A Quick Thought on Medicare and Health Care Reform

I spent some time recently talking to my mother-in-law (70ish) about Medicare, since I have no first-hand experience with the program and wanted to find out if she, as a Medicare user, was happy with the experience and a little about how the program works.

Here are my 2 key take-aways:

1. She's generally happy with Medicare, but, she still has to pay a healthy monthly premium for her health insurance for Medicare supplements, but, she pretty much has one of those gold-plated policies that covers everything.
2. The prescription drug benefit passed during the Bush years was a very good deal for her.

So, I wondered, if seniors are generally happy (and, a sample size of 1 isn't very good), then why can't we just extend Medicare to everyone?

Well, the answer should be obvious to just about everyone - we just can't afford it. We can barely afford Medicare, Medicaid and S-CHIP now, and to extend such a system to every person in the country would require such confiscatory taxation as to destroy economic growth in this country. In fact, with the government in control of about 50% of the health care spending now, it is more a part of the problem than a part of the solution.

My personal opinion is that the taxation system that rewards employers for providing health benefits is the biggest problem we have in health insurance. If we instead passed those benefits directly to the consumers of health care, we'd give a much better chance of making health care more portable, which would address some of the pre-existing conditions problems, and we'd make it more affordable, and address some of the uninsured.

No doubt that this would still leave many uninsured, but, rather than tearing down the system completely, and remaking it in the government's image, this would retain the system of private insurance, which will certainly allow for more innovation, better allocate scarce resources, and not place health care decisions into the hands of a)bureaucrats with no stake in individual's health decisions, and b)elected officials who may be corrupt, incompetent, or both.

Then, once we start to bound the problem better, we can begin the hard work of dealing with the chronically uninsured, and the poor.

This is really a philosophical debate. Either you believe that the government can efficiently and effectively run the health care system, or you believe markets are the best way to manage resources. In the current debate, there really appears to be little middle ground, and I side with those who look at what government does, at the hubris of those suggesting that government can do this (if only this group of smart people run it), and agree with them that individuals, operating within a (relatively) free market, can make the best choices about their health care and how to spend their money.

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Southwest not coming to Atlanta after all

Because Southwest would not revise its offer for Frontier due to provisions regarding pilot seniority and merging the lists, Republic Airways won Frontier in bankruptcy court, for about $60M less than Southwest was offering.  Read more here.

 

In other Atlanta aviation news, Airtran is swapping slots at Newark for slots at National Airport and Laguardia.  The net result - no more Airtran flights to Newark.  Want to go on Airtran to NYC, you must go to Laguardia.  You'll get more flights to National and to LGA, though.

 

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Big Brother - Reality TV Update

It's no secret that we are big Reality TV fans in our house. We don't watch every show, but, American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, and Big Brother always have a faithful audience at our house.

We've only recently (3 seasons?) started watching Big Brother, so we don't know a lot of the history of the show.

This week, though, in BB11, CBS announced that one of the "houseguests," Chima, was evicted for rules violations.

If you haven't stumbled onto this news yet, and you're a BB11 fan, maybe CBS will enlighten us tonight on what exactly happened. Since BB is broadcast over the Internet to (paying) subscribers 24/7, and runs for 3 hours every night (from 12AM-3AM Eastern) on Showtime 2, many people have seen what's going on in the House that we don't get in the primetime shows.

It would appear that Chima was extremely abusive and downright rude to the other houseguests, and that Thursday night (I think), she went nuts, after another houseguest used a power that was part of the game ("Coup d'Etat) to change nominations for eviction that Chima had made in her role as Head of Household, and when Chima herself was nominated for eviction. She becamse abusive to the producers of the show and refused to wear her microphone, in fact, she threw it into the BB hot tub and ruined it.

Anyway, whether she left of her own accord, or was asked to leave, she's gone.

My view - she was a rude, arrogant woman with a huge chip on her shoulder, and the producers tired of her act. Her exit may have been more mutual than one-sided, but she needs to learn something from this exercise about respect for others.

Chima composed an email, supposedly, here to the BB Examiner web site.

