alphavictim

Missing public service?

2008-03-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

There's a porta-potty out front of the construction site down the road from my suburban house.

In the past few days, I've seen the mailman, a UPS driver, a couple of bike riders and a dog walker stop to use it.

Not sure how common this is...but public toilets in suburbia sure would save America a lot of wasted time and gas...as would small convenience stores.

Czechoslovak Legions in Russia...what a ride!

2008-01-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

The story of this outfit would make quite a movie.

Wikipedia has a nice article about them here.

They were even a reason for one of America's conveniently forgotten wars...

Lack of content

2007-12-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

It may be ironic for someone who only blogged once last month to say this, but:

I don't have a big, new flat screen TV because...there just aren't enough good movies being put out to justify the purchase.

What a bad year it has been for movies.

Maybe the worst.year.ever...craptastic.

The first trillion dollar company

2007-11-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

And it's Chinese.

*sigh*

China creep

2007-10-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

I randomly selected a few countries and compared where their imports came from in 2001 and in 2006. The 2001 numbers came from this old version of the CIA World Factbook. The 2006 numbers came from the current factbook.

In some cases, China's share of imports came from nothing in 2001. America's share usually drops, too. This is just over a period of 5 years. Growth of imports masks the full story, it is possible that American and EU revenues from exports to these countries stayed the same or even grew, but...China's revenue grew much faster.

Imports:

Iran

$17.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Germany 11%, Italy 8.3%, China 6.1%, Japan 5.3%, UAE 5% (1999)

$45.48 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Germany 12%, China 10.5%, UAE 9.4%, South Korea 6.2%, France 5.6%, Italy 5.4%, Russia 4.5% (2006)

Canada

$238.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
US 74%, EU 9%, Japan 3% (2000)

$353.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
US 55.1%, China 8.7%, Mexico 4% (2006)

Brazil

$57.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
US 23.2%, Argentina 11.2%, Germany 8.7%, Japan 5.5%, Italy 3.9% (2001)

$91.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
US 20.5%, Argentina 8.2%, China 7.9%, Germany 7.5% (2006)

South Africa

$28.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
EU 41%, US 11.4%, Saudi Arabia 7.3%, Japan 7% (2001 est.)

$61.53 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Germany 12.6%, China 10%, US 7.6%, Japan 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 5.3%, UK 5% (2006)

Afghanistan not going so well either?

2007-10-16T02:34:00.000-07:00

This month marks the start of America's seventh year in Afghanistan.

Coalition forces killed in Afghanistan this calendar year already exceed the number killed last year.

Four years of increasing deaths does not seem to be a positive trend.

Another political candidate Catch-22

2007-10-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Crappy news outlet publishes anonymous charge against a political candidate.

If the candidate ignores the charge, it means they're "guilty," and through repetition, the charge becomes "fact."

If they do respond to the charge, then the big news outfits that wouldn't print the original charge declare that the candidate's response is news and spread the original charge much wider.

The "respectable" press become unpaid enforcement thugs for the screaming tabloid press.

The population of the United States in 1776 was...

2007-10-03T00:57:00.000-07:00

2,527,460

Compared to today's states, it would rank as the 34th most populous, below Arkansas and above Utah.

The U.S. population has grown around 140 times larger, yet we're still doing well.

Talk about extensible.

Nice job, Founding Fathers.

Woodrow Wilson's request for war

2007-09-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

In a speech before both houses of Congress, delivered April 2nd, 1917, Woodrow Wilson requested a declaration of war:

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval.

It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rules and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools.

Unhappy day are here again?

Juan Williams' previous Bush interview

2007-09-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Juan Williams interviewed Bush back in January, right at the start of the surge.

I can't find any mention of al Anbar province in it. The goal of the surge was to stabilize Baghdad.

