Still Unbounded

The Supreme Court and Obamacare

2011-11-14T21:57:00.002+01:00

I haven't blogged in a long time for several reasons. One reason is that for various purposes, I needed to reduce that amount of political opinion that people read from me. I won't explain why. But the news tonight has caused me to write again.

In some respects, the news that SCOTUS will hear the case about Obamacare isn't surprising at all. Several lower courts have ruled in various ways both for and against and both narrowly and broadly. There's a lot that needs resolved and the lower courts can't do that. Additionally, this has been a controversial issue that gets at the core of the US Constitution. I am a bit surprised though that the case will be heard this March before the 2012 elections.

The defenders of Obamacare could take two approaches: 1. The mandate is a tax and the Constitution in Article 1 gives Congress the right to levy taxes. Besides being having political fallout ("it's not a tax") it violates the Equal Protection clause for similar reasons that the poll tax was found unconstitutional ("We're not taxing blacks, we're just not taxing people who we happen to favor politically.") In other words, the tax isn't based upon what the people do, it's who they are. 2. "The Commerce Clause gives the power to Congress to regulate pretty much anything it wants." You reacted to the previous sentence with dread and horror, or with agreement. If you agreed with that statement, then imagine this: 10 years into the future, the political party you dislike the most has gained control of Congress and the Presidency. Now imagine that every terrible and despicable thing you could imagine you are either forced to buy or to do. Still a good idea? If it isn't 10 years from now, why is it a good idea now?

The other side of this issue is really two ideas: Wickard v. Filburn was decided wrongly and that the 9th and 10th Amendments are in the Constitution for precisely this purpose.

Either way, this decision is going to have a huge impact in the future of America. Either we now continue marching down the avenue of greater and greater government control over our lives without any way to turn back, or we preserve liberty and individual choice a bit longer.

I'll be waiting.

A More Recent Picture of William

2010-12-30T11:48:00.000+01:00

Here's a much more recent picture of William. He's brushing his teeth while riding his car that he got for Christmas.

A Good Book

2010-12-30T11:42:00.002+01:00

This is a very old picture of William. It's about a year old, but I still think it's great.

First Day of School, Earthquake, Related?

2010-09-01T17:03:00.002+02:00

Today at about 6:20 we had an earthquake here. I felt it but both the two other members of the household slept right through it.

Later, at 8:30, the first day of school started up. I don't think they're related, but my students might feel otherwise.

CRU Commentary

2009-12-07T14:31:00.002+01:00

I've avoided any comments on the Climate Research Unit scandal up until now, primarily because most everything I've thought about it can be read elsewhere so there was no need.

However, I did what to make you aware of a new part of the scandal. Steven Hayward at The Weekly Standard writes:

Under the pressure of Climategate, the CRU has finally agreed to release
its raw data and computer codes. But now we learn that some of the raw data have
been lost, and while Jones should be asked blunt questions about whether he made
good on his threats to delete data, it is possible that the data were lost
through sheer sloppiness. The most devastating document in the CRUtape letters
may be not the egregious emails that have drawn most of the public attention but
the detailed notes of a CRU programmer, Ian "Harry" Harris, assigned the task of
sorting out the handling of the raw data and computer files.

The HARRY_READ_ME.txt file, over 100,000 words long, paints a picture
of haphazard data handling that would get almost any private sector researcher
fired. Among the many damning items included in Harris's narrative are more
instances of "hiding the decline" such as "Specify period over which to compute
the regressions (stop in 1940 to avoid the decline)" and "Apply a VERY
ARTIFICIAL correction for decline!" Worse are Harris's notes of improperly coded
data (or data without codes at all), computer subroutines that don't work, and
near complete chaos: "I am very sorry to report that the rest of the databases
seem to be in nearly as poor a state as Australia was. . . . Aarrggghhh! There
truly is no end in sight. . . . Am I the first person to attempt to get the
CRU databases in working order?!! . . . " On and on goes Harris's catalogue of
software bugs and data horrors. Finally, this: "OH F-- THIS. It's Sunday
evening, I've worked all weekend, and just when I thought it was done I'm
hitting yet another problem that's based on the hopeless state of our databases.
There is no uniform data integrity, it's just a catalogue of issues that
continues to grow as they're found."

No drug company could get through the FDA approval process with data
handling this slapdash, yet the climate policy process contemplates trillions of
dollars in costs to economies around the world based partially on this
incompetent work. Worse, it suggests the possibility that the CRU circle might
not be able to replicate its own findings from scratch, let alone outside
reviewers.

Regardless of what you believe about global warming, you must admit that this is very damaging indeed.

Fact-Checking

2009-11-24T12:51:00.000+01:00

As I hear more and more about the declining newspaper industry and as I see the declining quality of work from that industry, I'm getting more and more interested in the process of fact-checking in publishing (or lack of it).

I've already blogged about several examples, but I keep seeing the same trend. Here's the latest that I've seen:

You can clearly see that the basic outline of the article and to-do list from a draft copy weren't removed before publishing. This seems like a simple mistake.

In this article in the New Yorker, it seems to indicate every single word is analyzed and anything remotely factual is double-checked. Also, it seems that any mistake made by the fact-checker could have disastrous consequences. It also seems that in the process, simple mistakes like the one above would be corrected.

But I don't see this happening. If I, a reader who has no training in journalism, can spot simple mistakes, why don't the industry's fact-checkers. I decided to find out. I wanted to know the process and the methodology.

Then I discovered why.

Most newspapers don't even have fact-checkers. From a business approach, this doesn't seem like a very good idea. Fact-checking is essentially the quality-control for the paper. In a declining industry, newspapers have decided they would rather print erroneous articles than accurate articles. It seems like they are accelerating their own deaths. Imagine GM deciding that because of their financial problems, they would rather make cars that don't actually work simply to be able to produce more cars. Would this attract buyers? Would it increase their market viability? No. If a car company wouldn't make this decision, why would papers?

It seems like there should be a solution. I don't know what it is.

I do think however that blogging and the blogger community can offer a model. No, I don't think blogging with replace professional journalism, but I think professional journalism can learn from bloggers.

One of the better aspects of the blogger community is that bloggers are constantly reader other blogs, making comments, suggestions, and corrections if necessary. Serious bloggers are then honing their posts. Why can't journalists do this?

Why can't a newspaper, say with 20 journalist, require that each journalist have two others read, comment upon, correct, and fact-check articles? Yes, this would take more time and effort, but all quality-control does. But, in general, quality control is a valuable tool in producing a product. Journalism needs to regain this.

Pictures of William

2009-10-13T17:30:00.001+02:00

Being a Dad

2009-10-12T21:30:00.001+02:00

William

2009-10-07T17:53:00.000+02:00

He's growing up fast. He's ready to roll over, he just hasn't quite figured it all out yet. Also, he's long. Apparently, he's in the 90th percentile for height. I think he got my brother's genes. How does that happen?

FTC Stomps on the 1st Admendment

2009-10-07T16:59:00.004+02:00

Your ability to exercise your First Admendment Rights was constricted on Monday. The FTC passed a ruling saying that bloggers must declare anything they receive free from a company. While this might sound good as a method to protect the public from fraud, it is yet another step in seizing your liberty. Before you say, "over-reacting," I want to remind you that the persecution of people by governments in modern history has rarely been done by sudden, sweeping declaration; rather incremental and apparently reasonable restrictions are erected one-by-one until a cage is constructed. We must be diligent!

Beside, restricted free speech isn't free. Free means without bounds. I may may not like what someone has to say, but I do support their right to say it. Apparently, the FTC doesn't agree.

What? Am I still over-reacting? Go read it for yourself. The ruling is vague and will only be enforced on a "case-by-case" basis. In other words, abuse is gauranteed! Imagine if the speed limits in your neighborhood were vague and that the local cop would enforce them on a case-by-case basis. Are you comfortable with that?

Oh, and the ruling also applies to social networks (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and to word-of-mouth.

In other words, if you receive a coupon from McDonalds for a free drink, then told a friend how much you liked their fries without telling them about the coupon, the FTC could jump all over you. No judge would send the case to trial, but do you have any idea what lawyers cost?

Hopefully, someone like the ACLU has already filed suit in federal court. But...

P.S. I have absolutely no intention of disclosing anything. I believe it's unconstitutional and therefore I will not comply. Civil disobedience is nothing new.

Absence: Three Reasons

2009-06-21T21:51:00.005+02:00

Burnout. No matter what I wrote about the election, the direction our society is going, or anything regarding right and wrong, it seemed that we went the other direction. After several months of this, I just didn't want to write anymore. I think a lot of others are in the same boat.
Work. Busy, busy, busy.
I'm a father! Here are some pictures of my baby son, my beautiful wife, and me.

