Hot Companions

No the title does not refer to the husband. It refers to what astronomers are calling some new celestial bodies. The Kepler Telescope found a star with two smaller bodies orbiting it. The two smaller bodies are too small to be stars and too hot to be planets. No one is quite sure what they are so they are being called hot companions.

I am really starting to think GOOG is the Galactic empire just currently in the Chancellor Palpatine mode though. That makes me wonder who the Old Republic is- MSFT or AAPL? The whole Nexus One is a brilliant idea especially selling it unlocked. I think that will be the next big wave in cell phones- all the manufacturers will see how well the Nexus One sells unlocked even with the unsubsidised price and follow suit. I really hope that is how it plays out.

I am psyched that GMAC- the bank that "We the people" now own- reported yet another $5 billion loss. Woo hoo! More of our tax dollars down the drain and we won't wind it down why?

So apparently now transfer payments- that would be any payment from the government to any citizen which comes from our taxes paid- account for twenty percent of all personal income. How can anyone seriously say the worst is over and the recession has ended. I am not advocating we should not have a social safety net- we should have one. But at what point do we figure out how to re-allocate the money being wasted propping up failed banks into finding ways to create new jobs so the social safety net will not be strained to the point of failure? Seriously, 20% has to be close to Third World levels...WTF?

I am of two opinions on where the health care reform bill now stands. It appears it is not going to conference as a bill this important actually should. Instead the differences between the House and Senate versions will be resolved by the Democratic leadership only through a process referred to as ping pong. I think that is the wrong way to hammer out a joint version as it excludes the minority from having a say in the process. However the minority has yet to actually add anything to the debate other than the plan is wrong because it is what the President wants. It is going to end up a huge mess even more and when it backfires on the President and Congress the Republicans will be able to say they had not say in it or part of it. It also flies in the face of a new way to run the government.

So auto sales are out and they are in line at roughly 11 million units. I read on one of the blogs to the right that that figure is below the replacement level for the U.S. This is good how? Again- are we wasting money supporting an auto industry that is dying anyways? Maybe we need a "death council" for the auto industry?

So, some sick fuck in New Hampshire killed a 42 year old woman in her bed with a machete and thought he also killed her 11 year old daughter. He apparently regrets leaving the 11 year old alive and did it only to see what it was like to kill someone. He says he felt nothing. I bet if we send 2,000 volts of alternating current through him he would feel something? It would not bring back the mother but it would prevent him from exploring his feelings again.

I had a dentist appointment after work today and the dentist took a pick and applied pressure asking if that hurt. I said no. Apparently one of my old silver filings had caused part of the the cusp to break- news to me.

I then met a senior from my alma mater who has an interest in my line of work. It went well I think and I asked him what other alums he had met with and how it went. Some friendly advice to anyone else who gets asked by their alumni relations department to help guide seniors- fucking talk to and engage them and find out about them.