Dusting the 'Ol Blog Off

I obviously haven't posted in a loooonnng time. So many things have happened in the last couple of years I could spend months posting. But, I think I'll keep most of that to myself for now. Suffice it to say that, in the immortal words of my all-time favorite band, "it's getting better all the time." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0dBZ1meio

Local Politics Are Not For Me

Tuesdays are busy days for me. After work I pick up little man for soccer practice (I'm the head coach) and, after an hour-and-a-half of chasing fifteen 11-year-olds around, I take him home and head over to band practice. Practice last night was pretty fun, despite my tiredness. Dan Mole's (the bass player) wife came to watch us play. It was the first time in their 8-year marriage that she had seen him play. She seemed impressed. 

Afterward, Dan, his wife (can't remember her name), and I had a chance to chat a bit. He reminded me of the time a few weeks prior that I ran into him at the Nixon Library during a live broadcast of the John Phillips radio show (Ann Coulter was Phillip's guest for the evening). Dan was surprised to see me there. He and his wife have both been politically active over the past few years. Dan was the Orange County chairman of the Carly Fiorina campaign for the U.S. Senate. His wife had been on staff for a U.S. Congressman. 

Dan told me that he used to think the major power center was in D.C. However, he later learned that local politics is where the real levers of power are located. He said that he could introduce me into the political scene if I wanted. I've always been intrigued by the idea, but have contented myself with blogging and/or discussions with friends. My brief flirtation with the idea ended after Dan told me how jaded he had become after getting heavily involved in local politics. "You think the Republicans actually believe what they say about lower taxes, freedom, liberty...", he said. "But they are really in it for the money, the prestige...which committee they can get on to gain status." I was disheartened by that. I truly believe in the concepts of limited government, lower taxes, liberty, and the like. I am not naive about politicians, but Dan made it sound as though there were no true believers. This notion disabused me of any desire to involve myself in local politics. 

So...I guess it's back to blogging!

Hello

I have been away for many moons. Had a thought to look up my blog and take a stroll down memory lane. Glad I did.

Taxing My Patience

• Tim Geithner -- Obama's nominee for Secretary of the Treasury. Failed to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for several years while working for the IMF. Taxes owed: $34,000. 

Status: nomination confirmed.

• Tom Daschle --  Obama's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Failed to fully pay taxes for 2005 through 2007. Last month he paid $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest. On Monday of this week, Obama said that he "absolutely" stood by Daschle's nomination. The next day Obama admitted that he "screwed up." 

Status: nomination withdrawn. 

• Hilda Solis -- Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor. Her husband paid $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business, some of which had been outstanding for 16 years. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated that her husband's problems shouldn't be held against her since "she's not a partner in that business." Powerline notes that, while that may be true, she is a partner in any profits the business makes. 

Status: today's scheduled nomination hearing has been cancelled.

• Nancy Killefer -- Obama's nominee for Chief Performance Officer (whatever that is). Tax lien filed on her house for failure to pay unemployment tax for household help. The administration refused to answer questions about her tax issues. 

Status: nomination withdrawn.

And it's not just Obama's nominees. Long-serving Democrats are being exposed, as well. the most egregious violator:

• Charles Rangel -- Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Reportedly, the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation identified 28 instances where he failed to report "acquiring, owning, or disposing of assets" worth between $239,026 and $831,000. JWF comments: "One wonders how Charlie Rangel avoided an Obama cabinet appointment." 

Status: under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) said it best: 

"It's easy for the other side to advocate for higher taxes because, you know what?, they don't pay them"

I assume that Obama searched for the best and brightest people from his party to nominate for cabinet positions. Can't he find anyone who has actually paid all of their taxes? What do these faulty nominations say about his vetting process? And why is it that some leaders of the Democrat party, people who love to raise taxes, completely disregard paying them?

I'm sick of hypocritical politicians/entertainers (same thing?) telling me how I should behave, while they flaunt every rule they profess to love. Global warming, paying taxes. These people are shameless. Especially Rangel, who is the Chairman of the committee that writes tax policy! Brazenly evading the rules he took part in creating. How does he justify ignoring his own laws? If any average citizen did what these people have done, they'd have their wages garnished and/or be sitting in jail. It's outrageous.

The debate about the debate is over.

