Here is a list and my brief thoughts about the 2008 Field as it looks right now.

The Republicans:
The Republicans certainly have a shot, but they need to differentiate between Bushies and conservatives. Conservatives can win, Bushies most likely cannot.

Filed with the FEC

Senator Sam Brownback: From what I've heard, his announcement speech was great, and he certainly seemed favored by the crowd at the March for Life a week or so ago. In previous posts, I called him "too Religious Right" for my liking, and that may not be true of how I feel, but it might reflect how the rest of the country perceives him. I want to hear what he has to say about foreign policy (though he has said good things about Darfur) before I make a final judgment about him, but he'll make a strong showing in the primaries.

John Cox: Who?

Rep. Duncan Hunter: Seems to be ideologically similar to Rep. Tancredo, but this Californian has none of even the small amount of name recognition that the Tanc has.

Formed Exploratory Committees

Gov. Jim Gilmore: He was a pretty popular governor of Virginia, though he isn't grabbing any press right now.

Mayor Rudy Giluliani: I used to say that "America's Mayor" was far too moderate to win the nomination, but as Chris Matthews has said (paraphrasing here) you don't ask a cop that saves you from being mugged how many times he's been married. I think he has a real shot, and could be exactly what voters are looking for.

Gov. Mike Huckabee: I've heard his name being tossed around a lot, but nothing particularly interesting or exciting.

Senator John McCain: He may be my arch-nemesis, but I will try to keep this analysis fair. I don't like him, but apparently he's still the front runner. Realistically, I think he may be too old to be President (he would be the oldest inauguration), but he's got the money and the media presence.

Rep. Ron Paul: He's a real maverick, having voted against the Iraq War, and strong Libertarian Party ties. Will find support among activists, but it would take one hell of a grassroots campaign to get this Texan far.

Gov. Mitt Romney: He seems to have strong grassroots support, however, he is Mormon, and that may not sit well with many moderate voters because of the reputation that church has for being, well...wacky. On the upside, he would be sure to win Utah, and he is the former governor of a decidedly liberal state.

Rep. Tom Tancredo: If I could pick anyone, I'd personally pick Tancredo, but he is relatively unknown. He has good camera presence, and is fully committed to his causes, giving him wide support among paleoconservatives.


Wild Cards (no committee, lots of whispering)

Gov. Haley Barbour: I would love to see Barbour run, and he's got national experience (back when being the RNC Chair was a good thing) and positive vibes from post-Katrina. Would lock up the South for the GOP as a VP.

Newt Gingrich: I loved Winning the Future, and I think it is chock-full of platform building ideas for 2008. " He says he's only running if he doesn't like anyone else. Doesn't sound like the Newt we know and love. Hopefully his ideas take hold, because he still has high negatives with the public at large.

Senator Chuck Hagel: As a Senator from Nebraska, he's been outspoken and critical on Bush vis-à-vis Iraq, which could actually help him a lot in 2008. Like McCain, a Vietnam vet, but more traditionally conservative.

Gov. George Pataki: There's probably only room for two New Yorkers in this race, and Pataki is left with being a moderate without any of sense of being "The Man," that Giuliani gets.

Rep. Mike Pence: The Indiana Congressman is an excellent speaker, and should be Minority Leader right now. Not sure he has the political capital to gain wide support for a presidential bid.

Condoleezza Rice: Bush's second term seems to be hurting her chances (though she claims to have no aspirations anyway). I'm curious to see what happens to the "Draft Condi" movement.

Early Dropouts
Senator George Allen (Good riddance)
Gov. Jeb Bush (A rose by any other name)
Dick Cheney
Senator Bill Frist
Senator Rick Santorum (should be head of the RNC right now)


The Democrats:
The Dems have picked up steam since the midterms, and right now Hillary and Obama are garnering all the media attention, so I think a Dem has an odds-even shot at the Presidency, assuming they can coalesce around one candidate soon enough (guess that goes for the Republicans too).

Filed with the FEC
Senator Chris Dodd: The longest serving Senator in Connecticut history, and other than that, I don't know much about him, nor does most of the country

Senator John Edwards: Not sure what it means, but he just bought a house so big it can hold both Americas. Plus, he's a trial lawyer. A rich trial lawyer. Americans hate lawyers.

Senator Mike Gravel: I had to look this guy up. Wikipedia says: "His is considered a very longshot candidacy since former Sen. Gravel will be 78 years old at the time of the general election and will have been out of federal politics for almost three decades at the time of the election." Yeah, he's been out of politics longer than I've been alive. I think that sums it up.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Eat Spinach Vote Kucinich!" That would be the best campaign slogan ever for this greenie. But seriously, dude, do you really think you have a shot?

Gov. Tom Vilsack: Don't know much about him, but that seems to be a good thing in this crowd. He could be a major player.