Clayton Cramer's Gun Use Statistics

2009-04-28T14:05:00.000+02:00

Clayton Cramer runs an interesting blog where he keeps track of the use of guns in self-defense. He has recently done some analysis that I think everyone, regardless of your opinion of the Second Admendment, should take a look at.

Clayton Cramer's BLOG#6156324322914958524

Boy Scouts

2009-01-25T22:25:00.007+01:00

I begun getting involved with the Boy Scouts again. Yes, I am an Eagle Scout. I have been since 1994. But, moving to Budapest, you wouldn't think there are many Boy Scouts here. Well, there are.

Today, BSA Troop 939 went to help Cub Scout Trrop 839 with their anual Pine Wood Derby. Here are two short clips:

And here:

Many people that Boy Scouts is about camping, knot tying, and merit badges. Yes, those things to play a part. But this is really what Boy Scouts is about:

This is a picture of an older Boy Scout helping some younger Cub Scouts with their cars. Boy Scouts is about service, maturity, leadership. Not all boys finish Boy Scouts. Actually, less than 2% acheive the rank of Eagle Scout. But those who do are devoted, dependable, and thoughtful. In other words, they're the type of men you want around. This is the point of the Boy Scouts.

Just Good

2009-01-19T20:43:00.001+01:00

IMAO » Blog Archive » Holiday

Just Good

2009-01-19T20:43:00.000+01:00

IMAO » Blog Archive » Holiday

Chemistry Help

2009-01-08T12:57:00.002+01:00

In chemistry, we've been studying the progression of the various models of the atom and what evidence led to the revisions. Though the evidence for the existence of discrete, neutral, massive particles called neutrons is strong, what evidence do we have that leads us to believe the neutron is in the nucleus?

I am not suggesting that it is not. I just simply want to know why the atomic models have the neutrons in the nucleus. Was there a particular experiment or observation?

This is totally awesome!

2009-01-07T16:14:00.000+01:00

Yes, whatever skills you have can be a blessing to others. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

trying to grok: KNITTING MATH

Out-Freaking-Ragious: The New York Times Defends Blagojevich

2008-12-16T17:06:00.000+01:00

In a dispicable display, the New York Times defends Governor Blagojevich using the excuse that it just political business as usual and that the legal requirements for prosecusion are not ideal!

News Analysis - In Blagojevich Case, Is It a Crime, or Just Talk? - NYTimes.com

What Blagojevich is accused of having done is an example of the worst type of political corruption. He was willing to use his political power to benefit the highest payer. The fact that his crime may not be prosecutable is not relevant to the need for his resignation.

Surely, if this had been a Republican governor, the NYT would have already called for his resignation screeming that such corruption cannot be tolerated in government (as it cannot). Yet, the NYT shows their amazing bias by not just simply ignoring the case, as happened when John Edwards was caught in an affair, but they actually defend this slime!

The simplest test for bias is this: if the roles where reversed, would the reaction be the same? No Republican would receive the benefit of defense from the NYT.

Something to think about

2008-12-11T11:52:00.001+01:00

I normally don't write about gun control though it's an issue about which I feel strongly. In general, I think that any gun control is not only violating individual rights (more about this later), but I think it is also counter-productive. England, several years ago, passed draconion gun control laws. Even olympic athletes aren't allowed to practice with their pistols on a secure military base. Since then, crime in England has sky-rocketed. Even the british press are beginning to wake up and realize the error.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article5299010.ece

When will our own press wake up? Probably when it's too late.

But there is something more important.

But, I think there is a reason you, even if you don't like guns, should be against gun control. Imagine, one day, you find out that your freedom of speech will be tollerated only if it is not about politics. Also, due process, as we know it, is ignored; trials are fast and punishments are severe. You're told, by the government and those that support it, that these measures are for the "public safety" and the "benefit of all".

Would you tolerate this? Would you nod your head and say, "government knows best?" The answer is, of course, that you would be outraged and demand that our most basic rights be restored. These are not rights that government has the power to take away from you.

So what does this have to do with gun-control? The fact is, whether you like it or not, the right to keep and bare arms is protected by the exact same document that protects your free speech, your right to due process, and protects you against cruel and unusual punishment. If, when your favorite politician is in power and you let them remove rights that you don't like, what then will prevent other politicians from removing the rights you hold dear? The answer is nothing. The will use the exact same reasoning and methodology. They will tell you that it is for, "the greater good."

The integrity of the Rule of Law depends upon you upholding the entire law and not just portions. A ship is only sea-worthy when it's entire hull is waterproof. Removing sections of it that are distasteful to you endangers the remainder of the ship you on which depend for life.

Gun control advocates don't realize that their persuit for a disarmed citizenry is paving the way for the rest of your rights to be stripped away too.

Liberals Can't Do Math

2008-12-10T11:46:00.002+01:00

In this series of enchanges, "Fisking objections to armed citizens vs. terrorists", someone called "cedarford" argues that armed citizens can't help in a terrorist situation. Egregious Charles then does a pretty good job of dismissing the claims. But one thing strikes me as interesting. Even with all of the objections to armed citizens and counter-arguements, neither side does a simple mathematical accounting.

Let's assume the following: one armed citizen is able to kill just one terrorist and everything that could possibly go wrong, as mentioned in by cedarford, does go wrong.

Okay, so in our example, we kill one terrorist. The 10 terrorists in Mumbai killed 188 and wounded 293. That's 18 killed and 29 wounded per terrorist (let's round down to give cedarford the benefit) . So....

terrorist killed: 1
lives saved: 18
people not wounded: 29

But what is everything mentioned by cedarford does indeed go wrong? Then, you get:

yourself killed
police killed: 1
innocent injured: 2
innocent killed: 1

It's also mentioned in the article that an armed civilian would interrupt the police response. But in this case, the police response was both very slow (10 hours) and very ineffective (some police ran and hid and didn't engage the terrorist). So we'll ignore this.

So what's the final count?

terrorist killed: 1
lives saved: 18 - 3 = 15
people not wounded: 29 - 2 = 27

So, even if everything bad happened that could possibly happen by having an armed citizen respond to this situation, you STILL save 15 lives and protect an additional 27. Obviously, the math here would change greatly upon the situation and what exactly happened, but I think the conclusion is clear: cedarford would rather let a terrorist live, 15 people die, and 27 get hurt than to let an armed citizen intervene. That's what he would call a "Bad idea."

More Good News

2008-12-03T11:26:00.001+01:00

More good news that you didn't hear on TV last night:

US Combat Casualties in Iraq Lowest Since Beginning of War

Columbia University and Their Abuse of Eminant Domain Law

2008-12-03T11:21:00.003+01:00

Columbia University, Slumlord

Eminant Domain can and is abused on a regular basis. I think this is probably one of the more henious examples.

Today is Victory in Iraq Day!

2008-11-22T11:15:00.000+01:00

Today is Victory in Iraq Day!

In case you haven't heard, we've won in Iraq. What looked like a disaster has been totally changed! Despite what your political views are, you can not ignore the facts. Violence is down. The Iraqis are taking responsibility for their own safety and governence. Troop levels are down. Casualties are down. Some of the troops there have seen very little violence at all!

There isn't an official declaration. But just as our country celebrated victory over Germany and Japan over 50 years ago, so should we now celebrate victory in Iraq!

So, to all of the Americans, Iraqis, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guards, "Congratulations! Let's Celebrate!"

How Do We Know That We've Won in Iraq?

2008-11-22T11:10:00.008+01:00

With all of the celebrating today, we should ask an important question: "How do we know that we've won the war in Iraq?'

There isn't an announcement coming from the current administration, the coming administration, nor from the Iraqi government. al Qaedi in Iraq (AQI) isn't going to proclaim defeat. No newspaper is running a front-page article with giant letters. There will not be a ticker-tape parade.

So again, how do we know that we've won the war in Iraq?

The answer is simple, look at objective metrics. What is a metric? A metric is just simple a mathematical tool to analyze progress or performance.

No matter which metric you chose to look at concerning Iraq, they are all good and indicate that we've won.

Attacks

The daily number of attacks is way down. According to General David Perkins, attacks that were once at 180 per day are now down to less than 20 per day. While that may still seem like a lot, remember that Iraq is a huge country. Twenty attacks per day in a area that large in remarkable. Think about how that compares to the European Front during WWII.

