Monthly Archive for November, 2006

Today’s $.02

Published
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Meta
on November 29, 2006
in Current Events
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Regarding whether the EPA has the right to refuse emissions regulations, I think they do. I mean, I’m all for ’small government’. The best government is the one that governs the least. Right or wrong, good or bad, any government agency should have the authority to refuse to regulate. It’s not the Federal Government’s job. We the People decide what’s best for our country not just by who we vote for, but also what we buy and who we buy it from. The companies who stand to profit from all this aren’t to blame. If the American people want to continue to buy from companies whose practices hurt the environment and perpetuate global warming, well, it’s the People’s choice… not the choice of the Supreme Court.

But perhaps we’ve lost focus on the fundamentals and our children’s role models. Kids often ask how spelling or math really matters in real life. Well, if you’re Lindsay Lohan, you can afford to be an illiterate dink for whom none of your peers have any respect.

And while you’re debating whether to ‘go with the flow’ or question authority, Americans really should give up their blind support of Israel and consider exactly what it is they are supporting. I know that, with the Biblical references and ramifications, it’s like asking a ‘believer’ to give up their faith. But it isn’t really. Today’s Israel… Zionist Israel… is not the Israel the Bible speaks of.

Prediction: Nov 2006

Published
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on November 27, 2006
in Current Events
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Looking to the future, I wonder if we’ll hear the words, “If the GOP were allowed to ’stay the course’ in 2006, the near destruction of Israel could have been avoided.”

My little prediction: Before the 2008 Presidential elections, a large Islamic force (possibly led by Iran, Syria and/or large militias independent of them) will attack and come close to destroying the infrastructure of what we today call Israel. Israel will not completely fall, as the U.S. will step in to prevent it. But the U.S. will allow just enough destruction to occur to invigorate “some” of the world against a “2nd Holocaust” against the Jews. However, most of the “world” will not embrace such a cause. Instead, they will view the issue as a “potential nationalist movement (aka, Nazism)” caught in the nick of time, before it could grow to lead to a new “Palestinian Holocaust”.

While the nation of Israel will survive, it will do so with little support, except from that of the U.S., who will find itself in the initial throws of a waning super-power, given that China and South America will, at that time, have substantial control over the use and distribution of the world’s oil reserves. The U.S. will have lost virtually all support from the rest of the world, including the U.K. for its stance on human contribution to global warming.

What will we do? Stay tuned.

So…

Published
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Meta
on November 27, 2006
in Current Events
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… it IS a civil war after all.

But of course being called a “civil war” by NBC doesn’t necessarily make it one. And NOT being called a “civil war” by the rest of the MSM doesn’t necessarily make it any less of one.

One would almost relish in the stupidity of the argument if it weren’t for the fact that people are being killed every day by the U.S. occupiers and the enemies of Iraq (ie, the Shi’ites, Sunni’s and Kurd’s… who, by the way, ARE the Iraqi’s). Israel didn’t have to fire a single un-acknowledged/un-denied Nuke to see Iraq destroy itself from within. All it took to throw Iraq into chaos was a half-ass invasion by U.S. troops.

This leads me to believe that without the dictatorial (yet stabilizing) regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraq would not have ever been a cohesive “nation”.

My vote is to pull out and let them:

1. Kill each other,
2. Separate into 2 or 3 new nations (dissolving Iraq as a nation), or
3. Come together again as a cohesive Nation and fight against their common enemy (the U.S.).

The only option the U.S. (aka, “Little Israel”) has to fear is #3. The last thing we can do, as God-fearing Americans, is allow the Islamists to come together, and then unite themselves with Iran and Syria, and eventually destroy Israel. Our only hope is that they kill each other or split into separate nations (well, or annihilate each other).

While this would be a victory for the Shi’ites, for the Sunni’s and the Kurd’s, and also for the Israeli’s… it would be considered a failure for the Republican Party’s goals of developing a cohesive, sustainable Iraq. But this failure could easily be blamed on the Democrats and American voters for not allowing the GOP to ’stay the course’.

Ugh. Linoleum.

