Daylite Sun Archived Commentaries |
It's That Time - Again!Commentary for Tuesday 03/27/2007 Spring Chores!
Spring Again - Yikes! Although Spring is always welcome, some of the
Spring and Summer chores are not. At Daylite Sun we have just finished our
second mowing for this year. Mowing is the easy part as mowing is just a matter of
riding and guiding the lawn mower. What is always a killer though is cleaning the
yard. Trees have shed their dead branches, some of the overhanging limbs need
trimming, and the fence line has to be weeded. Since my ambition declines a little
every year for these rites of Spring, I can understand why some think about paving
the yard, and planting plastic trees.- sigh!
Invaders: The growing grass isn't the only thing popping out of the
ground. During the winter, the fire-ants have been busy. You get a better perspective
just how bad the problem is while mowing. This year I will try one of those lawn care
products advertised to control fire-ants for the whole lawn. Even though I have my
doubts, these products are just too tempting to not at least try. It is a constant
struggle here to keep them out of the cats feeding dish. (Ozzie is an outdoors
cat.)In a later column I will detail the brands and my success with these
products.
Big Dish Woes: Spring has also brought bad news about our 10 ft.
C-Band dish. After fifteen years of faithful service, the brackets supporting the
dish have rusted and the dish is in peril of falling. Today, I will put it out of
it's misery. An installer is coming out today to install one of those little dishes.
We have resisted going to the little dish for a variety of reasons, price of the
programming being chief among them. The C-Band programming is a lot cheaper, the
difference is that with C-Band, you have to buy all the hardware up front, and it is
expensive. For instance, a new big dish would cost over $600.00 to replace, and thats
just the dish. Installation would be another $200.00. After weighing the costs, we
decided to go with the little dish. Warning About Lawn Care Products: Hopefully, everyone has serviced their mowers, installed new blades, and are ready for this season. Last year, I tried using one of those fertilizer products for St. Augustine Grass. It worked miracles, but I had to mow twice as much. I will not repeat that mistake. The decision here was that we could live with a less than perfect lawn. Fast growing grass is responsible for a lot of additional grass clippings. Mowing 2 acres produces a lot of clippings that you either have to rake or just let them clutter up the lawn, and a lawn piled up with dead grass clippings is uglier than a lawn that is just anemic. Let us know about your experiences in lawn care. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Spring Chores, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Mixed Emotions About GonzalesCommentary for Monday 03/26/2007 Indecision!
Say it Isn't So! I always thought that mixed emotion was "watching
your Mother-in-Law drive over a cliff in your brand new car." But the possibility of
getting Alberto Gonzales to answer a few questions, especially about the unfair
prosecutions of the Border Patrol Agents, Jose Alonso Compeanand and Ignacio Ramos
would be worth seeing. It would be good to see Gonzales take a hike to where he came
from. Also included in his department's unfair prosecutions was the local Sheriff's
Deputy Gilmer Hernandez from Rocksprings, Texas by the one and same U.S. Attorney
Sutton. We think that the Bush Administration bent the rules of Justice against these
men to pacify Mexico. President Bush doesn't leave much room for support here, so
here at Daylite Sun we are kinda-sorta, on the fence, even though we
generally like to support the President.
The Democrats: For their part, the Democrats are just on a fishing
expedition hoping to ensnare Karl Rove and further the destruction of Bush. This is
definitely a witch hunt but their willing allies, the Press, are willing to promote
the idea of a scandal, even though there is none. Daylite Sun does not
support this witch hunt. It is the other matter with respect to Alberto Gonzales that
we have an issue.
In short: We think the President is wrong on immigration, and has
been a disappointment in his handling of Iraq. However, we approve of Bush when he
takes a stand and refuses to cater to his opposition. The problems he has had over
the past two years was in not being more forceful. Half-way measures have been his
hallmark. I expect better from my President than mediocrity and half-measures to
placate those that you believe to be wrong. Ideas cannot be honestly tested without
their full enactment. When an idea is fully tested, only then can it's value be
ascertained. For example; You propose to build a house. Your proposal calls for 200
ea. 2" x 4" boards. But your opposition can see that you might be able to build a
pretty good house with those 200 boards and oppose you. You want to build the house
so bad, that you compromise with your opposition and agree that you will only use 150
boards. The delivered house turns out to be too small and as a result, nobody is
happy. The result of compromise is often a failure because the original idea was
never tested.
On the Fence: Until I see some accountability for the pernicious
prosecution of those Border Gaurds and that Deputy, I could care less if Gonzales has
to resign. It is a shameful position by me, because if he does resign, it will
probably not be because of Sutton and his prosecutions. Sutton should also have to
hit the trail, right along with Gonzales. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Alberto Gonzales, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Man's Assault on the EarthCommentary for Friday 03/23/2007 Road to Global Warming
Image Hard to Forget: Like most who grew up in the 50's and 60's,
the images of "smog" was indelibly burned into our conscience. Everyone realized that
this was a man made phenomenom. Compounding these images were our daily experiences
of man's pollution.
