T.D.I.H. Jan 29

On this date in 1861, Kansas entered the United States as a free State on the eve of the Civil War. Free State meant that slavery was abolished within its borders.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 28

This is a pretty important day for manned space exploration. First of all, it is the anniversary of the Challenger disaster. I was watching the launch live that morning, and I vividly remember my rage when the TV commentator didn't immediately realize what had happened like I did. This explosion killed seven astronauts and grounded the shuttle fleet for several years.

In happier news, a couple of astronauts and a cosmonaut were born on this day. Leonid Kadeniuk from the Ukraine was born in 1951 went into space on the space shuttle Columbia in 1997. David Carl Hilmers from Iowa was born in 1950. He flew into space four times, twice each on the Atlantis and Discovery. John McCreary Fabian was born in Texas in 1939. He flew into space twice, once each on the Challenger and the Discovery.

T.D.A.T.M - Jan 28, 1990

The number one movie in the United States on this date in 1990 continued to be Driving Miss Daisy. Below is a clip from an interview of Morgan Freeman by Mike Wallace for 60 Minutes. In it Freeman expresses exactly the same point of view on race that I have. It is the point of view that I had hoped Pres. Obama had.

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 27, 1980

The number one movie on this day continued to be Kramer V Kramer. The clip below features an interview with Meryl talking about the making of the movie.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 27

On this day in 1888 the National Geographic Society was formed in Washington D.C.. The Society has become mostly known for the magazine it publishes, and the occasional TV special. The picture below is from an article called Afghan Girl. The first picture was published in 1985, and was a world-wide sensation. The second picture was taken seventeen years later. When it was taken it was only the second time in her life her picture had been taken. Her name is Sharbat Gula. Whenever I hear someone complaining about how bad their life is, or how bad things are for the poor in the United States, I think of her. What type of life has she led?

T.D.I.M. - Jan26, 2000

The number one song in the United States on this day in 2000 was still What A Girl Wants by Christina Aguilera. Below is a clip from the Mickey Mouse Club featuring Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 26

On this day in 1837 Michigan entered the United States of America. Michigan was the home of the American auto industry in its heyday, and also the home of Motown Record Corporation.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 25, 1990

(Ooooh this is gonna hurt....) The number one song on this date in 1990 was How Am I Supposed To Live Without You by Michael Bolton. You know, this song wasn't truly awful the first million times I heard it...since then........

T.D.I.H. - Jan 25

On this day in 1627, Robert Boyle was born. Boyle is considered to the first of the modern chemists, and has a scientific law named after him, although it was not his theory. He was a founding member of the Royal Society . Most of his work dealt with air and gases. Despite having thirteen brothers and sisters, Boyle inherited a fortune that guaranteed him a life of luxury at the age of sixteen. His fortune was primarily based on land his father received in Ireland in the service of Cromwell. Even though he was born in Ireland, Boyle certainly considered himself English and not Irish, and only returned to Ireland briefly after he left at the age of eight.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 24, 1980

The number one song in the United States on this date in 1980 was Rock With You by Michael Jackson. I actually liked Michael Jackson at this point and used to dance to his songs at school or AYA dances two or three weekends a month. This song came off of my favorite Michael Jackson album Off The Wall.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 24

On this day in 1848, John Marshall found gold in the stream at the sawmill owned by John Sutter. This would lead to the California Gold Rush and the arrival of the "49ers", the first wave of mass immigration to California. California has been known as the Golden state ever since.

Rule 5 Sunday

Happy Birthday Tiffani-Amber Thiessen! She was born on this date in 1974. That means she was only 15 at the beginning of Saved By The Bell you perv. But she is fully legal now, and still pretty hot at 37. Neither one of these are Tiffani-Amber Theissen bikini photos, but they are both pretty close!

Update 7:14 PM: Linked at The Other McCain.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 23

On this day in 2003, Pioneer 10 communicated with Earth for the last time. The spacecraft was 80 au away from Earth at the time..or about 12 billion kilometers, and almost thirty years after launch. One of the interesting things about the Pioneer craft was their inclusion of a plaque on them with representations of the male and female human body as well as symbols designed to tell anyone or anything that found them Earth's location. I wonder if we would leave clues as to our planet's location nowdays?

Really???? Pt.3

I just saw a commercial for Intense KY Jelly at 2:21 PM on the USA Channel. The show was called Fairly Legal.

2:21 PM. On a Saturday.

.

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 22, 2000

The number one film on this day in 2000 was still Next Friday. Here is a clip from the film.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 22

On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the decision in Roe V Wade making abortion a "fundamental right". One day this decision will be viewed with even more disgust and disbelief than we now view the Dredd Scott case. In Roe, the Burger Court simply created an entirely new "fundamental right" by relying on the "emanations of a penumbra*". Even prominent Leftist Constitutional scholars will admit that Roe is bad law. I personally believe that abortion is murder, and I also believe that our descendants will see it that way also, and will view the last forty years as a holocaust.


* I was disappointed to see that Merriam-Webster actually lists: a body of rights held to be guaranteed by implication in a civil constitution as a definition of penumbra. Can anyone cite me any other example in the history of mankind in which this excuse was used besides the Burger Court?

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

Keith Olbermann has announced that tonight was his last appearance on MSNBC as the host of Countdown.

Finally, our long national nightmare is over.

Barak and the Left

Althouse wrote a post talking about the fact that the governnor of Hawaii has just announced that he can't find Pres. Obama's birth certificate, after he had promised to find it. In the comments section, at about 7:34, someone posted the following quote under the name Florida:

If you think about it, Barack Obama's been kind of a douchebag to the left. I mean, he's made them all look like a bunch of fucking chumps and dupes.

