Kiyosaki Says Financial Disaster Could Be Coming

Check out this thoughtful but decidedly unoptimistic article by Robert Kiyosaki at Yahoo Finance.

With Friends Like Russia

Hey Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev! Does Russia want to be friends with the United States or make things difficult for the U.S. and the rest of the world?  Seems like you want to be difficult to me. Because your consistently cozy actions with Iran are not the actions of a friend. Especially now. (I mean come on, let's have a Super Soaker shootout and leave all the animosity in the past.)

What would you say about us if we were pals with separatists in Chechnya and supplied them with missile systems or nuclear technology?

Iran has stated that it wants to destroy Israel. And you want to continue to give them tools that will make it easier to do so? Iran also trains and supplies insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Insurgents that kill civilians and troops from many countries. Do you want to enable and buttress this kind of activity? Apparently you do. Normal relations with a terrorist state is tantamount to tacit approval of their policies.

Maybe supplying long-range surface-to-air S-300 missiles to Iran, a country that is openly hostile to the U.S. and the west in general is a bad idea. Maybe helping them with their nuclear program when everyone in the world is worried about their intentions is a bad idea. Doing that and some of the other things you do leave us normal, everyday citizens of this country with the impression that you would rather help our enemies than us. It leaves us with the impression that you are indeed on the side of our enemies. Why? What's up with that? Power politics? You can be a powerful nation without propping up terrorist regimes. Why do you want to help the whack-job President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Islamist Ayatollahs?

Sanctions are going to be ineffectual, of course, if you and China and Turkey and Brazil and Indonesia and others ignore the sanctions or are selective in implementing them. And the fact that you need an exception to the sanctions on Iran with a dangerous new weapons system is exactly the wrong kind of breach of sanctions the sane world would hope for. Weapons that could result in harm to Israel, U.S. and NATO soldiers, Iraqi and Afghan citizens.

How about you start acting more like a friend and less like an old enemy and maybe we'd feel less like we need to protect ourselves from you.

Happy 170th birthday to Peter IIyich Tchaikovsky.

Middle East on the Verge of Disaster in the Wake of Flotillas

Four Kassam rockets have landed in Israel setting off warning sirens days after Israel's Defense Forces boarded a ship which was attempting to break Israel's blockade intended to stop weapons from getting to the Gaza strip and the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad. No one was injured in the recent rocket attacks, according to the Jerusalem Post.

But more rockets! This is exactly why Israel instituted a blockade, and why they should continue to enforce it. Because they don't want  Jew-hating Jihadists shooting rockets into their cities.

Prime Minister Netenyahu said that "the boat was no Love Boat", and even if it were a Love Boat it should and would have been stopped. Except that no one would have been hurt or killed on either side in that case.

Still the flotillas keep coming, testing Israel's resolve and today Iran is even offering to provide military escort to the flotillas, a move that could start a war between Iran and Israel.

Turkey's Prime Minister is doing a lot of huffing and puffing about Israel, and calling for UN investigations, when it is Turkey that should be investigated for its role in assisting the breaking of a legal naval blockade of another state.

President Obama and secretary of state Clinton should show some support (i.e., political backbone) of Israel instead of always throwing the besieged state under the bus. Middle East peace is on the precipice right now and one poorly placed foot is going to result in an ugly regional war.

Ban Offshore Drilling = Ban Economic Recovery

Ending offshore drilling is not the solution to ending future oil spills. That's like using a gun to get rid of a cancerous mole. Sure, the mole is gone, but the health of the patient is decidedly worse.

The Gulf of Mexico is the source of 25 percent of the United States' domestic oil used and 15 percent of the natural gas. If we were to stop oil drilling and “focus” on clean energy we would be buying that 25% more ($4.00 + per gallon) oil from foreign sources who will be more than happy to drill offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where there is plenty of international water not controlled by the United States of America.

The U.S. and other countries have been getting oil from the Gulf of Mexico for decades, pretty much without incident. Obama said as much himself in his press conference Thursday. There are 720 oil rigs out there now, which have provided billions of gallons of oil over the years, all while NOT causing disastrous oil spills. But accidents DO happen in almost every endeavor of human life. We take chances to get the things we need. We take chances to do the things we need to do.

Of course, contingency plans need to be in place in case disastors like this happen. British Petroleum is culpable here, but the federal government is responsible too for ensuring that such plans exist and are ready to be acted upon, whether by the federal government or the oil company. There is plenty of blame to go around, and the Obama administration's underwhelming response to this disaster is as criminal an act as BP's lack of ability to stop it. They have let the situation get out of control and endanger the livelihoods of thousands of people, and the ecosystems along thousands of miles of shoreline.

What we DO need to do is not force oil companies to have to drill in mile deep water if it is easier to get in shallower water.

But because environmental extremists have the ear of liberal democrats throughout the country we can't expect clear thinking to prevail on oil drilling at least until Republicans retake one of the houses of Congress.

