There's too much confusion...

I Guess It Wasn't Really Secret After All...

2011-03-30T19:57:00.002-04:00

File Under: "I can't make this sh*t up."

AAPL OOPS

2010-07-18T12:57:00.003-04:00

Problem
For the record, an upgrade of an Apple iPod Touch to version 4.0 of the OS does cause incompatibility with car stereos, that is, for all intents and purposes, your iPod stops working. (Or it keeps working. It kind of depends...)

Earlier this year, I replaced the stock CD/AM/FM radio in my car with a nice, new JVC unit that plays MP3 and plain CDs, has an AUX IN port, plays MP3s on USB drives(!), and connects to iPod via either head-unit or iPod-mode control. And, of course, it has AM and FM.

Within the last few weeks, any time I try to play the iPod, it fails (e.g., song stops, goes silent, won't change track). Coincidence: Within the last few weeks,I upgraded the iPod to iOS 4.0.

There is a plethora of similar observations on the Internet, from folks with all kinds of car audio units.

Solution
In 2 e-mail responses, JVC told me to reset both the car unit and the iPod. That only resulted in massive inconvenience as I lost all kinds of tweaks on the car unit. (Yes, I also tried a brand-new cable. I've been troubleshooting electronics since car radios had vacuum tubes, thank you.)

I tried playing the iPod through the AUX IN port as an interim fix, but the sound quality was lousy, and I wasn't going to waste time troubleshooting what was only an interim fix.

Apple does not "let" you downgrade to any previous versions of the iOS. On the Internet, I found workarounds. No step-by-step recipe worked exactly as advertised, but I finally got back down to 3.1.2 and it works again. I spent 10 hours in the car recently with nary a hiccup.

Some Observations
On a variety of Internet sites, I came across many instances of what I call the "Sloan-Kettering" effect: If you are not experiencing any of the difficulty that those around you are, no one wants to hear it. If your car radio works fine with iOS 4, and you're really proud of that, then the next step is to grab a bullhorn, go into the nearest cancer clinic, and shout "I don't know what's wrong with you people! I don't have cancer! Cowboy up, people! Get a life!"

Next Observation
This is about beta testing. If you make thingies that a lot of people are going to play through their car stereos, each time you make a change that could possibly break that function, how about testing them (more than you did)?

Last Observation
If you make thingies that a lot of people play through their car stereos, and you make a change that breaks that function, and your attitude is that you won't "support" the only logical thing that people can do -- the downgrade -- (buying a new thingie or a new car stereo won't help; virtually nothing else will), then please stop telling yourself what a great consumer-oriented miracle you are, where "Everything Just Works", because, well, not everything does.

Katy Perry's Reaction To Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' Surprises Perez Hilton

2010-06-09T11:41:00.002-04:00

I frequently check Google News and I came across the above headline-link for an MTV.com article.

I have racked my brain and I can honestly say I could not come up with anything else I could care less about... 'bout you?

NPR now means "Nuclear Posture Review"

2010-04-08T22:32:00.003-04:00

It's been a long winter, not so much the weather but as goes the obamaNation... at each succeeding gaffe, blunder, and downright mistake, the best I could do was mock-catastrophizingly exude,

"He's going to get us all killed!"

With the bumblingly amateurish restatement of the US nuclear deterrence policy this week, all of the humor behind that gallows humor evaporates, leaving behind only the shadow of the gallows.

The Inevitable Consequences

2009-11-20T10:29:00.002-05:00

Well, in the last 30 minutes, the IRS has garnished my wages, HUD has foreclosed my home, TSA has put me on the no-fly list, the Social Security Administration has taken away my birthday, the CDC has quarantined me, and the US Marshall Service has served me with papers.

I take everything back!

The Verdict

2009-11-20T10:06:00.004-05:00

Let me put this to you indelibly, indefatigably, inarguably, and emphatically:

Historians will classify US Presidents into four descending levels:
Great, OK, Terrible... and Barack Hussein Obama.

Never in so short a time has an administration established itself as so incompetent, arrogant, and opaque, or piled up such a record of tragic cabinet-level appointees, or placed so many Americans at financial or geopolitical peril.