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Outlook Bleak for NASA

The Augustine Panel, commissioned to look at our manned space flight options given current and slightly expanded budget options, has determined that there are "no good options for continuing human exploration of space within the constraints set by the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget plan for NASA," according to this Aviation Week article.  There is no way, under the current budget, that we will be able to retire the shuttle, shut down the ISS by 2016, and develop the Ares I/Orion and get to the moon by 2020.  No way.  Sad.

 

However, with an increase of $3B/year (now, that's a stimulus I could get behind!), we could get to the moon by 2025, according to subcommittee chair Sally Ride.

 

There are some who say it is not a conservative ideal to explore space, and I would say they are ideologically right.  However, inasmuch as it provides benefits to your defense technologies, a nationally funded space program can survive the scrutiny of conservatives. In the Age of Obama, where money is thrown around like rice at a wedding, I'd much rather see an additional $60B spent on returning to the moon and goign to Mars than on whatever social program Obama has it earmarked.

 

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Kudos for Obama on India, Africa Policies

President Obama deserves some credit for a couple of foreign policy efforts that are continuations of Bush policies.

In India, while Bill Clinton was saving Korean journalists, and despite Hillary getting a lecture from the Indian PM on global warming, the United States was continuing to make India a larger strategic partner.

In Africa, Obama himself took to lecturing the African nations on the need to stop blaming the West, and instead practice a little good government themselves. While President Bush started the focus on Africa, let's hope Obama, with his background, can convince African nations to lift themselves out of the poverty and despair that grips the continent.

Both these areas of the world are of vital importance and of strategic interest to the U.S. India can serve as a vital counterweight to the growing Chinese military and economic threat. In Africa, despite the hopes of AGW alarmists, we are beginning to find oil in abundance, particularly in the waters of Western Africa. Additionally, the continent is ripe for militant Islamists and we must tame that beast if we are to ever "win" the War on Terror. The Chinese are also our competitors here, and are making inroads in China. But, unlike the Chinese, we need to prove to Africa that we intend to stay, not rape them and take their resources.

Anyway, while there is much to dislike about Obama's policies, and his generally statist bent, these are areas where we can applaud his administration's (at least for now) direction.

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Will Southwest Airlines Come to Atlanta?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Bob Jordan, Southwest’s executive vice president of strategy and planning, as saying that "Atlanta, Reagan National Airport, and destinations in Mexico as places 'that are very interesting' that Frontier flies to and Southwest does not."

This on the heels of Southwest topping Republic Airlines' bid (in bankruptcy court) for Frontier Airlines. Aviation Week reports that Southwest would like to expand their operations in Denver.

For aviation industry watchers, there is the question of what will happen to Frontier's all Airbus fleet, as Southwest only flies 737's and achieves significant cost savings with their homogenous fleet.

While Southwest might want to add Atlanta to their route structure, they would have to compete with AirTran, another successful discounter who already has a massive Atlanta hub. Still, with only one gate at Atlanta, Southwest would not likely have a lot of flights here, and probably wouldn't make much of a dent, except to open up the entire Southwest route structure to Atlanta metro area residents, which is a good thing for us.

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Russkies Visit Atlantic

Lotsa talk today about the Navy saying that at least one, maybe two Russian submarines have made a trip into the West Atlantic the last couple of weeks.

The NY Times has a detailed article . There is some doubt whether the second sub has patrolled much further than Greenland, but the other was believed to have stopped in Cuba for a pretty nice port call for some Russian sailors.

In the shadow of the Bear flights to Venezuela, it is clear the Russians are trying to show that they are still relevant in the age of China, and, of course, Putin is a bit of a show-off. I happen to think he may be hunkier than The One. Do you think when they get together (Vlad and O) that they flex and pose and do all that cool Hans and Franz stuff...


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The Audacity of Liars

So, yesterday, while enjoying (for my wife) the wonderful health care service that is my HMO (basically, a well-run version of the future government run system), I was forced to watch CNN for about 3 hours.

We left the clinic with a"you're not sick but here are some pain meds" diagnosis (note to pain killer addicts: Obamacare may be just what you ordered), and these observations about CNN:

1. CNN is pimping the impact of the stimulus bill as part of their homage to Obama, the entire day was filled with stories of massively important work that is being done now because of this.
2. While pimping the wonderful good works, CNN doesn't mention how much these cost, or really whether any new jobs are being created.
3. It was funny hearing the anchor/anchorette say (paraphrasing), "Let's hope that some people are getting jobs and that they last."

