HE’S BAACK ...

Via David Broder: “Sixteen years after he shook up American politics by launching an impromptu campaign for president, Ross Perot is about to dip a toe back into the public debates. And, yes, he's bringing his charts with him to make his point.”

Current polling seems to indicate that less than 1 percent of the voters believe the budget deficit one of the major problems facing the country. Perot disagrees. He’s created a website turning basic economic data into 35 well-made charts explaining how grim the long-term budget picture really is.

I’m still mulling over the data, but it’s clear that the 800-pound gorilla in the room is entitlement spending – Social Security and Medicare. Even my favorite hate, congressional pork, is a chimpanzee by comparison.

If you plan to vote in the upcoming Presidential elections, Perot’s “challenges” charts are a must-read.

OBAMA - A POST TURTLE?

Over at Don Surber’s place, commenter Harrison has an amusing observation [about Obama]:

“The old rancher said, “When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a ‘post turtle’.”

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain.

“You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there to begin with.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

THE SINGULARITY

In my web-wanderings, I’ve noticed repeated references to the “Singularity.” In a rare burst of interest, I looked it up. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

The technological singularity is a hypothesised point in the future variously characterized by the technological creation of self-improving intelligence, unprecedentedly rapid technological progress, or some combination of the two.

Statistician I. J. Good first wrote of an "intelligence explosion", suggesting that if machines could even slightly surpass human intellect, they could improve their own designs in ways unseen by their designers, and thus recursively augment themselves into far greater intelligences. Vernor Vinge later called this event "the Singularity" as an analogy between the breakdown of modern physics near a gravitational singularity and the drastic change in society he argues would occur following an intelligence explosion.

My suspicion is that machine intelligence will soon surpass human intelligence, but not because machine intelligence is improving.

OBAMA'S QUALIFICATIONS

Barack Obama's qualifications for the presidency:


And no, I don't see any either.

[Thanks to Protein Wisdom and Instapundit for the idea.]

ENGINEERS HAVE HAIRY EARS

I've heard the phrase many times since my graduation as an electrical engineer back in 1968. I'd always thought that it was from Ogden Nash, but the origin is much older - and mostly unprintable. Most recently it has been associated with the Army's engineering battalions, dating back to (at least) WW I. Here are two of the least bawdy variants:

The Engineers have hairy ears,
they live in caves and ditches,
But when the trouble starts,
they fight like sons of witches

- An Anonymous WWI Soldier

The Engineers have hairy ears
They live in caves and ditches
They wipe their ass with broken glass
They're rugged sons of bitches.

- 36h Engineer Combat Regiment (WW II)
- Motto: RUGGED

There is some evidence that the origin may be an Ozark folksong, The Mountaineers, which is quite bawdy.

MARINES OR NAVY?

From John McCain FAQs at the Washington Times.

Q: Which is better, the Navy or the Marines?

A: The Marines are a department of the Navy. The Men's Department ...

Somehow, I think Senator McCain would laugh, then respectfully disagree.

DUELING BANJOS, ER, CATS

A MODEST SUGGESTION

Driving back from Connecticut a few weeks ago, we went through a number of construction zones where “fines are doubled” obstensibly to protect worker safety. Thinking about that as I peruse the news daily and see the number of Congress-critters accused of violating various and sundry laws, I thought “Why not?”

To protect average Americans, you and me, why not double the penalty for any elected official convicted of a crime; treble the penalty if they voted for the law they broke?

I doubt it would reduce the number of violations, but it might, just might, slow the growth of really dumb laws.

OBSCENE “PROFITS”

Charles Krauthammer is one of my favorite columnists, but he clearly lost it in his recent commentary (no link* but here’s the Post’s home page) advocating an increase in the gasoline tax. Krauthammer would increase the federal tax and use the receipts to either (a) reduce other taxes, or (b) fund research into alternative energy.

Let’s look at his proposal. Suppose we add a $1/gallon tax on $4/gallon gasoline, making the total cost at the pump $5/gallon. Assume 20% in “administrative expenses” and the Government has an 80 cent/gallon “profit” to distribute.

If we choose option (a) and refund the money via lower taxes, then I have an additional 80 cents (per gallon consumed) to spend. On what? Well, how about gasoline? Now I’m spending $4.20 for gasoline that used to cost $4.00.

Well, okay, let’s spend the money funding alternative energies. Um, like ethanol? Does anyone really believe that the Government is capable of picking an alternative energy winner? Please contact me if you do – I’ve got some wonderful deals on beachfront property in Arizona.

