Saturday, January 05, 2008

Republican ABC Debate Wrap Up

Romney shot himself in the foot by coming off both defensive and smug. He had this smirk on his face when almost everyone else was talking. I was never a fan but now I actively dislike him.

Huckabee didn’t come off any better. I don’t think he’ll sway too many NH residents.

Giuliani came off pretty decent, but once again it was all about 9/11. He’s sounding too much like a one note guy. He did OK explaining his immigration stance but I don’t think he came off great.

McCain was funny and did well enough to secure a win in NH as the polls are showing at this time. He did a poor job defending his amnesty immigration bill, though.

Ron Paul came off at a disadvantage as everyone kind of made fun of him and mocked his positions. Frankly, his foreign policy statements were naive. Whatever a terrorist says as the reason they attacked us is meaningless. What people say and do are two different things. They would have an excuse no matter what since many of the nations they attack aren’t occupying their countries. When did Bali ever attack them?

Finally, Fred came off well. He seemed the most reasoned and mature of them all. However, I don’t know if he will sway anyone else to vote for him. I am still rooting for Fred because he seems the most level headed and pragmatic of all these guys. I don’t know if he’ll be exciting enough to draw more people to his candidacy. I think he won the debate. But the heat may all be on McCain and maybe Rudy.  Huckabee won’t win in NH. Depending on how bad he loses, he may have seen his last hurrah.

Next up, the Democrat Debate. I’m watching it now. I think, so far, Obama will come away the winner because he seems the most presidential. He’s also the more likable one. Richardson just doesn’t look like a president. He looks like a typical bureaucrat. 

Friday, January 04, 2008

Little Men Inside Your Monitor

When you click this link, don’t be alarmed when your browser shrinks. Just watch the show. 

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Now I Know Who Huckabee Reminds Me Of

Well, he won Iowa handily. We’ll see how he does in New Hampshire.

I was happy to see Thompson win third place. Hopefully he will do even better next week. And Hillary came in third after Obama and Edwards. Yesss!!!

Of course, she will probably win the nomination in the end, but I think it will be hard won.

UPDATE: CNN isn’t news.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Go, Fred!

If you missed this video, watch it. As far as I’m concerned, Fred is the most real candidate in this race. He can get elected, unlike Ron Paul. And unlike Paul, he doesn’t have naive foreign policy ideas. The other candidates have too many issues that might hold them back. But more importantly, they don’t seem to have as much common sense as the Fredster.

I think Fred is our best best of fixing statist problems. He’s for smaller government, a flat tax and so on. Despite what the pundits may think, I believe he can win. 

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Another Favorite Anime Theme

Mospeada. Also known here as part of the Robotech series. 

Sunday, November 25, 2007

A Hole in the Universe?

My personal theory of the cat question in physics is that it answers itself. The more we observe the universe, the more we discover that it’s way stranger than we thought, and it constantly surprises us. Here’s another example.

IN AUGUST, radio astronomers announced that they had found an enormous hole in the universe. Nearly a billion light years across, the void lies in the constellation Eridanus and has far fewer stars, gas and galaxies than usual. It is bigger than anyone imagined possible and is beyond the present understanding of cosmology. What could cause such a gaping hole? One team of physicists has a breathtaking explanation: “It is the unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own,” says Laura Mersini-Houghton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It is a staggering claim. If Mersini-Houghton’s team is right, the giant void is the first experimental evidence for another universe. It would also vindicate string theory, our most promising understanding of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.

That’s a big if, but it’s certainly interesting. Personally, I love the ideas of other realities. However, this could be nothing more than an anomaly. The universe has to be full of them. It’s a big place. 

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Good News, Bad News Time

I’m back. Had a great time.

And things have happened over the holiday. Some good, some bad. Let’s start with the good. Sarkozy stared down the strikers in France and won. Chriac must really feel like a EUnuch now.

In France, a country with a tradition of violent mob eruptions dating back at least to its revolution, the street is the ultimate ballot box.

So when its transportation and energy workers struck, costing the French economy $4 billion-plus a week, some thought it might be the end of Sarko’s ability to govern. Surely, they thought, he’d have to bend to the unions’ will, wouldn’t he?

But they underestimated Sarko’s resolve. Nine days into the strike, Monsieur le President forced the unions to back down. And in so doing, he has earned what American hip-hop artists call “street cred.”

On Friday, Sarkozy vowed to go ahead with economic reforms that may help end France’s long economic slide into irrelevance. “I have no intention to stop the reform movement, no intention to slow it down, no intention to forget my promises,” he said. “I made commitments. They will be kept.”

