Memorial Day 2010

Been quite the week leading up to this Memorial Day.

First we learned that the companies who plunder the oceans in search of petroleum are clueless if there's an accident or leak a mile under the sea. According to the latest estimates, the Deepwater Horizon is sending oil into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of an Exxon Valdez spill every four days. It's been 21 years since that "accident" and the damage is still injuring habitats. This spill is far worse. Imagine the repercussions from this tragedy---it might be generations before the damage is remediated.

Then there's the indomitable Craig Venter. In 2001, he led the team that first sequenced the human genome. In 2010, he and his associates have made a "synthetic cell"---the first man-made, self replicating organism. The ethics questions are only beginning-----the possibilities and repercussions could be momentous.

Finally, there is today's holiday---Memorial Day. The big story is that Barack Obama will break with tradition and NOT lay a wreath in the Arlington National cemetery but rather delegate this to the vice-president. Obama will attend a Memorial Day observance in Springfield Illinois, his home state. Does it matter how the president celebrates this day? And is it really a day to celebrate? This holiday, which marks the start of summer for most Americans, is intended for us to take pause and remember those people who have fallen in war. Perhaps a better celebration of the day would be a discussion about how useless and fraudulent some of those wars were. Perhaps a better use of a national leader's time would be to devise a strategy to remove the spectre of war rather than laying wreaths on the graves of the departed. So enjoy your hot dogs and barbecues and beaches this start of the summer holiday. But also resolve to seek peace in our time---the best Memorial Day will come when we no longer need to dig graves for those who have fallen in battle.

News Items

Watching those little snippets that scroll across the bottom of the tv screen on news channels. Every so often a few beg for more information.

Item----study shows that women with younger partners are more prone to heart disease. Does this mean that ABC's CougarTown will soon join Law and Order on the cancellation list???

Item----Army proposing recall of 44,000 helmets for failing to meet specifications. How long have men been at war, using head gear, and we still can't make them right??

Item---BP hopes latest efforts might stop oil leak in Gulf of Mexico. Should we expand drilling offshore when the best we can get for containment of a spill that's dumping the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez tragedy every week into the water from those responsible is HOPE??????

Times like these make being a pirate dog preferable to being a human.......

State of the Union 2010

So the first state of the union address by Barack Obama, originally believed to be scheduled for Feb. 2, has been the victim of constituent pressure. Rather than pre-empt or, worse yet, compete with the season premiere of Lost, the prez and team have scheduled the big speech for Wed. Jan. 27. Bending to special interests already.....And think of the poor speechwriters. Seven seasons of West Wing have taught us all about the angst of the White House staff in crafting this annual message and policy statement. To move it forward a week would have sent Josh and Sam into apoplectic fits and a long stay in a sanitarium.

In a previous post, we said we'd comment on some of the political news, so here we go---from the perspective of some rather intelligent canines---the Pirate Dogs!!!!

The first subject is hubris. The Democratic leadership (or lack thereof) embodied in Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were so certain they could use their numerical advantage and senatorial super-majority to ram through anything on their agenda. In the course of attempting this one party take-over of the republic, these two have totally undermined the bi-partisan goals of their party's leader---the president. So the Republicans do a drug war thing--"just say no"--- and all the economic recovery and needed programs like environmental protection and health care become subject to the pork needs of every Democratic denizen of the halls of the capitol. These "leaders" of the Democratic party are so inept they allowed a Republican victory in a Massachusetts special election for the Senate seat that has been held by a Kennedy since 1952!!!!! Scott Brown ran the type of campaign that might entice any voter. If he eschews his "Number 41" b.s. and actually does what he said---represent the citizens of MA first, he would be a breath of fresh air in the Senate.

Next we have Pat Robertson saying Haiti's deals with the devil caused the tragic earthquake. What is it with "Christians"???? Now the soldiers in the Middle East can't aim their weapons properly because all the gun sights have biblical inscriptions on them and they are being recalled and replaced!!!! Or at least removed. Did it occur to these people that part of the rationale for the Islamic jihadist is their perception that they need to defeat the Crusaders, i.e., Christians, in order to preserve their life style and religion. Aren't they to be allowed the same freedom of religion as the citizens of the United States??? Didn't the King of England in 1776 call the Sons of Liberty "terrorists"?

