Former New York City mayor Ed Koch is a Democrat who not only supported Obama for President but actively campaigned for him, especially to key Jewish blocs of voters. He has since admitted this was a mistake because he like many others sees what a disaster Obama's national security policies have been for the US.
It has been a month now since Ed Koch raised a lot of valid and serious questions in Intervening in Libya Rebellion a Strategic Mistake. I think it is safe to say that he is still waiting for answers.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
No, Those Aren't Elephants That You See Around Fort Wayne
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding, IPFW initiated an event in 2005 called Mastodons on Parade that resulted in the fabrication of 102 painted Mastodons that were eventually scattered to various locations throughout the Fort Wayne area.
With the passage of time and the arrival on new Fort Wayne residents it is understandable that not everyone knows that these figures are not elephants but Mastodons so maybe this is a good time to let everybody know that they can go to Mastodons on Parade to find out all you need to know about the initiative and all 102 Mastodons.
If you would just like to browse through the different Mastodons take this link to the gallery. You can use the gallery as you drive around town to help your kids play a game to see how many of the Mastodons they can identify and record their location.
And another word of thanks to the sponsors and those who worked on this wonderful project.
With the passage of time and the arrival on new Fort Wayne residents it is understandable that not everyone knows that these figures are not elephants but Mastodons so maybe this is a good time to let everybody know that they can go to Mastodons on Parade to find out all you need to know about the initiative and all 102 Mastodons.
If you would just like to browse through the different Mastodons take this link to the gallery. You can use the gallery as you drive around town to help your kids play a game to see how many of the Mastodons they can identify and record their location.
And another word of thanks to the sponsors and those who worked on this wonderful project.
Peggy Noonan Says Make Him a Saint
There are only a few reasons needed for me to conclude that Ronald Reagan is the greatest President of my lifetime. One obvious reason is the critical role that he played in ending the Cold War. He rightly is given a lot of credit but no single man can claim all the credit for such a historic accomplishment. There is another great man who had already started paving the road that Reagan traveled to the end of the Cold War.
My thanks go to Peggy Noonan for reminding me of some of the most historic days in the history of the 20th Century in her call to Make John Paul II a Saint. I will never forget how historic it was to have a Polish cardinal elevated to the papacy. However, I had forgotten his dramatic visit as Pope to his Polish homeland in 1979 while Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain. I had forgotten how millions of Poles attended his celebratory Masses despite being under Communist rule. And I had forgotten how millions went to Rome to honor him at his death years later.
I leave it to others to determine if he should be declared a saint. I don't understand the process and I don't know how that is determined. But I know and I agree with Peggy Noonan that he is a man who made political history.
Those who follow me on Twitter know that I often tweet one of the several hundred quotes that I have collected through the years that are meaningful to me that I hope might inspire others. On April 27 I tweeted this quote:
None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.-Pearl S. Buck
I think that provides me some understanding of the courage and bravery of the Polish people energized by the remarkable life of Karol Wojtylwa, the cardinal of Krakow, who will forever be remembered by millions as Pope John Paul II and now as Blessed John Paul II. Thank you again to Peggy Noonan for helping me to remember him and his contribution to mankind.
My thanks go to Peggy Noonan for reminding me of some of the most historic days in the history of the 20th Century in her call to Make John Paul II a Saint. I will never forget how historic it was to have a Polish cardinal elevated to the papacy. However, I had forgotten his dramatic visit as Pope to his Polish homeland in 1979 while Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain. I had forgotten how millions of Poles attended his celebratory Masses despite being under Communist rule. And I had forgotten how millions went to Rome to honor him at his death years later.
I leave it to others to determine if he should be declared a saint. I don't understand the process and I don't know how that is determined. But I know and I agree with Peggy Noonan that he is a man who made political history.
Those who follow me on Twitter know that I often tweet one of the several hundred quotes that I have collected through the years that are meaningful to me that I hope might inspire others. On April 27 I tweeted this quote:
None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.-Pearl S. Buck
I think that provides me some understanding of the courage and bravery of the Polish people energized by the remarkable life of Karol Wojtylwa, the cardinal of Krakow, who will forever be remembered by millions as Pope John Paul II and now as Blessed John Paul II. Thank you again to Peggy Noonan for helping me to remember him and his contribution to mankind.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Geek girls can still be chic
I think some of my followers might like some of these, well maybe. Anyway, credit to ZDNet for the photo essay.
Geek girls can still be chic
Geek girls can still be chic
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Why Many of Our Schools Are Failing
Thomas Sowell has long been one of my favorite opinion writers. In his commentary Bull About Bullying he enumerates many of the reasons that so many of our schools are disasters by almost any measure you apply. And the most prominent political solutions being offered are a lot of talk and more and more and more dollars when it seems clear that there is no direct correlation between educational funding and the levels of learning and educational achievement.
Learning is impossible without the appropriate learning environment. There can be no such environment when gangs and hoods disrupt any efforts by teachers and administrators to create and maintain an orderly and safe learning environment. And when lawyers are eager to represent disruptive students against any form of discipline, it is no wonder that schools become out of control and sometimes virtual combat zones. I think the most important point of the commentary is "When responsible officials are prevented from exercising power, then bullies exercise power."
I have often thought that we need school districts to offer more academies where it is clear that learning trumps every other consideration. Students would apply for admission. The application would require a signature of the student and both parents/guardians that students abide by all rules and wear approved school uniforms. Any right to sue the school, the district, teachers, and administrators are waived in writing by student and both parents/guardians for any actions taken by the school for educational reasons. Illegal activity by school officials would still be cause for legal or criminal prosecution. If a student or family is unhappy for any reason related to the educational program including discipline, their sole redress is that the student leave the academy and attend a regular public school.
I don't know if the political will can exist to create such a system of academies but I think academies of this sort would be very popular with a lot of parents of school-age children, many children, and probably many teachers too. And if that popularity exceeds the demand, then more such academies would be created to meet the demand and just perhaps increase the levels of education and achievement by our students.
