Some midweek musings on passing scene...


I have long said that the alternative to fossil fuels would not come from a government program, but rather from someone in private enterprise acting with a profit motive.  In fact, government funding of, for instance, ethanol actually hurts the efforts, as it distorts the market, encouraging investors to move in the direction of government subsidies rather than pursuing the ideas with the best chances of success.  Encouraging otherwise inefficient agricultural activity also serves to increase environmental pollution through the use of additional pesticides and fertilizers (and the additional fossil fuel consumption required to produce them).

In spite of the government ethanol boondoggle, there are some folks outside of the subsidy business looking for alternatives; two of them were detailed in a recent commentary by Thomas Friedman.  One is the internet giant Google, who has announced it is investing in a business promoting renewable energy.  The other is a group of MIT students who are managing an initiative with contributors from around the world; the goal:  a plug-in hybrid car that achieves 200 mpg.  Who knows whether either group will be successful; however, even if not, perhaps they spur other investments or initiatives that do make significant contributions.  Their efforts will move at the speed of the market, while ethanol is still moving at the snail's pace of government.
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According to news reports, the latest National Intelligence Estimate claims that Iran, while still openly pursuing nuclear energy, gave up its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003.  If true, then our intelligence service has shown again why it is unreliable, since they've been telling us for years that they were pursuing weapons.  Presumably these are the same people that told us that weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were a "slam dunk".  Of course, it also calls to attention the actions of the Iranian government since it ostensibly gave up its attempt to join the global nuclear weapons club.  At seemingly every opportunity, when given the chance to open the books and show the world that we had nothing to fear, Iran chose obfuscation and secrecy instead.  Also, in light of the recent bombing of a Syrian nuclear facility by Israel (and the resultant lack of indignation by Syria or by any of its middle eastern allies) it brings to mind another question:  did Iran simply move its weapons program over to Syria to make it less conspicuous?  One can only hope that the NIE is correct and we are only looking at a country trying subtly to disrupt us in Iraq, not one that is also trying to develop weapons of mass destruction.
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Speaking of the Iranian regime, we should still remember that regardless of whether or not it is a potential future nuclear threat, it is a threat to the liberty of its own people.  No, this doesn't mean we undertake another war for the sake of "nation building" or "liberation", but we should do everything we can to support the nascent pro-democracy movement in Iran.  There are many dissidents agitating to rid themselves of the oppressive Islamist regime.  Some of our strongest allies in Europe are former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe who saw the United States as a steadfast supporter of anti-Communist dissidents.  The same could be true of a liberated Iran.
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A few weeks ago I wrote about how it was now "Game On" for the Democrats.  Since then, the polls have tightened and the anti-Hillarys — Barack Obama and John Edwards — are like sharks smelling blood in the water.  Hillary Clinton has had to face distractions caused by her erstwhile husband's claims about being against our current war in Iraq — despite having penned an op-ed favoring military action the week of the vote and his wife (the actual candidate) having voted for the war authorization.  Her criticisms of Obama seem to be mind numbingly self injurious, as she has criticized him for entering the Senate with immediate designs on the Presidency despite the obviousness of her own long-held ambition for power; she has further criticized his lack of foreign policy experience, despite the fact that a First Lady isn't exactly Secretary of State.

As Clinton's poll numbers continue to drop and her inevitability collapses, it will be interesting to see just how negative she is willing to go.  "Game on" indeed!
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Speaking of poll numbers, one might assume that Obama's support in Iowa is analogous to Howard Dean's in 2004:  based on a lot of people new to the caucusing process and who are thus less likely to show up and participate.  Instead, surprisingly, the polls show that it is actually Clinton's support in Iowa that is coming from the novices politiques and Obama who is commanding the more reliable support.  Could we be witnessing a meltdown of historic proportions?
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My iPod died, so I went to buy another one.  I had one of the older 40 gig models, which I bought probably 4-5 years ago for something like $400.  My new one has 80 gigs of memory, can do video (with very good resolution), and is roughly half as thick.  The price?  $249.  So for a little more than half the price I get more than double the performance in a smaller, more convenient package.  Similar improvements are noticeable with cell phones and laptop computers:  all areas where there is extensive competition, not only between companies but also competition against buying nothing.  Yet in the area of health care, where there is intense government regulation and little to no competition on an individual level, expenses keep going up.  Of course, all of the Democratic candidates for the Presidency are advocating more government control over health care and less individual choice.  Does anyone think we'd be seeing the vast improvements in iPods if the government took over?  More likely, they'd be more expensive and supply would be spotty; after Christmas, we'd probably discover a warehouse in Montana full of them.

Competition works.  We should harness the free market and individual choice to make health care more affordable and more available, not more government or corporate bureaucracy.
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LSU Coach Les Miles has apparently sold his soul to the devil.  Never have I seen a team with more critical 4th down conversions.  Never has a team climbed to the #1 ranking, lost, climbed back to #1, lost, then clawed its way back into the national championship game.  Yes, it received a gift in the SEC Championship Game from suddenly-inept Tennessee quarterback, but that's what championship teams do:  take advantage of breaks.  Congratulations to the Tigers.  Unfortunately it had to come at the expense of the Volunteers.
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I am still amazed by the continuing revelations of the depth and scope of CNN's ineptitude during the Republican "YouTube" Debate.  Numerous plants by Democratic activists went unnoticed by CNN's editorial staff, and the questions themselves tended toward the inane.  The more that comes to light, the worse CNN looks.  Perhaps they should hire Dan Rather to moderate their next debate; sadly, he might actually raise CNN's credibility.
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Remember how much more exciting Christmas was when we were kids and had toys to which to look forward?
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Anyone who believes that voters and computers choosing the participants in a college football national championship game is better than deciding it on the field via some sort of playoff system is an idiot.  This is not my opinion, this is established inarguable fact.
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The popularity of chain restaurants, e.g., Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday's, never ceases to amaze me.  Why so many people want to eat re-heated frozen food from the same menu as at every other franchise rather than eating at a local, fresh, unique restaurant simply confuses me.
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While Venezuela was voting for freedom, Russia was busy giving the authoritarian Vladimir Putin basically a blank check in parliamentary elections.  Apparently, while Putin is ostensibly going to abide by the Russian Constitution and allow himself to be term-limited out of the Presidency, he is going to become the next Prime Minister, allowing a puppet to be elected President.  Meanwhile, critics of his regime continue to turn up dead...