These are getting really vicious. I watched one last night by the O'Malley camp, aimed at Bob Erlich - accusing him of things not germane to being a governor.
He stands accused of making money by working for a lobbying firm. He's a lawyer; that's what they do, and there is no dishonor inherent in doing this. Were O'Malley not the governor, he's a lawyer too and lawyers need to make money - does anyone have any doubt that he'd take the opportunity that offered him the most?
An issue is made of how much Erlich is alleged to have made - this is nobody's business, and has no relationship to how he would govern - it is a blatant appeal to class warfare. O'Malleys wife is a judge - has anyone aked what she makes?
O'Malley tries to take credit for a reduction in crime - actually the reduction occurred because of excellent police work. When O'Malley was mayor, he was constantly interfering in the running of the police department - even to the point of putting his own people in office within the department to report to him via a back channel about what was going on.
I don't know what Ehrlich would do - I do know that O'Malley's campaign is getting muddier by the minute, only serving to reinforce my conviction that, in the next election, if it is an incumbent, throw it out!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wikileaks
Frankly, I think that this is not a really appropriate thing to be doing - some things are secret for a good reason.
It is interesting to note that WikiLeaks, by exposig the latest bunch of documents, has shown that many of the lies that George Bush was accused of telling turned out to be truths.
I wonder how long it'll take the media to report on THAT little item....
It is interesting to note that WikiLeaks, by exposig the latest bunch of documents, has shown that many of the lies that George Bush was accused of telling turned out to be truths.
I wonder how long it'll take the media to report on THAT little item....
New Motorcycles
Well, my Kawasaki spit me off one a few weeks back (actually, I ran out of road, truth be known) and hurt me a bit - and while I was off it a friend bought a BMW K1200 (at which time I turned green with envy of course) - but his wife apparently thought they needed only one motorcycle, so his Suzuki Cruiser went up for sale, and I bought it - and sold the Kawasaki within 48 hours, which tells me that I probably should have asked more money for it.
Cruisers are nominally V-twins, large, heavy, not terribly nimble but comfortable. It is amazing just how much difference can appear within those specs without making the appearance different. From a distance, any cruiser looks like any other cruiser - the engine is in the same place, etc. A V-twin is a V-Twin - the V angle may differ, but you wouldn't think it would change the character of a motorcycle that much.
I learned something - it can make a big difference. I'm still getting used to the big Suzuki (but loving it all the same) and finding that there are lots of ways to make an engine. The Kawasaki and the Suzuki are both 1500's - but that's about all that is the same. The Kawasaki was a 60 degree V-twin with a balance shaft to smooth it out. The Suzki is a 45 degree V-twin with offset crankpins, so both pistons are at TDC at the same time - making it fire like an old vertical twin Triumph. Different sound, different vibration - and without balance shafts, it does vibrate, but not terribly - not enough for me to wish I had the Kawasaki back.
Other differences include where the gas tank really is as opposed to where it looks like it is, among others - much different balance because of weight location, etc.
I'm loving the Suzuki, but it will be a while before I am as at home on it as I was on the Kawasaki.
Maybe that's a good thing - maybe it'll take a while before I get so used to it that I fall off.
LOVE those motorcycles!
Cruisers are nominally V-twins, large, heavy, not terribly nimble but comfortable. It is amazing just how much difference can appear within those specs without making the appearance different. From a distance, any cruiser looks like any other cruiser - the engine is in the same place, etc. A V-twin is a V-Twin - the V angle may differ, but you wouldn't think it would change the character of a motorcycle that much.
I learned something - it can make a big difference. I'm still getting used to the big Suzuki (but loving it all the same) and finding that there are lots of ways to make an engine. The Kawasaki and the Suzuki are both 1500's - but that's about all that is the same. The Kawasaki was a 60 degree V-twin with a balance shaft to smooth it out. The Suzki is a 45 degree V-twin with offset crankpins, so both pistons are at TDC at the same time - making it fire like an old vertical twin Triumph. Different sound, different vibration - and without balance shafts, it does vibrate, but not terribly - not enough for me to wish I had the Kawasaki back.
