Aren't High Gas Prices What Democrats Want?

David Harsanyi lays it all out. This is what liberals and Democrats have been preaching for years. I think we need to pay attention to what people say and assume they mean what they say.

In LA Wednesday night gas at some stations is over $5 a gallon. I have heard reports that we will reach $4 a gallon soon and it won't go down much if any this year and that $5 a gallon this year is a possibility. Well in LA it is already a reality.

This is what the economic and energy policies of our current administration have given us. They say this is good for us and necessary for our survival no matter how much fuel, food, and everything else costs and no matter how many companies go out of business and how many people lose their jobs. Energy cost increases are like huge tax increases that reduce consumers' discretionary income slowing down our economy. And that is the last thing we need as we still struggle to recover from the recession and high unemployment.

Do they realize also that government revenues will also go in the tank with the economy and they won't have the revenues they need for all the give-away programs?

"Gas prices are spiking. That's great news, right? We have to wean ourselves off the stuff. At least that's what we've been hearing for years. Oil is dirty. We import it from nations that hate our guts (like Canada!). And moreover, we're running out. Oil is 'finite.' Finite much in the way water is finite."

"In 2008, Steven Chu, Obama's (and, sadly, our own) future secretary of energy (sic) lamented, 'Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.' The president, when asked whether he thought $4-a-gallon gas prices were good for the American economy, said, 'I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment.' 

How gradual? Like, what, four years? Or is it eight?

Part of 'figuring it out' surely had something to do with the recent decision by Obama to nix the Canadian Keystone XL pipeline project that would have pumped 700,000 barrels of oil per day into the United States. More oil just means more excessive, immoral, ugly energy use."

RealClearPolitics - Aren't High Gas Prices What Democrats Want?

Iwo Jima: A Remembrance

First posted on 02/22/2012 I have updated this on 02/19/2013 to repost on the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle for Iwo Jima which lasted from February 19 until March 26 in 1945.

The battle for Iwo Jima began 67 years ago this week 68 years ago today. My father passed away from complications of Alzheimer's Disease in July 2011. But 67 68 years ago at just 19 years of age he was going into combat for the first time at Iwo Jima as a member of the United States Marine Corps 5th Division, the Spearhead.

We can thank God that Dad was not in the initial invasion forces but he told me that his landing craft came under fire as they approached the shore a few days later. The sea was rough and he was nauseated with seasickness so he had his head up over the side of the landing craft as his stomach emptied. His commanding officer yelled at him to get his head down before he got shot. Dad said he replied in standard Marine lingo that at that particular point in time he didn't give a <censored>.

Once he reached shore, bodies of his comrades who had already perished in battle were stacked on the shore like cord wood. Unlike many who were less fortunate Dad survived Iwo Jima and the rest of the Battle of the Pacific becoming part of our occupation forces in Japan.

He maintained until death that Harry Truman was the greatest president he had ever known because Harry had the guts to drop those two horrible weapons to bring the war to an end and save half a million, a million, or more lives in Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.

(click to enlarge)

Dad told me of his trip to Japan on a troop transport sailing on the western shore of Japan's southern island, Kyushu, when his commanding officer called his men to the deck and pointed to the shore of Japan and said "Gentlemen, that was to be our beach." Dad saw the beach where his unit was going to invade Japan and immediately the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan" came to mind and I immediately understood what my Dad felt although I will never ever be able to understand fully.

Read Cyril J. O'Brien's Iwo Jima Retrospective at this link:

Iwo Jima: A Remembrance

Geography Strikes Girls Basketball Finals Again - News-Sentinel.com

Brent Rump of Indiana Web Sports reviews the geography issues for the IHSAA Girls Basketball Finals again this year when they will be in Terre Haute and the irony that three Fort Wayne schools can earn a place in the Finals and have to travel to Terre Haute instead of Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum.

We can hope that the IHSAA might return the Finals to Fort Wayne in future years when Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Conseco) is not available but there will be continuing competition with Terre Haute, Muncie, and perhaps now Evansville and their new arena.

If the IHSAA couldn't stand the heat politically with the Finals in Fort Wayne, how could they ever award the Finals in Evansville?