Ahhhhh, hope, the elixir of the Obama administration....

On another note, apparently, the weekend is the time to let slip that you are going to break your "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime" promise to 95% of Americans.

I love Treasury Secretary "Turbo Tax Cheater" Tim Geithner's rationale for health care reform, "If we want an economy that's going to grow in the future, people have to understand we have to bring those deficits down. And it's going to be difficult, hard for us to do. And the path to that is through health care reform."

So, increase deficits fourfold, and argue that as your reason for needing to slam through a government run health care system!

This administration truly is audacious...

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Is this the greatest movie line ever?

I guess this is making the rounds of the Internet.




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P-8A Poseidon Official Rollout

In more good news for ASW fans, the Boeing P8A Poseidon was officially rolled out yesterday.

Because the P-3 Orion fleet is aging so fast, the Navy has chosen to get the P-8's out to the fleet as quickly as possible, and then expect to see them get fitted out for multiple missions, etc, etc.

"The P-8A Poseidon program is an outstanding example of evolutionary acquisition at work. We have established a very solid baseline for initial operational capability, while concurrently making upgrade increments for future insertion as technology matures," said Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Program Manager Capt. Mike Moran.

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Navy continues string of successful BMD tests...

And they said it couldn't be done (must've assumed the USAF would get this mission).

The Navy successfully fired an SM-3 from the USS Hooper (CG-70), proving to the North Koreans that we intend to protect Hawaii.

From the Navy's official release:

"During this event, entitled Stellar Avenger, the Aegis BMD-equipped ship, USS Hopper (DDG 70), detected, tracked, fired and guided a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block (Blk) IA to intercept a sub-scale short range ballistic missile."

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US to replace Russia as India's key arms depot.

I love that there's an English language version of Pravda. I doubly love that Naval OpenSource Intelligence is using it as their source for India's decision to primarily use the United States (vice Russia) as their arms supplier.

The Indians. Without them, the Chinese will rule the world.

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ASDS Killed, for good this time.

The Navy has axed the Advanced Seal Delivery System (ASDS). After a fire last November caused over $200M in damage, the Navy decided to go ahead and kill the ASDS and not even repair the one delivered. I think over $1B had been spent already on this thing, and it just wasn't working out.

What also wasn't working out was who was going to pay for it and that was always a problem.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, "Funding has been requested for the Joint Multi-Mission Submersible program to develop an alternate SEAL insertion craft. The online publication Inside the Navy reported in June that $43.4 million was being sought for pre-design work for the mini-sub that would provide 'improved performance' over ASDS."

This supposedly is in the 2010 budget.

So, the SEALS will remain wet for now.

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Abortion - more Facebook stupidity

I don't really like to start abortion debates here (they are good for the hit meter, but little else), but, when I posted over on Facebook about how abortions have declined for the last 8 years, and how public opinion is turning against the "choice" side, I got this reply (Facebook is not filled with the greatest debaters):

""Jay,,, since you stated about the great success regarding tighter state restrictions on abortion,,, giving kudos up to George Bush and pollsters,,, and overturning Roe,, within the next decade I am just wondering,,, how do you think Dr. Tiller's family is feeling right now?"

Ok, first, I did note as a success some reasonable restrictions states have been placing on abortions (mostly parental notification laws), and I didn't really give pollsters credit, I was referencing this May 15, 2009 Gallup (you may have heard of them) poll showing a 51%-42% Pro-life vs. Pro-Choice poll, putting the "Life" side ahead for the first time.

I am pretty sure (the whole thread is down now) I didn't suggest Roe would be overturned in the next decade (which it won't barring a GOP victory in 2012), but, I do think Roe's days are numbered, but that's for another post.

What really chaps me in this one, as you can probably guess, is the equation of someone being pro-life (as I freely admit I am), with being pro-murder, when the murder in question is of an abortionist.

I replied to the writer of this post that she was comparing apples to oranges, that my position is that murdering the practitioner of a practice that is legal in this country only serves to help the "choice" movement, as evidenced by this post, since it allows those on that side to try to draw these false moral comparisons, and the simpletons eat it up. Beyond that, to compare the heinous murder of one man, however wrong it is, with the genocide (and, that's what it is) of 30M plus children since 1973, is, well, somewhat one-sided.

