I Agree With the Vice President

The Great Commuter marks the occasion (language warning!):

Get Ready for the Annual Health Care Fight

Fred Barnes on why the health care wars are just beginning.

Rep. Paul Ryan: Obamacare is "about what kind of country we are going to be."

Ryan gets to the heart of the matter in laying out the case against the health care bill:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Somebody on the Dennis Miller radio show mentioned something about a giant floating garbage dump in the Atlantic which has collected due to ocean currents. I had to Wiki that one.

Turns out its true; they call it the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," and it's estimated to be twice the size of Texas. If I understand correctly, it is largely bits of plastic, and has gradually formed because of ocean gyres, which are large scale vortexes created by wind and current patterns. Folks that study this estimate that 80% of it is from land-based rubbish, and 20% from ships.

Walter Mossberg on Migrating to Windows 7

Walter Mossberg, the venerable personal tech guy at the Wall St. Journal, likes the new Windows 7, which Microsoft is releasing on October 22nd. But while upgrading should be pretty smooth for Vista users, XP users like myself are out of luck:

While this latest operating system stresses simplicity, the upgrade process will be anything but simple for the huge base of average consumers still using XP, who likely outnumber Vista users. It will be frustrating, tedious and labor-intensive. In fact, the process will be so painful that, for many XP users, the easiest solution may be to buy a new PC preloaded with Windows 7, if they can afford such a purchase in these dire economic times.

Long story short, most XP users will have to temporarily move all of their data to some other backup system, reformat their hard drive, do a clean install of Win7, and then experience the sheer joy of reinstalling all of your hardware drivers, applications, and application patches. (This is where my strategy using multiple hard drives comes in handy, because I can nuke my C: drive, where my operating system lives, without destroying any of my data, which I keep on other drives.)

I'll be sticking with XP for as long as I can.

Robo-Ethicists Want to Revamp Asimov’s 3 Laws

From Wired News, a new look at Artificial Intelligence by "robo-ethicists.":

Two years ago, a military robot used in the South African army killed nine soldiers after a malfunction. Earlier this year, a Swedish factory was fined after a robot machine injured one of the workers (though part of the blame was assigned to the worker). Robots have been found guilty of other smaller offenses such as an incorrectly responding to a request.

So how do you prevent problems like this from happening? Stop making psychopathic robots, say robot experts.

“If you build artificial intelligence but don’t think about its moral sense or create a conscious sense that feels regret for doing something wrong, then technically it is a psychopath,” says Josh Hall, a scientist who wrote the book Beyond AI: Creating the Conscience of a Machine.

For years, science fiction author Issac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics were regarded as sufficient for robotics enthusiasts. The laws, as first laid out in the short story “Runaround,” were simple: A robot may not injure a human being or allow one to come to harm; a robot must obey orders given by human beings; and a robot must protect its own existence. Each of the laws takes precedence over the ones following it, so that under Asimov’s rules, a robot cannot be ordered to kill a human, and it must obey orders even if that would result in its own destruction.

Read more at Wired News.

Despondex: World's First Prescription Depressant

Courtesy of The Onion:

This is a Parody too, right?

I think this is a joke, like this one.

"Stop Breaking Down"

Another video uploaded to my YouTube channel.

"Hey, Rita"

I'll be uploading more videos to my YouTube channel (user name is GregErken).

"Brothers Should Pull Up Their Pants!"

Here at CounterProgramming, we want to reach out to President-Elect Obama in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation and work together to blah blah blah. Thus, I am pleased to report that only days after his election -- an election I strongly opposed -- I have already found an area of strong agreement with our incoming Chief Executive.

In an interview a couple weeks ago with MTV, Obama made excellent use of his bully pulpit on one of today's most pressing issues. Asked by a viewer what he thought of laws against "sagging pants," Obama made it clear that he thought such laws were "a waste of time, but then -- after his usual hemming and hawing -- finally exclaimed "Brothers should pull up their pants!"

For the record, I agree completely.

Fast-forward to 1:25 for the money quote.