Geography strikes again at Indiana girls basketball finals - News-Sentinel.com

Former Nebraska Coach Knows Hoop Success Is a Challenge in Lincoln - News-Sentinel.com

So Bruce Weber is feeling pressure at Illinois which might cost him his head basketball coaching position after this season. I think that would be a shame but that is how it goes in the business of big-time college basketball.

What I didn't know is that Doc Sadler is also feeling the same pressure at Nebraska. Nebraska! Are you kidding me?

Tom Davis discusses Doc Sadler and the Nebraska program through the eyes of Barry Collier, Butler Athletic Director and former Nebraska head coach.

Husker Nation needs a reality check. Did they really expect that their program which has never been a power in the Big 12 was going to move to the Big 10 and dominate it? I think my IU friends will tell them that once again there is only one Big Red in Big 10 basketball and it isn't west of the Mississippi.

Former Nebraska coach knows hoop success is a challenge in Lincoln - News-Sentinel.com

It’s Math, Not Politics: Vast Debt a Killer via UTSanDiego.com

I have a degree in Mathematics and an interest in economics but it shouldn't take either to recognize the problem that we have. Our (and it is OURS!) national debt cannot continue to grow at the rate of the last three years. It is simply not sustainable. Our nation as we know it cannot survive this debt trajectory.

"The $3.8 trillion 2012-13 federal budget proposed by President Barack Obama instantly became a political football among partisans. Among the pundit class, the conventional wisdom is that the spending plan is more a campaign document to help the president win re-election. Given that Congress hasn’t passed an actual budget in three years, this cynicism is defensible. 

But at some point we wish everyone – the political class, the media, taxpayers of all ideologies – would just accept this as a given: As a nation, we can’t continue spending vastly more than we take in. The Obama plan, if enacted, would add $901 billion to the national debt. This is less than in recent years but still enormous on a historical scale – the U.S. spending 31 percent more than it receives in revenue.

A household that for years on end spent 31 percent more than it took in would soon be spending more on interest on debt than on most priorities. As a nation, we are already there. In 2010-11, the federal government spent $454 billion in interest on the national debt – 12 percent of the entire budget. That’s only going to go up, up and away unless deficits are finally, substantively addressed. We wish the immensity of this problem would finally sink in – with everyone."

It’s math, not politics: Vast debt a killer via UTSanDiego.com

Henninger: What Would Clint Eastwood Do?

"The Barack Obama budget document just released is not a budget. It is a work of literature. It is Barack Obama's published apologia for a second presidential term, in which—as the budget and its tax proposals make clear—he will reset the historic balance in America between the public sector and the private sector. This reset will require large wealth transfers—from individuals and companies to the government, and from the government back to the people.

The Obama budget is described everywhere as a 'political document,' but it is more than that. Mr. Obama hasn't assembled these ideas just to get elected. This budget is a statement of belief. It is a road map of where he wants the country to go.

This being so, it behooves us to revisit the most controversial political event of the past two weeks—Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl commercial for the Chrysler car company.

This ad was widely viewed as an argument for a second Obama term. It is undoubtedly true that the pro-Obama admen who created the commercial embedded a pro-Obama spin. Asked about this afterward, Clint Eastwood said simply: 'I certainly am not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama.' "

Henninger: What Would Clint Eastwood Do? - WSJ.com

Nortel Hacking Attack Went Unnoticed For Almost 10 Years via ZDNet

This is an incredible story of how Nortel was subjected to a sophisticated and pervasive hacking attack that went undiscovered for ten years.

"Summary: Hackers broke into Nortel’s computer networks more than a decade ago and over the years downloaded technical papers, research-and-development reports, business plans, employee emails and other documents.

The term “Advanced Persistent Threat” has been pooh-poohed by many as snake oil sales-speak but for the folks at Nortel Networks, it is very, very real.

According to an eye-opening Wall Street Journal report, hackers who appeared to be working in China broke into Nortel’s computer networks more than a decade ago and over the years downloaded technical papers, research-and-development reports, business plans, employee emails and other documents."

I also learned a new term, Advanced Persistent Threats, or APT.

"Advanced Persistent Threats, or APT, is code-speak for Chinese hackers and the Nortel breach is another sign that high-profile technology companies are a major target for resourceful hacking groups looking for intellectual property and valuable data.

Several major U.S. companies including Google, Adobe, Lockheed Martin, Juniper Networks fell victim to APT attacks over the last few years."