Until then, oil prices will rise, the amount of money we give to third world regimes will increase, and our economy will be hobbled by higher energy costs.

Read the Bill!!

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer released a biting campaign ad yesterday chiding top Obama officials for not reading the Arizona immigration law.

Iron Man 2 - Two Times the Fun

Iron Man, of Marvel comics fame, is a cool super hero. His weapons and abilities are cool. His mask is cool. Even his colors are cool. He's an almost perfect super hero. Except when he's drunk. Just check your smell-tester at the theater door of the latest Iron Man movie. Well, if you're going to a movie in this genre, you probably know that ahead of time.

Iron Man 2 is a fun, gripping 2 hours and 15 minutes. It's a super hero movie, so it follows a certain formula, but it is one of the better of the genre thanks to Robert Downey Jr., and a crazy Mickey Rourke who shines in this film as a Russian mad scientist villain. Throw in Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle and Iron Man 2 rocks. Iron Man 2's well-done special effects also lend excitement and reality to the movie. The fight scenes and the "comic book" technology are awesome.

Robert Downey Jr.'s acting reminds me a bit of Mel Gibson's acting -- intense and quirky. The character he portrays, Howard Stark, aka Iron Man, is sort of a hyper-eccentric, and humorous Bruce Wayne. I really enjoy Downey Jr.'s acting (see Sherlock Holmes) and he doesn't disappoint here.

I'd never cared too much for Mickey Rourke, but I liked the way he portrayed his character, Ivan Vanko, in this film, Whiplash -- a great villain, and well acted by Rourke.

Gwyneth Paltrow's role could have been played by any actress and she really didn't stand out as Pepper Potts, Iron Man's executive assistant, CEO, and "love interest?"

Sam Rockwell who played Howard Stark's business nemesis seemed to me to be miscast as well. The role needed someone with more screen presence. However, it didn't detract from the movie on the whole.

I would definitely see this again and will buy the Blu-Ray disc or DVD when it comes out. Go see it.

7.7 out of 10 stars.

Where God Was in Haiti

God did not set in motion the massive earthquake in Haiti, though he did know it was going to happen, just as he knows where next year's earthquakes will happen, and next summer's hurricanes, and the wars of 2025.

Where God was in Haiti was in the people who came there bringing bread and water to hungry and thirsty children. God was in the people of every race that dug through the rubble to find injured men and women. God is in the people that are helping families, schools, and churches rebuild. God is in the hearts of those who gave money because they could not be in Haiti to help. God is in humanity, not the destruction.

God did not set in motion the earthquake in Haiti, but he did set in motion the response to it. God is no closer to us on Earth than when human compassion towards victims of tragedy shows itself as it did in Haiti.

America IS less free today than it was yesterday.

On March 22, 2010, Americans have less freedom than they did when this country was formed 234 years ago. Less freedom than even the day before. Some people relish this. Read the following Merriam-Webster.com definition of state socialism: an economic system with limited socialist characteristics that is effected by gradual state action and typically includes public ownership of major industries and remedial measures to benefit the working class

What could describe where this country is going better than that?

Government now controls and/or owns many banks and lending institutions, including all student loans. It controls automobile manufacturers, and the insurance giant AIG. And now it controls healthcare for the young, old, and everyone in between. Unfortunately it is renewing its grasp on education, from K through University as well.

While Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are socialist programs that are relied upon widely, the mother of all government giveaway programs has just been passed by the rogue U.S. Congress.

Now, thanks to 219 liberal Democrats, you can add to the liabilities of the Federal Government (the taxpayers are responsible for the liabilities of the federal government) another huge government program that is bound to go insolvent as all the other government programs are doing. We just cannot afford to give away our treasure time and time again for the shortsighted largesse of crooked politicians. What's next? A place to stay, that ought to be an unalienable right too.

This is another liability, another government program and one that the Federal government has no right to mandate and no constitutional authority to implement. But to give itself power to implement this healthcare reform, Congress intertwined enforcement of it with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That is a policing authority that already does have control over the citizens, and which amplifies the control and reach that the healthcare law can have over everyone.

Health insurance is not an unalienable right as Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats are suggesting. Forcing your neighbors to care for you is not an unalienable duty and is not what America is or has ever been about.

One can only hope that the lawsuits which are lining up against Obamacare will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, where the bill will be held as unconstitutional.

I would like to thank the Republicans in the House of Representatives (and the 34 Democrats) who put up a valiant fight against this anti-American bill. You will be remembered in November at the voting booth. Thanks also to the Tea Party movement for their tireless fight against big spending, and big government.

The fight continues.

No Headlights

 

I just don't understand it! Why do certain drivers insist on driving at dusk or at night without their headlights on? Are they trying to save gas or money? Are they trying to save the environment? Are they attempting to be stealthy for some wacky reason? Or are they just mentally out of it?

