Monthly Archive for January, 2007

Bad President! No biscuit for you!

Published
by
Bryan
on Wednesday, 24 January 2007
in Political
. 0 Comments

I didn’t watch the State of the Union (SOTU) last night, and from what I’ve read, I didn’t miss much. Usually, I try to catch President Bush’s speeches for the soul-crushing hilarity they provide me. I did hear excerpts, however, and this one is my personal favorite:

Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20% in the next 10 years - when we do that we will have cut our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.

Let’s compare this to what he said last year, during his 2006 SOTU address, where he said:

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. (Applause.) By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past. (Applause.)

Wow, from 2025 to 2015. Just like that. Does anyone else get the feeling he’s making this stuff up as he goes along?

According to an article by the American Petroleum Institute, oil demand did slip slightly in 2006 compared to 2005. But that wasn’t due to a reduction in consumption or an increase in alternative fuel sources. That was because “stockpiles of crude oil and refined products stood at their highest levels for end-August in several years, thanks to extraordinary high imports and near-record domestic refinery production.”

And while our stock piles and imports have increased, so have oil company profits. And I quote:

Supply and Demand

Analysts polled by Reuters expect industry leader Exxon Mobil Corp. to post annual net profits of $38 billion (19 billion pounds), beating a record $36 billion in 2005.

Record profits are also predicted for Royal Dutch Shell , the second-largest western oil company by market capitalisation, at $25 billion and for London-based BP at more than $22 billion.

So there’s supply and demand for you. So the next time some Libertarian nut starts rattling off Ayn Rand quotes and lecturing you on how the market works, do yourself a favor and punch them right in the nose. Violent? Yes. But it’s like putting your dog’s nose in the mess it made on the rug - it’s the only way they’ll learn.

Surreal Life

Published
by
Bryan
on Friday, 19 January 2007
in Notes and Watch This!
. 0 Comments

Working on a college campus, I have to deal with surreal moments on a regular basis. Unfortunately, my radio show, The Friday Riff, was on the air at the very moment this event occurred right outside my office.

YouTube Preview Image

Very post-modern… whatever that means.

“Facts are stupid things.” - Ronald Reagan

Published
by
Bryan
on Thursday, 11 January 2007
in Notes
. 0 Comments

I passively watched the President’s speech last night, mostly while surfing the net, until he said something that really got my attention - “Where mistakes have been made…”. Wait… was he just channeling the late Ronald Reagan? I’m not being entirely fair - Bush’s actual quote last night was “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.” Reagan, the Great Communicator, would have phrased that sentence, “Where mistakes have been made, I don’t recall.”

I feel sorry for the word surge for how it’s being used in all of this. Surge is normally used in more positive ways. Stock prices, ocean waves, even a really terrible soda - things that bring a sense of goodness to people. After conducting a Google News search for the word surge, I think its reputation is forever tarnished by its association with this war - much like Kool-Aid is forever tarnished by Jim Jones. By the way, nice work, Flavor-Aid.

Am I being pessimistic? Well, yesterday morning, CNN interviewed members of two conservative think-tanks (link to transcript): James Dobbins, who is with the Rand Corporation, and Larry Diamond with the Hoover Institution. Here’s my favorite part of the exchange:

DIAMOND: Well, there are not nearly enough troops of any kind. This should have been done three years ago and on a larger scale. But if it’s only American troops knocking down doors, there’s going to be blowback, Heidi, and it’s going to embitter Iraqis more, escalate the fighting and killing on all sides. So, there needs to be an incentive for Iraqis to step forward and take responsibility for their own affair.

Otherwise, we’re not going to get to this goal in November just as we didn’t get to the goal General Casey had declared some time ago of having most of the responsibility assumed by this very moment.

And I just don’t see where the leverage is of the Bush Administration when it puts in all these resources in advance without the political compromises coming.

COLLINS: James Dobbins, is November a realistic goal?

DOBBINS: Probably not. Most of the administration’s goals have not been met over the last three years, so I wouldn’t anticipate that this one will either.

Maybe these two are dumbing down for CNN’s audience, but in my view, there’s a whole lotta, “Well, DUH!” going on there. Blowback? Realistic goals? Wasn’t that why people were protesting this war before it even started? Watching conservatives criticize this war is like watching a two year old attempting to spell quagmire. They don’t know how to do it, so they end up playing Monday morning quarterback. How about this? This is the wrong war, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. Period. And plenty of people shouted that in the streets before this mess even started.

Is it possible that sending more troops will only amount to creating more memorials for Arlington West to set up every Sunday? I’d mention the Iraqi civilians who we have liberated, not just from Hussein’s regime, but from life altogether - but were not supposed to talk about them.

You know, sometimes this blog is nothing more than I cathartic way for me to shout into the proverbial pillow, but hey, I’ll take the little things.

Back to the grind

Published
by
Bryan
on Wednesday, 3 January 2007
in Political
. 0 Comments

What a strange period the 2006 holiday season proved to be - friends, family, the execution of Saddam Hussein. Nothing says, “Peace on Earth” like the hanging of a ruthless dictator, complete with unsanctioned cellphone footage of him being mocked at the gallows. It was like the Nuremberg Trials meets America’s Funniest Home Videos. Leave for dinner and Hussein’s alive. Drive back and he’s dead. Just bizarre.

Today, and yesterday, the U.S. has backed away from any involvement in the timing of the punking - err, execution - of Hussein. Major General William Caldwell was quoted today in a Reuters article:

“Had we been physically in charge at that point we would have done things differently,” Caldwell told a news conference.

“At this point the government of Iraq has the opportunity to take advantage of what has occurred and really reach out now in an attempt to bring more people back into the political process and bring the Sunnis back,” he said, singling out a need to ease restrictions on former members of Saddam’s Baath party.

Anybody want to take bets on the likelihood of that happening? It makes me wonder just what sort of government we have put in charge over there - since the mission was accomplished.

Hussein’s no great loss - the guy deserved a lot worse than what he got - but this was not the way to usher in a new era. And if things completely disintegrate, then the blood and carnage is on our hands for completely destabilizing the country with no workable plan that keeps the place from collapsing into civil war. But my views on this aren’t anything profoundly new to most people - so enough of this rambling for now.

Anway, the additional passings of Gerald Ford, James Brown, and the 3000th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq sure made it seem like there was a whole lot of carnage to fill in the holiday blanks. As for this mortal coil, I’m just happy to be back to the daily grind. Here’s to another year.