Is It A Scary Time To Be A Woman?

September 21, 2012

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CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 05:  Attorney Sandra...

Sandra Fluke speaks at the convention

Two weeks ago the Democrats held their Convention. The focus seemed to be auto bailouts, pandering to Unions, making fun of Republicans and, of course, free birth control. Please.

The issues that they should be focusing on important ones…our debt that is spiraling out of control, the unemployed and underemployed…you know, the REALLY important things.

I watched the Princess of the Democrat party, Sandra Fluke, discussing how her birth control should be paid for. I really wish she wouldn’t have used the collective “we” when referring to women because she didn’t represent me or my values.

Living in Iowa, I’ve seen all of the ads. The most pathetic one of all starts out, “It’s a scary time to be a woman.” Really? Because no one can find work? Oh, wait, you mean because Mitt Romney doesn’t believe that our tax dollars should go to a private “women’s health” business.

Look, ladies. Let’s think about this. It’s not scary just because you may have to pay a $9 co-pay on your birth control. I know that now, compared to 4 years ago, I spend more than $9 a month on the same amount of gas that I’d put in my minivan. I know that my grocery bill has increased more than $9 each trip for the same items.

Maybe it is a scary time to be a woman. I’m scared that some women are actually buying into this. But what makes my head spin is hearing the women on the left scream “My body, my choice” and yet, we’re expected to subsidize it? You can’t have it both ways. Either it is your body and you take care of it yourself, or it is not and you get free stuff.

I don’t want “free stuff” from the Government, because it’s not really free. Someone has paid for it. And I’d rather not be indebted to the Government for anything.

I prefer FREEDOM over free stuff.

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2013 World Baseball Classic

September 20, 2012

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My team, the Rockies, are not in contention for a playoff spots, so my mind has been wandering a bit.  I got to thinking about the 2013 World Baseball Classic (essentially, the World Cup for baseball).  I went online to check the schedule for the WBC.  To my surprise, the qualifying tournaments have already begun.  Israel picked up a 7-3 win against South Africa yesterday.

Since basball is no longer and Olympic sport, the WBC is now the only major international showcase for baseball.  The rules for player eligibility are fairly loose.  A nation may use a player whose ancestors came from that country, even that was several generations ago.  There is nothing (other than lack of talent) to prevent me from palying for the German team.  The Israeli team will use players of Jewish heritage, regardless of nationality.  Nations can also use players from their territories, which is why a number of players for The Netherlands in 2009 didn’t look very Dutch … they were from places like Curacao.

In 2009 and 2012, sixteen teams participated in the tournament.  The tournament was by invitation only.  This has changed for the 2013 WBC.  The eight teams who won at least one game in 2009 gained automatic bids to the 2013 WBC.  The other four teams were dropped into four qualifying tournaments, along with twelve new teams.  Thus, a total of 28 teams (12 automatic qualifers and 16 teams in the qualifying tournaments) have a chance to play in the WBC.

Here is the breakdown of teams :

Automatic qualifiers:

  • Japan (2004 and 2009 champion)
  • South Korea (2nd in 2009)
  • Venezuela (3rd)
  • USA (4th)
  • Puerto Rico
  • Cuba
  • Netherlands
  • Mexico
  • Dominican Republic
  • Italy
  • China
  • Australia

Qualifier 1 (Sept 19-23, 2012, Florida)

  • Israel
  • South Africa
  • France
  • Spain

South African was in the 2009 Classic, but they’ll have a tough row to hoe in order to get back.  The favorite in this group is Israel, which fields a team of players with significant experience in the minor leagues.  Very few of the players are actually from Israel, with most of the players being Jewish players from other nations.  Spain also has a decent team.

Qualifier 2 (Sept 20-24, 2012, Germany)

  • Great Britain
  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany

Canada was 0-2 in 2009, but this is a good team.  They are ranked #5 in the International Baseball Federation rankings.  It will be an upset if the Canadians don’t win.

Qualifier 3 (Nov 15-17, 2012, Panama)

  • Brazil
  • Panama
  • Nicaragua
  • Colombia

Panama is was in the 2009 Classic, but they’ll be pushed by Colombia and Nicaragua.  I’d expect this to be the most competitive of the qualifiers.  I’ll give the nod to Panama, since the games will be played there.

Qualifier 4 (Nov 15-18. Taiwan)

  • Thailand
  • Phillippines
  • New Zealand
  • Chinese Tapei (Taiwan)

This is probably the least competitive group.  Chinese Tapei is the only team ranked in the world top 20 and should have a relatively easy path to victory.

