Sign Me Up for an Air Car

Though the story claims we will never see this in the U.S., I say sign me up for an Air Car. This car runs on compressed air, goes up to 68 mph, drives up to 125 miles per "tank" and produces zero emissions. It is quite cheap costing just over $12K. It has a built in compressor that takes about 4 hours to fill the tank - about $2 of electricity. Not sure how loud it is filling.

The downside would be safety. It is described as an "all glue construction". You probably would not want to get in an accident with an SUV. Well it can't be much less safe than a mo-ped. I would ride the side streets to work for $2 a day to transport instead of the $8-10 I am paying now. Plus I would be really green.

Sorry folks for so little posting. Everything is insanely busy at work and home. I hope to ramp back up in 2-3 weeks. Until then maybe I will squeak out a post now and then.

Presidential 2008 Election May12, 2007 Snapshot

While I have resisted talking about next year's election, everyone else is leaving me behind. So I plan to post a snapshot every month on how I view the election at the time. I will first cover myself by stating clearly these are too early to be considered "predictions". In my job we are forced to provide initial estimates before we complete the detailed designs. This is so senior management can have a peek into what we are doing and what we think it will cost now. We are told that we can change it after design and that they won't hold our initial estimates against us. Right. So I add caveats and risks and throw the Hail Mary. So consider these snapshots a Hail Mary.

While there are candidates and possible candidates that I may like better than the viable ones, it just makes no sense to waste much time on them. I think their presence is important to influence the debate. If I wanted to discuss the unviable possible candidate I would want to win most, I would be talking about myself.

One problem is that as time goes by things are uncovered about the candidates that may make them less appealing. I was tempted to jump on the Fred Thompson bandwagon, but sadly I think he has peaked. His delay in jumping in seems to have had a cooling effect. We'll see if he can renew it.

Rudy Giuliani also seems to have peaked and is a sinking star. His latest tactic seems to be to be forthcoming about his views on abortion. The fact that he was not forthcoming until now bothers me as much as his stance on the issue. He has done some good things for the GOP, but I think he has too many skeletons in his closet. You can't be mayor of a city like New York and not have skeletons. An October surprise would not be a surprise in his case. For that reason he is even too risky for VP.

The star of John McCain seems to be rising a bit. He has stepped up his conservative rhetoric and some are buying it. I thank McCain for his service and respect his suffering in Vietnam. He has tried to get along with the opposition, but in a naive way thinking they also want what is best for the country more than power. If McCain were to become the nominee or even president I would not fret, but he would not be my first choice and I would be waiting for the frequent opportunities to blog about his bent to dart to the left from time to time.

My current first selection resides with Mitt Romney. Romney's Mormon background may cause some to reject him, I think that most of such bigotry resides on the Left as Al Sharpton displayed this week. Romney has several very strong points: his appearance is impressive, his communication is effective and articulated, his tremendously successful business background makes him the best choice for government financial reform. Financial reform can and must be the highest priority in the upcoming election. Bush firmly deserves the criticism he has received for the runaway deficit. However, the Dems have clearly shown they have no intention of fixing the problem - but making it worse. In spite of ill will against the GOP, the Dems will confirm by next year what they are now showing now - that they have nothing to offer. Romney can ride fiscal reform to the White House like no other candidate on either side.

His past views on abortion do not trouble me. Even if he truly is what some fear, I think that he would do nothing worse in this area. I do not see this country ever outlawing abortion. There may be a reversal of Roe vs. Wade, but most if not all states already have laws legalizing abortion even if it flips. At most there may be a town here and there that do not allow it and residents there will have to take a longer drive to kill their child. Victory over abortion will come in reducing the number of those who choose it and by a reduction in those who perform it. Both the US and the UK are having trouble keeping enough doctors willing to go into this "glamorous" field.

