Leave Toyota Alone, Please
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Business, Politics
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Democratic congressional delegate from the District of Columbia, decided to use the congress’s inquiries into the Toyota recall situation to ask about her own car.
This action should not have been tolerated by any of the other members of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee overseeing these hearings. I’m sure Ms. Norton felt she was making an important point, but it was not only pointless, but it was selfish. “So I ask you, is there any chance that the Camry hybrid will be recalled?” Probably a question that millions of other Toyota owners in this country alone would like to ask the company’s executives but won’t get the chance.
This question was proceeded by a story of Ms. Norton looking for an “American” hybrid, which apparently she defines as a hybrid produced by either Chrysler, Ford or General Motors. By the way, Ford and GM (to my current knowledge) both do make hybrids, but apparently Ms. Norton was unaware of that. She also wasn’t aware that most Toyotas sold in North America are built in the U.S. with parts made in the U.S., as Mr. Yoshimi Inaba told her following the story.
She then said that it was Toyota and suggested that therefore must be a Japanese car, and then accused the executives of disavowing themselves from the car and blaming Americans for the problems that the vehicles are being recalled for. Whether or not it was in jest, that really is an inappropriate comment to make to a company that is providing jobs to Americans even though they don’t really have to.
Do you think that the comments made by Ms. Norton were appropriate? John C. Dvorak on the latest episode of No Agenda (episode 177 from 2/25/10) doesn’t think so. And honestly, I agree with him and I hope the voters of D.C. are paying attention.
Q&A with Senator Orrin Hatch
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Politics
Today, I went to a class where Utah’s Senator, Orrin Hatch was the guest speaker. Senator Hatch allowed us to ask him questions and answered all of them, including one I asked him about torture concerning his comment back in August on ABC’s This Week saying “we don’t want to cripple our ability to be able, in very crucial times, to get the information we’ve got to have to save our country and to protect our people.”
I asked him what his thoughts were on water boarding, torture and other interrogation techniques and he says that water boarding does work and does get people to talk. He also says that military personnel such as the Navy Seals also get water boarded as part of their training so that they no what it feels like. He also said that he is not really for water boarding detainees and that there is a limit to what interrogators should be able to do. Interesting, considering that some leaders in his party continue to claim that they are for water boarding detainees and that it is not torture.
After the class, I was able to speak with him and hear him answer more questions. He recently said that Guantanamo Bay beats Illnois, referring to the weather of course. According to him, Guantanamo has all new facilities and that their is nothing illegal or immoral happening there. And with the recent objections of people like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg saying he would like the trial Khalid Shaikh Mohammed moved out of Manhattan, the trial may be held in Guantanamo after all.
Another thing that I said that I really agree with is in defense of NASA and the space program which has recently been the subject of proposed budget cuts. This maybe because his constituency will be hit with the budget cuts as it would cut jobs in Utah as Representative Rob Bishop has pointed out, but also as the amount of technology that NASA has been able to develop that has benefited the country. NASA’s budget in 2011, they propose spending $100 billion over the next five years (2011-15), which seems like very little compared to $548.9 billion for the Department of Defense or even $49.7 billion for the Department of Education’s discretionary spending.
Senator Hatch also mentioned in the discussions that he believes Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee in 2012, citing his experience with economic matters and in business as the former CEO of Bain & Company. I also agree with this, however there will be a lot of competition from Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement.
Overall, I enjoyed the Q&A with Senator Hatch, he is an excellent on the spot speaker and is able to eloquently defend his positions on the issues. If the Republican party wants to take back control of Washington, they need more people like Senator Hatch on their side.
Why Democrats may win 2010, Part One
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Elections
I am currently thinking about topics for a paper I will have to write for my Elections and Polling class this semester. This is my exploration of a possible topic.
