The morning Wall St Journal has an op ed piece by John Bolton condemning the NIE that let Iran off the hook, and the leaking thereof to the press. Far as Bolton is concerned, that NIE totally stopped all efforts to apply diplomatic pressure or sanctions to Iran over the Iranian nuclear weapons program. He feels the intelligence/state dept bureaucracy pulled off a publicity coup that forced US foreign into their dovish path. I tend to agree with John Bolton, the bureaucrats are seizing power that rightfully belongs the the elected administration and the elected Congress.
Bolton pointed me toward the Senate intelligence committee hearing on C-Span as I write this. We got thru the senator's opening remarks and now Mike McConnell, the Intel Czar is on. He just told us that large numbers of Al Queda operatives have been "neutralized". Mike obviously needs a dictionary. The word should be "killed".
Then we had McConnell, Hayden, Fort, Mueller, and Maples (Intel Czar,CIA, State Dept,FBI, and DIA) give a five minute pep talk. Randall Fort, the State Dept guy, came across as the complete bureaucrat, saying absolutely nothing but taking five minutes of fancy words to do it. The military officers (Hayden McConnell and Maples) were better public speakers.
Questioning finally came around to John Bolton's Wall St Journal piece. They never mentioned either Bolton's name or the Wall St Journal, but it was clear what they were talking about. McConnell stepped up to the plate and accepted responsibility for it. He beat around the bush, never really closed on why it was released/leaked, and why it let Iran off t he hook. He did admit that if he had the chance to do it over he might have phrased it a little differently.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Hillary promises to make everything better
The Wall St Journal offered Hillary a nice big space on the Op Ed page today. She filled the space with text, but it isn't an effective piece of writing. She says the country is going to pot, it's all Bush's fault, but elect me and I'll make a long laundry list of things get better. No details, no explanations of sacrifices that might be required, just a list of things that she will make better, somehow. All the things on the list are good things, we would all like to have them, but with out a discussion of costs or specific tax breaks, federal spending, new laws, ways to make it happen, it's just mindless happy talk.
Given the importance of the platform, the op ed page of the largest circulation newspaper in the country, on the day before Super Tuesday, I expected something better from Hillary.
Given the importance of the platform, the op ed page of the largest circulation newspaper in the country, on the day before Super Tuesday, I expected something better from Hillary.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
GM to kill Cadillac
According to this, GM plans to drop the Cadillac DeVille, the real Caddy, within a couple of model years. GM officials admit that DeVille is the largest seller in the Caddy lineup with 58K units sold this last year, but that ain't enough.
Real problem is the DeVille is getting old, it's still front wheel drive when rear wheel drive is hot. The car has been on the road for better than ten years, with just a bit of rear end restyling in 2000. GM probably doesn't have the money to develop a new version. Plus it's nearly the last of the big six passenger cars in the GM lineup, a body style that is out of fashion.
Of course GM lacks anything else in their lineup that is in fashion. So drop a good seller 'cause it's too much trouble to redesign it after 10 years of good sales. Thinking like this has gotta have something to do with GM losing money and market share.
Too bad. My '99 Deville is a wonderful car, and it looks like you won't be able to buy anything like that again.
Real problem is the DeVille is getting old, it's still front wheel drive when rear wheel drive is hot. The car has been on the road for better than ten years, with just a bit of rear end restyling in 2000. GM probably doesn't have the money to develop a new version. Plus it's nearly the last of the big six passenger cars in the GM lineup, a body style that is out of fashion.
Of course GM lacks anything else in their lineup that is in fashion. So drop a good seller 'cause it's too much trouble to redesign it after 10 years of good sales. Thinking like this has gotta have something to do with GM losing money and market share.
Too bad. My '99 Deville is a wonderful car, and it looks like you won't be able to buy anything like that again.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Radial Arm Saw Revival
It all started with ripping a 2*10 down to size on my ancient Craftsman radial arm saw. The newly cut edge didn't look square. I slapped a try square on the board and yup, the cut wasn't truly square.
This is not the end of the world. Radial arm saws have a number of adjustments to make them cut right. I started making them, and the real problem became apparent fairly quickly. The plywood saw table had warped over the years. Laying a 4 foot straight edge along the saw table showed nearly 3/4" of warpage.
Damn, should a done something about that long time ago. I vaguely remember making that table sometime back in the '70s. So ho, off to the lumberyard for a piece of plywood. Back of the mind worry, how do I get a 4*8 sheet of plywood home on the roof of the DeVille?
Arriving at the lumber yard, I ask for "MDF" (medium density fiberboard) and the lady behind the counter says "Oh, that's special order". "Do you have anything else?" I ask. They did, they had four or five different glue-and-woodshavings synthetic sheetgoods, including plain old plywood. The plywood price was outta sight, so I bought a 2*8 sheet of "Industrial Flakewood" for $15.66. Makes me feel kind of out-of-it when a plain old lumberyard is full of high tech new products that I have never heard of, and have no idea of what their properties might be.
The yard kindly cut it in half so it would fit in the back seat of the DeVille. That solved the "how-do-you-get-it-home" problem. Times like this I miss my old minivan.
A few cuts and some hole drilling, and trusty old Craftsman has a slick new table and looks a lot newer. So much for a one day puttering in the shop project.