Those Amoco Demonstrations: Amoco Oil demonstrated the distasteful
stuff coming out of our automobiles utilizing leaded fuel by attaching a large clear
balloon to the tailpipe of an automobile. The balloon quickly filled up with black
nasty gases, this was beside another automobile burning their new lead free fuel.
These were an eye opening demonstrations and paved the way for the acceptance of
unleaded fuel.
Bus Stations: lastly if you ever traveled by bus, it is hard to
forget the deisel exhaust that permeated those bus stations. You could hardly get
your breath around those places. A Conditioned Public: Getting the public to accept a theory that blamed the activity of humans for global warming was relatively easy. The general public already had experiences with man made pollution, so it was easy to accept that burning fossil fuels was causing global warming by the discharge of CO2. I also fell for the idea that man was responsible for the problem. I even wrote an article for 'Amazines.com' about the hazards of CO2. I penned another article for my sister website robfg.com. Learning Can Be Painful: After a lot of research that included a lot of the worlds pre-eminent scientist, prompted several articles on this website about CO2, Venus, and Mars. There is only one conlusion a reasonable person can make. Global warming is not from any efforts of mankind. You can read my rewrite of the article of global warming here: robfg.com.
Smog: What I want you to understand is that smog and the effects of
other pollutants were resolved by real science. Not an emotional, nealy hysterical
proclamation by those with ulterior motives. So look into the issue for yourself and
don't allow this issue to steal your freedom. Be deliberate in your quest to find the
truth. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Global Wrming, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
DDT Ban is RelaxedCommentary for Wednesday 03/21/2007 DDT Ban Relief
Looking for Relief: Quoted from "Junk Science.com" Sept 21, 2006,
quote: "It only took 30 years, tens of millions of lives lost, billions sickened and
trillions of dollars of economic growth foregone, but the World Health Organization
finally ended its ban on use of the insecticide DDT to kill malaria-bearing
mosquitoes. It’s great news for developing nations that want to employ the most
affordable and effective anti-malarial tool. So what should happen to those
environmental activists and government regulators who used junk science to have DDT
banned in the first place?"
Threats of Banning Exports: The poorest of the worlds countries have
been held hostage to the nonsensical ban on DDT, while the poorest among the poor
among us struggle to survive. Survive in the classic sense, economically with just
the very basics, but they also have to contend with the heartbreak of Malaria. One of
the most useful tools to combat this horrible disease, DDT, was banned. DDT wasn't
banned because science had proven it to be harmful to any human or animal, but
because of liberal hype and emotion. DDT was accused of everything from 'Eggshell
Thinning' to causing cancer.
Banninng the Pesticide DDT: The EPA hearings on DDT concluded that
DDT was not harmful but was overturned by William Ruckelshaus the EPA Administrator.
Quoted from Junk Science.com, "William Ruckelshaus, the administrator of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency who made the ultimate decision to ban DDT in 1972,
was a member of the Environmental Defense Fund. Ruckelshaus solicited donations for
EDF on his personal stationery that read "EDF's scientists blew the whistle on DDT by
showing it to be a cancer hazard, and three years later, when the dust had cleared,
EDF had won."
2 Strikes Against it: Like most political determinations made, there
was more to the decision than met the eye. At the time of the decision, there was
worry about over-population. Some of the major crusaders against DDT had determined
that this would be as effective as any birth control in the third world to control
the wildly increasing populations in those countries. These advocates latched onto
the phoney science and exaggerated the claims against it. So basically by prohibiting
the sale of DDT, they let Malaria do the dirty work by killing millions of people.
This seems cruel by any standard. The alternate route of education and real birth
control, would have been a better alternative. Malaria is not a great way to go, even
if you disregard the moral issues. The other strike was the campaign against DDT by
the Audabon Society and the Environmental Defense Fund. Once committed, there was no
turning back. Theirs was an honest involvement, and most members honestly believed in
what they were doing. At least there was no sinister motives in their cause.
Still Can't Spray: The ban that was lifted in September only allows
a limited application of DDT. They can use it to coat walls, and use with mosquito
netting to help curb the disease. But even that little bit is seen as a major
victory. Please read more on the DDT ban here:
Even after 2 Days: I still have not finished making the changes
recommended to me by Google. As I stated in a previous commentary, this is a one
person operation. It takes between 4-6 hours of research for a short commentary,
accuracy demands no less. The links that I put on this website are used because of
their accuracy. I will go to many websites, plus use my set of Encyclopedia
Britannica extensively to get to the bottom of the subject that I am writing about.