Scandals----aahhh, what would American media be without them. Around the clock Tiger affair coverage, Mark Sanford and the Argentinian/Appalachian deception. Now John Edwards has admitted fathering Rielle's daughter and the National Inquirer's editorial board is going to submit their coverage for a Pulitzer prize, that most coveted award for SERIOUS journalism!!!! The National Inquirer---home of "I was an Alien Love Slave" exposes.......People, are you there?? Thank heaven they are "ineligible". What a fiasco that would be-----maybe even worse then McCain picking Palin !!!! Or thinking Reid and Pelosi could steer health care reform through the legislative process and have it emerge as a really positive benefit for the American people!!!

Next, let's discuss campaign finance reform. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned parts of McCain-Feingold and opened the door to limitless contributions, maybe it's time for real reform. Let the federal government take one dollar from each tax return and put the money in a pot for the presidential election. The money would be divided equally among all candidates appearing on the ballot in 26 states. (26 states is one more than half the total number of states. Some states have very low filing fees which encourage very marginal or fringe candidates to enter their primaries. If candidates can file in at least 26 states this might prevent public funding for the extremists and wackos.) Any additional expenditure would be illegal and we wouldn't want a criminal for president, would we?? No fund raising is permitted in local elections. Each office seeker should pay a filing fee and get out and meet the voters and convince them of their worthiness to serve. Just like the Founding Fathers had to---you didn't see George Washington or Thomas Jefferson doing polls and paying political advisers!!!!!!

Finally, the BIG ONE---health-care reform. Now Paul Krugman has some ideas in his column today but how about this----let's make the plan that all the government officials, Senators, House members, and federal employees have available to the general public?? Even a Republican couldn't vote against that without having to answer charges of elitism. What's good for our bureaucrats and elected representatives should be good for all the citizens, right???

Reality?????

My brother sent me this link to a story about "Student Day" in Iran. Remember when those days were a celebration of learning, a time of joy?? Now I guess we can add Opening Day of Hunting Season.......

Then there's the ever politically correctly minded Harry Reid comparing the Republicans to slave owners. Please don't take this wrong, but I see his point. He was comparing the obstructionists of today to the same class of politicos in the mid-1800's. Reid is just ham-fisted like his House counterpart Nancy Pelosi. If we get the programs we need to reform health care, fight global warming, get the economy back under control, it will be in spite of these two "leaders" not because of them.

We won't comment about Tiger except to remind readers that absolute anything corrupts absolutely.

Yesterday it snowed and we had a little ice storm on the high plains. Today the winds hit 60 mph. Please tell me again about NM weather---how warm and cozy we have it.........

Leny has developed a stubborn disobedient streak that manifests itself on Sunday when I leave LC for the work week in Clovis. She sits by the truck, refusing to come indoors. If we get insistent, she rolls over on her back, paws up like she wanta her sharpradorial belly rubbed. She hates my leaving as much as I do............

So enjoy whatever reality you are inhabiting. Got your Christmas shopping done yet??????

Of Pirates and Spinners

Captain 'Roid is really pissed off. When last seen, the intrepid Captain was begging her mother to make a new flag for the CPS Nargle proclaiming the "End of the United Nations." According to a report on tonight's BBC America newscast, the UN has signed some declaration allowing countries to pursue the pirates onto Somalian land. Now admittedly, Somalia is a failed state and its sovereignty is open to debate. But to allow other countries, including Iran, China, Great Britain, and the US (talk about politics and pirates making strange bedfellows!!!!) to invade in pursuit of the pirates?? Hopefully all those military men will review Blackhawk Down before doing the same foolish thing.....And why does the US, beacon of religious freedom and defender of the right to democratic processes, so fear an Islamic government in Somalia?? Isn't Islam one of the "Great Religions" alongside Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, etc?? Or is all this "Islamic terrorists are radical extremists" just a smoke screen and the US is really at war with Muslims-----shades of Richard the Lion-Heart and the Crusades...........

