Tuesday Miscellany!

• The escalationsurge in Afghanistan hasn't delivered the promised results, so they're scaling back expectations for the post-surge peace. Whatever. The sooner we're out of there, the better.


• Syria's civil war currently consists of Assad and his backers (which include Russia, China, and Hezbollah) on the one hand, and a disunited cacophony of rebel groups on the other. Weighty humanitarian issues aside (2), there are serious concerns whether the United States getting involved will end up backfiring badly. Which is why our pledging humanitarian aid to the rebellion is a questionable move.


• In theory, 3D printing allows one to print one's own gun. In practice, if you try this, the printer manufacturer will revoke your lease and take the printer back. It probably didn't help that the leaser didn't have a federal license to manufacture firearms - BATF cracks down on gun manufacturing the way Wal-Mart cracks down on unions. Expect future lease agreements to include a "no firearms" clause.


• If Romney wins the election and enacts his health plan, 72 million will be left uninsured. Good thing he's currently losing.


• I use Eclipse for Java development all the time, because that's what my place of work uses. But I like NetBeans better. I don't know why; I just do. Unfortunately the UML designer seems to have been dropped. Hopefully its replacement is superior.

Tuesday Miscellany!

• The escalationsurge in Afghanistan hasn't delivered the promised results, so they're scaling back expectations for the post-surge peace. Whatever. The sooner we're out of there, the better.


• Syria's civil war currently consists of Assad and his backers (which include Russia, China, and Hezbollah) on the one hand, and a disunited cacophony of rebel groups on the other. Weighty humanitarian issues aside (2), there are serious concerns whether the United States getting involved will end up backfiring badly. Which is why our pledging humanitarian aid to the rebellion is a questionable move.


• In theory, 3D printing allows one to print one's own gun. In practice, if you try this, the printer manufacturer will revoke your lease and take the printer back. It probably didn't help that the leaser didn't have a federal license to manufacture firearms - BATF cracks down on gun manufacturing the way Wal-Mart cracks down on unions. Expect future lease agreements to include a "no firearms" clause.


• If Romney wins the election and enacts his health plan, 72 million will be left uninsured. Good thing he's currently losing.


• I use Eclipse for Java development all the time, because that's what my place of work uses. But I like NetBeans better. I don't know why; I just do. Unfortunately the UML designer seems to have been dropped. Hopefully its replacement is superior.

Questions I'd like to see asked at the Presidential debates.

President Obama, you've ordered drone strikes throughout the Middle East and North Africa that have killed hundreds of civilians. Last month, protesters throughout the Middle East and North Africa stormed American embassies over a shoddy, stupid YouTube video. We all know that the American government had nothing to do with that video, and that the protesters' anger was misplaced; but can you see how America's heavy handed Middle East policy, of which the drone strikes are just the latest example, might have the residents of the Middle East in a less than charitable mood towards us? Isn't it about time that we had an adult conversation about what our Middle East policy has cost our Republic in reputation, not to mention blood, treasure, and civil liberties?

Governor Romney, you cited Russia as America's greatest geopolitical foe, and said that you would get tough on China from day one. Did the Cold War ever end in your mind? Are you still living in 1982?

President Obama, when the banking crisis hit Iceland, one of they actions they took towards economic recovery was to arrest the bankers that created their economic disaster. Why haven't we arrested the bankers that created our disaster?

Governor Romney, in 1994 you were pro-choice. In 2012 you are staunchly pro-life. If abortion is illegal, and a woman obtains an illegal abortion and is caught, would you send her to jail, and for how long? Can you understand why a woman would obtain an abortion? Do you also agree that contraception should be outlawed? Lastly, how are you not an incredible flip-flopper?

President Obama, under your administration, you gave the Nuremberg defense to justify not prosecuting the war criminals of the previous administration. Your administration has also carried out warrantless surveillance, indefinite detention, and even execution of American citizens, without due process. Should these policies continue? If so, why? If not, why haven't you ended them already?

Governor Romney, you stated that you would have pushed the Iraqis harder to allow American troops to continue their occupation. Let's forget for a moment that this would have been massively unpopular in the United States. Iraq is a democracy. Their government, which represents the people, don't want American troops in their country. If we respect the democratic process, shouldn't we, by extension, respect the Iraqis' wishes that we leave them alone?

President Obama, you stated in your convention speech that you understand that global warming isn't a hoax. Does that understanding also extent to the Keystone pipeline, which global warming experts have called "game over" for global warming?

Governor Romney, your plan to balance the budget includes $500 billion a year in tax cuts. The projected deficit for 2012 is over $1.3 trillion. If we were to include your tax cuts, the deficit would balloon to $1.8 trillion. Therefore, in order to balance the budget, you would have to cut $1.8 trillion from a $3.8 trillion budget - effectively, you'd have to cut it in half. What do you cut and by how much?

