between Adam's success and gay marriage being ratified in Vermont and Iowa, I find the whole idea that it matters pretty preposterous. I mean, anyone who has watched the show can plainly see that there is one great performer and singer (Adam) and then there is everyone else.

Whether Adam wins or loses (and, it is his to lose right now), it is pretty clear to me that this boils down to who performs best each week. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be in America?

Since the Times has broached the subject, I'll get it out there. My political (and personal) belief is that the government and society at large has an interest in the furtherance of the traditional nuclear family. I think there is a Conservative approach to this, and a Libertarian one. I can understand arguments for both, which are rational (as opposed to the Liberal argument, which I find irrational).

Libertarians and conservatives alike would agree that there is importance attached to a cultural identity and that the United States should maintain some sense of what it means to be American. In that respect, I would expect both to favor policies that promote child bearing, and child rearing. This has the practical benefit of raising children who's parents are already assimilated, ensuring the children themselves are assimilated. I expect both sides would favor policies that promote this.

Where we diverge is that conservatives will argue that the traditional (tradition being important to conservatives) nuclear family provides the absolute best chance for children to be raised and end up as productive, useful citizens. I expect libertarians would make the same argument for stable, gay couples - that they are just as capable of rearing good citizens. Of course, bearing them is an issue, but, were I libertarian, I would argue that of course, lesbian couples can take advantage of plenty of medical options to bear children, and gay male couples can surely adopt, were adoption made easier and more available to gay male couples. I think it's an open question whether gay couples are more stable than traditional families, but, in an era where we have massive illegitimacy rates, and a divorce rate about 50%, well, we don't look so good in the straight community, do we? Regardless of what your religious beliefs are, I think this is an important public policy debate to have.

Why?

Because without some kind of renewed focus on the birth rate in this country, we are doomed to the fate of Western Europe and Japan, who are now in negative population growth situations among the native population. This means, the only way to maintain their economic growth is through immigration. In Europe's case, they have chosen to do this with largely Muslim immigrants from Northern Africa, and other points in the Middle East. These groups are largely resistant to assimilation, and, we have seen the results throughout Europe. I've got news for Liberals - you're not going to like the states these people try to create.

In the United States, I have discussed this before, but, we have a better fate ahead, perhaps, given that the vast majority of our immigration is coming from Mexico, a 90% Roman Catholic country. Of course, Liberals won' t much like where this group takes the country either, but, I think they feel they can co-opt them into becoming another victim group, dependent upon politicians (mostly Democrats) for their well being.

Here, I think W was mostly right in recognizing that this group held tremendous potential for the GOP, and Conservatism in general. Of course, you might have thought the same thing about the black community 50 years ago, too, until their leaders sold out to the Liberal establishment. Both these groups have in common generally higher devotions to their Churches than the white community, and tend to be more conservative in their personal beliefs because of their generally stronger, and more tightly-held, faiths.

Anyway, what does this have to do with Adam Lambert's sexual orientation?

Not much, but, from a public policy perspective, gay marriage is a sideshow. The real question is our survival as a country, and how we define marriage is not nearly as important as how we manage the growth of this country and the continuation of our unique American culture (which, I might point out, has always included gays and lesbians).

So, let's have a debate about immigration and how to incent families to have more, and better-raised children, and to reduce the illegitimacy rate in all areas of the population.

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Health Care - More Discussion

I promised more analysis of Ramesh Ponnuru's recent WSJ article suggesting universal health care coverage is probably not the best goal for healthcare reform.

Among his arguments, Ponnuru points out that more Americans are concerned about cost and portability, vice coverage. In other words, we care about the impact on us, not on everyone.

Ponnuru posits that two reforms will both address the cost and portability issue head on, and have the secondary effect of leading to more insured, those being:

1. Break the bond between health coverage and employer-provided benefits. This was the centerpiece of McCain's plan, and I know people who have fantastic health benefits hate to hear this - it is the single biggest problem with our health care system. In McCain's plan, essentially the tax break that goes to employers today for providing coverage, would go to the covered, in the form of a tax credit to use on health care spending. In McCain's plan, extending this to all taxpayers would immediately increase coverage. It would make some - at the high end of the benefit scale - pay more. It was designed to be a wash on the majority of employed people.
2. Allow consumers to cross state lines to buy health care plans - this would have the impact of allowing consumers to purchase cheaper policies from providers in states with fewer mandates and lower costs for the administrators. Sure, these consumers would get less generous plans, but they'd get cheaper plans, as well.

With both these reforms intact, and direct government subsidies (those tax credits), you'd immediately benefit from lower costs for most plans, and more people covered. It might not lead to universal coverage, but it would significantly increase the number of people covered. As we know from system analysis theory (and practice), the marginal costs to squeeze that last bit of efficiency from any system, far exceeds the benefits gained. Health care, as a system, is no different.

It is still law in this country that no one can be denied life saving health care. That won't change, and we'll still see the cost of the uninsured spread across those with insurance, but the percentage of your bill that goes towards that will go down, as more are actually insured. I think this is perhaps the best we can do, without a radical makeover of our entire system, which, will be in the European manner, and lead to rationing, reduced services, and less availability of health care.

Thanks.

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Free Market reform of health care? Can it reduce the uninsured?

Ramesh Ponnuru argues against universal health care coverage, and for free market reforms that would greatly reduce the uninsured in today's New York Times.

If you're on the universal health care side, try broadening your horizons. If you're for free market reforms, get some more ammunition.

More analysis later from me.

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Six Flags over Georgia

Every year, my daughter and I get Six Flags passes. We love the coasters, and Six Flags over Georgia has several good ones.

We made our first visit of the season yesterday, and it was not the greatest experience. I'm giving their management a chance to respond to my complaints, so I will withhold the long story here, until they have responded.

Let it be noted that we have some room for improvement.

One thing you do learn through this kind of thing, is what a great resource the internet is, with a couple of good forums, including sixflags.net.

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Idol 8: I can see the end clearly now

Last night, we lost another Idol.

And, if you haven't heard, my prediction was correct. Scott left us! He's a nice guy and, as Paula said, brought some class and dignity to the contest, but, let's face it, he's not that good of a singer.

I had Scott and Lil in the bottom 3, but, Anoop joined them, rather than Kris Allen. I just don't think Anoop is drawing enough fans to take him much farther. Dialidol had Kris last, but this isn't the first time they have underestimated his support.

Next to go - Lil (unless she really pulls it together) or Anoop.

What do you think, did America make the right choice?