Learning is impossible without the appropriate learning environment. There can be no such environment when gangs and hoods disrupt any efforts by teachers and administrators to create and maintain an orderly and safe learning environment. And when lawyers are eager to represent disruptive students against any form of discipline, it is no wonder that schools become out of control and sometimes virtual combat zones. I think the most important point of the commentary is "When responsible officials are prevented from exercising power, then bullies exercise power."
I have often thought that we need school districts to offer more academies where it is clear that learning trumps every other consideration. Students would apply for admission. The application would require a signature of the student and both parents/guardians that students abide by all rules and wear approved school uniforms. Any right to sue the school, the district, teachers, and administrators are waived in writing by student and both parents/guardians for any actions taken by the school for educational reasons. Illegal activity by school officials would still be cause for legal or criminal prosecution. If a student or family is unhappy for any reason related to the educational program including discipline, their sole redress is that the student leave the academy and attend a regular public school.
I don't know if the political will can exist to create such a system of academies but I think academies of this sort would be very popular with a lot of parents of school-age children, many children, and probably many teachers too. And if that popularity exceeds the demand, then more such academies would be created to meet the demand and just perhaps increase the levels of education and achievement by our students.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Not Looking Good for Jim Tressel
I first wrote about Jim Tressel in March and followed it up with More on Jim Tressel a few weeks later and it has been almost a month now since I have written about Jim Tressel's NCAA problem.
The second installment predicted that whether or not he keeps his job as Ohio State Head Coach will come down to money. It always seems to come down to that. With today's report by The Columbus Dispatch that NCAA Penalties Could Be Severe, I think it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to see a scenario that concludes with Jim Tressel continuing as Head Football Coach at Ohio State.
And apparently I am not the only one who thinks Jim Tressel is in trouble. Mark Bradley, sports columnist of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is blogging about Beano Cook's prediction that Urban Meyer will be the Ohio State Head Coach in 2012.
Tressel’s in trouble at Ohio State; Urban Meyer to the rescue?
The second installment predicted that whether or not he keeps his job as Ohio State Head Coach will come down to money. It always seems to come down to that. With today's report by The Columbus Dispatch that NCAA Penalties Could Be Severe, I think it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to see a scenario that concludes with Jim Tressel continuing as Head Football Coach at Ohio State.
And apparently I am not the only one who thinks Jim Tressel is in trouble. Mark Bradley, sports columnist of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is blogging about Beano Cook's prediction that Urban Meyer will be the Ohio State Head Coach in 2012.
Tressel’s in trouble at Ohio State; Urban Meyer to the rescue?
Are You Angry Enough about High Gas Prices Yet?
After Shell has spent five years and $4 billion dollars to develop new oil fields, it has been stopped by the EPA.
EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans
Why would any company invest any funds to develop our energy resources? How do we expect to have the energy we need to drive our economy? We appear to be doing all we can to penalize and criminalize those engaged in trying to develop the natural resources upon which we depend for our livelihoods and even our national security.
How much more of this nonsense will go on before we stop these self-destructive national policies? Or will we just go on as we are losing jobs, businesses, and tax revenues while energy costs inflate the cost of everything out of site and we fall back into a deeper recession than that which we still are struggling to get out of?
I am a firm believer that we pretty much get the government that we deserve and it is clear we have a government that either doesn't care about the supply and the cost of energy, is totally clueless of how things work in the real world, or is deliberately doing all it can to drive our energy costs higher and higher and higher with no concern for the consequences.
Is that really what we want? If so, then we get what we deserve. If not, then we apparently need to be prepared for at least two more years of suffering before anything can start to change for the better.
I admit that I grow tired of the complaints about high gas prices from many who have supported the politicians and the governmental policies that have resulted in this situation. It is still true that you reap what you sow.
EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans
Why would any company invest any funds to develop our energy resources? How do we expect to have the energy we need to drive our economy? We appear to be doing all we can to penalize and criminalize those engaged in trying to develop the natural resources upon which we depend for our livelihoods and even our national security.
How much more of this nonsense will go on before we stop these self-destructive national policies? Or will we just go on as we are losing jobs, businesses, and tax revenues while energy costs inflate the cost of everything out of site and we fall back into a deeper recession than that which we still are struggling to get out of?
I am a firm believer that we pretty much get the government that we deserve and it is clear we have a government that either doesn't care about the supply and the cost of energy, is totally clueless of how things work in the real world, or is deliberately doing all it can to drive our energy costs higher and higher and higher with no concern for the consequences.
Is that really what we want? If so, then we get what we deserve. If not, then we apparently need to be prepared for at least two more years of suffering before anything can start to change for the better.
I admit that I grow tired of the complaints about high gas prices from many who have supported the politicians and the governmental policies that have resulted in this situation. It is still true that you reap what you sow.
Public Housing is a Public Policy Disaster
I guess I should say Thank You to Ryan Elijah for this story but I find it hard to be thankful for such reports that leave me not knowing if I am angry or just saddened.
In Your Corner: Public Housing
It isn't that I don't know this is going on. It has been going on for decades now. We have been shoveling more and more public funding into programs that are destined for failure because such programs reward dysfunctional behavior. I am a firm believer in Econ 101 which states simply that whatever you subsidize you get more of and whatever you penalize you get less of. This is confirmed by our national experience since the beginning of "The Great Society" in the 1960s.
All of this is being done in the name of compassion but I think we need to rethink this entire process because it obviously is not working. By encouraging and enabling such irresponsible and dysfunctional behavior, how many more children are we sentencing to living in such conditions? This does not fit my definition of compassion. I called it enabling destructive and dysfunctional behavior subsidized and encouraged by tax dollars.
I think we all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How long are we going to continue such ineffective and destructive policies?