The reality is that the murderer of Dr. Tiller should face the maximum penalty for what he has done - and he will. The murder of Dr. Tiller does nothing to help the pro-life cause. People who really want to see this practice eliminated need to protest peacefully, contact their elected representatives, and speak out on blogs, etc.

Regardless, the pro-life cause will eventually prevail because incremental steps will be taken to reasonably restrict abortion, technologies such as ultrasounds are changing people's conceptions of life, and science will eventually push that "viability" point so far towards conception that eventually many more than 51% of Americans will realize that this practice is morally reprehensible and will seek to outlaw it (with some exceptions that this society will be able to agree upon - thus keeping it safe, sometimes legal, and finally rare). Finally, it will happen because it is the right thing to do.

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Health Care Debate and Facebook

When you participate in Facebook, and people start political discussions (however benignly) on their sites, you run into real morons.

In a discussion about health care, this gem was a response to something I posted:

"nothing good comes easy,,, Obama and this administration will complete in some form a health care reform plan that was started by Hillary Clinton way back when Bill Clinton was in his first term. The folks on the hill basically threw Hillary under the bus. As they say, "well behaved women rarely make history". I have faith that we will have something,, people like me, uninsured, in our hands by August 8th. At the very least, we should have the same healthcare that we pay for for our congressmen & women to have."

First, this person is stuck under some kind of a rock, since Obama himself has backed off and now only wants something on his desk by the end of the year. It isn't going to happen by August 8th. Sorry.

I don't understand the Hillary references? Is she talking about 1994? I don't know where this person was in 1994, but Hillary pretty much handled the bus throwing on her own. Is she talking about 2008? I dunno...

I have to admit, I have never heard the phrase..."Well behaved women rarely make history." I'd counter and say Mother Theresa was well behaved, she made history (and Sainthood). But, maybe she's the exception. Again, I don't know where people get this stuff.

As for "the same health care that we pay for for our congressmen and women [can't leave out both sexes, that should tell you something about the poster] to have," hmmmmmmmmm, seems no one is proposing that for this go round. As I recall, the Republicans actually proposed that in 1994, but, Hillary was having none of it.

Finally, even if Obama had a bill on his desk on August 8th, most provisions of the House and Senate bills are not going into effect until 2013. Funny how that is AFTER the 2012 election cycle. Let's see, Obama declares victory before anyone actually gets to experience the program before his re-election year.

You see, this is just politics as usual, or, you could call it, "The Chicago Way."


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Indian SSBN: Pakistan Watch Out!

The Indians' new submarine, the INS Arihant (Sanskrit for "Destroyer of Enemies") is officially in the water.

This Telegraph article includes a nice little plan view of the submarine.

Some details:

• Will carry a 750km ballistic missile, with a 1500km planned range on the next generation
• 40% indigenous content (i.e. mostly Russian)
• Looks like 12 missile capacity, although some press reports said only 5 (maybe that's all India has in stock)
• One year until her reactor lights off

Welcome to the club, India!

Obama backpedals on Stoopid Police

If you sleep under a rock, you missed the final question at President Obama's health care newser Wednesday night.

See if for yourself here:




Well, turns out, the question was a plant, and if you're as shocked as I was that the President of the United States would address a local police issue on something he had NO KNOWLEDGE about, you're not alone.

So, after a day of fallout, turns out that pretty much everyone who was there and who is associated with the arresting officer stands by him, and not the Harvard professor and Friend of Barack. This officer was just doing his job, trying to defuse the situation, and this hothead decided to lay into him. Little surprise that a professor of African American studies and a purveyor of the "Blacks are victims" meme, would immediately jump to calling this profiling (although the officer was called to the scene because the guy was breaking into his own house - the facts are not in dispute here, and Grant was arrested for Disorderly Conduct, not B&E).

That the President, with little knowledge of the facts, would take time in his televised press conference, to tout this same pack of lies, should put the lie to anyone who had real thoughts that Barack Obama was some sort of transcendent racial figure. He's a race baiter, just like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and this had no place in national politics, from a sitting president.

Obama is acting too much like the junior senator from Illinois still, and with his approval ratings continuing their plummet, it won't be long until he's at Bushian levels of approval and Democrats are distancing themselves from him.