Nortel hacking attack went unnoticed for almost 10 years via ZDNet

Granddaughter Claire - Future Lady Mastodon?

Preschooler's Homemade Lunch Replaced with Cafeteria "Nuggets"

I am not a nutritionist and I'm certainly not an education professional, but this story infuriates me for more reasons than I can count. I know which lunch I would prefer and it isn't the nuggets lunch.

The parent of that student has every right to be irate.

Preschooler's Homemade Lunch Replaced with Cafeteria "Nuggets" via Carolina Journal Online

Google Wallet NFC Payment System Can Be Exploited via ZDNet

"Summary: An exploit for Google Wallet enables thieves to change a user’s PIN and get at the stored funds - without needing to actually hack the device."

I do most of the finances for us and for my mother online so I have become comfortable with accepting some risk involved but I feel secure making online transactions.

I don't have a smart phone so I am not faced with deciding whether to use a service like Google Wallet yet. If I would be victimized by this type of scam, I'm not sure it would be any worse than having fraudulent charges appear on my credit card statement.

But since this is a technology in its infancy fighting for consumer acceptance, this type of security issue is a serious threat to its adoption by the masses.

"Google Wallet’s adoption rate is still fairly small, limited to only the Samsung Nexus S 4G handset on Sprint, which means this just doesn’t affect as many as it could have. But it’s obvious that as NFC develops, there are clearly some security considerations that need to be addressed before the technology hits the mainstream in a big way."

Google Wallet NFC payment system can be exploited via ZDNet

Micro-hybrids To Drive Away With Share in Green Vehicle Battle | ZDNet

"A new report from Lux Research is predicting huge market gains for micro-hybrid vehicles, cars and other automobiles that burn fuel more efficiently in stop-go situations.

It’s another indication that consumers are interested in fuel efficiency, but many of them can’t quite convince themselves to invest in truly disruptive technologies such as electric vehicles."

Micro-hybrids to drive away with share in green vehicle battle | ZDNet

Bigger Cars Get Better Insurance Rates via Jennifer Waters's Consumer Confidential in MarketWatch

"You may think that new small, economy car you’re eyeing will save you money in the long run because gas costs will be lower than your neighbor’s minivan, but think again: The insurance rates could wipe those savings and more all out, even if you’re a great driver."

As government mandates increasingly stringent fuel economy standards that will require more and more smaller cars, consumers might be surprised at how more economical larger vehicles have become as they too benefit from fuel savings technology.

Given that larger vehicles are safer when an accident occurs, more and consumers might look to larger vehicles, especially when insurance costs over the life of the vehicle are considered.

Bigger Cars Get Better Insurance Rates via Jennifer Waters's Consumer Confidential in MarketWatch

Mom's High School Graduation Photo

Mom's high school graduation photo - Central Catholic High School 1947

The End of a Job as We Know It - Forbes via @monifree

This article from Forbes is very interesting and scary to anyone who has a job. The economy moves and changes at a frenetic pace. And those businesses and those employees who fail to adjust will not survive economically.

We all know that "the only constant is change" but change is scary and we don't want to lose our jobs and our economic security so we avoid change. Many factors in our society including government regulations and labor unions limit or prohibit altogether the change and the agility that our businesses need to become and remain competitive in a global marketplace.

But change will happen, one way or the other, whether we want it to or not, either with us or without us. So although we understand we need to change and grow, we don't want to. And maybe change isn't really necessary anyway.

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
- W. Edwards Deming

The End of a Job as We Know It - Forbes:

via Monica Freeman Holb (@monifree)

Big Ten Kicking Around Idea Regarding a National Four-Team Football Playoff - chicagotribune.com

This would at least be a start to crowning a real, legitimate NCAA Football National Champion. If a conference as conservative as the Big Ten is getting ready to not only get on board but maybe assume a leading role in getting a playoff plan in place, then I think it is going to happen.

It seems to me that the proposal has been thoroughly thought out. Not only does it involve a four-team playoff, but the proposals to play the semi-finals on the home fields of the two highest rated teams, to bid out the hosting of the national championship game like the Super Bowl, and to move up the date of the championship game are all on the right track.

And what is not to like about this additional proposal?

"Also on the table: Creating a seven-win requirement for bowl teams, a rule that could torpedo more than a half-dozen money-losing games and end embarrassing contests between schools that dumped their head coaches."