Published
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Meta
on November 25, 2006
in Home Projects and Projects
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Actually, after reading this, I believe I have vinyl flooring. But regardless, it sucks.

Today I started on the kitchen. First thing to do was remove some cabinets. It wasn’t so easy. Then, as I rolled out some tar paper, I realized I needed to go ahead and take up a little section of the kitchen floor. I peeled up the white vinyl only to find a second layer of vinyl tiles under it. The first layer came up pretty easily. The bottom layer, though, is tough. It’s glued to the sub-floor and was quite time consuming, with a hammer and a putty knife, to get it up.

There’s a lot more to remove too, and it’s not going to be fun. Ugh.

On the ‘Whites-Only Scholarship’

Published
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Meta
on November 24, 2006
in Current Events
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I clicked on an article about it the other day, but here’s an update on the Whites-only Scholarship. The argument that race-based scholarships for minorities is needed because whites, on average, have a higher income than hispanics and other minorities is rediculous. Just as there are wealthy, affluent people who belong to a racial minorities, there are plenty of poor white kids who cannot afford college without scholarships. The idea that it’s OK to have race-based scholarships for minorities perpetuates the idea that these minorities are inferior and cannot compete on academics alone. The applicants for scholarships aren’t competing against wealthy white kids, nor wealthy hispanic, black or chinese kids. Rather, nationwide, they are competing against other poor kids who could use the money too… independent of their race. Just as a Whites-Only Scholarship is discriminatory, so too are another other race-based scholarships. Affirmative action in this arena does not ‘level the playing field’, it does just the opposite.

Thanksgiving

Published
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Meta
on November 23, 2006
in Personal
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I found this Thanksgiving Tribute.

I’m glad I’m not a turkey.

On the other hand, this PETA propaganda is a bit over-the-top.

A letter to Congressman Bauer

Published
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Meta
on November 20, 2006
in Current Events and Rants
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As State Congressman Rep. Patrick Bauer prepares to take the position of Speaker of the House, I ran across this article about Governor Mitch Daniels’ proposal to raise taxes on cigarettes to fund his new program for providing free healthcare to those who cannot afford it.

This was my letter to Rep. Bauer:

Dear Representative Bauer,

I am writing in response to an article published in the Indianapolis Star yesterday. Here is the link: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061119/LOCAL/611190471

According to this article, Governor Mitch Daniels plans a $.25 per pack increase in cigarette taxes in the short term. The basic concept is that the tax increase on smokers will benefit the state by providing free healthcare to the un/under-insured.

First, I consider myself among the State’s middle-class. I am an I.U. graduate and an information technology professional. Currently, I work as a consultant to medium-to-large businesses, communities and local governments in disaster preparedness and recovery planning.

Second, I am single with no children. Otherwise I would not be able to afford the fact that…

Third, my insurance policy has a deductible of $5000. I have it only in the event of extreme emergencies. Otherwise, I have to save and include into my budget things like regular dental visits, eye exams and physicals (none of which can I afford). Even as a striving entrepeneur trying to grow a technology business in this state, I cannot afford healthcare for myself. How can I ever imagine to grow my business and hire employees? How could I ever expect to take on such a venture if I had children?

And finally, I’m no one special. I grew up in Shelbyville, just me and my mom and my little brother. Though my mom took out some loans, I had to put myself through college, and it took me seven years. The point is, I had every opportunity that everyone else in this state has, no more and no less.

To quote the article, “The plan borrows from a concept known as consumer-driven health care, already being pushed by insurers and businesses looking to curb health-care costs.” I don’t see how this plan is related to the market in any other way than the producer setting a price and the government accepting it and subsidizing it by ‘making up the cost’ to those who need but cannot afford it. The program is ‘being pushed by insurers’, but how, exactly, it reduces costs, well, I am at a loss.

Instead it seems the government is at the mercy of the insurance companies and health-care providers. By agreeing to pay their extreme premiums, the State perpetuates the rising costs. The rising cost of health-care is NOT a simple case of supply-and-demand (ie, not market nor consumer-driven). Instead, it seems somewhat analogous to Federal Government subsidies to U.S. farmers to keep world market prices down. Where the government strives to keep market prices (for crops or healthcare) low by subsidizing the demanded price and reducing the costs for the consumer, it subsequently increases price, reduces demand, lowers quality, fills the gap and perpetuates the situation.