One interesting question and answer from it:

MR. WILLIAMS: All right. You know, you mentioned timetables. NPR has a reporter embedded with the Minnesota National Guard in Iraq, and one of the soldiers there asked the question – says, my name is Specialist Ryan Schmidt (sp) from Forest Lake, Minnesota, and my question for you, Mr. President, is what if your plan for a troop surge to Baghdad does not work?" What do you think?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I would say to Ryan, I put it in place on the advice of a lot of smart people, particularly the military people who think it will work, and let us go into this aspect of the Iraqi strategy feeling it will work. But I will also assure Ryan that we're constantly adjusting to conditions on the ground.

The politics of home schooling

2007-09-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

While browsing for kid's books online, I found out Bob Jones University is a leading supplier of textbooks for home schoolers. Bible Truths K4 Teacher's Picture Packet (color) is a pretty standard offering.

They also offer advise for home schoolers, which is how I found the link to the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Wow, are they ever organized on the political front!

Note the list of national and state legislation on the right (complete with an up or down recommendation on whether to support or oppose each bill).

A sample - Massachusetts House Bill 399: Mandatory Full-Day Kindergarten:

HSLDA's Position:
Oppose.

Action Requested:
Contact as many members of the Joint Committee on Education as possible and ask them to oppose this legislation. You do not have to identify yourself as a homeschooler, as House Bill 399 affects all families with young children.

In your own words, convey the message: “Please vote against House Bill 399. This bill is unnecessary. It restricts parental choice and wastes taxpayer money.”

Last shot presidential candidates

2007-09-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Of the leading presidential candidates, Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Giuliani, Thompson, Romney and McCain, I think only Obama has a chance of running again in 2012 if he loses next year.

Call it the Bob Dole try.

Age and a shifting political climate pretty much guarantee we won't be seeing these candidates running again.

Who will take their place?

Eliot Spitzer seems like a lock to challenge Obama in 2016(2016? Yikes!) if Hillary wins two.

On the Republican side...hmmm?

Military expenditures as a percent of GDP

2007-09-14T04:17:00.000-07:00

1. Oman - 11.4%
2. Qatar - 10.0%
3. Saudi Arabia - 10.o%
4. Iraq - 8.60%
5. Jordan - 8.60%
6. Israel - 7.30%
12. Syria - 5.90%
16. Kuwait - 5.30%
17. Turkey - 5.30%

66. Iran - 2.50%

From the C.I.A.

Iceland - 0.00%

Save Firefly...and Iraq!

2007-09-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

While watching David Patraeus testifying before Congress today, I was reminded of the efforts to save the show Firefly from cancellation.

Dear Sir,

This petition is directed to the management of the Fox television broadcasting company regarding their new show “Firefly” currently shown at 7.00 pm on Fridays (http://www.fox.com/firefly).

Due to apparently low Nielsen ratings for the first three shows broadcast a number of rumours are circulating on the internet and conventional media that the show might be cancelled before the end of the first season.

We, the undersigned, wish to show our eagerness for the show to be given a chance to prove itself. The creative force behind the show, Joss Whedon, has already proved his talent for sophisticated genre shows with “Angel” and the phenomenally successful “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” now in its seventh season. Yet both of these shows took time to settle into their formats before fans were attracted to them in significant numbers...

Talented leader with past successes, plot that needs more time to unfold, etc.

Firefly fans couldn't save the show from cancellation, but they did help its producers raise enough money for a feature move.

I think Patraeus will get similar results.

F.Y. 2008 U.S. research budget: Cancer vs I.E.D.s

2007-09-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Americans expected to die from cancer this year = 559,650.

Funding for fighting cancer next fiscal year = $4.7 billion.

Americans expected to die from I.E.D. attacks this year = about 700.

Funding for fighting I.E.D.s next fiscal year = $4.0 billion.

*sigh*

Fred Thompson's whole campaign in 2:28

2007-09-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Success in al Anbar! - January 27, 2006

2007-09-06T02:51:00.000-07:00

Iraqi tribes in Anbar arrest 270 Arab and foreign al-Qaeda members!

