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When I see the name "Coconut Road Interchange" I just don't associate it with Alaska.

So I think its unnatural that a Florida real-estate developer should raise funds for a politician from Alaska, Don Young (R-Alaska), who then puts an earmark into a bill after its already finished to pay for said Coconut Road Interchange.

Wouldn't it be poetic justice if instead of naming the Bridge to Nowhere after the Senator, it was named the Coconut Bridge? (That's poetic justice in addition to the normal justice, too, please.)

Maybe lots of politicians fund-raise outside their own states, but Alaska/Florida is quite a doozy. Heck, if he did this for Hawaii, he could at least claim he has to help counter-act the lower-48 bias in uhhhhhh, connectivity to other states?

Found cleaning out my desk

Norton Anti-Virus 2000

Do you think loading up 8 years worth of virus updates would take a long time?

Haitians & Taiwanese & Americans, too

Apparently some Haitians believe bringing exiled Pres. Aristide back to power will immediately alleviate their economic situation.

"When Aristide was around we found food, we had jobs," said Manouchak Louis, who is 21 and unemployed. "If he comes back the country will change."

Does this sound familiar?

Many people in Taiwan, my wife included, are convinced that Pres. Ma will be able to do the same. I'm sure there are some folks in the U.S. who think that a Clinton in the White House will bring back the glory of the 1990's economy (despite the fact the current unemployment rates during this quasi-recession is actually lower than it was in the 90's.)

I am very skeptical of these claims that the president of any free market nation can truly affect their economies for the better, except at the margins. Making the economy worse off is probably much easier to do - just nationalize some industries, raise some taxes, and develop oodles of red tape. But it is very interesting to see how people from very different cultures still have this need to personify their economic problems or successes as being determined by one man at the top.

Oh, and my prediction for Haiti would be that there won't be any magical change in that country's plight even if Jesus himself were running it.

Perhaps turning sugar cane into ethanol for export would be the best chance.

Chinese Currency Manipulation

(Hillary) said President George W. Bush had failed to enforce trade laws and not challenged China's currency "manipulation."

...

China, according to Obama, had unfairly tilted the playing field by "dumping goods into our market," violating intellectual property rights, exporting unsafe toys and "grossly undervaluing" its currency.


Psssst, China, I think you're doing it wrong.

Now technically, I guess you could argue they are manipulating their currency by not letting it strengthen even faster. And you could claim the Yuan is still "grossly undervalued." But I think the appreciation of the Yuan (described as a "one way bet" by some guy on Bloomberg TV) is just not being covered in the US, so the candidates can keep saying this stuff.

p.s. I would bet my soul that McCain has said something in a similar vein within the past few months, but its not in the article I just read.

Red A's Spring Offensive - Pacific Theater

China - April 21 - 28
California - April 28 - May 08
Taiwan - May 09 - 12
China - May 12 - 20+

Seriously, this has to stop. And its not as if all this traveling is producing tons of business.

Best news I have heard all year: After raw material prices have risen by 20% across the board, I have now been told steel prices will rise by another 20% in May.

/sarcasm off

Curiousity Killed the Cat

I was using Windows and in the help pull-down menu there was an interesting option:

"Is this copy of Windows legal?"

I don't know what kind of dumb ass would actually click on that. My copy of Windows is legal, but I would never click that, mainly because I don't trust Microsoft enough that it wouldn't decide that my copy was actually illegal, shut down my computer, and leave me high and dry.

I religiously buy authentic software now even when the computer vendor is willing to "help me out" and might actually be interested to find out if my version is legal, but I don't have much confidence in software providers. After experiencing such excitement as having to rollback to an older driver to be able to use the internet, or iTunes updating my Ipod's software and making it unusable right before a big trip, I have a healthy skepticism.

For my new work computer, on the advice of the store, I bought Vistas bundled, but actually installed the old XP. I'm hoping to be able to keep this up and avoid Vistas.

Question: Can I get a Blackberry (with service) in Taiwan? You know, just to complete the annihilation of my private life?

Pennsylvania Rifle

Resolved from Hanover Township, Lancaster County, June 4, 1774; that in the event Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, our cause we leave to heaven and to our rifles.

