"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." TJ.
The guy was well ahead of his time.....
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Timely Thomas Jefferson quote....
"We have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."-- Thomas Jefferson
Monday, January 18, 2010
MLK's "I have a dream" @ Lincoln Memorial in 2010
To get you in the mood for today's holiday: something I lucked into
this weekend when visiting the Lincoln Memorial in DC:
Coming back from SF via DC, I spent part of Saturday roaming the National Mall and lucked into a Park Sevice program honoring MLK. After an informative lecture about MLK and the rally where he delivered the "I have a dream" speech, the Park Service ranger - speaking to the group of us assembled on the Lincoln Memorial steps, stepped back, asked us to imagine what it was like that day, then played the most powerful part of the speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGISjVK_ziE
this weekend when visiting the Lincoln Memorial in DC:
Coming back from SF via DC, I spent part of Saturday roaming the National Mall and lucked into a Park Sevice program honoring MLK. After an informative lecture about MLK and the rally where he delivered the "I have a dream" speech, the Park Service ranger - speaking to the group of us assembled on the Lincoln Memorial steps, stepped back, asked us to imagine what it was like that day, then played the most powerful part of the speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGISjVK_ziE
Friday, January 15, 2010
Scenic view of San Francisco from Twin Peaks
Quick little vid of view from San Francisco's Twin Peaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhjfucrwrg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhjfucrwrg
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Obama:business::oil:water
One thing about the Obama administration that has torqued me up is the negative attitude towards business - in just 10 months, he's railed about the evil insurance industry and the horrible bankers, taken aim at credit card companies, promoted an anti-industry cap and trade policy, nationalized the car industry, and demonized the pharmaceutical and hospital industries while he tries to remake 1/6th of the US economy.
But now, it all makes sense to me after seeing some recent analysis from JP Morgan. Check out this graphic from JP Morgan showing the %age of cabinet officers with private sector experience since the Teddy Roosevelt administration.
(full explanation here. (American Enterprise blog.))
This is troublesome on 3 levels:
1) There's no business expertise around Obama to provide real world advice or context for the challenge of getting the economy going. (In fact, this may be why all of the White House rhetoric is around "jobs" and not "economic growth." While jobs and economic growth are often synonymous, the difference is that dictators and deficit-spending politicians can create jobs out of thin air by fiat, but can't make an economy grow without good ideas and expereinced managers to make them happen.)
Without real-world experience to advise Obama, count on more programs that are selected because they sound good politically or test well in focus groups, but don't do a darn net thing economically, like cash for clunkers or the proposed employee hiring tax credit.
2) You are who you surround yourself with. Seeing that only a fraction of people around Obama have ever held a real job makes me think that he's surrounded by sycophants, lifelong politicians, and issues-oriented hangers-on. Prior to their cabinet positions, these people specialized in 1 thing: getting elected. This is great if you're up for re-election in 2012, but truly terrible for the those of us who aren't. These aren't the folks who will make the best decisions for America, but will ultimately make decisions that are best for them and their political career, because it is what they have been doing for decades.
3) This is more evidence that Obama highly values the political elite ruling class, and undervalues the working class. Case in point: Obama made 3 different nominations for the Secretary of Commerce (Bill Richardson (fmr gov of NM), Sen Judd Gregg, and ultimately Gary Locke (fmr gov of WA). You'd think that the at least one of the three nominees for COMMERCE of all positions would come from the business world - either immediately, or recently, but no, all three are career politicians. Based on the composition of Obama's leadership team, when it comes time to talk about stimulus ideas, do you think he's going to hear the best ideas, or the best politically motivated ideas? Will we get the ideas that make our economy better, or the ones that get us in the best shape in late 2012, when Obama stands for re-election?
Since winning the election a year ago, I haven't posted anything critical of Obama. There's some things that Obama has done that I've liked and others that I haven't, but I fervently hope that he is generally successful. With the approach to date, and the roster of talent that we see, I don't think it likely - he'll be made vulnerable by plainly liberal policies and undone by a poor economy. I hope even the most strident Obama advocate would agree that the Obama administration would be more effective with more people on his team who have worked in the real world, and less reliance on career political class and unicorn chasers.