The Anbar tribes’ campaign to rid the province of Zarqawi’s terror organization, al-Qaeda in Iraq is in its 2nd day and so far, 270 Arab and foreign intruders have been arrested.

[…]Usama Jad’aan, the leader of Karabila tribes in Qaim told al-Hayat that “the operation will continue to eliminate terror elements according to a quality plan” and added “270 Arab and foreign intruders have been arrested, in addition to some Iraqis who were providing them shelter”.

Sheikh Jad’aan added “the operation is conducted in coordination between the tribes and the minister of defense Sa’doun al-Dulaimi and since we arrested hundreds of terrorists, I don’t expect the operation to take a lot of time”.

From Iraq the Model.

Bush shouldn't manage our withdrawal from Iraq...

2007-08-25T03:33:00.000-07:00

Because he has no reason to do it the right way...and plenty of reasons to do it wrong way.

Does that mean we should keep most of our troops in Iraq until someone else is in charge of the military?

Someone who doesn't need to have our withdrawal be followed quickly by civil war and genocide to be proven right?

Maybe.

I guess this is what a quagmire looks like.

Side effects may include...compulsive gambling?

2007-08-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

I caught a TV commercial last night for a drug that treats "Restless Leg Syndrome." Normally I surf to another channel during commercials, but I have a perverse interest in the side effects of drugs and how the makers handle listing them in an ad (If a drug ad claims to cure a specific disease, the law requires them to list the side effects, too).

Up until now, explosive diarrhea and priapism have been my favs.

I thought I'd misheard the ad when sex addiction and compulsive gambling were listed as possible side effects for the RLS drug...but, no, it's real.

Wow.

A new champion.

1986: Kennedy v. Scalia

2007-08-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

The more things change...

I was reading over the transcript of Anton Scalia's Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing that took place on August 5-6, 1986 and the exchange between Edward Kennedy and Scalia struck me as...very timely.

Here's some excepts from this .pdf file:

The CHAIRMAN. The distinguished Senator from Massachusetts.

Senator KENNEDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Our ranking Member, Senator Biden, is currently on the floor with the introduction of legislation dealing with drug regulation, and he will be over here very shortly.

But I will proceed, if I might. Judge Scalia, if you were confirmed, do you expect to overrule the Roe v. Wade?

Judge SCALIA. Excuse me?

Senator KENNEDY. DO you expect to overrule the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision if you are confirmed?

Judge SCALIA. Senator, I do not think it would be proper for me to answer that question.

The CHAIRMAN. I agree with you. I do not think it is proper to ask any question that he has to act on or may have to act on.

Judge SCALIA. I mean, if I can say why. Let us assume that I have people arguing before me to do it or not to do it. I think it is quite a thing to be arguing to somebody who you know has made a representation in the course of his confirmation hearings, and that is, by way of condition to his being confirmed, that he will do this or do that. I think I would be in a very bad position to adjudicate the case without being accused of having a less than impartial view of the matter.

Senator KENNEDY. There have been at least some reports that that was one of the considerations in your nomination. There are a lot of other, clearly, strengths which you bring to your own qualifications. But I am interested in what precedence you put on that decision being on the lawbooks. I am interested in your own concept in stare decisis. Do you believe in it? What is it going to take to overrule an existing Supreme Court decision?

-----

Senator KENNEDY. YOU had in an area that this committee is interested in, and that is the question of executive privilege, being able to obtain certain documents.

I noticed in your exchange with Senator Muskie you were talking about this time they were talking about the Nixon case. And Senator Muskie concluded in his question, then, in your judgment, the right of the Congress to military and diplomatic secrets stand at a lower level than the right of the President to withhold those secrets, as a question And you said "No, sir." And then you continued along, "I don't mean to denigrate the congressional' I will include it all in the record, Mr. Chairman, if I may, that statement.

[Not available at press time.]

