Month: July 2008

Bush Threatens Veto on Bailout Bill

Capitalism is the fairest system of commerce there is. It doesn’t care what color you are, what books you read, or what views you hold. If you offer something of value at reasonable price you will profit, if you invest in businesses worthy of trust you will profit. Not always overnight, not always this year, but over time solid investments pay off.

When that system is short circuited and there is no consequence for investing in business unworthy of trust then that fair system falters. President Bush is making exactly the right choice with the threat to veto the housing bill. We trust in banks to invest money in people worthy of trust; when they don’t then taxpayers should not pay for their bad business practices. That’s pretty simple.

This bill doesn’t help anyone who had their house foreclosed on, it helps the banks who shouldn’t have made that investment.

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RIP Tony Snow

Tony Snow is a commentator and analyst who will be missed greatly. He was one of the sane people in the news business, never delving into vitriol and vinegar, but unafraid to ask the important questions. He was blessed with an optimism many in the beltway could use, and let us hope there are budding journalists out there who value Tony’s contribution and who will follow in the example he set.

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It’s Official (or not…:) Global Cooling has Begun

Today the Space and Science Research Center announced that we are entering a new cycle of global cooling based on their estimates of Solar cycle fluctuations: they say they’ve discovered a 209 year periodicity in the cycle previously un-noticed. Before you go to press with this note that the agency is not governmental but rather a private venture that bases it’s estimate off a new concept in solar variability, the RC Theory. The credentials are impressive, and the paper they present is peer reviewed.

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Which Controversy?

At the intersection of science and superstition

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

I found this sign to a popular attraction on a visit to Branson Missouri over the fourth of July,  and the juxtaposition of science and the supernatural struck me as emblematic of our times. It was only later when I got home that I noted the crazed clown stuck between seemingly confused as to which is which. The clown makes the picture perfect – just zany and paradoxical enough to print. [Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.]

Science is under attack in our country from several groups, from those who would twist it to their political purpose to those who would attack it through philosophy, to those who attack it through religion. More people in this country currently believe in astrology than plate tectonics, some people still come up with bizzarre conspiracies about how the moon landing was faked. From the superstitious luddite crowd in Greenpeace to the far right fundamentalist religious extremists they attempt to paint science and reason as the root of all evil. Continue reading “Which Controversy?”

Energy is Still the Topic of the Day

While it’s topical now, it won’t be when the pressures let up. The market driven economy will see that they do, for a short period anyway. The pressing need for more energy won’t end soon as demonstrated in article after article here. The urgency around energy might abate, the import won’t as it hasn’t in the three decades since the first oil embargo.

While the G-8 is meeting over the energy-driven food crisis now, T. Boone Pickens has proposed a plan for energy in the US that makes a great deal of sense. Hybrids sound nice at first glance, however they become problematic in twenty years as we deal with all of those dead batteries. They also cost a great deal, don’t provide the range and performance that the public wants, and they really live on subsidies now. In business you find that processes people adapt are those which are simple, and that are easier than what they are doing now.

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McCain Slams Obama on Taxes

While the MSM continues to paint John McCain as weak on the economy, he continues to exhibit signs that he has firmer grasp of economic reality than his opponent Obama. This as evidenced by McCain’s anti-tax and anti-spending positions as well as his long record on both issues. (The notable outlier was his original opposition to Bush tax cuts because they did not at the same time reduce spending. If conservatives had listened to that message perhaps the 2006 election cycle would have gone a bit better for them.)

This morning McCain is on attack again as he challenges Obama’s weakness on taxes:

If you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Sen. Obama is going to raise your tax rates. If you have an investment for your child’s education or own a mutual fund or a stock in a retirement plan, he is going to raise your taxes. He will raise estate taxes to 45%. I propose to cut them to 15%. His plan will hurt the American worker and family. It will hurt the economy and cost us jobs,” McCain will say today, according to excerpts released by the campaign. “At a time of increasing gas and food prices, American families need tax relief and I, not my opponent, will deliver it.

Who knew that Obama had 100 million plus in Earmarks during his short senate stint?

Israeli Missile Defense Tests Ongoing

Israel has begun testing it’s new “Iron Dome” missile defense system, this was selected instead of the joint US-Israel Nautilus system which was mothballed after doubts arose. Carl at Israel Matzav has his doubts as well about Iron Dome, preferring an active offense to passive defense.

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