It's not too late for him to grab a lifeline that truly stupid Republicans are likely to throw him, probably giving him some sort of "bipartisan" victory on health care, and restoring some of the luster to his presidency. I hope not. I hope the GOP can sense the blood in the water. This presidency, built on the "Cult of Obama" is sinking into the gooey tar pit that is the Pelosi-Reid agenda.

It is said that in politics, when your opponent is committing suicide, the best thing for the opposition to do is to sit and watch.

As for me, I believe I will do that, with a cold beer in my hand.

A caution to Conservatives: Bill Clinton came back. Liberalism came back. We must remain ever vigilant, as there is much work to be done and we can never, ever give up.

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Navy on the Military Channel

The Military Channel will air a short mini-series, "At Sea" August 9-11 at 10pm to "allow viewers to experience first hand the revolutionary changes that are currently taking place in the mission, manpower and machinery of this unmatched maritime force."  Viewers will get to "dive deep beneath the ocean's surface to explore the latest in attack submarines" among other fun Navy stuff.

 

Watch it and see for yourself.

 

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12 Women Have Dolphins??? Real Dolphins?

I don't have a real problem with women in submarines (I wish they had been onboard in my days), but, I do have a problem with the way this Stars and Stripes article portrays this accomplishment by LCDR Marilisa Elrod ("the distinction of being a submarine-qualified sailor.").

 

LCDR Elrod is a medical officer and dolphin wearer, and the shocking news (to me) is that there are 11 other dolphin-wearing females.

 

Upon further review, I suspect (hope) that LCDR Elrod is wearing the special Medical Corps dolphins (the picture isn't of sufficient resolution to tell). Sort of like the Supply Corps' dolphins.  Nice achievement, but not really dolphins, of the steely-eyed killer variety.

 

If she's not wearing those "special" ones, I am going to be pissed.

 

Comments???

 

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Health Care - Insight from a Master Strategist

As Obama fights the free fall of his approval numbers (faster than an Apollo spacecraft at re-entry), here are some original thoughts from the master strategist, Dick Morris:

 

• "How can we cover 50 million more people without any new doctors or nurses? The answer is to ration health care, with the government deciding who'll get hip and knee replacements, heart-bypass surgery and other medical treatments. And what does rationing mean? It means that the elderly will be denied care that they can now get whenever they want."
• "The Obama plan effectively repeals Medicare, putting a Federal Health Board between the elderly and their doctors. This board will instruct public and private insurance carriers on what procedures are to be approved, at what cost and for what patients."
• "We'll have to revisit the idea that the elderly have, in the words of former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, 'a duty to die.'"
• "The elderly constantly stay in touch with their doctors and medical providers. The curtailment of that access will become immediately apparent -- and in more than enough time for the 2010 elections."

So, my parents will have to die so my kids can afford the taxes to keep the health care system going.  Good thing people about my age are drafting this thing, otherwise, I'd be hosed.

 

Here's hoping it fails.

 

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India gives Hillary (and Obama) the finger on Global Warming

Well, Hillary Clinton was in India this week, again apologizing for the United States' horrible record putting CO2 in the atmosphere, and praising Obama for putting on a course to reduce this horrible pollutant.

Thankfully, the Indians told Hillary:

“There is simply no case for the pressure that we, who have been among the lowest emissions per capita, face to actually reduce emissions,” Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister told Mrs Clinton. “And as if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours.”

In other words "Hey Hillary, Obama, F-off!"

Good for the Indians and good for civilization.

If we really wanted to do something about awful greenhouse gasses - we'd concentrate on something that really contributes to global warming, like this dastardly molecule.

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Sotomayor - Pretty Much Standard Liberal Fare

Sonia Sotomayor has said repeatedly, "'I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Investors Business Daily editorializes (how they read MY mind, I don't know) that her statement at her confirmation hearings, "What I was talking about was the obligation of judges to examine what they're feeling as they're adjudicating a case and to ensure that that's not influencing the outcome," is the kind of liberal "I meant the opposite of what I actually said" speak that we have come to expect from liberal, activist judges.

For what it's worth, her statements at the hearings are all we need to know about how she will approach her job from the bench. Like all Liberal judges, she'll read the words in the Constitution, consider them, then decide it means whatever the hell she wants it to mean right now.

Fair enough? We get what we paid for.