Announced/Formed Exploratory Committees
Senator Joe Biden: He wasn't viable in 1988. I don't think 17 years in the Senate will change that. Can barely open his mouth without inserting his foot.

Senator Hillary Clinton: Basically, she scares me. I'm not one of those pundits that doesn't think she has a chance, I think she has a damn good chance. She's a leader in the party, but Hillary has too many negatives: Whitewater, her husband, tainted for at least the next decade by the Monica thing, and well, comedian Jeff Foxworthy puts it best: "If you can't say anything nice about a person, you must be talking about Hillary Clinton."

Senator Barack Obama: I think he's mostly hype. He's just too inexperienced. He has a lot of grassroots support that could take him far. I think America is ready for a black president (they had one on 24, after all) but not this one. Maybe 2012/16.

Governor Bill Richardson: The Latino Bill Clinton, and I think he is a formidable candidate in either the President or VP slot, as he has arguably the most experience of anyone in his party. It's one hell of a resumé, and he's not an unknown, but has no unfavorable image to the general public. And New Mexico is a swing state, and I think the Southwest vote could be a huge factor in the 2008 election.

Wild Cards (no committee, lots of whispering)
General Wesley Clark: He had a good shot in '04, before he started hanging out with Michael Moore. He could make a strong showing for a VP slot with a first tier candidate weak on national security.

Vice President Al Gore: He just got nominated for an Oscar. My head hurts. Apparently a "rock star," but I think his Inconvenient Truth is that he's backed himself into "The Global Warming Guy" (lock)box, and that might be too much to overcome.

Gov. Ed Rendell: He just took a gamble on PA gambling, so he might be able to pull this off. I have never been able to pinpoint his popularity, even being from Philadelphia like he is. He is very charismatic, and seems to be popular with Democrats. However, when his record is closely examined, it is less than stellar.

Rev. Al Sharpton: He hates Obama. Not sure why (Obama isn't "black" enough?). No chance.

Early Dropouts
Senator Evan Bayh
Senator Tom Daschle
DNC Chair Howard Dean
Senator Russ Feingold
Senator John Kerry (I was pulling for you, John!)
Gov. Mark Warner

Overall: I'm hesitant to support anyone completely this early out, and especially hesitant about people with the title of Senator. This is going to be a long and interesting race.

Labels: 2008 Watch

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:09 PM | Permalink | |

Jack Langer on Anti-Iraq protesters from over the weekend:

Expecting a healthy turnout of idealistic youths, I was surprised to find that the crowd was comprised predominantly of middle-aged '60s throwbacks looking to recapture the glory days of the jarring folk music, campus occupations, and general social chaos that accompanied the Vietnam War. When the Raging Grannies showed up, it was hard to distinguish them from the rest of the crowd.

What a disappointment. Nothing against the old folks, but they simply can’t match the energy of a young crowd of college kids unencumbered by work responsibilities or age-related health problems. The whole rally was flat, dispirited, and even boring. I felt especially sorry for the speakers: it’s hard to rile up a crowd when so many attendees are afraid to stray too far from the porta-potties.

That pretty much sums up my experiences with most anti-war types.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:17 PM | Permalink | |

Excerpt:

We have a very interesting conundrum at NASA, and we have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about it. In national polling, NASA as an American institution enjoys a hugely positive approval rating, broadly in the range of 65-75%, an amazing result for a government agency. But when you ask people why, they are not really sure, or at least cannot express it clearly. When you ask people what we do, beyond the broad category of "space", again they aren't quite sure. And if you ask them what we're planning to do, they're even less sure. But they know that they love NASA. So NASA has what in the marketing discipline would be called very strong brand loyalty, even though people are not familiar in detail with what we do or why they like it.

I have been trying to understand why this is so, because it is important to our agency's future. If we don't have public support that is both strong and specific, the things we want to do, and believe to be important, will not survive. There are many competing priorities for public funding, and always will be. So it really is important for us to communicate to the public how we're spending the fifteen cents per day that the average American contributes to NASA, because there are other places where that money can go.

I've reached the point where I am completely convinced that if NASA were to disappear tomorrow, if the American space program were to disappear tomorrow, if we never put up another Hubble, never put another human being in space, people would be profoundly distraught. Americans would feel less than themselves. They would feel that our best days are behind us. They would feel that we have lost something, something that matters. And yet they would not know why.

I think this is very interesting, and I like Mike Griffin's style of administration. It will be interesting to see where Orion takes us.

And no, this isn't turning into a space blog, and the next post won't be about NASA. Still working on a quality 2008 field post. Let me know of anyone I might be leaving out, and thoughts.

Labels: Space

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:33 PM | Permalink | |

Space.com:

In addition to remembering the Apollo 1 crew, NASA will honor the last shuttle crews of both the Challenger and Columbia orbiters.