Some jest that they already miss 'W'... I'd say bring back Tricky Dick. Or Harding.

If you voted for him, you owe 300+ million Americans -- including yourself -- an apology. That is, unless you are one of the fortunate few who run Wall Street institutions, bailed-out failed companies, or other corrupt institutions. If not, what were you thinking?

Sent to US Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) Today

2009-11-20T09:57:00.001-05:00

This weekend will likely mark the most critical decision made in America since 1941.

So-called healthcare reform; selling 300 million Americans and 10 future generations down the river to supposedly help 10 or 20 million – no one knows – or fix a system that needs a few obvious fixes, not complete destruction. TARP, cap and trade, AIG, Anita Dunn, Van Jones, ACORN, SEIU, porkulus, Afghanistandstill… where does it end?

At this rate, will there still even be an America 100 years from now?

More to the point, will you be counted among the 100 US Senators who destroyed it, or the 100 who saved it?

Bring back the Assault Weapons Ban... and Slavery?

2009-11-01T16:37:00.002-05:00

Reinstitute the assault weapons ban!

Yes, and while we're at it, let's reinstitute involuntarily servitude, and abolish women's suffrage. Why stop there? Let's eliminate safeguards against self-incrimination. And quartering of soldiers. I've got a spare bedroom.

Why is it that if someone seriously advocated any of that they'd be fired or institutionalized or sued or worse, but when they advocate abolition of a right guaranteed -- not granted -- to me by the Bill of Rights, there's no such outrage?

What a country!

And while we're on the subject, since AR15s weren't around ("envisioned") when the Constitution was ratified, then I suppose neither Mormons nor Reform Jews enjoy freedom of worship, right?

Please don't get me started :)

Contrast: FDR, BHO

2009-10-17T00:13:00.000-04:00

FDR's cabinet became known as the Brain Trust.

Obama hasn't appointed anyone we can trust.

It's Not Easy Being #1

2009-10-10T10:08:00.003-04:00

The Baseball Writers Association of America announced Friday that White Sox relief pitcher Barry Obama will receive the Cy Young Award for the American League for 2009. The prestigious award goes to the southpaw after his "brilliant performance" in the opening game of the 2009 season.

A spokesperson for the association said that their only regret is that they don't award a peace prize as well, or he'd be "a shoe-in."

The American Restaurant Association, however, is considering awarding its 2009 Iron Chef Award to the Chicago native for his remarkable technique of raising the temperature of tap water to the point where steam is visible, a technique Mr. Obama humbly refers to as "boiling water."

Yo. Fair is Fair.

2009-10-10T10:02:00.002-04:00

Entertainer Kanye West stormed the proceedings of the Norwegian Nobel Institute Friday evening in protest of US President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

“Yo, Barack, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” shouted Mr. West.

A spokesperson for the nominating committee had no further comment.

For Those Time When Paranoia Has You Down...

2009-09-29T11:59:00.004-04:00

New York resident William J. 'Bill' Clinton is troubled by a "vast right-wing conspiracy" that he claims once accused him of everything from adultery to murder. He now sees the same ghosts going after his wife's boss, Barry 'Barack' Obama.

Paranoia is no laughing matter. So, when vast right-wing conspiracies lurk around every corner, ask your doctor if once-a-day Zyprexa is right for you. Also available in injectable form, for those times when you know they're after you -- because they've gone and strapped you to a table.

Nominations for the 2009 World "Damn Right!" Award Are Now Closed

2009-09-29T11:51:00.003-04:00

Kashmir girl fights off militants

By Binoo Joshi
BBC News, Jammu

A teenage girl says she killed a militant with his own gun after insurgents attacked their home in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Three militants stormed into Rukhsana Kauser's home in a remote village in Jammu region on Monday and started beating her parents in front of her.

Ms Kauser, 18, and her brother turned on the gunmen, killing one and injuring two more. Police praised their courage.

One of the militants wanted to marry Ms Kauser against her will, police said.

The militants escaped and are now being sought by police who are using their blood trails as clues.

'Fired endlessly'

The insurgents went to the house looking for Ms Kauser but her father, Noor Hussain, resisted their demands, Rajouri district senior police superintendent Shafqat Watali told the BBC.