Do you remember The Spinners from the '70's and that massively "great" song "Rubber Band Man"?? Actually, I detest that song but all the "oldies" stations seem fixated on it.

But those aren't "the spinners" I'm writing about. I'm thinking about the auto-bailout/union busters and whether the Kennedys are more deserving of power as a dynasty than the Clintons, if MSNBC be believed.

GM and Chrysler are doing worse than Packard did in the 1950's. They hemorrhage cash, blowing through billions a month. Their management has been about as in tune to the needs of the average buyer and the concerns about the deleterious effects of automotive emissions on the decaying of the Earth's atmosphere as Bush and Cheney have been to telling the truth about Al-Qaeda in Iraq, let alone the total misinterpretation of the WMD intelligence.
Now, depending whom one reads, we are either headed for, or are already in, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The government has bailed out the financial fat-cats but balks at doing the same for the auto-making fat-cats. The problem is that there are a lot of not-so-fat-cats that would be a lot more hurt by the death of the Big 3. About 1 in 10 American jobs is tied to the auto industry---from parts providers to transportation firms to the workers at the car plants themselves. If we want to see Great Depression type unemployment numbers (like around 25%), then let's allow the Big 3 shut down and add that 10% who lose their jobs to the present 11% without jobs. (I realize the current "official" unemployment rate is about 6% but that does NOT include part-time employees who'd like full-time jobs or those who have stopped trying to find work. That number is over 11%.) That's 21% unemployment. Wouldn't take many, if any, more Citibank job cuts to put us well over that 25% threshold.

But some Senators blame all the failings of the auto industry on the wage disparity between the union workers up north and the non-union laborers in the foreign plants south of the Mason-Dixon line. Taking a real crisis and scapegoating people who will lose their livelihoods to avoid taking action while changing the focus of the argument to something totally non-related is major SPIN!! Even if a UAW member makes $71.00 an hour, that's only $150,000/year!!! And that's nowhere near what an executive at either an auto maker or a financial firm makes!!!! As a matter of fact, it's 1.5% of the 10-million dollar paychecks and bonuses common in executive suites or a Major League Baseball locker room. So let's not blame the union. Deny the bail-out if you don't think management can turn around these companies but let's stop the b.s.

So Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg threw her hat into the ring for the US Senate seat formerly warmed by former first-lady Hilary Clinton (all this assumes she gets confirmed for Secretary of State and resigns). Caroline has a lot going for her. First, her maiden name is Kennedy. She's the only surviving child of JFK and Jackie. She's a major upgrade in looks from Mrs. Clinton and I think she's also better looking than Sarah McPalin (remember her??). So give her the job already. But first we need to watch interminable hours of every Clintonista with an axe to grind and all the MSNBC "analysts" and commentators who need to justify their salaries since the election is over stir up controversy. Who cares if Andrew Cuomo is divorced from one of Caroline's cousins?? What possible effect does it have on her qualifications for the Senate, which are about the same as Hilary's when she was first elected----a member of a family that was in the White House as well as being a lawyer. And Caroline even had a pony at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!!!!
So enjoy "Rubber Band Man" when you hear it and wish we only had to deal with the musical Spinners instead of the bozo spinners masquerading as learned gentlemen. Hang on to your money and hope January 20 comes faster. But keep your shoes handy just in case...........

Bail---in or out????