In Your Corner: Public Housing
It isn't that I don't know this is going on. It has been going on for decades now. We have been shoveling more and more public funding into programs that are destined for failure because such programs reward dysfunctional behavior. I am a firm believer in Econ 101 which states simply that whatever you subsidize you get more of and whatever you penalize you get less of. This is confirmed by our national experience since the beginning of "The Great Society" in the 1960s.
All of this is being done in the name of compassion but I think we need to rethink this entire process because it obviously is not working. By encouraging and enabling such irresponsible and dysfunctional behavior, how many more children are we sentencing to living in such conditions? This does not fit my definition of compassion. I called it enabling destructive and dysfunctional behavior subsidized and encouraged by tax dollars.
I think we all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How long are we going to continue such ineffective and destructive policies?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Earth Day Has Evolved
Earth Day has changed a lot since the first one in 1970. It seems for the first several years it was driven mostly by those in my generation out to demonize the free enterprise system for every conceivable environmental issue whether real or imagined. Many participants also glorified socialist regimes despite the fact that they are often the worst environmental offenders.
Earth Day gradually has evolved into sort of a national day of celebration marked by service projects and seminars. It also seems now to be used like any other day to market any product that could somehow be tied to the Earth Day message which is just about any product whatsoever with enough creative marketing. And maybe that's okay from a consciousness standpoint.
So maybe the best outcome of Earth Day now is having an annual reminder to be responsible stewards of our world so that we can pass its bounty to our children and grandchildren. Since I have been a Boy Scout Leader for 25 years, I often reflect Scouting's philosophies in that regard. Canoeing the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area along the Minnesota-Ontario border will instill in you a reverence for nature and the outdoors like nothing else that I know.
One Scouting tenet is to always leave your campsite better than you found it. That means you don't just clean up after yourself but you do what you can to leave it in the best condition for those campers who will follow you. That does not mean that you never use the resources that nature provides you. It means that you use them responsibly so the resources last and can be used and enjoyed by those after you.
So a wish I have is that we could raise awareness and an understanding that we too are part of the environment. We are part of nature and the environment like any other beings in our world. "For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19)
Those who fail to understand that we too are part of the environment are often committed to advancing agendas that fail to consider how such policies negatively affect us and our welfare, especially those least able to fend for themselves. Laws and regulations that needlessly restrict our use of the earth and its resources causing lost jobs, business closings, and economic malaise or worse result in many men and women being unemployed and unable to support their families. And that condition too is an environmental setback but one of our own making that is unnecessary.
Earth Day gradually has evolved into sort of a national day of celebration marked by service projects and seminars. It also seems now to be used like any other day to market any product that could somehow be tied to the Earth Day message which is just about any product whatsoever with enough creative marketing. And maybe that's okay from a consciousness standpoint.
So maybe the best outcome of Earth Day now is having an annual reminder to be responsible stewards of our world so that we can pass its bounty to our children and grandchildren. Since I have been a Boy Scout Leader for 25 years, I often reflect Scouting's philosophies in that regard. Canoeing the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area along the Minnesota-Ontario border will instill in you a reverence for nature and the outdoors like nothing else that I know.
One Scouting tenet is to always leave your campsite better than you found it. That means you don't just clean up after yourself but you do what you can to leave it in the best condition for those campers who will follow you. That does not mean that you never use the resources that nature provides you. It means that you use them responsibly so the resources last and can be used and enjoyed by those after you.
So a wish I have is that we could raise awareness and an understanding that we too are part of the environment. We are part of nature and the environment like any other beings in our world. "For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19)
Those who fail to understand that we too are part of the environment are often committed to advancing agendas that fail to consider how such policies negatively affect us and our welfare, especially those least able to fend for themselves. Laws and regulations that needlessly restrict our use of the earth and its resources causing lost jobs, business closings, and economic malaise or worse result in many men and women being unemployed and unable to support their families. And that condition too is an environmental setback but one of our own making that is unnecessary.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Dane Fife: From IPFW Head Coach to Michigan State Assistant Coach
As an IPFW alumnus and IPFW Athletics Booster (and 2009-2010 Fan of the Year!), I am always following IPFW events closely and the big news this week has surrounded Dane Fife. Dane Fife completed six seasons as the Mastodons Men's Basketball Coach and again this year, as the last couple years, speculation has surrounded his name whenever almost any coaching opening would arise in the Midwest.
From the day he was hired I knew that we were only renting him for a while but I honestly didn't believe that Dane would be at IPFW for six seasons so I thought the odds of him returning to coach a seventh season next year were quite small. And losing two key components in senior guards Ben Botts and Zach Plackemeier (I refer to them as the cornerstones of the IFPW program) would seem to give him more incentive to move on this year.
So when Mark Montgomery left Coach Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State to become Head Coach at Northern Illinois University, I told my buddies at work that this was the opening to watch. I had no insight other than just the well-known understanding of a very special relationship that Dane has with Tom Izzo and my belief that this would be a better career move for him than to take a head coaching position at another mid-major school only slightly higher up the NCAA ladder than IPFW where he really wouldn't learn a lot more than he has learned at IPFW.
Ben Smith of the Journal-Gazette captures my mood perfectly in A Natural Progression. This is what IPFW is and what IPFW is about. Reggie Hayes of the News-Sentinel chimes in with Fife's move smart for him including an observation that conjectures about Dane's future include the need by the current IU coach to start making some NCAA tournaments.
Among all the web stories and blogs available about Dane Fife being hired to join Tom Izzo's staff I found this one to be one of the more interesting ones not so much for the author's points and research but because one of the comments speculates that one factor that contributed to the hire is the fact that Dane Fife is in his 30's (barely) and he uses Twitter!
Meet Dane Fife, Michigan State Basketball's New Assistant Coach
From the day he was hired I knew that we were only renting him for a while but I honestly didn't believe that Dane would be at IPFW for six seasons so I thought the odds of him returning to coach a seventh season next year were quite small. And losing two key components in senior guards Ben Botts and Zach Plackemeier (I refer to them as the cornerstones of the IFPW program) would seem to give him more incentive to move on this year.
