The only conservative in Western Massachusetts - Email Eric Lindholm: ealindholm -at- msn -dot- com

 
Memorial Day


posted by Eric at 8:54 PM (1) comments

 
NASCAR fun - At one point in tonight's Nationwide race, Kyle Busch and David Ragan were vying for the lead and the announcer joked that it wasn't a "political contest." Heh-heh.

Update - Not so much fun: near the end of the race, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski tap-tapped each other under caution. After the race, their respective pit crews started throwing fists. The NASCAR trailer will be busy tonight.
posted by Eric at 9:39 PM (0) comments

 
Wishful thinking, at best - Politico says: "GOP strategists mull McCain 'blowout'" which assumes a GOP pickup in Michigan. Good luck with that.
posted by Eric at 9:38 PM (1) comments

 
Global warming alarmists admit: we're full of crap

From the UK Telegraph: "Global warming may stop"

Global warming will stop until at least 2015 because of natural variations in the climate, scientists have said.

Researchers studying long-term changes in sea temperatures said they now expect a "lull" for up to a decade while natural variations in climate cancel out the increases caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

The average temperature of the sea around Europe and North America is expected to cool slightly over the decade while the tropical Pacific remains unchanged.

This would mean that the 0.3°C global average temperature rise which has been predicted for the next decade by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may not happen, according to the paper published in the scientific journal Nature.

The computer model (see below) predicts that after 2015, ManBearPig will pose a threat once again and this time the scientists are "super serial."
posted by Eric at 9:36 PM (6) comments

 
Gas is expensive - Yow, Matt Hoy has a longer daily commute than me. I think we both hope the lawsuit against OPEC goes well.
posted by Eric at 9:20 PM (0) comments

 
Another day, another global warming debunking - Who ya gonna believe, the facts or those lyin' computer models?
posted by Eric at 9:19 PM (4) comments

 
Negotiating can backfire - Betsy's Page: "When Kennedy met Khrushchev."
posted by Eric at 8:59 PM (0) comments

 
Are they still doing that "Worst That Could Happen" song? - The Brooklyn Bridge is 125 years old.
posted by Eric at 8:48 PM (0) comments

 
Nice call - Despite the early buzz, Ann Althouse called the "American Idol" winner. I heard that they didn't announce the winner until 9:59pm EST. Great job, Fox.
posted by Eric at 8:44 PM (0) comments

 
And that's that

The Field appears to have a scoop:

The Field can now confirm, based on multiple sources, something that both campaigns publicly deny: that Senator Clinton has directly told Senator Obama that she wants to be his vice presidential nominee, and that Senator Obama politely but straightforwardly and irrevocably said “no.” Obama is going to pick his own running mate based on his own criteria and vetting process.

You can understand Hillary's peevish tenacity: she knows that the Democratic candidate has an excellent chance to win the White House this year and why not her? The best answer is that, as George Will notes, Americans are forward-looking and all Hillary offers is nostalgia for the (Bill) Clinton years.
posted by Eric at 8:39 PM (0) comments

 
Must be "The Onion" - CBS News: "Hillary compares Florida primary to Zimbabwe."

Wow, Hillary, just wow. Here's the latest news from Mugabe-land "Zimbabwe inflation rate now over 1 million percent": "As stores opened for business Wednesday, a small pack of locally produced coffee beans cost just short of 1 billion Zimbabwe dollars. A decade ago, that sum would have bought 60 new cars."

