Lies, lies, lies, yeah! They're gonna get you!

I've grown more cynical to the reality that people just don't get economics or care to pay attention to the facts; they hear soundbites and read messages, and fit them into their preexisting bias -- both sides.

For instance, this latest one:  Citing this Bloomberg story, Mitt's campaign now says that Chrysler is sending jobs to China.  It's a major whopper of a lie.

The Bloomberg article specifically stated, "Chrysler currently builds all Jeep SUV models at plants in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. [Chief operating officer for Chrysler/Fiat in Asia] Manley referred to adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output from North America to China."

So why would Mitt flat out lie?  It's not even a white lie.

After all, if he had done his homework, he would have known that Jeep had production agreements in China, prior to 2009 (when Chrysler had restructured), and he would have known that last year China added import tariffs to autos from the US, including 15% on Jeep Wranglers and Cherokees.

As the FAS wrote a few years ago:

"Even before publishing its auto industrial policy, the PRCG was (and still is) able to protect its domestic auto industry while still attracting foreign investment and technology.  This is accomplished mainly through foreign joint venture manufacturing facilities in China coupled with prohibitively high tariffs and non-tariff barriers on foreign autos and auto parts.  In addition to the 17 percent value-added tax (VAT) imposed on all imports, foreign autos are tagged with an excise or “consumption” tax as well as tariffs reaching up to or over 100 percent for passenger cars, 30-80 percent for commercial vehicles, and anywhere from nine to 100 percent on parts."

See?  China's set up incentives to build vehicles in China, that are meant to be sold in China, and Chrysler was responding to this.  But Mitt Romney didn't want you to understand this; probably because it might tend to highlight that President Obama filed a challenge to the tariffs four months ago, with the WTO.

Eventually those lies catch up, don't they?

Let's take a look at the last two months of the campaign season, where things have really heated up: there have been ten Pants on Fire claims, according to Politifact:

See that?

4 Pants on Fire for Mitt Romney;
5 Pants on Fire for conservative PACs / Republican group;
1 Pants on Fire for a pro-labor / liberal PAC.

Lies, lies, lies, yeah!

Windows 8 -- early sales numbers point to....

Today, Microsoft announced that it had sold 4 million copies of its Windows 8 OS (and separately, had shipped tens of millions of units to OEMs), since sales first started (four days of sales #s).  Many sites have touted this as signs of Windows 8's success.

You should know better than that.

Three years ago when Windows 7 came out, following Steve Ballmer's numbers that Windows 7 had outpaced Vista 2:1, the WSJ calculated that out to 40 million copies sold in its first four weeks.

Two years ago, following a Microsoft announcement that it had sold 150 million copies of Windows 7 in nine months, ConceivablyTech estimated, based upon total dollar amount of presales and the cost of presale units, that Microsoft had sold between 25 and 35 million units.

4 million total boxed sales for Windows 8 is a lot less than 25~35 million Windows 7 presale volume.

If you optimistically assume that the 4 million units sold can be extrapolated to 1 million units sold per day, based on four days' worth of sales, then in the best-case scenario, Windows 8 is projected to sell just 28 million copies in four weeks.

This is what it boils down to:

• 4M Windows 8 initial  four day sales < 25~35M Windows 7 presales
• 28M Windows 8 projected 4-week sales < 40M Windows 7 calculated 4-week sales

I'm not going to repeat the message I've been saying this whole year; I'll let you decide what to make of Microsoft's performance and public rhetoric.

Humorous memories brought back by this chair.

I just saw this pop up on the Designboom Blog: The Ukiwa (rubber tube) Chair.

It brought back memories of my middle-school social studies teacher who had announced to us, that he had just had surgery on his hemorrhoids, and was making use of what amounted to a rubber tube on his chair.

One of the best teachers I ever had.  He'd make fun of us, but he'd always make us laugh with his stories, and he'd always have our backs.  We did a lot more than just learn about history / social studies, in that class.

Well anyway, I'm sure that calling it the Ukiwa Chair is more appealing than calling it the Hemorrhoids Chair, but I don't think anyone would doubt that this is the perfect use of the chair.  I know my middle-school teacher would have approved.  :D

New Nexus devices!!!

Okay, most of us already knew about today's -- cancelled -- unveiling, but now we have confirmation as they've been added to the Google Play Store.

In one fell swoop, there is a range of Nexus devices: Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.

Now it's worth noting that the price of the 16GB Nexus 7 has dropped to $199, while a new Nexus 7 with 32GB has popped up, at $249, and there's now a 32GB model with HSPA+ 21Mbps, which is akin to the iPhone4S on AT&T. Sorry, still on Android 4.1.2.

The Nexus4 is a restyled LG Optimus running Android 4.2 and with HSPA+ 21Mbps.  Note: no expandable memory.  It has a 4.7" 1280 x 768 screen...which is the same as the iPad Mini, except at 4.7", the Nexus4 has 320ppi, while the same resolution on the iPad Mini is 164ppi.

But this is what I'm really excited about.  Take a look at the Nexus 10's specs:

• 10.055" screen -- 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution for 300 ppi
• Gorilla Glass 2
• CPU: Dual-core A15
• GPU: Mali T604
• 263.9 x 177.6 x 8.9 mm
• 603g
• 5 MP backside camera
• 1.9 MP frontside camera
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n MIMO
• Bluetooth
• NFC (Android Beam)
• 16 GB ($399) / 32 GB ($499)
• 2 GB RAM
• Micro USB
• Magnetic Pogo pin charger
• Micro HDMI
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 9000 mAh lithium polymer battery
• Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) -- pay attention here, 4.2 is NOT Key Lime Pie
• Microphone
• Accelerometer
• Compass
• Ambient light
• Gyroscope
• Barometer
• GPS

Can you say better than iPad?  Compared to the iPad, resolution is better than Retina (300ppi for Nexus10 compared to 264 ppi for iPad 4)!  And forget Surface; Microsoft's Surface RT doesn't even come close to the Nexus10!

Google just threw down two gauntlets: One at Apple's iPad franchise, another at Microsoft's Surface RT.

A word about not having an expandable memory slot on a tablet.

I don't even notice it.  I have my most of my music now in Google Play Music in the cloud, and on occasion I have streamed it from the internet, but most of the time I use my phone for music streaming.  E-books don't take up much space, either.  Even with a bunch of apps, books and magazines, 16GB is quite spacious.  Skip the 32GB Nexus10 and go for the 16GB Nexus10.

