Jayne: [drinking tea] This ain't bad.
Badger: There's a trick to it. Wood alcohol.
Mal: So now we're favored guests, treated to beverages that make you blind.
Friday, August 31, 2007
MLB Standings
Well, it's the end of August, and we all know what that means. As the football season starts, the baseball season heats up with pennant fever. Let's take a look at where we are, beginning with the exciting race in the Inferior Circuit West.
My Snakes have a skinny 1 game lead over the Priests, with the Team Orginally From Brooklyn on the outside looking in, but definitely still in it only 4 games back, while the Stones also have a winning record at 68-65. Let's not talk about the Midgets and their Home Run King right now - they're 13 1/2 out.
Over in the Central, the Littel Bears have moved into a 2 1/2 game lead over
the Brew Crew who are slowly releasing the air out of their tires, but they aren't out of it yet even being a game under par. The Redbirds have also snuck into this thing, although they are still 2 games under .500 at 64-66, while the Astrologers and the Corsairs hope the season ends soon both almost 10 out.
The East is also getting interesting, with the Stupid Ones being just that, getting rolled by the Quakers in a four game sweep that left them only two games behind. The Feathered Ones are also hanging around 4 1/2 back, while the Fish and Nats argue about who finished last, both 15 out.
In the Superior League, the Heavenly Host is still rolling with a 5 1/2 game margin on Team Starbucks, and Team Green and the Lawmen are almost out of sight, 14 and 18 back respectively.
The Central has Team Lake Erie leading the the now Sheffless Tiggers by 4 1/2, with the Yellow Spongcakes slipping rapidly despite being a game over .500 at 67-66. The Peasants have revolted and aren't in last for once, the White Stockings hold that distinction and are a whopping 19 1/2 behind.
In the only division that matters, the Nefarious Ones are still on top, but suffered a 3 game sweep and the hands of the Coolest Team In Baseball History, but unfortunately remain a still imposing 5 back. Team Canada is over .500 at 67-66 but trails the Team Ugly by 12. The Birds and the Sea Monsters are over the horizon, both over 20 games out. Birds are racing to the bottom, losing 9 in a row, but I still think Tampa gets the #1 draft pick.
As far as the Wild Cards goes, the Bronx Bombers and the Priests have the spots as of today, but Team Microsoft and the Tiggers are right on the Yanks heels and the Monks have the Quakers, Brooklyn, and some angry Georgians to deal with since they picked up former Lawman Mark Teixeira, which was probably the move of the summer - other than the Yanks calling up some bullpen hlep in the form of former Husker hurler Joba Chamberlain, who's been lights out in the setup role for Mo Rivera.
My Snakes have a skinny 1 game lead over the Priests, with the Team Orginally From Brooklyn on the outside looking in, but definitely still in it only 4 games back, while the Stones also have a winning record at 68-65. Let's not talk about the Midgets and their Home Run King right now - they're 13 1/2 out.
Over in the Central, the Littel Bears have moved into a 2 1/2 game lead over
the Brew Crew who are slowly releasing the air out of their tires, but they aren't out of it yet even being a game under par. The Redbirds have also snuck into this thing, although they are still 2 games under .500 at 64-66, while the Astrologers and the Corsairs hope the season ends soon both almost 10 out.
The East is also getting interesting, with the Stupid Ones being just that, getting rolled by the Quakers in a four game sweep that left them only two games behind. The Feathered Ones are also hanging around 4 1/2 back, while the Fish and Nats argue about who finished last, both 15 out.
In the Superior League, the Heavenly Host is still rolling with a 5 1/2 game margin on Team Starbucks, and Team Green and the Lawmen are almost out of sight, 14 and 18 back respectively.
The Central has Team Lake Erie leading the the now Sheffless Tiggers by 4 1/2, with the Yellow Spongcakes slipping rapidly despite being a game over .500 at 67-66. The Peasants have revolted and aren't in last for once, the White Stockings hold that distinction and are a whopping 19 1/2 behind.
In the only division that matters, the Nefarious Ones are still on top, but suffered a 3 game sweep and the hands of the Coolest Team In Baseball History, but unfortunately remain a still imposing 5 back. Team Canada is over .500 at 67-66 but trails the Team Ugly by 12. The Birds and the Sea Monsters are over the horizon, both over 20 games out. Birds are racing to the bottom, losing 9 in a row, but I still think Tampa gets the #1 draft pick.
As far as the Wild Cards goes, the Bronx Bombers and the Priests have the spots as of today, but Team Microsoft and the Tiggers are right on the Yanks heels and the Monks have the Quakers, Brooklyn, and some angry Georgians to deal with since they picked up former Lawman Mark Teixeira, which was probably the move of the summer - other than the Yanks calling up some bullpen hlep in the form of former Husker hurler Joba Chamberlain, who's been lights out in the setup role for Mo Rivera.
Colllege Games Saturday
No big surprises last night, the usual early season blowouts, highlighted by the Louisville - Murray St 73-10 score. LSU won big 45-0 but Mississippi St played some very tough early defense but couldn't move the ball whatsoever against the Tigers.
Best game of the night was probably the MAC matchup between Miami (OH) and Ball St, with Redhawk QB Brandon Murphy scoring with but 17 ticks remaining on the clock to give Miami the victory. The MAC had a pretty good night despite Buffalo getting blown out against Rutgers. Kent St defeated Iowa St for its first victory over a BCS conference opponent since 1987 despite 3 red zone turnovers.
Games of Interest this Saturday:
Colorado St @ Colorado (Big rivalry game, CU is rebuilding under new HC Dan Hawkins but CO St has 20 returning starters, including RB Kyle Bell, who missed 2006 with a knee injury.)
E. Carolina @ VA Tech (Tech will play NU next season, and the horrific school shootings there earlier this year give this game some additional emotional impact)
Iowa @ N. Illinois (Can the Hawkeyes recover from losing six of their last 7 in 2006?)
Missouri @ Illinois (Could be a trap game for Mizzou, can their offense keep the pressure off the young defensive unit?)
Washington St @ Wisconsin (Can the Badgers repeat last year's success?)
Wake Forest @ Boston College (Big conference challenge for the returning ACC champs before the host the Huskers next week)
Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame (Will the Irish be able to move the ball with their new offensive unit against a very good Tech defensive group?)
Oklahoma St @ Georgia (Huge test on the road for the Cowpokes between the hedges, but Georgia may have issues stopping QSU QB Bobby Reid. Signature win for Big 12 if OSU pulls off the upset)
Central Michigan @ Kansas ( Can a Big 12 North school defeat a MAC school?)
Kansas St @ Auburn (Another huge test for the Big 12 against the SEC)
Tennessee @ California (Biggest game and possibly the best matchup of Week 1)
Bowling Green @ Minnesota (Can the MAC pull off another upset against the Big 10?)
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
Nevada @ Nebraska (How will Sam Keller look running the West Coast offense, and can a Kevin Cosgrove Blackshirt defense handle Nevada's "pistol" spread offense?)
ON SUNDAY:
Northern Colorado @ Hawaii (How many TD passes will Heisman hopeful Colt Brennan throw?)