Not only did he not close Gitmo, he stopped in-progress trials and instead is torturing these people without giving them a fair trial - no wait ...without giving them any kind of a trial fair or not!

Not only did he not bring troops home from Iraq (we still have 50,000 there guarding our oil),he sent 30,000 more of them into Afghanistan with instructions to kill as many brown people as they can target with their flying robot drones.

Not only did Barack Obama not raise taxes on the rich ... he gave them a fucking 2-year tax break! Hahahaha ... you fucking suckers.

Now Obama is surreptitiously planning the destruction of the nation's public employee unions by allowing states to declare bankruptcy and poorhouse all those retirees who trusted them! I mean ... you gotta be fucking kidding me! Never trust a fucking Democrat. Jesus you people are fucking stupid.

An interesting perspective.....

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 21, 1990

The number one movie on this date in 1990 was Driving Miss Daisy. The movie is based on a play by the same name. The film won four Oscars. I believe I have actually seem most of this movie, but never in one sitting.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 21

On this day in 1924, comedic genius Alfred Hawthorne Hill, who would later change his name to Benny Hill, was born. Benny Hill's form of comedy is simply one you either just get, or you don't get at all. Those who love him love him, and those who don't will never get it. It is impossible to overestimate Hill's impact on British comedy however. Below is a clip of one of his most famous skits.

So Far, So Good....

I have now posted more articles this month, with 11 days to go still, than I posted in all of 2009 and 2010 combined.........

Proving I'm A Grinch

There was a great story in the New York Post today about a mother and daughter being re-united after the daughter was abducted as a baby twenty-three years ago. Great story right?

Well, I actually read the story. I was struck by one thing however. (and this is where we get to the whole grinch thing) The mom in this story gave birth at age sixteen. So did the daughter sixteen years later. No one seems to care very much about that.

"But she didn't raise the daughter, so there is no connection to the fact that both gave birth at sixteen" you may argue. "Precisely,", I reply, "and that is the most troubling part of it to me."

How rare do you think this phenomena is? How many 32 year old grandmothers do you think there are?

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 20, 1980

The number one film in the United States on this day in 1980 remained Kramer V Kramer. It seems almost matter of fact today, but in 1980 the idea of a divorced father fighting for custody of a child was still somewhat controversial. Here is a clip of Dustin Hoffman talking about Meryl Streep and how she got the role in the movie.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 20

On this day in 1920, Bones McCoy first walked the Earth. DeForest Kelley was born in Georgia in his parents' home. deForest had a successful career before Star Trek, but not much else after the original series. His character of Bones was an integral part of the series. Bones was often the straightman to Shatner's Kirk, while at the same time Bones relentlessly fired off zingers at Nimoy's Spock.

Reynolds, You Magnificent Bastard, I Read Your Book!

HOUSE VOTES TO REPEAL OBAMACARE: “The House voted on Wednesday to repeal the sweeping healthcare law enacted last year, as Republicans made good on a central campaign pledge and laid down the first major policy marker of their new majority. The party-line vote was 245-189, as three Democrats joined all 242
Republicans in supporting repeal.” Party-line vote? I think you mean bipartisan vote.

Heh.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 19, 2000

The number one song on this day in 2000 was What A Girl Wants by Christina Aguilera. Christina popped on the radar around the same time as Britney Spears. The ex-Musketeers both released their first album in 1999. I think it is safe to say that Britney's star burned hotter, but Christina's has been more steady and long lasting. This isn't a bad song, especially for a first album by a pop princess. (Not that I think she's a lightweight by any means)

T.D.I.H. - Jan 19

On this day, in 1978, the last German-made Classic Volkswagon Beetle rolled off the production line. They continued to be built in Latin America until 2003. I seriously thought of buying one of the Latin American VWs new around 2000, but the costs to make it street legal in California were prohibitive. I really love Volkswagons....I've owned lots of them. But it's a kind of love/hate thing. I love them, but you wouldn't know it. Each one of my VWs has ended up fit only for scrapping. I'm really hard on them. (The squareback wasn't my fault...) I'd really like another squareback, or the original VW van in it's pick-up hybrid. This peculiar little car had a huge impact on America, and it will be a sad day indeed when they last one is towed off to the scrapper, or mounted in a museum. The new Beetle is OK as cars go....but it doesn't have the same panache as the original.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 18, 1990

On this day in 1990, the number one song in the US continued to be Another Day in Paradise. However in the United Kingdom, the number one song was Hangin' Tough by New Kids on the Block.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 18

Keep an eye on the skies today. For some reason, things keep hitting the Earth on this date. In 2000, Canada was hit by the Tagish Lake Meteorite. In 1994, residents of Cando, Spain reported seeing a fireball and finding a gouge in a hillside. Some people posit that instead of something hitting the Earth, the fireball and gouge were caused by natural gas. In 1981, Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield became the first people to complete all four B.A.S.E. jumps. (buildings, antennae, spans, and earth) There were plane crashes in 1969 and 1960. In 1916 a meteorite hit a house in Baxter, Missouri. In 1911, an airplane lands on a ship for the first time in San Francisco harbor.

Sign of the Times.....

OK, it is official...the baby boomers are officially getting old....I just saw a commercial for artificial hips on TV.........