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Idol Final 8: End the competition now

Tonight, although the morons that produce Idol couldn't get the trains to run on time, I was smart enough to program the DVR ahead 8 minutes and got to watch one of the best Idol performances ever.

Like last year, when the Idol champ was revealed when David Cook did "Billie Jean," Adam Lambert's version of "Mad World" will be the number one download on iTunes tomorrow, and pretty much nails it as his competition to lose.

Here's the run down on the rest, in order after Adam, who is light-years ahead of the rest of these:

1. Danny Gokey - nicely done version of "Stand By Me"
2. Allison Iraheta - my second favorite, doing Bonnie Raitt
3. Anoop Desai - "True Colors" - another great song choice and well done
4. Matt Giraud - Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover" - well done, by suffers by going so late in the show and just before Adam. That might hurt him.
   

The others SUCKED by comparison, in order of suckiness:

1. Kris Allen - Don Henley's "All She Wants to do is Dance." wierd choice, and you'd have thought he would have learned NOT to go into the crowd after Matt's disaster last week.
2. Lil Rounds - Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to do With It?" Simon was right, a 3rd rate imitation, and without the voice or legs to pull it off.
3. Scott MacIntyre - I don't even remember, other than it was a fairly obscure mid 80's song, and his guitar playing seemed wierd. And, he is wierd and can't sing.
   

Who's gone - Scott.

Dialidol, in very early voting says Kris Allen is gone. We'll update after 11pm, when East Coast voting closes.

I was hoping Adam would sing "Tainted Love" tonight, but, his choice was brilliant and he pulled it off. Maybe he'll still do Bronski Beat sometime (on Gay night), which would just make him an idol for many.

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Airlines to retire record number of aircraft

As an aviation buff, the AP writing about the impact of the financial crisis on retiring is somewhat bittersweet.

Go to airliners.net and search for some of these soon to be retired aircraft...


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Time Magazine blows for Obama

I was in Borders tonight, and Time Magazine has a cover story titled, "The End of Excess: Is This Crisis Good for America."

Can anyone realistically imagine such a headline 8 months ago? Imagine John McCain uttering this on the campaign trail.

Haha! I knew you couldn't. Yet, now that the Big O is president, this is actually, in Time's thinking, good for us.

It's only a matter of time before Time is competing with The Daily Kos and The Huffington Post for readers,

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Idol: There is no Joy in Mudville

Once again, boys and girls, Dialidol.com nailed the bottom 3 and the loser tonight, and (Spoiler alert!), the loser is:

Megan Joy Corkrey!!!!

The judges didn't even bother going through the motions of pretending to give her one more chance. They told the three beforehand they would only consider saving one (Allison, I am sure), and Seacrest put an end to that by sending her to safety.

Votefortheworst.com is polling to see who they should support next, but no one could garner the kind of following a truly awful singer and performer like Megan could...could they?

Well, ok, Scott could, but, would pimping Scott be akin to Obama slurring the Special Olympians? Somehow, I don't think vftw will much care, and I predict, he'll be their next choice.

Anyway, no real drama tonight. Matt G was not in the bottom 3 (bottom 4 on dialidol), and Allison was quickly sent to safety. So, Anoop is next up...

I like you Anoop, but, the Idol Tour was all you could ever hope for anyway.

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Idol, Top 9 Perform

Tonight on American Idol, it's Itunes week. Here goes the semi-live blog:

1. Anoop - Caught Up, Usher. Anoop says he wants to do "high energy." I thought it was highly boring. Simon thought it was a "mess." Simon is right.
2. Megan - Bob Marley/Lauren Hill, Turn Your Lights Down Low. A prediction (I haven't heard it yet) - crap. Let's see...How has she managed to make it this far again? Being the only blonde and vote for the worst's favorite("She's going for the stoner vote and the Worster vote"). She sucks.
   
3. Danny G - What Hurts the Most, Rascall Flatts - Not that good. This is kind of a signature Rascall Flatts song, and it's very uneven. He's going to get slammed for "pitchiness" by Randy or Kara. Just wait and see. Hmmmmm, I think Paula wants to sleep with Danny (he's a widower, did you know that?). Simon is going to like it - says it's his "best performance" so far. Randy - "tonight's show starts here." Kara - "you moved everyone." These guys are so pimping Danny. I like the guy alot, but, puuuuhhhhlease.
4. Alison Iraheta - Don't Speak, No Doubt - she didn't sound good in practice...this should be a good choice for her, though. WTF. I just don't get it. I wonder if it was better live? Randy comments on the outfit. Kara comments on the outfit. Paula - liked it. Simon will speak truth to Allison.
   
5. Scott MacIntyre - Just the Way You Are, Billy Joel - Another one I'd like to be rid of. Ok, I think it sounded like a Vegas lounge act. So, he has a career in Vegas. Kara, of course, liked it. Paula, ditto. Simon - another "best performance." Randy - "one of the best of the night."
6. Matt G - You Found Me, The Fray - I was underwhelmed, and I like Matt G. Paula says "not great." Simon - "uncomfortable." Randy - "wrong song." Kara - her comments are pointless and she is right that he doesn't deserve to go home.
7. Lil Rounds - I Surrender, Celine Deion - No one has ever heard this song. I feel like she's invading my home with screeching. Randy doesn't like the song that much, but says she sang it well. Kara - same comments. Paula - who cares. Simon - safe choice, wedding singer like.
8. Adam Lambert - Play ThatFunkyMusic, Wild Cherry - Uh oh. Could be interesting. He's the only one who deserves to be there.
9. Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine, Al Green - I loved him tonight. Turned this old song into somethingI enjoyed and felt new. Unanimous love for Kris tonight.

Tonight, the contestants were supposed to show us what kind of recording artists they would be, and you know what, they showed us they would be C-R-A-P-P-Y ones, with really 3 exceptions (Danny, Adam, Kris).

So, tonight, the top are:

1. Kris Allen
2. Adam Lambert
3. Danny Gokey

The bottom:

1. Megan Corkrey
2. Matt G
3. Anoop

Disappointing:

1. Lil
2. Allison
   

Who's going home? Should be Megan, but I predict it will be Matt G.

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Idol, 10 remain, who will leave?

Ok, tonight, what will we learn on Idol, and who will leave?????

1. Matt Giraud - Let's Get it On. Very good. Like him more each week. Sticking around
2. Kris Allen - How Sweet it is. Also very good. Judges like him. I think the guitar thing is lame.
3. Scott MacIntyre - You Can't Hurry Love. Judges don't like him. Like Simon, I thought the piano playing was off, and he's not growing on us. He's making us tired, as I know he is Simon.
   