Only those sites which are thoroughly bibliographed and checked are posted for you to
look at. Keeping up with 2 web-sites plus doing all the coding, researching, and
making sure that I have standing with the major search engines is a full time
operation. Hopefully, in a couple of days, I will have completed the new indexing
system and can publish it. - Thanks for your patience! Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About DDT or this Web Site, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Sorry - Working on Web SiteCommentary for Monday and Tuesday 03/20/2007-03/21/2007
Thank You, Wednesday I hope to be finished. |
The Extreme LeftCommentary for Friday 03/16/2007 Those Uncivil Democrats
The Rabid Left: Maybe Rabid is a little too extreme, but reading the
comments by the liberal left on their websites, leaves the impression of people out
of control. Posts by the left show complete disregard for facts, civility, and
display an extensive knowledge of 4 letter expletives. How is it that ordinary people
will allow themselves to be such extremophiles?
Rooted in Election 2000: The legal battles in Florida over the 2000
election are fertile grounds for the recruitment of a lot of the unrest. Few of these
left-wing followers actually understood what the legal wrangling in Florida was all
about, so they just believe what they are told by those wanting to stir up trouble.
Al Gore won the popular vote and therefore in the minds of the radical left, he
should be President. The problem with the popular vote-takes-all is that the United
States has an elector system. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes and
the candidate who wins the majority of electoral votes becomes President. Electing
the President this way was carefully crafted to prevent densely populated regions
from dominating the rest of the country. Without this kind of control, a candidate
would just have to win the vote in the high population states to have a victory, and
everybody else could go suck an egg because their wishes could just be ignored. The
Electoral College is there to make sure that any candidate will also have to win some
of the lesser-populated states in order to win.
Florida 2000: Florida's election was very close but George Bush
legitimately won Florida. Al Gore wanted a hand recount in selected counties, but not
the whole State. There were a lot of ballots that had been uncounted by the vote
counting machines for various reasons, most were because there appeared to be 2
selections or more for President and therefore disqualifying the ballot. Then there
were a lot of ballots that were not completely punched, making the counting machines
not count the vote. In several of these not punched ballots, there were indications
of the voter intent and was referred to as a 'pregnant' or 'dimpled' chad. More on
the 'pregnant' chad ballots later. It was Al Gore's cherry picking where he wanted
hand recounts, and the zeal of the party faithful trying to divine the voter
intention with the ballots which had 'damaged chads' and 'hanging chads' and too many
punches that finally stopped the hand recounts. The Supreme Court did the only thing
they could do that would preserve the integrity of the vote. There was no way to
determine if a voter actually voted for the wrong candidate, and if they did, what
was the intention of the voter. The Democrats wanted to assume that the votes cast
for Pat Buchanan were actually votes for Al Gore, but there really wasn't any way to
know that. As an American, I don't want the votes to be assumed to be for any
particular candidate.
After the Supreme Court: It was after all the legal wrangling that
various news media undertook the task of recounting the Florida Ballots. Those
'dimpled and pregnant' ballots were counted because there was clear indication of
voter intent. The others, it was just not possible to accurately discern the voter
intent. The result of several recounts still had George Bush winning Florida. Not by
much, but he won. That brings us back to Al Gore. The nation was ripped apart over
the Florida debacle, and the defeated Al Gore could have done a lot by declaring that
he was satisfied with the election with which he lost. But took the sore loser rout
instead. He felt cheated, and having won the popular vote, it must have been a bitter
pill to swallow. At any rate, he did nothing nor said anything that would heal the
rip in this country. Extreme leftist used the 2000 election to scoriate Bush as a
usurper, and illegitimate President. They seethed, and no one from the left would
tell them any different.
Fast Forward to 2004: Howard Dean saw what had happened and tapped
into the anger of the left. He was able to raise a lot of money and was even
proclaimed the front runner early on in the primary season. Dean's voice added fuel
to the fire of these voters who by now hated Bush. Dean was able to exploit the war
in Iraq, and with the help of the McCain-Feingold campaign reform act, was able to
use the Internet to great effect. His Internet use became the model for what was to
become the Left-Wing Blogosphere. It is on these websites that you find the
hate-speech and vulgarity vented towards both George Bush and this country. To these
leftists, everything that is wrong in the world is either the fault of Bush or the
United States. Somebody should make Al Gore have to read these posts just so he can
see what his tantrum over losing the election in 2000 has given birth to.