President Obama, your health care law gives health insurance companies an almost mandatory market, sets up a complicated regulatory infrastructure, and only expands Medicaid in those states whose governors weren't petulant and small-minded enough to reject federal assistance for medicaid expansion. Wouldn't it just have been easier to go with Medicare For Everyone and be done with it?

Governor Romney, your health care plan would leave 72 million Americans without insurance. This is a good idea...why, exactly?

President Obama, in 2009 when you were putting together your stimulus plan, your goal was to keep unemployment under eight percent. Paul Krugman said that the stimulus had to be larger, two trillion dollars instead of seven hundred billion. He also stated that making the stimulus mostly out of tax cuts was a mistake, because those dollars wouldn't be stimulative enough. Finally, he said that if you didn't get it right the first time, the political will for a second stimulus wouldn't be there. The unemployment rate has been over eight percent for years, and Congress isn't budging on a second stimulus. Are you ready to admit that Krugman was right?

Governor Romney, you're a Mormon. Your dad was born in Mexico to a polygamist family. President Obama, by way of comparison, is an Episcopalian. His dad was born overseas and was living in the United States on a student visa. Whose family background is weirder? And, if President Obama is really that far outside the American mainstream by virtue of his background, what does that make you?

Questions I'd like to see asked at the Presidential debates.

President Obama, you've ordered drone strikes throughout the Middle East and North Africa that have killed hundreds of civilians. Last month, protesters throughout the Middle East and North Africa stormed American embassies over a shoddy, stupid YouTube video. We all know that the American government had nothing to do with that video, and that the protesters' anger was misplaced; but can you see how America's heavy handed Middle East policy, of which the drone strikes are just the latest example, might have the residents of the Middle East in a less than charitable mood towards us? Isn't it about time that we had an adult conversation about what our Middle East policy has cost our Republic in reputation, not to mention blood, treasure, and civil liberties?

Governor Romney, you cited Russia as America's greatest geopolitical foe, and said that you would get tough on China from day one. Did the Cold War ever end in your mind? Are you still living in 1982?

President Obama, when the banking crisis hit Iceland, one of they actions they took towards economic recovery was to arrest the bankers that created their economic disaster. Why haven't we arrested the bankers that created our disaster?

Governor Romney, in 1994 you were pro-choice. In 2012 you are staunchly pro-life. If abortion is illegal, and a woman obtains an illegal abortion and is caught, would you send her to jail, and for how long? Can you understand why a woman would obtain an abortion? Do you also agree that contraception should be outlawed? Lastly, how are you not an incredible flip-flopper?

President Obama, under your administration, you gave the Nuremberg defense to justify not prosecuting the war criminals of the previous administration. Your administration has also carried out warrantless surveillance, indefinite detention, and even execution of American citizens, without due process. Should these policies continue? If so, why? If not, why haven't you ended them already?

Governor Romney, you stated that you would have pushed the Iraqis harder to allow American troops to continue their occupation. Let's forget for a moment that this would have been massively unpopular in the United States. Iraq is a democracy. Their government, which represents the people, don't want American troops in their country. If we respect the democratic process, shouldn't we, by extension, respect the Iraqis' wishes that we leave them alone?

President Obama, you stated in your convention speech that you understand that global warming isn't a hoax. Does that understanding also extent to the Keystone pipeline, which global warming experts have called "game over" for global warming?

Governor Romney, your plan to balance the budget includes $500 billion a year in tax cuts. The projected deficit for 2012 is over $1.3 trillion. If we were to include your tax cuts, the deficit would balloon to $1.8 trillion. Therefore, in order to balance the budget, you would have to cut $1.8 trillion from a $3.8 trillion budget - effectively, you'd have to cut it in half. What do you cut and by how much?

President Obama, your health care law gives health insurance companies an almost mandatory market, sets up a complicated regulatory infrastructure, and only expands Medicaid in those states whose governors weren't petulant and small-minded enough to reject federal assistance for medicaid expansion. Wouldn't it just have been easier to go with Medicare For Everyone and be done with it?

Governor Romney, your health care plan would leave 72 million Americans without insurance. This is a good idea...why, exactly?

President Obama, in 2009 when you were putting together your stimulus plan, your goal was to keep unemployment under eight percent. Paul Krugman said that the stimulus had to be larger, two trillion dollars instead of seven hundred billion. He also stated that making the stimulus mostly out of tax cuts was a mistake, because those dollars wouldn't be stimulative enough. Finally, he said that if you didn't get it right the first time, the political will for a second stimulus wouldn't be there. The unemployment rate has been over eight percent for years, and Congress isn't budging on a second stimulus. Are you ready to admit that Krugman was right?

Governor Romney, you're a Mormon. Your dad was born in Mexico to a polygamist family. President Obama, by way of comparison, is an Episcopalian. His dad was born overseas and was living in the United States on a student visa. Whose family background is weirder? And, if President Obama is really that far outside the American mainstream by virtue of his background, what does that make you?