Whatever the reason, it is certainly misguided thinking. This is a safety issue. That's the bottom line here. Other people cannot see these vehicles, or can't see them until it's too late. My daughter is a new driver on the roads. I don't want her crashing into a car she didn't see. And she is not the only new driver, there are thousands of new drivers on the roads. Driving dark isn't just dangerous to my daughter or other new drivers. It's dangerous to everyone.

I saw a car drive by a police car in Colts Neck, New Jersey this week with its headlights off and there was very little light in the sky, if any. The cop just sat there and let him/her go by. Today it was raining cats and dogs and nearly pitch dark, and a white SUV , nearly invisible against a backdrop of white snow, rain and darkness went by going the other direction. The car in front of me flashed him, I flashed him, the guy behind me flashed him. He/she kept driving dark. "Oh, I have a white car, so I don't need to turn on my lights." It's exactly times like that that I wish I was a policeman, because I would slap a ticket on that Bozo or Bozette faster than they could say "But I'm saving energy!"

I don't get it, really I don't. This stupid practice endangers other drivers' lives. And a lot of people seem to do it because I see it nearly every day.

Let me just get this out there so dark driver dummies can think about it. The amount of gasoline you save by not using your headlights for 15 or 30 extra minutes is insignificant. In fact leaving your headlights on all day while you drive makes NO statistically noticeable difference in gas mileage in your car or truck. None. Look it up. Better yet I have done it for you!

Stop endangering people's lives! Why do you think the police are supposed to give tickets for driving without your lights on when it's dark? Because it endangers everyone else. Just because you can still see where you're going isn't the issue! Oh, and driving with parking/running lights on in the dark is just as dangerous because with everyone else using headlights, the weaker looking running lights get lost, and washed out by the brighter lights around them.

Please be a safer driver. Drive with your headlights on in the rain, or anytime the sky is darker, such as dusk, nighttime, and heavily overcast days.

Lobbyists – Everybody's Political Punching Bags

There is more than one word that's used in politics and the media coverage of politics that's used just for pure demonization. Political buzz words, if you will. Politicians look at polls and see who the public doesn't like, then they patronize the public by expressing their antipathy toward that group. The news media does it too. Slip and Fall Lawyers, Used Car Dealers, CEOs, Bankers, Fund Managers, Lobbyists, and Special Interests are all persona non grata at the politician's public dinner parties. If I hear Barack Obama or another liberal Democrat say "lobbyist" or "special interest" again I think I will jump into one of the six foot snow drifts outside my window! 

Let’s narrow our focus for the moment on lobbyists. The definition of “lobbyist” according to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Tenth edition dictionary is: To promote or secure the passage of legislation by influencing public officials.

Like it or not, lobbyists are part of the political landscape in America. These people don't go to Washington DC, or your state capital to lobby in the interest of lobbyists or for their own personal interests, they go representing the interests of sometimes huge swaths of the population of the United States.

For instance AARP lobbies Washington and represents some 40 million older Americans. The National Rifle Association (NRA) represents 4 million gun owners, and Labor Unions lobby in Washington DC and the state capitals for their workers. AAA has lobbyists, as do manufacturers, mining consortiums,  restaurant associations, handicapped people, and even illegal aliens have lobbyists! The list is actually endless of government lobbyists in this country, and it is not just Banks, Wall Street, Pharmaceutical companies, Big Oil, and Health Insurance, as some politicians and reporters would have you believe. There is a lobbyist for almost every type of American trying to get something from the government or prevent something being done by the government.

Everyone is (or can be) represented, maybe not equally, but lobbying is democratic and there is nothing keeping one lobby from being as powerful as another.

So when President Obama rails against lobbyists, he disparagingly uses the term lobbyist as a scapegoat, or a euphemism for whole populations of people in this country whom he does not want to name by name because it would hurt him politically. Some lobbyists may deserve to be painted with the broad brush he and other politicians paint them with, but most are in their state capitals and Washington DC to represent the legitimate issues of the groups who sent them there.

There are always going to be people who go to Washington DC, or Lansing, or Trenton, or Tallahassee and try to get senators, representatives, governors and presidents to hear their side of the story. Demonizing constituencies and those working on their behalf is disingenuous, cheap, political pandering.

Galactic Black Holes: The Glue for All Galaxies

Galaxies are large collections of stars, comprised of millions and often billions of stars. Astronomers think there are billions of galaxies in the universe. What keeps the stars in a galaxy together? Gravity, or more specifically, gravitational orbits.

A black hole in its simplest form is a collapsed, dead star. Typically a huge star, many times the size of our sun and at the end of its life will explode as a supernova. If there is enough mass left after the explosion, the star’s remnant mass collapses quickly and catastrophically in on itself to something so extremely dense that not even light can escape its grasp. Black holes can and do grow in size all the time. They suck in and crush whatever matter, gas, stars, or other black holes that fall into their intense gravitational fields.

