You Own Nothing by Michael Robertson

Ownership seems like such a simple concept. It’s mine, or it’s not. Very clear cut most of the time. While the lines do get blurred at times, when all things are said and done, someone owns the item in question.

What if the item in question is not quite as tangible as say a car. Take software for instance. I own a copies of several antivirus packages. Are they mine? The contents of those software packages, and the actual software itself changes almost daily. It is changed by someone I’ve never met in ways I’ll never know or understand. Is it still mine?

Michael Robertson brings up these points in his latest Michael’s Minutes. If Microsoft can change the way your computer’s operating systems works, do you really own the operating system?

The Xbox served as the training wheels for Microsoft’s new Longhorn operating system, which is slipping to a 2007 launch. Like the Xbox, Longhorn will limit what software you can load. In the guise of “security”, Microsoft is trying to dramatically change the way PCs work. Instead of the owner deciding what software they want to install and run, Microsoft is seizing that power from them. Under the smokescreen of security, they are pronouncing that it is good for Microsoft to decide what software you can use.

Think about it. Do you really want Microsoft, or any other company for that matter, deciding how you can use your computer. I know I don’t.

Beltway Bullfight by Peggy Noonan - and Who’s Afraid of John Bolton?

I’ve been under the weather for a while so I’ve missed part of the arguments for and against Bolton. That’s probably a plus in most peoples books. The best argument the Democrats can come up with is garbage like this?

“The latest line on Mr. Bolton is that he’s unfit because he may have sought the removal of two intelligence analysts he deemed incompetent and insubordinate.” and “You have a habit of belittling your opposition and even some of your friends” from Who’s Afraid of John Bolton?

I personally don’t have a problem with sending someone to the UN who isn’t thrilled with the how the U.N. is doing business. If we wanted everything to stay the same, I’m sure there is a Politician somewhere who could give us that. President Bush however, seems to want change, and I would have to agree. The U.N. is currently being run like the proverbial “Good Old Boys Network”, with all of the usual perks and none of the risks. I think Ms. Noonan sums it up best with:

“Or he’ll be a bull in a china shop.
But the U.N. is a china shop in need of a bull, isn’t it?”Beltway Bullfight by Peggy Noonan

Why is it that everything seems to go wrong all at the same time? My daughter and I have been exchanging illnesses for the last week or so, I think she’s winning. Since the only thing wrong with me at the moment is pollen allergies I’m heading in to work. Feels like I have sand in my eyes, and I think someone has been hitting me with a bat while I sleep, but you can only miss so much work. Coworkers are beginning to think I have some horrible and contagious disease. I’m sure the bloodshot eyes and raspy breathing aren’t helping anything.

If someone would just pay me to sit home and play on my computer I’d be set… Well, it has happened yet so I guess I actually have to go.

Coming Home - What I learned serving in Iraq.

The law is in place to protect the most vulnerable amongst us…
The law is in place to protect the most vulnerable amongst us…
The law is in place to protect the most vulnerable amongst us.
From On High

Truer words are rarely said. It’s amazing how some common sense rules of life don’t seem so obvious to others. For instance, don’t give the sexual predator a “get out of jail free card” seems pretty obvious to me.

I saw this coming. 10 years and $10B later, COPS drawing scrutiny I realize it’s easy to say “I told you so” with little or no proof, but it’s not often I get to say it all. So… I TOLD YOU SO! While 100,000 cops on the street made for great sound bites, it was never going to happen. It was never meant to happen. It was a token effort at crime prevention. We
deserved better then, and we do now.

Another big surprise, when you give away hundreds of millions of dollars, and don’t check to make sure it’s used properly… People don’t use it properly. I’ve never understood the gullibility of government agencies. Who couldn’t have foreseen that?

China’s container ship fleet and Taiwanese security

This can’t be good. China has been slowly preparing to take back Taiwan for quite some time. President Clinton seemed to ignore it publicly at least, but it’s been going on none the less. I’m moderately afraid to see where this is going. At some point someone is to have to tell them “far enough”. I don’t want to be around for that discussion.

As I noted before Giuliana Sgrena’s kidnapping, ransom deliver, and following checkpoint incident all seemed very odd, possibly staged. The investigation is not clearing up the confusion, though the preliminary report is clearing the soldiers of wrongdoing. One of the points the report doesn’t clear up is the speed of the car, though they give some clues…

The investigation found the car was about 130 yards from the checkpoint when the soldiers flashed their lights as a warning to stop. But the car kept coming and, at 90 yards, warning shots were fired. At 65 yards, when the car failed to stop, the soldiers used lethal force - a machine gun burst that killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena and the driver.