Influencing Congress: The extreme left has the Democrats in the
Congress on the run. Democratic Congressmen fear being on the receiving side of hate
from the extreme left if they don't do as the left demands. It has actually become a
game of extortion for those Democrats who need the extreme left to stay in office. A
sad affair! We Can Do Better: The extreme left, although the Democrats now, should stand up to this group, but they haven't the stomach to do it. It will ultimately take a resounding defeat of the Democrats to stop those on the extreme left. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Politics, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Reading the 'Fine Print'Commentary for Thursday 03/15/2007 Reading the Fine Print
Signing Papers: Do you ever watch those TV Court Rooms? The Peoples
Court, or Judge Judy.TV court rooms illustrate the importance of those lengthy
agreement papers that are signed by renters, cell telephone users, and creditors. A
courtroom, in most peoples mind, is where a person can go before a magistrate and
explain your perceived wrong and get some justice. Alas, this is not the case
anymore. Those papers you sign before you take out that lease, or use that software,
or borrow that money, are full of 'gotchas'.
Common Rental Agreements: You know that when you do find that
apartment/house that seems just right, before you can move in, out comes the Rental
Agreement. These agreements are usually boiler plate with every protection imaginable
written in for the landlord. They are written by lawyers, and usually in legal jargon
that most people can't understand. Very few of these agreements stipulate a property
walk-through where both the prospective renter and the landlord go over the property
and note the 'as-is' condition before the renter occupies the apartment/house.
However, almost all retal agreements have a clause that is included in the rental
document that stipulates that you agree that everything is in good shape when you
moved in. What happens when you sign that agreement without thoroughly inspecting the
property and noting the defects at the time of move-in, you will be charged for
everything that is wrong with the property when you move out. More than likely, the
charges are taken out of that security deposit you made when you leased the
property.
The Court: You move out of the property, you gave the proper notice,
but when you go to collect your security deposit, you are confronted with a list of
repairs that had to be made before the landlord can rent the property again. Looking
at the list of repairs, you realize that most of these items were there when you
moved in. The reality of the situation is that you have no standing because you
signed that rental agreement that stated that everything was good when you moved in.
If you choose to take the landlord to Small Claims Court, you will not be successful
without proof that the damages happened before you moved in, or if the items come
under the heading of 'normal wear and tear', which offers some protection for long
time residents.
The Culture: Judges, no matter what a litigant may think, want to be
fair. One of the problems is that people lie so easily, and will say anything for
their cause, so Judges have no choice but to rely on the paper work. Even though you
knew that the plate glass window always had a small crack in the lower left corner,
you never gave it a thought. But because you signed that rental agreement, you may
have to pay for it. The lesson in all of this, is before signing any documents, read
the fine print. Hire an inspector if necessary for a thorough report on the property
before you sign that agreement. Fine print and agreements are here to stay, so don't
get caught in having to pay unwarranted claims by default because you failed to do
due diligence.
All Agreements: Even those every day agreements like cell phones,
credit, and car rentals have legal stipulations that you should find out about before
signing. Weird things do happen, and before you find yourself on the wrong side of
that 'fine print', you must; Read the Fine Print . Then, if you
don't understand the document, don't hesitate to have it explained to you. It's your
money! Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Fine Print, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Bush: Stubborn or Leader?Commentary for Wednesday 03/14/2007 George Bush
Controversial Goerge: My Aunt told me that if a 'Thunder
Lizard' ever bit me, it wouldn't let go until it thundered. She was talking
about the small spotted salamanders that I found in the yard peroiodically. When it
comes to President Bush, he reminds me of what my Aunt told me. In a way, he has the
'thunder lizard' streak in him. Once an idea becomes embedded, right or wrong, he
can't let go until the idea rots enough to become stinky, then he musters up the
where-with-all to distance himself from it.
Iraq No Exception: President Bush's naivete in thinking that he
would be able to invade, rebuild, and make nice in a large country with 25 million
divided people, with only 140,000 troops, is beyond imagination. It happened because
of his inability to shake the thought that we would blaze into Iraq and be received
as liberating heroes. Even after overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Bush refused
to take the steps to improve the situation. The Iraqi pile continued to ferment and
stink until at last (and with a pitiful mid-term election), he sees the need to be
more aggressive.
Army Depleted: When he became President, he was bound to have found
out that President Clinton had depleted the military. Donald Rumsfeld made a most
telling statement when in a press conference stated that, "You go to war with the
army you have." That may be a true statement, but immediatly after 9/11 a pro-active
President would have taken that opportunity to expand our military enough to be able
to go to war on terror. There are many consequences to not having an adequate
standing army. For instance, because we are short on troops, the companies that we
rely on to rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure, have to hire private security forces.
Security is the number one problem from three years ago until now! Are you listening
George?
The Clerics: It is also hard to blame clerics like Muqtada al-Sadr
for being disgusted with the Americans for not providing protection for the Shiite
Muslims. Those Shiites turned to al-Sadr for protection and he responded with a
private army to control the violence against his people. After we finally sent in
troops to Sadr City, (The Surge) we found that the people there welcomed us. All they
wanted was security. Don't misunderstand that I am trying to paint a rosy picture for
Muqtada al-Sadr, or you will miss the point that it was our lack of securing these
neighborhoods that gave rise to such as al-Sadr. We couldn't secure those
neighbohoods, we didn't have enough troops.