So when Mark Montgomery left Coach Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State to become Head Coach at Northern Illinois University, I told my buddies at work that this was the opening to watch. I had no insight other than just the well-known understanding of a very special relationship that Dane has with Tom Izzo and my belief that this would be a better career move for him than to take a head coaching position at another mid-major school only slightly higher up the NCAA ladder than IPFW where he really wouldn't learn a lot more than he has learned at IPFW.
Ben Smith of the Journal-Gazette captures my mood perfectly in A Natural Progression. This is what IPFW is and what IPFW is about. Reggie Hayes of the News-Sentinel chimes in with Fife's move smart for him including an observation that conjectures about Dane's future include the need by the current IU coach to start making some NCAA tournaments.
Among all the web stories and blogs available about Dane Fife being hired to join Tom Izzo's staff I found this one to be one of the more interesting ones not so much for the author's points and research but because one of the comments speculates that one factor that contributed to the hire is the fact that Dane Fife is in his 30's (barely) and he uses Twitter!
Meet Dane Fife, Michigan State Basketball's New Assistant Coach
Want Some Fries with That Hope and Change?
"Want Some Fries with That Hope and Change?" is a clever and attention-grabbing line from We're Stuck In a "McJobs" Style Downturn from Investor's Business Daily that points out how federal fiscal policies are aggravating our economic problems and worsening the employment picture for the unemployed and under-employed. Its claim that Obama is getting a pass on this by the establishment media is true unlike how the media mocked Reagan for what they called the "McJobs" recovery as the article claims.
The employment percentages cited are strikingly bad yet our government continues to spend money that it doesn't have at an increasingly alarming rate. On top of that, the increase in oil prices and all energy costs rippling through the economy are rekindling inflation. All the uncertainty and government disincentives for businesses to start, expand, and grow make it difficult to see any reason for optimism in the economy as long as the present government economic policies continue.
Obama appears to be ready to maintain business as usual with deficit spending and to demagogue Republican plans to cut spending as his plan to win re-election instead of addressing what needs to be done to begin getting deficit spending under control and to heal and strengthen our economy.
Eventually, one way or the other, deficit spending will be brought under control because we can't go on as we are forever because it just isn't possible. Either we figure it out or it gets forced on us by the Chinese no longer agreeing to finance our debt, by economic collapse, or by some other national calamity. However it happens, the longer we wait to get spending under control, the worse the cure will be.
The employment percentages cited are strikingly bad yet our government continues to spend money that it doesn't have at an increasingly alarming rate. On top of that, the increase in oil prices and all energy costs rippling through the economy are rekindling inflation. All the uncertainty and government disincentives for businesses to start, expand, and grow make it difficult to see any reason for optimism in the economy as long as the present government economic policies continue.
Obama appears to be ready to maintain business as usual with deficit spending and to demagogue Republican plans to cut spending as his plan to win re-election instead of addressing what needs to be done to begin getting deficit spending under control and to heal and strengthen our economy.
Eventually, one way or the other, deficit spending will be brought under control because we can't go on as we are forever because it just isn't possible. Either we figure it out or it gets forced on us by the Chinese no longer agreeing to finance our debt, by economic collapse, or by some other national calamity. However it happens, the longer we wait to get spending under control, the worse the cure will be.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
I Can't Take Donald Trump Seriously as a Presidential Candidate
I am trying to understand the fascination by many voters at the prospect of Donald Trump becoming a candidate for President and so far I don't get it. When I review his resume, I can't take him seriously as a candidate so my bigger concern is what is his motive. I guess I can speculate some but I'm not sure if it is egotism, a desperate need to be in the spotlight, or something more sinister.
Whatever it is, there is nothing that can convince me that he is or should be a serious candidate. I think Jonah Goldberg pretty much covers all the reasons here.
Why Trump Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously
Whatever it is, there is nothing that can convince me that he is or should be a serious candidate. I think Jonah Goldberg pretty much covers all the reasons here.
Why Trump Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously
Monday, April 18, 2011
I Guess My PDA's Days Are Numbered
I read 10 Things Killed by the Smartphone by PCWorld today and it got me thinking again about how much longer I will have my Palm TX PDA. I have had it long enough now that I'm not sure how long that is. What I do know is that it's days are numbered. I still sync it with my work laptop's Outlook calendar and contacts, but that is about it now. I only use it as a quick reference but that happens less and less and I really wouldn't miss it if I got rid of it now.
I know I am more than ready to move to some kind of a Smartphone but I am not sure how or exactly when that will happen. I still have a dumb phone because that is the cell phone provided by my employer since I am on-call 24x7. But it is getting increasingly difficult to not have a phone with web access. My guess is that I will have this conflict resolved one way or the other before 2011 is behind us.
I also have a Microsoft Zune which I won as a door prize at a technical seminar a few years ago. I use it quite regularly especially when working out. Although Zune lost the war with the iPod in the eyes of most critics, I still find my Zune useful and very entertaining.
Oh, one more thing - I guess I won't be needing my TomTom GPS much longer either then. But I think I'll keep my digital camera and wristwatch a little longer yet.
I know I am more than ready to move to some kind of a Smartphone but I am not sure how or exactly when that will happen. I still have a dumb phone because that is the cell phone provided by my employer since I am on-call 24x7. But it is getting increasingly difficult to not have a phone with web access. My guess is that I will have this conflict resolved one way or the other before 2011 is behind us.
I also have a Microsoft Zune which I won as a door prize at a technical seminar a few years ago. I use it quite regularly especially when working out. Although Zune lost the war with the iPod in the eyes of most critics, I still find my Zune useful and very entertaining.
