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[Aug. 21st, 2008|08:42 pm] |
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| heck of an article on Obama.. |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|03:16 pm] |
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?_r=3&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
Alot here on how he thinks about Economics, and how he got to where he is now.
Notables:
"As anyone who has spent time with Obama knows, he likes experts, and his choice of advisers stems in part from his interest in empirical research. (James Heckman, a Nobel laureate who critiqued the campaign’s education plan at Goolsbee’s request, said, “I’ve never worked with a campaign that was more interested in what the research shows.”)"
"“The market is the best mechanism ever invented for efficiently allocating resources to maximize production,” Obama told me. “And I also think that there is a connection between the freedom of the marketplace and freedom more generally.” But, he continued, “there are certain things the market doesn’t automatically do.” In other words, free-market policy isn’t likely to dominate his agenda; his project would be fixing the market." |
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| Poor San Fransisco and their immigrant policies |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|04:47 pm] |
Seems that after a family of 3 were gunned down by an illegal immigrant felon that was protected by the Mayors Office, he had a change of heart. ANn yet after 3 more deaths of innocent people there are still council members who want to shelter, feed, clothe, employ and defend illegal immigrants including felons from deportation. At what point is the line crossed between personal conviction and aiding and abetting a felony?
Why are Mayors like Newsome and other City leaders not in jail for attempting to circumvent our laws? Where is the DA who will step up and begin to jail these felons themselves for their blatant flouting of the law? How many more have to die to people who should not even be here? How many more deaths to violence and DUI's is it going to take before the rights of our citizens outweigh the liberal guilt and ass kissing of these felons?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/08/19/MN0M12C0LH.DTL |
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| Serial Port/ IR Blaster/ USB question |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|12:55 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
While working out of town, my Direct TV receiver died and I had a new receiver and updated dish installed. Long story short, when I returned home, I had to re-hook up my TIVO as the "techs" that did the receiver install didn't really know what they were doing when they tried to hook up my TIVO to/through the receiver. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my new satellite receiver doesn't have a serial port. Anyway, I managed to find the IR Blasters that I had never had to use before and installed them.
Well, everything works (after a fashion) but after having had the use of a serial port on my old receiver for several years, being forced to use the IR Blasters is the pits! Satellite channel changes are sooo slooooow! And if you are surfing from one channel to the next, you have to wait several (3-5?) seconds between each up/down click of the remote to see the picture on the newly selected channels.
Guess I am not describing anything that most of you aren't aware of, but it came as a surprise to me.
So here's my question- My DirectTV receiver has a USB connector on it. Can I buy some sort of serial to USB adapter so that I don't have to use the IR Blasters? Or if this is not possible, can anyone suggest another solution to my slow satellite channel changes?
Thanks for the help! |
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| GW, II |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|11:17 pm] |
As a follow-up to my last post, I want to condense the arguments against taking action to fight global warming into talking points. I hope that this sort of clarification will help myself and others to better understand these positions. Here they are in no particular order:
-The science of GW is not comprehensive. That is, there are conflicting theories and no one theory can explain everything. There is also not enough good data to bolster any theory. Examples of phenomena which fuel a GW skeptic are the warming of Mars, cloud formation due to cosmic rays, and photosynthesis (CO2 is necessary for photosynthesis, and therefore cannot be bad). Plus, scientists have made many mistaken predictions in the past that have proven to be BS, such as global cooling, acid rain, and holes in the o-zone (o-zone argument was heard outside this community).
-The consequences of GW are not understood or they are overstated. Either the predictions are wrong or they aren't as bad as people make them seem. We give outselves too little credit by implying that we will not survive GW, because we are apt survivors.
-The argument that GW is our fault has always been politicized. We cannot trust what Al Gore says because he stands to make money on the issue. A green economy is just a form of wealth redistribution.
-And finally, if we curb all our emissions, countries like China and India will simply move in and take our place, leaving our net effect at zero.
I hope this is close to comprehensive, but if I missed anything, please be sure to add what I missed.