So, back to the cigarette tax. To put this burden of subsidizing extreme health-care costs on smokers is unfounded. Purchasers of cigarettes do not create the disparity between the cost of health-care and what the public can and is willing to spend. The government does that by paying what insurance companies demand and making up the difference with consumers.

The real effort should focus on reducing the costs of health-care and allowing it to be market-driven. Those who can afford it will spend the money. Those who cannot won’t. It’s like Service Merchandise vs. Tiffany’s, or Wal-Mart vs. Nordstrom.

In summary, any increase of taxes on the purchasers of cigarettes is unjustified and narrow-minded. The problem isn’t with smokers and they should not be punished for it. The problem is with the government substantiating the overpricing of health-care.

When it comes time to vote on Daniels’ proposal, I will count on your vote to oppose it.

Laying the floor - Day 7

Published
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Meta
on November 19, 2006
in Home Projects and Projects
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I reached a major milestone today. Phew! Technically, I’m finished with the floors in the living room. Well, there might be a strip or two left that one would consider “the living room”, but I’m close enough to the kitchen that I can’t go any further. Here’s a shot from the other side. Oh, and I suppose I still need to reinstall some of the trim, but much of that is dependent upon the kitchen project, as they share some walls.

So, I cleaned up and put the TV in place, and my chair, and am going to relax for a bit.

But with the walls done and the floor, I’m calling the Living Room Remodeling project complete! For a photo re-cap of the whole project, here’s the project Gallery.

Now… moving on to the kitchen.

To Zune, or not to Zune…

Published
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Meta
on November 17, 2006
in Personal
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Tonight I finally had to see what the hell is a Zune. Turns out it’s just another iPod-like portable MP3-player. Well, MP3’s and other media. After reading the site and some others about it, I thought it might be cool to have one. Then I realized that I’ve lived just fine and haven’t once felt deprived for not having an iPod. My old HP Jornada has all the features of a portable media player I would want… and it’s been sitting in my desk drawer unused for way over 2 years now.

What else can I buy for $300? Well, last Friday on my way to Columbus, I hit a deer. I saw it watching me approach and saw it as it darted in front of me at the last second. Luckily I slammed on the brakes and had slowed down enough that I barely tapped it in the ass. Well, I bet I tapped him pretty hard and likely broke a few bones. But I’d slowed down enough that, regarding damage to my truck, it busted my headlight. I called yesterday to order a replacement. $269.18.

But back to hype that I just don’t get, it probably has to do with my childhood. Growing up, my little brother and I had an Atari 2600. I was only good at one game: Astroblast. But when it came to Pac-Man, Tank Wars, Pitfall or any others, he kicked my ass. It’s probably because he spent many more hours in playing than I did. Well, today, while I have a moderate interest in computers and technology, I have very little in game consoles.

So, regarding Sony’s new PS3 that just went on-sale, I simply cannot fathom what’s driving people when I read things like this, this, this, this, this and this. In case you don’t want to follow those links, they’re all about people being robbed, beaten, stabbed or shot over a friggin’ game console! And it’s not even as much fun as Nintendo’s Wii, which will be out in a few weeks, is substantially less-expensive and there will be plenty to go around.

Laying the floor - Day n+1

Published
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Meta
on November 16, 2006
in Personal
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So I don’t really consider this a ‘floor laying day’, because it wasn’t in the schedule. I took the rented nailer back yesterday, and also ordered my new one from Amazon.com. Surprisingly, though I wasn’t expecting it until tomorrow, it arrived today!

But I still didn’t have any wood in the house ready to go… so it’s going to have to wait til tomorrow.

Other benefits of the project: Ya know what I noticed this morning? Since I last weighed and measured myself 2 weeks ago, I’ve gained about 6 lbs and lost about an inch off my waist. So I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed the ol’ “love handles” are dwindling away. That would explain the sudden droopiness of my trousers.

That’s a nice way to start the day.