 

 

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Who Are the 47%?

September 19, 2012

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Mitt Romney made the news when video from a private fundraiser surfaced this week.  In the video, he is having a candid chat with donors, telling him that 47% of Americans will never vote for him because they are dependent on the government – asserting that these people don’t pay income taxes and feel entitled to health care, food, and housing provided by government handouts.

The 47% number gets bandied about a lot.  You should ask yourself two main questions:

Is it true that 47% of people don’t pay income tax?

I addressed the topic of how many people don’t pay income taxes in greater detail in an earlier article.  A big problem is that people use the terms people, households, and filers interchangeably.  This is a mistake.  I’ll create an example household consist of a mom and dad (married filing jointly, with tax liability), elderly grandparent living with them (minimal taxable income, no tax liability), teenage son with a part time job (minimal taxable income, no tax liability), and a ten year old and four year old.  That’s one household, six people, three tax returns – only one of which has tax liability.  

If you’re using statistics about filers (such as IRS data), it is very inaccurate to substitute the word “people” or “households” for “filers”.  Yet, politicians and the mainstream media often do this, because it’s easier than trying to explain the nuances, even though there is a significant statistical difference.  When you see these quotes, go back to the source they used and verify that they are using the correct term.

Should “the 47%ers” pay taxes?

This is a more complex question.  Who are the 47% who don’t pay taxes, and why don’t they pax taxes?

The stereotype that some people are trying to construct is a family where nobody works, the kids run wild, and the parent use the welfare checks to buy Cheetos and Xbox games.  Certainly this sort of abuse of the system does exist, but let’s look at other examples of people who don’t pay taxes.  All of these fictional scenarios are using a very simplified tax situation of the standard deduction and exemptions, before taking any credits into account.

  • The elderly – Abigail is 70 and a retired high school principal.  She works ten hours each week at the local library, earning $10 per hour.  She also spends twenty hours each week volunteering at various organization within her town.  Other than the $5200 per year she earns at the library, the rest of her income consists of a Roth IRA (taxes paid up front), her husband’s life insurance benefits (non-taxable) and Social Security.  Abigail currently doesn’t pay taxes … but she paid her fair share of taxes for decades when she was working full time.
  • The young – Becky works with Abigail at the library.  Becky is sixteen years old and works ten hours per week.  Becky helps her parents with some of the bills and puts the rest toward college.  Becky doesn’t currently pay any taxes – but she expects to pay a lot of taxes when she graduates from law school.
  • The working poor – Charles and Debra, age 24, have two year old twins.  Prior to the birth of the twins, both of them worked at the local grocery store.  Due to high costs of day care in the community, Charles quit to stay at home with the kids until they are in school.  Debra earns $12.50 per hour and is being groomed for a management position.  While Charles and Debra don’t currently pay taxes, their household income will jump when Charles returns to the workforce and will continue to grow as they move up in the organization.  In a few years, they’ll resume paying income tax and will do so until retirement.
  • The unemployed – The factory where Edward worked shut down, resulting in hundreds of people losing their jobs.  The resulting glut of a particular skill set on the market has made it very difficult to find a job, and Edward has been unable to find work.  At this point, it would be difficult for Edward to move.  He has strong tied to the community and he’d take a financial loss if he sold his house at the moment.  Edward is no longer collecting unemployment and is burning through his nest egg and he attempts to find work.  Edward is not currently paying taxes – but he’d absolutely love to return to the ranks of the tax payers.

This is not a comprehensive list. 

As you can see, not everyone in the 47%ers is a “lifer”.  Depending on age and/or circumstance, you may end up paying no taxes some years and paying taxes in others.  Assuming that the 47%ers is a non-changing block of people is a dangerous fallacy for politicians. 

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College Football: Week 3

September 18, 2012

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Another week in the books and overall there were some HORRIBLE games this past week.

Alabama and Arkansas was supposed to be a big game. That was until Arkansas lost to Louisiana Monroe and then proceeded to also lose their starting quarterback for the game against the Crimson Tide. In case anyone is doubting Nick Saban and the 52-zippo blanking of the Hogs, trust me, the Tide is good. How two voters in the polls still think otherwise is beyond me.

Paper Spartan???

EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 15:  Andrew Maxwe...

