I’ve got a few nuggets of ideas floating around, but they don’t seem to be entire blog entries unto themselves. This has been too rough a week to give them the time they need, and it’s good to clear the slate from time to time, so here goes:
- Bush says we’re addicted to oil. He also says we have to drill in ANWR. That’s like telling a pothead he can kick the habit by growing his own.
- Is Kevin Federline entirely necessary?
- I didn’t know this until recently, but The Carpenters’ classic slice of American cheese, “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft,” was actually a cover! A Canadian band called Klaatu did it first. (Does that make it Canadian cheese?) That means that the Carpenters heard it and decided to do it themselves. Why? Why?
- Single-payer health insurance IS pro-business. Lots of people who would like to start their own businesses don’t, because they don’t want to lose their employer-provided coverage. If coverage came with citizenship, they could leave their corporate gigs to start their own businesses. If it’s true that entrepreneurialism drives economic growth, single-payer is a pro-growth idea. Why doesn’t anybody ever mention this?
- Ford cars suck. Mazda cars are quite good. Ford owns Mazda. Couldn’t Ford, say, ask Mazda how they do it? For that matter, couldn’t Ford put a Ford nameplate on a Mazda? I’m perplexed. Ford insists on turning out ugly, unreliable, steaming piles of crap, even while owning a high-quality import brand. Meanwhile, tens of thousands get laid off. I’m at a loss.
- Back in the 80’s, Apple changed the computer industry by putting out a superior piece of hardware (the Mac) that used superior software (the gui). It refused to license Mac clones, lost market share due to price, and nearly died. Now, Apple changed the music industry by putting out a superior piece of hardware (the Ipod) that uses superior software (Itunes), and it refuses to allow the Ipod to use music subscription services or to allow other mp3 players to use Itunes. Has Apple learned nothing? Sandisk now has a 4 GB flash player a hundred dollars cheaper than an ipod nano with the same memory, and it’s compatible with multiple subscription services. How long before Creative or Sandisk eats Apple’s lunch?
- I propose a Constitutional amendment limiting the State of the Union address to 15 minutes. Enough already.
- With the advent of hands-free cell phones, I don’t always know if the guy talking to himself in the hallway is on the phone or insane. This is vaguely unsettling.
- As a kid, I was addicted to “In Search Of,” with Leonard Nimoy. (I know, I know…) One episode that really stuck with me was about killer bees. We were supposed to be inundated with killer bees by the year 2000. What happened to the killer bees?
Back to the salt mines…