Some may laugh, but there is a reasonable chance that the Democratic Party may retain their majority in the Senate after the midterm elections this November. The Democrats currently hold a commanding 18 seat majority over the minority Republicans and their are 36 seats up for election this year, two more than the usual 34 for this Senate class (Class III), due to Joe Biden having to leave his seat to become Vice President, and Hillary Clinton leaving her seat to become the Secretary of State.
On the Democratic side, there are four incumbents retiring from the Senate, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Ted Kaufman of Delaware, Roland Burris of Illinois, and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Connecticut is most likely to be a safe Democratic seat with the state’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the major Democratic candidate, winning the seat. In the past four Presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has won the popular vote. However, in North Dakota, Republican Governor John Hoeven is running for the seat after serving as the Governor since December 2000 with no real Democrat challenging. George W. Bush won the popular vote in North Dakota twice and so did John McCain in 2008.
On the Republican side, there are six incumbents retiring from the Senate, among them Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Kit Bond of Missouri. In the last two Presidential elections saw the popular vote in New Hampshire go to Kerry and Obama and in their last Senate race, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen defeated incumbent Republican John Sununu. The race so far is between Democratic two term congressman Paul Hodes facing off against the state’s former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte who served in the capacity under Democratic Governor John Lynch, who has served as Governor since winning election in 2004 and won his third term in 2008 with 70% of the vote.
In Missouri, McCain won the popular vote their in the Presidential election, but by less than a percent. In their last Senate election in 2006, Democrat Claire McCaskill defeated incumbent Republican Jim Talent and Democratic Governor Jay Nixon won his election in 2008, having served as the elected Attorney General of the state. The most likely Republican candidate for the seat is Congressman Roy Blunt who has name recognition as a Congressman serving since election in 1996 and as the father of former Governor Matt Blunt. However, the leading Democratic candidate, Robin Carnahan, the daughter of former Missouri Governor Mel Carnaham and former Senator for the state Jean Carnahan, being the first woman to sit on the Senate for Missouri.
Looking at the Democratic incumbents seeking reelection, the most safe seats belong to Daniel Inouye of Hawaii who has served as a Senator for the state since being elected in 1962, the only Senator more senior than Inouye being Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin also has a safe seat in the Senate. No one from the Republican party has really challenged Feingold although there is a possibility that former Governor Tommy Thompson, who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under Bush, may run for the seat. Barbara Boxer of California and Patty Murray of Washington also have safe seats.
More on this to come.
Further Looks at West Ridge Academy
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
When I finished writing my last post about Utah State Senator Chris Buttars, I continued looking into this institution he has been involved with called the West Ridge Academy, formerly the Utah Boys Ranch.
I’ve been doing some reading at website. If you look under “Testimonials“, you will find a lot of heart warming stories about families finding promising and sensational results after sending children there. One account is from parents Debi and Kirk Gilmore, and if you look at the Board of Directors of the Academy, you will find Debi Gilmore is actually the Chairman. If you watch the ten minute trailer (pretty long trailer) for “Clearing Time,” a movie that the UBRN is producing, they show a commercial that the Academy used featuring nothing but people they claim to be staff members giving scripted testimonies of their experience with the Academy. If Debi Gilmore is putting up her own testimony on their website, it isn’t hard to believe that they may decide to pull something like that.
The part that disturbs me the most is the connection to the LDS Church. In the commercial shown in that trailer, they indicate a very close relationship with the church will such people as former President and member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Jeffrey R. Holland speaking at the Academy and posing in photos with their current Executive Director, Ken Allen. The commercial also shows children studying the scriptures and speaking with service missionaries, this despite the Academy claiming that it is nondenominational. I don’t care if your institution is tied to the Church, it’s not against any principle I hold or any law I know of. But, shouldn’t we at least be honest about it and not tell a blatant lie to the public?