Oh, one more thing - I guess I won't be needing my TomTom GPS much longer either then. But I think I'll keep my digital camera and wristwatch a little longer yet.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Driving Wisely and Gas Mileage
On Tuesday, April 12, I noticed an interesting exchange take place on Twitter when @KOMuireagain tweeted this with the following link from the News-Sentinel: Drivers bought about 2.4 million fewer gallons for the week of April 1, a 3.6 percent drop from last year.
Soaring Gas Prices
It was followed very quickly by this replay from allen_ts.
@KOMuireagain i've notice people slowing down on 69 again. which is good.
Now I haven't really noted drivers slowing down on I-69 but that got me thinking. I have never been one to drive around with environmental bumper stickers and I don't have an Indiana environment license plate. But I have seen plenty of both through the years, often on very large SUVs, speeding by me on I-69 around Fort Wayne and beyond.
For years I have been the old fogey driving on I-69 between 55 and 60 mph in the far right lane of I-69 because it is less stressful, it saves me gas money, and it is the environmentally responsible thing to do. Now I admit that I am usually driving only 12 miles or less on a trip up and down I-69 so I don't have any significant difference in travel time from driving at 60 MPH or less. But even on long trips, my habit is to put our vehicle on cruise control at slightly below the speed limit while 90% or more of the traffic passes us by since I enjoy the more leisurely and economical pace on longer trips as well.
And the same is true driving around town on the city streets. I think we all know by now that outside of the minor gridlocks that occur during the times everyone is driving to work or driving home from work that you can drive the north-south and the east-west one-way thoroughfares through Fort Wayne pretty much without stopping if you keep your vehicle moving at or around the speed limit. Yet when I do that I am constantly passed by drivers accelerating above the speed limit around me who then stomp their brakes to stop at the next red light. And when the light turns green I cruise by them until they floor it again to rocket around me yet again on their way to braking at the next red light where I again pass them as it turns green.
I drive a mid-size SUV with a digital command center that I usually have set to display Instant Fuel Economy. It gives me instantaneous feedback on how economically I am driving. I learned quickly to do my best to keep the engine at 2000 RPM or less because the fuel economy goes down dramatically above 2000 RPM. I occasionally switch the display to Average Fuel Economy to see how I am doing. I consistently get an average slightly above 25.5 MPG. That is really pretty good. When we take longer highway trips I usually average well over 35 MPG, sometimes almost 40 MPG on the highway.
A lot of this comes from driving habits that I have developed over decades. This article Drive Smarter and Get Better Gas Mileage from MarketWatch covers a lot of the obvious advice but I focused on a link contained within it that I add here separately titled Driving More Efficiently that has a graph displaying clearly the increasing price that you pay as you accelerate beyond 60 MPH.
Soaring Gas Prices
It was followed very quickly by this replay from allen_ts.
@KOMuireagain i've notice people slowing down on 69 again. which is good.
Now I haven't really noted drivers slowing down on I-69 but that got me thinking. I have never been one to drive around with environmental bumper stickers and I don't have an Indiana environment license plate. But I have seen plenty of both through the years, often on very large SUVs, speeding by me on I-69 around Fort Wayne and beyond.
For years I have been the old fogey driving on I-69 between 55 and 60 mph in the far right lane of I-69 because it is less stressful, it saves me gas money, and it is the environmentally responsible thing to do. Now I admit that I am usually driving only 12 miles or less on a trip up and down I-69 so I don't have any significant difference in travel time from driving at 60 MPH or less. But even on long trips, my habit is to put our vehicle on cruise control at slightly below the speed limit while 90% or more of the traffic passes us by since I enjoy the more leisurely and economical pace on longer trips as well.
And the same is true driving around town on the city streets. I think we all know by now that outside of the minor gridlocks that occur during the times everyone is driving to work or driving home from work that you can drive the north-south and the east-west one-way thoroughfares through Fort Wayne pretty much without stopping if you keep your vehicle moving at or around the speed limit. Yet when I do that I am constantly passed by drivers accelerating above the speed limit around me who then stomp their brakes to stop at the next red light. And when the light turns green I cruise by them until they floor it again to rocket around me yet again on their way to braking at the next red light where I again pass them as it turns green.
I drive a mid-size SUV with a digital command center that I usually have set to display Instant Fuel Economy. It gives me instantaneous feedback on how economically I am driving. I learned quickly to do my best to keep the engine at 2000 RPM or less because the fuel economy goes down dramatically above 2000 RPM. I occasionally switch the display to Average Fuel Economy to see how I am doing. I consistently get an average slightly above 25.5 MPG. That is really pretty good. When we take longer highway trips I usually average well over 35 MPG, sometimes almost 40 MPG on the highway.
A lot of this comes from driving habits that I have developed over decades. This article Drive Smarter and Get Better Gas Mileage from MarketWatch covers a lot of the obvious advice but I focused on a link contained within it that I add here separately titled Driving More Efficiently that has a graph displaying clearly the increasing price that you pay as you accelerate beyond 60 MPH.
US on road to Third World Status?
That very thought sounds pretty extreme but what makes one think it can't or won't happen. Certainly most everything is going the wrong direction and our President and his party seem to want to keep going down the same road, yet even faster. And in the real world the actions they take or do not take have real consequences.
Editorial: Who's Turning U.S. Into The Third World? (Investor's Business Daily)
As bad as things are now with government deficits (federal and states as well), joblessness, inflation, and gas well over $4 per gallon in some states already and sure to continue to rise, consider this. How much higher and faster will gas prices go up if OPEC gives up on the dollar's shrinking value due to our inflation and the Fed continuing to create billions of dollars out of thin air so OPEC begins pricing a barrel of oil in some other currency? That means that on top of all the factors already driving gas prices up, if the USD falls 10% in value against another currency being used to price a barrel of oil, then for us the price of a barrel of oil goes up 10% even if everything else is neutral.
That is not a pretty thought and that is another reason that we need to do everything we can to develop all our energy resources and to stop spending money we don't have at an accelerating rate. Our economy and our nation's security and maybe our nation's survival depend on it.
