Four Globetrotters: My Letter to Congress Regarding Overseas Comparabi...

Four Globetrotters: My Letter to Congress Regarding Overseas Comparabi...: "Below is a letter sent to Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, and Congressman Gerry Connelly from another Foreign Service officer (FSO). I only post this to show you the complexities of serving in the FS abroad and the sacrifices that many of the FSO's and their families make to live and serve abroad. We too have been through some interesting situations that I would love to write about someday. But...I thought many of you might find her story interesting reading.

The devil..not in disguise

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Gaddafi is so the devil himself. He is a crazed lunatic that cannot concieve that his people don't want him. I can't beleive he would rather burn Libiya alive than relinquish his power. He is absolutely a nut case.

Egypt in Crises

History repeats its self. Long time rulers just are not good for society. That is one good thing about democracy...it usually stipulates a limit of term in office. It's time for Egypt to consider at least that point of democracy when reforming takes place. I hope they can work it out with out a lot of turmoil.

Interaction of Sciece and Culture in Music

Many of my favorite songs relate to the interaction of science and culture. There were two recent events that reminded me of that interaction.

It was recently reported in the news that Kodak is no longer manufacturing the chemicals to process Kodachrome film. The last processing lab closed up shop at the end of 2010. Although there are other film development processes, Kodachrome was a favored process because it produced very brilliant colors. Color photography that was available to the commoner was a technological revolution to our grandparents just as computers and the Internet are to us. So here is Paul Simon singing Kodachrome.



The other event was the new year. I always think of this song around New Year.

3rd Annual College Bowl Pick'em Contest

I sent out invitations for the email addresses that I have, but I have lost the email addresses for:
Shawn
Dallin
Russell
Lawrence
Tito
Let me know what those addresses or anyone else you think would like to participate and I will send out invitations right away. That includes friends, spouses, partners, relatives, etc.
1st Annual Contest Winner: Alan
2nd Annual Contest Winner: Alan
3rd Annual Contest Winner: ???

Study: NBA referees’ whistles not entirely colorblind

"Economists Joe Price of Brigham Young University and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania found that players get called for 4 percent fewer fouls by officials of their same race."

I am not convinced of this because there are so many mitigating factors, and if there is only "4% racial bias," then I think we are doing quite well. Most researchers accept a +-5% error in their stats anyway, so I think it's safe to say that there is essentially no racial bias in NBA refereeing.

What really needs to be studied is if there is star-power bias in the NBA. That is, do star players get called for fewer fouls than do lesser players? I am convinced that there is star-power bias. Many game announcers suggest that there is and I perceive the same in the games that I watch. The star-power bias is the main reason I don't much care for NBA basketball.

It reads like Science Fiction

If you ever wondered like me why Iran was simply allowed to thumb it's nose at the IEAE and other western nations, this article seems to explain it. Super secret stuff was going on, and I doubt the article covers everything. I know some of you are allergic to Fox News, but it's a fascinating read anyway!

Another article here describes the James Bond type of stuff going on.

Printing Money

The Federal Reserve has been quietly printing money (well, not so much printing as issuing electronic credit) and buying US debt, which is the equivalent of me printing money to pay for my wife's spending. However, the Fed is going to sharply increase quantitative easing (a nice euphemism for 'printing money'') with a planned outlay of $600 billion dollars. This is angering out creditors, which is just about everybody (China, Japan, UK, South Africa, Germany,...). The reason of course is that printing money without a corresponding increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) results in a devalued dollar, which not only devalues the debt owned by other nations, but also devalues the dollars in our own pockets. In addition, I learned something shocking that I never knew before. While the US Government pays interest on the money it borrows, it doesn't pay anything to reduce the principal. In other words, we pay interest only! No principal. The idiocy of that needs no explanation.

So what is the answer to our problem? Bring spending under control. No more bailouts, no more too big to fail (too-big-to-save should be our policy), no more handouts to political constituency groups. In fact, I advocate a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. It's been tried before, but the politicians lacked the political will to finish the job. We need it now more than ever.