Astronomers have been reaching the conclusion in the past few years, based on their research, that our Milky Way galaxy and some other galaxies have at their centers black holes with masses equal to millions of suns. It is not only common for large black holes to be at the center of some galaxies, as astronomers are discovering, but in my opinion this is the only way that galaxies can exist in the universe. If the stars in a galaxy do indeed orbit or rotate around a center point, as the planets in our solar system rotate around their central sun, the galactic stars must rotate around a galactic center with enough mass, and hence gravity, to hold them in their orbits.

There is no one star or thousand stars massive enough to keep millions or billions of stars in orbit. One could argue that the million stars close to the galactic center of a galaxy could perform as a gravitational point of attraction for the rest of the galaxy, and they may indeed add to the center’s gravitational influence, but so many stars would themselves need a gravitational focus or they would have no orbits and would continuously fall into each other aggregating into black holes after reaching critical mass anyway.

Therefore it is my contention that every galaxy must have a huge black hole at its center acting as the central orbital focus for all the stars in the galaxy. Not just some galaxies -- each and every galaxy that exists. And the size of the galactic black hole (or holes) must be directly proportional to the size of the galaxy and the material in orbit about it.

Rest in Peace Eric Woolfson

Eric Woolfson, the signature voice of the Alan Parsons Project died Wednesday of cancer at the age of 64. The singer, who crooned many of the greatest hits of the progressive rock band was also a playwright, composer, musician, and politician in his native England. He also recently released a solo album.

Woolfson will be most remembered as the lead singer of some of the Alan Parsons Project's best songs including Eye in the Sky, Time (Keeps Flowing), and Don't Answer Me. One of the best songs he sang was Ammonia Avenue. In it he really has the chance to show the talent and full range of his beautiful voice.

It has been said that Alan Parsons used Woolfson's voice like an instrument in his compositions and I'd have to agree. If Mr. Woolfson was akin to any instrument, I have always thought him to be close to a French horn due to his mellifluous, brassy voice.

Time will keep flowing on in Eric Woolfson's absence, but the world will be a little poorer because of it, and the choirs in Heaven perhaps a little richer. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters. See ya some other place, somewhere, some other time Eric. (photo credit BBC)

A Horrific Persistance of Incorrectness - Grammar 101

There are some grammatical issues that inexplicably persist in popular culture, perpetuated by even the most learned among us (or apparently learned). The one I address here today is actually a simple, straightforward grammatical rule. It concerns the confusion which sometimes seems to arise when trying to figure out which indefinite article to use in front of certain words starting with the letter H.

A or An?

"An" certainly sounds more Ivy League when used in front of certain words. But "sounding" knowledgeable is a stone's throw away from disinformation.

Most words in the English language that have H as their first letter also have the hard H, or consonant sound. Think Hit, Happy, Hair, Humidor, House, Hot, Hog, and History to name a few. Which article do you use in front of these H words? The answer of course is "A". ("I had a history test.")

A relative small number of words begin with an H that has a silent H, or vowel sound. Think Hour, Honor, or Honest. Which article do you use in front of these H words? The answer in these cases is "An". ("American Idol is an hour long today.")

It is always wrong to use the word "an" before any word beginning with a "hard" H. This includes the word "Historical". Let me repeat, the word "History" and its derivations begin with a consonant sound and so are preceded by the article "a" -- never "an".

Remember, "an" is used before words beginning with vowel sounds, and "a" is used before words beginning with consonant sounds.

It's not a hard rule. But it is a hard and fast rule.

Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style 15th edition for help with this and other grammatical astigmatisms.

www.gradeAedits.com

Couples Retreat Movie Review

If you're up for a funny movie (and who isn't these days?) then Couples Retreat with Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman and many other great and talented actors is for you. It's a light-hearted look at problem resolution in marital relationships. It doesn't offer real solutions, but it does offer real laughs. The movie is set in the Caribbean and centers around four couples who go to an all-inclusive resort that promises to help them work out their problems. The humor is sometimes raunchy and always wacky. (The movie is rated PG-13, but I rate it PG-16 for simulated sexual activity and references.)

I love this movie and am definitely going to add the DVD to my collection when it comes out. Grab a friend or significant other and see this fun romp in the sun and sand.

Unearned Peace Prize Is Nothing New

Today the Nobel Prize committee has shown itself and its Peace Prize officially to be without value or significance. Not that we haven't seen many past poor selections already. At least when this liberal organization gave former President Carter his unearned Nobel Peace Prize, he had been out of his failed presidency a few years and had done something. But for this organization to hand a Nobel Prize to someone who hasn't done anything yet, except talk a good game, is a joke.

Did Ronald Reagan receive a Nobel Prize for helping to end the tyranny of the Soviet Union? Did he receive it for negotiating to reduce and even end whole classes of nuclear weapons? Did George H.W. Bush receive a Nobel Prize for saving Kuwait from an invasion by Iraq?