T.D.I.M. - Jan 17, 1980

The number one song in the United States this date was still Please Don't Go by KC and the Sunshine band. Here is the commercial I talked about last week, for Sun Life Financial.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 17

There are a lot of famous people born on this date, but the most intriguing to me at this point is Zooey Deschanel in 1980. I first noticed her in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Her most famous role to this point was probably in Yes Man. She has a sister named Emily who stars in the TV show Bones. The intriguing thing however, is how much she looks like singer Katy Perry. (and somewhat looks like Lizzy Caplan when she is in her brunette phase)

Jets V Patriots 1/16/11

Great game by the Jets. I don't really have a favorite football team anymore. (I used to like both the Rams and Raiders, but Al and Georgia went along way to ending that, and then fantasy football finished them off) However I've been rooting for the Jets this year, based on the HBO series they did, Ryan's personality, and the fact that Sanchez was the quarterback. I hope the Jets beat the Steelers...I'd love to see Sanchez in the Superbowl.

Update 5:32 PM: I left off one of the biggest reasons I'm rooting for the Jets...Mike Greenberg. I will be setting my alarm for 3:00 AM my time so I can hear Greeny in the morning on Mike and Mike in the Morning....I hope he's not taking the day off for MLK jr day.........

NFL Player's Pads

I'm watching the Seahawks - Bears game, and something that has bugged me in the past came to mind again. I can't believe how few pads these guys are wearing! None of them are wearing knee pads, thigh pads or hip pads. I haven't noticed any arm pads or elbow pads either. From what I can see, they are only wearing a flak jacket, shoulder pads and helmet.

Happy Birthday Yvonne Zima

Today is the birthday of Yvonne Zima. And what better way to celebrate her birthday than by posting Yvonne Zima bikini pictures? She started her acting career as the baby daughter of Dr. Greene on the tv show E.R.. Now she has a semi-regular part on the soap opera The Young and The Restless. She has two sisters who are also actors. I think I prefer her with the redder hair....

Update 8:28 PM: Linked by The Other McCain

T.D.I.H. - Jan 16

Today was the birthday of Garth Ennis, a comic book writer, in 1970. He's British, and was born in Northern Ireland. His most famous series, Preacher, (written for DC's Vertigo line) is my favorite comic series of all time. His usual artist is Steve Dillon. The combination of Garth's stories and Dillon's art is unmistakable. Ennis is definitely not your typical kiddie book author. His books deal with adult subject matter and very graphic images. Below is an episode of iFanboy that is all about Preacher. (Note: the video has some swearing in it, and they discuss some of the adult themes contained within the book.)

A Second Civil War?

Over at Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds is hosting a conversation that is discussing the similarities between Sarah Palin's recent facebook speech and one of President Lincoln's speeches. This led to speculation about whether some (Democratic) States would secede if Palin (Republican) was elected president as some (Democratic) States seceded when Lincoln (Republican) was elected president. One reader asked:

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Joe Pompeo writes: “Based upon the Lincoln quote it would appear that Sarah Palin, rather than acting ‘unpresidential’ in her response this week as her critics claim, was acting quite presidential after all. Even Lincoln-esque.” Does this mean that if we elect Sarah Palin President, New York, Massachusetts and California will secede?

My immediate response was to wonder: If New York, Massachusetts and California seceded - would the rest of the United States fight to get them back?

T.D.I.H. - Jan 15

On this day in January 15, 1929, Michael King Jr was born. When he was five, he was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. He would go on to become one of our country's greatest civil rights leaders, until his assassination on April 4, 1968. His oratory is famous, and perhaps his best known speech is his "I Have a Dream" speech. His messages of color blindness and non-violence ring true today.

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 15, 2000

On this day in the year 2000, the number one film in America was Next Friday. This film was a sequel To Friday both of which starred rapper Ice Cube. Yet again another movie I haven't seen...coming to sense a pattern here.......

Real Time

Bill Maher Just spent four minutes attacking Palin. Bill is a real asshole these days. His biggest sin however...he's neither funny or hip...and he doesn't realize that. He also still insists that he is objective, which is a little pathetic.

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 14, 1990

The number one movie this day in 1990 was still Born On The Fourth Of July. Embedded below is someone's tribute to the movie set to a song by Bruce Springsteen.

T.D.I.H. -Jan 14

Today is a special day for the Leftwing in this country. Two of their most dedicated public shills were born on this date, and both happen to be female commentators. (although, I suppose, either or both might try to lay claim to the title of journalist.)

The first is Nina Totenberg in 1944. She gained her fame by covering the U.S. Supreme Court, and somewhat predictably is most noted for destroying a Republican nomination to the Supreme Court (Ginsburg) and nearly destroying another. (Thomas) She is widely seen as a liberal partisan, but claims objectivity.

The second is Maureen Dowd who was born on this day in 1952. Maureen is a D.C. girl to the hilt. She was born there, raised there, educated there and works there. If you think about it, it actually explains quite a lot about her. She has entered political and urban lexicon:

Dowdification

The omission of a word or a phrase in order to reframe a quote and alter its meaning. This is usually done to help an author portray a particular viewpoint and is very common amongst weblogs.

Totenberg has also been accused of Dowdification.

Update 1/15/11: Minor spelling and format edits.