ON MONDAY:
Texas Tech @ SMU (Who will QB Graham Harrell throw to this season for his 4,000 yds?)
Florida St @ Clemson (Big ACC matchup, and what impact will the new OC, Jimbo Fisher have on Bobby Bowden's Seminole offense?)
Best game of the night was probably the MAC matchup between Miami (OH) and Ball St, with Redhawk QB Brandon Murphy scoring with but 17 ticks remaining on the clock to give Miami the victory. The MAC had a pretty good night despite Buffalo getting blown out against Rutgers. Kent St defeated Iowa St for its first victory over a BCS conference opponent since 1987 despite 3 red zone turnovers.
Games of Interest this Saturday:
Colorado St @ Colorado (Big rivalry game, CU is rebuilding under new HC Dan Hawkins but CO St has 20 returning starters, including RB Kyle Bell, who missed 2006 with a knee injury.)
E. Carolina @ VA Tech (Tech will play NU next season, and the horrific school shootings there earlier this year give this game some additional emotional impact)
Iowa @ N. Illinois (Can the Hawkeyes recover from losing six of their last 7 in 2006?)
Missouri @ Illinois (Could be a trap game for Mizzou, can their offense keep the pressure off the young defensive unit?)
Washington St @ Wisconsin (Can the Badgers repeat last year's success?)
Wake Forest @ Boston College (Big conference challenge for the returning ACC champs before the host the Huskers next week)
Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame (Will the Irish be able to move the ball with their new offensive unit against a very good Tech defensive group?)
Oklahoma St @ Georgia (Huge test on the road for the Cowpokes between the hedges, but Georgia may have issues stopping QSU QB Bobby Reid. Signature win for Big 12 if OSU pulls off the upset)
Central Michigan @ Kansas ( Can a Big 12 North school defeat a MAC school?)
Kansas St @ Auburn (Another huge test for the Big 12 against the SEC)
Tennessee @ California (Biggest game and possibly the best matchup of Week 1)
Bowling Green @ Minnesota (Can the MAC pull off another upset against the Big 10?)
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
Nevada @ Nebraska (How will Sam Keller look running the West Coast offense, and can a Kevin Cosgrove Blackshirt defense handle Nevada's "pistol" spread offense?)
ON SUNDAY:
Northern Colorado @ Hawaii (How many TD passes will Heisman hopeful Colt Brennan throw?)
ON MONDAY:
Texas Tech @ SMU (Who will QB Graham Harrell throw to this season for his 4,000 yds?)
Florida St @ Clemson (Big ACC matchup, and what impact will the new OC, Jimbo Fisher have on Bobby Bowden's Seminole offense?)
Firefly Quote of the Day
Mal: Well look at this. 'Pears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoë: Big damn heroes, sir.
Mal: Ain't we just.
Zoë: Big damn heroes, sir.
Mal: Ain't we just.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Fred's IN
Fred has "announced" that he will be announcing on September 6th.
"On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, there will also be a National House Party, during which there will be a conference call with Fred."
Word also has it that he will be appearing on Leno, perhaps even on the 5th.
More tomorrow, also see what Ed Morrissey has to say here, and see some pretty stupid comments from a number of unbelievers. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but Ed sure does attract a crowd at his place. I personally think Fred's going to make a big splash in the MSM when it happens, and that a lot of non-politcal types will absorb a positive impression of Fred.
Added link to FoxNews on the story.
"On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, there will also be a National House Party, during which there will be a conference call with Fred."
Word also has it that he will be appearing on Leno, perhaps even on the 5th.
More tomorrow, also see what Ed Morrissey has to say here, and see some pretty stupid comments from a number of unbelievers. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but Ed sure does attract a crowd at his place. I personally think Fred's going to make a big splash in the MSM when it happens, and that a lot of non-politcal types will absorb a positive impression of Fred.
Added link to FoxNews on the story.
College FB Starts TONIGHT
Lengthy slate of games, the cool part is the Thursday start to the season.
Games of personal interest on Thursday, particularly MAC and Big 12 conference games:
Buffalo @ #16 Rutgers (Buffalo Head Coach Turner Gill has a huge challenge here)
#2 LSU @ Miss. St (How will new LSU QB Matt Flynn perform taking over for #1 NFL pick JaMarcus Russell in an early season conference contest?)
Miami (OH) @ Ball State (East meets West in an early season MAC conference game)
Kent State @ Iowa St (How will new ISU head coach Gene Chizik change things in Ames?)
Webber St @ Boise St (Not a big challenge, but the question is whether Boise can run the table again?)
On Friday, two games, both of interest:
Navy @ Temple (Does Temple have even a slim chance to win a game this year after joining the MAC?, and will Navy roll to a fifth consecutive bowl game?)
and
Washington @ Syracuse (Long road trip in a tough house for Ty Willingham's crew, who hasn't had much success, but the Orangemen have also struggled mightily of late)
I'll put down some thoughts tomorrow on the weekend and holiday games as well.
Games of personal interest on Thursday, particularly MAC and Big 12 conference games:
Buffalo @ #16 Rutgers (Buffalo Head Coach Turner Gill has a huge challenge here)
#2 LSU @ Miss. St (How will new LSU QB Matt Flynn perform taking over for #1 NFL pick JaMarcus Russell in an early season conference contest?)
Miami (OH) @ Ball State (East meets West in an early season MAC conference game)
Kent State @ Iowa St (How will new ISU head coach Gene Chizik change things in Ames?)
Webber St @ Boise St (Not a big challenge, but the question is whether Boise can run the table again?)
On Friday, two games, both of interest:
Navy @ Temple (Does Temple have even a slim chance to win a game this year after joining the MAC?, and will Navy roll to a fifth consecutive bowl game?)
and
Washington @ Syracuse (Long road trip in a tough house for Ty Willingham's crew, who hasn't had much success, but the Orangemen have also struggled mightily of late)
I'll put down some thoughts tomorrow on the weekend and holiday games as well.
Fred Thompson Interview at CQ
Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters interviewed Fred Thompson at the Minnesota State Fair for his radio show, and has posted the transcript. While they only had time for a couple of questions, I thought this one was a good indicator of why I support this candidate.
"EM: Well, speaking of that (The global war and the US role in the world) Senator, you’ve got a lot of commentary about your sober, realistic tone that you took in Indianapolis, yesterday or the day before, is that the type of campaign you want to bring to people to hear some tough truths to prepare us for the battles ahead?
FT: Well, let’s just say that the rah-rah stuff has its time and place and I’m not above a little of that from time to time but that’s not why I am where I am right now. Life is too short, the difficulties facing our country are too serious, not to tell the truth about what we’re going to have to do as a nation. It’s sober in a way but it’s optimistic in a way. It’s not optimistic not because of the world we see around us but because we think we can do something about it, that we can do better. That’s the source of my optimism. And I’m not going to shy away from the facts; I’m not going gear myself to try to get a party applause line every second or third sentence I make. Republicans and well as the rest of the American people need to come together on the fact that we have some tough choices ahead of us and the one thing that is not sustainable is our current path with regard to our attitude toward global conflicts and with regard to our attitude toward our economic future, current trends and our attitude with regard of what it’s going to take to do better; and that’s unity of the American people."