I'm actually contemplating buying the Nexus10, except I'm probably going to wait until January, or specifically CES to see what's coming up.  :D

As if you needed more proof of global warming.

But hey, it's okay, because many of us will simply die from the Zombie Apocalypse.

Upon closer review, you might notice a huge jump in climatological, hydrological and meteorological events, but especially extreme climatological events.

But if you're like me, you've already known that insurers have been on the forefront of climate change, because they have to pay for claims of damage; it is in their self-interest to figure out trends and what's going on.  If you didn't, then read Ezra Klein's post about it.

Or you can place your trust in Zombie Climate Theory.

2012 USC Trojans football season is NOT a bust.

For all you fans out there who can't tolerate this second loss, sit down and shut up for a moment between your tears.  The Trojans can still make a relevant move to the BCS, and here's how:

1. Beat Oregon.  Voters and computers love it when you beat a highly ranked team.
2. Beat ASU and UCLA, en route to a historic game with an undefeated Notre Dame.  Believe me, Notre Dame will be undefeated when they play USC, with just Pittsburgh (4 - 4), Boston College (2 - 6) and Wake Forest (4 - 4) left before that historic game at the Coliseum.
3. Beat a highly ranked Notre Dame.  Notre Dame has a decent chance to go into this game ranked #1 or #2, and again, computers and poll voters love it when you beat a top team.
4. Beat Oregon in a rematch, who has beaten a ranked Stanford and a ranked Oregon State, to show that USC's late season surge was no fluke.

I didn't say it was easy, but it is entirely possible for a 2-loss USC to make it back into the BCS NC discussion.  So where are we, today?

Positives:

• USC's offense with Marqise Lee and Robert Woods (but especially Marqise Lee)has been absolutely spectacular when clicking.
• USC's defense looked solid when playing with some rest (no 3-and-outs on offense).
• When Barkley has time to sit in the pocket, he can hit his players.
• McNeal, Redd and Morgan have solid running ability, and when they break loose they will take it to the house.
• USC has the best tight ends in the country, period.

Negatives:

• Mental focus is severely lacking.  There has been zero abatement of mental errors, whether they are personal fouls, jumping the snap, out of position, etc.
• Limited coaching experience.  When your team is getting outscored in the second half of games, it's safe to say that one side adjusted the game plan, while the other couldn't.  Preparing a solid game plan should not stop you from being able to improvise and adjust on the spot.  Trying to keep pushing the same game plan even as the other side has adjusted to it, is a waste of time.
• Stop waiting in the pocket to hit the home run.  Moving the ball is more important than scoring every six plays; dinking and dunking is a strategy to open up the home run, after all.  If they're two-deep in coverage, throw UNDER the coverage, not into the coverage.  THAT, is what you call rhythm.  3-and-outs because you'd rather hit the home run than move the ball, is killing the team.
• Stop pouting.  I've seen a lot of bad seasons and disappointment, but I've never seen a Trojan team pout as much as they have, this year.  To borrow part of a phrase from the President and merge it with USC's: DON'T POUT; FIGHT ON!

--- DON'T POUT; FIGHT ON! ---

Mitt supports Zombie Economics; Zombies support Mitt.

You might not have read Zombie Economics, but I did.  Color me surprised (no, not really) that Mitt Romney supports Zombie Economics.

Paint me shocked however, that according to Joss Whedon, there is mutual support between Zombies and Mitt Romney!

It's not that Mitt Romney actually supports the policies he's touted (honestly, no one really knows what he'll actually do in office), as he tries to appeal to the far-right Tea Party folks, but I'm with Joss on this one...well sort of.  You see, if Mitt Romney does get elected (and I think we should let Mitt win), I think Democrats should FORCE Mitt and Republicans to do exactly as they said they would, the past four years.  There will be no walking back of ideas.  We're going to FORCE them to:

• Balance the budget immediately;
• Slash tax rates and taxes;
• Hold the debt ceiling in place, no matter what;
• Increase military spending without adding to the deficit;
• Repeal 100% of Obamacare;
• Label China as a currency manipulator from Day 1;
• Stop any possibility of direct talks with Iran, and station multiple warships off the coast of Iran;
• Force the Feds to stop QE3;
• Force the Feds to increase the Fed interest rate.

Yes sir, we are going to sign on and FORCE the Zombie Apocalypse.  Why?  Because in order to destroy the Zombie Apocalypse, we have to expose it for what it really is.  Only when people see the Zombie Apocalypse upon them, will they open their ears and stop listening to partisan politics, so that they can actually learn economics.

Grimm's Episode 9, La Llorona

Love the location choices in this episode.

St. John's Bridge and Cathedral Park, in North Portland is where the woman walks into the river and site of the first abduction. Back before the area grew up a bit and a series of higher-density condos were built, I'd felt that it was a semi-secret hideaway that most people ignored due to the neighborhood.

The second abduction location, supposedly at Sauvie Island, isn't. The trick or treat park scene shows a paved walkway, and the second I saw that, along with the denser and deeper vegetation, I knew where this was actually shot: Kelley Point Park. With the final scenes set at Kelley Point Park, it seemed clear: they shot both scenes from KPP out of convenience, because both have very similar backgrounds of the Columbia River, but to get out to Sauvie Island Park requires a lot longer drive and driving over a section of a narrow, rough road.

Notice the paved path -- no such path in Sauvie Island.

The tip of the confluence at KPP -- the line of wooden piers leading out to a warning sign

In order to reach KPP's front gate, you have to drive through a lot of industrial areas, and you'd miss it if you didn't know where to look; there are a lot of city parks like that in Portland (hidden). It's not a popular park, but at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, KPP is a great spot to watch the frequent river traffic, from barges carrying grain to cargo ships dropping off cars from Asia. That it's not very popular, is a plus, to me.

But another great park -- and much larger -- is Smith & Bybee Lakes, just down the road from Kelley Point Park. There is more wildlife there to watch, and a lot of great scenery.

6 foot tsunami expected in Hawai'i -- 7.7 earthquake in BC.

The 7.7 earthquake in the Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, apparently hadn't first triggered much concern for a tsunami, and in fact locations closer to BC, Washington, Alaska and Oregon had fairly small waves, at 6" or less.  Of course, a 6" high tsunami wave is not like an ordinary wave, because the water keeps coming in.