T.D.A.T.M. - Jan 13, 1980

The number one movie on this day in 1980 was Kramer V Kramer. It was orginally released in Dec 1979, but was blocked by Star Trek: The Motion Picture until January. The movie would eventually win five Oscars. However it is yet another movie I have never seen.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 13

On this day in 1842 Afghan tribesmen wiped out a British army, almost literally to the last man. The British responded by marching a new army into Afghanistan, razing Kabul for revenge, and then wiping their hands of Afghanistan. The incident is marked by a particular shameful surrender by the commander Gen. William Elphinstone and his second in command, Brigadier Shelton, to save their own lives while the rest of the army continued to be killed. There is so much more to this story, a defiant rejection of surrender, a British officer literally rescuing his wife from captivity, the desperate ride of the only British soldier to escape capture and survive. This is just crying out for a movie, especially today with coalition forces in Afghanistan.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 12

This is the first anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti about 16 miles outside of the capital of Port-Au-Prince. The death toll is estimated at 230,000 people. The country is still in chaos, and currently beset by a cholera outbreak that is killing fifty people a day. A year later, and they have barely begun to clear the rubble (about 2% has been cleared so far). At some point, someone is going to have to bite the bullet, declare Haiti a failed nation-state, step in and take over, and build a physical and political infrastructure for the Haitian people.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 12, 2000

The number one song on the US on Jan 12, 2000 continued to be Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas. Santana had another guest singer around that same time named Michelle Branch. I bought Michelle's debut album, The Spirit Room and I really like it.

1/11/11 at 1:11 !!!!!!!!!!!

First!

T.D.I.M. - Jan 11, 1990

On this day in 1990, the number one song was still Another Day in Paradise. There is no point in posting it again, so I will post my favorite Phil Collins song, Easy Lover.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 11

Today in 1879 the Anglo-Zulu War began in what is today South Africa. The English suffered some early defeats, but eventually won the war, and sealed their control of much of South Africa. One of the battles in this war was the Battle of Rorke's Drift. This battle was the subject of a superb movie, Zulu. There is a quite transparent homage to the movie in a very good Alternative History series, written by S.M. Stirling. The battle appears in On the Oceans of Eternity the third and last book of the original series. He has since followed up the series with the Emberverse series that is currently six books long, and there will be at least one more.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

Well, it is back to work today after a 3 week vacation. Getting up this morning is tough..I turn into a virtual vampire on my breaks...I was going to bed at 4:00 AM the last week, now the alarm goes off at 5:30 AM. I bet I got less than 2 hours of sleep combined last night.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 10

Three very talented rock stars had their birthday on January 10. First was Jim Croce, a particular favorite of mine, in 1943. I first listened to Jim on an 8 track tape that I inherited from my father. I played that album (Photograps and Memories) over and over, and can still sing along to every song on the album. Sadly he died at the age of 30 in a plane crash. His most famous song is probably Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (embedded below) but I love songs like Operator and New York's Not My Home. One of the things I like about Jim is the fact that he sounds just as good live as he does recorded.













The second muscian is Pat Benatar who was born in 1953. Pat was originally expected to sing classical music, and was accepted to Juillard. I spent much of my high school years listening to her. She did an episode on CMT's Crossroads in which she teamed up with Martina McBride, and they sang each other's songs and sang together. I would have killed to be in that audience.





The third was Michael Schenker who was born in 1955. He and his older brother Rudolf were founding members of the Scorpions. He left the Scorpions for UFO, and then eventually his own band, The Michael Shenker Group. Over the years he would jump back and forth among these three bands.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 10, 1980

On this day in 1980, the number one song in the United States was Please Don't Go by KC and the Sunshine Band. The band kind of fell off the face of the Earth when disco died, and there have been various attempts to revive it since the 1980's. Their biggest recent claim to fame was being the centerpiece of a commercial for an Insurance company.

Arizona Tragedy

I haven't written a post on the attack on Rep. Giffords in Arizona yesterday, primarily because I have been writing about it on other sites. But for the record:



1) All evidence points to a deranged gunman, one who had exhibited criminal and mentally unstable behavior for years, with no one getting him into treatment.



2) This attack had nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with insanity.



3) Those on the Left who immediately seized on this to attack Sarah Palin, the Tea Parties and the Right in general are contemptible cads. The gunman's fixtation with Rep. Giffords began at least as early as 2007, long before anyone had heard of Palin or the Tea Parties anyway.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 9

On this day in 1788, Connecticut became the fifth State to ratify the Constitution and join the United States as one of the founding States.

Jets V Colts 1/8/11

Did you catch Rex Ryan as he was being interviewed by Andrea Kramer after the game? At one point he said "...its been a dogfight...". I believe LaDamian said it too.

Saints V Seahawks 1/8/11

OK....I'm loving this game. I love the way the Seahawk players are playing. Say what you will about Pete Carroll, but he has done a fantastic job this year. Right now the Seahawks are up by 14, have the ball on the Saints' 36 after stuffing a 4th and inches play, and there's less than 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Do you realize that a Seahawks victory would be a sub .500 team beating the defending Superbowl champs?

Update 4:58 PM: The Seahawks did it 41-36. I'm so happy for Pete and his team. They played and won as a team.

Update 8:11 PM: I changed the year in the title from 10 to 11.......

T.D.I.H. - Jan 8

On this day in 1926, Soupy Sales was born. His original name was Milton Supman. Soupy was most famous for developing pie throwing into an art. I'm really too young to remember Soupy, (especially since so much of my early life was spent in England) however I still consider him one of my favorites from the late 60's, early 70's period of television. He hosted adult variety shows, children's morning shows and was a frequesnt guest on game shows. The video below is a great tribute created and performed by Barry Mitchell.

China's Threat

The People's Republic of China has just revealed its fifth generation fighter, the Chengdu J-20. This fighter is designed to compete with our F-22, (now limited to a mere 18 planes) and will be markedly better than the F-35 that we will be deploying instead.

A logical examination of the present state and future plans for our Air Force would be dismaying.