Competition from China and India had already made poor rural people cling to their guns and religion in 1774. Who'd have thunk it!

At the Breakfast Shop

DIALOGUE:

Cook: Is he a German?

Lao Ban: No, he's a Canadian.

Me: Actually, I am an American.

Cook: I thought you were German because you always wear Birkenstocks.

Me: I wear them because they are comfortable.

Cook: I have a pair too. They are expensive but worth it.

ANALYSIS:

1. Me calling Rye a Nazi because he wore Birks is not that far off from this situation where Birk-wearing is associated with Germaness....(Germanity? Germanicity?) Except I was joking.

2. The cook owns a pair of Birkenstocks, too. By her own logic, does that mean she is German?

3. I also was wearing a Nike shirt. Why didn't she focus on that and correctly surmise I am an American?

4. Taiwan must have a lot of Canadians if people's second guess for nationality after German is Canadian. Second time this has happened (asking/assuming Canadian citizenship.) Maybe its the combination of Nike shirts and German sandals?

Quasi-Karl Style Post

I was writing a letter today and had to explain a kind of part used in the assembly of some kids furniture. The word "shim" popped into my mind, but before I used it in the letter, I did a brief wikipedia search to make sure I wasn't using the wrong word.

Turns out the word "shim" meant what I thought, but it also had about a million other usages. Here are some of the weirder ones:

Fantasy

A drug harvested by refining fairy dust as extracted from enslaved fairies who are on mind-control drugs. Shim is an upper, with similar properties to drugs such as cocaine or ecstacy, and has the physical appearance of a pile of glitter.

Luthiery

In luthiery shims made of various materials are often used to adjust neck alignment.

(Not a weird usage of the word shim, but I had no idea what Luthiery meant.)

Todd Gilbert

A transvestite that this man usually targets in his various journeys while assigned to an US Navy ship located in the Seventh Fleet. Shim is slang for "She-Him."

Alternative Theory on Obama

Some people think Obama appears unpatriotic in this photo, but might I suggest an alternative theory?

Dude was trying to hide a boner.

Maybe he's so patriotic that the national anthem gets him hard.

I remember some book I read in Jr. High where the main character always carried a text book around to hide his awkward boners. Which is good advice when you're 15 and your hormones make that happen every time the wind blows.

I'd suggest saltpeter tablets for Sen. Obama.

p.s. One thing I like about Obama is that he looks like a dork. Who else but a dork would stand there with their hands clasped over their crotch area?

UPDATE:

Upon reflection, I have yet another theory. Obama thinks he's playing soccer and is forming a wall to block a penalty kick. Really, Obama should be warning Richardson to protect his family jewels. And maybe Hillary, too.

Earth Day vs. Daylight Savings

I happened to be in a Hilton hotel in Amsterdam for both Earth Day and for the change to daylight savings time there.

For Earth Day, the hotel turned off all of their public lighting for one hour from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. They also held a candle-light reception in the lobby and lit about 100 lanterns to light up the front of the hotel.

Now, I already have problems with the idea that turning off your lights for one hour will do anything to help the Earth. The power plants have to keep a minimum amount of load running, so I doubt we can "save" much electricity by everyone turning off their lights at one time. But when you go out and buy hundreds of candles and metal lanterns, you probably just used more electricity and raw materials than just keeping your normal lights running, not to mention I suspect candles produce greenhouse gases (though I am less worried about global warming now that more evidence is coming out against it being man-made or even a real issue in the long run.) They also had to print up hundreds of color fliers to advise their guests of the plan.

Daylight savings, however, might actually lead to a more permanent reduction in energy use, though that is debatable according the wiki link.

I think there might be even better ways for a hotel to help the environment, like providing free bicycles which would be especially effective in Holland where bike lanes are everywhere. Or how about offering complementary erotic massages, which would convince a lot of guests to turn in at an earlier hour and save on that precious electricity? I'm sure they could afford to offer these for free since they charge € 8.00 for a Budweiser and € 20.00 for an internet connection.

Did I mention the special Soap Menu, where you can order the soap of your choice for only € 17.50 per bar? Obviously some people in this world are making a lot of money or can bill their employers for such things.