Ed goes on to relate (in reponse to a question from a commenter) how well people responded to Fred and how much he appeared to like talking with people at the event.
"I was impressed with his warmth and sincerity, both with me and with the crowd. I talked a bit about this during my show that day, but the crowd clearly sensed his approachability and his geniality. He did not strike me as someone going through the motions, but as a man who genuinely enjoys interacting with people, even the press."
I am eagerly awaiting the announcement, which will hopefully occur right after the holiday.
"EM: Well, speaking of that (The global war and the US role in the world) Senator, you’ve got a lot of commentary about your sober, realistic tone that you took in Indianapolis, yesterday or the day before, is that the type of campaign you want to bring to people to hear some tough truths to prepare us for the battles ahead?
FT: Well, let’s just say that the rah-rah stuff has its time and place and I’m not above a little of that from time to time but that’s not why I am where I am right now. Life is too short, the difficulties facing our country are too serious, not to tell the truth about what we’re going to have to do as a nation. It’s sober in a way but it’s optimistic in a way. It’s not optimistic not because of the world we see around us but because we think we can do something about it, that we can do better. That’s the source of my optimism. And I’m not going to shy away from the facts; I’m not going gear myself to try to get a party applause line every second or third sentence I make. Republicans and well as the rest of the American people need to come together on the fact that we have some tough choices ahead of us and the one thing that is not sustainable is our current path with regard to our attitude toward global conflicts and with regard to our attitude toward our economic future, current trends and our attitude with regard of what it’s going to take to do better; and that’s unity of the American people."
Ed goes on to relate (in reponse to a question from a commenter) how well people responded to Fred and how much he appeared to like talking with people at the event.
"I was impressed with his warmth and sincerity, both with me and with the crowd. I talked a bit about this during my show that day, but the crowd clearly sensed his approachability and his geniality. He did not strike me as someone going through the motions, but as a man who genuinely enjoys interacting with people, even the press."
I am eagerly awaiting the announcement, which will hopefully occur right after the holiday.
Hansen's Global Crusade
James Lewis at the American Thinker takes NASA climate science modeler and Global Warming Crusader James Hansen to task. Hansen has been crying about the Executive branch of government trying to politicize science - exactly what Hansen has been doing by claiming that the seas will inundate the coasts under as much as 80 feet of water by the end of the century and that we positively must destroy our economy in order to deal with this issue.
"Dr. Hansen is a math modeler in the climate change game. How does he get Planetary Doom from a math model? It's very simple. You build in "positive feedback loops." That is, you look in the vast toolbox of climate variables to find just two factors that might reinforce each other in a catastrophic loop. For instance, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might create a greenhouse effect, which causes more heating, which causes more water evaporation, which causes more greenhouse effect, which causes more heating, etc., etc. Keep looping that, and you raise world temps by just one degree Centigrade, so the polar ice caps melt and the oceans rise, up to 25 meters. See? It's easy.
The big problem with this scenario is that the climate system almost certainly has negative feedback loops, i.e., causal connections that work to bring temperatures back to a rough baseline. The climate is likely to have self-regulation mechanisms in much the way that our bodies have self-regulating loops to stabilize our temperature, blood sugar, and a hundred other variables. Why does that seem likely? Because the world hasn't burned up or drowned in quite a long time, even though temperature variations and greenhouse gases have existed for many millions of years. Such factors as clouds and air particulates are believed to lower temperatures. With a little imagination we could easily build math models for self-regulating loops that would tend to stabilize temperatures. (But it might be hard to swing the federal grant support for those models.)"
Hansen's temperature data has been "massaged" in a number of ways that he hasn't allowed anyone to review, but Canadian Steve MacIntyre has delved deeply into the published numbers to "correct" a couple of points over the years. MacIntyre first demolished the now infamous "hocky stick" graph showing temperature rising steadily in the 20th century with a recent accelerated rise over the last 20 years. The actual data show the real numbers to oscillate (warming in the early 20th century, cooling in the middle of the century, then warming again after 1970) although the general trend has been toward a slight (less than 1 degree Celsius) increase. Just recently Hansen was forced to reshuffle his list of the top 10 warmest years in the US by MacIntyre raising 1934 to the warmest year of all time and dropping the rankings of several recent years, including one year off the chart completely.
Hansen has now come up with a manifesto of sorts, asking Presidential candidates to sign a pledge to "save the planet", and he has all sorts of wacky ideas about how to do so, like completely halting the construction of any new energy generation plants that don't meet his specific criteria, taxing carbon emissions and changing the laws of supply and demand. And anyone who disagrees with Hansen is more or less a paid political flunky of special interests and anyone who doubts his "facts" can safely be ignored, because Hansen KNOWS the TRUTH.
This guy Hansen calls himself a scientist?
"Dr. Hansen is a math modeler in the climate change game. How does he get Planetary Doom from a math model? It's very simple. You build in "positive feedback loops." That is, you look in the vast toolbox of climate variables to find just two factors that might reinforce each other in a catastrophic loop. For instance, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might create a greenhouse effect, which causes more heating, which causes more water evaporation, which causes more greenhouse effect, which causes more heating, etc., etc. Keep looping that, and you raise world temps by just one degree Centigrade, so the polar ice caps melt and the oceans rise, up to 25 meters. See? It's easy.
The big problem with this scenario is that the climate system almost certainly has negative feedback loops, i.e., causal connections that work to bring temperatures back to a rough baseline. The climate is likely to have self-regulation mechanisms in much the way that our bodies have self-regulating loops to stabilize our temperature, blood sugar, and a hundred other variables. Why does that seem likely? Because the world hasn't burned up or drowned in quite a long time, even though temperature variations and greenhouse gases have existed for many millions of years. Such factors as clouds and air particulates are believed to lower temperatures. With a little imagination we could easily build math models for self-regulating loops that would tend to stabilize temperatures. (But it might be hard to swing the federal grant support for those models.)"
Hansen's temperature data has been "massaged" in a number of ways that he hasn't allowed anyone to review, but Canadian Steve MacIntyre has delved deeply into the published numbers to "correct" a couple of points over the years. MacIntyre first demolished the now infamous "hocky stick" graph showing temperature rising steadily in the 20th century with a recent accelerated rise over the last 20 years. The actual data show the real numbers to oscillate (warming in the early 20th century, cooling in the middle of the century, then warming again after 1970) although the general trend has been toward a slight (less than 1 degree Celsius) increase. Just recently Hansen was forced to reshuffle his list of the top 10 warmest years in the US by MacIntyre raising 1934 to the warmest year of all time and dropping the rankings of several recent years, including one year off the chart completely.
Hansen has now come up with a manifesto of sorts, asking Presidential candidates to sign a pledge to "save the planet", and he has all sorts of wacky ideas about how to do so, like completely halting the construction of any new energy generation plants that don't meet his specific criteria, taxing carbon emissions and changing the laws of supply and demand. And anyone who disagrees with Hansen is more or less a paid political flunky of special interests and anyone who doubts his "facts" can safely be ignored, because Hansen KNOWS the TRUTH.
This guy Hansen calls himself a scientist?