So as of today's snapshot, Mitt Romney is on top. The primaries are only just over half a year away. Romney's star is rising. Even if the Mormon bigotry is ugly, it gives Romney more national attention. We can all hope for the day when a president BOTH has good political positions AND can also articulate them well. If Romney wins he will have the same effectiveness in communication as Ronald Reagan. He also will have what Reagan did not have - the new media. If Reagan had enjoyed the benefits of Fox News, Conservative Talk Radio and the Internet "higher beings" of Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin, Captain Ed Morrissey, Neal Boortz, Glenn Reynolds and the Powerline 3; he would have been even better. Imagine it.

September Will Determine Fate of Iraq and 2008 Election

President Bush is poised to make some concessions on benchmarks in order to obtain funding for Iraq until September. There are several points to observe with this seeming change in position. First, it will apply a lot more pressure on the Dems to actually provide the funding. The Dems have been dancing for months now with activity that is solely targeted at appeasing the anti-war crowd that put them back in power. Of course, there will never be enough appeasement until they see the troops coming home and Iraq falling into a slaughterhouse without the US there to stop it. I guess the anti-war crowd thinks war is bad but butchery is fine.

Second, unless there is a drastic improvement in Iraq by September support for staying in Iraq will crumble. The Dems and the Media have been hammering away at the resolve of the American people since we first entered Iraq and it is becoming obvious that too many are throwing in the towel. Too many want to leave Iraq, even if it is the right thing to stay. The attention span of half the nation evaporated early in the conflict. The remaining half wants their celebrity worship and entertainment addiction unsullied by constant news from Iraq.

It is obvious that President Bush has held the benchmark card in his hand until it was absolutely necessary. If the September report in Iraq does not show irrefutable evidence (even for the reality deniers) that the troop surge is working, it does not matter.

Both sides are drawing a line for September. Each side will be promoting their side of the propaganda war. The Dems will be setting up September to do what they cannot do now: force a pullout in Iraq without OWNING the massacre that will surely follow. Without OWNING the terrorist state that will be formed there and bring terrorism to the doorstep of the US. September gives the Dems and their water carrying media enough time to brainwash people into uncoupling that nasty concept of ownership.

Bush on the other hand seems optimistic that the surge will produce clear and undeniable results in Iraq by September. Such a report in September will be a shot in the arm for the effort and produce a political change with a return by many back to a supporting decision.

The September report will determine the fate of Iraq. If positive, it will grant the reprieve necessary to finish the job there. If negative or not positive enough, support will be irrevocably pronounced dead. Without the US to stop it, the slaughter of many innocents will occur. Whichever radical faction that comes out on top will certainly support terrorist activities that will hit our shores. They will be able to act with impunity knowing that the US will never choose to go back into Iraq.

The September report will also decide the political winds that will blow to the 2008 election. A positive result will bode well for the GOP (if they will have the spine to align themselves with it). A defeat in Iraq will increase the fortunes of the Dems. Does anybody wonder which outcome the Dems are hoping for?

Novak Contributes to Distasteful Sliming of Mormon Romney

I cannot believe my eyes as I am reading a recent column by Robert Novak. The main purpose of the column is to discuss a movie casting Mormon patriarch Brigham Young in a bad light AND tie it to Mitt Romney. He opens the column with this shot:

Opening Friday, a motion picture called "September Dawn" depicts a brutal American massacre that has been forgotten. On Sept. 11, 1857, in Utah Territory, Mormons slaughtered more than 120 California-bound settlers from Arkansas. Retelling at this time the Sept. 11 carnage of 150 years ago does not help Mormon Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

What a poison pill in so few words. Mormon. September 11 allusion. Romney. The rest of the column describes the story, the movie and how Romney is refusing to see the movie or comment on it. So what? This happened 150 years ago. Why should Romney be embroiled in it now? As for religion sponsored violence from the past, Catholic Novak should know better. Should we hold the Spanish Inquisition over the head of every Catholic politician running for office?