The Nobel Peace Prize is a continuous year after year joke. Just look at some of the past recipients: The International Council on Climate Change and Al Gore (for Peace?), Jimmy Carter, the UN and Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat; and Mikail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union for helping to bring down his own country.

Someone who is humble and who recognizes that he has not accomplished anything in his presidency yet would decline this award. But President Obama is the opposite of humble.

The Nobel Prize Committee should be raked over the coals for its blatant attempt to influence world politics.

How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

There is an easy way for the concerned eco-citizens of our much-beleaguered world to reduce their carbon footprints.

What's a carbon footprint you ask? For those of you who may not know it, a carbon footprint is how much carbon you unwittingly spew back into Mother Earth's bosom by virtue of your everyday existence. It is measured for individuals, industries, and countries in tons of carbon emitted to the atmosphere each year. Natural sources are of course not considered.

As you may know, the European Union has a carbon trading program for industry and now the Democrats in the United States congress and the Democrat President want the same for the United States.

Carbon trading, Cap and Trade, or Cap and Tax, is a scheme where if a business produces less carbon dioxide emissions than it is allowed, it can sell what remains to some company that knows it is going to produce too much carbon dioxide. These carbon credits will be traded on Wall Street, which will give them hundreds of billions of dollars worth of new business, so they are literally salivating at the prospect that The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 will pass. It has in fact passed the House of Representatives but is idle in the Senate.

Beyond the higher prices everyone will pay for energy as a result of the Carbon Tax, we the little people need to get in on carbon trading too. And I know how to do it, without a broker, without fees, without license, and for free too. Yes, you too can acquire carbon credits and thereby control the size and impact of your odious carbon footprint.

The process is a little involved and requires some work, but you're doing this for Mother Earth so a little work ain't gonna slow you down from doing right, is it? This Personal Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan (PCFRiP as I call it) is also built on fairness, honor, and respect.

The plan goes like this. Choose a newspaper, a local one in your area would be best for this. If there aren't any newspapers left in your area then choose on online newspaper, but whichever paper you choose it should have an obituary section. Open said newspaper or website and go to the obituary section and look for a recently deceased person with the same last name that you have. If you have a common name like Smith or Patel you may find many. If you have a less common name like Frankenstein you may have a harder time. It may take days or weeks of hard work but you are doing this for all the right reasons people (to prop up failing newspapers and reduce that carbon thingy).

Once you find someone whose last name matches your last name (and assuming it is not you!), clip the obit, save it somewhere and acquire that person's Carbon Credit History. Unless you know the person, how much you actually receive can be based upon national averages (19 metric tons per year in the U.S.). Once you have acquired this person's Carbon Credit History, you can add it to your Carbon Credit History and add 38 tons of carbon to the Earth's atmosphere without increasing the net total carbon load on the Earth's atmosphere by a single extra pound.

Brilliant right? There's no downside. I have acquired the Carbon Credit History of seven decedents with my last name and now have the ability to add 152 tons of carbon to the atmosphere guilt-free, without increasing the total atmospheric load by one net pound.

I haven't been able to take advantage of all this extra emissions capability yet, but it's there when I need it and if anyone has an unusual last name or is in a hurry to offset their carbon usage, they are free to contact me to purchase some of my excess Carbon Credit History. So now the average guy or gal won't be left out of the Carbon Trading boon that is now upon us. We can all be green and expend a little energy too.

(P.S. A look at neogreen British Petroleum's [BP] carbon calculator website shows that even one of the world's LARGEST providers of carbon products can repeat the oft-repeated liberal complaint that "the U.S. despite having just 5 percent of the world's population uses 26 percent of the world's energy." Really! I would think liberals would just get tired of saying the same things over and over. But for British Petroleum to have anything to do with the phrase is laughably hypocritical.

And to address the point ever so briefly, would you expect the world's largest and most productive economy to use less energy than say, Indonesia and remain a strong and productive country? I think perhaps a personal boycott of BP is the order of the day. We can use 26 percent of ExxonMobil's energy just as well.)

Next week find out how to acquire property on the moon without paying a radio shill!

The Old Republic Gazette

The name of this blog has changed today to The Old Republic Gazette because that name seemed to me to be more in line with some of the issues that have been touched upon in these pages and in recognition that the Old Republic of these United States was better in most ways than this new republic is fast becoming.

The breadth of topics covered has not changed and we will still talk about issues like science, technology, the environment, politics and policy, literature, history, relationships, world events, and more.

Welcome readers and bloggers to The Old Republic Gazette - Where Free Speech Gathers with Thought.

The Tsunami of Taxpayer Discontent Reaches Washington

If you have time and want to watch some of the speeches from the historic 9/12 taxpayer march on Washington DC, this link is to the C-Span video of the event. It's about two hours. Many moving and passionate speeches.

What Is the Best Digital Camera?

By nature, people are different and use their cameras for taking different kinds of pictures. So the best digital camera for one person may be different than another’s best. But overall, most people who use a camera have similar requirements. With that in mind we can determine what the best digital camera is for most casual to serious digital photographers.