A rocket booster seal failed 73 seconds after Challenger lifted off on Jan. 28, 1986, causing the vehicle’s destruction and killing its STS-51L commander Francis “Dick” Scobee, pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, payload specialist Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe—the first teacher to launch towards space [image].

“Christa was, is and will always be our first teacher in space,” said astronaut Barbara Morgan, who as a teacher from Idaho trained as McAuliffe’s back up and later became NASA’s first educator astronaut.

After more than 20 years of preparation and training, Morgan has a mission of her own with NASA’s STS-118 spaceflight set to launch towards the ISS on June 28. As both an educator and mission specialist, Morgan will help wield the ISS and shuttle robotic arms, adding that she remained committed to flying in space despite the Challenger disaster.

“There was a lot of thinking going on, we needed to think about what it is that we did wrong and the question about whether this was worth it,” Morgan told reporters this month, adding that her drive to educate children has been a constant guide. “For me, I can’t think of anything more important than our young people, and so the decision to continue was not difficult at all.”

NASA’s most recent shuttle tragedy - the 2003 loss of Columbia during landing—led to the loss of STS-107 commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool and mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, David Brown, payload commander Michael Anderson and Ilan Ramon—Israel’s first astronaut [image].

After more than two years of recovery efforts, NASA resumed shuttle flights in July 2005, following that up with three orbiter missions to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2006. The space agency plans to retire its remaining three orbiters—Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour—after ISS assembly is completed by September 2010.

“We have an opportunity to show once again that NASA can do what it says it’s going to do,” NASA chief Michael Griffin told space agency employees this month during an agency-wide update.

Labels: Anniversaries, Space

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:40 PM | Permalink | |

We remember that forty years ago today, three brave men perished in the horrific accident of Apollo I while doing a simple test. Those men were Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.
Because the cockpit was filled with pure oxygen, all three men were dead within 17 seconds of the first call of fire.

"During a simulated countdown for mission AS-204 on January 27, 1967, an accident occurred in CM 012. This was a manned test with the prime astronaut crew on board. A fire occurred inside the command module resulting in the death of the three astronauts and as yet undetermined damage to the command and service modules." -Joseph F. Shea, Manager of the Apollo Space Program Office

With these words, the nation's space program was split into two classifications: Pre-Fire and Post-Fire.

They should be remembered as heroes. All three men signed up to be astronauts after being test pilots, and saw the astronaut role as a service to their country. They understood the risks, and rather than back down, accepted it as part of the job.

If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. -Virgil I. Grissom, after the Gemini 3 mission, March 1965

Grissom was one of the "Mercury 7," the original astronaut group, and had been the second American man in space. He and White each had each flown a Gemini mission, and Ed White was the first American to perform an EVA (spacewalk). Apollo I would have been Roger Chaffee's first spaceflight.

The Fire and the resulting investigation (led by anti-NASA crusader Senator Walter Mondale) almost crippled NASA and prevented the Apollo Program from meeting the 'end of the decade' Kennedy deadline. However, it was not political pressure that probably caused the most strain on NASA, but the impact felt by the other astronauts, the engineers, and the administrators. They each felt the lives of Grissom, White, and Chaffee on their hands, and several felt personally responsible for the deaths.

I believe that astronaut Col. Frank Borman summed up the cause of the accident the best when he described it as a "failure of imagination." Failure to imagine that such an accident would occur on Earth and not hundreds of miles from a fire station. It is important to remember not for the mistakes made, but how we ultimately recovered from them.

The Apollo Program continued with Apollo 7 in October of 1968, and then Apollo 8 circling the moon in December.

They should be remembered always.

There is a wealth of Apollo 1-related information here:

• Original New York Times article
• Original Senate Report
  
• Air & Space Museum
• NASA
• Apollo 1 Foundation (Dedicated to a living memorial)
• I would also recommend the Apollo 1 episode of the excellent Tom Hanks/HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon

Labels: Anniversaries, Space

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:11 AM | Permalink | |

Rudy is a conservative choice? Steven Malanga thinks so:

...in a GOP presidential field in which cultural and religious conservatives may find something to object to in every candidate who could really get nominated (and, more important, elected), Giuliani may be the most conservative candidate on a wide range of issues. Far from being a liberal, he ran New York with a conservative’s priorities: government exists above all to keep people safe in their homes and in the streets, he said, not to redistribute income, run a welfare state, or perform social engineering.