But now, it all makes sense to me after seeing some recent analysis from JP Morgan. Check out this graphic from JP Morgan showing the %age of cabinet officers with private sector experience since the Teddy Roosevelt administration.
(full explanation here. (American Enterprise blog.))
This is troublesome on 3 levels:
1) There's no business expertise around Obama to provide real world advice or context for the challenge of getting the economy going. (In fact, this may be why all of the White House rhetoric is around "jobs" and not "economic growth." While jobs and economic growth are often synonymous, the difference is that dictators and deficit-spending politicians can create jobs out of thin air by fiat, but can't make an economy grow without good ideas and expereinced managers to make them happen.)
Without real-world experience to advise Obama, count on more programs that are selected because they sound good politically or test well in focus groups, but don't do a darn net thing economically, like cash for clunkers or the proposed employee hiring tax credit.
2) You are who you surround yourself with. Seeing that only a fraction of people around Obama have ever held a real job makes me think that he's surrounded by sycophants, lifelong politicians, and issues-oriented hangers-on. Prior to their cabinet positions, these people specialized in 1 thing: getting elected. This is great if you're up for re-election in 2012, but truly terrible for the those of us who aren't. These aren't the folks who will make the best decisions for America, but will ultimately make decisions that are best for them and their political career, because it is what they have been doing for decades.
3) This is more evidence that Obama highly values the political elite ruling class, and undervalues the working class. Case in point: Obama made 3 different nominations for the Secretary of Commerce (Bill Richardson (fmr gov of NM), Sen Judd Gregg, and ultimately Gary Locke (fmr gov of WA). You'd think that the at least one of the three nominees for COMMERCE of all positions would come from the business world - either immediately, or recently, but no, all three are career politicians. Based on the composition of Obama's leadership team, when it comes time to talk about stimulus ideas, do you think he's going to hear the best ideas, or the best politically motivated ideas? Will we get the ideas that make our economy better, or the ones that get us in the best shape in late 2012, when Obama stands for re-election?
Since winning the election a year ago, I haven't posted anything critical of Obama. There's some things that Obama has done that I've liked and others that I haven't, but I fervently hope that he is generally successful. With the approach to date, and the roster of talent that we see, I don't think it likely - he'll be made vulnerable by plainly liberal policies and undone by a poor economy. I hope even the most strident Obama advocate would agree that the Obama administration would be more effective with more people on his team who have worked in the real world, and less reliance on career political class and unicorn chasers.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
More cool stuff.....
Check out these kitesurfers jumping over a huge pier during a storm off of England. It's absolutely crazy!
Next up: some mind-blowing statistics from Worldometers.info. Did you know that every day the world expands by ~220,000 people? (It's like adding another Dallas-Fort Worth to the world every month.) Or did you know that 3X as many people will die this year due to smoking as will die from HIV/AIDS?
(Hat tip to ScienceRoll for pointing out this site.)
Finally: 35 insanely cool pictures of the Martian landscape like the one below hosted at the incomparable "Big Picture" blog at Boston.com. (You should have this in your RSS reader or check their picture compilations at least twice a week.)
(when I first saw this, I couldn't tell if it was an ink stain, a person's tattoo, or shift desert sands, but it's really Mars.)
Next up: some mind-blowing statistics from Worldometers.info. Did you know that every day the world expands by ~220,000 people? (It's like adding another Dallas-Fort Worth to the world every month.) Or did you know that 3X as many people will die this year due to smoking as will die from HIV/AIDS?
(Hat tip to ScienceRoll for pointing out this site.)
Finally: 35 insanely cool pictures of the Martian landscape like the one below hosted at the incomparable "Big Picture" blog at Boston.com. (You should have this in your RSS reader or check their picture compilations at least twice a week.)