“ I had never touched a rifle before this, let alone fired one - but I had seen heroes firing in films ”
Rukhsana Kauser

Three gunmen then entered the house and attacked Ms Kauser's parents, while four other militants remained outside.

"My parents told me to hide under the bed and then opened the door," Ms Kauser told the BBC.

"Without saying anything they [the militants] started beating my parents and my uncle. They beat them so badly that my parents fell on the ground. I could not see that and pounced on one of the militants while my brother hit him with an axe," she said.

"I thought I should try the bold act of encountering militants before dying."

Ms Kauser said she grabbed one of the militants by the hair and banged his head against the wall. When he fell down she hit him with an axe, before snatching his rifle.

"I fired endlessly. The militant commander got 12 shots on his body."

Her brother, Eijaz, 19, grabbed one of the other militants' guns and also began shooting.

Ms Kauser said the exchanges of gunfire with the militants had gone on for four hours.

"I had never touched a rifle before this, let alone fired one. But I had seen heroes firing in films on TV and I tried the same way. Somehow I gathered courage - I fired and fought till dead tired."

'Bravery'

Police identified the militant commander as Abu Osama, who they say was a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group and had been active in the Rajouri area for the past five years.

Local residents told police that he wanted to marry Ms Kauser - and was prepared to do so forcibly.

Rajouri police superintendent Shajqat Watali praised what he said was the "exemplary bravery" of Ms Kauser and her brother.

"The reaction by these teenagers was extraordinary."

There are now fears the family could face retaliatory attacks, so they have been given police protection.

But Ms Kauser wants more: "We cannot live here in this village. They should relocate us to a safer place in Rajouri town or elsewhere. The militants are not going to leave us after this embarrassment in which a top commander was killed."

A Tale of Two Salesmen, Part Two

2009-09-19T19:39:00.007-04:00

...— Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that US Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African American," Carter said.

So what exactly is President Carter selling? Could it be...

A Tale of Two Salesmen, Part One

2009-09-19T19:32:00.003-04:00

Where's the Fashion Cops When Ya Need One?

2009-09-15T22:04:00.006-04:00

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius releases a public statement from the Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania after her conviction on charges of criminal income tax fraud.

"I just wanted to be one of the guys, and look where I wind up!," whined the former Obama administration cabinet member, "I mean Tim and Charlie and Tom were all dodging their taxes, and I thought it would be kinda cool, and now guess who's the new IRS poster girl?"

Health Care-Related Matters

2009-08-31T10:40:00.001-04:00

If you voted for Barack Obama and:

1. You believe his administration – and neoprogressives in general – are honest men and women who generally act in the best interests of the United States of America and the American people, and not special interest groups.

2. You are not actively hallucinating, hearing voices that are not there, or the like.

3. You are otherwise functioning normally and do not exhibit any bizarre behavior.

4. Any feelings of elation (e.g., tingling feeling in one’s leg) pass rapidly.

5. These beliefs are not caused by or related to any substance abuse or medical condition…

…then, congratulations, you have met the five DSM-IV criteria for Delusional Disorder.

You may read more at http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx11.htm

Note: It is not this author’s policy to trivialize or otherwise make light of any illness or disabling condition, mental or somatic. In other words, much as I wish I were, I am not joking around. After the eighth or ninth unaccountable trillion has vanished, you have to wonder...

The More Things Change...

2009-08-28T10:00:00.001-04:00

A few years ago I was on a Gray Line bus tour with the family in Montreal, listening to a very entertaining tour guide. At one point, he told a joke that went, “You Americans, you have Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope. Here, we have Robert Bourassa, no cash, and no hope.”

Everyone laughed.

Now, in America, we have Barack Obama, hope, and change.

Or do we?

No one is laughing.

The 'Nucular' Option

2009-08-24T15:28:00.002-04:00

If Apple wanted to padlock Microsoft, I mean decimate them, all they need do is...

Enable MAC OS X 11.0 (the next major version) run on x86 hardware (read: standard PCs).

Game over.

Thought for 18 August

2009-08-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

If you can't be happy, at least be interesting.

