Category: Uncategorized

The Dow closed below 8,000 today and Nymex Crude Oil Futures below $53. And the outlook for the semiconductor industry is not so hot either. “In discussions with semiconductor suppliers, equipment OEMs, and contract manufacturers, a story of fear and great uncertainty has emerged,” iSuppli’s Ford said. “As dramatic declines in consumer and industrial confidence…

A comment piece (I’m not going to get the hackles up before the discussion starts by giving the name of the author) in The Washington Post talks about long term Republican prospects. It is not pretty. To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party…

It seems like Mr. Obama can’t buy a friend. The No. 2 leader in Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is dishing out criticism and offering a warning to United States President-Elect, Barack Obama. A new audio message has surfaced online where Al-Zawahiri calls Obama a dishonorable man. According to the SITE Institute, a U.S. organization that monitors…

Get ready for the new administration. Click on the link and see what I’m talking about. It is not only good advice. It is funny. Cross Posted at Power and Control

OK, this is going to sound crazy, and I know I should be writing about Barack Obama’s insane plan to lay further waste to the economy with a useless “Global Warming” scheme…. Not that I’d add anything useful to that debate anyway. However, this morning I saw that Al-Qaida is insulting the president elect with…

Why are so many blacks aborting in comparison to the rest of the population? It is due to a lack of fathers. And why is there a lack of fathers? Well black men have been disproportionately swept up in the criminal justice system due to the drug war. Demographics If socons were really serious about…

It seems our government has a problem running businesses. Even businesses that should be a guaranteed profit without significant expertise required. Like selling liquor and sex. Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed.…

Regular readers know that I don’t make too many pledges. Circumstances have a way of changing, and if you’ve taken a “pledge” or a vow or a resolution about something (like the “I will never vote for McCain” pledge that was going around a year ago), you’ve cemented yourself into something and you’ll look like…

Fear of “The Other” is always a driving force in politics, and as it is emotional, it operates independently of positions on issues. If you can get people to fear someone or some group, what they actually say or do won’t matter. Years ago, I remember reading a long article about a lesbian mother who…

Wow. Finally, after many hours of futzing around and being on hold, I got the DSL line working. This will be a test post of sorts, as I have nothing really to say. Other than thank God the thing finally works. The biggest problem was being asked for a user name and password in order…

Here is a look at why the Detroit auto industry is going down in flames. I’m a huge fan of the US auto industry. I’m one of the last people on my street who still buys American cars (Pontiac). But I’m extremely concerned. And given what’s been going on, I am surprised at the engineering…

Design News reports on a new material now in the research phase that is 10 times lighter than steel and 500 times stronger. You’ve heard of airplanes made from carbon-fiber reinforced (CFRP) plastics. What’s next? Well there’s a sheet of carbon nanotubes–called “buckypaper”–that may create structures for another generation of airplanes. Carbon nanotubes are already…

From the wiki: A marriage license (spelled licence in British English) is a document issued either by a church or state authority authorising a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a licence varies between countries and has changed over time. Marriage licences began to be issued in the Middle Ages to permit a marriage…

Tom will be at the Philcon Science Fiction convention this coming Saturday, 22 Nov 2008. You can read what Tom has to say about his upcoming talk at Talk Polywell. Cross Posted at Power and Control

I made it to Berkeley, but I have no Internet at home, so here I am in a Starbucks (where I don’t have time to be, much less blog). Well, I have so-called “dialup Internet access” for traveling, but really! 21.6 kbps? That’s the rate I get with every access number on their stupid list,…

The relevant bit is about 9 minutes into the video. You can see the rest of the videos at Jonah Cross Posted at Power and Control

Why Did Social Conservative Ally With Progressives? Please discuss in the comments. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Part 2 Part 3A Part 3B Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Transcript of all six parts. Read the book: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning H/T Ted Belman Cross Posted at Power and Control

Well, I drove across the country from Michigan, and I am now in Barstow, California. (No view from the room today; my camera is in the car.) I don’t especially recommend driving 850, mostly mountainous, miles on the third day of a long drive, as my head was spinning and things were still moving when…