(when I first saw this, I couldn't tell if it was an ink stain, a person's tattoo, or shift desert sands, but it's really Mars.)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Whither Facebook
I joined Facebook this week in order to receive some free iTunes music. Of course, EVERYBODY is already on Facebook, so in just a little while I was hooked up with about 40 friends, and have had the full Facebook experience for the last few days.
I thought that I had been missing out - that I was missing tons of fun, and that I would discover loads of long lost friends and contacts. So far, I just don't get it. Facebook seems to me to be an endless stream of 2 things - parents posting pictures of their kids, and people posting inane page updates like what they just ate, what their day has been like or this one: "I need one more Firebomb!! Does anyone have one that they can give me?" (someone playing a game called Mafia Wars).
(As an aside, can anyone tell me why it makes sense to make your profile photo a picture of your 5-year old, or your pet chihuahua?)
I'd also read in some industry journals that Facebook thinks there is much more to their business than simply hosting pictures and facilitating blog-type postings. Like competing against Google in search.
I really don't see it. Facebook isn't anything special, and unless something amazing happens in the next few weeks, I think Facebook - for me at least - will be a once-a-month check-in kind of thing.
Grab bag with more cool stuff.
Here's a quote worth reading and couple of great articles to make up for my Facebook-like natterings:
Quote:
"This is the issue...... Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.
You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, “The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.”
The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
Is that Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul or Jeff Flake critiquing the Obama governing philosophy? Nope, it's from 1964, also known as the beginning of the Great Society. This quote was delivered as part of a larger, very prominent speech written and delivered by none other than Ronald Reagan in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. As CATO points out, today is the 45th anniversary of the speech, and it is as relevant today, as it was then.
Quote:
"This is the issue...... Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.
You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, “The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.”
The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
Is that Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul or Jeff Flake critiquing the Obama governing philosophy? Nope, it's from 1964, also known as the beginning of the Great Society. This quote was delivered as part of a larger, very prominent speech written and delivered by none other than Ronald Reagan in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. As CATO points out, today is the 45th anniversary of the speech, and it is as relevant today, as it was then.
2 articles worth your time:
Everything You Know About China Is Wrong
and
If you're an Obama fan, this article tracks the evolution of the US Af-Pak strategy. If you're not an Obama fan, you'll read this as 7 months of dawdling, indecision, and confusion.
At the least, it is clear at this stage that Obama is waiting for the US elections next week before announcing his decision on McChrystal's request. No matter which way he goes, he'll disappoint a large number of people. I just wonder if the the stalling ight be costing lives.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How to pick your religion......
Check out this hilarious flow chart to help you select your next religion. Who knew the keys to finding spiritual bliss were your attitude towards hummus and bacon.
(Original found here: the Friendly Atheist.)
(Original found here: the Friendly Atheist.)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Cool stuff....
Stuff so cool I just had to share:
A map of every space mission in the last 50 years. National Geographic plotted every previous and current space exploration mission. My favorite part is the "mileage" gauge at the bottom of the graphic. (Hat tip to Instapundit and Popular Science for linking to Nat Geo.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamcrowe/4002050596/sizes/o/
A map of every space mission in the last 50 years. National Geographic plotted every previous and current space exploration mission. My favorite part is the "mileage" gauge at the bottom of the graphic. (Hat tip to Instapundit and Popular Science for linking to Nat Geo.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamcrowe/4002050596/sizes/o/
The Geography of Jobs - a very cool graphic showing where job growth and decline occurred in the US from 2004-2009. If you mentally overlay local economic models, you can come to some cool conclusions For example. Texas grows and Michigan shrinks. I wonder if that might have something to do with low taxes vs. high, and right-to-work vs. high unionization. Or, draw your own conclusions.....
Finally, check out this SNL skit where Barack Obama transform into "Rock Obama," featuring Charlottesville resident Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson ripping off the arm of Senator Mitch McConnell, and throwing Sen Max Baucus out a White House window. It's good for a chuckle, but I think SNL missed out on a chance for an even funnier skit.
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