Firefly Quote of the Day
Zoë: If I'm gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink.
Wash: You want a slinky dress? I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain, can I have money for a slinky dress?
Jayne: I'll chip in.
Wash: You want a slinky dress? I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain, can I have money for a slinky dress?
Jayne: I'll chip in.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Huskers Name Blackshirts
via Huskers.com, the defensive coaches announced the distribution of 15 Blackshirts, including six new players awarded the honor.
"Fifteen Husker defenders took on a different look at Tuesday’s Nebraska football practice, donning Blackshirts for the first time in 2007. The coveted practice jerseys signify first-team defensive status and were placed in each player’s respective locker before they arrived on Tuesday."
The newcomers are juco transfers CB Armando Murillo and safety Larry Asante, juniors DT Ty Steinkuhler and DE Zach Potter, and sophomores NT Ndamakuh Suh and MLB Phillip Dillard.
Returning Blackshirt defendres are junior DE Barry Turner and senior LBs Bo Ruud, Cory McKeon, Steve Octavian, Lance Brandenburgh and defensive backs Tierre Green, Zac Bowman, Courtney Grixby and Andre Jones.
"Cosgrove noted that he saw some extra bounce from the Blackshirts during Tuesday’s 2 ½ hour practice inside the Hawks Championship Center.
“I think there are some guys who didn’t think they were going to get one, but we as a staff believed they earned them,” Cosgrove said. “Now it’s up to them to prove that they should keep them.” "
Congratulations to the players and all their hard work in the off season to prepare for the upcoming year.
"Fifteen Husker defenders took on a different look at Tuesday’s Nebraska football practice, donning Blackshirts for the first time in 2007. The coveted practice jerseys signify first-team defensive status and were placed in each player’s respective locker before they arrived on Tuesday."
The newcomers are juco transfers CB Armando Murillo and safety Larry Asante, juniors DT Ty Steinkuhler and DE Zach Potter, and sophomores NT Ndamakuh Suh and MLB Phillip Dillard.
Returning Blackshirt defendres are junior DE Barry Turner and senior LBs Bo Ruud, Cory McKeon, Steve Octavian, Lance Brandenburgh and defensive backs Tierre Green, Zac Bowman, Courtney Grixby and Andre Jones.
"Cosgrove noted that he saw some extra bounce from the Blackshirts during Tuesday’s 2 ½ hour practice inside the Hawks Championship Center.
“I think there are some guys who didn’t think they were going to get one, but we as a staff believed they earned them,” Cosgrove said. “Now it’s up to them to prove that they should keep them.” "
Congratulations to the players and all their hard work in the off season to prepare for the upcoming year.
The Electoral College
This is from yesterday but I didn't quite get to it.
Matthew Frank at NRO examined the Electoral College and the recent initiative in California to split the state's votes by Congressional District, with the state's winner taking the 2 votes representing its US Senators. (The total of each state''s congressional delegation is the same as the number of its electoral votes).
Personally, I'm in favor of the idea, but only if implemented nationally. Only Maine and Nebraska allow for such split voting, all other states in the union grant all the votes to that state's winner of the presidential election.
Unfortunately, the Constition spells out that only the state legislatures can decide on how to apportion a state's votes. This California initiative is a voter sponsored referendum. Naturally, the Democrats are crying foul - if Califonia split its vote in the last election, it would have cost John Kerry 22 electoral votes from the California districts that voted Republican. But as Frank points out, that is far from being a sure thing in the future, particularly after redistricting every ten years.
"Would redrawn congressional districts change the electoral map in presidential contests? Surely to some extent, and the district-tally system, if instituted in every state with at least two congressional districts, would create powerful incentives to rethink the virtue of gerrymandering for the sake of incumbent House members’ reelection. Our parties are famously adaptable to new institutional realities, and there is no reason to expect that the preceding “what-if” analysis of the last election, under rules that were not then in place, is a good predictor of what would happen one or two or three elections from now, if the new rules were actually adopted. Redistricting experts in both parties would quickly start to fiddle with the map to maximize geographically distributed strengths, yielding small but marginally predictable district-wide majorities. This would risk more House seats but help in presidential elections. Could the Democrats find more voters for their candidates on a more distributed basis? They would surely try."
He also points out that a change many Democrats prefer, one in which the winner of the national popular vote takes each state's (those that make the change, anyway) electoral votes, regardless of that state's outcome, would probably benefit the Democratic party due to its preponderance in many urban centers. A change of this nature would also have far larger impacts on the two party system, perhaps irrevocably weakening it in favor of fringe party alliances which could "hold hostage" the larger parties by threatening to withdraw support at critical political junctures, much like European parliamentary systems. He also wonders what impact a Florida 2000 situation might look like if this were implemented at a national level, and doesn't like imagining it - neither do I.
In short, the Electoral College, for all its supposed faults, has served the nation pretty well, and tinkering with it may have far reaching and unintended consequences.
Those crazy old elitist white males that founded the country didn't do such a bad job.
Matthew Frank at NRO examined the Electoral College and the recent initiative in California to split the state's votes by Congressional District, with the state's winner taking the 2 votes representing its US Senators. (The total of each state''s congressional delegation is the same as the number of its electoral votes).
Personally, I'm in favor of the idea, but only if implemented nationally. Only Maine and Nebraska allow for such split voting, all other states in the union grant all the votes to that state's winner of the presidential election.
Unfortunately, the Constition spells out that only the state legislatures can decide on how to apportion a state's votes. This California initiative is a voter sponsored referendum. Naturally, the Democrats are crying foul - if Califonia split its vote in the last election, it would have cost John Kerry 22 electoral votes from the California districts that voted Republican. But as Frank points out, that is far from being a sure thing in the future, particularly after redistricting every ten years.
"Would redrawn congressional districts change the electoral map in presidential contests? Surely to some extent, and the district-tally system, if instituted in every state with at least two congressional districts, would create powerful incentives to rethink the virtue of gerrymandering for the sake of incumbent House members’ reelection. Our parties are famously adaptable to new institutional realities, and there is no reason to expect that the preceding “what-if” analysis of the last election, under rules that were not then in place, is a good predictor of what would happen one or two or three elections from now, if the new rules were actually adopted. Redistricting experts in both parties would quickly start to fiddle with the map to maximize geographically distributed strengths, yielding small but marginally predictable district-wide majorities. This would risk more House seats but help in presidential elections. Could the Democrats find more voters for their candidates on a more distributed basis? They would surely try."
He also points out that a change many Democrats prefer, one in which the winner of the national popular vote takes each state's (those that make the change, anyway) electoral votes, regardless of that state's outcome, would probably benefit the Democratic party due to its preponderance in many urban centers. A change of this nature would also have far larger impacts on the two party system, perhaps irrevocably weakening it in favor of fringe party alliances which could "hold hostage" the larger parties by threatening to withdraw support at critical political junctures, much like European parliamentary systems. He also wonders what impact a Florida 2000 situation might look like if this were implemented at a national level, and doesn't like imagining it - neither do I.
In short, the Electoral College, for all its supposed faults, has served the nation pretty well, and tinkering with it may have far reaching and unintended consequences.
