On Climate Change Climate Change

Kimberley Strassel wrote a very interesting piece in the WSJ titled: The Climate Change Climate Change about the increasing skepticism, around the world, regarding the climate change science that Al Gore and others have been claiming is completely "settled".

A Bear On a Rope

A link to this series of photos made its way to me today... pretty funny.

This Thing Called the Internet

Classic news clip from the early days of the Internet. Pretty funny.

On Obama's Big Re-Regulation Speech Today

At the risk of redundancy -- since I sent bursts of opinion on this to my Facebook friends and Twitter followers today as well -- here are a few thoughts I had while listening to Obama's big speech today announcing his intentions to re-regulate the financial industry:

• We'll see how many of his proposals make it through Congress. But one question I have now: how will more regulation lead to less fine-print in mortgages and credit card paperwork? When has more reg ever had that result? Take prescription drugs for instance -- see the magazine ads!
• Mark calendars for 5 and 10 yrs from today (Obama re-regulating financial industry): did this make things better or worse? and for who? and what "unintended", negative side effects will this produce? There always are some from such sweeeping gov. moves.
• Really, Mr President? Really no mention of the biggest cause of the bubble and problems that followed: Fed easy money policy. Nope, no one in DC wants to criticize the Fed. Instead, more power begin given to the Fed! (Sigh...)

Hitchens on the Situation in Iran

As I'd expect, Christopher Hitchens wrote an excellent column on the situation in Iran after the recent events (he refuses to refer to them as an "election"). This is must reading, as he describes aspects of this I'm sure you aren't aware of.

On Twitter and the Iran Riots

See this interesting short article about the role Twitter is playing in getting the word out about the unrest in Iran following the recent "election."

Blame Beyond GM's Management

Alex Epstein has written two good blog posts critical of the notion that the primary blame for GM's problems should be attributed to GM's poor management over the years. See his posts:

• The elephant -- and the Donkey -- in the room (part 1)
• The elephant -- and the Donkey -- in the room (part 2)

In this second posting he recommends the writings (on this subject) of Holman Jenkins of the WSJ. He excerpts the following gems from a recent Jenkins article:

Why don’t the auto makers limit themselves to paying competitive wages and benefits in line with what workers could earn elsewhere? Because, in the 1930s, Congress passed the Wagner Act with the nearly explicit purpose of imposing a labor monopoly on Detroit to keep wages at higher-than-competitive levels.

Why doesn’t Detroit rationalize its musty brand lineups and dealer networks? Because, in the 1950s, legislatures across the country imposed franchising laws, including the federal “dealer day-in-court clause,” to make such rationalization prohibitively expensive.

Why don’t the auto giants do as Whirlpool and other manufacturers have done, and move their production to cheaper offshore locales? Because, in the 1970s, Congress enacted fuel economy rules to penalize homegrown auto makers if they don’t build the lion’s share of their cars in high-wage, UAW-staffed domestic factories.

Could Ichiro Suzuki Break the All-Time Hit Record?

For baseball fans who read this blog, know that I just wrote another post over at Seamheads.com:

Could Ichiro Suzuki Break the All-Time Hit Record?

On Randy Johnson: Will he be the last to win 300 in the Majors?

For baseball fans who read this blog, know that I just wrote another post over at Seamheads.com:

On Randy Johnson: Will he be the last to win 300 in the Majors?

Tetris, Happy 25th Birthday!

As many are reporting, today is the 25th birthday of the classic video game, Tetris. Even Google is getting into the celebration, dedicating their logo to Tetris today.

Most readers will remember Tetris, the simple block-shape puzzle game. It is quite addictive for many people, and overall it is probably my all-time #1 favorite video game. I wouldn't want to guess how many times I've played it over the years, first my old Atari computer, then on various game console machines, then on various handhelds, most notably the Gameboy.

I'm proud to say, I'm pretty good at Tetris. The scoring systems on different platforms vary, but I'll report that on the classic Gameboy version, as of a year ago, my high scores at each starting level on that platform are:

• Level 0: 384,327
• Level 1: 648,029
• Level 2: 581,570
• Level 3: 336,696
• Level 4: 622,523
• Level 5: 472,289
• Level 6: 461,939
• Level 7: 384,704
• Level 8: 577,083
• Level 9: 625,747

And yes, I introduced my wife Susan to Tetris in the 1990s, and she quickly became hooked as well. We don't play it as often as we used to, mostly taking it on trips or getting it out in the winter when there is less to do outdoors. I find it can be helpful to play once in a while if for no other reason than mental exercise: I find it relaxing and stimulating at the same time.

Yes, years ago I played it so much that a few times I "dreamed in Tetris", meaning my brain would somehow generate the pieces during my sleep and I'll play the game automatically. Strange!

Although we hadn't played Tetris in many months, Susan and I played the game a few times last night, in honor of the Tetris birthday.

And finally, much thanks to both Alexey Pajitnov who invented the game at the Moscow Academy of Science, and gaming entrepreneur Henk Rogers who was key in bringing the game to Nintendo and a broader American market.

Thoughts on the Early All-Star Game Fan Voting

I just wrote a new posting over at Seamheads.com, the site where I do my baseball blog writing:

• Thoughts on the Early All-Star Game Fan Voting

23-Month Old Pro Pool Player?

Check out these two videos, of 23-month old Keith, who clearly has talent for the game of pool:

• Video 1
• Video 2

Wow. Even if the clips are edited to only show good shots, still, this seems impressive to me.

Chimp on a Segway

This is a funny and interesting video: Chimp on a Segway. Seems to be having a good time. Obviously loves to go fast, and seems to get the hang of it towards the end. I like how the chimp even seems concerned about his helmet at one point too.