But one deep-sea buoy registered a higher wave than expected, and the resulting modeling suggested that a lot of energy was sent towards the northern Hawaiian islands.  The further the location, it seemed some of the waves were much larger.

 Arena Cove, CA            0637UTC   01.1FT

 Crescent City,  CA         0602UTC   00.8FT

So a few hours after the fact, they've issued a tsunami warning, and are now predicting a possible 6 foot wave hitting Kahului, Maui.  The state likewise, responded by opening up emergency centers.

That predicted 6 foot wave by the way, is fairly significant, coming close to the tsunami generated by March 2011's Great Tohoku earthquake.

And of course it is a bit surreal watching people (via traffic cams) stuck in a traffic crawl trying to get out of Waikiki.

We'll see.

---

Update: The good news is, the surge doesn't appear to be that big; the third wave was 1.9 feet high (and ~5 feet from peak to trough).

Powell - Sununu - Wilkerson and all about race.

A few days ago, retired general Colin Powell (a Republican) said that he was endorsing Barack Obama, and laid out a line of reasoning for his decision.  That was followed by (current co-chair to Mitt Romney's campaign) John Sununu insinuating that Powell's choice was based on the color of his skin and that of the President's:

"Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being President of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him." - CNN

Of course, Sununu just pointed out to us that he is himself, racist.  If you read that carefully, he argued that Sununu himself is proud to vote for a person of his own color, and specifically because of that person's skin color.

Fascinating stuff, that John Sununu never actually tries to hold back his contempt for people of other color, but instead ends up trying to temper his comments after the fact.  A few months ago, he said:

"I wish this president would learn how to be an American." - The Atlantic

Today, former chief of staff to Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson, (also Republican) came out and blasted John Sununu and the Republican Party:

"Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists. 

The real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin." - NYDN

 I wouldn't say it's full of racists, but on average, there are quite a few of them who'd absolutely never vote for someone who wasn't a white male, though these days they might consider voting for a white woman.  Mind you, Republicans hate the Lilly Ledbetter Act, and Mitt Romney did everything he could to avoid talking about it in the debates, so there are still a lot of obstacles for the GOP to overcome, before they vote to have a woman represent them as their top presidential candidate.

And no one is going to ever mistake the GOP convention crowd from the Democratic convention crowd -- it's just far too disparate and obvious.  You'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice the difference in make up of the two parties.

The beauty of Barack Obama's candidacy four years ago, is that it forced many Democrats to rethink about their own feelings on race, and the importance of skin color as it related to how you voted.  Republicans have never had to contemplate these issues, as it relates to the White House.

With Mitt Romney, at least Jews and Christians have had to come to terms with Mormonism, although let's face it, the issues of proxy baptisms and the validity of Mormon baptisms (as it relates to other Christians) hasn't gone away; those issues are still on the table, even if covered over with a white tablecloth for the 2012 elections.

A bet I would never take.

Reading CSM's profile of five undecided voters, the last one, Elizabeth Cole from Arlington, VA made a bet that I would have never made.  She bet that, despite her support for Obamacare and its mandated healthcare free screening coverage for certain diseases, Mitt Romney wouldn't repeal Obamacare and that Senate Democrats would block a repeal.

"Yes, if something draconian happens ... I will be kicking myself and I will be part of the people who let that happen."

She doesn't understand politics.  The repeal of Obamacare and all of its provisions, would come from an omnibus budget bill from the Tea Party House of Representatives.  This is how Washington works: completely unrelated bills are inserted into larger ones, in hopes of forcing difficult political choices.  There will be no up and down vote on Obamacare that Senate Democrats will be able to forestall.

Conservative and moderate Democrats will be faced with either allowing the federal government to run, or to keep Obamacare, as Tea Party Republicans will not allow for a continuing extension of the current budget.  In fear for their political lives, these conservative and moderate Democrats will cave in and help to repeal Obamacare.

And I get to see Ms. Cole kicking herself.

Staples, Mitt, and women.

Disclaimer: IF you're going to stick with Mitt regardless of what he thinks of you as a woman, maybe you don't really want to read about what he thinks of you, as a woman.

---

Some might be shocked at this newest revelation, but then again, when Mitt inelegantly talked about "binders full of women", you already should know where Mitt's coming from.  That he got the history of the account wrong, is equally instructive.

Today, testimony was released in a two-decades old divorce trial involving the co-founder of Staples, Tom Stemberg.  In it, we discover that Mitt Romney (as the head of Bain Capital) intentionally undervalued a special class of stock that was created just for the purpose of screwing over Stemberg's wife, in the divorce.

Mitt Romney testified under oath in 1991 that the ex-wife of Staples founder Tom Stemberg got a fair deal in the couple’s 1988 divorce, even though the company shares Maureen Sullivan Stemberg received were valued at a tenth of Staples’ stock price on the day of its initial public offering only a year later. - Boston Globe

Romney also said that a new class of shares was created specifically for Stemberg.
“It was initiated as a favor,” Romney testified. “Tom needed to have a settlement with his wife.” - Bloomberg

If it looks like a duck, smells like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

Week 9 PAC-12 predictions.

Last week: 5 - 0

Overall: 39 - 20

Good week last week, but then again, there weren't any surprises at all.

This week is a lot tougher.  The middling teams in the PAC-12 are where they are, because they can show up for some games, then disappear in others.  If at home, they tend to do spectacularly better, but on the road they sometimes lose focus.

Middling teams include Cal, Utah, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona and Washington.  So my theory goes: If a middling team is playing another middling team, the home team gets the nod.  Therefore, Utah beats Cal and ASU beats UCLA.

Against upper tier teams, the middling teams may surprise if they are at home; if they have a bye week, it improves the odds that the middling team does well at home.  An example of this was when I picked Washington to beat Stanford, at home, after a bye week.

So the upsets might be USC losing to Arizona and Oregon State losing to Washington.  With the expected rain in Seattle, OSU-UW could potentially be very close, but the Beaver fan base is probably more excited, and will likely have a large contingent up in Seattle, making Century Link a neutral site.  In Tuscon, Arizona is good, and might pull some surprises, but I think this is where the gap in talent becomes obvious.

Week 9
Visitor		Home
USC	40	Arizona	27
UCLA	17	Arizona St	24
Colorado	13	Oregon	52
Washington St	13	Stanford	35
Oregon St	24	Washington	23
Cal	24	Utah	27

Google Street View: Autzen and PK Park!