Addendum: As I have previously stated, no matter the type of government each of us desires or envisions for this country, it must be founded on sound fiscal principles to survive or to succeed in its goals. One cannot defy gravity forever.

Here we go, here we go!

How high will the tidal wave be on Tuesday?

Republicans will take back the House, the Senate is in flux but probably will remain in Democrat hands (barely).

But when the dust settles, what will change?

What to you think?

Minnesota Governor Pawlenty just explained on Face the Nation that the battle would be over reducing government via, of course, reducing entitlement programs.

George Will's Sunday column encourages us to watch carefully certain races in order to fully appreciate the depth of the revolution of 'less' government that is upon us.

Ummm...less, continually less, less and less spending. I get it. But few specifics. Nearly never any explanations of how to spend a lot less. Just what do the Republicans agree among themselves to reduce? Will representatives and senators from Arizona and Florida, two hubs of retirees, dare to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security? How about reducing military spending in states that have major military installations? How about closing down federal agencies? Which ones? Will repeal of Obama's health care plan bill be a safe effort for them?

I don't fear the Republican wave because they will be just as inefficient, just as unwise, just as unwilling to cross the aisle as the Democrat and Republican majorities that preceded them.
And ultimately, it is unclear what, if anything, will change for the better in our lives.

Utah and Massachusetts

Democrats in Utah fight behind enemy lines. The state’s governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, and state auditor are all Republicans. Republicans have 21 seats in the state senate to the Democrats’ 8, and 53 seats in the state house to the Democrats’ 22.

Republicans in Massachusetts fight behind enemy lines. The state’s governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of the commonwealth, attorney general, and state auditor are all Democrats. Democrats have 35 seats in the state senate to the Republicans’ 5 and 144 seats in the state house to the Republicans’ 16.

Federal government representation in Utah has 2 Republican
Senators, 2 Republican Representatives, and 1 Democrat Representative.

Federal government representation in Massachusetts has 1 Republican Senator, 1 Democrat Senator, and all 10 house seats are held by Democrats.

In 2008, Utahs gave John McCain 62% of the vote and Barack Obama 34%. The results are similar for Massachusetts in that Barack Obama had 62% of the vote and John McCain 36%.

Overall, it seems that Massachusetts is as much Democrat as Utah is Republican.

The purpose of this post is mostly informative, but also inspired by a local Democratic candidate for House District 60 in which I live. Alan Keele (D) is running against Brad Daw (R). I know Brad Daw personally, and I know Alan Keele from BYU. He was a professor of German and had an office just down the hall from me. I also used to live by his aged uncle. I knew Alan Keele to be a respected professor (more evidence that BYU is not monolithically Republican) and he seemed to be a reasonable man. I read some of his campaign literature to see if he could be a Democrat I could vote for (I am always looking for such a candidate). He seemed to be saying all the right things, i.e., fiscal responsibility, good on education, even the usual stuff about the environment, but then I ran across this line: "A one-party system benefits only extremists. Think of Cuba or North Korea." I was deflated. He is comparing Utah (and Massachusetts
for that matter) to Cuba and North Korea, and implying that Utah Republicans are dictators (and MA Dems as well, I guess). In Utah and Massachusetts, other parties are allowed to operate and run for office. That is not the case in Cuba and North Korea. Opposing persons are either dead or in prision. So such a statement was too over the top for me. I will be sticking with Brad Daw.