1) Our refueling fleet is aging, and the attempt to replace it have so far resulted in only billions of dollars of waste and several lawsuits.

2) Our transport fleet is being quickly worn out by the demands placed on it. There are no plans to expand or replace it.

3) Not too long ago, our fighter forces were varied, specialized and very efficent at their tasks. The Air Force was flying the A-10, F-15, F-16, F-111, F-117 and even a few F-4s. The Navy was flying the A-6, F-14 and F-18. Now all of these planes are supposedly going to be replaced by the F-35 and less than a wing of F-22s. Didn't we learn our lesson from the F-4 and the F-111? Both of these planes suffered from the attempt to make them jacks of all trades.

4) Our bomber fleet is ridiculous. The last B-52 rolled off the assembly line in 1962 (that means the newest of them is almost 50 years old!), and yet we are still flying 68 of them. The Air Force intends to continue flying them until 2040!! The last B-1 was delivered in 1988, and the Air Force is still flying 68 of them. They were expected to remain in service until 2038, however talks have begun in the Pentagon that would see them retired now as a budget cut. The Air Force also has 20 operational B-2s. All of them have official, individual names. All but two of the names are US States, the exceptions being the Spirit of America and the Spirit of Kittyhawk. These are expected to be replaced by the F-35, and my bet would be on soon, given the difficulty and expense of maintaining them. All 20 of them have been assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command (which is basically a resurrected Strategic Air Command) and thus no longer have a conventional bombing role.

My only hope, and frankly expectation, is that we have deployed, or are close to deploying, an operational space plane. This plane would take off, (hopefully from a runway, but launched on rockets would work) enter near-Earth orbit, and effectively control the world's air space. This would even explain the lack of a real opposition to the START talks...who needs nuclear weapons when kinetic energy weapons work better and cleaner.

My last point is a reply to this comment at the end of the article:

“We used be No. 1 at having the leading technology. ... Now, we’re kind of in catch-up mode, where we’ve never really been before.”

This is simply ignorant of history. Actually, it almost always happens to us. (and in all areas of military technology, not just airplanes) In World War I our planes were no match for the German planes when we entered the war. In World War II our planes were no match for either the Germans or Japanese when we entered the war. In Korea, our planes were inferior to the Russian and Chinese MiGs at the start of the war. During times of war (including the Cold War) the US manages to use its economy and ingenuity to overcome the advantages of our enemies, but it is rather expensive in terms of loss of life until they swing into motion.

Update 1/8/10 2:52 PM: I have read articles that discuss the fact that the USAF has 168 F-22s since I wrote this post, which would greatly lessen the threat of the J-20.

Really???? Pt. 2

I just saw a commercial for a vibrator sex toy on television...on the Food Network no less. Yes it was at 2:00 AM, but still!!! It is made by Trojan and they talked about variable speeds and interchangeable tips.....

T.D.I.H. - Jan 7

On this day in 1964, Nicolas Cage was born. Now I know what you are think...so what? Our boy Nick doesn't get a lot of props for his work, but when you sit down and look at it, the boy's done OK. He even was in The Outsiders, (in an uncredited role) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High . How many people can say that? As far as I can tell, he's it. In fact I bet you could play Six Degrees of Separation with Nick at least as well as you can Kevin Bacon. He also has two cult classic movies to his credit, Raising Arizona and 8mm.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 6

On this date in 1912, New Mexico entered the Union as the forty-seventh State. Among other things, New Mexico is famous (or infamous) for being the birthplace of your humble host. I was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico on June 9, 1965 while my father was stationed at Holloman A.F.B.

Meet Joe Black

I just watched the last twenty minutes of Meet Joe Black again. I really like that movie, I've seen it at least six times. The unusual thing is, except for Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, I can't stand the rest of the cast, in fact most of them annoy me, including Brad Pitt.



This movie also features a beautifil Hawaiian version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".




And yes it is 3:00 AM here....I turn into a sort of vampire when I am off work for an extended period of time.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 5

On this day in 2005, Scientists discovered Eris, which almost became our solar system's 10th planet, and instead brought about the demotion of Pluto. Eris is bigger than Pluto, and orbits our sun three times father than Pluto, and is in fact the farthest known object that is orbiting the sun. It has a moon, named Dysnomia. Both Pluto and Eris are considered dwarf planets. (There is no truth to the rumor that they will be re-named Grumpy and Doc.)

Eris was named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord (I bet she was pleasant, how's you like to go through life as the personification of strife and discord?) Dysnomia was the daughter of Eris, and the goddess of lawlessness. (which sounds like much more fun)

T.D.I.H. - Jan 4

On this day in 1896, Utah became the 45th State to join the United States. The state's nickname is the beehive state, yet Utah's professional basketball team is called the Jazz, while the team in New Orleans (considered the birthplace of Jazz) is called the Hornets.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 4, 2000

The top song on this day in 2000 was Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas on lead vocals.

T.D.A.T.M. Jan 4, 2000

The number one movie on this day in 2000 was Stuart Little. Here is the trailer. I never saw this movie either.

Climate Change As A Security Threat

Jonathan Murray has written an article for Politico called Climate change: Next security threat. He spends most of the article attacking oil rather than discussing climate change. His main contention is:

In Washington, veterans have met with scores of senators to ask for support for a climate and energy policy that reduces dependence on oil.
This oil dependence is among the most dangerous threats to U.S. national security. For years, senior military and intelligence officials have warned that too much of U.S. oil payments eventually trickle down to terrorists, who use it to buy the weapons used against our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Which sounds good. However what he never mentions is an obvious alternate suggestion.....start producing oil in the United States again. Not only would it solve the national security issue, keep billions of dollars in the American economy, provide a huge stimulus to the economy, lower the price of gasoline for all Americans, and provide good paying jobs; it would also provide the life preserver the state of California so desperately needs. (There was an actual, serious attempt to legalize marijuana this year in California that relied solely on the opportunity to tax the new industry...that is how bad things are here) However drilling for oil in the US makes too much sense, so there is no way the Left will go along with it.