4. Megan Joy Corkrey - For Once in My Life. When they said "Stevie Wonder," I said - this has the potential to be a train wreck. Can vote for the worst save her? Gawd, I hope not!
   
5. Anoop - Ooh Baby, Baby. He's da bomb. We knew Anoop was the judges first choice as wild card, and he's showing why.
6. Michael Sarver - Ain't Too Proud to Beg. As I write this, I have caught up to the show, so, when he says he's going to sing it off the cuff, I have to think that this has the potential to be a male version of Megan. He's been on the edge the last couple weeks. Lame performance. Judges will hate him. Even Paula hated it. That's bad. Paula hates it. Simon couldn't wait for it to end. FYI - my AI partner said she didn't even want to watch it before it started. Megan may have been saved.
7. Lil Rounds - Heatwave. She looks wierd, and her voice sounds like she's missing notes. What's with that Charleston costume? She's dressed for 1929, singing a 1950's song. She's quickly brushing the luster off her rose. Did anyone notice the Carly look? Odd. Randy - wrong song for her. Me - with all those Motown female songs to choose from, she chose this? Kara - "here's the thing." You're right, but, go away already. Paula - who cares what she thinks anyway. Simon - wrong song.
8. Adam Lambert - The Tracks of My Tears. I don't know what to think. He's definitely the best creatively. AI Partner hates him, but, I have to admit, I kind of like him. Judges love him.
9. Danny Gokey - Get Ready - Let's see if Smokey is right and people love it. I liked it, but I have already anointed Danny the winner. Simon speaks truth to power, but he's wrong. What he should have said was, "Danny, step it up, or Adam's going to beat you."
10. Allison Iraheta - Papa Was a Rolling Stone - I think this is a good choice for her. Let's see...did she forget some words? I dunno. Judges will tell us, but it's not fair that she isn't getting more votes...Randy loves her, Kara loves her, Paula loves her, Simon...loves her, too.

Tonight, the best are:

1. Adam Lambert
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Matt Giraud
4. Danny Gokey
5. Kris Allen
6. Anoop Desai
   

Worst are:

1. Michael Sarver
2. Megan Joy Corkrey
3. Scott MacIntyre
4. Lil Rounds

Predicted off:

• Michael Sarver

DialIdol as of 11:00 ET:

• Buh-bye Michael Sarver

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Red Eye vs. Canada - Get a grip Canucks

The Canadians and my fave Fox Show, Red Eye, are having a little dust-up over a segment on Red Eye where Greg Gutfeld (the host) mocked the Canadian Army's comments that they would need a year to recover from their part in the Afghan War (among his satirical comments, Gutfeld said, "it would make a great time to invade Canada.")

Look, it's no secret that many of our allies (the Brits and Aussies, notably excluded) have chosen to assist us in Afghanistan in less than dangerous ways, even though the War there is an article 5 NATO operation. These pansies, all of them, deserve some criticism, and, while we all mourn the loss of any allied soldiers, let's face it, we are bearing the brunt of this war, and not the rest of our allies. Hell, if they had their way (here, I will exclude just the Aussies), they would join the cut-and-run Obama crowd. They may get their chance.

Anyway, apparently, Gutfeld has (mostly) bitten the bullet and apologized. Of course, on twitter he quipped that the Canadians could probably beat the Belgians. I think he doesn't give the Canadians enough credit. They could probably beat the French, too.

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Bam's Budget Busting Baloney

Karl Rove has a summary of Bam's budget, based on the CBO analysis. It's recommended reading for your Saturday.

Bottom line, deficits as far as the eye can see, government spending the greatest it's been (as a percentage of total GNP) since WW2, national debt eventually hitting 82% of the economy by 2019, spending increasing by $1T over ten years, and taxes that go up by $1.9T over the same period.

All in all, a recipe, pretty much, for disaster.

Read my super-summary, Rove's short summary, or the CBO's entire 59 page summary for yourself!

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Uh-oh! USS Hartford Collides with USS New Orleans

According to CNN, the USS Hartford (SSN-768) collided with the USS New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz last night.

 

Not going to be good, probably for the Hartford's CO.

 

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Idol Final 11: The Results

Well, you would not have been surprised last night if you routinely checked dialidol (Spoiler below you Tivo'ers!).

They had the bottom feeders pretty much nailed, only overestimating Michael Sarver's support somewhat (they still had him as low as 10, which is where he was). Alexis Grace went from hero to zero (to use Simon's phrase) quicker than you can say "Adam Lambert is a flaming homosexual."

Alexis never had strong support, but, probably didn't deserve to lose out on the Idol Tour. Sarver, Corkrey, McIntyre - all deserved to go before her. Since she really only could realistically expect to crack the top 7, you can understand why the judges wouldn't waste a "save" on her. Sorry Alexis, we liked you, but, America voted, and just as we got saddled with this joke of a President, we got rid of you. So sad.

Anyway, life moves on. We found out that, surprise!, Adam's arrangement of Ring of Fire was not original (he could have at least given a shout out, like David Cook did last year when he stole arrangements), and that Allison's support is as weak as dialidol predicts. Although we're big Allison fans, she isn't going much farther.

This really is a great group, with a clear top 3 (Gokey, Rounds, Lambert) and some strong contenders knocking on the door (Giraud, Allen, Desai - I'd like to put Iraheta in that group), and a couple of just ok singers (Sarver, McIntyre) and one train wreck (Corkrey).

So, stay tuned for next Wednesday, since the big O is taking AI's spot on Tuesday (does this man do anything other than TALK??????).

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Check Out Patriot Post; and More Twitter

Ok, all you people out there. This is another appeal for Twitter, and for you to sign up on Twitter. I will tell you why -

1. You can get my wisdom in stream of consciousness, less than 140 characters, style.
2. You can find all sorts of new, like minded people, with blogs and what not
3. It's also a good way to keep in touch with family members (change your text messaging plan to unlimited beforehand, and turn your text alert to silent!)

Now, if you're right-minded, go check out The Patriot Post. You'll be glad you did. If the editors there like my blog, yes, I noticed, not one person has a Virginia Class submarine as their weapon of choice. It'd be mine.

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Idol Final 11

Last night, the final 11 performed.

 

We thought the best were:

1. Danny Gokey
2. Anoop Desai
3. Matt Giraud
4. Allison Iraheta
5. Kris Allen

We agreed that Megan Joy Corkrey was not that good. Can't she just go already!!!!

