Long, Slow Burn

#1 issue: Fiscal responsibility.

Dr. Paul talks about how we’re in such trouble. Our country is now built on sand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txhabgZF_gE

One of my favorites is retiring immediately.  Sad.  I learned how to hit a better backhand by watching hers.

The tennis circuit is a tough one.  It’s nice that she’s retiring while at the top position, but it sucks for the sport of tennis.  I wish her all of the best.

Bob Barr announced yesterday that he’s running for Libertarian candidate for President of the US.

I must say that I’m cautiously excited. The Libertarians could use a good candidate. So the question is, is Bob Barr a good candidate? He is along time Republican that turned Libertarian over two years ago.

Unfortunately, he is most famous for seeking the impeachment of President Clinton. While I agree that any president that lies under oath should be impeached, Bob Barr almost made it personal in the way he went after Clinton. I’m not sure he can shake that impression that he’s left with the public.

Bob Barr also has some skeletons in his closet. He married his current wife only one month after receiving a divorce from his previous wife. Larry Flynt was accusing him of having an affair and of advocating an abortion. All unproven, but still, there’s some controversy there.

He has been an advocate for the “War against drugs”, and he’s against same sex marriage. These things won’t necessarily sit well with the Libertarian crowd.

Another thing that’s sticking in my craw is that he’s advocating a smaller federal government. This is the flip side of the coin of what I advocate. I advocate fiscal responsibility. This would result in a smaller federal government, but a “smaller federal government” isn’t my goal. It’s more of a side effect. (And a good one at that.)

I guess I need to do some more studying on his positions. We’ll see if he can capture the hearts and minds of the Libertarians. As I said above, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Ron Paul sits down on the CNN American Morning show.  Click here to view that video.

Dr. Paul is able to describe the problems that we’re in, just the same was as Carl Sagan was able to describe space and science to us all.  With plain talk, backed up with knowledge and passion.  Dr. Paul is able to describe some of the solutions in the same manner.

Does Ron Paul have all of the perfect solutions: no.  But we’d be far better off with him at the helm than the pretenders that are running for president now.  All three of them are awful.

Ron Paul for President!

With my day job, I’ve been driving to east Marietta.  For lunch, I often pop out to a Taco Bell that is right down the street.  Mt. Dew, Chalupas, Mexican Pizza.  All for about $5.  Heaven.

Much to my horror, yesterday I drove down to Taco Bell and … it was all boarded up.  The roof has scorch marks.  The parking lot is taped off and is a mess!  My beloved Taco Bell is no more.

Sure, the bathrooms were dirty.  The retro-fitted slide lock barely clung to the door.  Yes, the insides were “worn” with the joy of patronage and it surely could have been renovated years ago.  But it served me delicious fixings and it gave me a place to sit down for lunch.

What more could a geek ask for.  Come back soon Taco Bell!  I’ll be waiting.

Read this article: Judge Says He Can’t Stop Aloha Shutdown
The judge is right in his decision.  Why should government be able to prevent a business from closing down?  The business should be able to do as it pleases as long as it abides by reasonable regulation and that includes shutting it’s doors if it wants to.  Especially if there are other competitors in the market place.

This whole article smacks of events from Atlas Shrugged however.  Business suddenly shutting down, politicians attempting to calm the marketplace, “hoping” the fares won’t increase, promising a bail out of private business.  Is the owner of Aloha airlines going to Colorado after being contacted by John Gault?  No.  Probably not.  Colorado is just a shadow of what is described in Atlas Shrugged.

Something happened to this airline however.  It will be interested to see if us (the public) ever find out what it is.

I’ve been thinking about this post for a long time. I’m afraid that I don’t have time to finish it right now but I can’t not write it. I just saw this article on CNN.

Glenn Beck: The $53 trillion asteroid

So, what is he saying? Ron Paul was right. What are all of the economists saying right now that we may be in some sort of recession? Ron Paul was right.

So, if Ron Paul was right? Where did he go wrong? Why isn’t he the nomination for the Repukelican party? (I’m an equal opportunity offender. Defeatocrats are just as bad. See, I make fun of both of our stupid main policial parties.) Back on track. Where did Dr. Paul go wrong? Let me count the ways:

1. He is too anti war. Would I have gone into Iraq? Maybe, but my reasons are more humanitarian than national security. My reasons not to go into Iraq are about the religious factions HATE each other, and unifying them after Saddam is put in the ground is too hard. But … we do play a role in the world. Some call it “policing” and I don’t want that, but we’ve got to stick up for the millions and millions that are being slaughtered by evil dictators.

2. The race thing. Ron Paul, when that race thing came to light should have refuted it and big. Not refute it like Obama refuted his pastor. You’ve got to mean it!!! REFUTE with capital letters. The color of my skin has no bearing on what kind of person I am. Judge me based on my actions. My actions are what define me. I may even think evil things, but if I DO evil things, then I am evil. If I do KIND, GENEROUS things, I am less evil. See, that’s not so hard. I “judge people by the content of their character” as Dr. Martin Luther King said. And judge I do. Ron Paul didn’t refute that article. Big mistake.

3. In debates he always returned to being against the war, no matter what the question was. He needed to be more multidimensional than that.

Well, I’m out of time for this morning. Listen to the news. Listen out for indicators that an asteroid is heading for us. Our politician leaders are lying to us. We don’t need new politicians, we need to wake up and take control of our own government … ourselves. Ron Paul tried to warn us. America wasn’t listening, and was distracted by other noise.

Hong Kong is currently going through a boom.  They have a budget surplus, so what are they doing?  They’re spending a little bit more … and cutting taxes a good bit!  Cutting taxes in turn, should increase the amount of business and, in turn, create more business!

Would that ever happen in the United States?  I think not.  First, spending less than we make in taxes, is unfathomable.  (Grrr!)  And if we did have a true surplus (A TRUE SURPLUS!  not just a budget surplus), do you think that our politicians would cut taxes?!?  Without a big fight?!?

Anyway, here’s the article: Booming Hong Kong cuts taxes as surplus soars

I’ve been saying this for years.  I’m really disappointed in our medical profession that more reliance isn’t placed on computer based diagnosis.  Computers could provide us better differential diagnosis, leading to better testing, quicker diagnosis, and lower medical costs on a patient by patient basis.  I have no clue on why us patients aren’t demanding a greater use of computers.

Here’s a great atomic example.  Computers are better able to determine whether brain scans indicate alzheimers, compared to normal brain scans.    BBC: PC beats doctor in scan tests

Okay.  I’ve been inspired.  Valentines is just a couple of days away.  Well, us geeks have been busy creating valentines that really come from deep inside of our cardiovascular system.  I must say that I’ve been inspired by The Bad Astronomer and Ironic Sans.

Well, here’s the best I could come up with:

and

Which, properly formatted, gives you this document:  click here.   Valentine … taken care of!