Troop Casualties

A recent news story that recently came out Chicago was actually more dangerous to Americans than Iraq. Over the summer, 125 shooting deaths occured in Chicago, which is about twice the number of American deaths in Iraq during the same period. Needless to say, casualties are very low and will probably remain that way. Compare this to 140 deaths per month in April of 2004 and 127 per month in January of 2005.

Civilian Deaths

AQI's attacks on civilians have been much more frequent, deadly, and persistant than those on coalition forces. This is what led to the Anbar Awakening that help turned the course in Iraq. Yet, even by this metric, things are going well. Despite occasional dramatic attacks, the actual rates of civilian deaths is also much lower. At the worst of it, 71 civilians were dieing every day, mostly from al Qaedi's death squads. Now, the death rate is down to 25 per day. Though now one should be happy with that, the trend is in the right direction.

Iraqi Control

Iraq is composed of 18 provinces. 13 of those are now under Iraqi control. Only the provinces in and immediately around the Sunni Triangle are under coalition control.

Benchmarks

Much was made of the benchmarks during the period leading up to the surge. So few had been met, that many openingly speculated if they ever could be all met. Though the benchmarks are no longer being used as an official metric, they are still usefull. Of the 18 benchmarks set, at least 13 have been met. This compares to just 3 in Augusts of 2007.

Troop Levels

The purpose of the surge was to put many more troops in Iraq to secure the safety of civilian populations. We weren't able to do this before because our entire force was needed to battle insurgents. Many were affraid that the increased level would have dire affects on our military. Well the surge was temporary. Before the surge we had about 127,000 troops in Iraq. During the surge, that number increased to 168,000. What is it now? As of July of this year, we only had 132,000. By now, we have even fewer troops in Iraq and the amount of violence hasn't spiked again. I think this is the real key to declaring victory. When we pull our forces out, the situation remains steady and peaceful, not worse.

As you can see, every metric points in a positive direction. Do you think I've left something out? Let me know in the comments section and we can discuss it.

Thank You!

2008-11-22T11:05:00.001+01:00

Thank you to everyone who has served and who has won Victory in Iraq.

Thank you to every Soldier.

Thank you to every Marine.

Thank you to every Sailor.

Thank you to every Airman.

Thank you to every Coast Guard.

Thank you to every DOD Contractor.

You have won! The United States of America, The Republic of Iraq, their citizens, and all of the Free People of the world owe you a debt of gratitude and respect.

Victory in Iraq: A Look Ahead

2008-11-22T11:00:00.005+01:00

Today is Victory in Iraq Day! We should celebrate and thank everyone who has made it possible.

Today also, we should take time and look ahead and see what challenges we still face both in Iraq and in the broader War on Terror. We have asked a lot of our servicemen and women. They have performed wonderfully and we should thank every single one. But more is required. When we ask them, they will go. Some will not come home. So let's take some very careful time and look at the challenges still ahead.

Iraq

We still have a lot to do. Despite the remarkable progress that has been made this past year, we can't just walk away from our obligation to ensure the safety of the Iraqi people. AQI still has a presence in Iraq though their numbers and capability have been drastically reduced. Several "special groups" continue to operate. But, this is not our role at this point. We are training and teaching the Iraqi army and police force to deal with these problems. Indeed, the majority of our work is training Iraqis to defend their own country. This will still take time and it is a good thing that the Iraqi government has agreed to let US troops remain until 2011.

Afghanistan

The situation here is worse. I encourage you to read everything you can about Afghanistan especially Michael Totten. The Afghani government needs lots of improvement. The country is still highly fractured. Poppy and opium production is rampant. Though al Qaedi and the Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan, they use the boarder with Pakistan for safe passage to conduct attacks, raids, and intimidation campaigns.

Needless to say, this is where a good majority of our focus, time, and resources are going to be spent for a long time.

Pakistan

We are allies with Pakistan. But Pakistan has severe problems. The greatest is that the government has absolutely no control of nor influence in the FATA or Federally-Administered Trible Area, a region in the western part of the country where the Taliban have taken control, al Qaedi finds safe haven, and terrorists train, recruit, stage attacks. This problem affects the situation in neighboring Afghanistan, but it is also threatening the Pakistani government. Pakistan wants to help, but frankly, they can't. They have too many internal problems. I don't know that we can currently do anything either.

Iran

Iran not only has nuclear ambitions, but they see themselves as the regional power able to affect all of the Middle East. This isn't far from the truth. Unfortunately, their ideas for the Middle East will cause war, death, and distruction. Iran's power is waxing and the world isn't doing a thing about it. Though I think comparing Iran to Nazi Germany isn't a good comparison, I think that the unwillingness of anyone to face Iran before it's too late has many parallels with Europe in the 1930s.

Global War on Terror

Obviously, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are a major focus of our efforts right now and in the years to come. But, they are not the only places with severe problems. Saudi Aradia, Yemen, Somalia, South-East Asia, and many other places all have a presense of international terrorist. Each country is unique. Some have governments that are at least seemingly wanting to fight terrorism. Some of these countries have no government at all. This is a dangerous time and a dangerous world. We still have a lot to do.

A Special Note

Let's not forget that we have hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who have volunteered to step up, serve, and be away from their families. They need to know that we support them and that we're behind them. Let's show our support by sending them care packages, letters, and cards. Additionaly, the following links may be very helpful in giving you specific information.

If you need any ideas, read Samantha Speaks. She has lots of ideas and helpful information.

Analysis: Does this mean it's too late? Answer: Yes.

2008-11-20T16:23:00.004+01:00

Journalist are not known for their technical and scientific brilliance. The article linked below clearly states that Iran now has enough raw material for a nuclear bomb. It goes on to mention that as of now, they only have enough for one.

Analysis: Does this mean it's too late? Iran news Jerusalem Post

Firstly, the fact that they have enough for one is quite disturbing by itself. Would anyone be less concerned if they had ten? No.

Second, what the reporter doesn't realize it that enrichment is an accelerating process. That is, it takes a long time to get enough material for the first bomb. But after that, you get a lot of material very quickly.

It took the US several years of planning, construction, and work to get our first bomb. Shortly thereafter, we dropped the second and third on Japan. What most people don't realize it that because we had the infrastructure and technology to produce bombs, we were capable of producing two bombs every month at the end of the war. This is the same situation in which Iran is now. Again, this is not comforting.

"But isn't Iran just enriching uranium for peaceful, electricity-generating purposes?"

Well, no. Electricity generation doesn't require highly enriched material. Several types of nuclear power generators actually do quite well with unenriched fuel. Yet, the centrifuges continue to spin.

So, for what should we look in the coming months? Iran will continue to enrich fuel for additional bombs under the guise of electrical needs. The IAEA inspectors will get thrown out of Iran. In 12 months, they will perform the first test of an atomic bomb.

Of course, Israel is very concerned about this. Iran has repeatedly stated that they wish to wipe Israel off the map. Given their advanced missile program, Iran will shortly have the capability to level entire Israeli cities. Israel, of course, will not wait for this to happen. Once the IAEA inspectors leave Iran because they cannot do their job, Israel will strike the nuclear facilities in Iran. This strike doesn't have to be on all of the facilities at the same time; a few key facilities will suffice to slow weapons production.

22 November 2008 is Victory in Iraq Day!

2008-11-17T07:40:00.001+01:00

Bloggers! This Saturday is an Important Day. Please read about it.

Victory in Iraq Day, November 22, 2008

ProtestShooter.com - Berkeley Marine Recruiting Protest Pictures - Code Pink gives up

2008-11-13T11:42:00.001+01:00

I seem to remember saying sometime about this.

ProtestShooter.com - Berkeley Marine Recruiting Protest Pictures - Code Pink gives up

Oh yeah!

Clarification, Please

2008-11-10T15:39:00.001+01:00

What exactly did, "taxation without representation," mean?

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

"The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral."

Let's remind people whos money we're taking about. Its your money. Yours. You earned it. You worked for it. It was taken from you. We had no say is how it was spent. Now, we are not allowed to know what is being done with it.

Is anyone OK with this?

Right Now

2008-11-06T10:16:00.003+01:00

Democrats: Furiously writing new legislation to pass once President-Elect Obama is sworn into office. This has been pretty quite other than little things here and there popping up on websites. But, pay attention next spring. It will make your head spin.

Republicans: Planning how to win the 2010 and 2012 elections. I can't even begin to tell you have much I seen on this. It's very open and very public.

Quite a difference.

