As an entrepreneur and long time Internet enthusiast, I know that innovation sometimes comes from the strangest places.  Frequently though, the innovation comes from students who are the best and brightest of other countries, coming to study here.  Why then do we educate them so well, then send them home?  Support the StartUp Visa program which would allow foreign entrepreneurs to create their companies here, hire employees here and build their businesses in the US.  This program is good for US jobs and industry.  Click on the tweet button above to send a note of your support to your US representatives.

To my non-USA friends–you can take a breather on this one.

Well, it actually comes from NPR, but it’s still pretty good, not to mention factual.  See the Hayek vs Keynes Rap Video, featured on the Freakonomics blog at the NY Times.

I wasn’t aware that Tampa Bay was a hotbed of UFO activity, but they’re reporting that an unknown object, approximately 33-50 feet wide, will come within 80,000 files of the Earth around 7:47 am EST Wednesday 1/14/2010. Hopefully somebody will figure out what it is and that it is friendly.

A couple kissing through surgical masks…

As everyone knows, Miss California lost the Miss USA title because she gave an honest question to a difficult question.  Fox News reports that Perez Hilton gave her a 0 for her answer because he is a gay activist and he was very offended by her answer.

There are a number of questions arising from this.  Was Perez fair?  Did this cost her the crown?  Should she sue?

First, Perez scored her based on his offense, not according to the scoring instructions.  The 0 was not based on her poise, grace, intelligence or anything other than him not agreeing with her.  It’s not like she couldn’t find the US on a globe or something.

Next, did it cost her the crown?  Coming in second place and having a 0 on the score for that section certainly makes it more interesting to say the least.  Perez himself says that she was the front runner until that question.

Lastly, should she sue?  In some ways I hope so, but in other ways I’m tired of our over litigious society.  I’m sure that Miss USA feels badly enough about this as it is and this tarnishes the pageant in many other ways.

I personally hope “The Donald” publicly denigrates Perez for causing all of these problems, making the audacious statements that he has and bringing harm to the pageant.  It doesn’t matter what anything thinks about Prop 8 or Perez Hilton’s personal beliefs.  He scored her incorrectly.  He was wrong and should be rebuked.

According to a February 28, 2009 article in National Geographic, Mars Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Global Warming. From the article:

Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.

Obviously Abdussamatov isn’t very popular.  His work hasn’t been “well received” by other climate scientists who would potentially be a) wrong and/or b) out of work if he is right.  “His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion,” said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England’s Oxford University.  Mainstream science thinks that Mars is wobbling, causing shifts in solar radiation to the poles.  Mar’s lack of a large moon makes it wobbles worse.

Abdussamatov also maintains that solar irradiance is decreasing, leading to a cold snap in 2040.  Perhaps the effect of CO2 in the air will balance with decreased solar irradiance leading to consistent temperatures over the next 50 years.

On another side, El Reg had an article 9 April 2009 stating that our clean air regulations and improvements to air quality is causing the increase in temperatures at the poles, not global warming.  More heat from solar radiation is making it through due to decreased sulfates and increased aerosols in the air.  Sooty aerosol from the Chinese traps some of the heat too… So we humans can decide whether we’re helping, hurting, or having no effect.

I hear that Bush Street in San Francisco was temporarily renamed to Obama Street.  This is just plain silly and somewhat vindictive.  In this day of casual Friday, or even casual Monday – Friday, some respect is still due to our leaders.  I’m 100% for free speech, but I just don’t understand some people.   Thankfully this isn’t something really being done by the city, at least not yet.

This story has two attractions for me.  The headline was enough for me to get my dumb-ass pen going, but the real question for me was simply this:  What is a “hooning offence”? Continue Reading

The ever popular (I read his every post too) Seth Godin, uniquely qualified to make suggestions for the car industry, has an interesting idea today.  Go back to the “good ole’ days” when there were hundreds of car manufacturers.  The thought is that this would foster innovation.  While increased competition would certainly be welcome, as well as real innovation, I don’t feel that hundreds of automobile manufactures would benefit the consumer in the long run. Continue Reading

Can you give me and my gun a ride to Washington, DC?
A brilliant taxi driver knew the answer, which WTF? No! So the taxi driver drops him off at the train station and calls police instead.
I can just hear the 911 call now:
911: “What is the nature of your emergency?”
Taxi driver: “Some dude with a gun asked me to drive him to Washington, DC.”
911: “Did the passenger fail to pay you?”
Taxi driver: “Excuse me!  He had a gun.  A big gun.”
911: “Ah, I see.  What kind of gun do you have sir?”
Taxi driver: “I don’t have a gun.  I kicked my passenger’s ass out of my car and his gun.”
911: “Where did you lose your gun, sir?”
Taxi driver: “click…”

Continue Reading