Senator KENNEDY [reading]:

I don't mean to denigrate the congressional power. They both, the Congress and the Executive have the right to assert their prerogatives. When it comes to an impasse, the Congress has means at its disposal to have its will prevail. The means are indicated in my testimony. The most effective is the withholding of funds from the Executive. The refusal to confirm Presidential nominees was also used several times under President Nixon, if I recall, to elicit information which had been previously denied. The Senate simply would not confirm nominees until the information was turned over.

I wonder if you still affirm that wonderful judicious statement and comment that is based upon all the excellent reviews that have been given to you? I imagine you still want to hold to that?

Judge SCALIA. It is true, Senator. How can I withdraw from it?

Senator KENNEDY. I do not know whether I should ask you whether you want to expand on that or not, whether I--

Judge SCALIA. It is one of the means that the Congress has at its disposal.

-----

Senator KENNEDY. In another area, Judge Scalia, this is on the questions of the national security and individual rights. We have gone through a rather important period in past history, in the early seventies, where we were trying to balance national security interests against the first amendment, and we have seen— recent history has taught us to scrutinize the claims of the executive branch in the possibility of inhibiting free speech and association of press and right of dissent under the names of national security.

And I just was interested in hearing your own attitude how you as an individual viewed their role, whether you view the role as an umpire in our federal system with a competing first amendment— between the first amendment and national security claims, or are you going to give the complete basic and overwhelming presumption to those who make the claim, or are you going to examine in some detail the background for such a claim, or how you will approach the issue generally?

Judge SCALIA. Well, I will certainly approach it with an awareness of the importance of both of the elements that are in contention there, of the first amendment as of normal importance in the
ability of the people to speak, to learn and, on the other hand, the national security interest is often of great importance.

That is the worst problem about being a judge. It is never something on one side. I mean you can be criticized for coming out against the first amendment, and one never hears what is on the other side of that case. There is always some important interest on the other side or it would not be a case.

I cannot be any more specific in response to your question except to say that I am seriously interested in both of the principles, both of the concerns that arise in those cases. I am aware of the importance of the first amendment, and will give it the full weight that the Constitution accords it.

Senator KENNEDY. The reason I bring that up is because when it was alleged in charge for national security reasons, we found the gross abuse of all these individual rights and preassembly during another period, the early period of the 1970's where we had extensive unauthorized unconstitutional wiretapping, of mass surveillance, questions of first amendment rights.

I hear my time is up. I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

A U.S. combat soldier killed...in Basra?

2007-08-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

The first U.S. fatality in Iraq this month was killed in Basra, the southern oil port city under British control. The soldier's unit, the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), is based at LSA Anaconda, about 70 miles north of Baghdad.

This seems quite odd, only two other U.S. fatalities have occured in Basra over the last year, and they were non-combat related deaths at Camp Bucca.

Just bad luck, or are U.S. combat troops starting to fill in for the soon to depart British troops now?

Order of precedence - America's seating chart

2007-07-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

The order of precedence is the official government list of the social rank of various current and former U.S. government officials, foreign dignitaries and, curiously, cardinals and archbishops, put out by the office of the President. There seems to be some slight disagreements in ranks between the various copies of the list I found because they do or don't include certain people, like spouses, but the top usually goes:

President of the United States
Vice-president of the United States
Governor (in own state)
Mayor (in own city)
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Chief Justice of the United States
Former Presidents of the United States
American Ambassadors (at Post)
Secretary of State
Secretary General of the United Nations
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Foreign Powers accredited to the United States (in order of the presentation of their credentials)
Widows of former Presidents of the United States
Ministers of Foreign Powers accredited to the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
Retired Chief Justices
Retired Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
Members of the Cabinet
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Senators (according to length of continuous service)
Governors (when outside own state)
Former Vice Presidents
Members of House of Representatives (according to length of continuous service

Socially, at least, Hillary Clinton outranks all other Senators when attending a function with Bill.

Retired military officials seem to retain quite a high social ranking. Retired 4-star Generals and Admirals rank directly below active duty officers of the same rank and above active duty 3-stars.