Andrew Maxwell fumbles against Notre Dame

Michigan State proved finally to a national audience what Johnny G has been spreading around the water cooler all year – OVER-RATED. The problem is two-fold with their loss. One, it just further cements the fact the B1G 10 is not having a banner year and two, the fact that Notre Dame beat the Spartans just adds more fuel for the Gold Dome zealots who are proclaiming that Brian Kelly is the program savior. If he is that good of a coach, I just hope he is not as big of a cheater as Lou Holtz……

Meeeeeechigan versus Notre Dame

On the topic of Notre Dame, This upcoming week, (or should I say WEAK) is good time to go golfing with your buddies as there are a ton of barely watchable games filling the airwaves. We have Michigan and Notre Dame and then….not much else to look forward to except maybe Clemson against Florida State. I am not much of a fan of the ACC but this is the only other game likely to get much play nationally this week.

The highlight of week 4 from the National Spotlight will be Michigan versus Notre Dame – Mainly because…well…it is Notre Dame playing.

I am rooting for my buddy Aaron, (sorry Denis and K.R.) in a match-up of teams my friends root for. Go Blue. Johnny supports you!

Weak B1G 10

And since I mentioned a week of weak games, I might as well stay with the topic of weak – – – in the B1G 10, the Ohio State Bunkeyes barely crept out a win against the California Bears at home this past week. (Yes, that is right, I said Bunkeyes) Cal looked to have them on the ropes until a busted coverage late in the game gave Braxton Miller an easy long touchdown stat padding completion. I took Braxton off the Heisman 5 this week, mainly because some others needed props. Ohio State at this point is clearly the best team in the otherwise weak conference….too bad they can’t play for anything meaningful to end the season….cheaters.

A Tale of Two Mannings

Wow totally different ends of the spectrum for the Mannings in the NFL this week. Eli throws for 510 and 3 TD’s (also had three interceptions) in a win over the Buccaneers in a real life version of Tecmo SuperBowl, and Peyton throws 3 first quarter picks in a loss last night to the Falcons. A word of warning to the AFC. The NFC seems to have the cream of the early season crop of teams. Let’s see if everyone stays healthy and they are the ones to beat at the end of the year.

Heisman Watch – Week 3

  1. Rakeem Cato – Quarterback – Marshall – Averaging a crazy 423 yards per game. Of course it is Marshall, but here is some love for the MAC – he leads the NCAA in total offense. Through three weeks that gets you top billing.
  2. Geno Smith – Quarterback – West Virginia – Running roughshod with just two games under the belt, but is 2nd in the nation with an incredible 409 yards per game total offense. Finally might be showing he is legit since Matt “can’t ever beat Stanford” Barkley checked out last week.
  3. Jonathan Franklin – Running Back – UCLA – Still leading the nation in rushing with 180+ a game, and still high on Johnny’s Heisman Watch list
  4. Denard Robinson – adding some huge stat padders against Air Force and Massachusetts. This week he gets the Golden Domers…so if he is here next week, that means Big Blue fared better than those Spartans of East Lansing.
  5. Darius Slay – DB- Mississippi State – What? A defensive guy on the Heisman top 5? He does lead the nation in interceptions with 4 in 3 games and he took one to the house for 6. Plus I love the last name. Slay just sounds like a bad ass defensive player doesn’t it?

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Homewood, Alabama

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Violent Outbursts In The Muslim World

September 17, 2012

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Last week, there were violent outbursts in the Muslim world.  The cause of this explosion was reported to be an internet video that is insulting to the Prophet.  This is hard to support since the video was weeks old and unknown to most of the world until an Egyptian television station broadcast it.  Somehow, this video provided an excuse to attack the United States, protesting at American facilities, storming American consulates and embassies, and killing of Americans including an Ambassador.  A video that was never condoned by any official of the United States, never broadcast by or in the United States, possibly not even made in America or by an American, is an excuse to burn and kill.  If this standard was held for all speech, then when Rachel Madow said that the Westborough Baptist Church was wrong to protest at fallen servicemen’s funerals, the Belgian Embassy should have been torched rockets should have been lobed into the economic mission of Nepal, after all, there is probably someone in those countries that do not like Baptists.

Last year I wrote an article defending the President for his decision to not intervene in Egypt.  I also wrote an article questioning his decision to intervene in Libya.  I also wrote an article questioning the media outcry to intervene in Syria.  I am grateful to the President for resisting that call for action.  In all of these situations, American intervention would have justified the people of those nations fighting America to keep their own identity.  The activities in Libya may actually be more closely related to our intervention than to the video.  The other outbursts show a culture that is too ready to be insulted and to ready to resort to violence at the slightest context.  That these events occurred on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States and the graffiti stating that there are thousands of Osamas attacking America would betray that the video is of no consequence.