I wonder if the Church is actually aware of the abuse allegations against the Academy from the UBRN. The Church apparently provides the service missionaries and even a Bishop to the Academy. However, I don’t think that the Church wants to be associated with an organization which in recent time has come under fire for controversial practices. I know the Church, and they do operate on a high plane, and if these things are true, then someone at Church headquarters is being kept in the dark. However, I would find it hard to believe that one of these Church volunteers offering services to the Academy wouldn’t know that some of these things are happening and wasn’t saying anything. Unfortunately, high plane or not, Mormons are human beings too.
The UBRN has also posted a two part recording of Norwood and others talking to Ken Allen and trying to obtain a copy of their records from West Ridge. Norwood claims that a staff member of the Academy has been posting a false accusation on the Academy’s Wikipedia article claiming Norwood refuses to share the records of his time as a resident. I looked through the history of the article, and was unable to find any evidence of that. However, when Norwood asks Mr. Allen for a copy of his records, he is asked questions about what his intentions are and is told that Mr. Allen does not know what the Academy’s policy on releasing records are. HIPPA clearly states that any medical records (the Academy being a rehabilitation facility) must be kept at least ten years and that a patient is fully within their rights to request a copy of them.
If this institute is in fact legit and operating with in the confines of the law, then what on earth are they hiding?
Chris Buttars and School Woes in the Beehive
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
I don’t have any idea what came over me just now, I have never called Utah “the Beehive.” Especially odd since I haven’t seen a bee since I left New England.
A Utah state senator by the name of Chris Buttars, a Republican representing the 10th district which includes Herriman, South and West Jordan, has proposed cutting 12th grade from high school curriculums and have “accelerated graduation” in order to save $240 million on the state’s budget. Utah has a $700 million budget shortfall that the government is dealing with, and $240 million would certainly help close the gap that the state is currently facing. However, do we really want the first and most brutal cuts to be to education?
Education is the most important thing that our government’s in this country provide, and it is also the only thing that can stop events like the subprime mortgage crisis from happening in the future. It is also the only thing that will allow us to stay competitive with China and the European Union. So, it seems to me that our time should be spent improving the curriculum of 12th grade rather than just cutting 12th grade all together. How are colleges supposed to respond to applicants who only went to three years of high school and how can Utah high schoolers compete with the rest of the country?
We should also consider the man who is proposing this legislature, Chris Buttars. Buttars has been accused, on multiple occasions, of prejudice against the African American community and the homosexual community. He has called the decision in Brown v. Board of Education “wrong to begin with.” He also said concerning a bill concerning school funding, “This baby is black, I’ll tell you. This is a dark, ugly thing.” On homosexuals, he compared them to radical muslims saying that “I believe they will destroy the foundation of the American society.”
Buttars has apologized for his comments concerning the African American community but has not apologized for comments against the homosexual community. Senator Buttars has been a prejudiced fool who has been elected by his constituency in the past three elections only for the fact that he is a Republican. Last February, the State Senate removed Buttars from his chairmanship on the Judicial committee for his comments about homosexuals, but he should have been asked for a full resignation from the Senate. We can no longer allow people like Mr. Buttars to make decisions and push legislation in our governments, especially concerning education in this case.
Buttars has had past involvement in an organization called the West Ridge Academy, formerly known as the Utah Boys Ranch based in West Jordan. Buttars served as the Executive Director of the institute who’s stated purpose is to “to offer hope and healing to families.” However, their has been controversy over the practices of the Academy including one case where a resident claimed that he was abused and filed a lawsuit against them in 2008. You can also find a lot on mormongulag.com about alleged activities going on inside the Academy. If these stories are true, Buttars doesn’t know anything about education and should not be making policy concerning it.
I ask the people of District 10 in Utah not to re-elect this person in 2012 and to even ask for his resignation from the Senate. You should be ashamed and embarrassed that you have elected someone who is undeniably dangerous.