State Governors are ranked by the order of their state's admission to the union, but Senators and members of Congress are ranked by personal senority.

Wikipedia has a nice (but incomplete) order of precedence page that shows which retired officials and widows are still around, plus how long each member of Congress has held office here.

I couldn't find where ordinary American citizens rank socially...

Partisan politics and the 10-point must system

2007-07-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Boxing judges use what's called the 10-point must system to score fights. Each round, a boxing judge has to award 10 points to the fighter they think won, then score the fighter that they think lost the round a number less than 10. The worse they did, the lower the number (a tie is scored 10-10).

It's hard to find any non-partisan political commentary these days. Pundits will always claim their side "won" an issue, no matter what the facts say...they always give their side a 10.

What's important is how they "score" the other side.

Guano: Oil of the 1800s

2007-07-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

Guano, though no saint, works many miracles
-- Peruvian proverb

One of the stranger U.S. laws on the books is Guano Islands Act of 1858. Guano (dried bird poop) became a much-prized commodity to farmers around the world in the 1840s due to the efforts of some clever businessmen from Peru, Britain and France. Guano, a natural fertilizer, greatly increased the crop yield of farmland.

Guano accumulates in deposits hundreds of feet thick on oceanic islands with little rainfall and large fisheries nearby. Fairly easy to "mine" and ship, with the added bonus of being nearly odorless, the huge income its export generated for Peru and her trading partners drove explorer/entrepreneurs on a mad search of the oceans to find their own guano islands. Budding American guano merchants like W.R. Grace and Alfred G. Benson enlisted the aid of Congress, the act allowed the U.S. Navy to defend any guano islands discovered claimed by Americans.

The guano trade was quite profitable until the early 20th century, when the invention of chemical fertilizers largely killed the demand for this dwindling commodity. Or did the dwindling supply of guano (the mining process tended to kill off the birds that produced it) fuel the development of chemical fertilizers?

Some historians feel the Guano Islands Act played a part in turning America into an international economic and military actor after the conclusion of the Civil War.

A few of the more famous islands claimed by America during this time were Midway and Howland.

The Iraq War and the Ruhr Crisis

2007-07-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

When supporters of the Iraq War or those who want America to attack Iran want to bolster their position, they frequently cite British and French appeasement of Hitler in the run up to WWII. Not only is this a bizarre analogy to make when America has already been at war for almost six year now, but it misses one very important but largely forgotten pre-WWII incident:

The Ruhr Crisis.

Following WWI, Germany struggled to make its reparation payments imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles. France thought Germany was wealthy enough to make the payments and also thought they might be secretly hoarding resources to rebuild its military with. Britain was busy elsewhere at the time and tried to delay action on the repayment issue. But, on January 11, 1923, using the excuse of a delayed shipment of telephone poles, France, along with Belgium, invaded the Ruhr Valley, home of Germany's coal and steel industries.

The French didn't find any secret military stashes, and efforts to directly extract reparations proved to be disastrous. Strikes by the coal, steel and rail workers of the occupied Ruhr region slowed the region's output to near zero. The German government supported the strikers with payments in cash that they simply printed and sent, which led to hyperinflation. A series of insurgent attacks further destabilized the region and the German government, which led to several coup attempts, including the Nazi's failed Beer Hall Putsch.

The Ruhr Crisis was ended by the Dawes Plan in Spetember of 1924. It called for France and Belgium to withdraw their troops, Germany to renew its reparation payments with the help of an eased payment schedule, foreign loans, new taxes and an allied reorganized central bank.

Less than a decde later, the spectre of the Ruhr Crisis haunted Britain and France during the rise of German military strength and aggression under Hitler and played its part in their decision not to engage Germany militarily.

I think the occupation of Iraq may prove to be America's Ruhr Crisis. Once we finally withdraw from Iraq, it's doubtful that America will be willing invade another Middle Eastern country for decades to come.