"He's from Hawaii, O.K.? He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there." 

That was David Axelrod's explanation of why President Obama's thermostat is set so high in the Oval Office. 

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times...and then just expect that other countries are just going to say 'O.K.'"

That was the president on the campaign trail. Let's see...his presidential limo is purported to get less than 10 miles to the gallon, and he keeps the Oval Office nice and toasty. Right. I understand the need for an armored car, but is it that difficult to lower the thermostat? Or is he exempt from making the same sacrifices he expects us common folk to make? And what of his concern about what "other countries" think of us? (note: apparently Democrats don't care about world opinion anymore. What else would explain the Buy American clause in the stimulus bill?) 

Forget about other countries. We've got enough problems here at home. Tonight, nearly half a million Americans in Kentucky and neighboring states are without power, and some are freezing to death. What has Obama done about it? Why did it take FEMA 9 days after the storm to show up in the State, while 101 counties had declared a state of emergency? Isn't this a scandal? Why hasn't the mainstream media reported it as such? Does Obama hate white people? Veterans? Where's Kanye West? (O.K. the last three questions weren't serious).

And can we put to rest the ridiculous notion that there should be no more debate about whether global warming is primarily man-made?

Global warming has been in the public consciousness for several years now, due in no small part to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-established organization created to evaluate the impact of human activity on the earth's climate. I've always been suspicious of claims that the IPCC is a purely scientific body, considering its ties to the UN--an organization that, in my opinion, is mostly interested in appropriating political power unto itself (perhaps a good subject for a blog on another day).

It wouldn't bother me so much if global warming alarmists used traditional forms of debate to persuade skeptics of the merits of their arguments. But, to the true believers, the debate about man-made global warming is over, and any dissent must be suppressed. 

Or worse. 

Case in point, one of the world's leading climate scientists, James Hansen of NASA, is calling for the chief executives of fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the lines between smoking and cancer. Some hear the echo of Stalinism in the clamoring for the heads of these perpetrators of violence against Mother Nature.

Interestingly, Hansen's boss at NASA, John Theon, has come out as a global warming skeptic and stated that Hansen embarrassed the organization "by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress." Theon declared that Hansen's climate models are "useless," and then stated:

"My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy."

John Hinderaker at Powerline exposes another example of scientific malpractice, a graph of global warming patterns known as the Mann hockey stick, which has been used in support of the theory by proponents:

More recent scientific work has thoroughly debunked the Mann "hockey stick" analysis. It has been shown to rest on "collation errors, unjustified truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, incorrect principal component calculations, geographical mislocations and other serious defects," as well as "incorrect mathematics." There are indications, at least, that some of the errors on the part of Mann and his collaborators were deliberate--an instance of the corruption of science by politics and perverse financial incentives that underlies the entire global warming movement.

Andrew Bostom provides an excellent short summary of the significance of the hockey stick and its debunking by more rigorous scientists, which is readily understandable by the lay reader.

If you really want to worry about the climate, consider the fact that we are due for another ice age.

One more thing that's a little off subject, but related: it still amazes me that Al Gore has made tens of millions of dollars and won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize for foisting what now appears to me to be a massive fraud upon the people of this planet. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the same organization that gave a Peace prize to the terrorist Yasser Arafat would bestow the same award on the Goracle.

Gore is like a cult leader to extremist environmentalists, particularly in the entertainment industry. What is it with the propensity for some on the left to deify their leaders (including a certain US President--I'll let you guess which one)? It's downright creepy. I admit that I get a chuckle every time he gets snowed out trying to give a talk to Congress on global warming. 

But mostly, I think this guy, who flies around in private jets and lives in a mansion that consumes more energy in a month than the average American household in an entire year, is a hypocrite and a fraud. 

Look, I think global warming probably exists. But, based on everything I've read and the documentaries I've watched, I believe that it is predominately due to natural cycles. Humans may have an impact, but it is likely so small as to be almost irrelevant in the overall scheme of things. Having said that, I believe that we should be doing everything we can to get away from fossil fuels and other pollutants, so as not to despoil the earth. To do this, we must implement rational policies based on science that's been rigorously tested and peer reviewed. Also, these policies have to be implemented gradually so as not to decimate the world's economies--particularly in the third world, which is trying desperately to lift itself out of crippling poverty.