Those crazy old elitist white males that founded the country didn't do such a bad job.
Firefly Quote of the Day
Mal: He's not the first psycho to hire us nor the last.
You think that's a commentary on us?
You think that's a commentary on us?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
NU Depth Chart Released
Coaching staff has released the chart for this saturday's game, and there are a couple of surprises.
On defense:
Juco transfer Armando Murillo starts in front of returning starter Andre Jones at right corner, with Zac Bowman listed as #2 at the left corner position behind Courtney Grixby. The question is whether or not Bowman, who is recovering from a knee injury will actually play this week. If he does, it might mean he overtakes Grixby later into the season as he recovers. Jones and Grixby are listed as the top kickoff returners, with Grixby listed as #1 on punts.
Frosh Thomas Grove of Arlington, NE is listed at #2 WLB behind Steve Octavian - I don't think anyone expected that one. Another heralded frosh, Blake Lawrence, is sharing time at #2 SAM LB with junior Tyler Wortman behind co #1s Bo Ruud and Lance Brandenburgh. As expected, the juco juniors Kevin Dixon and Shurkee Barfield, along with senior Brandon Johnson are backing up a defensive tackle.
The situation with the safeties (Green & Asante, with Thenarse & Wilson at #2)and the ends (Potter & Turner, with Allen and Sievers backing up) are as expected, but it appears that the kicking duties are going to be decided later, as both frosh Adi Kunalic and redshirt frosh Alex Henery are listed as co #1s. Titchener returns at punter.
On Offense:
One surprise is H-back/TE has RS frosh Dreu Young of Cozad, NE listed as the #3 behind JB Phillppis and Josh Mueller of Columbus. The line situation is about as expected as far as starters, although the status of starting RG Matt Slauson is probably a game time decision. Mike Huff of Ralston is listed as co #1 there. The interesting items here are the backups, with 3 RS frosh listed at the two tackle spots (Mike Smith on the left and DJ Jones of Omaha on the right) and Keith Williams behind the Huff/Slauson combo at RG. Senior Jordon Picou is #2 at LG and sophmore Jacob Hickman is at #2 center.
At the skill spots, the wideout situation is pretty much pat from last year with the exception of Mo Purify being suspended for the opener and Menelik Holt listed behind Nate Swift and Todd Peterson of Grand Island at the X spot. At Y, frosh Niles Paul of Omaha is listed behind Terrence Nunn, Franz Hardy and Dan Erickson, also of Omaha. At RB, Cody Glenn isn't listed apparently due to the still troublesome hamstring injury but there is some news at the position. Quentin Castille and Roy Helu are listed ahead of Major Culbert at RB, which is certainly an interesting turn of events for the former safety. Andy Sand has apparently won the starting FB job over Thomas Lawson, although it's likely both will see action. We all should know who the starting QB is by now unless you live under a rock in Siberia - or Serbia for that matter.
The last remaining surprise is the absence of a couple of prominent names from fall camp, notably frosh corners Prince Amukamara and Anthony Blue, and also frosh RB Marcus Mendoza. Does this absence forbode a possible redshirt season for one or all? Another notable name missing is LB Nick Covey. I guess we'll have to stay tuned to find out what is going on with these players.
On defense:
Juco transfer Armando Murillo starts in front of returning starter Andre Jones at right corner, with Zac Bowman listed as #2 at the left corner position behind Courtney Grixby. The question is whether or not Bowman, who is recovering from a knee injury will actually play this week. If he does, it might mean he overtakes Grixby later into the season as he recovers. Jones and Grixby are listed as the top kickoff returners, with Grixby listed as #1 on punts.
Frosh Thomas Grove of Arlington, NE is listed at #2 WLB behind Steve Octavian - I don't think anyone expected that one. Another heralded frosh, Blake Lawrence, is sharing time at #2 SAM LB with junior Tyler Wortman behind co #1s Bo Ruud and Lance Brandenburgh. As expected, the juco juniors Kevin Dixon and Shurkee Barfield, along with senior Brandon Johnson are backing up a defensive tackle.
The situation with the safeties (Green & Asante, with Thenarse & Wilson at #2)and the ends (Potter & Turner, with Allen and Sievers backing up) are as expected, but it appears that the kicking duties are going to be decided later, as both frosh Adi Kunalic and redshirt frosh Alex Henery are listed as co #1s. Titchener returns at punter.
On Offense:
One surprise is H-back/TE has RS frosh Dreu Young of Cozad, NE listed as the #3 behind JB Phillppis and Josh Mueller of Columbus. The line situation is about as expected as far as starters, although the status of starting RG Matt Slauson is probably a game time decision. Mike Huff of Ralston is listed as co #1 there. The interesting items here are the backups, with 3 RS frosh listed at the two tackle spots (Mike Smith on the left and DJ Jones of Omaha on the right) and Keith Williams behind the Huff/Slauson combo at RG. Senior Jordon Picou is #2 at LG and sophmore Jacob Hickman is at #2 center.
At the skill spots, the wideout situation is pretty much pat from last year with the exception of Mo Purify being suspended for the opener and Menelik Holt listed behind Nate Swift and Todd Peterson of Grand Island at the X spot. At Y, frosh Niles Paul of Omaha is listed behind Terrence Nunn, Franz Hardy and Dan Erickson, also of Omaha. At RB, Cody Glenn isn't listed apparently due to the still troublesome hamstring injury but there is some news at the position. Quentin Castille and Roy Helu are listed ahead of Major Culbert at RB, which is certainly an interesting turn of events for the former safety. Andy Sand has apparently won the starting FB job over Thomas Lawson, although it's likely both will see action. We all should know who the starting QB is by now unless you live under a rock in Siberia - or Serbia for that matter.
The last remaining surprise is the absence of a couple of prominent names from fall camp, notably frosh corners Prince Amukamara and Anthony Blue, and also frosh RB Marcus Mendoza. Does this absence forbode a possible redshirt season for one or all? Another notable name missing is LB Nick Covey. I guess we'll have to stay tuned to find out what is going on with these players.
Husker QB
via OWH, two looks at the NU QB situation that aren't behind the EVIL subscriber only block (Didn't the NY Times try this and have it fail spectacularly?).
The earlier one from Saturday is the view of Sam Keller's progress from his predecessor, Zac Taylor. Taylor notes that it took him a while to get used to playing in front of 80,000 fans, but that Keller's already done that at ASU, and had quite a bit of success. He also believes Keller is just as good a fit for the West Coast scheme as Taylor was himself.
"Taylor has seen Keller gain steam through preseason camp, watching every practice as a member of the NU video staff. "You can tell he's learning something new every day," Taylor said. "You don't learn this offense overnight, and that's something he's known he's had to do. Every practice really helps him out...."He could shatter everything I did," Taylor said. "That's definitely something I would expect." "
The second article from Sunday deals with Keller's road to NU, starting with his departure from the ASU program. Keller, injured mid season in 2005, had been quite adequately replaced for the remainder of that season by Rudy Carpenter. More or less, once Coach Koetter had decided on Keller on his starter, Carpenter (with his father) threatened to leave the program, and with three seasons of eligibility for Carpenter to Keller's one, the coach and team leaders decided that keeping Carpenter happy was more important. One of the factors in the decision was the fact Keller had a reputation for having an active "social life" outside of football, and that a QB with such distractions was detrimental to the team.