I vote "No" Mosque so close to ground zero

When O'Rielly argued with the ladies on the view this past week and stated that it was "Muslims that attacked us on 9/11", the ladies got all in a huff stating that he shouldn't blame the entire Muslim people and that he shouldn't lump them all together to insinuate that they are all terrorists. I think what O'Rielly was saying was similar to what we all do when we are talking war. "the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor", "The Germans murdered Jews", "The British are coming!" We've always lumped people together. We do that to ourselves. Honestly, all the attackers and Master Mines on 9/11 were Muslim. Radical yes...but they carry the name and they even admit that they did it in the name of Islam. Is that to say that we should have said..."The Radical Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor" and the "Radical Germans murdered the Jews" and "the Radical British are coming"? No....because everyone already knows that not the entire nation of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor....their government made that decision. Same with the Germans and the British. If those women of the view think that we viewers are so stupid to hear O'Rielly say that "the Muslims attacked us on 9/11" and we are all sitting there thinking that the entire Muslim population were in on that...then they are just rediculous. I'm not so stupid to sit there and think that. I know what he meant. And although I am not opposed to the Muslims building their mosques in our country, after all, we have our Christian churches and temples built through out the world, I do beleive that out of respect for those families and those people that lived through the horror of 9/11, they should sell the land they purchased and build their Mosque further away from the actual site of where 9/11 occurred. It is kind of a knife twisting thing to have it built there. I think that would be the honorable thing to do.

We don't know God's time.

I hardly get any time to post or write anymore, even about some of the topics I've promised to write about. Even in this bad economy, I still have way too much work on my desk (Malachi 3:10). Nevertheless, I try to read as much as I can, and I found this article by Orson Scott Card closely reflects the way I think about most of church doctrine. That is, God has revealed only a sliver of the 'what to do' and 'what not to do,' and has revealed almost nothing about the how and why. Click on the title of this post of find it.

Yikes!

Ok...I have never heard of this guy until today, but after reading the article attached, I can see he spews out hate. (Just like Westboros Baptist church in Topeka) He's up to no good. I hope he doesn't get the attention in NY that he hopes to get. He obiously doesn't like Muslims, but after a little bit of research on him....he hates Mormons equally. Sorry for him in the long run. After preaching so much hate and negativity it must really leave his mind in darkness. What an awful state to live in.

BYU Goes Indepenent

BYU announced that, starting in 2011, it is going independent in football and joining the West Coast Conference (WCC) in other sports accommodated by the WCC.
For me, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I was initially excited when Boise State joined the MWC. Then I was deflated with Utah left for the PAC. Then I was worried that BYU would join the WAC again, which would have been disastrous. Now I am happy again (but not without concern) that BYU is aiming for higher goals by going independent in football.

There are some drawbacks to the plan, but due to lack of time, I will list only the points that come to mind.

1. BYU's main goal is exposure, not money, although the money is nice when you don't have to share it with other conference members.
2. The WCC is a good fit because all the WCC schools are faith-based institutions (mostly Catholic, I think).
3. We can watch all BYU games, both football and basketball, and many other sports.
4. BYU signed a nice contract with ESPN for home games and announced a six game series with Notre Dame.
5. BYU has already been getting calls from various universities for scheduling requests because BYU draws fans extremely well where ever they go. That means money for the scheduled university.
6. The BCS is out of the question for the first few years of independence, but down the road they might be able to work out a Notre Dame-like deal, provided that they perform well enough.
7. Poor Boise State. They thought they were getting into a competitive conference. Now they are left with a conference that very much resembles the WAC they left.
8. Craig Thompson, the MWC commissioner, is upset at BYU, but it was his clumsy, ill-conceived TV contract that he signed several years ago that started the problem. Then he raids the WAC, probably utterly destroying it to head off BYU. Now he must deal with the problem of his own making.
9. Now I must absolutely get that big, flat screen TV I have been dreaming about.

Horrors! Anti-incumbency is sweeping the nation! NOT!

Such a hubbub! Everyone is angry! They're throwing the bums out! The Tea Party Revolution is for real! The American public has awoken!

Sorry to disappoint.

Of the 324 primaries held thus far incumbents have won 317 times...and the bums have been thrown out only 7 (Utah Senator Bob Bennett being one of them). Tomorrow two more incumbents are expected to win (McCain being one of them).

There is clearly no anti-incumbent fervor...not within parties at least...not during the primaries at least. Which 'bums' the American people intend to throw out seems to be only dependent on one block of voters: independents, as usual.