The private economy, not government, creates opportunity, he argued; government should just deliver basic services well and then get out of the private sector’s way. He denied that cities and their citizens were victims of vast forces outside their control, and he urged New Yorkers to take personal responsibility for their lives. “Over the last century, millions of people from all over the world have come to New York City,” Giuliani once observed. “They didn’t come here to be taken care of and to be dependent on city government. They came here for the freedom to take care of themselves.” It was that spirit of opportunity and can-do-ism that Giuliani tried to re-instill in New York and that he himself exemplified not only in the hours and weeks after 9/11 but in his heroic and successful effort to bring a dying city back to life.

Excellent article. Read the whole thing.

I wouldn't mind seeing Giuliani paired with a socially conservative VP, like Tancredo, Barbour, or Brownback.

Hey, Giuliani-Barbour '08, the disaster survivor ticket?

Labels: 2008 Watch, Giuliani

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:40 PM | Permalink | |

Pete DuPont is my hero this week. Not only was he waiting to greet Bush when he came down the ramp (with Castle and Carper), but his WSJ column this week is excellent, detailing bad 'paygo' practices:

But a new Congress supportive of increased spending cannot be supportive of increased deficits, so the Democratic House majority reinstated a clever and deceptive wrinkle, something called pay-as-you-go, or "paygo." It specifies that any revenue lost as the result of tax cuts, or any newly enacted entitlement or other spending increase, must be paid for by other spending reductions or tax increases. (House rules require a three-fifths vote for tax increases, but Democrats made sure that requirement can be waived by a simple majority vote.)

My hack this week is China, who seems to be caving to the Muslims. This is just plain weird:

SHANGHAI -- Next month, China will ring in the Year of the Pig. Nestlé SA planned to celebrate with TV ads featuring a smiling cartoon pig. "Happy new pig year," the ads said.

This week, China Central Television, the national state-run TV network, banned Nestlé's ad -- and all images and spoken references to the animal in commercials, including those tied to the Lunar New Year, China's biggest holiday.

The intent: to avoid offending Muslims, who consider pigs unclean. "China is a multiethnic country," the network's ad department said in a notice sent to ad agencies late Tuesday. "To show respect to Islam, and upon guidance from higher levels of the government, CCTV will keep any 'pig' images off the TV screen."

It's about the pork, not the pigs. Sheesh.

Labels: Hero/Hack

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:10 AM | Permalink | |

BBC:

"Energy security is the most important of the emerging dimensions of our strategic partnership," Mr Singh said as he and Mr Putin signed a memorandum of understanding on the new nuclear reactors.

"Russia's position as a global leader on energy issues is widely recognised."

He also thanked Russia for its support "in lifting international restrictions on nuclear co-operation and assisting India in the expansion of our nuclear energy programme".

The Indian ministry of external affairs press said the four new reactors would be built at Kudankulam (in southern India) and at other sites.

It says the two countries have also signed a series of agreements on scientific, space, aviation and economic cooperation, including giving India access to Russia's satellite navigation system, Glonass.

Russia is already helping India build two nuclear reactors to meet its growing energy needs.

Reacting to China's satellite-destroying weapons test earlier in the week, the two leaders called for a "weapons free outer space".

"The fundamental position of the Russian Federation is that outer space should be absolutely weapons free," Mr Putin told a joint press conference in Delhi.

I'd rather have them in alliance than either with China.

Labels: China, India, Space

Posted by Ryan S. at 7:37 PM | Permalink | |

Chuck Todd at the National Journal thinks so:

The Republican Party's immediate future rests on the shoulders of its lame-duck leader, because for better or for worse, he's the face of the party. If he doesn't hit bottom quickly and then start to improve his own standing, the GOP is going to find itself in a black hole in terms of recruitment.

Already, there are whispers that the GOP presidential field is thin because too many potentially strong candidates are getting spooked by the environment. If 2008 looked more promising, wouldn't Govs. Haley Barbour of Mississippi or Jeb Bush of Florida be in? Wouldn't intriguing dark horses like South Dakota Sen. John Thune or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty be rolling the dice?

Interesting, I've been a fan of Barbour for a long time, and think he's make an excellent President or VP.

Labels: 2008 Watch

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:37 PM | Permalink | |

I actually didn't watch this year's State of the Union. While it is important, the numerous applause breaks annoy me, and it isn't as important since Bush's agenda is about half of the equation now. I've read the transcript, and seems to be about so-so. I'm not particularly wowed by anything in the speech itself, and want to see what becomes of those proposals after Congress gets through with them.

I did catch a post-SOTU interview with Hillary Clinton on MSNBC, and make no mistake, she's a real competent politician, and comes off way more human than those on the right would like.

Labels: Bush

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:24 PM | Permalink | |

Ed Morrissey:

He has extensive foreign-affairs experience; he has plenty of contacts in Congress and a long history of working between the legislative and executive branches; and most of all, he has solid executive experience that all of the other main candidates for the nomination lack. In fact, compared to Richardson, the rest of the pack look like amateurs playing at national politics.