Also, if you're keen on taking on any of these arguments, I would ask that you come to the table with something better than just your opinion or rant. I like numbers and I like sensible explanations. And I love physics. |
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| Factory-Renewed TiVo Series3 Just $349.99 |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|07:30 am] |
TiVo has updated their Web Specials and they're now offering a factory-renewed TiVo Series3 for $349.99, considering the value of the 'Glo' remote, the added capacity, and the few features the S3 has over the TiVo HD, that's not a bad value when compared to a new TiVo HD.
However, factory-renewed TiVo HD units are also Web Specials, just $179.99. I don't think the Series3 is $170 better than a TiVo HD, nearly double the price. So, personally, if I were buying a factory-renewed TiVo, I'd probably take the TiVo HD. (You can also get a factory-renewed Series2DT for just $49.99, but I couldn't recommend that for most users.)
However, either way, the TiVo Web Specials are good deals. You have the same 30-day return window and the same product warranty as new units. So there is little risk, and you save a good deal of money. |
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| TiVo Announces Stop||Watch Commercial And Program Rankings For June |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|07:07 am] |
TiVo Wednesday issued a press release announcing their Stop||Watch results for June. The results continue the pattern from past months, with the top rated spots not necessarily being run during the highest rated programs. TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today unveiled the Top Commercial and Program Rankings for June 2008, as viewed by TiVo(R) service subscribers.
"June is always an unusual month in the Broadcast calendar because most programming is re-runs and summer fare," said Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research & Measurement. "However, there are still a few big network program finales that dominate the ratings, such as the 2-hour finale of Lost, which lead the top commercials for both Total Viewership and Timeshifted Viewership. Interestingly, U.S. Open Final (golf) also placed high in Total Viewership, but is nowhere to be found on the Timeshifted Viewership, as the vast majority of viewing occurred live."
Juenger continued, "What is particularly impressive is that every commercial in the Top 10 for Timeshifted viewing aired during the Lost season finale -- in fact, the top 86 commercials for Timeshifted viewing aired during Lost. The rank order of the specific commercials continues to demonstrate the choices viewers are making about which commercials to watch. The top 5 spots in Timeshifted viewing were all for movies, with the highest spot getting a 7.7 Timeshifted rating. The lowest spot from this Lost episode got a 2.8 Timeshifted rating, approximately 64% lower than the audience of the highest rated spot." The full press release has table after table of result data if you're interested. |
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| McCain Right to Claim America Was Founded on Judeo-Christian Principles? |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|08:06 pm] |
When Senators Barack Obama and John McCain both appeared at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency with Pastor Rick Warren last weekend, McCain used a myth about the supposed Judeo-Christian origin of American principles to pander to the evangelical Christian audience in a way I contrast with an Obama appearance at another Baptist church earlier this year in my 2 minute 40 second YouTube video at:
McCain Right USA Founded on Judeo-Christian Principles?
If you're interested in the sources I used for my video...
You can see the full section of the Saddleback Civil Forum interview of John McCain from which I took a short clip for this video from the CNN website at Saddleback Forum segment
I used Marion Doss's picture of Thomas Jefferson in my video under a creative commons license as described on his Flickr page at Jefferson photo
You can find the rest of Thomas Jefferson's 1824 letter to Major John Cartwright, among other places, at Book of Jefferson documents
You can find the prepared text of Barack Obama's January 20, 2008 speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church from which I took a screen capture at Text of Ebenezer Baptist Church speech
You can find the full video of Barack Obama's January 20, 2008 speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church from which I took a short clip at Video of Ebenezer Baptist Church speech
Finally, as always, I appreciate all feedback :-) |
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| So who's going to Minneapolis for the RP Rally? PASS ALONG PLS |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|04:36 pm] |
Dear Barr Supporters,
If you are planning on attending Ron Paul's Rally
for the Republic in MN in
Sept., will you please send me an email with your name
and best way/time to contact you?
Thank you!
Shana Kluck, Barr/Root Campaign Assistant
shanajk@gmail.com and shana@bobbarr2008.com
205-586-5751
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Unconfirmed if Bob will be speaking but he will be in town. VP Wayne Allen Root is tentatively scheduled.
And nope, they didn't pay for the dopey Batman-like soundtrack video thing in D.C. It was all donated... but still Cheesy at that...
Lucy
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| Georgia |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|09:47 am] |
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| The North American Technate TNAT |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|04:52 pm] |
Updated: Download in one file here.
( 6 parts more... ) |
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