Editorial: Who's Turning U.S. Into The Third World? (Investor's Business Daily)
As bad as things are now with government deficits (federal and states as well), joblessness, inflation, and gas well over $4 per gallon in some states already and sure to continue to rise, consider this. How much higher and faster will gas prices go up if OPEC gives up on the dollar's shrinking value due to our inflation and the Fed continuing to create billions of dollars out of thin air so OPEC begins pricing a barrel of oil in some other currency? That means that on top of all the factors already driving gas prices up, if the USD falls 10% in value against another currency being used to price a barrel of oil, then for us the price of a barrel of oil goes up 10% even if everything else is neutral.
That is not a pretty thought and that is another reason that we need to do everything we can to develop all our energy resources and to stop spending money we don't have at an accelerating rate. Our economy and our nation's security and maybe our nation's survival depend on it.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Medicare Approves $93K Payment for Prostate Cancer Drug
I admit to surprise and also to ambivalent feelings when I read this report from Yahoo! Finance that Medicare says it will pay for $93,000 prostate cancer drug that extends life by about 4 months for patients in the incurable stage of the disease.
I think this is just the type of decision that is best left to the patient, his family, and his doctors. But I am realistic enough to understand that when such expenditures come from public funds and when Medicare costs are already spiraling out of control that this does raise the question if the funds could be more appropriately spent on other treatments for other patients. Now that is a really tough question to ask but I think we have to get used to asking those tough questions and having the public dialogue to reach these answers in the years ahead.
My thoughts are also complicated by the fact that in my own case I have already decided that if I am faced with this type of decision in my future that my choice is to be administered whatever drugs and treatment are necessary to provide for my comfort through my remaining days. I personally would not opt for any treatment that would be projected to extend my life for only four more months so I struggle accepting why anyone should do so. But I come back to it being a matter of individual choice based on medical advice.
In my own case I would make two exceptions to refusing such treatment. If I was going to become a grandfather again within those four months or if my doctors told me that by accepting treatment I would advance research toward eventually reaching a cure of prostate cancer, then I would seriously consider accepting such treatment.
What do you think?
I think this is just the type of decision that is best left to the patient, his family, and his doctors. But I am realistic enough to understand that when such expenditures come from public funds and when Medicare costs are already spiraling out of control that this does raise the question if the funds could be more appropriately spent on other treatments for other patients. Now that is a really tough question to ask but I think we have to get used to asking those tough questions and having the public dialogue to reach these answers in the years ahead.
My thoughts are also complicated by the fact that in my own case I have already decided that if I am faced with this type of decision in my future that my choice is to be administered whatever drugs and treatment are necessary to provide for my comfort through my remaining days. I personally would not opt for any treatment that would be projected to extend my life for only four more months so I struggle accepting why anyone should do so. But I come back to it being a matter of individual choice based on medical advice.
In my own case I would make two exceptions to refusing such treatment. If I was going to become a grandfather again within those four months or if my doctors told me that by accepting treatment I would advance research toward eventually reaching a cure of prostate cancer, then I would seriously consider accepting such treatment.
What do you think?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Another reason Urban Meyer isn't coaching now
It is Wednesday afternoon of a vacation week and I have Mom and Dad's taxes done. I am on pace to finish our taxes this afternoon, but I have to take a break to write this now.
I am listening to Urban Meyer being interviewed on ESPNRadio and it reminds me of an interview he did some weeks ago on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPNRadio. They asked him why he is not coaching. We know about his health problems which he discussed but he brought up another issue which I had heard only a little about before then, but now he covered it with some detail and I hope I can remember this correctly.
Urban and his wife have three children, two daughters and a son. Both his daughters are/were women's volleyball Division I college student/athletes. I don't recall which one, but I believe it is his second daughter who was the subject of his story. Her day for her official signing ceremony to sign her college letter-of-intent for her athletic scholarship had arrived and Urban was at his office as the head football coach of the University of Florida not intending to be at the ceremony. He was convinced to leave the campus and go to the ceremony by a secretary who said he had to be there for his daughter.
He arrived just in time to see his daughter sign on the dotted line and address those in attendance. He said that she thanked her mother in several ways for always being there to watch all her volleyball matches and for being there for her whenever she needed her and said how much she loved her mother for that. Then she said one sentence about Urban. She said that she loved her father too because she knows he would have been there for her too if he could have.
Urban told Mike and Mike that hearing those words from the mouth of his own daughter was like a dagger through his heart. He began to question what he was doing with his life and why he was working 100+ hours a week and missing his children growing up.
I think his lesson is one that all of us need to hear and remember.
I am listening to Urban Meyer being interviewed on ESPNRadio and it reminds me of an interview he did some weeks ago on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPNRadio. They asked him why he is not coaching. We know about his health problems which he discussed but he brought up another issue which I had heard only a little about before then, but now he covered it with some detail and I hope I can remember this correctly.
Urban and his wife have three children, two daughters and a son. Both his daughters are/were women's volleyball Division I college student/athletes. I don't recall which one, but I believe it is his second daughter who was the subject of his story. Her day for her official signing ceremony to sign her college letter-of-intent for her athletic scholarship had arrived and Urban was at his office as the head football coach of the University of Florida not intending to be at the ceremony. He was convinced to leave the campus and go to the ceremony by a secretary who said he had to be there for his daughter.
He arrived just in time to see his daughter sign on the dotted line and address those in attendance. He said that she thanked her mother in several ways for always being there to watch all her volleyball matches and for being there for her whenever she needed her and said how much she loved her mother for that. Then she said one sentence about Urban. She said that she loved her father too because she knows he would have been there for her too if he could have.
Urban told Mike and Mike that hearing those words from the mouth of his own daughter was like a dagger through his heart. He began to question what he was doing with his life and why he was working 100+ hours a week and missing his children growing up.