Senior U.S. military officials say it took only about four seconds from the first warning to the fatal shots, but insist the soldiers acted properly under the current rules of engagement.

The investigation failed, however, to resolve one critical dispute: The Americans claim the car was racing toward the checkpoint at about 50 miles per hour, the Italians say it was traveling at a much slower speed.

The clues I see are 130 yards, 65 yards, and four seconds. If my math is right (questionable) traveling 65 yards in four seconds puts the car at 33 miles an hour. While this isn’t as fast as the 50 mph the soldiers thought, I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. If this had been a terrorist, they would have been only four seconds from getting blown to hell when they fired. I still think Giuliana Sgrena has some answering to do.
Hat tip to The Jawa Report.

Going Viral - MoveOn and the Peacenik Crusade

When Fahrenheit 9/11 came under scrutiny from critics, MoveOn rushed to Moore’s defense. Pariser encouraged members to write their local newspapers to praise the movie. And they didn’t even have to write - all they had to do was click on MoveOn’s “easy-to-use letter to the editor tool,” enter a ZIP code, choose from a list of local papers, and then select a “pre-written” letter.

I thought we passed finance reform to stop this sort of thing, or was I just being naive? This is the sort of political manipulation that we should be legislating out of business. Make them come out from under their rock and admit what they are doing. Keep track of how they spend their money, and document it as the political donations they are. And most importantly the press needs to pull their heads out of whatever orifice they’ve shoved them in and do their jobs. Taking the information given to them by a political action group and printing it isn’t reporting, it’s advertising. Do your own research, find the real answers.

I’m beginning to think all reporters should be required to put the name of the last President they voted for on their byline. It would help clear up a few things. While I’m sure they are as unbiased as the next guy, but that next guy looks a lot like Michael Moore.

UNHINGED LIBERAL PRODUCTS FOR SALE - By Michelle Malkin

Yesterday, Drudge linked to a nasty anti-Tom Delay t-shirt being hawked at Cafe Press. The shirt urged the GOP congressman to commit suicide. Sold by artist Christopher Godwin, the product has now been removed (though you can still see it on Cafe press’ search engine complete with the caption “We can dream, can’t we?”).

Modern politics has been going the wrong way for most of the last century if not longer, the proverbial slippery slope really steepened lately. Have you ever heard a someone in the United States call for the suicide of a politician as political dialog? How about images of the President killing himself, or requests to assassinate him on T-shirts? This isn’t political dialog, it’s asinine whining from people who disagree with the political views of the sitting government. Some conservatives had similar problems with the Clinton White House, but I don’t remember anything anywhere close to this extreme.

Both sides need to straighten up. The liberals are way off base here, but the conservatives aren’t exactly being gracious winners either. I don’t believe we can all get along, but we need to reach a higher level of maturity with our arguments. The conservatives need to stop gloating, the liberals need to stop whining, and they both need to do what they were elected to do. Run the government, and represent the people who elected them

Senators May Have Blown Cover of CIA Agent
Senators Kerry and Luger apparently “outed” a CIA agent during John R. Bolton’s Senate hearing. Mr. Bolton and the Senators were discussing an agent referred to as Mr. Smith, when both Sen. Kerry and Sen. Luger referred to the man by another name I won’t list here. This issue will of course disappear, because while Luger is a Republican, Kerry is a democrat and therefore above this sort scandal. The only way we’ll hear about this again is if the press can figure out how to tar and feather Sen. Luger without splashing anything on Sen. Kerry.

Kerry cites voter intimidation examples
Sen Kerry is building his case for another “stolen election.

“Last year too many people were denied their right to vote, too many who tried to vote were intimidated,” the Massachusetts senator said at an event sponsored by the state League of Women Voters.

“There is no magic wand. No one person is going to stand up and suddenly say it’s going to change tomorrow. You have to do that,” he said.

My favorite quote however is:

“Leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you’ve ever had a parking ticket, you’re not allowed to vote,” he said.

Sen. Kerry of course cites no sources for these allegations, we should just take his word for it. I kind of hope they are true. Anyone who believes the “Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday” line should be excluded from voting just on that basis alone.

Florida With Rain
More funny business in the Washington governor’s race. Will there be a new election this year?

Washington state has supplanted Florida as the leading example of the need for election reform. The Evergreen State’s voting system is so sloppy that you can’t tell where incompetence ends and actual fraud might begin. Three Washington counties just discovered 110 uncounted absentee ballots–including 93 from Seattle’s King County–in a governor’s race that occurred more than five months ago and was decided by only 129 votes. Officials in Seattle’s King County admit they may find yet more ballots before a court hearing next month on whether a new election should be called. Last Friday, they reported finding a 111th ballot.

