A good article on "climate change"

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDExMTEwZWVjZmI5MGFmNzgzYmM1MWVmNTc0MDMyYTU=

This guy sounds a lot like another crackpot I know

I've been a huge fan of Ralph Peters for a pretty good while now. I read his book Red Army in the early 1990's and later Beyond Terror while I was in college after taking a class on Terrorism. I have a great appreciation for his background in military intelligence and the unique insight he brings to the topics he tackles. I was thrilled when I discovered that I could read his opinion columns online at the NY Post. He's one of the many sources I use to form my own opinions. Here's one from this week on the immigration issue.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/man_on_the_move_112672.htm

I found this article today...

I never cease to be amazed at how our sanctimonious politicians always seem to meet the problems of their own creation by creating bogeymen out of private industries. A little different perspective here on the gasoline price "crisis" as well as the what Congress has done to help us become energy independent.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/ss_oil0164_05_22.asp

Policy Brief from the Republican Study Committee - They make a pretty good case.http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/ss_oil0158_05_20.asp

A couple nuggets that I found interesting:

• India and China subsidize oil imports for their consumers - feeding demand while undermining market forces.
• American oil companies are forced to compete against national oil companies which are generally backed, subsidized and protected by their governments. In essence American companies are forced to compete on an uneven playing field for a scarce resource while being demonized by the very people who profit from it.
• 15% of the price of gas is taxes vs. 4% of oil company profits - strange how we haven't heard about any windfall tax revenues.

More later, maybe...

Vaclav Klaus vs. ManBearPig

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/208338,czech-president-klaus-ready-to-debate-gore-on-climate-change.html

If you ever wondered

what the "Global Warming" and "Carbon Credit" hysteria/nonsense was really about, here's your answer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021983/Every-adult-Britain-forced-carry-carbon-ration-cards-say-MPs.html

Don't think for one second that this wasn't what Al Gore (aka ManBearPig) and his cronies had in mind all along.

You have to know it's a crock if an MSM outlet can't even resist calling it a "scheme" (though "scheme" may have a different connotation in the Queen's English - it seems to sum it up pretty well for me.) It sends a cold shiver down my spine whenever I hear words/phrases like best, fairest and without penalising the poor as that's generally Marxist speak for wealth redistribution (aka bohica) or the further confiscation of individual liberties.

Excelsior!!!

On a lighter note...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92wr1UfMN_w

A few ideas...

I've been a Republican for most of my life. Lately however it seems as though I'm shifting (or that the Republicans are shifting away from me) and I find myself identifying with Libertarians. I was reading an article the other day about what the Republican Party can do to improve it's fall fortunes.

http://www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc/doc/an_action_plan_for_house_republicans.pdf

I keep hearing about "re-branding" which just sends me over the edge because I that implies that there's nothing wrong with the product or idea - just the packaging. Well I am here to tell you that it's the product. This country needs bold, honest, leadership (three things that seem to be antithetical to politics anymore.) Here are a few ideas I had in the shower.

Illegal Immigration - Secure the southern border with a physical barrier and buttress it with electronic countermeasures. Once complete then and only then a comprehensive reform of the immigration process will be undertaken and a guest worker program and path to citizenship will be established. Any illegal immigrants convicted of a crime and their families are to be deported. We welcome law abiding productive members of society.

Economic Stability and Federal Spending - To encourage pro-growth economic policies, restrained spending out of Washington and the formation of capital in the private sector.

1. Eliminate the income tax and replace it with a flat tax and require a Super Majority to raise that percentage. See http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/bg1866.cfm


2. Limit Federal Deficits to a percentage of GDP (except in times of war or natural disaster which then will require a Super Majority of Congress to raise it.) Though in principle I would prefer a balanced budget I think this would be a reasonable compromise. I don't have the exact percentage off the top of my head but I feel certain I can get one and make an argument that it's a good one. Anything that puts boundaries on Congress ability to spend I am generally in favor of and this should at least provide Congress with an incentive towards economic growth oriented policies to feed their urge to splurge.


3. Terms Limits for all members of Congress - 12 years. If the President is limited to 8 years I see no reason why legislators shouldn't be limited as well.

Social Security - is a pyramid scheme and would likely be illegal if run by any entity other than the U.S. Government. How do you sell this to voters? Be honest about about Social Security - it's been a give-away slush fund for politicians and a revenue source for the Federal Government's General Fund for years when there was a Social Security surplus - while there were more people paying into it than taking out. Due to the U.S. birthrate, and the impending retirement of the Baby Boomers, etc. the inverse is true and Social Security is insolvent. There is no way short of economic ruin the current obligations of Social Security can be met - we can either really reform it or allow it to bankrupt the country. The status quo is not acceptable but the details are negotiable starting with Phased Individual Private Accounts. Start by allowing 10% to be diverted to private accounts (which can be invested as the individual chooses) and work up to 100% over the next 20 years. Get the Federal Government out of the "Retirement Account" business. Imagine what that kind of investment capital hitting the private sector could do...