Richardson should worry Hillary Clinton based on his extensive experience. However, his experience with the Clintons also might give Hillary Clinton a different set of vulnerabilities, depending on whether the former baseball player will go hardball in the primary race.

Even the fact of his candidacy makes a case for his readiness to dish on Hillary Clinton. He’s just young enough at age 60 to have waited for 2012 or 2016 to avoid going against Hillary Clinton, and yet he chose to run against his former boss’ spouse. That indicates that Richardson doesn’t feel especially loyal to either Clinton on the national stage and hints that some fireworks may await us on the primary trail.

And he has centrist cred all over.

Expect a 2008 Field rundown form me by the end of the week (probably tomorrow, depending on what Bush says in tonight's State of the Union).

Labels: 2008 Watch

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:15 PM | Permalink | |

Sadr's militias have been a problem in Iraq since...well, Saddam was toppled. That's why this is the best news out of Iraq in a long time:

About 600 fighters and 16 leaders of the radical Shia militia, the Mehdi Army, have been captured by security forces in Iraq, the US military says. The statement said 52 operations had been conducted in 45 days targeting the militia, which is loyal to Najaf-based cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:04 AM | Permalink | |

The Second Amendment Foundation is my hero this week for taking the City of New Orleans and Mayor Ray "Chocolate City" Nagin to court:

“At first,” Gottlieb recalled, “Nagin, Riley and the city claimed they had not seized anyone’s firearms. Then, faced with the threat of a contempt motion, they ‘discovered’ that guns had been taken and were being held at a central location. After that, the city promised to begin returning firearms, but put roadblocks in the way for citizens to retrieve their guns.

“The city’s behavior in this matter, and particularly that of Mayor Nagin and Chief Riley, has been deplorable, and it is time for them to behave like adults,” Gottlieb said. “Since the day the city began seizing firearms, Nagin and Riley have acted as though they are above the law. It is time they learned otherwise.”

My hack this week is Philadelphia Mayor John Street, who blames the city's astronomical murder rate and out of control gun crime...on President Bush and Iraq:

"I believe the fact that we are a country at war has something to do with the attitude of people in the streets. Let me tell you, it's not just this city. I have seen it everywhere and I've talked to people a lot about it," Street said.

"We are a country that is becoming less and less civil. We are a place where people will pull out a gun and shoot it at the drop of a hat," he said.

Hat tip for hack goes to Hube at Colossus of Rhodey.

Labels: Blame it on Bush, Gun Rights, Hero/Hack, Philadelphia

Posted by Ryan S. at 5:15 PM | Permalink | |

Marc Morano:

The Weather Channel’s most prominent climatologist is advocating that broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about predictions of manmade catastrophic global warming. This latest call to silence skeptics follows a year (2006) in which skeptics were compared to "Holocaust Deniers" and Nuremberg-style war crimes trials were advocated.

The Weather Channel’s (TWC) Heidi Cullen, who hosts the weekly global warming program "The Climate Code," is advocating that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revoke their "Seal of Approval" for any television weatherman who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe.

Heidi Cullen is entitled to advocate her personal opinion on matters, but this seems extreme. Isn't science all about discovering truth through experimentation and the free exchange of ideas?

Where in the scientific method does it say "Do not allow others to dispute results?" Why this stifling of scientific inquiry?

UPDATE (1/19/2007 10:12AM ): An ABC-TV broadcast meteorologist speaks out:

I have been in operational meteorology since 1978, and I know dozens and dozens of broadcast meteorologists all over the country. Our big job: look at a large volume of raw data and come up with a public weather forecast for the next seven days. I do not know of a single TV meteorologist who buys into the man-made global warming hype. I know there must be a few out there, but I can’t find them. Here are the basic facts you need to know:

*Billions of dollars of grant money is flowing into the pockets of those on the man-made global warming bandwagon. No man-made global warming, the money dries up. This is big money, make no mistake about it. Always follow the money trail and it tells a story. Even the lady at “The Weather Channel” probably gets paid good money for a prime time show on climate change. No man-made global warming, no show, and no salary. Nothing wrong with making money at all, but when money becomes the motivation for a scientific conclusion, then we have a problem. For many, global warming is a big cash grab.

Labels: Climate Change

Posted by Ryan S. at 1:00 PM | Permalink | |

Glenn Reynolds has an New York Times Op-Ed (free link):

Likewise, in the event of disasters that leave law enforcement overwhelmed, armed citizens can play an important role in stanching crime. Armed neighborhood watches deterred looting in parts of Houston and New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Precisely because an armed populace can serve as an effective backup for law enforcement, the ownership of firearms was widely mandated during Colonial times, and the second Congress passed a statute in 1792 requiring adult male citizens to own guns.