It boggles the mind how hard the Washington State government is resisting a reelection. The Democrat won by 129 votes after losing in two previous recounts, and now hundreds of ballots if not thousands are called into question. And yet the Democratic “mandated” government pushes forward as if nothing is wrong. I still miss Washington, but not Washington politics.

Hat tip to Sound Politics and John Fund on WA state

While I don’t think I’m actually done with the design, I think I’ll stick with it until inspiration strikes. A little boring, but the readability and organization are much better.

Since when is Al Gore an expert on 18-34 year olds? What does he bring to the table here. His name, and nothing else. I find it hard to believe that at any time in his life Al Gore understood the average 18-34 year old, and I am not excluding when he was 18-34 years old.

While the press can’t usually utter Gore’s name without mentioning how bright he is, I’ve never seen it. He doesn’t come across as an true intellectual to me. More of someone who wants to be considered an intellectual. To me he comes across as a politician through and through. It’s rare that he says anything that doesn’t seem to have ulterior motives. I’m a little curious about his station because of some of the nonpartisan claims though. I’m just curious about what someone as partisan as Al Gore think nonpartisan looks like. I’m thinking someone calls President Bush a moron within the first days programming. I give the first mention of the stolen 2000 election about an hour.

“We have no intention of being a Democratic channel, a liberal channel or the TV version of Air America,” Gore said, referring to the fledgling liberal radio network. “It is not in any way an ideological, much less partisan point of view in any respect. It will have the point of view of the young generation.”

Sorry for the lack of writing, I’ve been moving rocks in my spare time for the last week. Trying to get my new yard in tune for the spring. I had the lot regraded last fall, and this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to start cleaning up. I beginning to feel like I’m in a labor camp. Well… not exactly, I’m eating well and I could quit any time I like, but you get the idea. I don’t know how the yards going to look when I’m done, but at least I’ll be in better shape then when I started.

My Living Will

But if I end up on a feeding tube, and my physicians determine that I am in a persistent vegetative state -” if I am incapable of making and communicating my own health-care decisions -” here is what I want:
Get more opinions! Doctors are often wrong. I have, in fact, been known to show symptoms of a persistent vegetative state following happy hours or a long night at the pub.

The wheels are coming off the Future Combat Systems program

USA Today reported Mar. 18th that the number of soldiers killed or seriously injured in accidents involving up-armored humvees has more than doubled in the last four months. All but one of the 14 soldiers killed during the period died in rollovers. The Army suspects soldiers lack the skill to handle the heavier humvees and are losing control as they speed through ambush areas.

The liberals chastised (to put it lightly) President Bush and Co. over the last several months because the troops didn’t have enough armored humvees. Apparently the armor isn’t quite as helpful as the Left led us to believe. Surprisingly enough the military brass may have known what they were doing about when they sent unarmored Hummers to Iraq. Not being a military expert myself, I try to listen to those people who are experts in regards to military decisions. On that basis I’ve been trying to give the military the benefit of the doubt when it came to armor. It seems I was right to do so. The armor, while it is increasing the humvee’s ability to repel small arms, is so lowering the handling ability of the vehicle that the vehicle itself is becoming dangerous to the occupants. People are being killed in battle not by weapons fire, but by rollover accidents.

We need to get the politics and the press out of the military decision making. The men and women in combat need to do what they do best, and lets keep the politicians and reporters from influencing how the military does it’s job. My guess is that quite a few of our men and women would be alive today if the armchair generals in our government and the press hadn’t been hounding the army to “up-armor” their humvees. Yes, the armor protects the soldiers, but does it do more harm than good? We’ll never know if the death toll from lack of armor would have been greater than the death toll because of the armor, but this is a decision that should never have been necessary. Let the “real” generals do their jobs, and lets get the “armchair generals” to shut the hell up.

There probably is a middle ground. Some improvement of the armor is probably necessary, but we need to leave this to the people who’s lives are on the line and the highly trained people who support them. If they need something, give it to them, but otherwise stay out of it.

I wonder how many of the publicized calls for armor from soldiers occurred only after the soldier was told by the press about how vulnerable he was. The press has been all over this issue, and I think it they are doing the soldiers, our soldiers, a great disservice. My heart goes out to all of our soldiers. They are in danger protecting us and our way of life, and we’re at home bitching about armor vs. no armor. The “armor up” debate needs to happen, but I think the wrong people are debating. Let’s get some real experts in this debate, and give our soldiers what they need, whatever it is.