A Few Things

2008-11-05T09:25:00.004+01:00

Those who did not vote for President-Elect Obama need to accept it and work within the system we have. We can't spend four years stewing in defeat. For the most part, the things I have seen online are positive and gracious.
Racism in America is officially over. Yes, there certainly are racist still, but the country as a whole is now post-racist. I never again want to here how about how America is racist.
Nobody can any longer blame our problems on the evil Republicans. We have a Congress totally controlled by the Democrats. The President-Elect is a Democrat. Over the next four years, our judiciary will receive left-leaning appointees. Any problems that we face are totally the responsibility of the Democrats. What power do Republicans have?
It will be interesting to note what happens to our economy and laws over the next four years. Will our country recover? Yes, I think it will. But it's going to take a long time.

More and More Good News

2008-11-03T19:52:00.000+01:00

Over the last few months, several bits of good news have come from Iraq. Of course we, myself included, have been distracted by other things. That doesn't mean operations and progress in Iraq have stopped. Here's a recent story of the kind of progress being made in Iraq. Iraqi troops find EFP factory in Sadr City - The Long War Journal Of course, the best good news is the news that hasn't been reported. For the years following the invasion, we heard about the "Ramadan Spike". This was a huge increase in the number of attacks and deaths during the month of Ramadan. Every year, we heard story after story of the copious amount of violence. Well, did you here about it this year? What about last year? The answer is no. The reason is because for the last two years, there hasn't been huge spikes in attacks and violence. Ramadan and come and gone in Iraq and the violence continues to drop, not increase. Though officials we always say that this is more to do, which, certainly there is, they won't say we've won in Iraq. I'll say it. We've won.

Little Green Footballs - Krauthammer: McCain for President

2008-11-03T19:51:00.000+01:00

This about sums it up: Little Green Footballs - Krauthammer: McCain for President

Required Reading: Night of the Living Constitution

2008-10-17T12:02:00.001+02:00

Night of the Living Constitution by Terry Eastland at The Weekly Standard

Race and Voting

2008-10-16T13:54:00.003+02:00

I will not vote for Obama because of his policies. Race has nothing to do with it. I am not a racist. Don't you dare say that of me.

If Alan Keyes, Condiliza Rice, or Colin Powell ran against Al Gore, John Kerry, or Hillary Clinton, I would vote the same. My vote would stay conservative.

If you don't understand that, who's out of touch?

UPDATE 20 October 2008: Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. I guess I wouldn't vote for him. Still, my point remains.

The Illusion of Choice

2008-10-08T13:24:00.002+02:00

A recent conversation in our home:

"Honey, we need something from the store to cook dinner. Do you want to go or should I?"

"You go."

"WHAT??!!"

"Fine. I'll go."

Hello! Pay attention!

2008-09-25T14:51:00.005+02:00

One more time: CONGRESS sets the national budget. CONGRESS determines tax rates. NOT the President. Blaming the President for Congress' failures is like blaming a parent for a baby messing its own diaper. The President can only SUGGEST a budget. Congress doesn't have to listen to the President nor does it usually. Congress' budgets usually look NOTHING like would the President would like. If you don't like how our country has spent YOUR money the last few years, look at the DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS.

I ended a RSS feed over someone missing this simple fact.

UPDATE 20 November 2008: I watched a video yesterday in which most people, who had just voted, didn't realize that Congress is controlled by the Democratic party and has been since 3 January 2007.

Required Reading: The Discerning Texan -- Wow!

2008-09-23T08:41:00.001+02:00

The Discerning Texan

An Except from "Democrats and Double Standards" by Stephen F. Hayes, a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD

2008-09-22T21:46:00.001+02:00

Democrats and Double Standards

"Then there are the absurd lengths to which some reporters are willing to go to protect Obama and attack McCain. Last week, the McCain campaign released an ad accusing Obama of being too close to Fannie Mae executives. In particular, it claims Obama took advice on housing and finance issues from former Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines. The Obama campaign protested, saying that Raines was not an adviser and had not given Obama counsel in any capacity. The McCain campaign defended the claim by citing an article that ran in the Washington Post on July 16, 2008. That article noted that Raines had 'taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.'
Last Friday, the Washington Post 'factchecked' the McCain ad and concluded that the campaign had been 'clearly exaggerating wildly' in order to link Obama to Raines and that the 'latest McCain attack is particularly dubious.'

"Factchecker Michael Dobbs wrote that McCain's evidence that Raines had advised Obama was 'pretty flimsy'--not a description that probably endeared him to Anita Huslin, the reporter who wrote the story this summer. But Dobbs did talk to Huslin. Here is his account of their conversation:

Since this has now become a campaign issue, I asked Huslin to provide the exact circumstances of the quote. She explained that she was chatting with Raines during the photo shoot, and asked 'if he was engaged at all with the Democrats' quest for the White House. He said that he had gotten a couple of calls from the Obama campaign. I asked him about what, and he said "oh, general housing, economy issues." ("Not mortgage/foreclosure meltdown or Fannie-specific," I asked, and he said "no.")'

By Raines's own account, he took a couple of calls from someone on the Obama campaign, and they had some general discussions about economic issues.

"Got that? Huslin stands by her reporting--that Raines had given advice to the Obama campaign about mortgage and housing policy matters--and yet the McCain campaign is faulted by the Washington Post for relying on information that comes from the Washington Post. "

Funny (Ironic), not Funny (Haha)

2008-09-19T10:21:00.003+02:00

I've been wanting a projection screen for my classroom for two years. I finally get one. They mount it then realize that the big dent in the side keeps it from going up and down. So I can't use it. They say they'll replace it, but it will take a while.

Post-Knee Jerk Reaction: Sarah Palin

2008-09-17T22:01:00.009+02:00

A good friend of mine (Julie) wanted me to write a post regarding my thoughts of Governor Palin as the Republican VP canidate. So, here are some ideas.

Many criticize Senator McCain's choice of Palin as a cheap attempt to win Senator Clinton's female supporters. Rather, it seems less than a cheap trick and more like a wise strategic move. Many of the recent polls have focused on women and all of them show that many women are now supporting the Republican ticket because of Palin. So, it was a good move by McCain.
She has energized the Republican base. Remember, McCain is considered a maverick and not truely licked by many hard-core conservatives. Most were resigned to vote for McCain just simply to keep Senator Obama from winning. Even Ann Coulter at one time wrote sarcastically that she would vote for Obama. Now, many of the base have a good reason to vote for McCain and not just simply against Obama.
Fundraising for McCain sky-rocketed because of the energized base. Again, a good strategic move.
As opposed to McCain, Palin is more conservative. Some have even characterized her as libertarian. This is good. Our country has moved much too far towards socialism. Some even considered the Obama vs. McCain race as simply Socialism vs. Socialism-lite. And though I do not doubt our country will slide further towards socialism in the next few years, eight years from now, we may see a light at the end of the tunnel.
She evaporated Obama's predicted bump in the polls from the Democratic National Convention. McCain timed both his pick and announcement perfectly. The latest polls show McCain winning the popular vote. The Electoral College vote is too close to call but it is feasible that McCain could indeed win. This was a fantasy not that long ago.
And finally, she is a good pick for the Republicans. How do I know? Because the Democrats are screaming with indignation, attacking her with everything they have, and forfeiting so much of their respect and dignity. If your opponents are panicking, it means you are doing something right.

Popular Vote

2008-09-17T22:01:00.004+02:00

Do you remember after the 2000 when President Bush won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote? There were articles in every major paper across the country to change the presidential election so that the popular vote would be the sole determinate.

This continued for about 4 years.

Then President Bush won reelection. Not only did he win the Electoral College again, but he also won the popular vote.

Did you continue hearing the same calls for reform?

Now, in 2008, according to the latest polls, McCain has a lead in the popular vote.

Do you hear the same calls for reform?

Question: Does changing one's opinion based only upon convenience speak well of you or does it expose a moral flaw?

Absolutely Fantastic!

2008-09-05T01:47:00.001+02:00

LiveLeak.com - Ben Stein interview

This video is highly edited but I think you won't have any mistakes about his opinion.

Important Update, Good News

2008-09-04T21:05:00.001+02:00

Wow. Read this and tell me what you think.

Knowledge Is Power

Update (17 Sept): Iraq is won. There's no denying it. Even I, who wants to keep up with what's going on there, am having trouble staying interested. Troop levels are down to pre-surge levels and even lower. Violence is way down. Troop deaths are way down. The Iraqi government has met 15 out of 18 benchmarks. The big battlefield now is Afghanistan, not Iraq.