I was searching for street views of the Duck Store at the Moshofsky Center, and lo and behold, I discovered that there are Google Street View images from inside of the baseball facilities, PK Park, and Autzen Stadium!

Way cool!

It turns out, a few other stadiums have Street Views: Martin Stadium at WSU; Reser Stadium at Oregon State; Sanford Stadium at UGA; Les Murakami (baseball) Stadium and the Ching practice field at University of Hawai'i - Manoa.

Stadiums aside, imagine if you're a senior in high school, trying to figure out which universities you'd like to attend.  Nowadays you can visit these schools without spending the money to travel to each of them.  Gotta love Google Street View.  Most of UH Manoa's campus is covered in Street View -- enjoy paradise (or get homesick!) from your living room.

Egypt, Democracy and Mitt's big Fail.

I wrote last month that Mitt Romney was ridiculous in his attack on Morsi's election as president of Egypt; it's something he's brought up many times since then, including two of three debates.  It was as if Mitt Romney was insinuating that America, via our regular foreign aid contributions to Egypt, should dictate that Egyptians should reject any candidate or political party of America's choosing -- an utter failure of a Democracy!

Elsewhere, other people seemed to think tha a person who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood was necessarily bad for America and Israel.  As I first mentioned shortly after he had been elected into office, Morsi spent quite a bit of time in the US a few decades ago; first as a graduate of USC, then as a professor at CSUN.  Give the man the benefit of the doubt, having lived among us and seeing and learning about the benefits of a free society, don't you think?

And then this happened yesterday: Egypt brokered a tentative cease fire between Hamas and Israel, and Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom told Israelis that, "It's good for the public to know that the current [Egyptian] leadership is acting against Hamas in a very tough way."

Yes, there remains disputes, fighting, and conflicts will continue, but the sort of FUD that Mitt Romney has been trying to spread by talking about a "failure" of the Obama Administration in allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to participate in Democracy, has now been exposed for the weak rhetoric that it was.

If you want to find fault, look to Qatar.  Qatar should NOT be rewarding Hamas' actions with an outpouring of money to build homes and roads.  They drove in with a convoy of black Mercedes Benzes and with big smiles, as if they deserve to be patted on the back.  That's bullshit.

If Qatar wanted to help the Palestinian people, they should have established a fund worth billions of dollars to establish a free-market Democracy, with the proviso that Palestinians and Hamas agree to accept a two-state solution and disavow the goal to destroy Israel.

Oh wait, I forgot, Qatar isn't a Democracy.  [SNARKY COMMENT]

Back to Mitt Romney: Bad for America, bad for the world.  Less wars, not more.

Why we, as liberals, should let Republicans win -- a modest proposal.

I wrote along the same lines, back last year when we were facing the debt ceiling issue, but it's obvious that the nation learned nothing from that confrontation, for here we are and people seem ambivalent about the direction of economic policies.  If we had allowed the debt ceiling to hit, we would have learned valuable, real life, observable lessons about being forced to balance the federal budget; instead we have more obfuscation about the choices we face.

It's not that I think Republicans are fools, but mostly they remain unconvinced, as St. Thomas was, until the body of Christ was in front of his face; without first-hand witness of the outcome of their policies, Republicans remain unconvinced that their economic dogma is wrong (social policies such as abortion and the criminalization of certain offenses, notwithstanding).

So here's the new, abridged proposal:

1. Stop spending on the presidential race (and close senate races) and let Mitt and Republicans win.
2. Force Republicans to stick to their word on privatizing SS; pushing Medicaid into block grants; turning Medicare from a defined benefits plan to a defined contribution plan; balance the budget immediately by holding the debt ceiling; increase military spending; force Mitt to declare China a currency manipulator on Day 1; force Mitt Romney to stick to his word to appeal all of Obamacare.
3. When the economy suddenly drops, forcing more cuts in federal spending including Medicaid, the FDA, the HHS, the NHTSA, the CDC and other agencies, we shrug our shoulders and point to Republicans.
4. When the protests begin, we point to Republicans and their ideas, and wait for the apology (that'll never come.)
5. When the protests grow and turn violent, we point to Republicans and their ideas, and wait for the act of contrition (that will never arrive.)
6. When the protests turn into daily marches across the nation and on the steps of Congress and the White House, we start the nationwide removal of every Republican in Washington DC, requesting that either they resign or face a recall election.
7. Once Republicans are gone from Washington DC, we will push for President Romney and VP Ryan to resign immediately, even as we begin to fix the laws in our nation and pursue the right economic direction.
8. If they refuse, we'll hold mock trials on every policy agenda item from the 2012 election season, and convict them, based on their errors.  These bad ideas will thus be sentenced to live with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for life.
9. Then we can start the real discussions, with a resurgent, moderate Republican party (hopefully led by Jon Huntsman and others of his ilk), over how best to deal with China, the future of American workers, and the role of American power in the global economy.  (Did I mention that I'm a big fan of Jon Huntsman?)

What is there to lose?  If Republicans are right, we can adjust our thinking and embrace their philosophy; if I'm wrong, I have the ability to acknowledge that I am wrong, and then move on.  But if we're right and Republicans are wrong, we will have this one opportunity in the history of the US and the world, to kill bad ideas.

Either way, we strengthen the future of America and the stability of the world, right?

Now, obviously this post was entirely cynical, as I'm still going to vote for Obama; but if Mitt wins, then we have a road map towards completely changing the narrative of the future...if I'm right about economics, that is.  :D  Again, it relies on FORCING Republicans to stick to their dogma, if they win.

Who's with me?

Apple embraces irony.

Apple introduces the iPad mini, by describing how it is 35% larger than the Nexus 7.

Funny stuff.

Next year, I suppose they'll describe how the next-gen iPad is 35% smaller than the Nexus 10.

By the way, you know Google must have gotten under their skin, if Apple is comparing their newest products to Androids, during a product unveiling.  After all, any time a competitor trots out your products on the big screen, you know you've set the benchmark.

New iPad Mini = fail.