How about them Somali Pirates?????????? 12 ships in 7 days from an area of the ocean patrolled by the US Navy, Her Royal Majesty's Navy, the EU, the Emirates, and Kingdoms of the Gulf!!!! YeeHAW!!!!!!!!!!! The Pirate Dogs hope they get to keep their loot and that they use it to improve the standard of living in the Horn of Africa, one of the poorest and most badly governed places in the entire world.
I need to correct the last post---There were a couple of inconsistencies in the sources. Apparently the ship was taken in the Gulf of Aden and is now anchored in the Indian Ocean some 450 miles from Mombasa, Kenya. Capt. 'Roid apologizes for the misinformation.
Now that the Somalis have bailed out their ships, how about the bail-out in DC of the BIG 3? I thought this was a capitalistic nation, not a welfare state. If I ran my business with as little forethought and lack of planning as that exhibited by the CEOs of the Detroit mega corporations, I'd deserve to be fired or run into bankruptcy. Now I fully appreciate that we cannot allow the auto industry to go the way of the airlines. There's always places to go and someone to take the risk and fly there. No sane person would buy any major asset from a company in Chapter 11. Cars last years and anyone purchasing one wants to make sure he can keep his investment on the road. But a free ride out of their hole is the last thing we should support as taxpayers or citizens.
I believe that successful people should get the fruits of their hard work. And executives who can't formulate a decent forward-looking business plan should go back to the business correspondence school they came from for a refresher course.
Memo to our representatives----
NO BAILOUT!!! No LOANS to the auto Industry without STRINGS!! WE THE PEOPLE need to see how OUR money will be used to sustain the industry and IMPROVE the performance of its products----MORE MPG, MORE environmentally friendly, NO MORE loans or taxpayer dollars after this ONE time.
After all, if a bunch of Somali pirates can outperform the navies of the allegedly advanced economies, our congress, senate, and captains of capitalism should be able to give us some bang for our buck in a car that gets 50-plus MPG, is safe and fun to drive.
Let's get our people in WaWa DC this message!!!!!

Economics PD3

Most of the attention the Pirate Dogs pay to economic issues consists of sitting in the kitchen whenever a person goes there, hoping for food to be either given them or dropped on the floor where they can scarf it up. Pretty simplistic and operating at a very basic level.

Now the three of them, joined by my wife and I, watched the President-elect and the stage full of economic heavy hitters do a press conference. We liked the part about the shelter dog the best---the Obama girls really deserve a Sharprador (even if Leny would out-cute them) and wouldn't the Humane Society so benefit from the exposure!!! But the serious issue of the economy did get us thinking......


The auto industry gets a lot of attention. It did in Mr. Obama's remarks before the media. It is probably, after the financial sector, the most needy segment of the manufacturing sector. But a bail-out or loan package MUST be tied to the long-term environmental needs of not only the country but the planet. There were autos that could get 30MPG twenty years ago. This is no longer a goal but an attainable standard. It's our belief that any aid package to the car makers have at the very least a fleet fuel economy standard of 50MPG or more and that this standard be attained within two years!!! Also the car makers should be encouraged to dedicate themselves to improving their core competencies, i.e, building efficient,competitive automobiles, and discouraged from ventures into mortgages and banking. GM Bank and Ditech (mortgages from GMAC) are examples of this phenomenon. If the talent is diluted into so many ancillary ventures, how can the manufacturer be competitive with the foreign companies who keep their eye on the ball. A certain financial acumen is necessary to assist buyers in financing their new (and probably over-priced) vehicle, but a mortgage company and a bank??????????

So by all means, let's put together a stimulus package. And let's support our domestic industries, the few we have left. But let's make sure that this support is aligned with the longer term goals of energy independence and reversing the damage we've done to our planet.

Someone Please Tune In the Picture

I see more ads for Ditech mortgages (from GMAC) and GMAC Bank than I see for GM cars. So GM is now earning more from the financial sector than from manufacturing?

We owe ever more to China and India, and the petro-dollars we send to the Gulf of Arabia are now being used by Gulf countries' sovereign wealth funds to shore up our banks!!

The Economist magazine, hardly a left-wing publication, stated "The financial-services industry's share of total American corporate profits rose from 10% in the early 1980's to 40% at its peak last year. By one calculation, profits in the past decade amounted to $1.2 trillion more than you would have expected." And this was from the Sept. 20, 2008 edition, before the meltdown Monday, Sept. 29!!!!

Tie these items together and it's easy to see why the US is well down the road to being a second class power. Financial engineering has replaced real engineering. Anybody else think this picture needs adjusting??

On a more hopeful note, Captain 'Roid has been following with interest the saga of the freighter that the Somalian pirates captured. Seems there's about $40 million worth of old Soviet tanks and artillery aboard. It was headed for Kenya. The Somalis want a $20 million ransom for it. Our captain would love a share of that money to help her parents retire, but the gleam really comes to her eye when she thinks about her and the rest of the Pirate Dogs sailing that ship up the Potomac, taking over Washington, and helping all of us........................