I think his lesson is one that all of us need to hear and remember.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Can We Grow Our Economy if Manufacturing Continues to Shrink?
Stephen Moore's opinion column We've Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers raises a number of critical questions about our nation's shrinking manufacturing sector. In short, we don't have enough people making things any longer. We have too many people counting things (accountants and tax specialists) and too many people moving money around after they take their 33% off the top (attorneys) and we decidedly have too many people micro-managing everything else going on in our lives and in our economy (government workers).
I remember being at a reception hosted by our financial analyst several years ago featuring an investment analyst from an investment firm based in a Western metro area. I touched on this very subject by asking him this question. "How is our economy going to regain its strength if we keep losing our manufacturing base? I know we can't make it if we are all working at Wal-Mart selling stuff to each other." He laughed and said he had never heard anyone put it that way before, but he agreed that is a critical problem that our nation needs to address and he had no answer for it. But he was concerned about it because manufacturing jobs pay better than service jobs and our economy and even our national defense depends in many ways on our manufacturing prowess.
It is understandable that much of the manufacturing base we have lost will never come back because the cost structure in the US is so much higher than many other countries. But there are many high-tech manufacturing jobs that we have lost and will continue to lose because of barriers put in place by excessive government regulations, overly stringent environmental laws (or even the threat of them as in cap-and-trade), and unproductive and costly practices forced upon employers by unions. Another hurdle faced by high-tech employers is finding enough qualified and highly-educated employees to staff their operations due to the failure of our educational institutions.
There are many factors that have caused manufacturing jobs to disappear. Many have been relocated to other countries. There are many reasons that some of those jobs could return to the US, but it will take an increased awareness of the problems manufacturing firms face and a commitment to help rather than to hinder the effort of manufacturers to locate, grow, and thrive in the US.
I remember being at a reception hosted by our financial analyst several years ago featuring an investment analyst from an investment firm based in a Western metro area. I touched on this very subject by asking him this question. "How is our economy going to regain its strength if we keep losing our manufacturing base? I know we can't make it if we are all working at Wal-Mart selling stuff to each other." He laughed and said he had never heard anyone put it that way before, but he agreed that is a critical problem that our nation needs to address and he had no answer for it. But he was concerned about it because manufacturing jobs pay better than service jobs and our economy and even our national defense depends in many ways on our manufacturing prowess.
It is understandable that much of the manufacturing base we have lost will never come back because the cost structure in the US is so much higher than many other countries. But there are many high-tech manufacturing jobs that we have lost and will continue to lose because of barriers put in place by excessive government regulations, overly stringent environmental laws (or even the threat of them as in cap-and-trade), and unproductive and costly practices forced upon employers by unions. Another hurdle faced by high-tech employers is finding enough qualified and highly-educated employees to staff their operations due to the failure of our educational institutions.
There are many factors that have caused manufacturing jobs to disappear. Many have been relocated to other countries. There are many reasons that some of those jobs could return to the US, but it will take an increased awareness of the problems manufacturing firms face and a commitment to help rather than to hinder the effort of manufacturers to locate, grow, and thrive in the US.
Monday, April 4, 2011
NFLPA: Union or Trade Association
I think it is likely that most NFL fans really don't care much about the NFL lockout or how it is resolved. We just want NFL games to be played as scheduled for the 2011 season and for Indy to host the 2012 Super Bowl to cap a full 2011 season.
My sympathies in the labor dispute are with the players because the owners have triggered this lockout by opting out of the labor agreement with the NFLPA before it was scheduled to expire. But I am totally amazed by how clumsy the NFLPA has been in representing itself in the PR battle with the NFL during the lockout.
The first misstep was coming out with all kinds of mixed messages encouraging draftees to boycott the NFL draft beginning Thursday, April 28. That foray was a PR loser from the get-go as a sure-fire way to alienate everybody by taking a position that offers no benefit regardless of the outcome. That is known as a lose-lose.
Everyone knows that occasions like graduations and other similar ceremonies aren't really for those being honored. Such occasions belong to and are for the parents. How could the NFLPA really encourage draftees not be present for their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk across the stage to shake the commissioner's hand, all with their proud parents faces being beamed on TV nation-wide? When the NFLPA got its act together and disavowed this idea, they could finally get beyond that PR fiasco and focus on the matter at hand like any union does.
Oh wait. The NFLPA legally isn't a union any longer since it decertified itself when the negotiations with the NFL broke down. It claims that it is no longer a union, just a trade association. Of course, the only reason the NFLPA decertified is to open the door for the anti-trust lawsuits to be filed by players as individuals since they are no longer restricted as members of a collective bargaining unit. The NFLPA has decertified before and reformed later and admit they will do so again.
The NFLPA is also in court against the NFL charging the league with bargaining in bad faith. Their rationale is that the NFL planned to lockout the players all along because they had signed contracts with TV networks that obligated the networks to pay the NFL even in the event of a work stoppage even though the NFL would have to pay the money back. The NFLPA is hoping that argument will win the day in court, but I have trouble differentiating what the NFL did from any employer who builds inventory before expiration of a labor agreement. That doesn't mean the employer planned not to negotiate. It just means they are planning for the worst if it comes to that. That sounds a lot to me what the NFL was doing in that sense.
And the NFL is not only contesting the union's charge but also contesting the individual anti-trust suits on the basis that the NFLPA decertification is a sham based on its history and the NFLPA's own plan to unionize again to negotiate a new labor agreement after what it expects to be favorable court rulings. Basically the NFLPA resorted to legal action when it could not meet its goals in collective bargaining. And after the court rules, the union will reform and negotiate what it hopes to be a more favorable labor agreement.
Predicting how the courts rule is very dicey. The NFL exercised their right to opt out early of an existing agreement and the union claims not to be a union any longer. And now the lawyers and judges will decide a result that could be unworkable for everyone involved.