My Opinion on Citizens United
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Politics
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States, this somewhat helpless but wonderful country I happen to reside in decided that corporations had the same rights as a citizen of the country in regards to free speech. Particularly with regards to donating money to political campaigns. The High Court has handed down their opinion on the matter, and now here is mine:
If corporations now have the same rights as regular individual citizens, then I like some extra rights as well. You see, a few days ago, my wireless mouse that I use with my laptop at home broke and now continues to click continuously despite whether or not I am actually pressing the button. Therefore, I would classify it as a troubled asset and I request that the government give me $1 million of TARP funds for it. Hey, I’m going bankrupt every day that I wake up and decide that I am hungry, the least this government could do is buy one lousy million dollar broken mouse to help me through this economic crisis.
Another way I would like to survive the economic crisis is to sell shares of myself on the New York Stock Exchange. I was thinking a modest $50 million IPO just to help fund some upcoming projects I have in mind like dumping toxic waste in the west desert of my home state of Utah or purchase the naming rights to an arena to be used by a WNBA franchise.
You see, I really don’t understand what Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito (do you see a pattern here?) are thinking in their decision to pass this decision down. That’s right folks, politics is going to become more like NASCAR! I can just see Sarah Palin wearing a racing jump suit that says Palin/Beck 2012 on the front and DuPont and Kellogg’s on the back (because you know she would). And get this, apparently Obama’s re-election campaign is brought to you by JP Morgan Chase and AIG, what a surprise!
This is going to be a disaster. We already are fully aware that corporations fund campaigns as much as they want through certain means such as political donations from their major shareholders. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act created by one of the most non-conservative conservatives in the Senate, John McCain from Arizona, and one of the most liberal, Russ Feingold from Wisconsin, came together to cosponsor it. The bill’s main purpose was to stop soft money from freely flowing into campaigns. It also requires the candidates to stand by their advertising.
I’m Andrew Davis, and I approve this blog post.
The Return of Mac User’s Blog
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Uncategorized
I knew that if I hung on to the domain, that I would inevitably use it once again. Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I spent an entire morning and afternoon furiously refreshing Engadget and shouting sub-profanities at my computer as I tried to get Leo Laporte’s TWiT Live stream to load. It ignited a spark in my soul that made me come to a realization that I wanted to blog about Apple again.
And I did, on this site. But, I starting to think that I want to give it another go. Blogging is the only thing that I can really keep up with in my modern life. I’ve tried many attempts at podcasting with little success, mostly because I lack the radio voice and the competent think-on-my-feet ability that it requires. I also lack the equipment, bandwidth, and the time. I currently can’t even keep up on my Twitter feed let alone a podcast. That being said, I am open for requests to appear on a podcast 
You can read the old archives of the former Mac User’s Blog here on it’s original Blogger platform (how far we have come). The launch of the new Mac User’s Blog is happening on February 1st, stand by!
Thoughts on the iPad
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Apple
Today, Apple finally ended the endless speculation about the magical super tablet computer device by introducing a very big iPhone. Okay, so it’s not really just a big iPhone. It’s more of a shrunken MacBook with a more simple version of OS X. Remember, the software running the iPhone is OS X.
I still don’t think that this is a device with mass appeal. It is a really specialized device which I think is perfect for people who do a lot of traveling who want a small device with a big screen to watch movies and read books with in the airport and on the plane and in the bus. I also can see that there is a lot of potential in the medical field. However, if you think that college students like me are going to be carrying these things around with their textbooks on them, well, there’s a problem.
It’s too expensive for the people living on my budget. I mean, digital versions of textbooks are cheaper than there physical counterparts, but they are still pretty expensive. But instantly, without buying a single textbook, you’ve spent at least $500, and let’s be honest, you will have spent closer to 6 or 700 for the better versions. Then, lets say you are going to be saving around $150 a semester on books, so you have to be in school at least 2 years before it actually pays itself off. And that’s all depending on if the textbooks are actually available on the iBook Store or somewhere else.