How could an iPad Mini, built on the cred of Apple, fail?  Let me explain:

• It has a lower resolution screen (1024 x 768) than the Nexus 7 (1280 x 800);
• The screen is larger at 7.85" compared to the Nexus 7 at 7", but as a result, the display has a much lower pixel per inch count (163 PPI compared to 216), which seems a bit odd if Apple is boastful about its Retina display PPI counts;
• The screen is 4:3, which, while maintaining the same iPad ratio, reflects old-school thinking of the 35mm still photography ratio (24mm x 36mm), compared to the Nexus 7's 16:10 ratio, which resembles the standard 16:9 widescreen ratio of modern movies, but allows for the software-based tab bar at the bottom of the screen -- if you watch videos on YouTube via your Nexus 7, then you'll notice that videos fill the entire screen with the tab bar below;
• With that 4:3 ratio, the iPad Mini 7.85" screen is 35% bigger (in square inches) than the Nexus 7, but if you're watching a movie, because of the screen ratio, your movie is only 12% larger (confined by the horizontal width of the screen;
• That 4:3 ratio also means that it won't fit as easily in your pockets as the Nexus 7;
• And the price premium is $80 over the Nexus 7 with the same memory configuration (16GB).

All of this means that Apple is relying on its reputation to push sales, rather than pushing the boundaries of design, with the iPad Mini.  I call that an utter failure.

---

Oh, but I do have to say, the extremely thin iMac is pretty cool.

Don't make Tagg Romney mad.

More horses and bayonets, for a safer America!

Best line of the night.

Blogger stats...what's going on?

I'm scratching my head on this: Blogger stats have been shifting all over the place lately.  At one point last week, it wiped out all page views from the past four years, and this past week numbers have been going up and down on the same day.

How weird.  I'm starting to feel the pull of Wordpress.

3rd Presidential Debate: final thoughts.

A lot more civil, and a lot of nuanced positions.  If you didn't know any better, it was a debate between Mitt Obama and Barack Romney.  Mitt made it clear he didn't want additional wars, but nonetheless reiterated that he'd want to go back to building up a military to prosecute two simultaneous wars.

I'm not sure what was his strategy, but three times Romney said that Obama did right (on Iranian sanctions, on expanding drone usage, on going after Bin Laden despite Pakistan's issues).  And it looks like Romney learned his lesson, because on the issue of Libya -- even given the opportunity to bring it up -- he never reiterated his criticism of the Benghazi speech.

Bob Schieffer punted on calling truths, truths.  Even as the President talked about having the fact checkers review the biggest Romney's whopper -- Obama's apology tour -- and Romney's insistence that his auto bailout plan was the same as Obama's -- Schieffer just seemed to ignore it.

Schieffer also allowed the debate to continuously drift back to domestic issues.  He tried to bring it back, only to have Mitt interrupt and force it back, once.  All told, about half of the foreign policy debate was spent on domestic issues.

Schieffer did try to bring to light, the folly of rhetoric on cutting spending, cutting taxes and cutting the debt, while increasing military spending -- remember that the first presidential debate and the VP debate, Romney and Ryan both said they weren't increasing spending on the military.  But Obama didn't hit back on that issue, either, which was a lost opportunity to highlight a major flip-flop.

On foreign policy, Romney subtly used fear (of a Muslim-driven Middle East) to drive his points of why we need to intervene, while Obama pushed the importance of supporting the Middle East in its move towards Democracy and supporting religious freedom.  They have similar goals, but appeal from slightly different angles.  Remember, Romney repeated the odd criticism of pulling the questionably operational missile defense shield out of Poland, which fuels this notion of a policy driven by fear.

By the way, we now have a well-established Mittism: Death by love.

• Mitt loves Big Bird, and even Jim Lehrer, but would nonetheless cut all public funding.
• Mitt loves green energy, but wouldn't invest in companies who are in green energy manufacturing.
• Mitt loves teachers, but wouldn't support funding to restore funding to teachers at the federal level, after states have cut teachers.

Finally, Barack Obama wins the best line of the night, talking about quality over quantity, when Romney brought up the topic that we now have fewer naval vessels than since 1917: we have fewer horses and bayonets, too, but that doesn't mean we're weaker.  Hilarious point, and a crucial point that you'd have thought a man who was focused on cutting debt would understand: efficiency through better technology.

20 minutes into 3rd presidential debate.

I was wrong...it's extremely civil, by comparison to the second debate.  Perhaps because they're sitting at a desk, unable to easily get up from a stool and walk towards each other, things are calmer?

Pretty substantial stuff going on here, unlike the previous two debates.  Amazing.

Of course, Bob Schieffer is tossing easy lobs right now.

---

Whoops, I spoke too soon.  Bob just let the whole debate go back to domestic issues.  So much for being a good moderator.

---

Update 2: 40 minutes in, and Barack Obama got the best line in...we also have fewer bayonets, but that doesn't mean we're less secure (on Mitt's contention that we have a smaller Navy with fewer ships than since 1917).

It's likely to be the #1 highlight.

Couple of interesting USC stats against Colorado.

48 plays.

That's the total number of offensive plays USC had against Colorado.  That's about half of what fast-paced teams like Oregon, runs.

1 in 6

Every sixth offensive play resulted in a Trojan score.

Colorado is just what the doctor ordered for the Trojan offense.

Mitt's so upset with Obama's handling on Iran...

...that since Saturday, when the NYT's Helene Cooper broke a story that the White House may be brokering one-on-one talks with Iran to stop their nuclear ambitions, he's met media questions with.....


s i l e n c e.


Or as I would say: Mitt just hasn't had enough time to consult with his chief foreign adviser, Benjamin Netanyahu, before talking to the press.

Monday's final 2012 presidential debate.

I have a strong fear that, with Bob Schieffer as moderator, the debate will inch towards anarchy.  I've said it from the beginning, a debate should always be about ideas, not about style points; looking to take control and show strength, both men are going to push the limits of civility.

Schieffer does not have an iron fist.  As we saw this morning, he couldn't even ask tough questions of each side's representatives, let alone control the debate.  I don't think I've ever heard him raise his voice against anyone on TV.  He looks and acts like a patient grandfather, not debate moderator.

It's going to get out of control.

Why is the current size of our (US) debt bad?

I've learned a lot in the last four years: The federal US debt is a lot more complex than what can be construed from simple political agendas to demonize debt.

Politically, arguing that the amount of debt that we currently have is perfectly acceptable, seems incongruous where most Americans are, opinion-wise.  Americans see $16T, and think that it is too big; they have been sold on the idea that you shouldn't spend more than you earn; they think that a balanced budget would be beneficial to growth.

The common statement you hear is that, if the US keeps borrowing at the same rate that it currently is, eventually the US will become Greece, if China decides to sell their holdings; that the biggest reason why the US hasn't become Greece quite yet, is that the US Dollar is the de facto currency of the world.