Picking a digital camera can be easy if you think about what you want in one. If you don’t think about it first, you may at some point feel a huge lack of love for your new camera. A little knowledge, a little research, and wallah! “I love my camera.”

OK, let’s get serious. Consider the following when buying a camera. These features are more important than all the rest of the functions or options you can get on a digital camera:

• Optical Zoom
• Resolution
• Size
• Price

Let's discuss each of these necessary features briefly.

Optical Zoom -- Most of the smaller digital cameras today are really lacking when it comes to zooming in on a target. Zoom gets you closer to your subject, without you having to actually move closer. For instance, if you are at the zoo and want a closeup of the White Tiger (but don’t want to get closer!), a 2 times or 3 times optical zoom will not close the gap very much. The tiger will still seem far away. The camera may have a digital zoom feature as well and you try that, but when you get back home and look at your tiger closeup you won’t be happy. Digital zoom uses the camera’s software to “zoom in” on something artificially. The result can be a blurry, pixelated (grainy) mess. A telescoping lens is used in optical zoom, and the result is a clean and clear closeup of your target.

Optical zoom should be as high as you can afford. If you want to see the eyelashes of the White Tiger, then 10 or 15 times optical zoom is perfect. But this will make the camera a little bit bulkier and more costly. A good optical zoom lens though is something you’ll put to use every time you turn on the camera, and it is a critical component if you want what is the best digital camera for your needs.

Resolution -- You'll see a camera’s resolution referred to as MP or megapixels. Besides military police, MP stands for millions of pixels. This number is the quality and size of the picture that a camera can take. It is always better to get a camera with the highest number of megapixels you can. At least 5 megapixels will be enough take professional-looking shots, and since you are going to use your camera to take pictures that are important, often memory-making events, you will be happy you chose a camera that gave you clear, non-pixelated (ungrainy) pictures.

Size – Cameras can be very small these days, and many of the cameras sold are credit card sized. These small cameras are perfect for fitting in your pocket or purse, but you'll often find them not worth the 60 or 80 dollars that you paid for them due to their lack of functionality when you need them. The optical zoom is usually very poor on these smaller cameras, though sometimes the resolution is okay.

Price – The best digital camera for your needs doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is something you will hopefully use for many years to come. If you think about the features you want and need and make sure your camera meets some of the requirements that we’ve discussed here, you won’t have to buy a camera every three years. You’ll also save money in the long run. But even in the short-run, a camera with these features shouldn’t be too expensive. As a general rule though, stay away from the cameras that you see on sale at drug stores, Target, Wal-mart, and Kmart.

Good luck!

Health Identity Theft

When we have Health Care Deform imposed on us in the United States, and our medical records are digitized (as they want to do to "save money") am I going to have to buy Lifelock to protect my medical records from theft and misuse as I currently do for my financial information? The abuse and theft will happen. No digital information is safe from prying eyes, as we have seen over and over.

The Real Party of No

Welcome the "real" party of NO in American politics.
As a party, these "changers" in the Democrat Party consistently say no to nuclear power, no to storing nuclear waste, no to a strong defense, no to TORT reform, no to Clean Coal, no to drilling for American oil, no to enforcing the border, no to windmills in their towns or off their coasts, no to solar panels in the desert, no to the freedom to drive what we like, no to choosing our own light bulbs, no to guns, no to school choice, no to Fiscal Restraint, no to less taxes, no to Capitalism, and no to Liberty. "Yes, we can't."

Happy Labor Day!

A legal holiday from (and for) labor in the United States and Canada.

On September 5 in 1882, thousands of workers walked together from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade. The parade was to honor the workers of America and to call attention to the many labor issues that workers had at the time, including long hours, low wages, and continuing exploitation of child workers. These parades were held in the following years, grew in popularity and spread to most other states. The United States Congress declared the first Monday in September as a legal holiday (Labor Day) in 1894.

Would it be OK to Taser Terrorists?

Deaths to individuals from Tasering by police in the U.S. since 2001 -- +335


Deaths to terrorists from waterboarding in the U.S. since 2001 -- 0

Letter to my Senator re: Health Care Deform

Dear Senator Frank Lautenberg,

As I am sure you understand, you represent the citizens of New Jersey, not Republican or Democrat issues. And there is a great deal of opposition to this "government option" for health care that is being pushed in the House, Senate, and by the President. You have seen the reports of everyday people showing up at townhall meetings to express their feelings regarding this latest government expansion. It is widely disliked.

With these things in mind, I ask you to vote against wholesale change of the health care system in this country. The government doesn't need to get its hands into more of the citizen's business. The government doesn't need to get bigger, it needs to get smaller. This scale of change is not necessary, and during a recession is most definitely the wrong time to undertake it.

The best quality health care system in the world, one which people in other countries come to when theirs fails them, will be ruined by taking this step. Other steps and other ways can be taken to fix the things that do ail the U.S. health care system.