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Obama Approval Numbers Enter Free Fall

Maybe Americans are starting to realize that the economy is not improving, that we own a mess of a car company, that banks are still not lending money, and that none of those shovel-ready projects are actually causing people to pick up shovels, but are instead causing state governments to take bailouts.

Maybe Americans are also trying to send a signal that government run health care is not something they are interested in, that they don't want to be taxed in a scheme to "save" the environment, and that they really don't believe anymore that 95% of them are getting a tax cut.

Maybe.

Anyway, Rasmussen has the Strongly Disapproves at 38% and the Strongly Approves at 30%, so, -8.

Take it for what it's worth, that your neighbors perhaps are willful dunces, but not complete idiots.


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Indians to launch own nuke sub; Sub Blogger glorifies us all

The Indians are set to launch their first, indigenously built, nuclear submarine soon. This in addition to taking delivery of their bad luck Akula from the Russians and the former Admiral Gorshkov (POS) carrier also from the Russkies.

Now, love him or hate him, let's hope the Obama administration follows through on one Bush policy that should be continued - the continued closer cooperation with our friends in India. This, along with Bush's Africa policy, are important foreign policy choices that we need to continue.

In other news - the dean of Submarine bloggers, Joel Kennedy, was recently in the news himself. Stop over at The Stupid Shall be Punished and read Joel's take on it, then go read the interview your own self!

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Biden Speaks, the Left cringes...

Even crazy old Joe Biden (did you know he's Vice President now? Neither did I! Wow!!) thinks the government is run by a bunch of amateurs (himself, excluded).

"The truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited," said Biden to ABC's George Snuffalufagus.

In another sign of just how wise Biden is becoming, even he thinks Paul Krugman is a partisan hack, and a leftist, lunatic economist as he downplayed calls from (long ago) Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman this week that a second stimulus will be needed.

I always knew I liked Joe Biden for his candor...

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Great men knew the dangers of tyranny. They wrote these Words.

These are two pretty important paragraphs in our Nation's history. Read them and consider what they mean to you this weekend.


When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The authors went on to list a series of abuses perpetrated on them, and signed off thusly:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

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Obamafascism

As I hope people will some day soon figure out, Obama and the Dems are engaged in the largest government takeover of our economy ever attempted.

And, they are doing it with the acquiescence of much of corporate America. As I posted previously, Wal-mart has decided to back Obamacare. For good selfish reasons, large corporations like much of what Obama is promising.

But, Jonah Goldberg, who wrote the book on Liberal Fascism, tries to make it clearer for those dense of mind. Read his post, but I'll highlight for you:

• "In the last two election cycles, big Wall Street firms gave more to Democrats than to Republicans. Democrats also led in most other big-business sectors."
• "On health care, insurance companies and others repeat the mantra that they want to be 'at the table rather than on the menu,' all the better to be positioned as a tax collector of the welfare state."
  
• "General Motors and Chrysler have gone from being pimped-out prostitutes of the state to outright chattel more akin to the leather-bound gimp in Pulp Fiction, eager to do the bidding of the president and the UAW."
• "Once-proud companies like GE have become seduced by global-warming schemes because they recognize that there’s more money to be made selling white elephants to Uncle Sam than there is selling competitive products consumers want. Indeed, cap-and-trade taxes promise to deliver precisely the protectionist industrial policies the Left has dreamed of for decades, only under a “progressive” label."
• "This week, Philip Morris, the biggest of the big tobacco companies, supported and won passage of an “anti-tobacco” bill that will make it easier for Philip Morris (a subsidiary of Altria) to sell cigarettes by making it harder for smaller, more innovative firms to compete."

This doesn't even begin to touch on the takeover of the financial industry that began under Bush and has expanded under Obama. Those companies, of course, will seek to become government's "partner" as time progresses.

Before long, no matter who you work for, you'll be a quasi-government employee (minus all the great benefits, which they of course will retain as the rest of us are hustled off into government-mandated programs).

That's the future. We'll be more messed up than France.

Tiger Woods blasted by Jim Brown

Jim Brown lambasted Tiger Woods because Woods is "terrible" on social change issues.

I appreciate that Brown was a fantastic (perhaps best ever) running back, and during the turbulent '60's. He felt a need to speak out then, and he does so to this day. Good for you, Jim.