The twin purposes of self and community defense may very well lie behind the Second Amendment’s language encompassing both the importance of a well-regulated militia and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. As the constitutional and criminal law scholar Don Kates has noted in the journal Constitutional Commentary, thinkers at the time when the Constitution was written drew no real distinction between resisting burglars, foreign invaders or domestic tyrants: All were wrongdoers that good citizens had the right, and the duty, to oppose with force.

Reynolds is spot on with the reasoning on why the Second Amendment exists. If it wasn't as critical as speech, freedom of the press, religion, or due process, etc., it wouldn't have been included in the Bill of Rights. The Framers considered it that fundamental. It was a privately owned gun that fired "the shot heard 'round the world."

This is very important, not only in preventing burglaries and rioting, but on a deeper level, gun ownership should be a human right. If genocide is an ultimate crime against humanity, gun ownership is a de facto human right as the best way to prevent genocide through resistance.

This figured prominently in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, as HEAP, the Holocaust Education and Avoidance Pod, a manual for guerrilla warfare in the event of genocide. One component is the HEAP gun, a firearm easily assembled from household parts (plus a barrel). This is to circumvent strict gun control laws typical of totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Thus it perplexes me as to why the UN is so anti-guns.

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need guns. And bacon would also fall from the sky. And last time I checked, it isn't, so I'm going to purchase a gun as soon as circumstances allow.

Labels: Gun Rights, HEAP, Stephenson

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:09 PM | Permalink | |

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak would receive $19.2 billion under bipartisan legislation unveiled Tuesday, kicking off a new chapter in long-running debate over how to fix the beleaguered passenger railroad.

The legislation by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., would provide $3.2 billion per year over six years. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., are co-sponsors of the bill.

They need to make Amtrak a private corporation like they did the post office. Then maybe Amtrak would make money. There has to be a better solution than this.

(Also, the article also says the Reason Foundation is conservative. It's decidedly libertarian).

Labels: Biden, Carper, Congress, Government Waste

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:05 PM | Permalink | |

Sci-Fi:

Diamond Age, based on Neal Stephenson's best-selling novel The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is a six-hour miniseries from [George] Clooney and fellow executive producer Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions.

When a prominent member of society concludes that the futuristic civilization in which he lives is stifling creativity, he commissions an interactive book for his daughter that serves as a guide through a surreal alternate world. Stephenson will adapt his novel for the miniseries, the first time the Hugo and Nebula award winner has written for TV.

As Stephenson is my favorite author, I await this with cautious hope. Let the finger crossing being.

My (now I wish I had written it better) Review of the Diamond Age
Instapundit's reaction: He wishes Tim Minear (of Firefly) was on board.

Labels: Sci-Fi, Stephenson

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:07 AM | Permalink | |

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful joining fellow Sen. Christopher Dodd at Martin Luther King Jr. holiday events, said Monday he thinks the Confederate flag should be kept off South Carolina's Statehouse grounds.

"If I were a state legislator, I'd vote for it to move off the grounds -- out of the state," the Delaware senator said before the civil rights group held a march and rally at the Statehouse here to support its boycott of the state. [Emphasis mine]

Well, Mr. Biden, get your hands off South Carolina's flag. That goes for you too, Dodd.

Labels: 2008 Watch, Biden

Posted by Ryan S. at 8:40 PM | Permalink | |

Fox News:

California Rep. Duncan Hunter won a Phoenix, Ariz.,straw poll of GOP insiders. Sen. John McCain finished fourth in his home state and was named the most unacceptable presidential candidate.

The rest of the country should take note.

Labels: 2008 Watch, McCain

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:21 PM | Permalink | |

Whoever made the decision for the US to air strike al Qaeda targets in Somalia is my hero this week:
The U.S. is continuing to pound Islamic Courts and al-Qaeda targets in southern Somalia. Reuters reports four towns "in an area close to Ras Kamboni," - Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe - were struck by U.S. air assets. Ras Kamboni is the location of the al-Qaeda and Islamic Courts comminications and training base. "Bankajirow was the last Islamist holdout. Bankajirow and Badmadowe were hit hardest," according to Reuters' Somali source.

This shows that the US is not forgetting about the larger War On Terror, even with Iraq at the forefront.


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is my hack this week:

On Wednesday, the House voted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour.
The bill also extends for the first time the federal minimum wage to the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory that would become the only U.S. territory not subject to federal minimum-wage laws.
One of the biggest opponents of the federal minimum wage in Samoa is StarKist Tuna, which owns one of the two packing plants that together employ more than 5,000 Samoans, or nearly 75 percent of the island's work force. StarKist's parent company, Del Monte Corp., has headquarters in San Francisco, which is represented by Mrs. Pelosi. The other plant belongs to California-based Chicken of the Sea.

"There's something fishy going on here," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican.

