Spenders Anonymous

President Obama provided me an extremely good laugh today. In his speech to the Brookings Institution, the President made the statement, "So one of the central goals of this administration is restoring fiscal responsibility." Really? I heard this statement and it made me think of the recent comedy movie Confessions of a Shopaholic. I guess this Administration has been doing such a good job with saving money that it needed to buy something nice for itself. Maybe $787 billion dollars for a failed economic stimulus. Or maybe about a trillion dollars for a health care "reform" plan that nobody wants.

The United States can't drown in red ink forever. Eventually, either the taxpayers will be required to pony up with crushing tax rates, or the government will try to induce monetary inflation in order to escape the problem. Both will have terrible consequences for Generation X and many future generations.

Mom is stable

My mother's surgery went well tonight, and it looks like we are past the immediate danger zone. She is going to be in the hospital for a while, as it is likely to be a very slow recovery.

In the shadow of the Rockies

This week, rather unexpectedly, I happen to be in Denver. My parents were in a car accident, and so I flew out here to be with my family. I think I set a personal record, with less than three hours elapsing between the time I purchased my ticket and when I boarded the airplane. My Mom is still in critical condition, but she seems to be doing better than she was on Sunday evening when I got here.

As bad as this picture looks, it is an example of the wonders of modern engineering. The safety glass broke into thousands of tiny bits rather than huge jagged shards. The frame of the car took the impact and spread it out, rather than breaking off and impaling the passengers. Even though the vehicle is most likely totaled, it kept my parents alive.

It could happen...

In a stunning announcement today, the Nobel Committee announced that it had awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Johnny Smith, Age 9, of Tulsa, OK. The Nobel Committee explained that it had been impressed by Johnny's good behavior in school, and his recent promise to his mother to stop hitting his little sister. Critics of the decision pointed out the fact that while Johnny has promised to stop hitting his sister, he hasn't stopped yet. The Nobel Committee fired back at the critics, explaining that Johnny had initiated the process towards peace, and as a result, he stood in the company of former winners like Mikhail Gorbachev.

What???

The headlines this morning read like they are something out of The Onion parody newspaper. Apparently, Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. All I can say is ... WTF? How do you manage to win the Nobel Peace Prize for not doing anything at all? Unlike former President Carter, who worked hard on the Camp David Accords in 1979, President Obama has done nothing of substance in the furtherance of peace. Apparently, the award was given based on what the President has said that he wants to do.

I would love to end world hunger. Would the Nobel committee please call me at their earliest convenience?

Moving!

Next weekend, I am moving to a new place in Arlington. As a result, life has been a little busy getting ready for the move. I still haven't packed any boxes, but I have managed to get rid of a lot of stuff. Hopefully, the move will go well. I will blog more once I have settled into the new place.

A brief trip to Yellowstone

This past weekend, I was in Montana visiting a friend. On Sunday, we went to Yellowstone National Park for a one-day trip. The weather was unusually warm for early September, and as a result, we did not see as much wildlife as we would have expected. Instead of the usual swarms of elk in Mammoth, we saw one solitary stag.

I took the following photograph from the terrace along Mammoth Hot Springs.


Mammoth in the twilight

The obnoxious jerk at Harvard

So, we have the President of the United States weighing in on the arrest of a personal friend, without knowing all of the facts. It is true that a person has a constitutional right to scream profanities at a police officer, accuse him of racism, and insult his mother. But to do so, regardless of the color of one's skin, is amazingly stupid. And it also speaks volumes about the character of Mr. Gates, and makes one wonder why Harvard employs him.