To believe this argument, you thus have to have to buy into a giant leap of faith:

• Never mind Japan has an enormous debt problem much larger than the US, yet hasn't defaulted;
• Never mind that nearly all of the EU and most first-world nations have larger debt-to-gdp ratios; 
• Never mind that, with a central bank, the US can buy its own debt (quantitative easing);
• Never mind that China's holdings have been dwarfed by Japan's, particularly because Japan's own bonds earn less than the US';
• Never mind that Greece's number one problem is that it does not have its own currency to float and effect rebalancing of trade;
• Never mind that if the federal debt is lower than the current size of the Social Security + Medicare + other federal government holdings, then these programs will have to invest in companies in order to grow their holdings and keep up with inflation;
• Never mind that a balanced budget means that economic swings will become as wild as they were, pre-Depression era politics;
• Never mind that China can't sell its holdings en masse without seeing its trade surplus with the US disappear.

If you can overlook all those items, then yes, the federal debt as it currently is, is bad.

Latest GOP propaganda: Size matters.

GOP operatives have gone on a propaganda offensive: Obama is "small".

On Sunday, Republican talking head after talking head has used "small" to describe the Obama campaign.  It's a subversive message that is both sexual and derogatory in intent.  In trying to describe what they see as petty arguments over the gaffes from Mitt Romney, they won't be using words such as "unbecoming" or "lessening" or  even "cheap"; today it's all about "small".

If you hit back at Romney's gaffes or errors, now you're being "small".

e-Books via Library2Go: a convoluted process.

I think e-books are great; MP3 books (books on disc / tape), too.  But in order to use e-Books via Library2Go on your tablet, you have to download the OverDrive Media Console app, then you have to create either a Kindle or Adobe account to read most books.

First and foremost, it really needs to be a straight-forward process of going to the library's website, then finding an e-book listing and checking it out as you would do with a printed book.

Second, having to secure either a Kindle or Adobe account means that you're being tracked by Amazon or Adobe.  I already have an Adobe account, since I own their design suite software, which means that they're able to track my reading habits if they wish to.  Creating a second ID, just to remain anonymous, just adds more password juggling and having to create an entirely new email address.

Still, gotta like e-books.

Monroe from Grimm.

Pretty sure that was you, walking back from Hot Lips Pizza in the Pearl, earlier tonight with the red beret.

Bro, good choice in pizza and welcome to the Pearl, not that you weren't already well-acquainted with the Pearl, with all of the filming going on including earlier this week.

Electoral / popular poll split?

I mentioned the possibility 10 days ago, that a split could occur between the electoral college and popular vote polls, mainly because Obama's got an enormous advantage in electoral college numbers if you examine the battleground polls.  Today, it's become an avalanche of media now taking up this issue.

• Ezra Klein follows the Gallup poll's 7 point lead for Romney, noting that there is some fuzziness in the numbers and that a split could occur.
• Michael Falcone and Amy Walter take up this split and the importance of Ohio.
• Charlie Cook talks about the real possibility of a split.
• USA Today's David Jackson mentions that if you tally up RCP's numbers, Obama would win big in the electoral college, even while losing the popular election.

While none of them mention why the split is important (but because you've read my blog, you already know that) the problem with a split is, that there is no national referendum on a candidate's platform.

With regard to the Gallup poll's swing, I think it's worth remembering that you always toss out the outliers, and clearly a +7 for Romney is an outlier, when Rasmussen (again, a conservative pollster) shows the race tied.

And if you follow the 538 blog or predictwise, odds are still a 2:1 or greater split for Obama to win.

In other words, it's slightly harder for Obama to win, and Romney and Republicans now think that they're headed for a win, but I called it months ago, and it's still true today: Obama's going to win.

Nokia's 3rd quarter: going down, down down.

Boy, if you thought Nokia's sales were anemic, take a look at what happened last quarter.  Looks like that expectation of slowed sales due to the Windows Phone 8 pre-announcement was right.  No death knell, but put it this way: what Nokia sold in a whole quarter is slightly less than FIVE DAYS of Android handset activations.

People are concerning themselves with the improved bottom line (even though it's still a loss), and so the early trading shows their stock moving upwards.  In other words, they're not paying attention to the numbers below: Smart phone sales are diving, as are revenues from smart phones.

What's interesting is that when they brought out their first WP phone, sales bumped up; since then however, it's been all downhill. Does WP8 portend a sales bump and a change of fortunes?  I think people have had enough of the Windows Phone platform, and have decided that it's not all that interesting.

PAC-12 Week 8 predictions.

Last Week: 5 - 1
Overall: 34 - 20

Okay, I don't think anyone saw Oregon State turning BYU into a pedestal to get into the BCS rankings.  This never-started-a-game quarterback, Cody Vaz...wow.  Well done job, Beavers.  I was so wrong about you guys; I mean, I figured you'd be able to surprise Wisconsin and all, but what the?!?  Civil War ain't looking to be very civil, this year, especially since it's at Reser Stadium.

This week, the only thing close to an upset would be Washington at Arizona.  Heck, they're probably thrilled to be in the Southwest, out of the sudden cold that has descended upon us with the passing of the recent rains.  Washington can be really good if it is prepared -- see my prediction that Stanford would be upset by UW -- but they're going up against a spread, and let's face it, Huskies just can't handle speed, this year.

Colorado is just what the Trojans needed to make the second-half push.  The defense is clicking so well, I honestly think they might come very close to getting a shutout at home.  The only thing holding back a shutout, would be Kiffin putting in reserves in the 4th; but as they say, the Trojans' 75 are better than your 85.  We'll see what happens.

Home teams win, except ASU...because we all know that even though ASU has a better defense this year without Vontaze Burfict (and a coach that wouldn't discipline him), they're going up against Oregon.

Week 8
Visitor		Home
Oregon	42	ASU	24
Colorado	0	USC	42
Washington	27	Arizona	32
Utah	17	Oregon State	28
Stanford	35	California	24

---

Update: Forgot to add Stanford - Cal.

More on the debate.

Wow.  I don't know why the Obama team wanted Candy Crowley to stick to the format and strictly allowing the audience to ask the questions, but I can see why the Romney team wanted her to avoid asking follow-up questions of her own.  It didn't play well to Mitt's ability to stick to his 59 point plan and his talking points.