Bottom line, don't expect us to give any credence to an argument from the Left that oil is a national security threat.

Update 1/4/11 3:23 - Fox news just dedicated a segment tonight making the case for increased domestic production of oil. (and spelling mistakes)

School Reform

The subject of school reform has come up again. Pres. Obama's Education Secretary, Arne Duncan has written an article in the Washington Post calling for, and predicting bi-partisan reform of education. Surprise, surprise, it is the teacher's fault again. Here is a key quote:

Parents, teachers, and lawmakers want a system that measures not just an
arbitrary level of proficiency, but student growth and school progress in ways
that better reflect the impact of a school and its teachers on student learning.

Sounds great huh? But notice what is missing? There is no mention of the impact that parents have on student learning. There is no mention of the impact students have on student learning. The biggest problems facing education today are not teachers and schools (although there are bad teachers and bad schools), they are bad parents and bad students. Parents and students who don't give a damn about student learning. But teachers are an easy target, and teacher unions an easier one.

The quickest and easiest school reform that will have a real impact on student learning is to allow schools to start kicking out students who don't try and/or are discipline problems again.

Deep Hole Economics

Paul Krugman has written a column today called Deep Hole Economics. He begins by saying:

If there’s one piece of economic wisdom I hope people will grasp this
year, it’s this: Even though we may finally have stopped digging, we’re
still near the bottom of a very deep hole.

He then precedes to pre-emptively attack every Republican idea to begin filling in the hole. In fact his prescription seems to be to keep digging the hole deeper. His solution seems to be increased government spending:

A rational political system would long since have created a 21st-century version of the Works Progress Administration — we’d be putting the
unemployed to work doing what needs to be done, repairing and improving our
fraying infrastructure.

Krugman also wants the Federal Reserve to continue buying long term bonds which at best merely kicks the can down the road a bit.

All the experts continue to insist that Krugman really deserved his Nobel in economics. I guess it is just further confirmation that the academic "experts" aren't the best people to actually run things in the real world.

T.D.A.T.M. Jan 3, 1990

The top movie on January 3, 1990 was Born on the Fourth of July. The movie starred Tom Cruise and Oliver Stone won an Oscar for directing it. I have never seen the movie. I am not a big fan of either Stone or Cruise, and in my opinion the movie is a thinly veiled attack on the military and the country. This movie is notable for having three of the four Baldwin brothers in it, the only one missing was Alec.

T.D.A.T.M. Jan 3 1980

On this date in 1980 the number one movie in the United States was Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This movie actually holds up pretty well after 31 years.




I should have done this one yesterday, so I have to do two today.

T.D.I.M. - Jan.3 1990

On this day in 1990, the number one song in America was Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins. Phil started off as the drummer in Genesis, and became the lead singer when Peter Gabriel left. He has had a very successful solo career.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 3

On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the forty-ninth State to join the United States of America. Happy Birthday Alaska, you betcha!

Katrina Update

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States five and a half years ago. And there are still people living in FEMA trailers in New Orleans. I last wrote about Katrina in March of 2007. At the time I made a prediction:

10 years from now, there will still be Katrina "victims" living in FEMA
trailers, and bitching about how bad the government is treating them.

Well, looks like I'm right so far. I wonder why this story hasn't been covered in the MSM?

World of Warcraft Jan 2, 2011

Yes I am still playing WoW. I quit there for several months, but the new expansion Cataclysm has re-sparked my interest. My warlock is already at level 85, my warrior is at 84, and my hunter is still at 81. I have also rolled a goblin, handsome fellow isn't he? He's currently at level 31, which is the highest level yet for me on a horde toon.

T.D.I.M. - Jan 2, 1980

On this day in 1980, the song Escape, popularly known as the Pina Colada Song, was number one on the Billboard Top Ten. While it is a fairly cheesy holdover from the 1970's, I still sing along to it in the car, and I bet you do too.

T.D.I.H. - Jan 2

The Day In History: On Jan 2, 1920, Issac Asimov, one of the great Science Fiction writers of all time, was born.

Essential Questions

I have some essential questions that are often pushed under the rug in today's discourse.

1) How will we know we no longer need Affirmative Action? What measurement will we use?

2) How much taxation is fair? At what point will the Left finally say"Ok enough's enough"?

3) What are the limits of governmental power? If the government can compel us to buy a good or service, haven't we all become serfs?

Every Time You Fall Down......

OK...I know you have heard this before, but I'm going to try to actually use this blog this year. Wish me luck.

Really????

Look..I love Jack in the Box as much or more as anyone. I even used to work there once. I think the Jack in the Box commercials are funny. But have we really gotten to the point where it is OK to make jokes about dominence sex on TV? Tonight I saw the commercial at 7:45 PM during an NFL football game. Have we really become this coarsened? I have no children, but what do you say if your kid turns to you and asks you to explain the joke?

Kevin Spacey at his Best

My Lost Hour

I just spent a an hour roaming around the AFI channel on Youtube watching various clips at different AFI awardshows. And I'll probably go back.


Don't judge me until you have tried it.....

Hmmmm....

This weekend, Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, bought 180,000 metric tons of wheat, its second purchase in the past two weeks and more than it had initially planned.