GM Says 16 Parties Expressed Interest In Saturn Brand

2009-06-02T12:44:00.002-04:00

NEW YORK-(Dow Jones)--Saturn brand vehicles currently produced by General Motors Corp. (GM) could stick around after the auto maker sells the brand, the company said Tuesday.

GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, is working to shed Saturn as part of sweeping plans to shrink the company and offload money-losing parts of the business.

In a presentation to analysts a day after its bankruptcy filing, GM said 16 parties have expressed interest in Saturn. {article continues...}

Now if, on the other hand, 16 parties had expressed interest in buying Saturn vehicles

As Forrest's mom used to say, "Stupid is as stupid does."

2009-05-20T12:48:00.004-04:00

I live in a bedroom community outside Indianapolis. There’s really no local industry. The main artery that leads to the interstate that rings Indy, and on into Indy, is busy twice a day in the directions you’d expect.

I like it because it’s fairly quiet, home prices were not inflated for the name of the town, major shopping and downtown culture are a 30-minute drive away, and I can be out in the country in 5 minutes. People are friendly here, but they’re friendly throughout central Indiana. There’s also a bit of an independent streak here that’s hard to put your finger on.

Maybe too independent. They held a special election yesterday to raise $96 million for the public schools. It was defeated.

Market segmentation folks characterize my zip code as families with upper-middle incomes who have traditional values, lucrative blue-collar jobs, and who spend the discretionary income left over from moderately-priced homes on sporting goods, pickup trucks, and the like. I’d say the values extend to people of all ages wearing as little as possible while grocery shopping, appreciation of the finer points of NASCAR racing, advanced modifications of automotive exhaust and sound systems, fast food, garage sales, and an incessant and fanatical devotion not so much to the art of grooming lawns as to the process of lawnmowing. (I’m also convinced there’s a local ordinance that prohibits any two homeowners from mowing at the same time.) Internal combustion engines of all displacements figure prominently in the lifestyle.

The percentage of students in the local high school planning to enter college in the 2007-08 tally was an abysmal 58. The state average in a state not known for its intellectual capital as much for its production of biofuels and an annual car race (although there are some fine universities) is 77. Similar neighboring communities like Plainfield and Greenwood have rates of 76 and 80, respectively. Higher-end towns like Fishers and Carmel clock in at 82 and 93.

But why lug all those books when there are so many high-paying jobs in manufacturing? At one time, our county was home to a cottage industry requiring expertise in chemistry – the making of crystal methamphetamine. Eventually those jobs went to Mexico. (Is nothing sacred?)

It’s true that the quality of education is more than brick and mortar. For as long as anyone can remember, in Indiana, even the poorest school districts had athletic facilities that rivaled those of the Big Ten. There were no poor school construction contractors in Indiana. Incoming Governor Mitch Daniels promised to change all that in his first State of the State Address in 2005. He kept his word. Now, school construction projects are no longer state-funded, and those over $20 million require voter approval.

I get it.

What I don’t get is that the property taxes I pay here twice a year I would have been happy to pay for one month in previous homes (in states that, yes, also had a state income tax and a sales tax).

What I also don’t get is that parents who have gotten as far as they have on what education they have, and who claim to want the best for their kids, are willing to buy everything under the sun for them except a shot at an education that doesn’t come courtesy of an athletic scholarship.

One of the Many Reasons I Hold My Nose When I Vote Republican

2009-05-20T10:37:00.007-04:00

Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and a few million other people – myself included – are wondering how to get the GOP down off cinder blocks and back on the road. Let me see if I can help...

“Dictated deviance” is the sociological principle that causes Democrats to oppose Republicans’ desire to win in Iraq, and Republicans’ opposition to Democrats’ efforts to bring about higher average automotive fuel economy and lower emissions. Not only is this behavior not good for America, it is blatantly self-destructive for the actor.

Yesterday, the Obama administration announced the first-ever national emissions standards (no more “California cars”) along with new mileage standards. The predictable reaction from the opposition party was, well, predictable.

So let me understand this: The party of Lincoln (the statesman, not the car – I think) is in favor of gas-hogs that belch poison gas in my face because it represents freedom, liberty, capitalism, the free market, global competitiveness, and the salvation of an industry on life support since the Carter administration. Have I got that right?