The Joke That Stupid People Laugh At

Christopher Hitchens is an interesting guy. I tend to either vehemently disagree (e.g. religion) or agree with him (Iraq War) on most of the larger issues of the day. This video definitely falls within the latter category. It's beautiful.

From the comments section:

We all know from personal experience that stupid people think Bush-is-stupid jokes are hilarious and true. But that’s because they’re stupid.

Hitchens remarks to the audience, ‘None of you is smarter than George Bush.’

But I’m sure the Maher audience is packed with Harvard MBAs who can fly jet fighters. No doubt many have been general managers of major league baseball franchises and quadrupled their value. The audience must be wall-to-wall with former two-term governors of large states and former two-term presidents of the United States. And you can bet most of Maher’s audience have liberated 50 million people from tyranny.

Why, Maher himself has hosted a number of low-rated talk shows and made an unseen documentary. Need we say more?

Luckily, as GW passes from the scene, stupid people can obsess about Governor Palin of Alaska. They can even laugh at the same old jokes, now that they know the punchlines.

United States of Pop 2008

This is very cool.

Seems Like A Scam

This pretty much sums up how I've been feeling about the whole global warming debate.

The Media Have a Credibility Problem

Victor Davis Hansen points out the glaring hypocrisy in the fawning coverage of Caroline Kennedy and her bid to fill the Senate vacancy that will be left by Hillary Clinton upon her confirmation to the office of Secretary of State.

There are so many examples of hypocrisy in the media that entire blogs are devoted to the subject. This most recent example follows on the heals of the nauseatingly biased coverage of the recent presidential campaign. It's unfortunate that the media have decided to forfeit their credibility to advance their political agenda. The loss of professional, investigative journalism diminishes our society,

Happy Thanksgiving

On days like today that I like to take a few moments to count all of my blessings. It's healthy to get a proper perspective on life. So, here goes.

I am so grateful for all the rich blessings God has bestowed on me. I have a wonderful family, terrific friends, a great job, a nice house, a good church, my health (well, I've been fighting with that a little lately). I live in a nice community in the beautiful State of California in the greatest nation on earth. While she's not perfect, I'm proud of my country and especially thankful for those who place their lives on the line to protect us and preserve our way of life. Whereas he was not my choice for president, I'm proud that our country has elected her first black president. What a wonderful statement to our young people that, if you get an education and work hard, you can achieve almost anything. What a great country.

I could go on and on. But, I have to get ready to go to our annual Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. So on this wonderful day I want to wish all my loved ones that happiest of Thanksgivings. I love you all and am grateful that you are a part of my life. 

What Went Wrong

This article explains in laymen's terms how we have arrived at the current financial crisis. 

The Drumbeat

Wow. I wish I had written this article.

President Bush's gaffes are numerous and well chronicled. However, the mounting number of gaffes committed by Barack Obama have garnered very little attention in the mainstream media (for obvious reasons). For instance, who knew that America has 60 states?



Not only do we have 60 states, but new ones are being created everyday! Have you ever heard of "New Pennsylvania?" Apparently Obama recently campaigned there.



President Bush has been ridiculed for years for misspeaking and mangling the language. I'm certainly not going to defend him for that. But, the growing number of gaffes by Obama have gone largely unreported. Wonder why?

Oh, one more thing, just wait until Joe Biden gets going. That guy is a pompous windbag and a gaffe machine. Get out your popcorn. This is going to be fun!

This is Just Too Funny

http://view.break.com/567077 - Watch more free videos

Wow. These people are weird.

22 Reasons

For the most comprehensive list (to date) of why I won't be voting for Barack Obama, see this article (and the photo to the left).

The Conventions

It's been a long time since I posted and there's no way I'm going to be able to catch up on everything. But, I thought I would just quickly give a few thoughts on the two recent political conventions. I didn't watch all of either of them, but I did see enough (I think) to get a flavor for what went down. Some thoughts:

Democratic convention:

Extremely well done. For the most part, very professional and aesthetically pleasing. Hillary gave a very good speech, hitting the right notes in an effort to reconcile those of her voters who are still angry about her treatment in the media and by the Obama campaign. At the end of her speech I got the sense that even Democrats who did not support Hillary's candidacy were disappointed she wasn't on the ticket.