College football: Big Ten kicking around idea regarding a national four-team football playoff via chicagotribune.com

Court To Decide If SeaWorld Whales Are Illegal 'Slaves'

Really? Seriously? Even if it is in California it is still hard for me to believe that a federal court is seriously giving this lawsuit the time of day? PETA claims that the "employment" of the orcas at SeaWorld violates the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution that prohibits slavery.

Although this approach might be novel it is not the first time that PETA has attempted in a court of law to extend human rights to animals. I love animals but I don't buy the proposition that animals have human rights.

Court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'

Maybe Peyton Manning and Colts Can Work It Out

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com takes a view that I have not seen much lately that Peyton Manning and the Colts need to find a way to make it work for Manning to stay a Colt. Most of what I have seen and heard lately is why they need to part ways.

It is true that Jim Irsay has stated countless times in the past that money is not the issue and that the only issue is Peyton's health. But all the changes with the Colts over the past few weeks and the talk of rebuilding and starting over make it sound like Peyton will be elsewhere.

So it is refreshing to read this column, especially with the way the author compares the current situation to the parting of ways between the 49ers and Joe Montana.

NFL - Manning, Colts should work it out via ESPN

Red Wings Excited About 2013 Winter Classic at Big House

As a long-time hockey fan I always find the NHL Winter Classic a great event to watch, at least in part, on New Year's Day. By watching I mean from the comfort of our family room. Watching an NHL game in freezing temperatures in an outdoor stadium where it is extra difficult to follow the puck in not my idea of fun. But I think the NHL Winter Classic is an outstanding event and a brilliant marketing move by the NHL.

It appears that the rumored plan to have the 2013 Winter Classic at the "Big House" at the University of Michigan is near fruition and will be announced soon. Having an NHL game before 110,000 fans is incredible enough but the plan to have the Detroit Red Wings host the Toronto Maple Leafs, two of the NHL Original Six, is bound to make this one a real classic on New Year's Day 2013.

Red Wings excited about 2013 Winter Classic at U-M, as board of regents approves Big House rental via MLive.com

University Of North Dakota Fighting Sioux Again

This is a controversy that doesn't seem to go away. The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux is not a politically correct nickname according to the NCAA. But the nickname is very popular in North Dakota and among many North Dakota politicians causing the controversy to swing back and forth.

At one time it was assumed that the University of North Dakota would join the Summit League along with North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and the University of South Dakota. But that didn't happen, perhaps due to the reluctance of the Summit League to join the controversy. Eventually the Big Sky Conference invited and accepted the University of North Dakota as a member but maybe that will be reconsidered now that UND are the Fighting Sioux again.

Regardless of the outcome, the controversy is unfortunate. I think the nicknames approved by Native American groups like the Florida State Seminoles and Central Michigan Chippewas honor those tribes. I still think it is sad that the Eastern Michigan Hurons are no longer. But I have read in the past that there is no way that the Fighting Sioux nickname will ever be approved by the Lakota Nation.

I have no strong feelings either way. I find the Fighting Sioux nickname no more insulting than the Fighting Irish nickname of another UND, the University of Notre Dame. I also find the Fighting Sioux nickname a lot more palatable than the Washington Redskins nickname.

So it is hard to predict how this controversy will ever be resolved between the politicians and citizens of North Dakota, the alumni of North Dakota State, the Lakota people, and the NCAA. This controversy could rage for quite some time yet.

University Of North Dakota Resumes Using Fighting Sioux Nickname via Fox News

I think we dream so...

I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

The Last Sane Liberal by Tevi D. Troy, City Journal

I enjoyed this essay about former NYC Mayor Ed Koch. Although I probably agree with very few, if any, of his domestic policies, I always found him interesting and genuine. I have also found many of his political columns enlightening, especially those explaining why he supported George Bush's reelection in 2004 even though, he said, “I don’t agree with him on a single domestic issue.” In fact, I am a little surprised that he is supporting Obama's reelection, so far anyway.

In this essay Troy claims, perhaps with good reason, that "His honesty didn’t solve the crime problem—far from it—but it did help set the stage for the Giuliani-era policies that would later make New York safe."

I learned more about his tenacity and his outspokenness exemplified most by this story about his feud with Bella Abzug in 1976.