An aside: One thing worth noting carefully: Obama never bothered to attack Mitt's 12M new jobs proposition, based on Mitt's latest ads.  That was unfortunate, because WaPo and many others outlined why Mitt was lying in his ads.  Also as I noted previously, Moody's had already predicted that the economy was on its way towards creating 12M new jobs over the next four years.  Obama lost a huge opportunity to debunk Mitt's math on jobs, let alone the math of his tax cuts.

If you like Mitt, nothing changed; if you like Obama, you may have felt a strange tingling... that's called excitement and invigoration.  For some others, there was also a bit of testosterone flowing in there, particularly when the two men were standing toe to toe facing each other; for a few seconds, the scene resembled boxers weighing in, ready to rumble.

WTF, bro?

Yeah, I'm ready to rumble.

I'm the BMOC.

I'm taller than you.

And I'm about to beat you up.

Mitt challenged Barack on the issue of oil leases on public lands; Obama explained thoughtfully with "use it or lose it"; followed by Mitt essentially conceding the point and moving to the issue of oil production; Mitt alleged that oil production dropped; Obama said it was not true.

And you know what?  Mitt was more or less wrong on the points he was trying to make, with regards to US energy independence.  See follow up blog with the full series of charts.

Butterfish and other goodies at Trader Joes

Mmm mmm mmm... I just made some miso(yaki) butterfish from frozen fish bought from Trader Joe's.  Butterfish, aka Sablefish or Black Cod, when cooked, is a very light, white, buttery flavored fish.  Be forewarned: it can really stink up a place like few fish do, when you cook it.

What's miso butterfish?  It's when you fry / bake / grill butterfish that has been sitting for (at least) a day in a marinade made from 1 part sugar / 1 part miso (fermented soy beans) / 1 part mirin (a sweet wine).  It doesn't take long to cook, either; same as most any other fish, really.

No need to make it pretty, just be careful of the bones.  Unfortunately, normally miso butterfish is supposed to use steak cuts, but TJ's only has fillets.  I like it this way, actually, because it's easier to find the remaining bones.  Anyone who has eaten steak cut butterfish knows what I'm complaining about!

Ate it with a brown / white rice mix, and that's all.  I was going to rehydrate some seaweed (in Hawai'i, specifically limu / ogo), but I forgot -- was working on a different blog post while the oven was on.

Anyway, the other thing from TJ's that I've been completely hooked on, are their Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.

Oh boy, these are some of the best cookies from TJ's, ever!  I can go through one of these boxes in just over a day, they're so yummy!!!

I was at TJ's a few days ago, buying a couple of boxes of these cookies, as the checkout woman and I were commiserating about how awesome these cookies were.  She said that for some reason there wasn't a consensus whether or not to sell these cookies...I was dumbfounded.  These cookies are AWESOME!!!

Don't eat chocolate?  Have you tried their Baked Cheese Crunchies?  They're better than any cheese puffs you'll ever eat.  So good, these things are.

Okay, so these baked cheese crunchies have been around for a while now.  But you see, I tried Safeway's Snack Artist cheese puffs, and they were woefully awful, just completely terrible.  Trust me, they are crap.  That's not to say that I don't like Safeway's Snack Artist series, because I do think their regular potato chips are solid.

Finally, TJ's Kettle Cooked Olive Oil Potato Chips -- much better than any other chips, hands down.  The hint of olive oil flavor is truly awesome.  If I'm at TJ's, I'll get these chips over any other of their other chips.

Second debate: Almost fisticuffs, and Mitt lost.

15 minutes and you can see the tone:

Obama has got game, refuting Mitt's assertions on each issue and Candy Crowley is barely keeping this from becoming fisticuffs.  Mitt's still the same boisterous guy, but Obama's not letting him get by.

Mitt tried to assert that Obama cut public land leases; Obama countered that the policy was, that if you don't use it, you lose it and we'll re-auction off those leases.  Which one is closer to a free-market policy?  Mitt's willing to let oil companies hold onto leases without using them for decades.

I could be wrong but...

Windows8 will be much more than a flop; it'll drag the entire desktop PC industry down with it, and the fortunes of Intel, alongside.  The question is, will Microsoft come to its senses and install a startup bypass function, to skip the tablet-based UI and go straight to the desktop, and bring back the Start button, or will they deny any mistakes and boldly go where no one wants to go (towards irrelevance)?

Have you seen the Modern UI, formerly known as Metro?  It does not fit the productivity profile; it's a nightmare for people with Dyslexia, while encouraging ADHD.  I want my desktop clean, not cluttered.

Minimalism is best, on the desktop.

Don't need Live Tile info on my start screen.

While there are a lot of people out there with cluttered screens, I don't think it's a laudable goal to encourage cluttered screens, with Live Tiles.  In fact, everything should be easily, rapidly accessible with the fewest number of movements with your mouse, finger or touchpad, right?

A lot of people have long committed to memory, the location of the Start button and the taskbar with quick-launch icons; Windows8 inflicts the sort of torture that a conservative would wonder, "why did you have to break something that didn't need to be fixed in the first place?"

TMI.

Google's Cards, is the best solution to updated live information.

And why would you want to pay extra money for what boils down to the cost of a Windows license, which always makes Android tablets cheaper, up and down the manufacturing lineup?

Some random thoughts in the middle of the night.

I went outside to walk the dog, long after the rain had stopped and the sidewalks were halfway dry.  The very first thing I noticed was the faint scent of a rain forest, which to be honest, is one of the biggest benefits from living a mile from an urban forest -- Forest Park.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable walk as I tried to take in as much air as I could, like a stranded survivor on a tiny island, thirsty for water and hungry for food.

After I got back, I checked my RSS feeds and saw a Groupon for paintball combined with an overnight stay in a yurt -- odd combination I thought.  While checking it out on Google Maps, I started wandering around the surrounding geographical area.  I was struck by the cute houses strung along a river that flowed from a reservoir.  With the scent of a forest still in my mind, I realized that I could visualize myself living in one of these tiny homes, more or less making a living off doing consulting work and otherwise chopping wood and growing stuff, etc.

How very typical of the internalized struggle within me: domesticated, rural living, or an urban lifestyle replete with the comforts of four Starbucks and seven cafes within six blocks.  I'd easily accommodate the rare black bear, deer, and elk spotting, and tolerate the frequent raccoon and squirrel raids, to wake up every morning to the scent of a forest, mixed in with coffee percolating.