Oh, and by the time it pays it’s self off, you will want to buy a new one. Because the new one will have a camera, and 4G wireless, and will cost $200 less.
That being said, I want one. I have to just give it up, I am a wanna-be Apple fanboy I would buy anything that Steve Jobs tells me too if only I had the money. I think that this is a great device and would love to just have one to carry around to use to surf the net and to take notes and all of that. I am quite tired of carrying my 15 inch MacBook Pro around, it’s pretty heavy after you’ve been out on campus for a whole day.
Some may say, why not just buy a smaller, less heavy netbook like the Dell Mini or an ASUS Eee PC. It would be cheaper and offer all the functionality you need for a day in class. Well, it’s really hard to use a clamshell laptop when you’re legs are crossed. A tablet solves this promise. And the netbooks aren’t that inexpensive, I mean, do you really want to deal with Linux or Windows 7 Starter?
The Public Laundromat
Posted by Andrew | Filed under General
You know what’s great about public laundromats? They aren’t in your home. I am sitting here in a public laundry to the east of downtown Salt Lake City and I am actually forced to do something productive such as update my continually neglected blog here. After this, I may read a book or do some of the homework I need done before classes on Tuesday.
The reason for this is that I don’t have my TV, I don’t have my comfy office chair, all I have are a bunch of silver washers built in Sweden by a company I have never heard of to watch. And after watching them for more than two minutes, you will become very bored and want to do something else. After I finish writing this pointless post, I will probably read my new book, Inventory, by the writers of the A.V. Club.
The other thing is that the rules at the public laundromat are all posted clearly on each washer and dryer. Rules such as how to insert detergent and bleach and how to properly treat the machines. When you are in a situation with roommates and a landlord who owns the machines and doesn’t bother to go over the rules with you, you are just guessing, and eventually, your security deposit disappears.
The other reason Laundromats are great is that a person like me isn’t responsible enough to own something like a washing machine or a dryer. And when you live alone, thousands of dollars for such machines just doesn’t seem economical, when you consider the water and electricity that they use and you will have to pay for. The laundromat is $1.75 a load in the washer, and another dollar or so to dry them. If you only need to do a load every week, that’s about $140 to $150 a year. Imagine how much you would be spending in interest on the credit card you would have to had put the machines on.
Now, I must finish this up, both the machines I’m using are one cycle away from finishing. That’s right, I can use two machines at once here.
A New Semester at the U
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
Is it weird that I know who Angela Merkel is? Or Herman Van Rompuy? They are the German Chancellor and the the former Belgian Prime Minister now serving as the President of the European Union. Apparently, pretty much all Americans, at least the ones I come into contact with don’t. But, I am a European citizen, so I probably should know these things.
I am now taking a class entitled European Politics in an effort to demonstrate my superior knowledge of a subject to my peers who don’t care either way. Don’t worry though, because I am going to be repeatedly humbled by Dr. Dan Jones in his U.S. Public Opinion and Elections class. This is the professor I had last semester for Political Science/U.S. Government something or other. I can’t remember what the class was called. Which brings up the question, what is Democracy?
Dr. Jones asked us this in out second class a few days ago, and it is an interesting question. There have always been people debating whether or not the United States is a democracy of a republic. Democracy is a government that is run directly by the people voting on certain issues, but we elect leaders for local and national government like a republic would, so what exactly are we?
Hopefully, some of these questions may be answered with the help of my American Civilization class. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? It really is just a class about the history of the United States starting from the colonization of the eastern Atlantic coast up to the second World War. The first thing I learned in this class is the apparently, the Chinese came within a couple hundred yards of the San Francisco bay area, but never bothered to go on the land and check it. Don’t worry though, with the amount of money the U.S. owes to China, they may get a seond chance at owning California.
Last but not least, I am taking a class in World Regional Geography. Again, this is only to demonstrate some sort of superiority over my peers, who don’t care. No actually,I just like looking at maps, I think it’s fun.