Northrop/EADS wins tanker contract

This is kinda old-news by now. But it dovetails with a story I’m working for our newspaper, an industrial overview of Elmore County. We’re some four hours north of Mobile, but with a composites plant on the eastern side of the county, this decision could mean big-time benefits for local workers.

Washington-state politicians (notably Democrats) have decried the choice of a non-American firm’s airframe.

Northrop/EADS wins tanker contract: Mobile Press Register

The Air Force announcement was met with disappointment in Boeing country. The company planned to assemble its tankers on its commercial 767 line in Everett, Wash., and modify them for military use in Wichita, Kan. The tanker program would support 44,000 American jobs, according to Boeing. Thats nearly double the 25,000 jobs that Northrop estimated its KC-30 would support.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Associated Press that he is disappointed in the decision and looks forward to reading the Air Forces justification for the decision.

I don’t have any real comment on this story. really, the casefiles are serving as my virtual notebook, since I’ll probably write the piece from home.

honesty in campaign 2008

Not that there’s actually any honesty going on. But if Obama actually had approved the use of this bumper sticker, we would be smelling that sweet aroma of truth.

The dude at IMAO (not Frank J.; the other one, I guess) hit upon something that’s been bouncing around my head since the Democratic race started heating up. Everyone’s so fired up for “change,” but they never say what exactly they want to change, or what exactly they’d like to change into.

For instance, I’m not always satisfied with the drab, humanoid body with which I was born. Change, I sometimes think, would be nice.

But that doesn’t mean I’d like to be a werewolf. Or ManBearPig, or Bat Boy.

Spider-man I could tolerate (web-swinging always looked like a hoot).

Now there are some things I wouldn’t mind seeing changed in this nation — income taxes and the designated hitter spring to mind. But that doesn’t mean I’ll vote for the guy that uses a vague, six-letter word the most times per speech. Because I don’t think Barry will push the types of change I have in mind.

In fact, I’m pretty sure that Obama’s brand of change, while it would be different than what was before, wouldn’t necessarily be my idea of progress.

Regression, like retreat, constitutes “change.” That does not make it a good thing.

though well-meaning, government usually makes things worse

The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby uses the examples of ethanol and sub-prime mortgages to drive home the point which drove my retreat to conservatism: More often than not, government’s efforts to “do something” about a problem usually makes it worse. Plus, it often creates problems no one even thought about.

Trapped in a no-win situation entirely of the government’s making, lenders could only hope that home prices would continue to rise, staving off the inevitable collapse. But once the housing bubble burst, there was no escape. Mortgage lenders have been bankrupted, thousands of subprime homeowners have been foreclosed on, and countless would-be borrowers can no longer get credit. The financial fallout has hurt investors around the world. And all of it thanks to the government, which was sure it understood the credit industry better than the free market did, and confidently created the conditions that made disaster unavoidable.

Congress and the president’s decision to sextuple the ethanol requirements for oil actually has been found to increase CO2 emissions, as well as jacking up the price of corn and, consequently, grocery bills.

Reasoning that if a little ethanol is good, a lot must be better, Congress and the Bush administration recently mandated a sextupling of ethanol production, from the 6 billion gallons produced last year to 36 billion by 2022.But now comes word that expanding ethanol use is likely to mean not less CO₂ in the atmosphere, but more. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline by 20 percent – the estimate Congress relied on in requiring the huge increase in production – ethanol use will cause such emissions to nearly double over the next 30 years.

He closes with a quote from Mark Twain, one of my favorite philosophers. If we’d listened more to him, we could have avoided many of the biggest problems our nation faces.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe,” warned Mark Twain, “while Congress is in session.”

Mark Twain was a humorist, but that was no joke.

War on Drugs makes zero economic sense

From the science blog of John Tierney at the New York Times, comes a 1995 William F. Buckley speech pointing out the utilitarian illogic apparent in the ongoing U.S. War on Drugs.

Buckley v. the D.E.A. – TierneyLab – Science – New York Times Blog

If 80 million Americans can experiment with drugs and resist addiction using information publicly available, we can reasonably hope that approximately the same number would resist the temptation to purchase such drugs even if they were available at a federal drugstore at the mere cost of production.

And added to the above is the point of civil justice. Those who suffer from the abuse of drugs have themselves to blame for it. This does not mean that society is absolved from active concern for their plight. It does mean that their plight is subordinate to the plight of those citizens who do not experiment with drugs but whose life, liberty, and property are substantially affected by the illegalization of the drugs sought after by the minority.

debilitating lethargy

When the kids are at home, I rarely think twice about how much work I’m doing. The constant routine of serving food and drinks, changing diapers, picking up toys, kissing booboos and changing more diapers doesn’t wear me out. I don’t feel tired or stressed.

Since I know there’s no choice in the matter — little ones don’t care how tired you are — it doesn’t even faze me.

But this weekend Jennifer took the kids to see Grandma. They’ve been gone since Thursday and, aside from a relatively busy Friday at the office, I haven’t done jack.

I managed to pick up after myself, put socks in the hamper and wrappers in the trashcan; Jenn’s expecting the house to be a little cleaner when she gets home, not a new stage of messy.

