Cool Pictures of 2007

I just wanted to throw up some cool pictures that I took in 2007. These are a small sampling of pics that I took, but I would consider them some of my best. Please click on the pic for a better version.

The "Stimulus Package"

I just wanted to write a quick comment on the proposed stimulus package that the Congress and the President have come to agree on. The just of it seems to be a $300-$600 check per person, with an income cap. There are also going to be measures that allow businesses to write off depreciation faster then normal.

I think the fact that we are resorting to this kind of thing is despicable. Of course everyone loves getting a check in the mail. I mean who would not want $600 to go blow on a PS3 or something like that. The problem is that the government is already running in perpetual deficit. America is paying its living expenses on the visa card, and this "stimulus package" will do more of the same. We are borrowing money from China to pay for the war in Iraq, so why not borrow from them to pay our people to buy more Chinese made products. Does anyone else out there see the problem here. Check out this article at CNN's website about the cost of this kind of thing. Why can't the establishment see that borrowing more money is not the solution. Lets get fiscally sound, even if it does involve some short term pain.

The Primary System is Flawed, and What We Can do to Fix It.

I wanted to write a note about why I think we need a new primary system and what I think would be a good idea. Now I know that this has absolutely no bearing on reality and is not about to spur a national discussion, but I am willing to give it a go anyway.

The primary system as set up now completely stinks. I don't feel that I need to elaborate on this, as it has been talked about many many times. Two or three states get to have all the say in who becomes the candidates for their respective parties. This has caused a jockeying among states to get as early as possible in the schedule. My own state, Michigan, tried this and was punished by the democratic party by removing all of our delegates from the national convention. I personally am proud of my state, and Florida for stepping up and making this a national issue. At the same time I recognize that if Michigan and Florida were first all the time, it would represent a similar disparity. Instead of always talking about corn and ethanol, the candidates would always talk about saving the domestic automobile manufactures. So below you will find my wacky off the wall solution.

We need a rotation based model for the primaries. What I mean by this is that the states that go first would be rotated on a set schedule. This would eventually allow all sates to play a major part in the election. So one year it would be Iowa and New Hampshire. The following it would be Nebraska and South Carolin...etc. I don't know if it would be better to set up the rotation schedule far in advance, or work more like a lottery system that is drawn after the previous primary season is over. I am more inlined to support a straight rotation model. This way every state would get their time in the sun. This would also preserve what many see as the hallmark of early primaries...direct voter contact. That is the main reason I am agasint a national primary day. It would eliminate intimate voter contact, and require that any candidate have massive funds available to them so they could run a national campaign from day one.

Anyone out there have any opinions of this plan....?

Christmas Shopping

Man.... I just got home from some serious Christmas shopping. I always have a couple of things that I need to get right before Christmas, so inevitably I am running around close to the holiday. My trip after work today consisted of a few stores and then the dreaded final stop....Briarwood Mall. Just to give you a reference here is an aerial view of what getting into the mall was like today.

All of this was in the supposed crappy economy around here. I know that we have a higher unemployment rate here in MI then the rest of the country, but there are still 93% of us who want to work and have a job. And if the mall parking lot was any judge, its not like money is scarce around here. Let's just say that JD is glad to be done shopping.

The Dilema of Christmas Cards

Christmas cards should not be this hard. Not only do you have to go out and purchase the cards, you also have to come up with a list of people to send them to and take time to fill them out. Then there is the postage and the mailing. Quite a process just to spread some holiday cheer.

Unfortunately for JD, the process of figuring out who to send cards to is a bit byzantine. JD and Wife sit down and go through the address book, then there are deletions, additions, maybes. The whole process kind of reminds me of when we were figuring out who to invite to our wedding. I imagine it is much the same as the way the Congress hashes out a budget. I am lobbying for a distant uncle and for someone we have not seen in 2.5 years, but who gave us the couch in out living room; and my wife is capitulating but making my promise to cut down the cards by at least 5 next year. Definitely some back-room dealings going on. Strange, but absolutely true.

The sad thing is that I imagine that we are completely normal in this regard. I think most people struggle with Christmas cards like we do. I wonder if there is a better way to do this? Maybe we can all exchange holiday E-cards....seems very 21st Century. Or maybe I could just post a card on Facebook and call it a day. Alas, there is still something special, at least to me, about putting that giant pile of cards in the mail , knowing they are going to people we care about from San Francisco to Boston. So I for one plan on to keep sending out piles of cards to people, I guess I am just like that.