A major objection seems to be that this new law will cost money. I've got news for you: I got a haircut yesterday. It cost money. If you want one of the new cars for free, I suggest you wait until they're available and steal one. (You didn't hear that from me.) If you're in the habit of going out and buying a new SUV every year, you need more than a cheaper car. You need self-control, maturity, and judgment.

The precious SUV that was crack cocaine to Detroit and the object of desire behind so much unwise home refinancing may be in jeopardy. Congress will hear from the soccer mom lobby!

Since the Democrats won the election and future availability has been threatened, literally millions of Americans have run out and bought firearms and ammunition. Arms makers’ sales and FBI statistics bear this out. Only a damn fool would run out and buy an SUV now, with the future of SUVs at risk. Automakers’ sales attest to this.

I don’t much believe in the wisdom of crowds, but sometimes they do get it right:

They’re buying guns in numbers that break all historical sales records.
They’re buying American cars in numbers that just put GM and Chrysler out of business.
They’re voting Republican in numbers too low for the GOP to have any majorities that count.

Pattern?

"PELOSI lied to us!"

2009-05-15T11:21:00.001-04:00

...cries an outraged American public.

By the way, am I the only one who thinks that Nancy Pelosi is really just Joan Rivers doing a bad impression of Nancy Pelosi? Or is it the other way 'round?

OBAMA -- 4 MORE YEARS!

2009-04-29T09:53:00.001-04:00

... of Bush's failed policies.

The First 100 Insults

2009-04-29T09:47:00.003-04:00

Well, let me see... in the last 100 days, his Attorney General has called me a coward, his Homeland Security Secretary has called me a terrorist, and his Treasury Secretary has flat insulted my intelligence with his tax evasion excuse.

Maybe it's me, but I'm just not feeling the love.

Marky Mark Accounting

2009-04-23T12:35:00.001-04:00

Somewhere in the murky depths and lofty heights of the last quarter of the Twentieth Century, the accounting profession and I lost track of each other, and apparently they lost their way.
I’m referring to an abstruse principle called mark-to-market accounting, which I’ll call “marky mark accounting.”

The accounting profession dates its toolkit – double-entry bookkeeping – back to a late 15th century Venetian monk named Pacioli. Since then, accounting has become a profession, complete with a unique body of knowledge, supporting educational programs, a qualifying process, a code of ethics, and a supporting organization. In the US, that supporting organization is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Their Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) publishes authoritative accounting and reporting standards for businesses and various levels of government. These standards are based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Every accounting student learns the GAAP and the GAAS (generally accepted auditing standards).

One of the cornerstones of GAAP is the cost principle, which basically says that you carry an asset on the books at the price you paid, or, if otherwise acquired, at the fair market value of what the asset would have been worth at the time you acquired it. You do not realize any gains or losses as its market value fluctuates over time. Only when you book a transaction, such as when you dispose of the asset, do you compute gain or loss. Of course, if it’s patently obvious that the asset has become worthless, you would “write it down” then, but even that is in fact a transaction.

What about cars and computers and oil wells? Well, there is something called depreciation (or depletion, in the case of natural resources like oil) that exists to illustrate the decrease in value of depreciable assets over time. Even then, we do not touch the book value of the asset; the depreciation account is a separate account that “offsets” the book value (these are called contra accounts). Because of another GAAP known as conservatism, there is no such corollary as an “appreciation” account to illustrate the masterful business acumen of our management team as it brilliantly acquires assets that do nothing but increase in value.

OK, so now someone please explain to me how it is that financial institutions were somewhere along the line allowed to “correct” the book values of assets such as real estate in the absence of a disposal or other transaction that objectively set the actual value? I’ll bet Wall Street managers were right proud of themselves as their balance sheets – and their bonuses – swelled with the marky mark fantasies. No one would ever believe that these very same priceless assets would one day approach worthlessness.

As they indeed have.

So why the Hell should I care?

2009-04-15T21:12:00.001-04:00

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

So exactly who is it you are trying to convince? ...and of what?

2009-04-15T15:40:00.003-04:00

verbatim from http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1239817562001.shtm

Statement by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on the Threat of Right-Wing Extremism

Release Date: April 15, 2009
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

The primary mission of this department is to prevent terrorist attacks on our nation. The document on right-wing extremism sent last week by this department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis is one in an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States. I was briefed on the general topic, which is one that struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution.

Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence.

We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not – nor will we ever – monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources.

I am aware of the letter from American Legion National Commander Rehbein, and my staff has already contacted him to set up a meeting next week once I return from travel. I will tell him face-to-face that we honor veterans at DHS and employ thousands across the department, up to and including the Deputy Secretary.

As the department responsible for protecting the homeland, DHS will continue to work with its state and local partners to prevent and protect against the potential threat to the United States associated with any rise in violent extremist activity.

This page was last reviewed/modified on April 15, 2009

end verbatim text

Full metal jacketed silver lining

2009-04-12T21:17:00.004-04:00

With 3 business days left to supplement the 2008 edition of Treasury's war on letting those too big to fail fail, there is a silver lining...

In the world of the billion here and the trillion there, a few thousand went to equip the sailors who ended the Maersk Alabama saga with extreme prejudice, a few hundred thousand went to recruit, train, and pay them, and a few bucks went to ATK to procure a few rifle rounds that were heard 'round the world.

Our precious MBA crowd could take a few notes on the true meaning of "Return on Investment."

The business of America

2009-04-12T21:01:00.004-04:00

According to CNN/Money.com's bailout tracker I checked just now, the princely sum of $182 billion has been committed by the US to AIG.

By contrast, the 2008 federal budget included these funding levels for the following agencies:

Dept of Health & Human Svcs $69.3 billion
Dept of Veterans Affairs $39.4 billion
Dept of Homeland Security $34.3 billion
Dept of Education $56.0 billion

Yes, I realize there are other government agencies, such as DoD at $481.4 billion, exclusive of the wars in Irag and Afghanistan... in all, it adds up to a $2.9 trillion budget.

But then again there is another $245 billion for Citigroup, not counting all of the other Fannies, the auto industry, the works. In all it totals $6.2 trillion committed, of which $1.5 trillion has been invested. This also excludes the $700 billion TARP.

As Silent Cal said, the business of America is business.

Pretty soon you're talking real money...

2009-03-17T14:31:00.002-04:00

Last week I happened to be flipping channels and happened on comedian Jon Stewart’s rant about “pork” projects in the President’s $410-billion omnibus budget bill. Defending anything any Democrat does at (literally) all costs, he had a graphic that depicted the amount of pork at 2% of the bill. His comment was to the effect that it was like Republicans walking out of a dollar store after finding out a 99 cent item would actually cost them $1.01.

In reality (if anyone remembers what that was like), he’s saying it shouldn't bother anyone when 8.2 billion dollars is thrown away on needless projects. I wish I made the kind of money – no, I’m glad I’m not the kind of jerk – whose politics make him trivialize the outright waste of $26.99 for every man, woman, and child in the USA, let alone in these times.

Want fair and balanced? Here it comes.

Last night I flipped on WXNT-AM in the car when talk radio host Neal Boortz was wondering how Democrats in Congress could be “outraged” about $450-million in AIG bonuses when the total bailout bill was for 787 billion dollars. Indeed, it represents less than one percent.

My question is: When did we arrive at this place where talk radio hosts trivialize the brazen theft of half a billion dollars – making instant millionaires out of 93 upper-middle class white guys who screwed up the world’s insurance funding – while the men and women who supplied the funds are losing their jobs at a rate not seen in 80 years?

Commentators speak of recent years, and in particular the "W" years, as a time when politics is so polarized as to paralyze a nation’s decision-making apparatus. Seems to me that Barney and Chuck and Harry and Nancy and their GOP counterparts are a whole lot more pragmatic and dare I say reasonable than ideologues like Neal and Jon.

Geithner: Rules revamp needed to shield economy

2009-03-12T15:23:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday U.S. regulations need to be revamped so the collapse of any single institution can no longer threaten the entire financial system.

"We do not want to put this country in the position in the future where we are vulnerable again, where the weakness in one institution causes the risk of great damage to the fabric of the American financial system," Geithner told the Senate Budget Committee. "That basic objective has to underpin everything we do on the reform agenda and we have to get it right."