Those phrases echo those made by both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher when they faced similar union-made problems — in Reagan’s case, with air traffic controllers; in Thatcher’s, with the Marxist-led coal miners. Both stuck to their guns and won. Now Sarko’s done the same.

France really needed Sarkozy. He just might be the man to save it from its downward spiral. Australia isn’t so lucky. Now for the bad news.

Conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia’s combat troops from Iraq.

Labor Party head Kevin Rudd’s pledges on global warming and Iraq move Australia sharply away from policies that had made Howard one of President Bush’s staunchest allies.

Rudd has named global warming as his top priority, and his signing of the Kyoto Protocol will leave the U.S. as the only industrialized country not to have joined it.

So, they want to sign the worthless Kyoto Accords which achieve nothing except hurt your own economy. No signatory nation has ever met its goals, by the way. Like AGW, it’s just a scam. And they want to pull out of Iraq at a time when it’s stabilizing. Well, gee, kind of a pointless exercise. But that’s what the left is good for. Watch them turn the Aussie Economy around...into the crapper, ala Jimmy Carter. Hopefully the Aussies won’t have to put up with too much BS from these clowns.

Any politicians who make global warming their #1 priority obviously aren’t too concerned with doing anything useful. They must have gotten tips on effective leading from Ray Nagin.

But some things in the next few weeks may hold promise.  Hugo Chavez is holding a referendum vote and he is losing his lead. Of course, that makes him want to threaten voters. This is what you get when a leftist gets in power.  A nut job who wants to be president for life. (see Robert Mugabe). Let’s hope the people of Venezuela manage to vote this creep out before he solidifies his power.

UPDATE: Bush beat the Australians and is removing way more troops than they are from Iraq. They only have about a 1,000 troops there.  So Rudd’s making a rather theatrical gesture by removing them.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Go Nader

I don’t expect him to win but I wish him luck. The Dems were definitely doing this stuff in 2004.

Consumer advocate and 2004 independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader sued the Democratic Party on Tuesday, contending officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from nominee John Kerry.

Nader’s lawsuit, filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, also named as co-defendants Kerry’s campaign, the Service Employees International Union and several so-called 527 organizations such as America Coming Together, which were created to promote voter turnout on behalf of the Democratic ticket.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Democratic National Committee conspired to force Nader off the ballot in several states.

Many Dems thought Nader killed Gore’s chances in 2000. Which may be true, but this is not a two party system. It’s only because of tactics both sides play, to block other parties, that we’re stuck with a limited buffet. Personally, I wish other parties were more robust. Alas, they tend to be anemic. And when we do get third party candidates, they are rarely worth consideration.

If it wasn’t for wacky Ross Perot, Bush 41 probably would have beat Clinton. If it wasn’t for Nader, Gore might have narrowly won.

Personally, I think its healthy to have more choices. I just wish they were better. 

Thompson’s Southern Strategy

Many people I’ve talked to have shaken their head when I said I was rooting for Fred Thompson to win the nomination. But I think he has several things on his side the media hasn’t grasped yet. They have spent too much time trying to paint him as lazy for not doing what they told him he must do. One of the things I like about Thompson is he does things his way and not how the media says he has to do things. Now his strategy is starting to come to light.

“In most of the polls we’re ahead (in South Carolina) or a strong second, even though we’ve invested almost zero resources at this point. We view that as a solid opportunity for us,” says Bill Lacy, Mr. Thompson’s campaign manager.

Mr. Thompson’s “red-state” focus could have a particular payoff if the nomination comes down to a delegate count competition, since the party gives extra weight to states that voted for President Bush in 2004, or elected Republican governors and members of Congress. Most of those states lie in the South, the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains.

“Our polling shows us that we tend to do better in those three areas, particularly in the South,” Mr. Lacy says. “That has to do with who Fred is, where’s he’s from, and has to do with some of the baggage that Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Romney have from being from New York and Massachusetts and having more liberal records,” he adds. That’s a reference to Mr. Thompson’s two biggest rivals, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In order to to win the presidency, you need the south. And Giuliani and Romney have thier north-east background against them. It will be an uphill battle for them down south. But Thompson, if he plays his cards right, can sweep the south. Only Huckabee offers him any solid competition there. And Huckabee is someone the press is starting to fluff up. But I suspect, when more about his record comes out that may change. Besides, who wants a President named Huckabee? Sorry.

Rudy would be my second pick, but as I said, his stand on guns and his nanny state instincts puts me off a bit. 

Hillary Exposed

This video is getting a lot of attention, thanks to the Internet.  Can this actually help end Hillary’s bid for president? I think it might help. It follows the pattern of Hillary’s many contributions from shady characters.

Peter Paul is no angel himself, but as this clearly shows, Hillary didn’t care when she took his money and solicited his help.