 

There were mixed reviews in our viewing about Adam Lambert.  The teenager hated him.  I warned that messing with "Ring of Fire" was a big risk.   However, having come of age in the '80's, if you're going to change Johnny Cash, do it big, and go with the Frankie Goes to Hollywood/Soft Cell feel.  I can't wait until Adam Lambert sings a Bronski Beat song.  "Smalltown Boy" will do.

 

Note to Lil Rounds - you're no Carrie Underwood or Martina McBride, and you shouldn't have tried.  Also, in the telling the story side of the song, you used the wrong verse.  As for Scott McIntyre, we're in agreement that he's a nice guy, but after Megan goes, please leave, also.

 

The rest were boring.  Alexis Grace got the pimp spot, and really didn't leave us with anything great.  Very forgettable.  Michael Sarver was good, but saddled with the 2 spot, so forgotten after the 2 hour marathon.

 

Dialidol.com has bad news for a couple of our favorites tonight, putting Allison and Alexis in the 10th and 11th spots..  I think the judges like both of them, but, would they use that precious "save" on one of them?  Rocker babes have had a tough time on Idol, and that works against Allison.   I don't think they'll use a "save." because she will just leave the next week, anyway.

 

Alexis?  I dunno, I liked her, but she's starting to grate on me. They both are getting a lot of votes measured through dialidol, but no busy signals.  Alexis has been on top in the past, so, perhaps last night was just not a great night for her, and she could have a save used on her.  I doubt it, though, because I think it would only get used on Adam, Danny, or Lil.

 

What do you think?

 

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Taxing Your Health Benefits

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, John McCain proposed fixing one of the largest problems with our health care system, the employer tax break for providing health benefits, by eliminating that break.  In the McCain proposal, the revenue raised for the elimination of that would have paid for a up to $5000 tax credit to families to use for health care plans. This would have at least partially addressed the issues of employer-funding (IMO the largest problem with our system), portability, and access to health care.

 

The Obama campaign roudly criticized McCain for wanting to do away with the tax break, while, disengenously, never mentioning the tax credit that replaced it.  But, hey, why should we expect any honesty at all during a campaign...

 

Now, according to this NY Times article, the Obama Administration is contemplating, you guessed it, taxing those health benefits, to fund a portion of their massive health care plan.  Is there any corresponding tax credit for individuals and families. Of course not!

 

So, the Obama admin is deciding to keep the part of the McCain plan they used against him, while not retaining the good part they didn't want you to know about then.

 

You voted for this crap.

 

 

END...

Earmarks

Taxpayers for Common Sense has an excel spreadsheet that lists who took earmarks in the Omnibus Pork Bill, and how many, sorted a bunch of ways.

I recommend you check this out, if you care.

In the Senate, McCain, McCaskill, Feingold, Coburn, and Demint eschewed earmarks.

In the House, many did, though I admit to being too lazy to break them down by party, you can look for your Rep and see for yourself. My rep, Tom Price, took none! Good for him.


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Idol, buh bye 2 of you, and the twist revealed

Caution: Spoiler below, so if you haven't watched it, don't read.

First, the twist, which is revealed as a save by the judges. Ryan explains that the judges get one chance to reverse America's vote, if they believe someone has been unjustly eliminated, and they agree unanimously. They can use it just once, and it does not come into play after the final 5. And, if they save someone, it means 2 will be eliminated the next week, and it only saves that contestant for one week.

Ryan says it could have saved someone like Daughtry or Jennifer Hudson,or Michael Johns. While under these rules it could have saved Johns or Hudson, Daughtry was in the final 4, so it couldn't have saved him.

Anyway, on with the show, this is it. As I predicted in this space last night, Jasmine and Jorge were the bottom feeders, and the judges refused to spare them.

While Ryan tried to convince us the judges would use the time the singers sang their song again to "deliberate," does anyone not believe that they already know the results and have already "deliberated?" All one had to see to confirm this was Paula dancing while Jorge resang his song. Clearly, Randy and Simon were deliberating who was going to tell Jorge "no." And, clearly, Simon relished it.

Anywho, nothing unexpected here. Later Jasmine, and Jorge, you really didn't deserve to be in the finals anyway.

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Idol Tonight, the top 13 perform

Well, I have to admit, for an opening night, it was pretty good. Usually, you can count on about 1/2 the performances, uhhhh, sucking.

Tonight, though, the contestants were all quite good, and the producers promise us some kind of twist in tomorrow night's show, in addition to seeing 2 contestants disappear. Poof!

Tonight was Michael Jackson night, so let's go through who is safe:

1. Danny Gokey - great, as expected
   
2. Lil Rounds - also great
   
3. Adam Lambert - i liked the performance, I hate him
   
4. Alexis Grace (with the pimp spot) - solid, and a popular choice
   
5. Michael Sarver - also solid, and popular
   
6. Anoop Desai - crap performance (tell it, Simon!), but he's popular
   
7. Scott McIntyre - boring, but he's also popular
   

Who is in danger?

1. Jasmine Murray - just lost in the crowd
   
2. Jorge Nunez - awful

The rest were so-so, but I think they'll survive. I will admit, I peeked at dialidol.com, and after East Coast voting, there is a suprising 12th place, and that's Allison Iraheta, who I really like as the rocker chick. But, that appeal has never carried any girl very far, and she doesn't have the looks of previous rockers, but she does have the voice.

Maybe the West will be kinder to Allison. Also in danger on dialidol, is Kris Allen. But, I will remind, that in his week of 12, dial idol underestimated his vote totals. It also underestimated Jorge, so, perhaps Allison and Jasmine should be really worried.

Ok, I wish Megan didn't have the big Carly tattoo. She'd be really hot, like her mom. I also wish she could sing and dance, so votefortheworst.com has adopted her. Can they save her? I hope so, because I believe, like them, that she has the potential to be a huge train wreck!

What's the twist for tomorrow? Some think the judges may be picking the losers. I think the lowest vote getter is going home, then the judges are going to pick from the next two. I hope that is the case, because I think Jorge is going to finish last. That may save Allison, as the judges would have to off their Hollywood fave, Jasmine, who has yet to show me anything in live performances.

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The Top 12 finalized. Oops, 13

Tonight on Idol we're live blogging via DVR. We're about 20 minutes behind, so you may know the results before we do.

My prediction, Anoop Desai (unless he sucks) and 2 girls, making it 7/5 boys/girls in the final 12.