However, my suspicion is that Tiger is likely slightly more conservative in his politics than he may want to let on, and he has chosen to funnel his significant charitable contributions in more traditional ways, vice becoming a polarizing figure for "social change," whatever that is.

Look, Jim, it's not 1968 anymore. Just because Tiger's mixed race includes black, doesn't mean he has to be a poster boy for anything the ossified black leaders decree. Tiger was clearly raised to be his own man, and he'll do what he wants. I hope Tiger doesn't see fit to give these babies the time of day.

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More on Wal-mart and Obamacare. Or, why you should be scared, very scared...

David Suderman explains better than I why Wal-mart would support Obamacare.

"Wal-Mart, the nation's largest employer, can afford the costs imposed by an employer mandate. Smaller competitors are likely to find it harder -- and they're not too happy about Wal-Mart's announcement"

David Brooks explains why Congressional leadership (as opposed to Executive) on policy and lawmaking, as we have witnessed with Porkulus, Cap 'n Tax, and Obamacare, is bad for the country, but good for some corporations.

All these are messes. Someone will have to clean them up.

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Obamacare: Watch Large Corporations Jump On

Wal-mart is signing on to Obamacare.

This should really come as no surprise, as there are lots and lots of good reasons for Wal-mart, and other large corporations to sign on to a government run health care system.

The shifting of health care costs from employers to government (read: taxpayers, i.e. YOU) is a natural boon for large employers. It makes even greater sense to large employers with massive unionized workforces, or for those threatened by unionization.

For largely union shops, this essentially levels the playing field for these companies against upstarts. For established companies, health care costs are one of their largest costs of employment, and the rate of increase in health care costs throw much uncertainty into these company's planning processes. So, they see a government run system as a way to make these costs the same for everyone, and to take them off their hands and shift them to ours. They also see them as a way to shelter them from competitors, especially non-union competitors, who have lower costs structures.

For Wal-mart, some certainty has to be in order, and, I expect this is an attempt to buy protection from unionization themselves. If Wal-mart can say, "Why do our employees need a union when there is a government run health care system for them to participate in?"

The groups I can't understand why they are behind Obamacare are unions. Of course, I fully expect the health care benefits that are collectively bargained for to be exempted from any government run plan. Unions will not sit by and stand for employers telling their rank and file to join the government run system, when they have pretty generous, bargained-for benefits.

Anyway, my point is - any health care plan is going to be shaped more by Democratic party politics than actual health care needs.

End...

Lasers and Submarines

So, no less an authority than MSNBC tells us "lasers to seek, but not destroy subs" in this article.

Sounds like this is a one-way technology, mainly being developed for communications purposes, since the lasers can be shot from the air and still travel underwater.

Ted Jones is leading this research effort, and he's a pretty smart guy, cause he wrote this abstract:

"An intense remote underwater laser acoustic source is under development at the Naval Research Laboratory. In a novel configuration, a tailored intense laser pulse can be designed to propagate many meters underwater and compress at a predetermined remote location. Controlled compression of these optical pulses is governed by a combination of optical group velocity dispersion and nonlinear Kerr self‐focusing. Optical compression can result in laser‐induced breakdown, localized heating, and acoustic shock generation (emphasis added). Recent experiments include near‐field acoustic source characterization using lens‐focused 400 and 800 nm pulses of a Ti:sapphire laser, as well as 532 and 1064 nm pulses of a YAG laser. Sound pressure levels over 210 dB were achieved using a compact laser. Acoustic source characterization includes measurements of photoacoustic energy conversion efficiency, acoustic power spectrum, and directivity. Nonlinear optical studies included the precise measurement of the Kerr index of water at 400 and 800 nm, as well as conditions for optical filament generation, and their effects on acoustic signals. Planned experiments include tests in a bubbly salt water tank. Experimental results will be presented, and laser sources and techniques for underwater acoustic generation will be compared."

Seems pretty cool, eh?

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Six Flags Over Georgia vs. Cedar Point

The last week in May, my daughter (now 14) and I made a long road trip to Cedar Point - the world's best amusement park, in Sandusky, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. I previously posted about an overnight we spent in Cincinnati.

I really want to save the details of Cedar Point for another day, but, the short version is - best amusement park for number and variety of roller coasters, and best staff and operations I have experienced in my life. Period. Without equal.