The funding of health care (insurance and medical costs) needs targeted change, change to the ease with which lawsuits may be brought against doctors and hospitals, and limits to rewards. TORT reform. And hospitals need help to recover the crippling costs they bear by uninsured people and illegal aliens who do not pay their bills. The federal mandate that hospitals help everyone needs to be dropped or funded. But that's not the same as a government health care option.

We don't need another entitlement program which will raise the deficit, raise the debt, and increase the monies that the government needs to collect from the citizens. Not to mention the fact that the government isn't doing so well with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Amtrak, the Post Office, the Veterans hospitals, and many other large beauracracies.

Adding health care to the U.S. government's responsibilities is also unconstitutional. It is not the purview of the Federal government to administer health care, nor is it the government's business to force people to buy health insurance, debit their bank accounts to pay for it, force citizens into a government plan when insignificant changes are made to their private insurance, decide or be involved in end of life care, etc.

There are other roads to reform which are not so drastic, some of which have been put forward in the house and senate. I am all for working on fixing the things that don't work, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here, and that's exactly what is going on.

And by all means, please read the bill before you vote on it. Crib notes by definition leave things un-noted.

All the best to you,
Brian M. Holmes

Truth, Liberty, and Health Care Deform

The following post was sent to flag@whitehouse.gov, which is an e-mail address that is collecting information from "whistleblowers" about the opposing viewpoints in the Health Care Deform debate. This sounds like a tactic from behind the Iron Curtain. The article discussing this sham is on the White House web page.


Brown$hirt$,

Truth is what is being spoken person to person (and under the surface and above surface and at the coffee pot and water cooler and in the car repair waiting room) about this Health Care Deform. What are you going to do about truth? Squash it? Call it shrill and loud?

I think the spending this Health Care Deform represents is irresponsible when this country is in near bankruptcy and saddled with huge deficits.

Not to mention that federal government healthcare is unconstitutional, takes away more of our freedom, and imposes more governmental control on the citizens of the United States.

Society is not here to make choices for me, healthcare or otherwise. But more and more, this society wants to make all my choices for me.

How about fixing Medicare? How about fixing Social Security? How about fixing the economy? How about ending illegal immigration instead of offering them healthcare?

Stop wasting my and my neighbor’s money.

And stop throwing away our money on car rebates too, increasing the Obama bloated deficit even more.

Brian Holmes

Radio Mysteries

How does someone who can't speak the language clearly enough to be understood get a job on the radio?

Liberty and Tyranny Review

I just finished Mark Levin's book Liberty and Tyranny and found it a sober and intelligent look at conservatism and liberalism in America today.

Mr. Levin, a fire-brand radio talk show host and constitutional lawyer, discusses the nuts and bolts of both philosophies, their origins and their aims in American society. Since the book is a "conservative manifesto", liberalism is not shone in a beneficent light in the book, to say the least.


The book is well researched, thoroughly referenced, and its depth and discussion of core human interrelational concepts will lend it staying power in the political/philosophical realm for years, perhaps decades to come. It has shown its staying power on the New York Times bestseller list as the best-selling nonfiction hard cover book for most of the last three months.

One thing which I did not agree with in the book was the introduction of a new term for someone of liberal philosophy -- "statist". The term feels unnatural and clunky, and is an unnecessary refinement of terminology.

One memorable section of the book lists all of the maladies caused by global warming (a big liberal cause celebre). It is pages long and in small type and true. Global warming acolytes blame every insignificant shift from the norm on human caused global warming. It is stunning, and almost funny, to see the extent of it printed in a book.

What is not funny is the control of our lives that will be lost as global warming legislation passes in governments all over the world. It is a vehicle for greater taxation and greater tyranny.

The book Liberty and Tyranny displays with forceful example that no one can (or should) remain a fence-sitter, or apolitical in this day and age in America. Nearly every facet of our lives is affected in some way by government bureaucracy, policy, law, and taxation handed down by school boards, home owner's associations, town councils, state governments, and the federal government.

Not a difficult read, nor long either, at the very least the book should inspire citizens to vote more often and armed with knowledge based on facts.

To the Courageous People of Iran,

Despite the fact that the President of the United States is not taking a firm stand on the dangerous situation in Iran because he "doesn't want to meddle" and wants to take a diplomatically safe position, I am with you in your stand against tyranny and so are most other Americans. Good luck and may you reach your goals with little or no more blood shed. Power to the People!

Earth-Friendly, Green Tip #17

Lithium-ion batteries are great for vacations because they are very long lasting and because they are lighter than regular alkaline AA batteries. In addition, you don't have to worry about recharging them. So, even though they are more expensive than alkalines, you are getting more for your money! More energy, more convenience, and a lighter device.

I used four non-rechargeable lithium AA batteries in my digital camera on a trip recently. And they lasted about a month beyond that trip. Finally, even though they were dead as far as the camera was concerned, they still had voltage in them that I wanted to use up before throwing them away (recycling them).