As an aside, isn’t it wonderful that the enviro-nitwits are railing against the oil companies “obscene profits” while advocating obscene profits for themselves in the form of various carbon taxes?

Amazing.

(* behind the Washington Post firewall, and I refuse to give them anything beyond my subscription money)

NATIONAL D-DAY MEMORIAL

We took a day trip to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, in response to a Washington Times commentary by Stroube Smith. The Memorial gives a peek at what the landing at Normandy beach was like on June 6, 1944. Here's Smith:

"34 young men from Bedford landed in the first wave on Omaha Beach, all members of the First Battalion of the 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, all but two of them in Company A.
Within minutes, 19 were killed. Three more died later in the campaign."

Per capita, Bedford was the hardest-hit community in the United States. Here are some photos from the Memorial.


The Overlord Arch is the dominant structure on the Memorial grounds.

Under and slightly behind the Arch is a rifle and helmet tribute to those who died that day.

The following two photos give some small idea of the landing and scaling the cliffs above the beach. The low wall in the back of the photo marks the memorial area; the plaques contain the names of all who died that day.


The Eisenhower memorial.

The Bedford Boysby Alex Kershaw is a history of the men from Bedford.

OUT & ABOUT

Why I love small towns - a diner in Culpeper, Virginia.


Smith Mountain Lake, in southwest Virginia.

The Shenandoah mountains from Interstate 81.

MEMORIAL DAY 2008

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so noble advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that his nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg
November 19, 1863

UPDATE: I meant to point out the timelessness of the Gettysburg Address -- think of how few changes are needed to make Lincoln's words appropriate for today's war on terrorism.

GAME, SET, MATCH

On the left, the Democrats will nominate for President a lawyer married to a lawyer.

On the right, the Republicans will nominate for President a genuine war hero married to a buxom blonde who owns a beer distributorship.

Who will you vote for?

WHINING ABOUT THE ECONOMY

I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of whining about the state of the economy in the last few weeks. According to the candidates – on both sides, unfortunately – the economy is in the tank, the Great Depression is about to begin, and we’re all gonna die!

From the Democrats, life was wonderful during the Carter/Clinton years; and in the tank during Reagan/Bush I/Bush II. From the Republicans, the opposite.

Yeah, right. Let’s look at it. Here’s a chart of the state of the economy for the last 30 years. The top line is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which I’ve used as a surrogate for economic growth. The bottom line is the annual inflation rate.

I don't know about you, but that looks pretty good to me. Inflation peaked at about 13% the last year of the Carter administration, and has steadily declined to about 3% in 2007. Economic growth as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been about 9% (post-Carter), with a breather the last two years of the Clinton administration followed by 9/11. Since 2003, growth has resumed in the 9-10% range.

Doesn't look so bad to me.

MORE ON TAXES

I wish I had known about this a week ago ....

DEAR INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE,

Enclosed you will find my 2008 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes.

Please note the attached article from the USA Today newspaper; dated 12 November, wherein you will see the Pentagon (Department of Defense) is paying $171.50 per hammer and NASA has paid $600.00 per toilet seat. I am enclosing four (4) toilet seats (valued @ $2,400) and six (6) hammers (valued @ $1,029), which I secured at Home Depot, bringing my total remittance to $3,429.00. Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the "Presidential Election Fund," as noted on my return.

You can do this inexpensively by sending them one (1) 1.5" Phillips Head screw (see aforementioned article from USA Today newspaper detailing how H.U.D. pays $22.00 each for 1.5" Phillips Head screws). One screw is enclosed for your convenience.

It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to paying it again next year.

Sincerely,

A Satisfied Taxpayer

The pity of this is that when you've worked in the defense industry as long as I have and understand the byzantine Government acquisition process, a price of $171.50 for a hammer isn't totally unrealistic.

A VIEW FROM THE WINDOW

Spring is finally(!) arriving -- compare this photo with the one taken in December a few posts below.

This is the first year I can remember that the trees didn't leaf out nearly simul- taneously. Here's a tree that is fully green while the ones surrounding it are just beginning to show their leaves.

It's been an unusual spring.

A NEW FAMILY MEMBER

Diamond, or Princess Di as she's usually called, insisting on her royal perogative of being as near as possible to any food source.

COUCH POTATO

A VIEW FROM THE WINDOW

Home, December 5, 2007 at 11:15 am.

Some more views from the neighborhood ...

Pineview Street, Manassas, VA.

And a neighbor's yard.

A VIEW FROM THE WINDOW

From the Space Needle, Seattle, Washington, November 30, 2007, 1:14 pm.