But the projects I thought I’d get done in peace and quiet still hang unfinished. The two stories I said I’d write from home and e-mail to my editor? I did finish one, but the other trails off beyond the anecdotal lede.

I tell myself that “I’ve earned it,” but that’s not true. My performance too often lags to lower expectations; my output is low, and my procrastination swells. I find myself writing, but not creating. I string together notes, self-criticism or the occasional list or brainstorm. But continuity of thought is rare, and the copy serves no purpose, creative or professional.

I have stories to tell, but lack the motivation to tell them. When the children get back, I’ll lack the opportunity; you can bet that’s when the motivation will return, only to be interrupted, forgotten.

I hope this wasn’t too dreary a way to launch this blog. It’s reason for being is to help overcome this debilitating lethargy to which I often succumb.  I have faith my writing is a gift from my creator, a special talent endowed specifically to me. At eclecticana, I hope to figuratively banish the demon of sloth that’s masking my talent.

familiar with the term “fifth column?”

I tend to be pretty tolerant of the anti-American tendencies of many on the left. but now they’ve transitioned from daydreaming about using domestic terrorism to undermine a war they dislike, to actual carrying out and celebrating acts of domestic terrorism.

Via Moonbattery

Regarding the military recruiting center at Times Square that was bombed yesterday, an enlighened progressive had this to say at the New York City Independent Media Center:

WE DID IT!!!!!! Not one person was harmed. Only property. Kudos on a perfect action!

Of course, when you set off bombs in Manhattan, it’s only dumb luck if no one gets killed. But for now moonbats haven’t directly killed anyone in their fifth-column attack on our military, which is enough to give them the moral high ground — from their own depraved point of view. Their al Qaeda allies must be delighted.

Moonbats and other leftists like to say dissent is a form of patriotism; they deify those who leverage the First Amendment to espouse causes and people directly opposed to our national values. But I think it’s time we remember that the U.S. does have laws against treason on the books, and those laws carry stiff penalties up to and including the death sentence.

Those who place bombs in Time Square deserve a comfortable seat in the Yellow Momma (though Alabama’s electric chair has been retired).

Just because they didn’t kill anyone this time doesn’t mean they won’t next time. And their ideological coziness with Al Qaeda and Jihadists certainly calls their allegiances into question.

for the record: a response to Stuff White People Like #79

for the record: while I am, admittedly, a Person of Pallor, I have never sought or owned an uncomfortable piece of furniture designed by a famous architect. Nor have I, even briefly, browsed the pages of Ikea, much less bought any faux-authentic, quasi-folksy home decor.

#79 Modern Furniture « Stuff White People Like

I get most of my furniture from an exclusive, multibrand boutique called Faith Rescue Mission. Poor kids eat, junkies get clean, the halfway house guys have someone to hawk furniture to, and I’ve got a uber-comfy 1.5 ton plaid sofa, like new, except that spatter pattern on the left side.

“Rosey” swears it’s ketchup; he’ll even knock off $15 bucks, no tip!

stuff White People like: describing 95% of my fellow journalists

 This might be my new favorite Web site.

#82 Hating Corporations « Stuff White People Like
One of the more popular white person activities of the past fifteen years is attempting to educate others on the evils of multi-national corporations. White people love nothing more than explaining to you how Wal*Mart, McDonalds, Microsoft, Halliburton are destroying the Earth’s culture and resources.

…

When engaging in a conversation about corporate evils it is important to NEVER, EVER mention Apple Computers, Target or Ikea in the same breath as the companies mentioned earlier. White people prefer to hate corporations that don’t make stuff that they like.

It’s true of most of the folks I knew in college, most of the my fellow reporters and editors, and a disturbingly large chunk of the so-called “sheeple,” pop culture-hypnotized, over-sexed twenty- or thirty-somethings.

how I plan to spend this weekend

The wife and kids will be out of town this weekend, so I might actually have some time to put one of these 10 strategies to work. Our house isn’t very big, and my tech-habit is enormous, so any strategies for hiding cables would make the wifey muy contenta.

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control

I especially like this little number, which is supposed to be an all purpose uber-charger bank.

neato

reasons i wish Disney had left ESPN alone

F#&% ESPN [Dan Collins]

UPDATE: Ya know, I don’t even know why i linked this post. In fact, I’m so determined to get these old drafts outta the way, that I’m not even gonna read the link.

I’ll just fire it on out there. What’s the worst that could happen?

I can think of a number of reasons I’d agree with the F**k ESPN sentiment, most of all their over reliance on sappy or lame features and the near lack of actual highlights on SportCenter.

And, of course, the perpetual anti-SEC bias, which is far more pervasive even than liberal MSM bias. It’s because they’re afraid of the SEC. They know our football is better than theirs, so they banish us to obscurity and pretend Big 10 schools actually deserve to be in the top 10.

UPDATE: I changed the title, because I didn’t like the looks of an F-bomb, even an ASCII-censored one, right at the top of the page.

And I don’t feel like writing enough tonight to move it below the fold.