It is Clear: President Bush is not a
proactive President. He does not take any action until the problem has managed to
grow into an almost unmanageable mess. This is a fault beyond redemption. Being a
good and decent man does not excuse his timidness for taking decisive action. At
Daylite Sun we feel that George Bush is his own worst enemy. He is
indecisive, and apparently, just like a 'Thunder Lizard' can't let go of bad ideas
until it is too late. It's thundering George! Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Bush's Indicision, Thanks, Robert GrossBack |
Unheralded AchievementsCommentary for Tuesday 03/13/2007 Unheralded Achievements
Those Helpful Achievements: Periodically we like to turn attention
to some of the everyday items that make our life better or more enjoyable. A lot of
these items we just take for granted, and that is why Daylite Sun likes to
turn attention to and give a little credit just for their existence. Just deciding on
which achievments to put into the spotlight, was troublesome. There are so many. I
wanted to pick out the more influential of these devices. If you have a candidate
please let me know. I plan on a follow up to this subject in a few months.
Killing Fire Ants: A major research effort had to be mounted to find
a method of controlling this little critter. The Fire Ant had to be practically
reverse engineered to find his weaknesses. Broadcasting any type of insecticide into
the environment cannot be taken lightly. So many of the pesticides kill things other
than the original target. Coming up with one that doesn't harm useful insects is
vital. For instance, it would really be foolish to wipe out the honey bees just to
kill the fire ants. So far, the score is fire ants 1, and the researchers 0. Local
control, one mound at a time, is the better choice for now, but the research
continues. Products which can control whole lawns are on the market, but this is
still a long way from being able to cover large areas. So, because of how pesky fire
ants are, we give praise to those doing the research on fire ant control.
Considering Circuit Breakers: These are the safety kings of our
society. These marvels of engineering are so sophisticated and yet so reliable, that
they are taken for granted. The circuit breakers job is to safeguard the electrical
path that it is connected to. It has to know when there is too much electricity
flowing in the circuit, and be strong enough to stop it before a fire is started. The
amount of electricty the circuit breaker can safely stop is crucial to preventing a
catastrophe. For instance, if the surge of electricity is higher than the circuit
breaker can safely interrupt, then the circuit breaker can also turn into a casualty
and burn, setting off still more chaos in the switch box. The sizes and types of
circuit breakers are carefully chosen by the engineer to be able to not only provide
circuit flexibility, but be able to interrupt the flow of electricity whenever things
go bad. One last thing, a circuit can go bad when there are too many demands made on
it. The wires that connect to the circuit breaker are only rated for so much
electricity. So another of the circuit breakers jobs is to monitor the circuit to
make sure that too much strain isn't being put on the wiring of that circuit. Again,
preventing catasrophe and fire. Our hats go off to the engineering that produces
these marvels, the circuit breakers. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Unheralded Achievement, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Will France Become Muslim?Commentary for Monday 03/12/2007 French Muslims in Ascendency
Cheap Labor Recruitment: For ever silver lining, there lurks an
ominous dark cloud. The French Muslim communities now in existence trace their
origins to a wave of heavy immigration to France from throughout the western
Mediterranean in the twelve years between 1961 and 1973. The open borders to the
immigrants was halted because of the oil embargoes and rising unemployment in France
in 1973. France is tasting the bitter fruits of having had an open immigration policy
that allowed immigrants in at a faster rate than could be assimilated.
Polls Show: Most Muslims identify themselves first by religion, and
Europeans agree that Muslims want to maintain a separate identity, according to a
poll among Muslims. This makes assimilation very difficult, and because of this
difficulty, the French are working very hard to accomodate the Muslims. The
Government evidently doesn't feel like the Muslims will accept traditional French
values, so they surrender some of their own traditions in hopes of being more
accepted by the Muslims. The French Government does not keep ethnic statistics (at
least public statistics) about their citizens. Their Constitution declares every
citizen to be French regardless of ethnic background. Because of this position, an
accurate count of the Muslim population is not possible. However, as seen by the
riots of 2006 in France, it was evident that Muslims had proliferated all of
France.
Scholarly Report: There is a scholarly report for those who are
interested in the plight of France that delves into the demographics in detail and
comes up with the conclusion that France is not going to be taken over by the
Muslims. His case is pursuavsive, and I know that you will enjoy reading it. You can
find the report here:
Ignored History: I read and enjoyed this post but find that ignoring
history gets you into trouble. The Muslims have successfully usurped all of Malaysia,
the Middle East, and a majority of Africa with their tactics. They are well on the
way to adding some of the Eastern European states like Kosovo. Muslims are already
building large Mosques thoughout France. These large edifices only strengthen the
resolve of the Muslim faithful, and make assimilation more doubtful. An article
posted by Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent, at IslamOnline.net affirms the priorities
of the French Muslim. Here is a quote from IslamOnline:
Quote: "PARIS, October 12 (IslamOnline.net) – The majority of French
Muslims opts for allocating their Zakah (obligatory alms) to build grand mosques on a
par with Christian churches and Jewish synagogues and replace many vaults used as
prayer rooms."