Through Von Smith so far, and he's definitely out.

• Matt Giraud - an outside chance now
  
• Jesse Langseth - they like her
  
• Judges loved Megan Corkrey, she's in.
• Von Smith - no.
• Jasmine Murray - my impression is they want her in, and they mostly tried to praise her. Based on Simon's comments, she's in.
• Ricky Braddy - dangerous song choice with Superstition. Girls loved him. Simon is throwing water on it. As does Randy.
• Tatiana - Please. I wish she was just gone. I don't love you, Tatiana. Please fall on your face singing Whitney. Just shut up. I think at least a couple of them are waiting to say they don't like her. Simon gives much grief for singing the song again. He hates that, too. So does Randy and Kara. It's a no.
  
• Anoop - My Perogative - Personally, I like the song, I don't think he did as much with it as he ciuld have, but he's very popular with the crowd, and should be in top 12. Simon says some gibberish about people liking him. They want him.
  

Now the picks -

• Jasmine - Yes, they really like her.
• Ricky - no
• Megan - yes, they really like her, too.
  
• Tatiana - no
  
• Our DVR stopped as the show ran late (thank you drama queen Tatiana).
• Anyway, checking Ricky.org, we see that Jesse Langseth did not make it, but Matt Giraud, and Anoop Desai did!

Go Anoop!!


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Idol. Round 3 and the judges final 8 square off

Tonight on American Idol, we were not surprised that Scott McIntyre, Lil Rounds, and even Jorge Nunez made it into the final 12.

What surprised, however, were a couple of the judges choices for the final 8 to sing off tomorrow.

Were we really surprised by Megan Corkrey, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud, Jesse Langseth, and Ricky Braddy. If you look at this post, and this post, you will see we had them pegged as the top 5.

While we HATE Tatiana, we knew the judges liked her, so she's not a massive shocker to us. Jasmine Murray must have been very good in Hollywood, because she was very forgettable in her top 36 performance. Von Smith would have been one of our choices as well, but doubtful that we would have put him ahead of Ju'Not Joyner. However, we are happy with this choice.

We would have taken Kendall Beard ahead of Jasmine or Tatiana, and Ju'Not ahead of Von, but, we can't complain too much.

We still think Anoop, Megan, and Jesse or Matt will emerge from this group. Unless Anoop falls on his face tomorrow, expect him to make it. And, since we're short on girls, I expect 2 girls to go ahead.

We will see tomorrow night!!

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American Idol, Final 12 - UPDATED!

Tonight's final 12 is the easiest to choose the boy and girl.

Lil Rounds was far and away the best tonight, and Scott McIntyre is going to sail through from the guys.

3rd is much harder to figure out. In early dialidol.com voting, Jorge Nunez is narrowly ahead of Felicia Barton, but, I don't think Felicia has the legs to survive the West Coast feed. Ju'Not Joyner is a close 3rd to Jorge as I write this, and they both lead Felicia, so, I'd say we're looking at 2 guys again. Which will mean, 6 guys, 3 girls chosen by America. Will the judges, in their final choices, balance it to 6/6 by just choosing girls?

We think not here at the AI braintrust, since we think Anoop is a dead-lock cinch for the final 12. We also think Megan Corkrey is pretty much a lock, too. So, that is going to leave only 1 slot from the rest.

We'll see tomorrow who the judges have to choose from for their picks, and Thursday, we'll get a special Idol to see those final performances and their picks.


Ok, in an update - my prediction for the final 3:
Danny Gokey
Lil Rounds
Scott McIntyre


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Flying car, submerging submarine. Audi has James Bond's next car.

Check out this cool rendition of the future of automobiles...

It's a flying car/submarine, and while it is just a concept, I like it.


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Courtney Speaks on Porkulus

Joe Courtney (D-Electric Boat), has an interesting Op-Ed in the New London Day today, defending the Porkulus package just signed into law by President Obama.

Rep. Courtney must have been reading some of my old posts, because his argument is at least partially correct.

When he says, "Shipyard workers at Electric Boat building nuclear submarines, assembly line workers constructing Blackhawk helicopters in Stratford, and factory workers in East Hartford manufacturing F-22 aircraft engines all get their paychecks because their primary customer - the U.S. government - spends taxpayer dollars to buy their products," he is singing my song. He is right. This kind of government spending focuses on the legitimate role of government, national defense, and these kinds of jobs are good, high paying jobs requiring highly skilled workers, with spin-offs that benefit consumers in all sorts of other idustries beyond national defense.

I think I can even agree with him that some Federal spending on science research at the National Science Foundation can even be justified.

But, the Congressman fails to point out in his Op-Ed that the porkulus provides no funds for additional spending on any of these weapons systems that are so important to his state (CT). In fact, if Obama eventually has his way, we can be certain that the ballooning deficit is going to be used as an excuse for cuts in defense spending. Since the Virginia class is so important to Connecticut's economy, what will he be saying when Obama seeks to slash Virginia spending to 1 sub per year from the current 2? Will he be so enamored of Obama then?

Perhaps then, we'll hear him extolling the virtues of these great jobs submarine production brings, vice the nationalization of health care, or any of Obama's other great projects.

I applaud Rep. Courtney for opposing the original $750B bailout of banks. He made the right call there, and he is what passes for a moderate, Northeastern Democrat, so, on the whole, I expect he's not doing a bad job for his constituents.

But, remember, Congressman, that this money is OUR money. To support the increased Medicaid, Medicare, school spending, and everything else, someone else has to have their money confiscated or the Feds have to borrow it, or, print it. Maybe option 1 can be justified, but options 2 and 3 are not ideal, and have long-term consequences that stand to be very painful some day, for a generation not yet fully cognizant of those consequences.

Democrats used to justify everything they did by saying "Do it for the children." Now the mantra seems to be "Do it to the children."

Thanks!


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end
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Getting the facts out on the Gregg "Pay for Play" Scheme.

Rob's Blog is at it again with what I will characterize as blogging that is either intentionally misleading, willfully ignorant, or lazy. Since Rob's a left-wing blogger, I expect Dan Rather is a hero and he's just imitating the modus operandi of the left wing (aka Mainstream) media.

In this post, Rob claims that Judd Gregg was involved in some kind of Blago-like pay-for-play scheme for his own Senate seat, would he have joined the Obama cabinet.

In his post, Rob fails to cite the article he sourced (it's here), and he decided to cherry pick this quote from the article, to back up his contention. I guess this is the blogosphere, and we all have our individual axes to grind, but, it is customary, if you're going to quote from an article, to link to it, so that your readers can see what you left out. I suppose if the whole thing is inconvenient, why bother, but, well, you know...