So what is the reaction to these attacks?  First, the embassy in Egypt put out a message that the United States did not condone the video and condemned the violence in Libya.  The media only looked at the first part of this message, the right condemning it as weak and the left as an explanation of the violence.  Currently the United States is intervening.  We are arming the Marines who guard out embassies (why they guard without bullets is something that cannot be understood).  We are calling on host nations to protect our sovereignty and our people.  We are calling for the arrest and punishment of those people responsible for damage to property and life.  All of these are responsible reactions to the crimes that were committed against America.

What else can be done?  Evaluations will have to be made to test the intent of host nations.  If they are honestly trying to bring criminals to justice, then the United States should work with them.  If they appear to be supporting the criminals and concentrating on demand that the United States change their basic believes to shut down free speech, then other actions can be taken including cutting off financial support.  There have been calls for cutting the support without investigation, that would be irresponsible.  There has also been harassment of the supposed producer of the video, this is also irresponsible. My suggestion to anyone who is insulted by a video is DON’T WATCH IT.

 

Random Thoughts

September 14, 2012

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It’s the end of the week.  Time to dump brain fragments into an article.

Should we hate Muslims?

In recent days, there has been more anti-American violence in the Middle East, including the killing of our ambassador to Libya.  Some are are quick to blame the Muslim world, or Islam in general, for the violence.  This is not the case.  It is violent extremists within the muslim community who are perpetrating the violence.  In fact, there were peaceful pro-American protests in Libya following the violence.  Violent extremists – be they Muslim, Christian, or Atheists – are the true enemy of society.

The typical Muslim is much like you or me – working to make sure there is food on the table, enjoying sports (although this may be soccer instead of football), and spending time with family. Your average muslim isn’t staying awake nights plotting ways to kill Americans; she’s staying awake because the baby won’t stay asleep.

If you don’t want to be judged by the words and actions of Pat Robertson and the Westboro “Baptist” Church, then don’t judge the Muslim world by the words and actions of a few.

Bacon Barter

Oscar Mayer is sponsoring a comedian’s trip across the United States.  He’s pulling a trailer with 3000 pounds of bacon.  He must trade the bacon for everything he needs – lodging, food, gas, etc.  I’m not really seeing the challenge.  People will gladly give you stuff in exchange for bacon.  If the guy had nothing but 3000 pounds of spinach … now bartering THAT for everything he needs would be a challenge.

Random Ken Griffey Jr. note

Ken Griffey, Jr.

Ken Griffey, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m attempting to become an Up and In .9er and was listening to episode 3 (from 2010) the other day.  They were chatting about Ken Griffey Jr. and how some younger fans don’t realize how good of a player he was in his prime.  I’m 37 and was discussing this with a 29 year old friend.  He had no clue that Griffey was a once-in-a-generation player before injuries took their toll.

How good was Griffey?  So good that he’ll waltz into the Hall of Fame despite a .260 batting average and a relatively modest 192 homers in his last 10 seasons – and a paltry 11 stolen bases.

In his first 12 seasons (starting at age 19) he hit .296 with 438 homers, 197 steals, an MVP award (top 10 six other times), eleven all-star appearances, and ten gold gloves.  438 homers is a good career for most players – and he was still just 30 at the end of that stretch.

Ignore the national polls

You’ll see news reports about about Obama or Romney leading or trailing by a couple of points in the national polls.  I’m never really sure why people care about the national polls.  We don’t have a national presidential election.  We use the Chuck E. Cheese model.  There are 51 smaller elections, and the winner of each of those elections gets a fixed number of points.  Collect 270 points and trade them for the big prize.

Realistically, 3/4 of the states aren’t in play.  Obama isn’t going to win Texas, nor is Romney going to win California.  It really boils down to handful of battleground states where either candidates have a realistic chance to win – and where the voters will be bombarded by ads and candidate visits.  While voters in some states might welcome a visit, most people I know here in Iowa just try to figure out a way to avoid traffic issues caused by visits.  I was delayed last Friday because they shut down the interstate to allow the presidential motorcade through – and I needed to find an alternate route home.