"Koch soon displayed another hallmark: his ability to feud. In 1976, when the large-hatted New York liberal Bella Abzug was running for Senate, a leftist group with Abzug’s name on the masthead sent 76 senators a letter that opposed the sale of jets to Israel. Koch wrote a letter that supported the sale and excoriated those who opposed it. He then placed both letters in the Congressional Record and, using the congressional franking privilege, mailed them to “every Jewish group I knew,” he wrote in Mayor. Abzug started getting calls from Jewish leaders blasting her about the letter, prompting her to ask Koch, “What are you trying to do, destroy me?” Unsurprisingly, she ended up losing the race. Koch’s most famous comment about Abzug was in response to reporters who asked why she’d failed to win her own district in a 1972 congressional primary. Koch’s answer: 'Her neighbors know her.' "

The Last Sane Liberal by Tevi D. Troy, City Journal Winter 2012

Verizon's Tangled Web - WSJ.com

Does anyone else find this as interesting and as confusing as I do? Admittedly it would be even more interesting if Verizon had not sold its local FIOS business to Frontier. But if this Verizon Wireless venture with Comcast proves successful, then I wonder if it is possible that Verizon Wireless in Fort Wayne will eventually begin offering its customers the Comcast bundle of internet, cable, and telephone services.

As Verizon Communications Inc. pushes for more cable-television and high-speed Internet subscribers, a new competitor is emerging: its own subsidiary, Verizon Wireless.

This month, Verizon Wireless stores in Seattle and Portland, Ore., began offering home Internet, cable and telephone service from Comcast Corp. as part of a new joint marketing deal between the cellphone provider and several cable companies.

Verizon's Tangled Web - WSJ.com

IPFW Basketball Can't Limit Its Aspirations via News-Sentinel.com

Fort Wayne has a history of being a very conservative community that is set in its ways so that what we have now is always good enough. Until IPFW stepped up to NCAA Division I athletics a decade ago, Fort Wayne was the largest metropolitan community in the US without NCAA Division I athletics.

Has that been a good move? I believe that the decision spearheaded by Chancellor Michael Wartell will turn out to be the right decision if IPFW continues to believe in itself. But the jury is still out until IPFW Athletics becomes accepted in Fort Wayne and the surrounding tri-state region.

Tom Davis addresses an issue that has been discussed a lot lately in the media. Should IPFW continue to play its men's basketball games at the Memorial Coliseum despite inadequate attendance or retreat to play on campus at the Gates Center? I think Tom's analysis and conclusion are right on point. I agree with every point he makes in the column. This is a long-term goal that is worth pursuing.

I have been a booster of IPFW Athletics and a season-ticket holder for men's basketball since the first season of Division I athletics. I also support and attend other IPFW sports as well, many of which have been and remain competitive in many other collegiate sports, especially men's volleyball. But with apologies to all those other sports, it is men's basketball that will make or break IPFW Division I athletics.

To the vast majority of Fort Wayne college sports fan, if you aren't IU, Purdue, or Notre Dame, then you don't matter. I think that viewpoint is short-sighted but it is up to IPFW and to people like me to get people to notice and to pay attention and eventually support IPFW Athletics. The level of competition in the Summit League (ranked in or near the top third of men's basketball conferences) would surprise most people. And the price of admission is very reasonable compared to most other Division I venues. Admittedly it is more expensive than staying at home to watch a game on TV, but it is NCAA Division I athletics right here in Fort Wayne.

I sincerely hope that IPFW stays with the Memorial Coliseum and continues the commitment to grow the IPFW Athletics programs. I think gaining acceptance in Fort Wayne is not an easy challenge but I think it is doable and eminently worthwhile. And turning back to Gates Center would send the wrong message. In fact, I think leaving the Memorial Coliseum would have a devastating impact on the ability of IPFW to recruit quality men's basketball players making it very difficult to compete and survive in Division I athletics.

It is my hope that IPFW remains committed to competing at the NCAA Division I level and continues the commitment to grow the men's basketball program at the Memorial Coliseum. It is not an impossible dream for IPFW to one day be mentioned in the same breath as programs like Gonzaga and Butler. That is my dream.

IPFW basketball can't limit its aspirations - Tom Davis in News-Sentinel.com