One billion dollars for coffee? Starbucks is for pikers!
posted by Eric at 10:17 PM (1) comments

 
Do something - Congressman Paul Ryan is introducing broad legislation which he outlines in today's Opinion Journal: "How to Tackle the Entitlement Crisis." There's not much I disagree with except Ryan's bill is so all-encompassing that it's easy to see representatives quailing at the aggressive actions to reform entitlements. An incremental approach would be better, and more politically viable - something would be better than nothing, which is what we're likely to get until it's too late.
posted by Eric at 9:23 PM (0) comments

 
The annual public flogging - Fox News: "Oil Companies Defend Large Profits Before Senate Judiciary Committee"

Every year, I wait for the oil executives to defend themselves and say something like "I won't be spoken to like this" then storm out. Instead they just sit through the theater and try to explain Economics 101 to grandstanding senators:

"The fundamental laws of supply and demand are at work," said [Shell chief] Hofmeister. The market is squeezed by exporting nations managing demand for their own interest and other nations subsidizing prices to encourage economic growth, he said.

The percentage of oil we get from foreign sources now accounts for almost 50% of all U.S. consumption, a record level much higher than the 28% in 1973. What this means is that any disruption in supply will have a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. Having failed to learn history, we've put our future into the hands of foreigners. Of course, this wouldn't be terrible if it were the Canadians or the Brits, but it's mostly the Saudis and Hugo Chavez.

Extra - Dave in Texas saw some pushback.

More - Via Q&O, 10 questions for Senators.
posted by Eric at 8:52 PM (0) comments

 
Less is more - The Boston Globe had an article today about how people are fed up with airlines. Somewhat surprisingly, the airline with the highest marks - by far - is low-cost leader Southwest, #1 in passenger satisfaction for 15 years running.

I read in one of my operations management textbooks, in the "lean manufacturing" section, that the reason Southwest performs so well is that it uses exactly one kind of plane: the Boeing 737. By standardizing to one kind of plane, Southwest minimizes the cost of maintenance, parts, staff, and operation.
posted by Eric at 9:41 PM (6) comments

 
You can't soak the rich - Via Opinion Journal, here's Hauser's Law: "No matter what the tax rates have been, in postwar America tax revenues have remained at about 19.5% of GDP."
posted by Eric at 9:40 PM (0) comments

 
Senator - Boston Globe: "Senator Ted Kennedy's career in public service"
posted by Eric at 9:39 PM (0) comments

 
So much for the politics of hope

Jim Wooten on Obama's Social Security "plan," such as it is: "Obama scares the old folks"

Campaigning Sunday in Oregon, a state he should win handily on Tuesday, Obama did what Democrats have done for decades: Spooked the old folks on Social Security. He told a crowd of about 130 at an assisted living center in Gresham, Ore., that John McCain will threaten their Social Security checks. Sleazy. What a hypocrite. Takes the high-horse to complain about the politics of division and diversion and resorts to the only game Democrats running nationwide know: Scaring the daylights out of grandma and grandpa, the vulnerable, weak and confused.

Obama needs Hillary's older voting base so his general election strategy will be: whatever Grandma wants, Grandma gets.

Obama also said he would eliminate income taxes on any retiree making less than 50,000 a year. "If your income is less than $50,000 a year, I don't think you should have to pay income tax on your Social Security. This would completely eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors across the country and provide a savings of approx $1,400 per person each year."

Well, it's about time that somebody did something for the seniors in America. The age of neglect will soon be over:

The federal government spent $952 billion in 2007 on elderly benefits, up from $601 billion in 2000. It's the biggest function of the federal government. States chipped in another $27 billion in 2007, mostly for nursing homes.

All three major senior programs - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - experienced dramatically escalating costs that outstripped inflation and the growth in the senior population.

Rev up that pandering machine, Obama. Grandma wants her cash!
posted by Eric at 10:20 PM (0) comments

 
Double-stuffed means double-traffic

AP: "14 tons of spilled Oreo cookies snarl Illinois traffic"

Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway. Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney says the truck's driver was traveling from Chicago to Morris on Interstate 80 around 4 a.m. Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the median.
"The boxes came out of the trailer and boxes were ripped open," he said.
The crash about 50 miles southwest of Chicago remains under investigation.

Police have released this sketch of a suspect:

posted by Eric at 7:41 PM (6) comments