"That seed of doubt about Keller was enough to sway the group. Players — not Koetter — decided to go with Carpenter. Those in the room took a vow of secrecy, agreeing not to talk about what had happened.
A couple of hours later, Coach Koetter called another meeting, this time with the quarterback he'd recruited. Keller broke down and cried.
He called his parents, who were traveling back home. Come back, he said. They returned and met with the coach late that afternoon. Keller's father demanded that Sam be able to face his accusers. Koetter said no.
They gave Koetter one day to change his mind. He didn't. Sunday, the Kellers asked for a scholarship release. Sunday night, the coach made his announcement: "It's simple. I made a mistake on the quarterback situation and I'm changing my mind."
Of course, Koetter is no longer the Head Coach at ASU, he's in the NFL as the Offensive Coordinator for the Jaguars, after going 7-6 last year with Carpenter looking nothing like the NCAA's top rated passer of 2005. AS for Keller, he arrived at NU and went to work with the scout team and did quite a bit of soul searching.
"Keller wanted to play in the NFL, and a dozen Saturdays in 2007 were his chance. Without the game, he'd be . . . he's not sure. Football's all he's ever known. A firefighter, maybe. "My best friend in high school, his dad's captain of a firehouse."
He didn't regret leaving the desert — "Why would I want to stay there? I had no place there" — but he considered those first weeks rock bottom. Small victories lifted him: home games during which he got to be on the sideline; winning over friends on the team like Bo Ruud and Corey McKeon; his girlfriend moving to Lincoln in October.
He stayed out of the spotlight as best he could. He listed his credentials only when someone asked. He kept his mouth shut at practice — except during scout team drills.
"He's up in every receiver's face getting into them about their scout-team routes," said Ruud, an NU starting linebacker. "Seven-on-seven scout team. To say it's a meaningless drill . . . nobody wants to be doing it, especially the scout team. He's going hard core. . . . And this is mid-December outside in the cold."
Before Keller transferred, the crucial fourth season of Callahan's tenure appeared hazy.
How could the coach rebuild the Huskers to national prominence without a qualified quarterback?
Named NU's starting quarterback earlier this week, Keller recognizes a different kind of heat in Nebraska, where people admire and critique their quarterbacks like politicians. At times, he must resist what feels natural."
Good luck Sam, the sky is truly the limit.
The earlier one from Saturday is the view of Sam Keller's progress from his predecessor, Zac Taylor. Taylor notes that it took him a while to get used to playing in front of 80,000 fans, but that Keller's already done that at ASU, and had quite a bit of success. He also believes Keller is just as good a fit for the West Coast scheme as Taylor was himself.
"Taylor has seen Keller gain steam through preseason camp, watching every practice as a member of the NU video staff. "You can tell he's learning something new every day," Taylor said. "You don't learn this offense overnight, and that's something he's known he's had to do. Every practice really helps him out...."He could shatter everything I did," Taylor said. "That's definitely something I would expect." "
The second article from Sunday deals with Keller's road to NU, starting with his departure from the ASU program. Keller, injured mid season in 2005, had been quite adequately replaced for the remainder of that season by Rudy Carpenter. More or less, once Coach Koetter had decided on Keller on his starter, Carpenter (with his father) threatened to leave the program, and with three seasons of eligibility for Carpenter to Keller's one, the coach and team leaders decided that keeping Carpenter happy was more important. One of the factors in the decision was the fact Keller had a reputation for having an active "social life" outside of football, and that a QB with such distractions was detrimental to the team.
"That seed of doubt about Keller was enough to sway the group. Players — not Koetter — decided to go with Carpenter. Those in the room took a vow of secrecy, agreeing not to talk about what had happened.
A couple of hours later, Coach Koetter called another meeting, this time with the quarterback he'd recruited. Keller broke down and cried.
He called his parents, who were traveling back home. Come back, he said. They returned and met with the coach late that afternoon. Keller's father demanded that Sam be able to face his accusers. Koetter said no.
They gave Koetter one day to change his mind. He didn't. Sunday, the Kellers asked for a scholarship release. Sunday night, the coach made his announcement: "It's simple. I made a mistake on the quarterback situation and I'm changing my mind."
Of course, Koetter is no longer the Head Coach at ASU, he's in the NFL as the Offensive Coordinator for the Jaguars, after going 7-6 last year with Carpenter looking nothing like the NCAA's top rated passer of 2005. AS for Keller, he arrived at NU and went to work with the scout team and did quite a bit of soul searching.
"Keller wanted to play in the NFL, and a dozen Saturdays in 2007 were his chance. Without the game, he'd be . . . he's not sure. Football's all he's ever known. A firefighter, maybe. "My best friend in high school, his dad's captain of a firehouse."
He didn't regret leaving the desert — "Why would I want to stay there? I had no place there" — but he considered those first weeks rock bottom. Small victories lifted him: home games during which he got to be on the sideline; winning over friends on the team like Bo Ruud and Corey McKeon; his girlfriend moving to Lincoln in October.
He stayed out of the spotlight as best he could. He listed his credentials only when someone asked. He kept his mouth shut at practice — except during scout team drills.
"He's up in every receiver's face getting into them about their scout-team routes," said Ruud, an NU starting linebacker. "Seven-on-seven scout team. To say it's a meaningless drill . . . nobody wants to be doing it, especially the scout team. He's going hard core. . . . And this is mid-December outside in the cold."
Before Keller transferred, the crucial fourth season of Callahan's tenure appeared hazy.
How could the coach rebuild the Huskers to national prominence without a qualified quarterback?
Named NU's starting quarterback earlier this week, Keller recognizes a different kind of heat in Nebraska, where people admire and critique their quarterbacks like politicians. At times, he must resist what feels natural."
Good luck Sam, the sky is truly the limit.
NASA and Technology
Great article at TCS about NASA and the space program by Jack Raia written in response to a NY Post column by Steve Dunleavy, who criticized the agency for not giving a good return on the taxpayer's investments. Jack properly takes this to task and demolishes it. The only possible government agency that it could be argues has had a GREATER return on its investments than NASA is perhaps the Defense Department, and that is pretty debatable unless you include things like the value of keeping Western Europe, Japan and South Korea free for the last half century. Jack comes up with just a partial list of innovations that make life better for American citizens:
"Satellites orbit the earth and track storms, providing information to supercomputers on the Earth's surface that perform millions of calculations to arrive at the most likely outcome. Those satellites were placed in orbit by NASA and the computers performing the calculations are spin-offs of NASA programs. The latest models of Airplanes produced by Boeing and Airbus are made of lighter, stronger materials that were developed for the space program.