Culture of corruption indeed.

Labels: Congress, Culture of Corruption, Hero/Hack, Pork, Somalia

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:26 PM | Permalink | |

9:03: "Violence, particularly in Baghdad, overwhelmed the political achievements of that year [2005]."

9:03: "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people. It is unacceptable to me."

9:05: 80% of sectarian violence in Baghdad. The road to victory in Iraq leads through Baghdad.

9:06: The focus is fighting sectarian violence. That's good, but only if Iraqis are going to do everything they say their going to do.

9:08: The name of this thing is the Baghdad Security Plan. Interesting.

9:09: OK, moving away from military solutions. Also a good sign. By November, Iraqis will be control. SHARED OIL REVENUE. FINALLY!

9:10: Is this a timetable?

9:11: Essential US security mission: training troops

9:12: Al Qaeda is active, especially in Anbar, where they are based. Killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders, with help from tribal leaders? Good news.

9:13: Still not convinced we actually need more troops to do this.

9:13: Iran and Syria. Tough line.

9:14: Carrier group to the region. The Gulf? the Mediterranean?

9:15: Has any country besides the US formally recognized Iraq's government?

9:15: The US offering an ideology of hope and freedom? It worked in the Cold War.

9:19 RIP "Stay the Course"

9:19: Bi-partisan working group. Again, finally.

9:20: RIP "Small footprint"

9:20: He should probably do this more often.

9:22: Short speech. Chris Matthews says that library is where Carter used to address the American people. Not a great image to evoke.

I wonder who will else, besides Joe Lieberman, will be in the working group. A lot of the things that Bush has talked about have been bouncing around the blogosphere and elsewhere for over a year.

Official Democratic response:
9:25: Ugh, Dick Durbin.

9:26: Durbin is saying that 20,000 is too small to win, but a lot of lives to risk.

9:26: "We have protected Iraq when do one else would."

9:27: Always with the healthcare.

9:27: They don't have "911" in Iraq. It would be "tissah (٩)-wahid (۱)-wahid(۱)," anyway.

9:32: Matthews seems to remember history a lot different, as no one knew whether Iraq was or wasn't involved in 9-11. He also talks about "getting out." What about winning?

I'm not sold on the more troops idea, but I like the other stuff Bush said, although I hope it is not too little too late.

9:38: Flipped over to FoxNews. Caught the end of McCain. He doesn't look very Presidential. OK, done for now. Might have a slightly more analytic post up about this tonight or tomorrow.

Labels: Bush, bush Speech, Iraq, liveblogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:38 PM | Permalink | |

Today Apple introduced the iPhone. When the ROKR came out, I thought it confirmed my suspicions that a true phone/mp3 player wouldn't work in the near future. I also thought I wouldn't want one. That was until today. Steve Jobs made me want an iPhone. Real bad. It's just so...cool. Then I stumbled upon this TIME article and realized that Apple/Jobs currently embodies the values of American exceptionalism:

Apple’s arrogance can inspire resentment, which is one reason for some of the glee over Jobs's stock options woes: taking pleasure in seeing a special person knocked down a peg is a great American pastime. (Jobs declines to talk about the options issue.) But there's no point in pretending that Jobs isn't special. A college dropout, whose biological parents gave him up for adoption, Jobs has presided over four major game-changing product launches: the Apple II, the Macintosh, the iPod, and the iPhone; five if you count the release of Pixar's Toy Story, which I'm inclined to. He's like Willy Wonka and Harry Potter rolled up into one.

That doesn’t mean Apple can operate beyond the boundaries of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the iPhone wouldn't have happened without Apple's “we're special” attitude.

That "we're special" attitude is the same reason that America is the shining beacon on the hill.

Labels: American Exceptionalism, Apple, technology

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:37 PM | Permalink | |

The Times:

Europe’s oil supplies from Russia were being held to ransom last night as the Kremlin fell into bitter dispute with a former Soviet satellite state. Moscow abruptly halted millions of barrels of oil destined for the EU via Belarus in an increasingly hostile wrangle with its neighbour.

The move raised further questions over whether Western Europe can trust Mr Putin for its energy supply. Experts said that Russia had a deeply entrenched habit of manipulating oil and gas supplies as a substitute for diplomatic policy.

Seems like a bit much to me. Russia is going to be in big trouble soon in terms of stability. And that's going to be bad news for everyone, except perhaps nuke-hungry Muslims and the Red Chinese.

Labels: EU, Oil, Putin, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 6:36 PM | Permalink | |

This is going to be a pretty short review, only because John Scalzi, the author (blog), has lamented every review so far that has contained spoilers. I'll try to respect his wishes, though this makes the review more difficult, because The Android's Dream has a lot of plot points that are spoiler-prone. Anyway, on to the review.

