Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Senate Panel Considers Hearing on Rumsfeld

Good way for some in the GOP to distance themselves from the Prez. I don't believe Warner actually likes what the Bushies and Rummy have done to his military, but as a good soldier he's been loyal as could be expected. I'd be surprised (and happy if he did) if he held hearings. Additionally the person that everyone would really like to hear from is Shinseki. He's the one that knows what happened, especially the planning for post-war Iraq.

Friday, April 21, 2006

"Not as Lame as You Think" by Amy Sullivan

For her interesting thoughtful articles, I find myself obsessing about Amy Sullivan. Sure her article about fantasy baseball is not her greatest moment, I still love her writing. This article is her latest. It does a convincing job that the Dems have no press and that they have done some stuff to foil the Bushies. It's one of those Conventional Wisdom is wrong articles that the New Yorker does so well. Good stuff.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Rolling Stone :

This is about how W. is the worst president ever and why. The only point that I would have made stronger is that most of his problems are his own creation. It's almost like we should pull a DeLay and redo the election of '04. It's hard to believe (and really sad) we almost have three more years of his lame duckness to go. If anything we should hold him to his word (oath of office) and ask him to resign for the sake of the country.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Cost of Illegal Immigration May Be Less Than Meets the Eye - New York Times

A more civilized look at the effects of immigration on wages. The point about people that don't have HS Diplomas having other problems to worry about other than immigration is a valid one. More importantly, and this is difficult to capture, is how do you account for the energy and future generations? How much is it worth to a country?

Monday, April 10, 2006

Wal-Mart defends bank bid:

"That could threaten community banks, according to trade groups that say Wal-Mart has the size and resources to lower prices long enough to drive small banks out, and then raise prices once it dominates the market."

Um .... You mean that Chase, Citi, and BoA are afraid that Wal-Mart might compete effectively and beat them at their own game? How many dollars are with Community Banks? How many people that use community banks don't already compete with CitiBank or Wells Fargo?

In poorer regions and neighborhoods, Wal-Mart should open retail banks. Lowering fees and giving poor folks access to credit is a good thing that people in wealthy areas already enjoy.

Banking for poor folks is difficult at best. Between the currency exchanges (as they are called here in Illinois) and check cashing places, and the need to carry your entire paycheck in cash (minus the fee, of course) makes for a difficult and expensive way to "bank." This is nothing compared on what easier capital could do to help neighborhoods start businesses and make home improvements.

What about letting more competition into market and letting more people have access to banking services? If anything, the major banks should be ashamed of their record on "red-lining" neighborhoods. If they still won't put branches in poorer neighborhoods, then let Wal-Mart go there and try to succeed.
With Big Boost From Sugar Cane, Brazil Is Satisfying Its Fuel Needs - New York Times

This does look like a good resolution to oil dependence. The flex fuel cars, I'd assume, could be run in the U.S. now. The ethanol infrastructure presents problems as does the efficient way to purchase ethanol. The cost of ethanol would have been useful to figure out how much of a better deal it would be in the future. However, this is the way to go, although there are some folks in Texas that would fight this tooth and nail.

Friday, April 07, 2006

First a Wall -- Then Amnesty

Not that I disagree with a wall, but maybe we should change the terms of the debate. Why not let everyone in again? I'm sure many of today's pundits ancestors came over when there were little or no immigration laws restricting entry. Let's make it easy to gain entry into the country.

Why pay a coyote $1,700 when you could come over legally for $500. Walk across the border, fill out some forms, take an oath, and your on your way to American citizenship. If you want to get bad about it, why not use technology (RFID) on new immigrants).

You eliminate the problem of spending a ridiculous amount of energy in watching the border. You keep track of everyone. You earn some money. You save lives. You reenergize your cities, towns and rural areas (see the free land towns are giving away on the Plains).

Now the cost to society to educate and heal them could be offset by what you save on enforcement that doesn't work. However, realistically, it will cost more money in the short-run. But in the long-run we will make a stronger country filled with people willing to sacrifice everything to get here. Aren't those the kind of people we want to be fellow citizens? Taxpaying, legal immigrants that want a better life for their kids?

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Apple Allows Windows on Its Machines - New York Times

I heard rumors about this on TWIT, but I never thought this would come true. I wonder if the Apple OS can run on a Windows machine? I've always heard that Apple was a software company that sold hardware. Maybe they are going back its roots and trying to shift onto Dells. By putting the Apple OS on PCs probably the biggest threat to the Windows OS since CP/M was in the game. Gates should be scared and pissed. I'm not sure what going to happen, but it will be fun to watch.
Apple Allows Windows on Its Machines - New York Times

I heard rumors about this on TWIT, but I never thought this would come true. I wonder if the Apple OS can run on a Windows machine? I've always heard that Apple was a software company that sold hardware. Maybe they are going back its roots and trying to shift onto Dells. By putting the Apple OS on PCs probably the biggest threat to the Windows OS since CP/M was in the game. Gates should be scared and pissed. I'm not sure what going to happen, but it will be fun to watch.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Chicago Tribune | Papers, Web sites in scrape on stories

48 percent profit on Web stories! Are you nuts. This market is a boon. Newspapers are the most logical Web news source. If they invest in the product and the Web, they will be very profitable.
The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia

New format and layout for the Web. I do like some of the changes, but it is not very intuitive when you have already been on the old system for so long. Not sure the wholesale change was the best way, especially for a Web page where you can evolve easily and revolution is not as necessary.