Anyway, the cherry-picked quote is:

"Besides its activities at Pease, Two International also develops properties elsewhere in Portsmouth, recently selling a $1 million-plus condominium at its One Harbor Place development to J. Bonnie Newman, Judd Gregg's former chief of staff. Gregg agreed to become commerce secretary if the Democratic New Hampshire governor named her to succeed him."

While I freely admit Gregg has probably been trying to increase the value of property he is invested in (with his brother), I can find nothing in the AP article to indicate he has a personal stake in Two International, which owned the building his former COS bought a condo in. His brother, yes. Judd Gregg, no.

Bonnie Newman is Gregg's former COS and her story on the condo purchase is:

"'We [her and Gregg's brother, Cyrus, who is also active in NH GOP politics] see one another on a pretty regular basis socially, so I think I may have said, `Let me know what you're doing with the apartments. I could be interested.' She used to have an office in the building, and it was well-known around Portsmouth that one floor was being converted to condos, she said. Newman negotiated the purchase through the fall and said she signed the purchase agreement in November, long before there was any indication Judd Gregg might be a Cabinet pick."

I don't know how there could have been a pay before there was anything in play.

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Health Care - Why Hard Cases Make Bad Case Law

William F. Buckley used to like to say that "Hard cases make bad case law" as a way to counter arguments that Liberals usually used to explain why their particular choices needed to be enacted into law.

These usually involve some hard luck sob story that is designed to stir people to say "We should do something about that." The Conservative typically has a difficult time refuting these things, focused as we tend to be on the larger picture. The reality is the consequences of setting policy based on the needs of the few usually results in unintended consequences in regards to the needs of the many.

Such is the case of Pamela Rinchich, who Rob (of The Online Magazine formerly known as Rob's Blog) highlights today (guess this story ran on CNN this week).

While the story says her case is "not unique" it provides us no numbers to back this up, and the Families USA group who is pushing this story does not give us any numbers either.

But, applying a little Radcon math to it, we can make some assumptions - let's assume that about 92% of Americans who want to work today are employed, and that of those 92%, all of them have either employer-provided health coverage, or can provide it themselves through a private policy (it's Radcon math, y'all, so unless you can improve the assumption with some actual numbers, I am going with it). That leaves the 8% of Americans who are now unemployed. The latest number who are drawing unemployment benefits is about 7 million Americans. Again, the number is higher for all unemployed, but let's limit our discussion to those drawing unemployment benefits, as they would be the one's who fall into Ms. Rinchich's scenario.

Let's assume all of them lost their employer-provided health insurance with their jobs and went the COBRA route. Of those 7M, how many need to use their COBRA benefits for the 18 months for something other than routine medical care? About .5% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer each year, and let's assume that the vast majority of them are in retirement, say 50% are, so they are ineligible for our survey. That means about .25% of people who fall into the "employment eligible" group have cancer. Let's multiply by 10 to make that number account for other expensive diseases, and we'll get to 2.5%. So, using very crude radcon math, we're looking about 150,000 people who fall into Ms. Rinchich's scenario. Of those, we can expect that some number of them will be covered completely under the COBRA scenario, and eventually find work again. Since COBRA benefits can be carried for 18 months, let's assume that of that 8% unemployed, half of them find work in time to resume their medical benefits. That cuts the number down to 75,000. So, that's my estimate of the number of people who fall into Ms. Rinchich's category.

Certainly 75,000 of anything does not make it unique, so, I agree that her situation is not unique. But, is it worthy of radically altering our entire health care system, which seems to work just fine for the 260M or so of covered people? Hard cases make for bad case law.

Since Rob cherry picked the article, I have some more questions that the article didn't answer:

• Ms. Rinchich is now married. Is she not covered under her husband's health plan? Is he unemployed, too? Is it a pre-existing condition for her that they won't cover her? (Seems given the political persuasion of CNN, this would be another chance to bash the current system, so I assume this is not the case).
• The story says she owes $268 dollars to her cancer doctor. Can she NOT come up with $268? Is there no United Way where she lives? No church's or other charities?
  
• Has she run out of money to pay anything? Does her husband have no money? She was laid off in March 2008. Under COBRA, she would have 18 months of coverage at her expense, but, less than 5 months later (Honeywell covered her through September), she has quit paying the premiums, apparently. Why? The article leaves us to wonder. My suspicion is she elected not to pay for her COBRA coverage, which probably she was eligible for in September, when her Honeywell severance package likely expired in September.

What Rob doesn't tell us is that the just-passed Stimulus package includes a provision where the government will pick up 65% of COBRA premiums as part of the unemployment package. So, for people in her situation, there is already some relief.

That doesn't answer the problem. We have a problem with coverage in this country. The government just isn't the answer.

See my previous post on this for more.


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Truth in Budgeting. A little.

This week, we got a view of the Federal Budget, and the budgeting process, as it will be practiced by Obama.

Now that the stimulus package has passed, and, apparently, with it, the threat of another Great Depression, we see the Obama administration has now become quite bullish on the economy, which they tout in their 2010 budget laughingly titled (I kid you not), "The New Era of Responsibility."

Pretty funny, eh. The administration that just gave us $800B of deficit spending, on top of a Democrat- authored $700B "bailout," topped by a $400B Omnibus Spending Bill, is now proposing to reduce the deficit (they have created) by half by 2013, through "spending" cuts. Trouble is, they project ahead spending on the war in Iraq to continue as it is today, then cut that, and count it as a spending cut, then, they layer on $1T in tax hikes on anyone making over $250k/year and call that a spending cut, then institute a "cap and trade" scam to control greenhouse emissions and count the proposed revenues from that as a spending cut.

From Peter Orzsag: "All told, there's $2 trillion in deficit reduction contained in this budget, roughly a trillion dollars in reduced spending compared to the current policy path that we are on [compared to the current policy path we're on - the Iraq War], and roughly a trillion dollars in additional revenue compared to the current path that we were on [tax increases, not yet enacted]."

Also in this budget, are some pretty rosy assumptions about GDP growth in the next few years. For 2010 (next year) they are predicting 3.6% GDP growth, and over 4.0% for 2011-2013. Those rosy predictions help them get to the 1/2 deficit reduction, and are unlikely to come true. Those predictions are about double the average for the last 2o years, and approach rates of the late Clinton years (of course, they are below the rates achieved during the Reagan years, so, maybe we can give them some credence).