Home On the Range: SHARING THE PIE

2008-09-01T15:47:00.001+02:00

Home On the Range: SHARING THE PIE - NOT WHAT OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON

9%

2008-07-09T17:15:00.001+02:00

Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election.

Congress is doing such a poor job, only 9% of voters think they're doing a good job. If I understand it, this is an all-time low.

HT: Mad Ogre

Update (17 Sept): By the way, President Bush constantly receives criticism regarding how low his poll numbers are. With a quick check, his lowest approval rating, ever, was 25%.

How I've Changed

2008-07-09T16:55:00.003+02:00

When home in the US, I get asked a lot of things. One question that I hear is, "how have you changed?" This isn't an easy question. After six years of living in Budapest, I think I can start to really answer that question.

As I was washing the dishes today, it occured to me, "I understand my grandmother." This happened as I was putting a washed straw away into the drawer. It's a strange behavior. It's weird. And the only other time I've ever seen it was when I would visit my grandmother.

She grew up during the Great Depression. She came from a family of nine. Life was hard. More than once, I heard the story about how she with her sister, both younger than ten years old, would ride the street car across town to go sell vegetables. They didn't care about child labor laws; they did what they had to do to provide for the family. They saved and they used everything they could to get the most of out it. That's why she saved the straws much later in life.

Why did I save the straw? Life here isn't easy for expatriots. It's not as hard as surely as it was during the Depression. But, I saved the straw because I don't have much disposable income. When I do, I don't want to waste it on something silly. Even when I do, I don't want to travel accross town to get something I really don't need. There are more important things to spend money on. So, I'll save the stupid straw and get the most of out it.

I think I understand my grandmother a bit better.

Personal note to my mom and dad who will read this: Don't freak out. We're fine. This a commentary. We're doing OK and we're eating fine. We'll see you in a few weeks.

McCain promises to balance budget - Why a balanced budget matters

2008-07-07T08:49:00.003+02:00

In case you were wondering how the canidates differ on financial matters, Sen. McCain would like to balance the budget by eliminating wasteful spending and reforming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs in deep trouble. The Democrats consistantly blocked any attempt to fix them.

McCain promises to balance budget - Mike Allen - Politico.com

Sen. Obama's response was, balancing the budget is, "preposterous." That should give you an good idea of the differences between these two gentlemen.

Any canidate unwilling to aim for a balanced budget is just going to make the situation worse. An unbalanced budget leads to increased government debt, increased need for higher taxes in the future, increased need for even more stringent budget cuts in the future, decreased value of the dollar, increased trade deficit (more than normal), and a weakening economy. Does any of that sound like a good idea?

Think about it. What if, year after year, you personally spent (wasted) more money than you earned. Eventually, it will catch up with you. It doesn't matter what you earn; your outgo must be less than your income. This is a simple, basic, financial understanding. Why should it be any different for the government, whether that's local, state, of national?

Let's demand a balanced budget at all levels of government.

UPDATE: After some thought, I wanted to add another insight. In case you didn't have a great government teacher in school like I did, know that the budget isn't actually determined by the President. The budget is written and approved by Congress. Rather, the President can only suggest budget priorities by submitting a version of his own and by using political means to convince Congress to approve something similar. He's not always successful. What this means is that we also need to elect congressmen who also aim for a balanced budget. Right now, Congress has absolutely no fiscal responsibility.

Update on License Plates

2008-07-01T21:22:00.003+02:00

I went to go fill out the paperwork for my new license plate yesterday. Originally, the police said that since the plate was reported as stolen, if, in the future, any police officer checking the license plate on my car would see it listed as stolen and so not only would I need news plates, but the number on the plates would also need to be new. Of course, this would cost extra money.

Well, the lady at the government office checked, and the police didn't list it as stolen. So, the whole process, while still frustrating and expensive, won't be quite as expensive.

I think this is the first time I have ever been thankful for police incompetence.

Required Listening: BLACKFIVE: A President's D-Day prayer

2008-06-27T09:46:00.001+02:00

BLACKFIVE: A President's D-Day prayer

A Few Observations

2008-06-27T09:30:00.000+02:00

My wife and I went to Budapest's Museum Night last week. Budapexan has the report.

A few observations:

1. If you are going to organize a city-wide event, you need to make sure all of the materials you print for it have correct information. Sure, typos happen, but big mistakes in information shouldn't happen. That's why you use proof-readers.

2. Modern art is crap. Sorry if you disagree. I must not be cerebral nor cultured enough to appreciate it. But, on the other hand, I teach both chemistry and physics and know the difference between Pavarati, Paganini, and Pucini.

So, modern art is crap. That said, there were two pieces that I liked. One was a joke, very funny, and entertaining. The other one actually could have been very nice in a home. The rest of it should have never been in a museum.

3. We also visited the Terror House. If you don't know what that is, it was the headquaters of the secret police during communist rule in Hungary. Esentially, it was one of those places you never wanted to see the inside of because you would probably never see the outside again. It has now been renovated to serve as a museum depicting the horrors of living under communism. It was very well done and I would like to go back again some day. The secret, underground torture rooms and execution chambers are still in their original state and are very grim. So, what did I take away?

Well, how did Hungary fall into communism? After WWII, the people actually voted for a democratic government, but because too much power had been given to too few, the people were powerless to determine what type of government they would get. Observation: power should be distributed as much as possible and we should we very careful of letting government take power from the people.

Also, we must protect free speech. That includes the speach we don't like. Because, someday, someone may not like our free speech. Government should not be allowed to regulate political speech, ever.

Last, we must protect political dissent. When we don't like someone's ideas, we should discuss the situation, not call for their silencing. This, superficially, may seem very similar to what I already mentioned, but its not. The above talks about the expression of political ideas. Here, I am talking about the holding of ideas.

For those of you who have never visited a former communist country, let me explain. In George Orwell's 1984, merely having ideas against the state was a crime. It was called thoughtcrime. Now, in free countries, we read that and say, "how absurd that would be." But, what we don't understand is that it actually happened. Orwell didn't write entertaining fiction. He wrote informed fiction. Communist countries didn't merely aim to control the economy, but rather the very thoughts of its people.

And we, as free people, need to take this lessons to heart.

Wow, this is good. It made me misty-eyed.

2008-06-27T09:09:00.001+02:00

BLACKFIVE: VFF Guest Authors- Women to the front

More Good News: Iraqi and U.S. Troops Seize 7 EFPs, Mortar Systems in New Baghdad Night Raids - The Long War Journal

2008-06-26T21:39:00.001+02:00

Iraqi and U.S. Troops Seize 7 EFPs, Mortar Systems in New Baghdad Night Raids - The Long War Journal

Read the whole thing.

Another Fun Video

2008-06-22T16:02:00.003+02:00

Another video that, if this actually happened in real life, life would be MUCH more fun.

HT: Mad Ogre

More Good News: Three senior Mahdi Army commanders captured in Baghdad, Hillah - The Long War Journal

2008-06-21T09:39:00.001+02:00

Three senior Mahdi Army commanders captured in Baghdad, Hillah - The Long War Journal

Notice, also, "the Mahdi Army has surrendered the provincial capital of Amarah without firing a shot."

New Change with my Blog

2008-06-14T15:08:00.003+02:00

After completing my Google Reader, I've added the Blog Roll to this blog. It's pretty cool in two ways: 1. You can see what I'm reading about because it imports the links from Google Reader. 2. It actually gives you a bit of a preview before actually clicking through.

Neat.

Oh, and if you want to add it to your blog, here's the link.

I've Been Bee-Peed

2008-06-13T20:22:00.003+02:00

It happens from time to time living in Budapest. Something happens to you that you have absolutely no control over and you just have to suck it up and take it.

Someone stole the front license plate off of our car. Why I don't know, but it's going to cost me about $90 to get them both replaced. Oh, and I'll have to update all the paperwork for the car to match the new license plates. That will cost me about $60.

Well, in order to get the new plates, I had to report the theft. So, I was driving on my way to do that when I got pulled over and ticketed for not having the front plate. That cost me about $130. Nice. The cop either didn't believe that I was on my way or didn't care.

So, all-in-all, someone's lovely like jester will end up costing me about $280. Thank you, whoever you are.

Oh, and I spent about two and a half hours at the police station filling out a report. They were pretty nice about it all. Oh, and I will also spend untold hours visiting different government offices and getting all of the paperwork done. Ba!

May Recruiting | A Soldier's Perspective

2008-06-13T01:24:00.000+02:00

May Recruiting | A Soldier's Perspective:

Take a look at the recruiting results for May. Does it look like we're having trouble recruiting to you? HT: A Soldier's Perspective

"Marine Corps - 122% of requirement
Army - 101% of requirement
Navy - 100% of requirement
Air Force - 100% of requirement
Air National Guard - 131% of requirement
Army Reserve - 107% of requirement
Marine Corps Reserve - 100% of requirement
Navy Reserve - 100% of requirement
Air Force Reserve - 100% of requirement
Army National Guard - 94% of requirement"

Google Reader

2008-06-12T23:28:00.004+02:00

Well, I had tried Google Reader a while back and was pretty disappointed. Mainly, I couldn't figure out how to subsribe to my favorite blogs.

Recently, I was remotivated by my friend Julie to give it another try. Wow. Talk about time saving! Thanks Julie!

I Missed It

2008-06-07T09:42:00.002+02:00

D-Day was yesterday. I meant to post something appropriate.

Thank you to all who participated in D-Day, 6 June 1944. We owe you a debt of gratitude.

More Good News

2008-05-28T07:01:00.001+02:00

by Gina Chon of the WSJ: "BAGHDAD -- U.S. and Iraqi military officials said violence in Iraq has decreased significantly in recent weeks to levels not seen in four years."

QandO.net: Pelosi makes suprise visit to Iraq

2008-05-19T12:56:00.001+02:00

http://www.qando.net/ - Pelosi makes suprise visit to Iraq

UPDATE: Pelosi credits Iran for progress made in Iraq. Unbelievable.

Go Baby! Go!

2008-05-15T11:07:00.001+02:00

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide: "Futures Traders Bet on Dollar Gain For First Time Since 2005

By Bo Nielsen and Ye Xie
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Futures traders are betting for the first time since December 2005 that the dollar will gain against the euro."

Update: 1 U.S. dollar = 158.679784 Hungarian forints

YouTube - Banned Xbox 360 advert (train station)

2008-05-13T20:06:00.001+02:00

Man, this would be fun. Life certainly would be more interesting.

YouTube - Banned Xbox 360 advert (train station)

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Surprise! Military hits recruiting goals across the board

2008-05-13T19:58:00.001+02:00

Who says a war drives down recruiting? It certainly doesn't seem that way. Also, I'm sure the whole fiasco with CODEPINK probably helped, too. They're probably not happy about that.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Surprise! Military hits recruiting goals across the board

More Good News in Iraq

2008-05-13T09:59:00.001+02:00

Just how are things going in Iraq? How damaged is AQI and how functional is it?

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys has some answers:

MG Lynch, Part II: Security.

More Good News

2008-05-11T11:01:00.001+02:00

McQ at QandO has the analysis.

http://www.qando.net/ - Meanwhile in Iraq (update)

A rose by any other name...

2008-05-08T12:27:00.001+02:00

My friend Steve said, "...most of what you have already heard but the sum of everything together, even though it is clearly dogma from the conservative side, is helpful to see and hear."

No joke.

The Unabridged Second Amendment

2008-05-07T19:57:00.001+02:00

Does the Second Amendment ensure an individual's right to bear arms?

The Unabridged Second Amendment

More Good News: The men in black vanish and Basra comes to life

2008-05-07T14:42:00.001+02:00

The men in black vanish and Basra comes to life - Times Online

Oh yeah!

2008-05-07T14:30:00.001+02:00

I would comment on this except I don't think I could say it better.

The Other Side of Kim du Toit - TheOtherSideofKim Front Page

Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh | The Australian

2008-04-24T08:53:00.002+02:00

Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh | The Australian

Hat tip: Clayton Cramer

A good article on the possibility of Global Cooling. The second half of the article reports the worst case scenario (but, the Global Warming crowd does the same thing) and may be over-the-top, but it gives you something to think about.

My core issue is this: global warming/cooling is probably not related to CO2. The best evidence now is that global warming/cooling is probably due to solar output. We need to see past the politics and actually look at data, not spin.

BLACKFIVE: DoD Press Release Reports What MSM Won't

2008-04-18T09:29:00.001+02:00

BLACKFIVE: DoD Press Release Reports What MSM Won't

On Blackfive, there is a great article on yet another major setback for AQI. Yet, we really haven't heard that much about it from the MSM. In the comments section, the discussion heats up. Usually, I don't comment on very much. But, here, I couldn't resist.

Go and read the article and the comments. Here is the comment I left:

A good way to evaluate this would be to consider, "What if the opposite was true?" Consider if, instead, the headline was, "AQI captures critical US intelligence; 53 American commanders, generals and colonels, captured or killed."

What kind of reaction would this get? What sort of reporting?
1. It would be on EVERY network's primetime coverage.
2. It would be on EVERY newspaper's front page.
3. EVERY congressman would demand immediate investigation.
4. Massive protests and demonstrations in EVERY city.

Now, let's ask the question, "Is the MSM's level of coverage appropriate?" Hmm.

Disturbing

2008-03-31T23:22:00.001+02:00

Another good read:

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..

Maxed Out

2008-03-30T14:56:00.002+02:00

This is a great documentary on the bad effects of credit cards and borrowing in general. I think most people would be able to watch this and immediately identify with a lot of the people interviewed.

One critique I do have is that the film seems to suggest that the solution is for government to step in and protect people from corporations. But, as you can see, the government can't even fix it's own credit problem. The solution is individual responsibility. The government can't fix the problem. So you will need to fix the problem.

Good Advice from Lincoln

2008-03-25T22:38:00.002+01:00

NPS Source Book: Abraham Lincoln: "As his station in life slowly improved over that of his poor relatives, Lincoln was frequently called upon for assistance. He always displayed a keen interest in the welfare of those who had been close to him in his youth, especially his stepmother, and gave liberally to their aid from his limited means. The following letter to his step brother, however, shows that he was not to be imposed upon in this respect. It also bespeaks a regard for the dignity and value of labor that is in the best American tradition."

"Dear Johnston: Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little you have said to me, "We can get along very well now"; but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now, this can only happen by some defect in your conduct. What that defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you have done a good whole day's work in any one day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it. This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; it is vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break the habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in.

"You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is, that you shall go to work, "tooth and nail," for somebody who will give you money for it. Let father and your boys take charge of your things at home, prepare for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get; and, to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you, that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either in money or as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work. In this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or the lead mines, or the gold mines in California, but I mean for you to go at it for the best wages you can get close to home in Coles County. Now, if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in heaven for seventy or eighty dollars. Then you value your place in heaven very cheap, for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work. You say if I will furnish you the money you will deed me the land, and, if you don't pay the money back, you will deliver possession. Nonsense! If you can't now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eighty times eighty dollars to you."

LINCOLN TO JOHN D. JOHNSTON, JANUARY 2, 1851.

Spring Break in Croatia

2008-03-25T22:19:00.001+01:00

Wonderful. Fantastic. Beautiful.

April 15th

2008-03-25T22:12:00.004+01:00

I did my taxes. I managed to keep some of my own money. I took me 27 pages to do it though. Does that seem reasonable? I don't think so. Can anyone say, "reform"?

P.S. I highly recommend using Intuit's DeluxeTurboTax online. It's quick (5 hrs.), cheap ($29.95), and did a great job (I'm getting a refund).

Politics and Nonprofits

2008-03-09T09:49:00.003+01:00

In case you haven't noticed lately, I haven't been blogging very much lately. There is a reason for this.

I work for two separate nonprofit organizations. I'm paid by one; seconded to the other. Well, I got an e-mail from the first that was sent to the entire organization warning us that we could endanger our IRS tax-status if we use the organization's name or resources to endorse political canidates.

So let me set the record strait:

My personal views do not come from my work with either of the organizations I work for.
The two nonprofits have not asked me to do any political work on their behalf.
The two nonprofits are strictly apolitical.
From this time on, none of their resources will be used for political commentary on this blog. That includes time, computers, and e-mail.
Any political contents on this blog will be a result of my own time and efforts without endorsement of either nonprofit.

I should be a lawyer.

Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state

2008-03-09T09:49:00.002+01:00

California has effectively outlawed homeschooling by parents. I wonder what type of education they will outlaw next.

Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state

The Point?

2008-02-21T22:48:00.002+01:00

Recently, if you haven't been under a rock, you know that protesters are trying to drive out Marine recruiters from Berkeley, CA and now Washington, DC. The general method is to show up, deface property, and in general try to prevent anyone from communicating with the recruiters about the Marine Corps. The idea is that the protesters can intimidate the Marines and scare them away.

