March 2008 Archives

Al Qaeda is still trying to spin Iraq into civil war, but whereas in 2005-2006 Al Qaeda was succeeding, today Al Qaeda is being shredded. - Michael Yon, Fox News

Supply side economics are criticized in this report because they only lead to prosperity, not tax revenue.  "It doesn't work."

Please, someone talk to supply side critics about their priorities.

An amazing contrast between McCain and his Democratic rivals:

... Senator John McCain of Arizona warned Tuesday against vigorous government action to solve the deepening mortgage crisis and the market turmoil it has caused, saying that "it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers."

McCain should see big gains in the polls as economists point to fiscal responsibility as a first step to economic recovery. You see, McCain favors long-term solutions rather than quick fixes that are designed to win elections but do more harm than good in the long run.

First we watched the scandal related to Barack Obama's spiritual advisors and his general problem with the truth (crash and burn). Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton has launched a bold new (fictional) narrative about her 1996 trip to Bosnia:

Yes, The infighting between the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is benefiting John McCain. A new Franklin & Marshall College poll states that 1 in 5 Democrats would vote for McCain if their candidate does not get the nomination.

The Chinese government has had a myriad of issues related to the oppression of their citizens.  The latest report adds momentum to the coming backlash against this Eastern tyranny: China blocked access to YouTube.com on Sunday after dozens of videos of recent protests in Tibet appeared on the popular U.S. video Web site.

I wish I would have seen this earlier:

The true bull market ended long ago with the purchasing power of the DJIA crashing.  The DOW divided by gold indicates a significant drop (less than 1/3) in purchasing power.  This is not just a bear market but a near collapse.

Quite simply, the market sets the interest rates and not the Fed.  A rise in interest rate actually means a good economy (more people want to borrow).  As rates go down so does stock prices.  Robert Prechter suggests safety - "In a nutshell people should be in the safest cash equivalents that we can find."  After the bear is gone, he suggests using your cash to buy stock at a discounted priced.

It's time to make way for the semantic web, the future information technology that will revolutionize the internet and make Google obsolete.  The trend is to associate low level data in a way that allows direct and integrated connectivity.

Imagine if two completely separate things — your bank statements and your calendar — spoke the same language and could share information with one another. You could drag one on top of the other and a whole bunch of dots would appear showing you when you spent your money.

The meaning of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content

Despite reports to the contrary, Americans may be getting enough sleep.

More television viewers are watching their favorite programs through streaming video on their computers:

When the fourth season of “The Office,” an NBC comedy, had its premiere in September, one in five viewings was on a computer screen instead of a television. The episode attracted a broadcast audience of 9.7 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. It was also streamed from the Web 2.7 million times in one week, the executive producer, Greg Daniels, said.

[snip]

A study in October by Nielsen Media Research found that one in four Internet users had streamed full-length television episodes online in the last three months, including 39 percent of people ages 18 to 34 and, more surprisingly, 23 percent of those 35 to 54.

"Heroes," "Ugly Betty," "CSI," "House" and "Gossip Girl" are among the other online hits although there is not consistent rating system.

Online news is on the rise with viewers tuning into Fox, CNN and MSNBC and services like Netflix are offering their video and TV portfolio over the internet.

Look for a gradual merge of traditional TV with this disruptive technology.

The scandal that recently hit baseball is destined to make it's mark on the world's top thinkers.  From the Times:

In a recent commentary in the journal Nature, two Cambridge University researchers reported that about a dozen of their colleagues had admitted to regular use of prescription drugs like Adderall, a stimulant, and Provigil, which promotes wakefulness, to improve their academic performance.

Although designed to help those with medical problems, western culture continues to make mainstream performance enhancement procedures and drugs.

More than one in four U.S. teen girls is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease.  Note that some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer. Ironically, health "professionals" speculate that abstinence education is to blame.

Others point to more obvious factors.

"Current public health policies are clearly failing to reduce the spread of STDs among young women," stated Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America. "Pushing kids to be sexually active, withholding medical screenings to deny parents information about their teens, and encouraging young women to skip screenings for STDs are irresponsible policies that have put teens' health at risk." Others point to more obvious factors.

"Public health officials need to admit their failures that have led to kids paying the price. Funding irresponsible sex-ed programs, ones that encourage kids to be sexually active, twelve times higher than funding abstinence programs unsurprisingly results in more kids being sexually active. Experts note that a key prevention strategy is screening for STDs. Yet by making the morning-after pill available without a prescription, officials are discouraging young women from seeing a doctor when they are at risk of an STD."

Scientists say a compound isolated from the paradoxical frog could stimulate the release of insulin, the vital hormone deficient in people with diabetes. - more