U.S. officials have pledged to push forward with a revamping of the rules governing the financial system as a necessary complement to emergency efforts to prop up the financial sector and pull the economy out of a deep recession. One such new regulation proposed by Geithner was to request that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issue orders requiring stronger locks and automatic closers on barn doors so that they can be secured even after the livestock have exited the premises.

We Are Number One!

2009-03-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

With checkered flag waving, Michigan once again finished in first place to lead the nation in unemployment. Figures released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the car capital leading the nation with an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent for January, easily trumping South Carolina, who finished with 10.4 percent.

"We blew past Mississippi a few years ago and never looked back," boasts 2-term Governor Jennifer Granholm. She credits strategic planning and strong execution for enabling Michigan's consistent first-place record. "Maintaining a higher jobless rate than Mississippi - even in good times - doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work and planning."

Partnership with some of the largest trade unions is also a factor. "We created an environment where an investor would have to be a lunatic to set up shop here," adds House Speaker Andy Dillon, "and by doing so, we preserve Michigan's natural beauty."

Banks, Markets Trade Near Break-Even Midday

2009-03-11T13:38:00.003-04:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in New York were trading near breakeven midday Wednesday, as they tried to build a second day of gains with financials again leading the way.

Investors are watching to see if stocks can lock in back-to-back days of gains, which hasn't happened for roughly a month. While Tuesday's movement was "a breath of fresh air," it's too early to say this is a bottom, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.

The exuberance shared by financial traders was dampened by breaking news confirming rumors that Danica Patrick's "tramp stamp" tattoos were indeed airbrushed out in Sports Illustrated's 2009 Swimsuit Issue, causing investor confidence in pictures of her to slide in midday trading. There was no question, however, that this was indeed her bottom.

Greenspan says Fed didn't cause the housing bubble

2009-03-11T10:49:00.004-04:00

(Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said lower rates on long-term, fixed-rate mortgages and not the Federal Reserve's policies are to blame for the U.S. housing bubble.

"Between 2002 and 2005, home mortgage rates led U.S. home price change by 11 months. This correlation between home prices and mortgage rates was highly significant, and a far better indicator of rising home prices than the fed-funds rate," Greenspan wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

Greenspan went on to explain that the fed-funds rate applies only to interest charged for the front side of US currency, where the president's likeness appears, while mortgage rates are based on the obverse or back side of the bill and, as a result, there is no linkage between the rates.

Adventures in science

2009-03-09T11:22:00.001-04:00

These are the four basic building blocks of DNA:

A = adenine

T = thymine

C = cytosine

G = guanine

If the amino acid lysine is substituted for adenine, you have:

L = lysine

T = thymine

C = cytosine

G = guanine

Notice also:

L = Larry

T = the

C = Cable

G = Guy

Coincidence? Maybe…

Thought for the day

2009-03-09T11:18:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure everyone who does what they want wants what they do.

Obama: Endure, find opportunity in time of crisis

2009-03-07T12:36:00.005-05:00

Some of this stuff I can't make up... this is from today's weekly Presidential radio address:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama appealed Saturday to his fellow citizens to endure, find opportunity in these hard times and ultimately prosper from the challenge." That is what we can do and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address, taped on Friday at the White House.

So, at the risk of misquoting the man, here is the verbatim text from the White House web site:

"Yes, this is a moment of challenge for our country. But we've experienced great trials before. And with every test, each generation has found the capacity to not only endure, but to prosper -- to discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis. That is what we can and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do. I'm confident that at this defining moment, we will prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice of those who came before us, and the promise of those who will come after."

Is there anyone who didn't immediately think of the immortal lines of Chief Dan George's character in the film "The Outlaw Josey Wales?"

We thought about it for a long time, "Endeavor to persevere." And when we had thought about it long enough, we declared war on the Union.

Look, I don't want to "endure."

I wasn't the one who rated those mortgage-backed securities worthy of investment. I wasn't the one who fell for the hype and refinanced my ever-more valuable home so I could buy an SUV and an addition on the MacMansion. I didn't run up 20% of my income on my VISA card because I was tapping my home equity line of credit to buy the 52-foot plasma-screen TV I so badly needed so my family could be digital-ready. (I'm betting "endure" includes paying off these people's debts without so much as a peep.)