I hope that the economy rebounds as this administration hopes, too. But, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan did not bind the economy with a $1.2T spending package, massive tax increases on the wealthy (history lesson - Clinton lowered cap gains taxes after he raised the income tax rates), huge increases in spending on health care, and a massive cap and spend tax increase scheme, and those are just the things I can remember.

It is what it is. Clearly, this guy's spending priorities would not be mine. On the Hill, it's going to be business as usual with earmarks and pork projects, every industry in this country is in danger of being nationalized, and we're looking at social policy that leads to the further breakdown of the family and the American identity.

Oh well...


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Jay's Reply to Rob - plenty of corrupt D's to go around:UPDATE

In an updated question - since it is very likely that had Gregg not passed on the Commerce Sec'y job, he would be confirmed by now, what do we think the chances are that the current story about his real estate dealings (all, apparently, legal and aboveboard) would have come out with him as a member of the Appointed One's Cabinet?

That's right. Zero.

Original Post below:

Since "Rob's Blog" can't accept comments right now, here is my reply to his post on Judd Gregg being a crook:

• Tim Geithner - Tax Cheat
  
• Bill Richardson - Tax Cheat
  
• Tom Daschle - Tax Cheat
  
• Nancy Killefer - Just what is a "Chief Performance Officer" anyway?
  
• Blago - Creep, liar, shakedown artist
  
• Roland Burris - Liar
  
• Frank Murtha - traitor and pork merchant
  
• Charlie Rangel - tax cheat
  
• Harry Reid - real estate cheat (must run in the Senate?)
• Al Sharpton - convicted liar and race baiter (not that there's anything wrong with that)
  
• Jesse Jackson - shakedown artist
  
• William Jefferson - thief
  
• William Jefferson Clinton - cretin and serial pardoner
  
• Dan Rostenkowski - thief
  
• Ted Kennedy - murderer (at the least manslaughterer)
• Robert Byrd - Klansman
  

And those are just the one's I can list from memory in about 15 seconds. How about with some research:

• Kwame Kilpatrick - Detroit Mayor
  
• Barney Frank (ok, it was his "boyfriend"running the prostitution ring out of Barney's place)
• Sheila Dixon - Baltimore mayor
• Bill Campbell - Atlanta mayor
• Marion Barry - DC Mayor (what is it with Dem mayors of large, majority-black, cities?)
  
• James Traficant - The hair couldn't keep him out of jail
  
• Edward Meszvinsky
• Hillary Clinton (cattle futurist, Whitewater scammer, Travel Office firer)
• Don Siegelman - bribery
• Guy Tucker - Gov. of Arkansas; fraud
  
• Kent Conrad - Shady real estate sweetheart deal
• Chris Dodd - Senator from Countrywide
• Al Gore - Buddhist temple shakedown artist; Global Warming Alarmist; d-bag
• Eric Holder - Assisted Clinton's in pardoning Marc Rich and FALN terrorists
• Tim Mahoney - Florida rep. paying off his girlfriend
• Sandy Berger - traitor
  
• Robert Torricelli - thief
• James McGreevey - creepy NJ governor
• Mel Reynolds - Child molester
  
• Alcee Hastings - impeached federal judge, found his home as a Congressman!
• Hazel O'Leary, Henry Cisneros - Clinton appointees who were corrupt
  

and finally, Tony Rezko's good pal and another "smart" real estate investor:

• Barack Obama

Anyway, this is not to say Republicans are squeaky clean. They are not. But to act like only Republicans are corrupt is the height of hypocrisy. Get over yourself Rob, you're not half as smart as you want to be.

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Idol Results, 2nd 3

Updated at 10pm:

As I semi-predicted, Kris Allen managed to make it to the final 12. He's this season's 13-year old's heartthrob, replacing David Archuleta. Of course, Allison and Adam Lambert made it as well.

The producers left us with Adam and Nick to duke it out in the end. But, while we had to get Adam, we are no longer left with Nick, so, there is some justice. Then, we had to listen to Adam screech Satisfaction.

Since the judges may take a few people from this group in there sing-off on two weeks, here's who I think they may take:

1. Megan Corkrey - near 100% probability
2. Matt Giraud - about 90% probability
3. Jesse Langseth - 75% chance
   
4. Mishavonna Barton - 30% chance

No one else rates.

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Inside DialIdol.com's numbers

Looking at the dialidol.com predictions for tonight's 3 finalists, they are predicting the top male as Adam Lambert and the top female as Allison Iraheta.  While Lambert makes me want to puke, I know he's the pimped-out choice from the judges and his placement in the 12 hole last night showed everyone on the Idol set was expecting him to succeed.    The more interesting thing is the next one.  It's very close between Matt Giraud and Jesse Langseth, with DialIdol giving just an edge to Matt.    This is all based on DialIdol's scoring mechanism, which, I may point out, correctly predicted last week's finalists.   If you look beyond the dialidol score, to the raw numbers that dialidol has, you can see that choosing Lambert and Iraheta is still a no brainer (especially for Iraheta, who has a runaway lead over Megan Corkrey, with a sizable busy percentage number). While Nick Mitchell is much closer to Lambert in raw numbers of vote attempts, his busy percentage is near nil, indicating a much broader base of support for Lambert and why Mitchell's #5 of the guys in the dialidol score.   Looking at those raw votes and busy percentages, it is kind of hard to understand why dialidol has Giraud ahead of Kris Allen.  Both had the same busy percentage, with Allen getting 2x as many raw votes as Giraud.  Yet in the dialidol scoring, Allen finishes behind Matt Breitzke.  The same here is true of the Corkrey/Langseth deal.  Corkrey 2x votes, 2x busy, but dialidol putting Langseth number 2.   I should point out that last week, we didn't see this phenomena with Michael Sarver and Anoop Desai.  While Anoop garnered nearly 80% more raw votes than Sarver, his busy percentage was much, much less. Thus, dialidol vaults Sarver ahead of Anoop, and, boom they are right.   But, this week's phenomena is slightly different.  I think that 3rd slot is really a tough one to call.  It could go to Corkrey, Langseth, Allen, Giraud, Breitzke, or Mitchell, but I wouldn't bet against dialidol.com.  This is statistical analysis, and they have been using this methodology for 8 seasons and have been able to refine it that whole time.   Stay tuned...   end...

Idol, the 2nd 12

Tonight was week 2 of the final 36 on Idol.