In medicine, though a cure for Parkinson's has proven elusive, ultrasound scanners provide more vivid pictures of infants in the womb and greater ability to diagnose problems. Cat scans are an indispensable tool in the detection of many maladies. Though not yet curable, research on osteoporosis, diabetes and AIDS has led to innovations in treatments. All are spin-offs of NASA. Flat-panel televisions, another NASA spin-off, have become accessible to most families. Runners wear shoes made of advanced materials that absorb the shock of running."
and then he gets DAMN serious and spanks this idea clean out of the ballpark, across the river and into the next state:
"Climate change prediction; satellite navigation and communication; satellite imagery; crop management and resource mapping; solar power electricity generation; energy saving air conditioning; food processing control; wireless alarms; long distance telephone networks; high density batteries; robot-guided wheelchairs; car chassis and brake design; firefighter breathing apparatus; protective clothing; thin super-insulating blankets; heart monitors; instantaneous infrared thermometers; laser surgery; automatic insulin pump; programmable pacemakers; international TV broadcasts; powerful micro computers; environmentally safe sewage treatment and water purification systems."
Of course, some of the problem lies with NASA itself - the agency does such a piss poor job of marketing itself that some people get the idea we aren't gaining anything from the work it does. It would be hysterically funny if it weren't so serious - if we'd made just a tenth (hell, even half that) of the investment in the space program over the last forty years as we've thrown away on foreign aid, federal spending on education and the drug war, we'd have a permanent lunar outpost and been to Mars and back already, and gained in in technological ways no one can probably even imagine.
"Satellites orbit the earth and track storms, providing information to supercomputers on the Earth's surface that perform millions of calculations to arrive at the most likely outcome. Those satellites were placed in orbit by NASA and the computers performing the calculations are spin-offs of NASA programs. The latest models of Airplanes produced by Boeing and Airbus are made of lighter, stronger materials that were developed for the space program.
In medicine, though a cure for Parkinson's has proven elusive, ultrasound scanners provide more vivid pictures of infants in the womb and greater ability to diagnose problems. Cat scans are an indispensable tool in the detection of many maladies. Though not yet curable, research on osteoporosis, diabetes and AIDS has led to innovations in treatments. All are spin-offs of NASA. Flat-panel televisions, another NASA spin-off, have become accessible to most families. Runners wear shoes made of advanced materials that absorb the shock of running."
and then he gets DAMN serious and spanks this idea clean out of the ballpark, across the river and into the next state:
"Climate change prediction; satellite navigation and communication; satellite imagery; crop management and resource mapping; solar power electricity generation; energy saving air conditioning; food processing control; wireless alarms; long distance telephone networks; high density batteries; robot-guided wheelchairs; car chassis and brake design; firefighter breathing apparatus; protective clothing; thin super-insulating blankets; heart monitors; instantaneous infrared thermometers; laser surgery; automatic insulin pump; programmable pacemakers; international TV broadcasts; powerful micro computers; environmentally safe sewage treatment and water purification systems."
Of course, some of the problem lies with NASA itself - the agency does such a piss poor job of marketing itself that some people get the idea we aren't gaining anything from the work it does. It would be hysterically funny if it weren't so serious - if we'd made just a tenth (hell, even half that) of the investment in the space program over the last forty years as we've thrown away on foreign aid, federal spending on education and the drug war, we'd have a permanent lunar outpost and been to Mars and back already, and gained in in technological ways no one can probably even imagine.
Hillary's Curious Campaign Contributors
Brody Mullins at The Wall Street Journal takes a close examination of a particular Hillary Clinton supporter, Norman Hsu of New York and his friends the Paw family of San Fransisco. The Paws have given a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, but what it isn't apparent is how the can afford such largesse, since they live in a 1280 sq ft house they recently refinanced for $270,000. William Paw is a Postal worker making $49,000 a year and his wife is a homemaker. How this Mr. Hsu is involved with this family isn't clear, although he once listed their home as his address. The Paw family's children have a variety of careers, but none of them spectacularly lucrative. But the family and Mr. Hsu do seem to have some things in common.
"The Paws' political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records. Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign. He has hosted or co-hosted some of her most prominent money-raising events."
Of course, it is illegal for someone to reimburse someone else for political contributions, and there is no public record of this happening in the case of Mr. Hsu and the Paw family. Individuals can contribute up to $4600 a campaign cycle for a candidate, split between the primary race and the general election. However -
"The Paw family is just one set of donors whose political donations are similar to Mr. Hsu's. Several business associates of Mr. Hsu in New York have made donations to the same candidates, on the same dates for similar amounts as Mr. Hsu.
On four separate dates this year, the Paw family, Mr. Hsu and five of his associates gave Mrs. Clinton a total of $47,500. In all, the family, Mr. Hsu and his associates have given Mrs. Clinton $133,000 since 2005 and a total of nearly $720,000 to all Democratic candidates."
The Paw family is of Chinese decent, as is Mr. Hsu, and have been living in California since 1982. All but one member of the party is registered to vote as a non-partisan. The curious thing about this is that there are no records of campaign contributions being made by the family before 2004, but since then, they have been quite active - as has Mr. Hsu, and quite surprisingly, at almost identical periods of time.
"Then, in July 2004, five members of the family contributed a total of $3,600 to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat. Five of the checks were dated July 27, 2004. About the same time, Mr. Hsu made his first donations to a political candidate, contributing the maximum amount allowed by law to Mr. Kerry in two separate checks, on July 21, 2004, and on Aug. 6.
From then on, the correlation of campaign donations between Mr. Hsu and the Paw family has continued. The first donations to Mrs. Clinton came Dec. 23, 2004, when Mr. Hsu and one Paw family member donated the then-maximum $4,000 to her Senate campaign in two $2,000 checks, campaign-finance records show. In March 2005, the individuals gave a total of $17,500 to Mrs. Clinton.
Since then, Mr. Hsu, his New York associates and the Paw family have continued to donate to Democratic candidates. This year, Alice Paw and four of the Paw children have donated the maximum $4,600 to Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign."
Of course, this is not to say there is any wrongdoing on the part of Mrs. Clinton's campaign, but it is certainly a curious state of affairs, and one in which the Paws have declined to be interviewed. It might be all an innocent coincidence, but it certainly is one in which the Federal Election Commission may desire to examine in more detail.
"The Paws' political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records. Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign. He has hosted or co-hosted some of her most prominent money-raising events."
Of course, it is illegal for someone to reimburse someone else for political contributions, and there is no public record of this happening in the case of Mr. Hsu and the Paw family. Individuals can contribute up to $4600 a campaign cycle for a candidate, split between the primary race and the general election. However -
"The Paw family is just one set of donors whose political donations are similar to Mr. Hsu's. Several business associates of Mr. Hsu in New York have made donations to the same candidates, on the same dates for similar amounts as Mr. Hsu.
On four separate dates this year, the Paw family, Mr. Hsu and five of his associates gave Mrs. Clinton a total of $47,500. In all, the family, Mr. Hsu and his associates have given Mrs. Clinton $133,000 since 2005 and a total of nearly $720,000 to all Democratic candidates."
The Paw family is of Chinese decent, as is Mr. Hsu, and have been living in California since 1982. All but one member of the party is registered to vote as a non-partisan. The curious thing about this is that there are no records of campaign contributions being made by the family before 2004, but since then, they have been quite active - as has Mr. Hsu, and quite surprisingly, at almost identical periods of time.