And because, after 103 years, the US FDA is so badly in need of Viagra that they are not even privy to state and private inspection records of a peanut plant whose executives murdered 8 Americans, I can't even cut back on my grocery bill.

And I have to pay my taxes in full and on time so that Senator Daschel, Treasury Secretary Geithner (is that ever an irony!), and Representative Rangel don't have to.

And because I finished high school and got my degree and served my country and went to work instead of joining the UAW and spotwelding Chevys for 50 bucks an hour, I'm asked to fund those people's free healthcare-for-life and defined-benefit pensions. And if I don't, I'm sternly warned that the US will have to start buying Abrams main battle tanks and Hummers from Hyundai.

So, I propose we let Washington Mutual CEO Alan Fishman -- who, after 3 weeks on the job, was sent home with his tail between his legs and $13 million of taxpayer bailout to soften the blow -- endure. Let Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain -- who gave away a king's ransom to his executives with taxpayer bailouts before BoA took over -- endure. Let Linda Thomsen, former chief enforcement officer at the SEC -- whose nonfeasance makes her virtually single-handedly responsible for the destruction of the US if not the global economy -- endure.

Have we honest Americans not endured enough?

Obama to restore stem cell funding

2009-03-07T12:23:00.003-05:00

We understand there's a clause in the Executive Order specifically exempting radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in the unlikely event his DNA could be used to clone him.

Kepler Mission Sets Out to Find Planets Using CCD Cameras

2009-03-07T12:17:00.005-05:00

...reads the 6th March headline at dailytech.com.

I'm guessing that if a planet is using CCD cameras, there's probably life there already, otherwise who put the CCD cameras there in the first place?

I think it's also a safe bet they speak English, or else they'd have chosen other letters to call their cameras.

Is there something I'm missing?

OK, OK, I did it.

2009-03-06T15:21:00.004-05:00

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Accused swindler Bernard Madoff has waived his right to a grand jury indictment, his attorney said Friday, a move that may signal a plea deal is in the works.

Madoff attorney Ira Sorkin said, "We are close to an arrangement that makes sense, given the gravity of the situation and the Government's need to exact justice against the backdrop of Wall Street's woes. My client and I are prepared to offer confinement in an amusement park of our choice for four minutes and fifty-two seconds, along with a fine of seventeen dollars and forty-two cents, in return for the Department of Justice dropping all charges."

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's Office had no further comment.

The Internet Strikes Again

2009-03-06T10:17:00.001-05:00

CHICAGO (AP) Tom Dart, the man in charge of the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff's department – the second largest sheriff's department in the US – filed suit in US District Court against craigslist today.

Sheriff Dart is seeking damages for, among other things, revenue that he and members of his department have lost because, as he puts it, “The business of shaking down prostitutes for protection money has frankly gone to Hell in a handbasket since these women have resorted to using craigslist. How are Chicago area cops supposed to supplement our incomes during these tough times if not through capitalism-as-usual?”

A tradition that has its roots before Al Capone ran the Windy City is in jeopardy of going the way of the pager and the answering machine. It seems that the process of disintermediation brought on by craigslist and the Internet threatens to do for Cook County’s finest what Travelocity and Orbitz have done for travel agents and what Monster and CareerBuilder have done for headhunters – cut out the middleman.

“It’s a crying shame that we now have to resort to buying a judge or two to ensure that the citizens of Cook County are safe from immoral women posting ads on the Internet, rather than standing on street corners and sitting on bar stools like they’re supposed to.”

Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for ShamWow

2009-03-05T14:58:00.003-05:00

Stockholm (AP) The Nobel Committee has announced that the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics will go to Dr. Jae Kim Song and Dr. Anthony Angeletti, both of the Collins Institute of Materials Science at the University of Oregon, Medford, USA.

Drs. Song and Angeletti are credited with developing the wormhole in the once-bedrock Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy that had prevented matter from absorbing other quantities of matter without gaining mass. This theoretical work laid the basis for the miracle ShamWow product, which can absorb vast quantities of industrial chemicals and bodily fluids without itself gaining any mass, finally releasing that additional matter when wrung out.