Bill Clinton gave a very good speech, as he is certainly capable of doing. And, s

martly, he kept it relatively short (those that remember his speech at the convention in 1988 will know what I mean). There was a lot of "Clinton" in this convention, which was unavoidable.  But, the worry for the Democrats was that it would overshadow Obama. It didn't.

Joe Biden's speech was a typical VP nominee address, attacking the opponents. It was marginally effective. A fairly good speech from a completely arrogant gas bag. 

Obama gave a very good speech. It's no secret that he's an extremely gifted orator. The staging looked good, but the columns played into the "Messiah" theme, which I think is working against him a little. The energy and enthusiasm of the 80,000+ crowd was powerful. 

Overall, I thought it was an extremely good convention, although I don't think the bounce in the polls was as high as expected.

Republican convention:

The convention started during Hurricane Gustav and, therefore, most of the speakers and events of Day 1 were postponed. I watched a little of the second day. The address by Bush was stilted since he wasn't in the room, but I thought it was pretty good. I like Fred Thompson's address, but it wasn't memorable.

The big day was, obviously, Day 3. I missed the Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee addresses, although I did hear some excerpts today on talk radio. I'm not a huge Huckabee fan, but I thought he was very strong. I LOVED Rudy Giuliani. He did an excellent job of clearly contrasting the differences between McCain and Obama, using humor along the way. Lots of red meat for Republicans (which is one of the functions of conventions, to fire up the base). 

But what the convention-goers, and I think the country at large, wanted to see was Sarah Palin. After nearly a week of sexist attacks from the "mainstream" media, giving credence to the outrageous lie that she faked her pregnancy to cover for her own teenage daughter (who is now 5 months pregnant), and suggesting she was a bad mom for accepting the VP nomination with 5 kids, including a 5-month-old special-needs infant (the same media who hailed Biden for taking the oath of office after the sudden death of his wife that left two young sons without a mother), among other things, the country wanted to see if Governor Palin was up to the task of being the VP nominee on the Republican ticket. And under all that scrutiny and pressure...

...she knocked it out of the park.

Her composure was astonishing. She was relaxed as she introduced herself and 

her family to the nation. She was tough on Obama, pointing out his many inconsistencies and weaknesses with a smile.  She was dignified and remarkably poised, yet commanding. She refused to play the victim, despite the media belittling her, her hobbies, and her family. I thought her address was well balanced with some policy (particularly strong on energy), biography, and attack on the opponents. As you can tell, I was very impressed with Governor Palin.

Unfortunately for McCain, there was no following that. The last night of the convention was kind of weak. I thought Cindy McCain did a good job and I thought John McCain's acceptance speech was good, but not great. However, I liked his theme of being a servant of the people. That's always been a gripe of mine about politicians. It seems that when they get elected, they think that they are our rulers; but it's exactly the opposite. They are there to serve our interests. 

I thought it was very revealing when John McCain told the story of how his time as a POW was

transformative. While undergoing inhumane torture, he came to understand for the first time what it meant to sacrifice oneself to a cause greater than himself (e.g. encouraging his fellow captives with a grin and a thumbs-up after torture sessions, not allowing the enemy to score a propaganda victory by refusing early release prior to others whom had been there longer, etc.). I thought it was an effective way to show how the notion of "service to country" went beyond mere platitude, and actually became part of him. It lends weight to his claim that he is beholden to no special interest or party affiliation. 

Certainly, McCain hasn't been perfect in this regard. There's probably instances when he failed to live up to his own high standard. But, it was the first time in recent memory where I actually half-believed a politician wanted to put the country's interests above his own. Maybe I'm allowing myself to be naive. Who knows? But, it made sense to me that such a horrific life experience would leave an indelible mark on someone, and that it could be used for good.

Overall, I thought the Democratic convention was much better than the Republican convention in terms of energy and aesthetics. In terms of speeches, although Obama's was very good, I don't think anyone tops Palin's. She gave a superb speech that gave Republicans, who had been fairly glum for the past couple of month, something to cheer. 