While visualizing what it would be like to live in one of these small, rural communities with a Grange Hall, I began examining the political narrative that, by definition, Conservatism is the attempt at preservation, a way of life.  Progressivism, while not necessarily contrary to Conservatism, does naturally affect the way of life of rural communities, by the imposition of rules that may seem detached from their standard ways of operating and living.

For someone who has found a routine in their lifestyle that they enjoy, it can be incredulous to them, that a politician, fully detached from their livelihood and neighborhood, has determined that there is something within their lifestyle that needs to be necessarily changed.

And yet, if you are not concerned about global warming or worried over protecting the environment, your future lifestyle may be permanently altered by neglect.  Progressivism needs to frame the argument away from abstract ideas and generalities, and demonstrate, in concrete examples, of how failures have permanently destroyed lands and ways of life.  That is why Fukushima matters so much to many environmentalists -- think of all the animals that were abandoned, the land that may no longer be tilled, and the towns that remain to this day, ghost towns.

Anyway, random thoughts.

Hawai'i Five-O...seriously, the Ala Wai???

You gotta be kidding me...McGarrett jumps into the Ala Wai?  Disgusting!  People dumped shopping carts and all sorts of stuff in there; people who'd go swimming in there come out with infections.  That's where the sewer overflow goes.

Eww.  Might as well swim in your own poop.

Busy designing.

Busy designing retail / cafe space.  Getting this right is proving stressful.

2012 USC football: Thoughts at the halfway point.

In its last three games -- Cal / Utah / Washington -- the Trojans haven't scored in the third quarter.  So far, USC has not yet broken 500 yards on offense.  In fact, the only teams that have done worse than USC: Utah, Washington, Colorado and WSU.  Including the UW game, USC is now 22 for 73 on 3rd down conversions, just 30.1%; so bad that they may be in the bottom 10 out of 120 FBS teams.  Notice something here?

USC's offense, which was supposed to be its strength, is no better than the worst teams in the PAC-12.  If not for the surprise of USC's defense doing so well, USC's scoring offense would be closer to the bottom of the PAC-12, and not near the top.

Instead of a Heisman year for Barkley, it's looking increasingly like his NFL stock is dropping, with his numbers slightly down from last year.

It's embarrassing.

In Seattle, USC's offense wasn't on the same page, with broken plays, players out of position and plays being called so late, that they're barely getting the ball off before the clock expires.

But then there's the defense.

USC had just one drive over 15 yards, in the second half of the Stanford game.  If they were able to muster up more than four 3-and-outs and two turnovers on downs, the defense would have likely shined in the fourth quarter and shut down Stanford.  Didn't happen.  But it turns out, the defense has been bailing out the offense.

USC's defense has been surprisingly good, except at cornerback #2.  After a few series in the UW game, it seems that Josh Shaw permanently displaced Torin Harris at corner, opposite Nickell Robey.  JC transfer Morgan Breslin and true freshman Leonard Williams seem to be the special d-line tandem duo living in the opponent's backfield.  Including the UW game, they've combined for over 20 total tackles for a loss.  Although let's be honest: the entire d-line has done exceptionally well, even though they were thought to be the #1 question going into the season.

Then there's Dion Bailey.  A converted safety to linebacker, following the UW game he now leads all linebackers in the FBS with 4 interceptions.  USC is now tied for 1st place in the PAC-12 in interceptions.

The defense is definitely good.

But after one loss, most people are scratching their heads as to why USC's offense looks so bad.  There is a ray of hope: last year Matt Barkley and USC had an up and down first half of the season, too.  It's eerily fascinating how similar this year is, compared to last year.  Consider:

• 5 - 1 at the halfway point in both seasons;
• 30 ppg the first half of last year, compared to 32.3 ppg this year;
• Barkley had 16 TDs and 4 INTs in the first half of last year, compared to 16TDs and 6 INTs this year.

A lot of other stats point to a potential second half offensive explosion.  You can clearly see the potential there, but the mental errors are just crazy.  Obviously USC is going to be the underdog at home, against Oregon, considering that Oregon is averaging 50.5 ppg against the PAC-12, and USC is averaging just 25.8 ppg against the PAC-12.  Head to head, Oregon slaughtered Washington, while USC escaped because of its defense.

Kennedy Polamalu may be listed as the offensive coordinator, but Lane's calling the plays.  I'm not yet ready to bail on his playing the role of both the head coach and offensive play caller, but he's been uneven at times.  If he does not at least get USC to a BCS game this year, he must reconsider trying to do both head coaching and offensive play calling.

We'll see, eh?

Texas - Oklahoma: 20 seconds when no one knew the score.

Oklahoma, after scoring a TD had the PAT attempt blocked and returned for a score by Texas.  Only problem was, no one apparently knew how to score it.

For about 20 seconds after Texas had returned the blocked kick for a score, the scoreboard still read 6 - 0. 20 seconds may not seem long, but anyone watching football knows that the score gets updated almost immediately, following a scoring change.

The announcers stated the obvious -- that Texas had scored -- but would not say how many points they had scored; normally they'd announce the updated score as soon as it occurred (the second TD, the score was updated the second the Oklahoma running back crossed the goal line).

Just as they were about to go to a commercial break, apparently someone fed the announcers the rules -- that the return was good for 2 points -- and they announced the score, 6 - 2, Oklahoma.

I had a good laugh.

Mitt's six studies backing his math weren't six studies.

Those six studies were actually four blog posts, an op-ed piece, and one study.  Three of those blog posts had nothing to do with scoring Mitt's proposal, but about criticizing the Tax Policy Center's extensive and critical scoring of Mitt's plan; one blog post and an op-ed were from the same person, and again was about TPC's analysis, not an independent scoring; the only study that was done, included a lower income cutoff for its definition of "rich", than Mitt Romney's.

What...you didn't actually expect the truth from Mitt, did you?  It was all political convenience to make for political grandstanding and theater on TV.

The mysterious, foreign object in that Mars photo...

Up close, we can see that it was from Curiosity itself.  Either that or Martians accidentally left a piece of plastic trash behind, and you know how long that stuff stays around -- hundreds of years.

Kidding...about the Martians, not the plastic lasting for hundreds of years.

Android 4.1.2 update for the Nexus7.

Thought I'd point out that I received the update Thursday morning.  Going through it, the obvious change is that both the home screen and app / widget screen rotates, whereas it previously was fixed in an upright position.