Baseball races

I still don’t like baseball’s extra wild card spots this year (I feel that it cheapens the playoffs), but it is certainly adding some drama to September.  The Phillies, long since given up for dead, have crawled out of their coffin to get back into the race.  The Dodgers and Cardinals are currently’s facing off in a four game series – if they split the series it could give the Phillies an opportunity to make up more ground.

In the American League, the Yankees have been slumping and the Orioles actually have a shot to win the East.  Baltimore is 19 games above .500 (81-62) despite being outscored by 20 runs this year.  The performance of their bullpen is allowing them to win a lot of close games.

Love my Kindle(s)

I picked up a “new” Kindle this week.  A friend is upgrading to a newer Fire – so I bought the old one (very lightly used) off him for substantially less than the new price.  That’s similar to the approach I used when buying my current Kindle Keyboard (I’m the third owner, and apparently the one one who did much reading with it).  The Fire was mostly bought as a tablet (poor man’s iPad) but may also give my wife the opportunity to test out eReading.

I bought another Lawrence Block book the other day.  I have a somewhat staggering 26 books (some are novellas) of his on my Kindle.  What would be really cool would be for Amazon to realize that I’m a fan and give me the option to buy all his other books (to complete my collection – I’m missing more than I have) at a reduced price.  Maybe offer a flat rate to buy all the remaining books as a lot.  Perhaps 40% off the current price?  They wouldn’t get as much for each sale, but they might make it up in volume – enticing people to buy books they might not have otherwise bought.

On a slight tangent, newer authors could offer lifetime subscriptions.  I like a guy’s first couple of books and I drop a couple hundred bucks and get the opportunity to download anything else he publishes in his lifetime.  Could be a good way for some younger authors to get some cash flow.

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Will The Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?

September 13, 2012

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BELMONT, MA - MARCH 06:  Republican presidenti...

Mitt Romney

Willard “Mitt” Romney came to be in Massachusetts in the late 70’s as an adviser to an intermediate level president in the LDS (Mormon) Church. Eventually he lead the Boston Stake, which included some 4000 members of the LDS. In the early 90’s he decided to give a try at politics, having been successful at business -with just a tiny bit of help from an extremely large sum of wealth left to him by his father. He changed his political affiliation from Independent in 1994 to Republican to run against Democrat Ted Kennedy, who while normally was extremely popular had recently endured some family embarrassment stemming from a court case.  In fact, Romney had voted in the Democratic Presidential Primary in 1992, the election year that would eventually see Bill Clinton become president. So in a two year span he went from voting for a Democrat in a Presidential Primary to registering as a Republican to run against a Kennedy. So strong were his convictions in his personal beliefs he told his brother, “I never want to run for something again unless I can win.”   Because front-runners always stick with their convictions.

While head of the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Mr. Romney aggressively lobbied Congress for federal contribution of somewhere between $400 million and $600 million, plus an additional 1 billion dollars in infrastructure projects. While some have said this money was needed to “save” the Olympic Winter Games that year as it was having fiscal trouble, other reports have said the much of the funding was already set and Romney played the hero simply to propel himself into the public spotlight as a savior.  Regardless of his motives, I find it funny that a man who so aggressively asked for over a billion dollars of federal money in 2002 now wants to run the government under the guise of limiting federal spending and allowing private business to function without federal oversight. Every filthy rich business man wants government’s nose out of their business, but many seem to want government’s wallet in their business.

In 2002 Mitt’s “home” state of Massachusetts had an unpopular Republican governor plagued by personal scandals, and even those in the White House wanted the incumbent gone and Mitt Romney in.  After a bit of a see-saw campaign, Romney won the vote 50%-45% over State Treasurer Shannon O’Brien, and although he claims that he immediately faced a deficit of $3 billion, he conveniently overlooks the fact that the state was getting $1.3 billion from capital gains and an additional $500 million in federal grants. Once again, the current small-government Mitt used half a billion federal dollars in 2002/2003 to help fix problems in his state, and then act like he saved the day.  Things weren’t all bad for Massachusetts when Mitt was governor, Ted Kennedy’s dream of near-universal health care came true when in 2006 Romney signed into law “Romneycare.” One of the centerpieces of this law was the individual mandate – that all residents must have health insurance if financially able or face escalating tax increases. He was so proud of the individual mandate that he wrote in his book that it should be the centerpiece of national health care.  Yet on the campaign trail this year he’s called Obamacare’s mandate a tax, and has said the first thing he would do as President is grant waivers to ignore it.

I do not begrudge Mr. