Thursday, April 30, 2009

Skeptical

David Freddoso in the corner frets about a Senate race:

It's not a good sign that Sen. Richard Burr (R, N.C.) leads by just one point in a newly released survey and polls in the mid-30s (35-34) against a hypothetical opponent. But it's not as though he has high negatives. It's just that no one in the state seems to have an opinion of him:

Very Favorable – 14%
Somewhat Favorable – 19.2%
TOTAL FAVORABLE – 33.2%


Somewhat Unfavorable – 8.7%
Very Unfavorable – 8.7%
TOTAL UNFAVORABLE – 17.3%


NO OPINION – 38.7%


NEVER HEARD OF – 10.8%


I'm always skeptical of polls that involved "hypothetical candidates" for one reason: The hypothetical is automatically granted the best characteristics in the mind of the person being polled and carries none of the negatives. Recall that prior to the 2004 presidential election, Bush was getting killed by the so-called hypothetical candidate. When the grim reality of Kerry's campaign ousted the imaginary candidate...eh, not so much.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Couldn't Resist

Loosely translated, the new Icelandic Premier's last name means "secure your daughters."

Yeah... and:

Reading through the Wolf's post (immediately below) and the linked article, I think the very last sentence in that article applies to far more than this single topic:
In other words, the debate over which Obama presided was all about what would help Obama. The debaters obviously knew their audience.
This is an administration that began running for it's second term about a year ago, and hasn't allowed that goal to fall second to any other since. Fiscal responsibility, national security, and all the rest can wait for someone else's watch (and wallet).

It's beyond naive to think that any of the changes taking place are designed to benefit anyone other than politicians, chief among them the One. What will be left afterwards?

Friday, April 24, 2009

Very Telling

Over at Powerline, a good analysis of the administration's proposed release of interrogation details. I was struck by Mirengoff's update at the end:

UPDATE: One more point. In the Post's account those who argued against releasing details about interrogation techniques were no more high-minded than the other side. Their main argument seems to have been that releasing the information "could spark a national security debate with conservatives that could undermine Obama's broader agenda."
One can only speculate as to why the Dems would fear having that debate. Clearly, they must think that they would come out on the short end of it. If that's the case, aren't they tacitly admitting that conservatives are correct about national security?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I've Got An Idea


Obama calls for new era of energy exploration in America


How about lifting the ban on drilling where we know we can get oil RIGHT NOW?

"The nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."
Agreed. Somehow the US managed to lead the world in creating new sources of cleaner energy from the 19th into the 20th century without a lot of government interference.

But Obama's promise of preserving natural resources and jump-starting the economy ran smack into the reality of this economically struggling town about 30 miles east of Des Moines. The wind energy plant where he spoke, and received a tour beforehand, is a shadow of what it replaced — a Maytag Corp. appliances plant that built washers, dryers and refrigerators.

It employed some 4,000 in a town of 16,000 residents in jobs that paid about $30,000 to $40,000 a year.

Trinity Structural Towers has roughly 90 people working at the old Maytag site, a number that is expected to grow to about 140. Mark Stiles, a senior vice president at Trinity, which builds the towers that support wind turbines, said workers at his factory make about $17 an hour, plus benefits.

"This is a piece of the recovery, but we think it's a nice piece," Stiles said.
My wife planted some flowers on our deck. They look nice too.

Newton Mayor Chaz Allen said many are still trying to recover after the loss of Maytag in 2007.

"You know, 115 years with one company was a great thing, but it's a different world now," Allen said. "Our economy has to be diverse and we can't put all of our eggs in one basket."
Right. Let's keep replacing plants that make products that people want to buy and employ folks at good wages with stuff that serves little useful purpose. Maybe that can be your next campaign slogan, chief.

Obama was at the plant to highlight his energy proposal that has slowed on Capitol Hill. Skeptical Republicans and some Democrats from coal-producing states complain that it will increase costs for consumers, send jobs overseas and hurt businesses.
Probably because it will increase costs for consumers, send jobs overseas and hurt businesses.

He pushed personal responsibility, calling on every American to replace one incandescent light bulb with one compact fluorescent. The president also said the leaders of the world's major economies will meet next week to discuss the energy crisis.
Because empty symbolic gestures will save us all from the imagined "crisis."

For his remarks, Obama chose Iowa, second only to Texas in installed wind capacity.
And, for a day, Iowa was in first place in windiness, thanks to the president.

He announced his administration is creating the nation's first program to authorize offshore projects to generate electricity from wind turbines and ocean currents. The Interior Department on Wednesday issued the long-awaited regulations governing how leases will be issued for the development of such energy sources and how revenue will be shared with coastal states.
So drilling for oil on the coasts would be an economic catastrophe, but building a sea of wind turbines would not. Gotcha.

Obama said that wind could generate as much as 20 percent of the U.S. electricity demand by 2030 if its full potential is pursued on land and offshore. It would also create as many as 250,000 jobs, he said.

"As with so many clean energy investments, it's win-win: good for environment and great for our economy," the president said.
Horsehockey. Go read for yourself.

The rest just makes me tired. It's the same old nonsense about reducing greenhouse emissions predicated solely on Obama's feelings of self-aggrandizement. Honestly, if we could harvest that, our energy CRISIS would be over.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Arms Control

South Africa: Food Used as Election Weapon, Say Monitors

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: careful where you point that churro.

Help Wanted

Hackers Swipe Terabytes Of Sensitive Pentagon Data

Chinese Hackers Penetrate US Electric Power Grid

Maybe instead of inundating my online e-mail accounts with offers of hot stocks, pleas for international banking aid for African royalty, and advertisements for medical supplies of questionable effectiveness... instead of hacking cheap computer games, setting up dumb viruses and worms, and phishing around... maybe some of the technically-skilled and obviously bored netizens out there could step up, show some patriotism, and put a stop to the threat.
Who knows, maybe there are some good recipes for lead paint and toxic pet food to be scored while you're at it.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Rock Me Gently

President Obama has begun giving his remarks on the economy at Georgetown University.

In the prepared excerpts, Obama says steps taken so far are starting to show signs of progress but there is a hard road ahead. He cites a parable from the Sermon on the Mount about a man who built his house on a pile of sand and another who built his house on a rock.

The first man's house "was destroyed as soon as the storm hit," Obama says in the excerpts, and adds: "We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock."
Biblical scholars may note one minor distinction, which is that the rock described by Christ wasn't too expensive to afford in the first place, and heavily mortgaged on the backs of future generations. The Bible actually urges folks to go the other way... to leave something for their grandchildren, rather than steal from them.

Also, the Rock in the Parable of the Two Builders is a metaphor for God. Not sure if the President is intentionally suggesting that his economic plan is divine, but it's interesting that he uses Scripture to make his point here, when some of his policies have flown in the face of that same source of instruction.

No word yet on the general population's reaction to B.O. using a Sunday School lesson to make his point. I'm fairly certain that if W. had made this reference there would have been much indignation and gnashing of teeth, so let's just stand by and see...

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tick Tock

Not everyone is excited about the timetable-driven withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

La Propaganda

Anyone else find it odd that N. Korea's news agency publishes their stuff in Spanish?

Out of Context Quote of the Day

Ross Stein, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California:
This physicist from Italy has every right to pursue something, as do the cockroach people. But we all have to subject our work to the same standards of review.
Score one for the cockroach people.

Global Gun Control

One wonders if the soundest strategy for complete nuclear disarmament is really to volunteer to go first.
[Obama's] strategy [is] based on the idea that if the United States shows it is willing to greatly shrink the size of its atomic arsenal, ban nuclear testing and cut off the worldwide production of bomb material, reluctant allies and partners around the world will be more likely to rewrite nuclear treaties and enforce sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
And that strategy might not seem quite as silly if there were any indication whatsoever that it could ever work. Sanctions are meaningless unless they're unanimous (sort of like test ban or emissions treaties), and of course they never are.

There is nothing that can be done to punish N. Korea while China's support continues unwavered. The U.N. is meaningless, and can't even muster a slap on the wrist, having no ability to slap. When has scolding a dictator from afar ever worked?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Groundhog Day

BBC News: Obama Nominee Admits Tax Errors.

The sad part is that this seems to apply to nearly all of them, so without reading the article you have no way of knowing who specifically is the subject this time.

Tax dodging: it's the new black. Hollywood will need to come out with a new lapel ribbon, etc.

Of course the rest of us are expected to not only pay our taxes, but pay more of them. Not because it's fashionable, but because the current Congress and the Obama Administration have given government the biggest allowance in history. Good times...