This is not the end of the world. Radial arm saws have a number of adjustments to make them cut right. I started making them, and the real problem became apparent fairly quickly. The plywood saw table had warped over the years. Laying a 4 foot straight edge along the saw table showed nearly 3/4" of warpage.
Damn, should a done something about that long time ago. I vaguely remember making that table sometime back in the '70s. So ho, off to the lumberyard for a piece of plywood. Back of the mind worry, how do I get a 4*8 sheet of plywood home on the roof of the DeVille?
Arriving at the lumber yard, I ask for "MDF" (medium density fiberboard) and the lady behind the counter says "Oh, that's special order". "Do you have anything else?" I ask. They did, they had four or five different glue-and-woodshavings synthetic sheetgoods, including plain old plywood. The plywood price was outta sight, so I bought a 2*8 sheet of "Industrial Flakewood" for $15.66. Makes me feel kind of out-of-it when a plain old lumberyard is full of high tech new products that I have never heard of, and have no idea of what their properties might be.
The yard kindly cut it in half so it would fit in the back seat of the DeVille. That solved the "how-do-you-get-it-home" problem. Times like this I miss my old minivan.
A few cuts and some hole drilling, and trusty old Craftsman has a slick new table and looks a lot newer. So much for a one day puttering in the shop project.
Clinton vs Obama on CNN last night
They had the two candidates seated so closely together that you'd think they were dating each other. I tuned in on the odd chance I'd get to see a real slanging match. No way. Nary a harsh word, no flying mud, very polite and civilized.
Issues. They did talk issues, even got into a little detail on universal health care. I was unable to detect any difference between the two on issues. In other words the only reasons for picking one over the other are subjective, style, wardrobe, speaking ability, likeablity, gender, race, nothing objective.
Both of them would implement universal tax payer funded health care for everyone. Both would let the Bush tax cuts expire to pay for it. Both would abandon Iraq to Al Queda ASAP. Neither talked about reducing the amount of money (currently 16% of GNP) poured down the health care drain. Neither talked about how much health spending would increase with Uncle paying all doctor's bills. Neither talked about earmarks and the reduction thereof.
All good reasons to vote Republican.
Issues. They did talk issues, even got into a little detail on universal health care. I was unable to detect any difference between the two on issues. In other words the only reasons for picking one over the other are subjective, style, wardrobe, speaking ability, likeablity, gender, race, nothing objective.
Both of them would implement universal tax payer funded health care for everyone. Both would let the Bush tax cuts expire to pay for it. Both would abandon Iraq to Al Queda ASAP. Neither talked about reducing the amount of money (currently 16% of GNP) poured down the health care drain. Neither talked about how much health spending would increase with Uncle paying all doctor's bills. Neither talked about earmarks and the reduction thereof.
All good reasons to vote Republican.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
WSJ defends Obama on the Rezco Thing
The Journal's Op Ed page ran a piece today explaining that Obama's only legal work connected with the recently indited Rezco was some five hours reviewing legal documents connected with the closing on a building for a church group, that Rezco was helping. The Journal properly reported that the writer is a friend of Obama's, but clearly the Journal thinks this is the real truth, otherwise they wouldn't have run the piece.
Interesting. The Journal takes some time and space to defend Obama against a piece of mud thrown by the Clinton's. Must be they like Obama (he is very likable) and don't like Hillary much. Especially interesting as from a narrow Republican viewpoint, we'd like to see the Democrats nominate Hillary, she will be easier to beat than Obama. Looks like the Journal druther see some fair play than see an easier-to-beat democratic candidate.
Interesting. The Journal takes some time and space to defend Obama against a piece of mud thrown by the Clinton's. Must be they like Obama (he is very likable) and don't like Hillary much. Especially interesting as from a narrow Republican viewpoint, we'd like to see the Democrats nominate Hillary, she will be easier to beat than Obama. Looks like the Journal druther see some fair play than see an easier-to-beat democratic candidate.
Dress for success, woman's version
We have a cute blond news anchor interviewing the brand new just as cute and just as blond Miss America on Fox&Friends. News anchor is wearing a pink suit with an above-the-knees miniskirt and cleavage that goes way , way down. She is well over to the sexy side of attractive. Miss America on the other hand, is wearing a dark blouse buttoned up to her throat and a pair of khaki slacks, probably Dockers. She looks pretty but she shows a lot less skin than the anchorwoman.
Assume anchorwoman dress as they do 'cause it's a job requirement in the news business. Miss America, crown now firmly bobbie pinned in place, can wear something a bit more conservative that makes her feel comfortable on national TV. She's paid her dues and no longer has to make the guys tongues hang out to keep her job.
The guys on the show wear suits, white shirts and ties, and look just fine. One of the benefits of being a guy, is your wardrobe choices are straight forward and well understood. We have it better than the girls in this respect. We even get pockets.
Assume anchorwoman dress as they do 'cause it's a job requirement in the news business. Miss America, crown now firmly bobbie pinned in place, can wear something a bit more conservative that makes her feel comfortable on national TV. She's paid her dues and no longer has to make the guys tongues hang out to keep her job.
The guys on the show wear suits, white shirts and ties, and look just fine. One of the benefits of being a guy, is your wardrobe choices are straight forward and well understood. We have it better than the girls in this respect. We even get pockets.
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