"Then, in July 2004, five members of the family contributed a total of $3,600 to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat. Five of the checks were dated July 27, 2004. About the same time, Mr. Hsu made his first donations to a political candidate, contributing the maximum amount allowed by law to Mr. Kerry in two separate checks, on July 21, 2004, and on Aug. 6.
From then on, the correlation of campaign donations between Mr. Hsu and the Paw family has continued. The first donations to Mrs. Clinton came Dec. 23, 2004, when Mr. Hsu and one Paw family member donated the then-maximum $4,000 to her Senate campaign in two $2,000 checks, campaign-finance records show. In March 2005, the individuals gave a total of $17,500 to Mrs. Clinton.
Since then, Mr. Hsu, his New York associates and the Paw family have continued to donate to Democratic candidates. This year, Alice Paw and four of the Paw children have donated the maximum $4,600 to Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign."
Of course, this is not to say there is any wrongdoing on the part of Mrs. Clinton's campaign, but it is certainly a curious state of affairs, and one in which the Paws have declined to be interviewed. It might be all an innocent coincidence, but it certainly is one in which the Federal Election Commission may desire to examine in more detail.
Monday, August 27, 2007
America's Poor
Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation shares some statistics on Americans "Living in Poverty", which government numbers at some 37 million people, at NRO. Almost half of these people own their own homes, and on average a poor American has far more living space than the average European citizen.
"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR, or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."
This is not to say that there are not issues, but that the story being framed by the media is being oversold to a large degree. Nearly 3/4 of the poor own an automobile, and almost 1/3 own two. The average caloric consumption of a poor American child is almost identical to that of a middle class child. One of the biggest issues regarding children in poverty is that they are living in a single parent (and hence income) family. Nearly 3/4 of the children living in poverty wouldn't be if their parent was married.
Another issue is that of recent immigrants - a quarter of the poor are either recent or first generation, and ten percent are illegal or the child of an illegal, and a quarter of legal immigrants and over half the illegals do not possess a high school education. Bottom line, we need to secure the border and be much more selective on who we allow to reside in our nation.
"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR, or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."
This is not to say that there are not issues, but that the story being framed by the media is being oversold to a large degree. Nearly 3/4 of the poor own an automobile, and almost 1/3 own two. The average caloric consumption of a poor American child is almost identical to that of a middle class child. One of the biggest issues regarding children in poverty is that they are living in a single parent (and hence income) family. Nearly 3/4 of the children living in poverty wouldn't be if their parent was married.
Another issue is that of recent immigrants - a quarter of the poor are either recent or first generation, and ten percent are illegal or the child of an illegal, and a quarter of legal immigrants and over half the illegals do not possess a high school education. Bottom line, we need to secure the border and be much more selective on who we allow to reside in our nation.
Hydrogen Power Storage Getting Close
via ScienceDaily, Scottish scientists are making some progress towards developing an improved organic polymer that could store hydrogen, allowing for the development of a hydrogen powered vehicle. For any alternate vehicle energy source, the goal is to develop a storage capacity that roughly equates to the 3-400 miles of travel that the current gasoline tank provides in automobiles.
"Professors Neil McKeown from the School of Chemistry together with Peter Budd of the University of Manchester and David Book from the University of Birmingham can now report the creation of an organic polymer able to store around three per cent hydrogen by weight.
The figure is almost double the amount of hydrogen the group’s preliminary polymers could store last year, and offers hope of producing an organic polymer in the future capable of storing enough hydrogen to successfully power a vehicle."
The capability that this 3 percent figure provides in energy storage is about half of the goal or around 150 miles of travel. The trick that is challenging the researchers is to create a material that is both porous in order to store the quantity of hydrogen needed but that also has the proper sized small "holes" for the tiny hydrogen molecules to fit into snuggly.
"Professors Neil McKeown from the School of Chemistry together with Peter Budd of the University of Manchester and David Book from the University of Birmingham can now report the creation of an organic polymer able to store around three per cent hydrogen by weight.
The figure is almost double the amount of hydrogen the group’s preliminary polymers could store last year, and offers hope of producing an organic polymer in the future capable of storing enough hydrogen to successfully power a vehicle."
The capability that this 3 percent figure provides in energy storage is about half of the goal or around 150 miles of travel. The trick that is challenging the researchers is to create a material that is both porous in order to store the quantity of hydrogen needed but that also has the proper sized small "holes" for the tiny hydrogen molecules to fit into snuggly.
Husker Opponent: Nevada
It's game week, so let's look at who we're going up against - the Nevada Wolf Pack, coached by Chris Ault, who owns an 185-78-1 lifetime record. Nevada is a WAC team that went 8-5 and lost by a single point to Miami of Florida in last year's MPC Computer Bowl. The school is coming off just its second back to back bowl seasons in school history. The team runs a spread offensive set known as the "pistol" offense, but last year's triggerman, QB Jeff Rowe, is now playing on Sunday, and the competition is still open as the team has yet to announce their starting QB for Saturday. Nevada also lost last year's top running back and reciever, and the expected anchor of their offensive line, C Dominic Green, is out with an injury and the second string center was dismissed from the team earlier this month. The team was pretty balanced last year, 170 yards on the ground last year and almost 190 in the air, while putting up nealry 31 points per game.
Defensively, the Wolf Pack returns 7 starters, including six seniors for its 3-4 defensive scheme. OLB Ezra Butler is an oustanding player who is definitely up for some post season award consideration, but has apparently been suspended for the opener for breaking unspecified team rules. Last year's unit gave up 128 yards a game on the ground and 198 through the air while allowing 19 points per game, which is fairly similiar to the Blackshirt's numbers from a year ago (116/215/18). Nevada had a 5-1 home record but was 3-4 on the road.
This is a talented team with a good coach, and they could be troublesome if the Huskers aren't careful and take care of the ball. Offensively, we should be able to run the ball with some degree of success and then go over the top in the passing game. The spread offense has been a sore spot for Coach Coz's defenses in the past, but this group may be better equipped to defend it than previous Blackshirt units. We're also fortunate to be facing this team early before the new starting skill players have had time to jell, and the loss of their best defensive player and offensive lineman certainly has to hurt their chances of coming to Lincoln and pulling off the upset.
Fearless prediction: 35-14 NU
Defensively, the Wolf Pack returns 7 starters, including six seniors for its 3-4 defensive scheme. OLB Ezra Butler is an oustanding player who is definitely up for some post season award consideration, but has apparently been suspended for the opener for breaking unspecified team rules. Last year's unit gave up 128 yards a game on the ground and 198 through the air while allowing 19 points per game, which is fairly similiar to the Blackshirt's numbers from a year ago (116/215/18). Nevada had a 5-1 home record but was 3-4 on the road.
This is a talented team with a good coach, and they could be troublesome if the Huskers aren't careful and take care of the ball. Offensively, we should be able to run the ball with some degree of success and then go over the top in the passing game. The spread offense has been a sore spot for Coach Coz's defenses in the past, but this group may be better equipped to defend it than previous Blackshirt units. We're also fortunate to be facing this team early before the new starting skill players have had time to jell, and the loss of their best defensive player and offensive lineman certainly has to hurt their chances of coming to Lincoln and pulling off the upset.
Fearless prediction: 35-14 NU
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