At Daylite Sun It is our contention that the problem in France is
indeed a precarious one. It is also analogous to what is happening along our border
with Mexico. True, cheap labor has it's attractions, but remember, there is a price
to pay for it, and sometimes that price may be more than we bargained for. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Mass immigration, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Hillary: Fingernails on ChalkboardCommentary for Friday 03/09/2007 Listening to Hillary
Listening to Hillary: Admittedly I'm not a Democrat, but I do like
to listen to what the Democrats are saying. After all, I used to be a Democrat. It is
an effort just to listen to their defeatism without having to listen to a speaker who
talks down at listeners as opposed to a speaker who has the talent to talk
'to' listeners. Listening to Hillary is like listening to fingernails dragging
across a chalk board. Her voice evokes an irritation in me that I cannot explain,
regardless of what she is saying. Am I alone? Evidently not, because poll after poll
among Americans reflect that she is perceived as mean. Most photographs that are not
official photographs show a different Hillary. Like this one:
At Daylite Sun: It is felt here, that Hillary will not get the
nomination for the Democrats, but we also don't see Barack Obama getting there.
Either of these candidates would be a gift to the Republicans. As Speculative as it
may be, we see Al Gore as a late entrant upsetting Hillary and Barack's plans. Al
Gore is certainly riding a wave of popularity, and that makes it too easy for him to
interpret this popular wave as being his opportunity for the Whitehouse. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Election 2008, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Profiling ConservativesCommentary for Thursday 03/08/2007 A Profiling Conservaties
Conservative Search: Although the headlines are full of the McCain
slump and the meteroric rise of Giuliani, there is an effort to draft actor and
former Senator, Fred D. Thompson. Thompson has good conservative credentials. His
history in politics is rooted in Tennesee where he served in the campaign of Senator
Howard Baker(R) in 1972. He went on to serve as co-chief counsel to the Senate
Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal. In 1994, he was
elected to serve out the unexpired term in the Senate of Al Gore who had resigned the
seat to become Vice-President. Thompson went on to re-election following the served
out term of Al Gore. For personal reasons Fred Thompson declined to run for the
Senate again, and resumed his acting career.
Thompson's Appeal: Thompson has a magnetic straight forward manner
that appeals to the electorate. He has good oratory skills and an intelligent grasp
of the issues. Here at Daylite Sun, we feel like a Fred Thompson candidacy
would be a real asset, and would enrich the choices for the Republicans. The primary
election is the stage to determine the candidate that the party will support. This is
the stage to boot the ones we are unhappy with, and promote those with whom we have
hope. In the election of November 2006, the voters chose to boot their candidates in
the main election and to not take care of those issues in the primaries. Because of
this, the Republican Party suffered a major defeat. The importance of the primary
process needs invigorating, which is why a candidacy of Fred Thompson would be good
for the Republican Party.
Finding the Faults: It is up to the candidates running for public
office to expose any weaknesses in their oponents. Most call campaigning an excercise
in "mud slinging", but in reality, these primary campaigns provide the information to
the public that enables an intelligent choice. If everybody played "nice" during the
primaries, we could wind up with a loser for the main election. You can be sure that
the opposition party will exploit any weaknesses of a candidate
without mercy.
Supporters of Fred D. Thompson can encourage him to run by visiting
the 'Draft Fred Thompson' website here: Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Election 2008, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Expansion of Space?Commentary for Wednesday 03/07/2007 Disputing the Big Bang
Controversy Over 'Big Bang': Any publicity noting opposition to the
'Big Bang' theory is kept pretty quiet. But here at Daylite Sun, my opinion is that
the counter claims in opposition to the 'Big Bang Theory' are substantial enough for
you to be aware of.
The Big Bang is rooted in the observed frequency change in light
from observed stars and galaxies. This shift is called "The Doppler Shift" which is a
frequency change in light waves. The frequency change is different depending on
whether the object is coming or going from the observer. This shift in light
frequency is applied to the observed space objects to determine the direction and
speed the object is traveling. From these observations, it was determined that we
live in an expanding universe. Theoretically reversing the direction of these space
entities, shows that they would eventually converge at a single point. Therefore, it
was the expansion of this congregation that makes up the 'Big Bang'. This theory is
widely accepted, but there are some dissenters.
Dissention: The observed 'red shift' has an alternate explanation.
