Now it is terrorism

The conservatives are whining that the media is not labeling what happened at FT. Hood as a terrorist act. After all he has a Muslim sounding name and is possibly a Muslim. Hot damn, the boy must be a terrorist. Well, I will agree with them but not for that reason. For that, I used the Patriot act.

However, the conservatives seem to be lacking in intellectual honesty. Remember back a few months when the abortion doctor was brutally gunned down in his church? Roeder was not called a terrorist. He was acting alone. No sir, his affiliation Operation Rescue had nothing to do with it. Heck, some even hailed him as a hero and said the doctor had it coming. There are even legal defense funds to try to help escape justice.

Here’s the rub: the same definition that paints Hasan as a terrorist also paints Roeder as a terrorist. So either Hasan was a lone lunatic like Roeder or they are both terrorists. The conservatives can not have it one way if it is one of them and another way if it is one of those Muslims.

Economists are clueless

Either economists are clueless or they need to revise how they determine when recessions begin and end. Back in the spring and summer, people were complaining that things were being tough. At the time, it was not acknowledged that it was a recession. This was one of the things that inspired a certain McCain adviser to call us a nation of whiners. Now, they are saying that the recession is ending in spite of the nearly 10% official unemployment.

Throughout this whole roller coaster ride, it seems that the plight of the Average Joe takes a back seat to the assets of Wall Street. To economists the Average Joe is just one of many numbers. However when one of their golf buddies from Wall Street feels pain, then it does become an issue.

What they seem to fail to grasp is that the number that represents the Average Joe’s pain represents 70% of the country’s economic activity. It would make sense that unemployment would be a bigger factor for economic policy. Sadly, it does not. The economists see a small increase in the GDP and a recovery on Wall Street and say, “Mission Accomplished”.

Glenn Beck: corporate shill or idiot?

Either Glenn Beck is a corporate shill or an idiot. I am also willing to entertain the idea that he does not let the facts get in the way of his hatred. Recently, he was saying that net neutrality is a government take over of the Internet. He is completely wrong on what net neutrality is.

Net neutrality is the concept that Internet providers will not discriminate based on the content or source of what is being sent over the network. This is not the government trying take over the Internet. It is the government telling the corporations that they cannot discriminate.

What the corporations want would be no different than the post office opening your mail, reading it, and deciding whether to send it on (or charging extra). For example, a while ago, Verizon disallowed anti-abortions text messages from their network. Another example was that Comcast was caught degrading connections to Vonage after Comcast entered the VOIP market.

If corporations are allowed to control the content on the Internet, free speech and innovation will suffer. What will stop them from blocking access to web sites that are critical of them? What will stop them from preventing new and exciting services from seeing access to the market?

Not everything that the government does is evil. Beck seems to believe that the government is always trying to enslave us. He speaks of how corporations have taken control of the political parties (ironically, over the Fox network). Yet, when it comes to limiting said corporation’s intrusion on our free speech, he comes to their defense. Seems more like he is a corporate shill than someone who is more interested in defending the People’s rights. Then again, maybe he is an idiot.

Conservatives win in Maine

How can you tell if a conservative is lying? They claim that they are for small government and keeping government out of people’s lives. At least, that is what it seems like. We have seen what conservatives think is small government: running deficits to kill people and increasing the county’s debt.

What makes the results in Maine interesting is that it shows the double standard that they hold in regards to individual liberty. Conservatives can try to claim that they are for individual liberty but in reality, they are just as bad as liberals. In particular, they use the government to enforce their sense of morality on others.

How does allowing homosexual couples to marry harm others? The only change would be is that they will get the same privileges and rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples. There is no coercion. Nobody is harmed. Nobody loses anything.

The real problem is they find it morally offensive. So, they turn to the government to try to make those people just go away. How is that not an intrusion of individual freedom? It seems like to me that they think that liberty is for only those with whom they agree.

Construction trucks

Every morning I see dump trucks. On all of them they have a sign that reads “not responsible for broken windshields”. Is there some sort of exemption for them? How can a dump truck pull onto rush hour interstate traffic not using a tarp and flinging rocks all over the place not considered being negligent? Are the signs just insurance against stupid people?

Curious minds want to know.

Recent election results

First off, congratulations to the republicans on the two wins from last night. It just goes to show that the party can still win elections. Before the republicans get too high off the victory, the wins are not as significant as they want us to believe.

Going back to last November, Mitch Daniels won reelection by a huge margin. However, McCain lost. What this means is that the one who wins governor does not always reflect the results of other races.

The race that had my interest was NY23. In the long term, the election is unimportant. The reason that I found it interesting is because the conservative extremists forced the “RINO” out. This race gave an indication of how well the brand of conservatism supported by the likes of Beck, Bachmann, Palin, and the Great Ego.

To be honest, the deck was stacked in Hoffman’s favor. The district has not voted for a democrat in over a hundred years. The victory should have been a given. However, it turns out that NY23 preferred the democrat over a “true conservative”.

I think the biggest reason for that defeat is more to do with the style of conservatism that Beck and the Great Ego peddle. For one thing if you are a moderate republican, you are treated as a pariah by them; someone who is part of the problem and an enemy to the constitution.

The point is clear. If the conservatives want to win elections, they need to realize that alienating the moderates is not the way to go. As I said last November, the party needs to move closer to the center for it to remain viable.

Limbaugh and consequences

Seems like the Great Ego and his drones are still up in arms about him being excluded from becoming part owner of an NFL team. What I find surprising is that the other owners (including Irsay) oppose him. After all, the Great Ego has championed corporate welfare from which the NFL owners have benefited (especially Irsay).

As for the reactions of the players, that should not have been of any surprise. On occasion, the Great Ego has said some unflattering things about certain types of NFL players. Additionally, every day he treats the people from their neighborhood as a blight on the country. Frankly, if I was in their shoes, I would not want him as one of my bosses.

It seems like to me is that the Great Ego is seeing some consequences of his actions. That is what makes his angst over the situation interesting. On of the things that conservatives like him preach is that there are consequences to our actions. It looks like in his mind that should not apply to him.

He who must not be named

It seems that Claire McCaskill has recently equated Glenn Beck to Lord Voldermort from the Harry Potter series of books. Of course, the right winger’s heads exploded. But she might not be incorrect. After all Beck is an evil little snake that speaks hateful words and encourages his followers to commit evil acts.

Americanized names

I have to wonder if the people who are aghast that the hotel manager made his mexican staff take Americanized names find it odd that call centers in India is staffed with people named Joe, Linda, Mike, and Mary.

Hotel question

Why is it that high end hotels such as Marriott and Hilton charge for Internet connectivity while the cheap places do not? From my experience, the quality of service is not any better.