My solution? Use them in a wall clock I have at work whose battery had recently died. Now you might be saying, "Go ahead, use dead batteries in your clock at work Brian, and five o'clock will never come."

Step back, oh ye of little faith.

The clock uses one AA battery at a time. I had four "dead" lithium batteries at the beginning of March and now in June the clock is operating on the third battery, or at about the rate of one dead lithium battery per month. New life was found in batteries that were headed for the battery recycling bin.

What makes this possible is that an electric clock uses extremely little energy, perfect for draining the last drop of power from batteries used initially in higher drain devices. This process of "hypermiling" works in low-power remote controls and probably in certain LED flashlights as well.

This stuff isn't going to save the planet from "the sky is falling" disaster that Al Gore and his minions are predicting, but it does fit into the "waste not want not" category. And I think in this economic climate we can all agree on using things as long as possible and getting the most value for our buck.

BTW, using rechargeable batteries whenever possible, is even better for the environment (Earth-Friendly, Green Tip #8).

Robert Meets Gillian

(The following is a vignette-type short story I wrote a few years ago.)

Robert says to Gillian as they sit on the airplane's soft, first-class seats, "Well, I had come to know you a little because of your article in Summerscape magazine. Since I am ever on the lookout for a soul mate I had to contact you because I felt that some of your passions resonate with mine. I don't know the status of your love life and if you are solo for a while and enjoying it, then keep going. People should definitely go through periods in their lives where they are not part of a couple--makes them stronger and all that.

"Do you want a soul mate? Do you feel that a lasting love relationship is based on shared interests, or something deeper? One of the most important things that you expressed was your effort to live in the moment. Now, I said, here's somebody who's on my wavelength."

"When can I talk, Robert?" Robert bit his lip. "I'm just kidding. I hope humor is on your wavelength too."

"Sure it is. But that's not a good enough reason to think you'd be a perfect match for me is it?"

"No," said Ms. Anderson, who became decidedly annoyed when the flight attendant interrupted their discussion. The fellow went away and she said, "But I'm kind of pretty aren't I?"

"You're beautiful, and that and what I said before about you trying to stay in the moment certainly might be enough to induce me to think you'd be soul mate material. And it has also been a couple of years for me since I found out that our thoughts aren't really ours, that we can usher them out. But it feels like I haven't become very masterful at staying in control. But beauty isn't the icing on the cake, it's the candied sprinkles or the candles. There has to be more."

Gillian looked a little coquettish as she joked, "There is, Robert, there is."

"Well of course there is Gillian! Everyone has something to be proud of. Everyone has something to offer another person. But you CARE about your appearance and your body's health and that is something I share. And it's something different than if you cared too much about your beauty."

"So what have you got? Health conscious and moment conscious. Still doesn't sound like enough to base a life on?"

"Well, there's more," said Robert. "But if there wasn't it'd be enough to go out on a date or two to get to know each other better."

"I guess."

"The idea that you don't eat wheat intrigues me, though I have no idea why someone would get rid of that. Cut down maybe."

"Okay, a little intrigue is nice."

"Somewhere else maybe. You tell me why you don't eat meat and I'll tell you why I don't eat mammals."

"Later," she said. "Though that intrigues me a little. Maybe there is something else that makes you think we are soul mates?"

Robert believes that anything worth having is worth working for so he agrees with Gillian. "I took Tai Chi for a while, I notice you did some of that. That you feel you can become one with nature, I like that. You're from Michigan where I'm from."

"Yeah. Me and about 4 million other females."

"Oh hush. It just adds to the feeling of kinship. Do you feel that life is just a game sometimes? That maybe to enable us to enjoy life a little more sometimes people should just view life as a game."

"I'll get back to you, Bob, as soon as I get my 200 dollars for passing go."

"Like I said, I can wait. I've waited a while already. . . . You smoke."

"That's a plus?" Gillian turns to the window to see the wide Mississippi River out the window.

"I think you don't use it as a crutch. You know that it has a small significance in your life, is there for enjoyment and you never overdo anything you enjoy."

"Except maybe sex."

"That's good to know."

"Don't jump the gun there, Roberto."

"How about the beauty of something done perfectly? Maybe I should mention that I am not one of those people who would put up a web page shrine in your image."

"Good. There's enough of those already."

"Look, before I read that article about you I didn't know the first thing about you. What is that sort of worship based on anyway? Looks and acting ability. Both of which are plenty prevalent today."

"So now I'm run of the mill?"

"You were just the actor who played a character in a show I liked before that article. It'd be easier if you were a Realtor or a doctor. But what you are isn't as important as who you are in your soul, your spirit."

"Maybe there's something about me you won't like once you get to know me."

"That's true. But we're taking a chance. With all the choices you have it's up to me to convince you to take a chance on me."

"I already have, Robert."