At the end of the day, the conventions are useful to accomplish the technical aspects of nominating candidates for the President/Vice President, as well as rallying the faithful and being a very splashy TV advertisement. How much it influences undecided voters is hard to tell. I tend to think "not much" (I think the debates are more influential). And, it's certain that the people who like their preferred candidate are not going to be dissuaded from voting for them. 

So, it comes down to the next couple of months of campaigning, debating, organizing on the ground, etc. I think Obama has a decided edge in this year when the Republican brand is in the tank. But, 2 months is nearly a lifetime in politics and anything can happen.

More, Please

It was nice to read this well-researched article in the New Yorker about the ideological battle being fought between hardcore elements of the global jihadist movement and moderate figures within the Muslim world. It seems that some of these moderates are people who were responsible for the ideological underpinnings of terrorism employed by groups like al Qaeda. 

It is very encouraging to see this debate occurring. For so long, I've wondered, "where are the moderates and when will they speak up?" Well, it turns out that the most persuasive arguments against terrorism are coming from a man who was part of the original core of al Qaeda--a man who literally wrote the book that the terrorist organization used to indoctrinate recruits and justify its despicable acts. This man, who goes by the name Dr. Fadl, has apparently had a change of heart and is now attempting to refute the very religious and political arguments that he formulated, upon which the jihadists have justified their brutality.

This is a very hopeful sign. I hope and pray that the debate continues and the moderates prevail. While terrorism is unlikely ever to be completely eradicated, it is interesting to contemplate the affect it would have on the world if it was to be delegitimized as a means to political ends.

Thank You...

...to all the men and women who put their lives on the line to serve our country, and especially to all who have lost their lives protecting our way of life. We owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

Odds and Ends

For the past several weeks I've been studying to pass my General Securities (Series 7) exam. Last week I took a crash course that built upon the foundation of the information I'd been studying up to that point. Although grueling (8-hour classes with 2-3 hours of homework each night), I'm really glad I took the class. The teacher was extremely knowledgeable (albeit slightly strange with a corny sense of humor), having worked in the securities industry, including at the New York Stock Exchange, for more than 30 years. Up until just a few months ago, she was also on the committee that formulated questions for the test. So, she was also helpful in defining a study plan that purportedly assists more than 90% of her students in passing the exam (which I think has a first-time pass rate of like 30%, or something).

I was excited to learn on Tuesday during a coffee break that my first client had invested money with me in an investment with my new firm, Westmoore Securities. Mostly I was glad that my friend/client would benefit from an excellent short-term investment opportunity--a note that is paying 5% a month! That was a highlight of the week for me.

The other highlight was driving home from class that same night (Tuesday) and talking to Cherie and Christian on the cell phone. In his first little league pitching outing Christian did great, striking out several batters. However, he had developed a slightly bad habit, which was related to his lack of confidence in his pitching delivery. We worked on it last Sunday and Christian was excited to tell me that he had struck out virtually everyone he faced (a 7-year-old striking out 9- and 10-year olds!). He has excellent command and a strong arm for his age. His performance helped out team (the Yankees) to beat the Padres, who had roughed us up pretty good in an earlier scrimmage before the season started. I was soooo proud of him. He was delighted and Cherie was, too. That was nice.

Christian didn't play baseball this weekend because he went to Glamis with his best friend, Michael, and his family. They had a great time, but I know the baseball team missed him (I feel a little guilty, like we let them down by not being there). Well, it was Christian's last desert trip for awhile, so I thought it would be okay for him to go.

Caley and Hannah had a choir performance last Thursday night that I was unable to attend due to my class. Our church, the Anaheim Vineyard, hosted the performance. Cherie said it went well, and the girls had a great time. Emma is still doing great at school and is such a silly girl. She is constantly cracking Cherie and me up.

Cherie is doing great. She got a new hair cut a couple of weeks ago and I love it. It's probably my favorite one. So, she's really happy about that.

Well, that's about all for now. I didn't sleep at all last night, so I'm hoping that tonight I sleep soundly. I have to take a benchmark (practice) examination tomorrow, which is supposed to simulate the real test. The results of the exam will reveal areas of weakness that I will need to shore up this week. So, one more week of study (hopefully) and I'll sit for the test.

Until next time...

That'll Leave a Mark

Taking Europeans to task for cowering in the face of radical Islam. It's a beautiful thing.