This explanation is derived from a theory put forth by Dr. Arthur Holly Compton. (He
won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927) His theory deals with high-energy photons
and their collision with atoms. His contention is that when a high energy photon hits
an atom, there is a corresponding loss of energy and a change in frequency of the
photon. Other theoreticians have extrapolated his work to explain the 'red shift'
which is scientifically observed by astronomers. These theoreticians have duly noted
that by using the doppler shift method to determine direction and speed, that our Sun
is moving away from us. But as a factual matter, we know that the Sun is not
moving away from us. But the red shift of our Sun can be explained by the loss of
energy of photons as they escape from the Sun by their collisions with particles
around the Sun.
Website for Further Reading: I am certainly not qualified to make
any conclusions on this rift over the 'Big Bang' theory; but those of you who have an
interest in the subject should include this Website to find out more about our
Universe. http://www.angelfire.com/az/BIGBANGisWRONG/
Here you will find links to many sites that support the contention that the Big Bang
is wrong. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Space, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Bad Lessons for Our KidsCommentary for Tuesday 03/06/2007 Setting Bad Examples
Extremes not New: The youth of every generation have always pushed
the boundries of society in their search for an identity. The difference between now
and past generations is the springboard from which these young people have to jump
from. The options are getting pretty slim for a young person to stand out. For
instance; being outrageous sexually is no big deal, ditto for drug use and alcohol.
Some have elected to wear their hair in strange colors and configuations, but that
too, is old hat. How about worn out clothing with holes --ho! hum!.Well let us see
what else they can do; how about body piercings. It was the 'thing', but the extremes
have already been reached. Some of these kids look like they, "Were drug through a
fishing tackle box." (Unknown source) So what does it all mean?
At a Crossroads: No not the kids, but our culture. As a culture we
have allowed the bar to drift so low, that for these young people to 'arrive', their
choices for a harmless display of 'self expression' is serverely limited. I remember
an old joke told about one of Zsa Zsa Gabor's latest husbands, "I know what to do,
but how do I make it interesting." It is a real challenge for these young people to
be unique in a culture where everything is permissible. It is no longer possible to
break little taboos held by the society to declare your independence because there
are no taboos left. The next step is to delve into what may be harmful or
illegal.
What is Different: Men and women in this society are not doing
anything different from past generations. What is different is that in today's times,
nobody is being discreet. Both sexes used to value and protect their reputations.
Having a good reputation used to mean something. People used to not parade their
liasons in front of their children, went to church, and behaved with aplomb in
public. Public profanity was not the norm, and certainly not some of the four letter
words in open use today. Make no mistake though, people have always been people, the
only difference between now and then is that in years past, a person would protect
his/her reputation by using descretion and keeping their mouth shut. We have managed
to lose the respect of the world through publicly demonstrating our imorality.
We Can Do Better: I just hope that we can, as a culture, return to a
more honorable way of dealing with our daily lives. The question is not having to
choose between our vices or be saints, but whether to be respectful and try to be
discreet about our human failings. At least it will leave the young people some way
to declare their independence without harming or criminalizing themselves. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Growing Up, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Texans Getting the ShaftCommentary for Monday 03/05/2007 No Relief for Texans
Electric Bills Rising: The vaunted "deregulation" of the Texas
Utilities has it's customers crying foul. It is hard to brag about deregulation when
your electric bill is higher than your house payment. There is an under the surface
broiling by Texans that is ready to boil over into a full scale fight over the issue.
The unhappiness felt by the Texas citizens is not without merit. I did a little
snooping around other neighboring states to see what our neighbors were paying for
electricity. Note, I only looked at the residential rates.
The Southern Tier States served by 'The Southern Company' including
Mississippi, Alabama and etc. Posts their rates online which I wanted to share with
you. The Southern Company Rates are shown as pennies/KWH which translates to
$0.039/KWH:
Notice Their Fuel Adjustment: Even with the fuel adjustment, the
total cost per Kilowatt Hour is only $0.06/KWH. Now look at what choices that Texans
living iin South Central Texans have to choose from with their "Deregulated"
system":
Look at the Cheapest: Even their cheapest rate is more that twice
what the "Southern Company" charges their customers. These images are from the
respective web sites of 'The Southern Company' and 'Power to
Choose'. It is clear that Texans have to do more than complain. Make yourself
felt at the voting booth. Make your electric rates an issue for the upcoming
elections. Without your taking actions, it will only get worse. Flood the Texas
Public Utilities Commission with you concerns. They will eventually get the message.