Does that make any sense to you? Think about what the Marines are trained to do. Their primary mission is to storm hostile shores defended by vicious enemies under heavy and deadly fire. The Marines took island by island the Pacific away from the Japanese. The fought long, bloody, hand-to-hand battles in Korea. The engaged stealthy enemies in the dense jungles of Vietnam. The directly engaged Saddam's army in Kuwait.

Names like Guadalcanal, Chosin, Fallujah, Inchon, and Iwo Jima will forever be a part of the Marine Corps ethos.

Many of the Marines serving as recruiters have personally been in close-quarters combat against people willing to die just to take a single American with them to death.

Do the protesters really think that the Marines will be intimidated by a bunch of ladies in pink dresses? I mean, has CODEPINK thought about that.

I think they have. I will be willing to give them the benefit of doubt and say that they are intelligent people capable of reason. They know they can't intimidate the Marines. Therefore, all of the "direct action" protesting is for publicity, recruiting for their own organization, and is little more than a political statement.

The Marines aren't going anywhere.

But I don't think CODEPINK has truly thought it through. And, by this, I mean they haven't analyzed the consequences if they were to be successful. CODEPINK doesn't think the Marine Corps shares their values. They believe the Marine Corps is out of touch with America. Therefore, they want to drive the Marine Corps recruiters out of their neighborhoods. But this means displacing the recruiters to locations more in line with the values and beliefs of the Marines. This would have the effect of driving the Marines further away from the values and beliefs of CODEPINK. If CODEPINK has really thought of the consequences, I think that they would want Marine recruiters in their area.

But again, this is hypothetical. Remember, does anyone truly believe that the Marine Corps will be intimidated by pink dresses and megaphones?

Homeless: Can you build a life from $25? | csmonitor.com

2008-02-18T14:20:00.001+01:00

Can you use nothing but determination and work-ethic to get yourself out of poverty? Appartently so. One writer did. He started in a homeless shelter with $25 and within 10 months was "making it". Hmm.

Homeless: Can you build a life from $25? csmonitor.com

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Adnan G. El Shukrijumah

2008-02-18T10:11:00.001+01:00

Do you remember 9/11? Want to stop another day just like it? Help find this man:

FBI Seeking Information - Adnan G. El Shukrijumah

He is considered the most dangerous man inside America. He's already made it in.

More Good News: Attacks in Baghdad fall 80 percent: Iraq military

2008-02-18T09:45:00.001+01:00

Go and read the article but I think the title alone says a lot.

Attacks in Baghdad fall 80 percent: Iraq military International Reuters

More Good News

2008-02-15T15:26:00.001+01:00

Iraqis have recently passed an important law that sets up the future of provinvial elections. I didn't really hear that much about it but this article seems to summarize the information well.

The Associated Press: Lawmakers Pass Provincial Election Law

The Need for a Tax that is Actually Fair

2008-02-12T17:31:00.001+01:00

At my school, I often am asked to come into other classrooms to speak on different subjects. Here is something that I will present Thursday morning. This is the outline that will accompany my 10-minute talk.

Imagine this situation: a well-trained, dedicated athlete enters a marathon, tries his hardest and wins. It was a grueling run of over 42 kilometers but he gets his personal best time of 2 hours and 27 minutes. But as he is celebrating, race officials come over and tell him that in order to be fair, they are going to add an hour to his time so that they can take off an hour of time from the runners at the end. His official time is 3:27. The last runner, who ran the race in 5:14 has an official score of 4:14.

Is this fair?

Imagine another situation: you study hard for a test. You stay up late reading the textbook and pouring over notes. You take the test and you get a 100! A friend of yours didn’t bother studying and got a 40 on the test. But, the teacher announces that you will get an 80 on the test so your friend could get a 60.

Is this fair?

No one would think these two situations are fair. Why then do we think a progressive tax system is fair?

The Fair Tax is essentially a national sales tax on goods and services to replace income tax. Everyone would receive a “prebate”, a check of about a $1000 at the beginning of the year, to offset taxes on essential goods needed for basic living.

There are lots of varieties of the Fair Tax, or National Sales Tax. Some of the goals they have in common are:

· simplify the tax code
o The current tax code is 16,845 pages long!
· simplify tax returns
o 721 different forms
· increase enforcement
o 2,453,741 businesses are easier to monitor than 133,917,068 people and 2,453,741business.
· downsize the IRS
o Personal taxes account for 79.3% of the IRS’s returns.
· encourage savings
o An individual’s taxes would decrease by spending less.
· encourage earnings
o An individual’s taxes wouldn’t change if a person earns more.
· address the culture of entitlement
o Many people expect the government to take care of them and have little initiative to work.
· taxes lifestyle, not success
o A person who earns $100,000 but lives on $20,000 would only be taxed on that $20,000.

The main objective though, is simply, tax people fairly.

UPDATE: I gave this talk this morning. It actually was more of a panel discussion than a presentation per se, but a couple of interesting things came up. First, in preparing, I discovered that the tax-preparation industry is a $250-$300 billion and year industry. Wow. This really speaks to how complicated and unmanagable our tax code has become for us.

Also, as I have mentioned before, I am not against taxes. I am just simply against unreasnable taxes. Taxes are necessary because the government is necessary. But that really brings us to ask what it is that government should be doing. The primary difference between socialist and myself is that they believe that government should do everything it can to help people. I believe that government is horrible at helping people and is often repressive in doing so and should actually do as little as possible by limiting itself to doing only what a government can accomplish. The is especially true at the national level.

One of the questions for the class was, "Does this tax system generate sufficient revenues to fund spending decisions." I thought that was interesting. I thought rather the real question should be, "Does the government's spending decisions fit within the generated revenue." It other words, income should dictate spending and not the other way around. I don't think our government does a very good job of this.

McCain

2008-02-09T13:44:00.000+01:00

We have essentially two choices: defeat or victory in Iraq. And as I've said before, the choice is largely ours.

This is why we need to support John McCain for president. The Democratic canidates have already pledged that they will pull the troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. While some debate whether this would actually happen or not, remember that they've made promisses and with a Democratically-controlled Congress, they will be politically liable to do what they've said.

Victory in Iraq requires us to finish what we begun. I think the statement at johnmccain.com is good.

"If efforts in Iraq do not retain the support of the American people, the war will be lost as soundly as if our forces were defeated in battle. A renewed effort at home starts with explaining precisely what is at stake in this war to ensure that Americans fully understand the high cost of a military defeat. The war in Iraq is at a crossroads and the future of the entire region is at stake - a region that produced the terrorists who attacked America on 9/11 and where much of the world's energy supplies are located. Success is essential to creating peace in the region, and failure would expose the United States to national security threats for generations. Defeat in the war would lead to much more violence in Iraq, greatly embolden Iran, undermine U.S. allies such as Israel, likely lead to wider conflict, result in a terrorist safe haven in the heart of the Middle East, and gravely damage U.S. credibility throughout the world.

"The American people also deserve to know that the path ahead will be long and difficult. They have heard many times that the violence in Iraq will subside soon - when a transitional government is in place, when Saddam is captured, when elections are held, when a constitution is in place. John McCain believes it is far better to describe the situation just as it is - difficult right now, but not without hope. The stakes for America could not be higher."

Let's win in Iraq and vote for McCain!

My Favorite Picture

2008-02-08T22:26:00.000+01:00

This is my favorite picture of my wife and me. It was taken on 1 May 2004, the day that Hungary officially entered the EU. We're standing on what is called the Chain Bridge. The center span is lit up behind us. If you look closely in the background, you can see spotlights shining up into the sky. I love my wife.

Good News!

2008-02-04T10:34:00.000+01:00

I just finished reading one of the daily intelligent summary from the US military in Iraq for 30 January.

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/media/pdf/Intsum/Intsum_31_Jan_08.pdf

Though the list of incidents seems, at first glance, long. It is worth the time to fully read each description and its comments. When you read the comments, the only conclusion is that things in Iraq are improving. Al Qaedi in Iraq (AQI) is in retreat. The Iraqi army is chasing them. Supplies lines to the enemy have been cut. More IEDs are being found than detonated.

Also, as I have mentioned before, the use of more and more of what would normally never be considered military worthy individuals is a sign of desperation. If AQI was winning and its ranks swelling with recruits, why wouldn't one of the new recruits eagerly volunteered to be matyred as soon as possible. The recent use of Down's Syndrome women bombers clearly indicates this.

Another couple of things. First, the phrase "hearts and minds" has been used many times the last few years to make the point that we need to convince the Iraqi people to support our efforts against AQI. While that is true to some extent, AQI may be doing a lot of the winning on our behalf. Read the news articles of how AQI treat the people of Iraq: intimidation, threats, beheadings, torture, harassment, murder, subjugation, and using civilians as human shields.