Our local park is Six Flags Over Georgia, and it's one to which we own season passes, the prices being too good to pass up. We've done this for many years, although we probably average only 4 visits a year, Six Flags being about 30 miles from our home, and our opportunities mostly limited to weekends, but we always try to go at least once on a weekday during summer. Today was the first of those days, and was our second visit (I discussed a little of visit one in this post).

What I didn't mention here in that post was that Six Flags has adopted a policy on most of their roller coasters where riders are not permitted to bring anything they can't put in their pockets, into the station. This would include souvenir drink cups that season pass holders are enouraged to buy for $12.99 to get discount refills, any backpack type stuff, etc. In exchange, Six Flags conveniently offers lockers for short-term rental (2 hrs) at line entrances, for $1.

This was my major complaint back in April. This policy spans the most popular coasters - Batman, Superman, Goliath, and some not-so-popular ones (Cyclone, Scorcher). It amounts to a surcharge of $1 for each ride. When I complained to Six Flags, their management was kind enough to offer these answers:

1. The policy is a corporate policy
2. The policy is intended to increase throughput on these rides

Number 1 is a dodge, and since Six Flags is now in Chapter 11, I can't say that too many decisions coming out of their corporate office must be that great, but, maybe this one is a net money maker - I expect most of their visitors are one-time visitors and just accept this as a price of a vacation, along with the astronomical food prices, and the ridiculous parking prices. To their credit, they have held the line on actual admission and season passes - but they're picking it up here.

Number 2 is a falsehood. After the first visit, we had a heated discussion about throughput at SFOG.net, and the consensus is that this policy does nothing to speed throughput, and that parks like Cedar Point don't have this policy, and are models for throughput. My actual experience anecdotally bears this out. As a matter of fact, my experience today made me wonder if this policy doesn't actually slow throughput.

To wit, on Goliath, since the 4 gatekeepers at the entrance were not doing their job and stopping everyone with drink cups, and their was no one at the platform entrance, people were able to get to their seats with these, and attempted to put them in the storage bins - where, on this particular ride, you must place your flip-flops and loose fitting shoes (how adding a small backpack, or drink cup to this process slows things much, is beyond me). Anyway, because a couple of riders had drink cups and/or had not put their flops in the bin, we had to wait 2+ minutes (yes, I timed it) for the train to leave the station, while the operators held the train to find the offenders and have them 1)lose their cups and 2)get off and store their flops appropriately. If you're saying this sounds like a government operation, you're with me.

On the Georgia Scorcher, which is an older, lamer, stand-up coaster, the park has decided that nothing comes off in the platform (you wear your shoes on this puppy). Anyway, the problem with this ride is NOT people's stuff, it's the 6 person crew who can not get a train out of the station in less than 2 minutes. This is a tough ride because of design issues with boarding for the operators, but please....

I did have the opportunity to complete a complaint form, and talk to a supervisor, who was very friendly and conscientious. But, the story is the same - "Corporate makes us do this." Oh, and sprinkling in pablum about safety (how these rides operated safely the previous 40 years not explained) .

Let's be honest, Six Flags. This is about one thing - money. If you would JUST ADMIT THAT, I would stop complaining and bring a few dollars with me when I visit.

I have ideas for how you can meet the other stated goals (throughput, safety) and lessen the aggravation for your customers, but, you'll have to pay my consulting fee to get those.

Operators - much better than years past - BUT - absolutely NOT at Cedar Point level.
Operations - better also, BUT - not even in the same league as Cedar Point.
Park Cleanliness - again, improving, but, not close to Cedar Point.

We'll be going to the former Hard Rock park (now Freestyle Music Park) in Myrtle Beach in July, and will have a report from there. Honestly, knowing the financial condition of that park's owners, I expect it to stink.

Also, later, I will upload some pics and videos of today's Six Flags visit, and our Cedar Point visit.

End...

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.

end...

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.

end..

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...


end...

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.



end...

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.

end...

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.

end..

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

end...

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.

end...

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.

end...

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?

end...

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?????

end...

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!

end...

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.

end...

$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.

end...

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?

end...

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.

 

end..

 

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.

end...

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?

end...

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.

end...

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...


end...

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,

end...

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.

end...