The fact is that many who don't know what Mormonism is about , and those who do (including me) think it a strange little religion. Strange or not, it is now well established in the U.S and around the world. Several high ranking people including Orin Hatch and our old pal Harry Reid are Mormons. It is certainly much more mainstream than being a follower of the Rev. Moon or the Baswan Rashnish.

The Mormon angle on Mitt Romney is nothing short of disgraceful. Robert Novak should be ashamed. In fact, I can't recall anything recently by Novak that I found worthy of the reputation he has built. Maybe a good one here and there, but for the most part he seems to be spriraling downward at the twilight of his career. This most recent column is nothing short of a hit piece weakly trying to look otherwise.

An Honest Answer Brings Ridicule for Mitt Romney

I heard Hugh Hewitt talking ridicule Mitt Romney for identifying his favorite novel as "Battlefield Earth" by L. Ron Hubbard. Powerline Blog is also getting into the act wondering why he did not choose a classic like "Huckleberry Finn" byMark Twain.

The disdain placed upon Romney's choice makes me wonder if either Hugh Hewitt or Scott Johnson have even read the book. Scott Johnson mistakenly calls the book "Battleship Earth", so I have a feeling I am on to something. Hugh Hewitt centered his criticism around the fact that it was written by the founder of Scientology and that the movie was considered one of the worst.

I have read "Battlefield Earth" and thought it was fascinating. Without giving too much away, I thought it was impressive that at one point in the book it could actually have ended cleanly. Hubbard, however, extends the story into almost a whole new book. It is not a work worthy of the ridicule being placed on it. I have others in my favorite column, but this book was recommended to me by a friend and I did not regret reading it.

I count Romney's choice as a positive. Many politicians when answering what their favorite novel is would select an unrealistic selection based on the desire to benefit politically. Unless Romney is after the Scientology vote, I think he gave an honest response and not a politically calculated one.

Tax Freedom Day For Illinois

Today is a special day for me and my fellow Illinoians. We have been slaving away from Jan 1st until now to pay for our tax burden. While the National Tax Freedom average day is April 30th, in Illinois we get a couple extra days in the House of Pain. Though we are worse off than the average, there are 10 states worse off than Illinois. The TaxProf Blog has provided a list of those states and the Tax Freedom Map of 2007. States still being whipped by their Taskmasters are:

1. Connecticut (May 20)
2. New York (May 16)
3. New Jersey (May 10)
4. Vermont (May 9)
5. Rhode Island (May 9)
6. Nevada (May 8)
7. California (May 7)
8. Washington (May 6)
9. Massachusetts (May 6)
10. Minnesota (May 4)

Wow, Connecticut has almost 3 weeks more to go! It is amazing that even though on average people work from Jan 1 - Apr 30 for the government, many still think we are undertaxed. Such slavery is obscene by any standard.

Free at last, free at last
I thank God I'm free at last

Well, I will enjoy being loosed from the chains and the whip from now until next Jan 1.

Welcome Confessions of a Closet Republican

It has been some time since I added a new blog link. For some time I have intended to add "Confessions of a Closet Republican". The blog is run by Incognito, an actress in the Arts who realizes that an alias is required to preserve her career - the "tolerant" Left and all.

I am quite slow and deliberate in adding links to my blog (outside of posts of course). It is hard to describe the criteria I use. It must be unique, interesting and intellectually appealing. There are many blogs that meet this criteria, so the rest is just that I arbitrarily like them for some reason. I try to link to blogs that readers of this blog might be interested in clicking to and reading regularly. I don't insist on full alignment of ideology, but I don't link too far left. I don't link just to reciprocate, nor do I expect those I link to reciprocate to me.

Incognito is pretty feisty and due to her many experiences truly adds spice to her discourse. I hope regular readers here will give her a click and read her blog often.

I feel a bit badly that when I added Malott and SkyePuppy I did not have time to write a welcome post for them. I mention them here. They are truly some of my favorite regular reading and they are friends here. Like me, they tend to attract some lively commenters and there is a definite element of fun in their comments.