A Black President

Truly incredible. To think that just during my lifetime, we have moved from a bitter battle over legal segregation to a convincing presidential victory for a black man, with support from three states of the old Confederacy.

President Bush had some eloquent remarks outside the White House on the occasion:

It will be a stirring sight to watch President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their beautiful girls step through the doors of the White House. I know millions of Americans will be overcome with pride at this inspiring moment that so many have awaited so long. I know Senator Obama's beloved mother and grandparents would have been thrilled to watch the child they raised ascend the steps of the Capitol -- and take his oath to uphold the Constitution of the greatest nation on the face of the earth.

I thought his reference to the first black First Family walking through those doors to be particularly moving, echoing the ugly site during the civil rights era of white men -- government officials -- physically blocking entrance to the schoolhouse doors. (Read his full remarks here.)

No, I did not vote for Barack Obama. But I judge a man by the content of his character, not his skin color. While I found Obama's character and politics to be wanting, I am pleased and proud that the vast majority of Americans did not cast their vote based on his skin color.

Looks like the mythical Youth Vote finally materialized. As National Review Online's Andy McCarthy notes:

Preliminary indications are that the youth vote (ages 18-29) was way up: an increase of somewhere over 2.2 million (maybe way over) from 2004 (a year in which it was very high), and as much as 13% over 2000. The Left's dominance of the academy is now having a material impact on electoral politics. As we think about the future of conservatism, we ignore that at our peril.

There is a reason that most brand-building advertising is aimed at that same youth market. Once a Bud man, always a Bud man. I fear that it will be difficult to move these young and first-time voters away from the Democratic party. I know that when I was in high school, witnessing the juxtaposition of Carter and Reagan, I was going to be a conservative Republican for life. I couldn't wait till I was old enough to vote for Reagan in '84.

By the way, the site that McCarthy links to, Circle: the Center for Education and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, is affiliated with Tufts University and appears to be a gold mine of information on, uh, civic learning and engagement.

I Voted for Senator John S. McCain

Poll workers told me turnout at my Northern Virginia precint (Falls Church) was heavy this morning, probably record-breaking. I voted at 4:00 PM, and there were no lines.

Scanning my paper ballot, I laughed out loud when I saw the presidential lineup, which in addition to GOP and Dem included Independent (Nader), Green (McKinney), and Independent Green (Baldwin).

Shades of the Judean People's Front ("No, it's the People's Front of Judea!").

"A McCain-Palin Tradition"

Hank Jr. comes out swingin'.

You Should Listen To This Guy

Now this is what I call Straight Talk.

Bill & Barney Go At It

Two of my least favorite people discuss Fannie/Freddie:

Barack Obama and Bill Ayers

Below I note how a debate question to Obama or Biden about Bill Ayers is long overdue. Do we even have to wonder for a millisecond what would happen if a Republican had even a distant relationship with Timothy McVeigh? Trick question: that Republican wouldn't even be on the stage. He would long ago have been hounded out of his first race for dog catcher -- and justifiably so.

It is truly sad and pathetic that one of America's major parties -- America's oldest political party, home of Jefferson, Jackson, FDR, Truman, and Kennedy -- has nominated for president a man with a long-standing, professional relationship with a homegrown unrepentant terrorist. The only differences between Ayers and McVeigh are McVeigh's higher body count and his death sentence (Ayers got off on a technicality).

I have found this entire campaign a bit surreal, as we all debate Obama's tax plan, his experience, his plan for Iraq, his soaring rhetoric, etc. The truth is the man has no business being in this race.

Let me state it as clearly as I can: I don't question Obama's patriotism. I'm convinced he is no patriot.

No patriot would have anything to do with someone who confessed to bombing the Capitol, the Pentagon, and police stations, and as recently as 2001 said "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." Obama's deeply deceptive response to the one Ayers question he faced during a primary debate -- from George Stephanopoulos, of all people -- was "He's a guy in my neighborhood."

Obama has no business running for any public office, much less president. The fact that he was was not forced to drop out of this race, for this fact alone, and is actually favored to win, bodes ill for America.