The Captain's Latest Plan

What a week!!!! Financial melt downs, bail outs, campaign peccadilloes, yuck!!! But the Pirate Dogs have a new plan for us------ Monday we were watching The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Usually the crew pays attention when dogs appear on screen but that insipid Purina One commercial with that overly compliant and obviously dim-witted Retriever-type dog makes them ignore the tv. But the story that followed the ad, that's another story. Captain Roid perked right up as Rachel related Google's plan to green itself up by moving some, if not all, of its computer centers to barges in the ocean. The reasons she cited for this action were reduced costs (hence more profit) in real estate taxes and upkeep and using water to cool the computers which should enhance the company's greening up image. But what drew the attention of the Captain was one of the possible downsides of the plan. Ms. Maddow talked about weather disasters such as hurricanes being a hazard to the barges. She also mentioned pirates as a potential hazard. The Captain then proceeded to the Nargle and came up with her plan---taking over Google!!

Imagine----you or your child searches for information on computer chips. Normally you would find a picture like this:But instead, since the Pirate dogs now control "The Google", you get their interpretation of your search parameters---Chip Turks (otherwise known as rawhide flips), of which they have a treasure chest full:

Going to the doctor, or searching a site like WebMD for information on your skeletal malfunctions normally would lead to something like this--
But our crew of buccaneers has taken over and their image is of their favorite treat: BONE-turks:
Finally, your fourth grader needs to do research for a civics paper, the topic is agriculture, and she googles wheat. When the servers were land based, she'd probably have gotten an image like this:

But after the takeover the monitor displays a portrait of Crow's Nest Weetzie!!!!!

So good luck to Google and all its users if they go ahead with their offshore plan. And happy (belated) talk-like-a-pirate day from Capt. Roid, First-mate Leny, and Crow's Nest Weetzie!!!

"ARRRGH!"

Raise the Fuel Taxes

Gas prices continue to go up---over $4.08 a gallon as I write this. And the monthly payments on pickups and SUVs keep decreasing---no interest for 60 months, $6,000 rebates, "employee pricing".......Anybody else out there think this is a disconnect? And note the small print on these adds---none of the "deals" apply to hybrids!!!! The fuel efficient varieties are full boat, baby!!!!
Our government says we can alleviate gas prices by drilling in places like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. But the current administration doesn't exactly deserve kudos or respect in terms of their record on the environment or climate change. Let's face it, the "senior administrators" are ex-oil men. The candidates recommend gas tax holidays or windfall taxes on big oil.
How about something that might work? Let's eliminate the taxes on diesel. This will give truckers a break and help stabilize the costs of food and other goods that depend on trucking to get to America's consumers. We can increase the gas tax on regular fuel to offset this revenue loss and also to subsidize the cost of truly fuel efficient and alternative fuel technologies.
Check out the Honda website http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/frequently-asked-questions/. That fuel cell car in the tv ads is available in a few counties in Southern California at a lease cost of $600.00 a month. That's more than the lease on a Hummer, a Mercedes S class, or a Cadillac STS!!!! We should be begging to lease the fuel cell car all over the country and getting the infrastructure built to support fuel cell technology. But the vast majority of Americans can't afford that kind of lease price. One would think GM, Ford, or Chrysler could build a fuel cell car that might fit an average family's budget if some of the development costs were subsidized.
According to Jonathan Rauch's article in the July/August Atlantic(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors), the Chevy Volt will sell for "maybe north of $35,000." But an F-150 Ford or a Chevy Silverado at 10mpg can be had for about $20,000!! If we really are serious about conserving fossil fuels and getting their prices back in line, we need the Volt to sell for the same price as a Malibu.
So let's bite the short-term bullet and pay an inceased gas tax which can be used by car companies to develop alternative fuel vehicles without passing the high development costs on to consumers and keeping the sticker prices of these vehicles in line with what the average family can afford. The other benefit of this would be to help make American companies competitive and hopefully increase job opportunities in the automotive sector, which has been among the hardest hit in the economy. Or maybe America isn't as good as our competitors in this segment of the global economy?