I must admit, I flew through it tonight, but, I hate Adam Lambert. I hope he doesn't make it with America, but, the judges want him in the final 12, and they'll get a choice this year.

But, of the others, Allison Iraheta, and Megan Corkrey were good. Jesse Langseth has an interesting voice.

So, we will see.

Perhaps Kris Allen will break through. After East Coast voting, the insufferable Adam Lambert is in the lead, with Matt Giraud second of the men. Allison is well in front of the girls, with Jesse Langseth (who's voice, but not expressions) I like.

Let's see tomorrow what happens after West Coast voting.

And, finally, Karl Rove is following me on Twitter! Am I awesome, or what!

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Congrats to Phil, A pox on Obama

Congrats to Phil Mickelson, who had a big lead today, then blew it, then came back to win at the Northern Trust Open in L.A. Look out Phil and the rest of you golfers, Tiger is coming back, so you're all done.

In other news, the Obama administration this week is going to hold a "Fiscal Responsibility Summit."

No, I'm not kidding. Their idea of fiscal responsibility includes higher taxes on "the rich" and higher corporate taxes, too. This in the middle of our worst recession since 1979. They will do this by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. They say only those who had their marginal rates reduced from 39% back in 2002 will suffer. Seeing how they let Nancy Pelosi write the "stimulus" bill, is there any doubt that this time, too, we will see those entire tax cuts rescinded, which will mean higher tax payments for every single American who pays income taxes.

Since only about 50% pay income taxes anymore, that'll be politically palatable to them.

So, if you're one of those 50%, prepare to be screwed yet again by the messiah.

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Idol: The First Three

Last night on American Idol, the first three of 12 finalists were chosen by America voting.

In no real surprise, Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver, and Alexis Grace (who, amazingly does not yet have any fan sites on Facebook) were chosen. They all sang well and deserved it. Dialidol.com correctly predicted the top three, and they were my choice as well.

The only real question was going to be whether Anoop Desai could edge out Sarver. Unfortunately (for him), the answer was no.

I thought the decision to place Sarver/Desai together so early in the show after announcing Alexis as one of the final three was pretty poor planning on the Idol producers part. Everyone who watched the show knew that Gokey was going to make the final three. His lead on dialidol.com was so massive and his status as early favorite so ingrained, the rest of the contestants had to know they were doomed. However, the AI producers clearly wanted to give him the pimp closing-the-show spot. Although I find Tatiana Del Toro quite annoying, even she knew when she was paired with Gokey at the end that it was over for her. Not even votefortheworst.com could save her (let's see how much enthusiasm they can gen up for Normun Gentul next week!).

If I have the rules correct, the judges will get to choose up to 10 contestants to compete in week 4 in a "wild card" round. I believe the judges will choose the top 3 from that round to go with the 9 chosen by us.

So, with that in mind, my predictions for people from this round who will make it into the Wild Card round:

1. Anoop Desai - 95% chance
2. Ricky Braddy - 75% chance
3. Tatiana Del Toro - 50% chance
4. Anne Marie Broshkevitch - 30% chance

All the rest, I put at 0%, as they all sucked. I'm sorry, Jackie Tohn, if you gave yourself a "91" for Tuesday's performance, it just shows how "Tohn Deaf" you are. Simon is right, you are a "clown."

What do YOU think? Did America get it right? Who should the judges reconsider from this group?

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FW: Comment on Comment By Jane's On UK / France Submarine Collision

This is a pretty straightforward analysis of the UK/France Boomer collision, with some comments from me.   Editor Jane’s Fighting Ships, Commodore Stephen Saunders, (retired), explained, “The reported collision between HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant in early February is a very serious incident.  As far as I am aware, it is the first time that the submarines of two friendly nations have been involved in such an accident. In this case, both submarines appear to have been on ‘deterrent patrol’ or on passage to or from patrol areas. Both UK and France have operated a Continuous at Sea Deterrence posture for many years.”   Saunders continued, “There seem to be three main issues, firstly, procedurally there is a NATO waterspace management organisation, a sort of air-traffic control underwater, which enables national submarine operators to ‘deconflict’ their submarine operations. Submarine operations tend to be sensitive with the whereabouts of ballistic-missile submarines the most sensitive of all, but I would have thought it possible to at least arrange to be in different parts of the ocean without compromising operational security. I am unsure to what extent France participates in this scheme. France has not been a member of the NATO military structure since the 1960s but I was under the impression that a there is some liaison on these matters.”   My comment: "waterspace management" is the wrong term, but, why deal with semantics here. I don't know how the Brits and French operate, but, for us, patrol areas for BN's are typically not shared with anyone, except the ship itself, and STRATCOM back in my day knew what patrol areas you had assigned (they assigned them), but they didn't know where the CO chose to operate within those areas.  The SSBN would receive every other non-deterrent patrolling submarine's subnote and it was the SSBN's responsibility to stay clear of those. However, we wouldn't have had any info on even a US SSBN's patrol areas, much less a French or Brit SSBN.  In the case of the US SSBN's, it was STRATCOM's responsibility to deconflict when they issued the water.  We may have shared some of this info at the STRATCOM level with the Brits, but I seriously doubt we ever did with the French, and I doubt the Brits and French shared it, either (well, obviously, they don't even today).   “Secondly, why didn’t the submarines detect each other? The modus-operandi of most submarines, particularly ballistic-missile submarines, is to operate stealthily and to proceed undetected. This means operating passively and therefore not transmitting on sonar and making as little noise as possible. A great deal of technical effort has gone into making submarines very quiet by reduction of machinery noise for example. While in parallel much effort has gone into improving the capability of sonars to detect other submarines, detection was clearly made too late or not at all in this case.”   My Comment: Pretty clearly a modern SSBN going 3-5 knots is hard to detect.   “And finally bad luck, even if two submarines do find themselves in the same area, it is still bad luck to end up in the same place at the same depth and run into each other.”   My Comment: No kidding. My guess is both these guys use a trailing wire to stay in comms, and that likely puts them at basically the same depth.  Thus, all they need is to be in the same geo position.  Still, big ocean, little submarine didn't work this time.   It is worth noting that submarines are robustly built. USS San Francisco ran into an underwater seamount at high speed in 2005 and survived. In today’s case, two large submarines hit each other, probably at low speed, and the damage, whilst embarrassing, can be repaired.   Saunders concluded, “No doubt there are a number of technical issues to be investigated, but the root of the problem appears to be procedural. These submarines should not have been in the same place at the same time.”   My comment: My guess is the problem here is the French.   end...