And for the record: John McCain -- a man who loves his country, who has suffered for his country, a man who has tremendous credibility on patriotism and pride in America -- has a moral obligation to alert America as to the true nature of the man we are about to elect as our president. And not just in some YouTube ad, which will likely be dismissed as a desperate, "negative" dirty trick, the equivalent of the stupid "Obama is a Muslim" emails. Nor should McCain rely on surrogates or partisans in the conservative media to continue to make this charge.

The gravity of this matter requires McCain himself to talk about Obama-Ayers, preferably at a presidential debate, in front of 50 million Americans.

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For quick background on Ayers, including his "not enough" quote, originally given to the New York Times, see "Who Is Bill Ayers?" in the Chicago Sun-Times.

For Obama's relationship with Ayers, see Stanley Kurtz in National Review Online.

Palin-Biden Debate Reaction

1) I thought both candidates were at their best. Like the first McCain-Obama debate, there were no real gaffes (defined as an oops! immediately obvious to those watching, not the "fact checking" stuff the next day). Palin obviously exceeded expectations, but Biden also avoided his tendency to talk his way down the long and winding road, or say anything outright silly. Most likely, Biden will be considered the winner.

2) Regardless of which way the election goes, Palin more than salvaged her future as a national Republican star tonight. She has her confidence back, and is obviously gaining facts and figures regarding national issues at an exponential rate. Combine those developments with her considerable personal and political skills, and the sky is the limit for Sarah. (Minor Palin point: I've noticed she has a habit of referring to people by their last name -- "McCain, McLellan" -- that she should use a title with. Just a bad habit, one she's no doubt working on.)

3) It's measure of how well Palin did that the conventional wisdom almost immediately turned away from her competency to the question of how much Palin might have helped McCain. We probably won't know for a few days, but I doubt she landed the kind of blows on Obama that might take his numbers down substantially (VP debates don't usually produce that result). Advantage Obama.

4) And I'm afraid that given the economic situation, I'm still pessimistic about McCain's chances. The liberal Democrat will always be able to demagogue hard times better than the Republican -- even one that never misses an opportunity to blamed "greed" for so many problems created by Washington.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic if McCain-Palin could be bothered to loudly and consistently pin appropriate blame on Democratic abuse at Fannie/Freddie, highlight how McCain and other GOPers tried to sound the alarm while Dems resisted, and stop blaming everything on "Wall St. greed." But it is crystal clear after these first two debates that McCain has decided against that approach. I'm guessing he thinks that the election will be decided by those who hate the dreaded "partisan bickering and finger pointing." Hence his emphasis in the first debate on cutting spending and fighting earmarks, two things the "post-partisan" Perot type voters have always responded to. I think this is a losing strategy. I hope and pray McCain is right and I am wrong. Mac has been counted out about a dozen times throughout this campaign; perhaps he will rise yet again.

5) I thought Gwen Ifill did a good job, relatively speaking. Yes, I thought she had no business sitting in that chair tonight. It is pathetic that she didn't even bother to tell the Debate Commission that she was writing a book with Obama's name in the title, a book that will likely rise and fall with Obama's fortunes. (It's also frustrating that apparently the McCain campaign didn't know about the book, either.) But I thought her questions were mostly fair, serious, and worthy.

Here's what I mean by "relatively speaking:" I think it was somebody over at National Review's Corner that pointed out that any bias likely would be found not in the questions she asked, but in the kinds of questions not asked. Exhibit A: "Senator Biden, can you explain your running mate's relationship with Bill Ayers?"

Murphy's Laws

Mike Murphy has a funny piece in Time on debate prep. (H/t Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti)

My favorite bit:

Finally, the savvy viewer should remember that any moment that looks too perfect to be true probably isn't. I once worked on a campaign in which we made a big show of opening our secret debate-prep session to reporters. The highlight was the part when the candidate dramatically rejected the lame, scripted debate answers we staffers had offered up, vowing instead to just tell it like it was. We were very proud of our candidate; that was precisely the bit we had carefully rehearsed.

Bonus links (compiled by Time, not me):

Galllery of campaign gaffes here
10 Memorable Debate Moments
Top 10 campaign ads in U.S. political history here