Energy Policy - Let's be honest with the American people - no matter how bad you want to be free of our reliance on oil, the alternatives and technologies are not currently viable replacements and even if they were the infrastructure isn't there for a comprehensive replacement. Face it, our reliance on foreign sources of oil - which sadly seem to be in chronically unstable parts of the world - OPEC (Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela), Russia, Mexico, etc. - makes one of the pillars of our economy (transportation) and ultimately our national security and freedom inherently vulnerable and unstable. Until such time as we have a suitable replacement I would propose the following:

1. Aggressive adoption of nuclear power
2. Fast track approval of domestic oil exploration and production by opening closed lands (ANWAR, North Dakota, etc.)
3. Fast track approval of additional refinery capacity (we haven't built a refinery in the US since ~1976)
4. Incentives and grants for investment in alternative energy technology and research.
5. Tax incentives for business to adopt cleaner/alternative technologies.

Social Issues - Here is how I think these traditional wedge issues can be addressed in a principled way while not necessarily alienating both core and swing voters.

1. Abortion - We believe that Roe vs. Wade is bad law and that abortion should be left up to the individual states to determine. However we do believe that as long as Roe vs. Wade is the law of the land that there should be a Parental Notification requirement for minors and Partial Birth Abortion should be illegal except in the rarest of instances (danger to the life of the mother.)
2. Gay Marriage - First of all we believe that marriage is by definition between a man and woman. However, we also believe that there should be no impediments to consenting adults engaging in binding contracts. Therefore if consenting adults of the same sex want to engage in binding contracts under the law equal to those of traditional marriage so be it. However neither private nor public entities should be compelled/required to recognize or extend benefits to parties engaged in such contracts.

Health Care - Require all Members of Congress and their staffs to use the VA Medical System. If it's good enough for our troops who risk far more in daily in PT than the ubiquitous papercut that most of our Legislators and their staffs brave, then it is good enough for them as well.

Just a few thoughts. Probably more later...

The price of oil

Here's the latest bee in my bonnet (metaphorically speaking.)
For you conspiracy theorists who think it's all about "Big Oil" making George Bush and Dick Cheney filthy rich you might want to go somewhere else. Unfortunately it isn't that simple. I see it as a multi-dimensional problem and a perfect storm of events. They are in order of relevence and priority:

The Global Supply and Demand Problem (the first is a well written article that outlines most of the fundamental problems driving up the cost of oil)
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080520/oil_prices.html?.v=8
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/domestic-oil-production/617

The Devalued Dollar Problem
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201075.html
http://www.fundmasteryblog.com/2007/09/29/how-far-has-the-dollar-fallen-and-why/

The International Relations/Geopolitical Stability Problem
Saudi Arabia
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05052008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/saudi_stick_up_109492.htm
Venezuela
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1807217,00.html?imw=Y
Nigeria
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805200165.html

The Speculation Problem (for those of you who don't understand Futures - here's an intro to the fundamentals)
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm
http://www.investopedia.com/university/futures/

So let's review.

• The US is dealing with a supply problem due to increased global demand supported by Asia's demand for diesel including China's apparent stocking up for the Summer Olympics. We're also dealing with a short term shock as China's demand for diesel has increased during earthquake recovery efforts.
• The relative weakness of the dollar (versus other international currency) due to (what I believe are artificially) low short term interest rates which the Federal Reserve has used to try and keep the economy growing. Of course this means our dollar today buys less oil than last year.
• The Saudi's refusal to increase supply for defying them regarding Iraq
• Geopolitical instability in Venezuela, Africa and Mexico
• All of these factors are fueling speculation on high demand versus supply which drives the value of futures contracts for oil higher and higher with every little bit of negative news in any of the areas listed above.

There you have it. Do I have any solutions? No, not really. The short easy answer is increase domestic supply. Unfortunately is isn't that easy for a host of reasons and it would likely be years before we saw the benefits. Alternative fuels aren't viable alternatives for a lot of reasons right now - from delivery infrastructure to supply. We're just scratching the surface of alternative technologies at this point in time - the biggest issue is and has always been power source. The battery technology just isn't there and even if it were available tomorrow we're still likely looking at 20-30+ years of weaning ourselves off of our existing petroleum based infrastructure (cars, trucks, boats, etc.) Bottom line, big oil isn't our problem.

That's all for now. More later maybe.

Stranger than fiction...

The Dark Lord of the Sith received a suspended sentence on May 13th.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24604338/
Rumor has it he has to shovel up Ewok poo on Endor for 12 months.

Here's the video of the attack. Unfortunately it isn't as funny as the article above or the images it conjures - until you look at how "Darth Vader" is dressed. It's at that point that you can really appreciate the comment about "having drunk the better part of a 2 1/2 gallon box of wine beforehand."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LHjL5EvfKs&feature=related
I'll bet he was Force Vomiting later or perhaps shooting Dark Explosive Diarrhea.