Something...

... to think about

Will It Work

Now that Israel is having to defend itself against again, will this work? AFP: Israel deploys 'Iron Dome' anti-rocket system Unfortunately the system is not fully deployed. With all the unrest in the region right now it remains to be seen how many rockets will be fired. This won't work against the surface to air missiles that have been aquired in Libya.

Post US Globalization?

 China is attempting to forge a post-US globalization US Economy - US - World 

Sorry, Kid

I'm sorry.  I'm sure you would have enjoyed your trip. And according to Immigration you would have enjoyed it so much you would not have wanted to leave.  Next time, I guess, you'll have to be like other 9 year olds who visit -- have a house or job overseas, that way you have established ties!

Does anyone else think that this is absurd?

Boy, 9, has Disney World trip ruined after US immigration rules him a threat - Telegraph 

What should the limits be?

Where should the limits of free speech be drawn? Specific threats of violence including death threats I do not believe should be protected. They should be placed in the category of inciting violence. But what about symbols? At what point do vague references become inciting action.  According to this article, placing target sites on someone are what are meant by threats to law makers.

Dem planning bill that would outlaw threats to lawmakers - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room 

I do believe that what happened in AZ was a tragedy, but I'm not about to credit the actions of a mad man to the Tea Party affiliated web site.  If the word "target" would be outlawed, I'm sure that whatever word used to mean "focus efforts on" could be potentially construed to mean the euphemism for "target" and thereby also be brought under the umbrella of the ban.  If that were to be the case, then someone, presumably the courts, would have to discern the author's (or speaker's) intent. Something which the courts already struggle with.  That then leaves a ban being either a broadly covered unconstitutional infringement on 1st Amendment rights or a selectively enforced ban based on the political leanings of the enforcers or jurists.

Hence, I would lean toward no ban. Not that I don't want to prevent such tragedies that occured, but rather that I find the proposed solution to be more harmful than the problem. But I'm open to suggestions.  

Say What?

While a ticket would work well for a teen who has a job, giving tickets for 6 year olds? What's up with that? 

Schools Giving Tickets, Not Detention Slips, Report Says « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth – News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of DFW 

Food For Thought...

 Could the U.S. central bank go broke? 

Food for thought...

 Could the U.S. central bank go broke? 

US Gov Debt

We appear to owe quite a bit to foreign countries... how much do they owe us? 

Factbox: China leads list of biggest U.S. creditors 

If you can't beat them, join them!

On my most recent trip to Best Buy, I noticed that they have adopted their price signs to reflect the change in buyer habits.

Now, people like me, can use their smart phones to scan the 2D barcode that takes the user to the website describing the product. Best Buy hopes to drive sales to their website and to deter people from searching the web for the best price based on the UPC. (yes, I am that guy who possibly drives up prices by window shopping at a store, but scans the product to see if online -- usually Amazon.com -- is the cheapest)

I hope more retailers will adopt this practice to help shoppers find more information (reviews, comments) AND retailers cut their prices -- or at least be more honest about "sales."