I Feel Safer Already

Senate plan calls for new agency to prevent economic crash

Yeah, right. These are the guys who set up everything that caused the crash.

They Just Don't Get It

I am truly amazed by democrats. They do things that fundamentally destroy the economy and make people's lives harder, but since they want to help people, bad legislation that does the opposite is okay. Because it is intentions that matter, not the results, even if the results are the exact opposite of your intentions.

For example they don't seem to get that employment is over 10% because businesses aren't hiring. And businesses aren't hiring because they are worried. And they are worried because of a landslide of new regulations, taxes and oversight that is being promoted out of Washington. So in their efforts to "help" people with "health care reform" they have forced millions to remain unemployed.

I could sit here for several minutes writing example after example. And since the vast majority of Americans have no idea how the economy or business works, they don't see the connection. They just hear "we want to help" and as everything they need is destroyed around them, they smile at their "deliverers".

Like I have said before, I don't hate the poor bad enough to be a democrat.

But I Thought Everything Was About Obama?

The Narcissist in Chief actually admits something isn't about him: White House: Tuesday's GOP wins not about Obama

In this case, however, I think he is mostly wrong.

I'll take what happened here, but I was hoping for the icing of the NY special election. But too much happened too fast for the voters to figure everything out. That one was a loss for the "GOP" in many ways, and I hope they have as much of a wake-up call as democrats.

But I don't think either one of them will get the message.

RTFM Again

Real email from this morning. There was an original email from an angry customer (italicized) answered with embedded answers from my Engineering Team (ET):

It's really dissapointing to see your user manual - we cannot find most of the needed information there. Please note we asked for new and updated information, not a compilation of existing files. For your updated user manual which you *will* release today, I expect to see at least following:

-> (techcnical issue number 1)
[ET] This in formation is there. Please see chapter 3 on page 5.

-> (technical issue number 2)
[ET] Please see again chapter 3 on page 5.

-> (technical issue number 3)
[ET] Please see page 4

-> (technical issue number 4)
[ET] See Chapter 1.2

But finally, in the end, the customer did find something that actually wasn't documented, which I thought my engineering team did a good job answering:

-> You also have to specify what the effect of the wrong settings will have on the output!
[ET] The effect on specifying wrong settings is obvious - the (technology) will not function properly

Nice comeback.

Headline of the Day From Those Wacky Canadians

B.C. police seek serial groin-kicker after series of attacks

iPhone Factoid

Did you know that the little map icon on your iPhone is pinpointing the location of the Apple main campus in Cuppertino, CA?

Printing Money and Handing it Out isn't "Growth"

Instapundit blurb on GDP announcement: U.S. Economy Is Growing Once Again. But here’s a cautionary note: “But we don’t think that rate of growth is sustainable because it is distorted by all the government stimulus. The challenge here is to get organic growth – growth that isn’t helped by fiscal steroids.”

There was no "growth" in the economy. There was the government shoveling money out the door, which will have to be paid for later. In the mean time the "economic good news" is that things "are not bad as forecast" on unemployment, foreclosures, debt, housing, earnings, etc., etc.

What we basically have is a bubble being created by quantitative easing and government spending. When one or the other eases off all this magic GDP "growth" will stop.

Keeping it Classy

Populists would argue that our current leaders are just reflecting their slovenly, sloppy subjects, but seeing stuff like this really makes me miss the Reagans, who had class.

H/T: Maggie's Farm

A Step Closer to Mr. Fusion?

Japanese Firms to Develop Small Reactors

Japan's major nuclear reactor manufacturers have begun developing small nuclear power systems for both developed and emerging countries, a report said on Saturday.


Toshiba Corp. is developing an ultra-compact reactor with an output of about 10,000 kilowatts and has started procedures for approval in the United States, the Nikkei business daily said.


Of course these reactors are fission, but one can hope we will see the Mr. Fusion eventually...

I Played With Some of the New Health Technology Obama Wants to Kill

The old way: Well trained private doctor stands over you, rips open your abdomen, takes out your appendix, sews you up. You are in pain for days, recover slowly and have a huge scar.

The new way: A few round openings a centimeter wide are put around your body cavity. Into the holes go a camera and a couple of robotic fingers controlled remotely by a surgeon. The fingers are small, precise, more nimble than human hands. The appendix is detached and slowly pulled from one of the holes while the surgeon guides everything watching a video screen. Once the robotic fingers are removed, the cavity holes are easily sealed back up without leaving much trace. Patient time in the hospital is a fraction of the old time, recovery time is faster.

I had the opportunity to play with one of these systems and it is amazing. The precision and control is orders higher than I could achieve with my own hands. Since it is done with robotic control while watching a monitor it was like playing the coolest video game ever. I could manipulate objects smaller than I could see with my own eyes - and I am a business guy playing with the machine for a few minutes. Imagine what a trained surgeon could do with it?

But you see, this piece of equipment is expensive. Seven figures. Tens of Millions of dollars of R&D went into developing it, testing it, getting it approved and training doctors on it. All this money added to "health care spending" and increased the amount of GDP devoted to medical care, which to democrats is "bad". When the machine is not being used it just sits there being "wasted". Also bad. It is imperative to democrats that this sort of technology not find it's way out to more and more people. Costs must be controlled.

So the democrats rather have health care the Obama way: Poorly trained government employee stands over you, rips open your abdomen, and takes out your appendix - but only after you wait the appropriate time to have the surgery. Afterwords you are in pain for days, recover slowly and have a huge scar. But less money is spent, which is "good".