One more thing, ask to see the rates of all zip codes in Texas and not just from your
zip code. Be aware of what is happening with others in your state and get more
involved. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Rising Utility Rates, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
In Search of a ConservativeCommentary for Friday 03/02/2007 Newt Gingrich, a Conservative
Newt is Still Around: Newt Gingrich, the Dragon the Democrats
thought they had slain is gaining in popularity. Gingrich was instrumental in taking
the control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats, which they had held
for 40+ years, in the 1994 elections. For his efforts, Newt became the object of an
intense publicity campaign by the Democrats to embarrass and destroy him. The
publicity against Newt was so intense that many Republicans felt his negative
notariety was hurting the party. The Democrats filed 84 ethics charges during his
stint as House Speaker. The charges ran from the subline to the ridiculous, but they
still netted a lot of negative headlines. Facing a rebellion by the Republicans after
losing 5 House seats in an election year that Republicans were expected to gain
seats, Gingrich was forced to resigned the Speaker's Post.
Like a Pheonix: From the headlines, you would think that Rudi
Giuliani and John McCain were the only candidates for the President in 2008. But from
'Vote.Com', an online polling among Republicans came up with these reults:
Newt Gingrich 42% with 15,764 votes.
Rudi Giuliani 33% with 12,161 votes.
Mitt Romney 12% with 4,345 votes.
John McCain 6% with 2,305 votes.
Summary: Other Republican candidates were just also rans with no
more than a percentage point or two. The poll is not official, but does say that the
Republicans are still in search of a candidate. The media is trying to promote one
candidate or another, and for sure, the Liberal media doesn't like Newt Gingrich. So
don't expect them to credit anything that Newt does, just the opposite, they will
rehash the media campaign of 1995-1998. Newt was also one of the biggest backers of
the Impeachment of President Clinton, so he holds a special place of dislike among
the Democrats.
Daylite Sun: Here at the Daylite Sun, we would like Newt to announce
his candidacy, but we also understand his decision to wait until September to make
any announcements. So listen up, those of you who follow politics, this may be a very
interesting political season. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About the 2008 Elections, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Onward to Other WorldsCommentary for Thursday 03/01/2007 Man's Destiny
It's In Our Genes: We always think of the behavior of a life form as
being instinctive, but it is really programming. Often referred to as instinctual
behavior, but without this innate programming, a life form goes nowhere. True, a lot
of behavior is learned, but the real mark of success comes from the programming. It
is the coding of the genes that allow for changes to enable the survival of that life
form. Living things, individually are programmed to exploit certain resources.
Whenever that particular resource is exhausted, or if competition for that resource
is overwhelming, then that life form has to either adapt to another resource or
perish. The determining factor is the DNA programming of that life form.
Humans are Different: Sentiency, has given humans an awareness that
is missing from the rest of the living biomass. Human programming is part and parcel
of being a human. Human programming includes horizons that are out of the scope of
other living things. The destiny of humans is to travel into space and colonize new
worlds. Before this can happen, there are many obstacles to overcome, but we are well
on the path to achieving that goal. Eventually, we will defeat death as we know it,
and go out into the cosmos and do our part in creating. It is already a part of what
and who we are. Plans to reform Mars into a habitable place are already in the
serious planning stage. But this is only a baby step for now, and someday we will
complete the circle. One has but to look at the larger picture to understand that
whatever we are, there is a lot more to come. We are born creators, maybe just
engineering bacteria and cloning animals now, but the best is yet to come when we
create worlds. Just as we were created, we will create.
Man is Spiritual: It is specifically because of the harsher side of
our programming, (survival) the one that surfaces in our quests to be dominant, that
we need to listen to our spiritual side. I endorse religion because at the present it
is far preferable to any alternative that is floating around. Until human beings
develop some semblance of self-discipline, religion is not an alternative; it is an
imperative. Man is far too corruptible to make the jump into secularism. I much
prefer the phoniness of piousness to the uncertain, instability of a political police
state and the anarchy that is sure to follow. Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my daily commentaries. Comment Here About Man's Destiny, Thanks, Robert Gross Back |
Today and Tomorrow: I will be working on this site
today and tomorrow. Please bear with me, as I am reconfiguring this site.
The IP PAcket: Here's one that you don't often hear about.
This is the little marvel that makes the internet what it is. Whenever data goes out
into cyberspace, it is broken into "packets". The data carried by these packets can
vary in length, but most range from 46 bytes to 1500 bytes. Each packet is checked
for integrity, and if it has been altered can easily be replaced with out having to
retransmit the whole lot. Suppose you were to download a tune from the Internet and
it's size was 4 million bytes, and during the transfer one of the bytes became
altered. Without the packet system, you would have to resend the whole thing instead
of just the packet. The Internet would become hoplessly clogged if it didn't package
parts of the data into "packets". Hoorah, for whoever figured out this method of data
transferring!
We can all make funny faces, but this picture was
taken in a public appearance and caught in one of those momentary expressions that
she or anybody will make during an animated discussion. Fair? No. But in that
picture, it is discernable the inside anger that she is feeling. This look, is the
emotion that comes across in her speeches and one of the reasons she is so hard to
listen to. In her voice, I hear bitterness, defeat, and anger over being challenged
for the Dem's presidential nomination.
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