The Android's Dream is one of the more delightful books I've read, especially in the area of science-fiction. While it is not light on concepts or plot really even, the book has a wonderfully light-hearted tone. There are extremely funny moments throughout the book, and the humor spans many different types. For a moment, I feel the urge to liken the film to Dogma, because Dogma is a very high-concept theological satire with a monster made of excrement, and The Android's Dream is an extremely well done sci-fi comedy with a chapter long fart joke.

However, fart jokes aside, The Android's Dream also manages to poke fun at other sci-fi conventions and works (like the title itself). This does not mean that someone only marginally familiar with sci-fi won't get the laughs, and the fun always remains light and not a critical satire of science fiction.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Android's Dream to any sci-fi fan, especially if they had enjoyed Old Man's War, Scalzi's first big hit, though they are very different types of stories. I can't wait for the promised sequel!

Relevant links:
My Old Man's War Review (almost one year ago today!)
Hube on Scalzi

Labels: Book Review, Scalzi, Sci-Fi

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:37 PM | Permalink | |

I updated the "Best of JTTR" page. Enjoy.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:44 PM | Permalink | |

God I hope so. This is easily the biggest security obstacle in Iraq right now.
CNN:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday that Iraq's armed forces are set for an assault on Baghdad to take out militias and rogue security forces.

Aided by multinational troops, the Iraqi forces "will hunt down all outlaws regardless of their sectarian and political affiliations," al-Maliki said at an Iraqi Army Day parade.

"We will also severely punish those [security forces] who do not carry out orders or operate in a partisan or sectarian way," he said.

Forces will search out insurgents neighborhood-by-neighborhood, The Associated Press reported, and will start the assault this weekend. The announcement came two days after al-Maliki and President Bush spoke by video conference for two hours.

Captain's Quarters has more.

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:57 AM | Permalink | |

Hube's got more:

Ah yes, the Democrats promised a "more civil tone" in Washington now that they're back in power.

Uh-huh.

Maybe this is an example. Mass. Rep. Barney Frank said that President Bush perpetrated “ethnic cleansing by hurricane” in Louisana after Katrina, in order to make Louisiana more Republican.

Y'see why nothing is significantly going to change in Washington? Y'hear that, you boobs over at DE Liberal?

Meanwhile, Greg over at Areopagitica has a quite interesting post up comparing the response (by the government and media) to Hurricane Katrina, and the response to the recent massive blizzards that hit the Northern Plains.

It is so absurd I can barely formulate a response.

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:55 PM | Permalink | |

Being born in the 1980s, I was completely unaware that there was any controversy surrounding Superman II until I heard about this DVD release. The first Superman movie is viewed favorably by causal fans and fans alike (The only problem I have with it is the spinning-the-Earth-backwards thing at the end). Superman II doesn't have the mass recognition of its predecessor, but no where near the laughing stock that III and IV are, neither which I have seen due to their reputation.

Wikipedia has a good article dealing with the background of this release, and I'll merely summarize by saying that in the middle of production, Warner Bros. fired Donner and hired a replacement director, and following that, the script was semi-retooled, and some scenes were reshot. So what we have here is a completely different version of Superman II, with about half comprising new material. Some of the scenes from the theatrical release remain, mostly those directed by Donner before his departure, but also some by Lester, the replacement director, which were necessary to make up for the halt in production.

The DVD of The Richard Donner Cut was released in November, and I had the chance to watch it recently, and to my surprise, I think this is a far superior version of the film. Gone is the light humor that punctuated the theatrical release, and this leaves General Zod and his cohorts seeming much more sinister. Hackman's Lex Luthor is unchanged, largely because all of Hackman's scenes were filmed before Donner departed production. This version begins exactly where the first film left off, making more Superman, Part II then a true sequel, preempting Pirates of the Carribbean by several decades. The Donner Cut also restores the how Superman got his powers back, a scene excised from production due to Marlon Brando's large pay demands, filing a -wimilede plot hole in the original cut.

The only downside is that the intended original ending to Superman II is restored, and I won't spoil it, but t involves my least favorite aspect of the first film, though it was always intended to be the end of II, and the first would have ended differently.

What amazes me is how well this version of the movie fits in with Superman Returns. It now makes a cohesive trilogy, especially with some of Jor-El's dialogue now common to both II and Returns. While the Donner/Reeve Singer/Routh Superman films are not as true to the comic history as I would like, they are now at least coherent within themselves.

Labels: Comic Books, Movies

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:04 PM | Permalink | |

Sometimes, when I am looking for people to feature on Hero/Hack, I go all Oprah and come across a story that is just...inspiring. Today is one of those times. My hero this week is Wesley Autrey, a 50 year old construction worker and Navy vet:

Mr. Autrey was waiting for the downtown local at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan around 12:4