The day in court is this Wednesday, April 6, but I have no idea how long it will take for a court ruling to be issued. Whatever ruling comes down will move the bargaining leverage to one side or the other. And everyone is going to have to hope that decision and leverage leads to the bargaining that will have to take place to get a new labor agreement in place for the 2011 season played and for a 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis to occur.
My sympathies in the labor dispute are with the players because the owners have triggered this lockout by opting out of the labor agreement with the NFLPA before it was scheduled to expire. But I am totally amazed by how clumsy the NFLPA has been in representing itself in the PR battle with the NFL during the lockout.
The first misstep was coming out with all kinds of mixed messages encouraging draftees to boycott the NFL draft beginning Thursday, April 28. That foray was a PR loser from the get-go as a sure-fire way to alienate everybody by taking a position that offers no benefit regardless of the outcome. That is known as a lose-lose.
Everyone knows that occasions like graduations and other similar ceremonies aren't really for those being honored. Such occasions belong to and are for the parents. How could the NFLPA really encourage draftees not be present for their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk across the stage to shake the commissioner's hand, all with their proud parents faces being beamed on TV nation-wide? When the NFLPA got its act together and disavowed this idea, they could finally get beyond that PR fiasco and focus on the matter at hand like any union does.
Oh wait. The NFLPA legally isn't a union any longer since it decertified itself when the negotiations with the NFL broke down. It claims that it is no longer a union, just a trade association. Of course, the only reason the NFLPA decertified is to open the door for the anti-trust lawsuits to be filed by players as individuals since they are no longer restricted as members of a collective bargaining unit. The NFLPA has decertified before and reformed later and admit they will do so again.
The NFLPA is also in court against the NFL charging the league with bargaining in bad faith. Their rationale is that the NFL planned to lockout the players all along because they had signed contracts with TV networks that obligated the networks to pay the NFL even in the event of a work stoppage even though the NFL would have to pay the money back. The NFLPA is hoping that argument will win the day in court, but I have trouble differentiating what the NFL did from any employer who builds inventory before expiration of a labor agreement. That doesn't mean the employer planned not to negotiate. It just means they are planning for the worst if it comes to that. That sounds a lot to me what the NFL was doing in that sense.
And the NFL is not only contesting the union's charge but also contesting the individual anti-trust suits on the basis that the NFLPA decertification is a sham based on its history and the NFLPA's own plan to unionize again to negotiate a new labor agreement after what it expects to be favorable court rulings. Basically the NFLPA resorted to legal action when it could not meet its goals in collective bargaining. And after the court rules, the union will reform and negotiate what it hopes to be a more favorable labor agreement.
Predicting how the courts rule is very dicey. The NFL exercised their right to opt out early of an existing agreement and the union claims not to be a union any longer. And now the lawyers and judges will decide a result that could be unworkable for everyone involved.
The day in court is this Wednesday, April 6, but I have no idea how long it will take for a court ruling to be issued. Whatever ruling comes down will move the bargaining leverage to one side or the other. And everyone is going to have to hope that decision and leverage leads to the bargaining that will have to take place to get a new labor agreement in place for the 2011 season played and for a 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis to occur.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A Coach's Guide to the Final Four by Bob Knight
Just in time for the Final Four here is Coach Bob Knight's Final Four guide in The Wall Street Journal. No, he isn't going to tell you who is going to win. But he describes how he prepared for his five Final Fours and the challenges he faced such as this:
"The NCAA also requires the head coach and a few players from each team to be available for press conferences before and after each Final Four game. When I had to go through this, I always understood that journalists had their job to do and I had my job to do. I tried to do mine and not theirs. From time to time, they thought they were capable of doing mine—but I never saw a writer with a winning record."
A Coach's Guide to the Final Four
"The NCAA also requires the head coach and a few players from each team to be available for press conferences before and after each Final Four game. When I had to go through this, I always understood that journalists had their job to do and I had my job to do. I tried to do mine and not theirs. From time to time, they thought they were capable of doing mine—but I never saw a writer with a winning record."
A Coach's Guide to the Final Four
Friday, April 1, 2011
If Obama wants Brazil to drill, why not US?
I am not used to seeing the Washington Post take an editorial position that agrees with me. Apparently they too are as dismayed as I am by the destructive energy policies of the Obama administration.
Drill, Brazil, drill, says the U.S.
It was just a month ago that I wrote that we need An Energy Policy That Recognizes We Are Part of the Environment too! It is both sad and ironic that Obama is strangling our ability to drill off-shore while heraldingBrazil
Drill, Brazil, drill, says the U.S.
It was just a month ago that I wrote that we need An Energy Policy That Recognizes We Are Part of the Environment too! It is both sad and ironic that Obama is strangling our ability to drill off-shore while heralding
So when I see the Washington Post editorial board also taking that position I get a little uncomfortable because I am not used to seeing such a bastion of liberalism agree that an Obama’s policy makes no sense. I can't figure out if Obama's energy policy is just incoherent or if he is deliberately strangling our ability to provide our energy needs. But I really take no comfort in any of this because I am so concerned for our economy and for our nation's future.
The Augusta Chronicle agrees that our nation’s survival depends upon responsibly developing our energy resources.
I think our future looks dark (pun intended!) if we don’t break the hold of the environmental leftists on our energy policy. Nobody is advocating reckless development of energy but we as a nation have to find a way to provide the energy needed to drive our economy and to provide the jobs that our growing population needs. If we can’t figure out a way to do that now when our economy is down, I fear that we never will.
This article written by Alex B. Berezow sum up our dilemma in this national debate thusly: "Groups that never propose realistic solutions are simply not worth taking seriously. Unfortunately, this characterizes the arguments put forth by some environmentalists. They should not be given a seat at the adults' table until they demonstrate an ability to propose a serious solution to the most serious of problems."
Larry Kudlow says we can solve this problem if we unleash market forces to do the work. That is how our nation became the most prosperous in history. That is how we can do it again. If we don’t, then we will continue to suffer the consequences.
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