Second, we cannot loose in Iraq if we are willing to finish the job. Think about it. We have bases, big and small, all over Iraq. From time to time, the come under attack, but these attacks are mortars or sniper rounds. Not the kinds of attacks designed to over-run the base. We're not in danger of having to engage in a fighting retreat. We're not going to be pushed back to the see. We won't be loading up all of our guys onto ships in Kuwait. AQI simply cannot match our military might and the excellence of our men and women. The only way will we loose in Iraq (or Afghanistan) for that matter, will be if we lack the political will. This is what the terrorist are trying to do. And, as the recent debates indicate, some of our politicians are willing to give them that victory.

Let's finish the job. I want to win.

This is from Newsweek?

2008-01-31T20:36:00.000+01:00

The War Against Jihadism Newsweek Religion Newsweek.com

New Categoy: Good News

2008-01-31T20:35:00.000+01:00

We don't here good news often enough. Usually important and significant advances are ignored for sensational and alarming news. So, starting today, I will begin posting the little heard but important stories you should know.

To begin, top Al Qaida scum dies!

al-Qaida Commander in Afghanistan Dies World Latest Guardian Unlimited

Good News!

Nuclear Power Solutions

2008-01-30T14:02:00.000+01:00

This article talks about several of the things I have been saying for years.

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Nuclear Fuel: Waste Not, Want Not

If we want to change the energy picture in our country, we need to change our priorities. Oil is a limit resource. Yes, we can get a lot of it, but the supplies will eventually diminish and a lot of our oil comes from unstable regions. Green energy sounds nice but isn't scalable to a national or global portion. Therefore, we need nuclear. And we need it more than before.

Some priorities we need to change are:

1. Build more nuclear plants. They're safe. They're clean. They're cheap.
2. Reprocess waste. Not only does this produce more fuel, but it reduces that amount of waste we have to dispose.
3. Open Yucca Mountain for storage. We need a long term solution for nuclear waste. This is the best, safest option. We cannot continue the short term solution of storing waste on the site of nuclear plants. It's dangerous, and it is only viable in the short term.

Let's wake up and do the right thing.

Good and Bad

2008-01-29T11:59:00.000+01:00

Caboodle.hu - Budapest policemen caught taking bribe from gun-runners

"Budapest police officers were captured by special commando units after they accepted a Ft 700,000 bribe from a drug and firearms courier, who had been under police surveillance."

Ft 700,000 is just over $ 4000. Adjusting for differences in GDP per capita, this is like an American police officer taking a $9450 bribe.

"Warrant officer Sándor Sz. and sergeant major Csaba H, both patrol policemen in their thirties, stopped a car driver for a routine check on Fõ utca in Budapest’s First District Sunday afternoon.

By the way, this is the famous Castle District, the biggest tourist center in the city.

"The police officers found drugs and firearms in the car, but agreed to let the driver go after he offered them Ft 700,000. Within a minute the two police officers were handcuffed, as detectives from Vas county police and special commando units swooped on the courier, who was known to be carrying drugs, firearms, ammunition and forged Ft 20,000 banknotes.

Firearms are also illegal in Hungary unless you have a very exclusive, special permit for hunting.

"The driver was let go by the commando units, but was stopped on route 8, in the Jánosháza region, on Monday morning, when a search uncovered seven grams of cocaine, a pistol, 19 bullets and 53 counterfeit Ft 20,000 banknotes.

Ft 20,000 is worth about $120.

"Budapest's police chief fired Sz. and H. on Monday night."

Good things: The Hungarian police are concerned about corruption and are making arrests. They fired the offending officers.
Bad things: There IS corruption within the Hungarian police, and why, oh, why did the "commando unit" let the perp go in the first place?

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race

2008-01-28T15:26:00.000+01:00

I salute you, sir! And thank you for running.

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race

My candidate didn't win. Too bad. I really like Fred Thompson and his ideas. Who will I endorse next? I'm not sure yet. I'll need to do some research and thinking.

So, why did he not succeed. Well, lots of reasons have been suggested. Part of it is though the properties of self-fulfilling prophecies. What do I mean? During primaries, voters want candidates that can win the general election. Therefore, they support "leading" candidates. Therefore, candidates who are labelled as "also rans" from the get-go have a hard time getting support. Therefore, they never lead. It's a vicious cycle.

Dear Mr. Thompson. Thank you! We need a conservative voice more than ever and I am glad someone had the guts to speak.

"Gunmen" take "refuge"

2008-01-28T15:11:00.000+01:00

I just read this story from the Wall Street Journal. I was particularly interested in the language.

Gunmen Take Students Hostage At High School in Pakistan - WSJ.com

In a nutshell, "gunmen" abducted a public official and then took "refuge" in a school. Oh, and dozens of students and teachers are still in the school. The school is in a "volatile" region which in a stronghold for the Taliban.

Not until the fifth paragraph is the word "terrorists" mentioned and even then it is a "quote" of a government official. Not until the sixth paragraph is the word "hostage" mentioned.

Let's just called them what they are: lowlife, pathetic, and cowardly terrorists.

Republican tax cuts - where are the spending cuts?

2008-01-18T09:08:00.000+01:00

I don't have time to comment now. Just go read this:

http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=7662

UPDATE: Now that I have a little time, I would like to comment on this whole idea. I have to say that I totally agree with the analysis of Bruce "McQ" McQuain. He is exactly right.

A tax cut without a spending cut isn't a tax cut at all; it is a delayed tax proposal. The reason is that if you continue to spend at a high level, at some point, you must have income to pay for that spending. It doesn't matter what level you are talking about. Income must equal expenditures.

There is a quote from the movie "Dave". An imposter president is analyzing a budget. An accounting friend of his is helping and after thorough study says, "If I ran my business this way, I'd be out of business." Except, when the federal government faces a financial crunch, they don't go out of business, they just raise taxes. And their is not anything you can do about it.

I know that at some point, someone will read the above and say, "We can do something about it. We elect our government!" Yes, in an abstract way, we choose the representatives that set our tax rates but I, as an individual, can do absolutely nothing if I'd rather only pay 10% taxes compared to 40%.

If you have read an American history book, you should know that the Founding Fathers revolted in part because of taxes. The taxes then were in the single digits. Today, taxes are ten time the rate that caused the American Revolution! Doesn't this say something!

As I said, the government doesn't go out of business. They raise taxes.

P.S. Before some anti-government anarchist leaves a comment, I am not against paying taxes. I am against paying unreasonable taxes. Anything more than 10-15% and you have serious problems.

The Definition of Government

2008-01-10T15:36:00.000+01:00

"Government is a big, blood-sucking parasite." -- Dave Ramsey

Michael Yon: Moment of Truth in Iraq

2008-01-10T13:41:00.000+01:00

Michael Yon has written another fantastic essay that everyone should read. Also, given his incredible insight into the situation from Iraq, I would recommend that everyone order one of his books.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine » Blog Archive » Moment of Truth in Iraq

San Jose Mercury News - Vaccines pose no risk for autism, research shows

2008-01-09T08:29:00.000+01:00

This is big news and should go a long way to have parents vaccinate their children with all available vaccines. Unfortunately, the rate of vaccination has dropped in recent years because of fears of the side effects of vaccines. Recently, a school registrar that I know revealed, with confidence, that the actual rate of students not vaccinated in public schools is alarmingly high and schools haven't told parents for fear that enrollment would drop.

San Jose Mercury News - Vaccines pose no risk for autism, research shows

"'Thimerosal exposure bears no relationship to the risk of autism,' wrote Canadian autism researcher Dr. Eric Fombonne in an editorial accompanying the study. 'Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations.'"

'Some doctors believe the increase [in diagnosis of autism] stems from better awareness and diagnosis of the disorder, not more actual cases.'

Also, 'in 2004, an Institute of Medicine panel, after examining more than 20 studies on autism and vaccines, said there is no convincing evidence to support any link between thimerosal or the MMR vaccine and autism. The current California Department of Public Health study adds to that body of research.'

But of course, 'Geraldine Dawson, the chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, called the California research "a very important study. The bulk of the evidence thus far suggests that mercury is not involved, but I think parents still have many questions," Dawson said. "I think until parents are satisfied, we need to continue to examine the question."'

So, in other words, "we're not happy and we will still doubt the safety of vaccinations despite 20+ studies that show otherwise."

For parents that are reasonable and responsible, I have one piece of advice: listen to your doctor and get you children vaccinated!