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Via Powerline

(Not So) Smart Diplomacy pt 2

The story so far.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits the White House.

President Obama doesn't even schedule lunch. Or the standard Podium to Podium press conference. The US media doesn't even report it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown gifts President Obama with a pen holder handcrafted from the oak timbers of the Victorian-era anti-slave ship HMS Gannet (formerly commissioned as HMS President).  Additionally, PM Brown gave Pres. Obama the commission of the HMS Resolute - the sister ship of the Gannet and the ship from which the president's desk is carved.  Finally, Mr. Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Winston Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.

President Obama gave Prime Minister Brown a set of 25 classic movies on DVD.

Mrs. Brown gave Sasha and Malia Obama an outfit each from Topshop - a British clothing store, along with six books (yet to be published in the US) from top British authors.

Mrs. Obama gave the Brown's sons toy models of Marine 1 from the White House gift shop

Of course, the question is, were those DVDs playable in British machines?

Apparently not. (via Powerline)

Obama and His Teleprompter

It seems that Pres Obama had teleprompter problems at the White House yesterday.

The money line from Sky News:

...the US president ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone to the party.

Can anyone say Ron Burgundy?

Stimulus

Ok, the story so far.  President Obama believes that increased taxes and government spending will stimulate the economy. He eschews private sector spending in favor of the "targeted" approach that government provides.

The Chinese, however, believe that cutting taxes will stimulate their economy.  Looks like it is working.

Amazing when GM can increase market share in China, while losing it here.

GM, the biggest overseas automaker in China, raised its forecast for the nation’s market growth this year to a range of between 5 percent and 10 percent from an earlier prediction of less than 3 percent, GM Asia-Pacific President Nick Reilly, said last week.

So, cutting taxes in China leads to increased auto sales, which lead to increased jobs.  I wonder if this approach would work here?

Stew's Watchman Review

I have never read the graphic novel, but I did study the story line prior to going to see it at the theater.  I find that I enjoy a film more if I do a little research ahead of time, especially if the story line is complex.

I took my son, Thomas, and a few of his friends.  They sat in the eyesore, neck stretch section and I wanted a more enjoyable movie experience.  I sat, by myself, in the geographical center of the auditorium with my basic movie props.  Bottled Water, Twizzlers, Watch, Creative Zen Micro, Ebook reader.

The Scorebord

Watch Glances (my indicator of boredom) - 0
Zen Listens (dialogue drowner) - 0
Lines of ebook read (Visual distractor) - 0

In all, I give it an A.

It highlights all of the tension of the arms race of the 1980's, while the narrator (Rorschach) investigates the death of another superhero.  Will Collier's review highlights the following:

Not only does Snyder's film fail to even remotely acknowledge how thoroughly wrong Moore's by-the-numbers leftism turned out to be, he lards on additional political cheap shots to go with Moore's 80's-era Reagan Derangement Syndrome, to the point of lauding an American-Soviet alliance at the end of the movie.

The by-the-numbers leftism really is Reagan Derangement Syndrome - the arms buildup is caused by already having strength (in the form of the Dr Manhattan) and the Soviets respond by growing their nuclear arsenal to unheard of proportions.  Something has to be done.

Again, "I want to see it again" therefore A.

The real irony is, that the Soviets DID spend a phenomenal amount of money on an arms buildup (countering Star Wars) and then they collapsed.

In the light of the current US Government perchant to bailouts I would like to point out what happens when a Government spends money it doesn't have.  The Soviet Union is a perfect example of a superpower collapsing due to bankruptcy.

As Minnesota goes, so goes the nation

Minnesota is still attempting to decide the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.  Powerline Blog has the details.

The money line:

...as the system currently operates, a county's failure to follow the law is rewarded, not punished.

The same holds true for nearly all election law, especially McCain-Feingold.  President Obama was able to loosen the rules regarding the way his website collected money with the result as reported by the Washington Post on Oct 29, 2008 (A few days before the election).

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.

Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.

The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.

In recent weeks, questionable contributions have created headaches for Obama's accounting team as it has tried to explain why campaign finance filings have included itemized donations from individuals using fake names, such as Es Esh or Doodad Pro. Those revelations prompted conservative bloggers to further test Obama's finance vetting by giving money using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.

The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.

In this event, following the law can only hurt the law abiding citizen.  (Doesn't this sound suspiciously like the principle critique of our nation's gun laws?)

I especially like this line

Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.

But given this truth

using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.

The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.

Such scrutiny cannot possibly happen.

So the Obama campaign was unable to "scrutiniz(e) its books for improper donations". 

Now, since the issue is OBE, anyone who believes that the Federal Election Commission will look into it at this late date needs to contact me regarding some shares of Citi that I will happily unload for the paltry sum of $100 per.  In the meantime, however, Minnesota needs to do 2 big things.

1. Hold a Do-Over

2. Ensure that the same uniform standards of absentee ballot scrutiny are applied throughout Minnesota with substantial penalties for those individuals who fail to do so.

Aside: the original saying was "As Maine goes, so goes the nation."  Here is the Wikipedia entry.
 

Administration Official Snubs Brit Allies

I saw this item via Power line blog.

My key takeaway was this line from the UK Telegraph quoting an anonymous State Department Official involved in the planning of Gordon Brown's visit.

"There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment."

You have got to be kidding me.  The US State Department under President Obama cannot tell the difference between Great Britain and, say, Burundi?

Wow, we are in bigger trouble than I thought.