Other differences include where the gas tank really is as opposed to where it looks like it is, among others - much different balance because of weight location, etc.
I'm loving the Suzuki, but it will be a while before I am as at home on it as I was on the Kawasaki.
Maybe that's a good thing - maybe it'll take a while before I get so used to it that I fall off.
LOVE those motorcycles!
"Illegal Immigrants"
First of all, these two words ought never to appear together - the create noise, because an immigrant is someone who comes here legally, goes through all the paperwork and testing. Anything else is not an immigrant, it is an invader. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
Most of us have ancestors who came from elsewhere and did what was required to stay here legally. After doing that, they became a part of the nation - they did not insist upon recreating that from which they came - if what they left was what they wanted, why did they leave?
Believe it or not, we here in the USA have a culture of our own - and folks that come here should come prepared to become a part of the culture - bringing things from their own culture to add in, but not expecting to lift their culture whole and bring it along.
Start with learning the language - American English is what is used here, and it is not reasonable to expect others to accommodate to new arrivals. We can try, to be nice - but to expect forms and such to be made available in any language besides English is to expect them to be made available in all 170 or so languages that folks from else where may have arrived speaking - and that is just not a reasonable expectation.
I hear about folks who oppose Arizona's attempt to enforce what is already federal law - how evil and inhumane it is. Has anyone bothered to see how Mexico treats illegals? Has anyone read the requirements to enter Mexico with an expectation of staying? We are in the process of relearning lessons Germany learned in the 60's with its Gastarbeiter program, which lessons include just how much of a drain it can be for folks to send money out of the country.
Anyhow, whatthehell's the point of being a citizen when anyone can walk across a border and get all the benefits of citizenship at the expense of those who belong here? I have no plan to adapt to folks who don't belong here. I'd like to help them if they actually want to be here - but if the reason to come here is to send money out of the country and to try to make it into a mirror of what they left, then include me out. I've loved other places, and am here because those other places could not hold me.
And now I hear some states want aliens to be able to vote! What's up with that? I couldn't vote when I lived in Germany, I wouldn't be able to vote in Mexico, I doubt they'd even let me into Saudi Arabia - I don't think we owe anyone who won't even observe convention anything.
Call me islamophobic if it pleases you.
Most of us have ancestors who came from elsewhere and did what was required to stay here legally. After doing that, they became a part of the nation - they did not insist upon recreating that from which they came - if what they left was what they wanted, why did they leave?
Believe it or not, we here in the USA have a culture of our own - and folks that come here should come prepared to become a part of the culture - bringing things from their own culture to add in, but not expecting to lift their culture whole and bring it along.
Start with learning the language - American English is what is used here, and it is not reasonable to expect others to accommodate to new arrivals. We can try, to be nice - but to expect forms and such to be made available in any language besides English is to expect them to be made available in all 170 or so languages that folks from else where may have arrived speaking - and that is just not a reasonable expectation.
I hear about folks who oppose Arizona's attempt to enforce what is already federal law - how evil and inhumane it is. Has anyone bothered to see how Mexico treats illegals? Has anyone read the requirements to enter Mexico with an expectation of staying? We are in the process of relearning lessons Germany learned in the 60's with its Gastarbeiter program, which lessons include just how much of a drain it can be for folks to send money out of the country.
Anyhow, whatthehell's the point of being a citizen when anyone can walk across a border and get all the benefits of citizenship at the expense of those who belong here? I have no plan to adapt to folks who don't belong here. I'd like to help them if they actually want to be here - but if the reason to come here is to send money out of the country and to try to make it into a mirror of what they left, then include me out. I've loved other places, and am here because those other places could not hold me.
And now I hear some states want aliens to be able to vote! What's up with that? I couldn't vote when I lived in Germany, I wouldn't be able to vote in Mexico, I doubt they'd even let me into Saudi Arabia - I don't think we owe anyone who won't even observe convention anything.
Call me islamophobic if it pleases you.
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