What the hell happened? Egypt was the world's largest wheat exporter for hundreds of years.

Random Thought........

In 1775 we revolted against the King when he demanded we buy stamps to put on our documents. Today Congress demands we buy healthcare...........

The Breakfast Club

1) I have just realized how we can internalize things without realizing it. Remeber the scene when the prinicipal throws the Judd Nelson character into a closet and then basically threatens to beat him up? And promises to deny his threats later?

I kind of did the same thing once as a new teacher, without realizing I was doing it. I told a kid once that if I ever saw him as an adult I would kick his ass, and that I would deny that I ever said that. I was new, extremely frustrated, and this kid purposefully sabotaged my class every day.

It was wrong, and I regret it now. But I wonder if unconciously I was reaching back to this scene.

2) When I first saw this movie, and when I was young, I was on the side of the five kids. I just saw the movie last week, and I was struck by the fact that now that I am older and a teacher, I'm on the principal's side and think the kids are acting like a bunch of punks.

Hello, my Name is Gary and I am.....

...addicted to the Internet.

My computer broke down last Wed around 1:00 PM. It froze up and when I tried to restart it, Windows wouldn't work right. I tried to fix it, and then reboot it and nothing worked. I was without internet access until I went to my parents' house around 1:00 PM on Friday. 48 hours without being able to log on. I nearly went crazy! My whole life was disrupted.

Yet 15 years ago, I had no internet access. I managed pretty well.

Stop for a few minutes and imagine your life with no:

Internet
cable or satellite TV
cell phones
game consoles and handheld games
MP3 player

Scary huh?

Is Obamacare Constitutional?

Here is a site that makes the argument that Obamacare is constitutional.

Here is my counter argument that I first posted at a blog called The Living Room Times.

My take on the Balkin article:

I) He spends a lot of time discussing the House bill. This is off topic and I will ignore it.

II) His argument that this is not an individual mandate:

A) Listing a set of people who are exempt from the mandate does not invalidate the fact that for most people it remains a mandate. Instead it reinforces the fact that it is a mandate for those not exempted.

B) At least four of the exemptions Balkin describes are temporary states, and when that person’s status changes the mandate will cover them.

C) He argues that it is a tax, and not a mandate.

1) He first argues that it is an excise tax, in his words a “tax on transactions or events”. However this is not a tax on a transaction or event, it is a tax on the absence of a transaction or event. The person is not being taxed on something he did, but rather because he didn’t do something. This is not an excise tax.

2) He then argues that it is a penalty tax, a tax for not doing something you are mandated by the government to do. Logically this defeats the whole basis of his argument that it is not a mandate. You can’t be penalized for not doing something you are not mandated to do.

D) If his argument is that the term individual mandate is misleading, why does he then proceed to use the term in the rest of his article?

III) His General Welfare argument

A) The term general welfare had a much different meaning when the Constitution was written than it does today. The general welfare clause originally was a justification for passing laws, not a justification for entitlements.

B) Balkin states:The individual mandate is a tax. Does it serve the general welfare? The constitutional test is whether Congress could reasonably conclude that its taxing and spending programs promote the general welfare of the country
The individual mandate is not a tax. The individual mandate is a requirement to purchase health insurance. The tax is a penalty for not complying with the mandate. The argument is not that the government cannot impose taxes or penalties, it is that the government cannot require you to purchase health insurance. If this bill simply taxed the people to pay for health care this constitutional argument would not exist.

C) As Sully says above his polluter analogy is flawed. To be correct he must instead argue that everyone, polluters and non- polluters alike are forced to pay for pollution control equipment or pay a fine. Indeed it would be more accurate to say that everyone is forced to pay for yearly pollution offsets every year or pay a fine, whether they produce pollution or not. (in any case the analogy would still be flawed)

D) I strongly disagree with his proposition that “the textual argument for Congress’s authority under the General Welfare Clause is obvious and powerful” in this case. He assumes that proposition. His only arguments are the flawed pollution analogy and a flawed definition of the individual mandate.

IV) His Commerce Clause argument:

A) Both of the cases he cites, Wickard v. Filburn and Gonzales v. Raich (both of which I disagree with), are cases where the government prohibited people from taking an action that might affect interstate commerce. This is a case where the government is forcing people to take an action by arguing that their inaction affects commerce. Prohibiting an action is not the same thing as mandating an action.

B) Where is the logical end of this argument? Using this argument the government has a basis to mandate that individuals purchase anything they want because it could affect commerce. Why can’t the government mandate the purchase of a new GM or Chrysler car every four years? Not buying GM or Chrysler products has a huge impact on interstate commerce, especially on other buying their products.

“Because Congress believes that the GM and Chrysler bailouts won’t succeed unless these people are forced to buy GM or Chrysler products, it can regulate their activities in order to make its bailout of GM and Chrysler effective.”

V) In my opinion, the argument is not properly “Will the Supreme Court over turn this law.” sadly, I agree that it is unlikely that there are enough votes to overturn this law. However the argument properly should be “Should the Supreme Court overturn this law?” In that case I think the only answer is yes.

Update 10/27/10 9:45AM: Great minds think alike.

What's Next?

Dateline Washington D.C. June 3, 2010:



The Democrats regained their filibuster proof majority in the Senate today after Democratic Governor Steve Beshear resigned and was appointed to fill out the term of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, who died in a tragic and mysterious home invasion robbery last week; by his successor, Daniel Mongiardo (D), who had formerly been the Lt. Governor.



Dateline Washington D.C. June 12, 2010:



President Obama held a joint press conference today with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi today to announce the introduction of a new bill, the Invest in America and Americans Act.



"For far too long millions of Americans have lacked access to a savings account and financial security", said President Obama. "This bill will fix that, and at the same time allow every American to own a piece of this great country, and help build a better future." "The American people have a right to a savings account, and we will provide them with one!" Sen. Reid proudly proclaimed.



The bill would require every taxpayer to set aside 10% of his gross income every year in savings, in the form of a 25 year Treasury bond issued by the government directly to a savings account in a government approved bank of their choice. Those with no income, or incomes under $50, 000 a year, would be issued a $2,500 dollar savings bond in their name in a similar manner. The savings would be collected by the I.R.S. through deductions from paychecks and on tax forms for other types of income.



"For far too long the poor have been made to feel that they have no part of America," said Speaker Pelosi, "today that has come to an end!"



The bill is expected to be quickly passed by Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress so that the I.R.S. can begin collecting the savings from income in July of this year.

Miss America 2010

Congratulations to our new Miss America for 2010, Caressa Cameron.














Now, at the risk of being indelicate, we have obviously reached the point where it is no big deal for a Black woman to win the Miss America pageant. Anyone want to bet on the chances of a White woman winning the Miss Black America pageant, or the existence of a Miss White America pageant?

It is long past time for separatist organizations like Miss Black America to go by the wayside.

Edit: Linked at The Other McCain

Democrat Style Politics

How about H.R. 4474 Idaho Wilderness Water Facilities Act?

The Republican from Idaho introduced a bill on Sept. 8, 2009: H.R. 3538: Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act. The Democrat from Idaho was the co-sponsor.

The purpose of the bill was: To authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on National Forest System land in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.

On January 20, 2010 the bill was defeated by the Democrats in the House 225-191 with 187 Democrats voting against it.

On January 20, 2010 The Democrat from Idaho introduced a bill: H.R. 4474: Idaho Wilderness Water Facilities Act. The republican from Idaho was the co-sponsor.

The purpose of the bill was: To authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on National Forest System land in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.

On January 27, 2010 it passed the House 415-0.

So:

A Republican bill sits in the House for 5 months and is defeated by the Democrats.

The same bill is introduced by a Democrat, sits in the House for a week and is passed with no opposition.

Funny how that works.



(note: This post is comprised of two comments I made on a post over at The Living Room Times)

1/29/10 3:40 P.M.: edited for clarity

Hitler Finds Out About Brown's Election

Some "Inconvenient Truths" Pt. 2

I have spent a long time arguing AGW and Climategate, both here and at other blogs as a skeptic.

One of the most common rejoinders, especially from a particular lefty named David K, is that this may be messy and ugly, but the science is still good, and no paper or conclusion will have to be withdrawn.

Looks like that argument just fell by the wayside:

A WARNING that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers
by 2035 is likely to be retracted after a series of scientific blunders by the
United Nations body that issued it.
Two years ago the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to
incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global
warming. A central claim was the world's glaciers were melting so fast that
those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have
admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular
science journal, published eight years before the IPCC's 2007 report.
It has
also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone
interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at
Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was "speculation" and was not
supported by any formal research. If confirmed it would be one of the most
serious failures yet seen in climate research. The IPCC was set up precisely to
ensure that world leaders had the best possible scientific advice on climate
change.

So, the IPCC, in the most important document on AGW, one supported by "thousands of scientists" and the "scientific consensus", one written and peer reviewed by the top scientists in the field of AGW, a document designed to force a radical change in the economies of the world and transfer immense quantities of wealth, contains a section that relies on no science, but instead a pop science article based on a telephone interview.

I'm betting that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Update 2/22/09: Predictably, David K rejected my example above. Well here is another example, one that explicitly states that a study published in one of the top journals in the field has been withdrawn:

Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise
due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.
The
study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, one of the top journals in
its field, confirmed the conclusions of the 2007
report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It used
data over the last 22,000 years to predict that sea level would rise by between
7cm and 82cm by the end of the century.

My Three Wishes

If a genie granted me three wishes tomorrow, they would be:

1) Return the United States to a federal republic. All governmental actions and responsibilities would be moved to the closest point of contact with individual Americans. For instance, the Dept. of Education would be eliminated, and education would become the responsibility of city and county government. In fact all the cabinet positions created after the Washington administration would be eliminated and their responsibilities shifted to the states, counties and cities. I would abolish the income tax and the IRS, because the national government would no longer require absurd amounts of money if it returned to only true constitutional duties.

2) Withholding of any taxes or governmental payments to any level of government would be unconstitutional. Any and all payments to the government by American citizens and corporations would be due on the first Monday after the first of November every year. Furthermore, these payments would require an affirmative action by the individual. (writing a check, making an electronic payment, paying in cash, etc) This way, when they voted the next day every other year they would have a clear reminder of what they were voting on.

3) Anyone receiving any governmental money except payments for goods received would no longer be eligible to vote in elections for the level of government they received the payments from. This includes employees (except active duty members of the armed services). Federal employees would be prevented from voting in federal elections, state employees would be prevented from voting in state elections. Welfare recipients, food stamp recipients, social security recipients, farm subsidy recipients, members of the boards of directors for corporations receiving subsidies, etc..all would be prohibited from voting at the level they received governmental payments.

You may call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one......

Rule 5 Sunday For Gaming Geeks

Gentlemen...I give you some luscious ladies of Warcraft...

Update: Linked by the Rule 5 godfather The Other McCain.

Happy Birthday

My blog is five years old today!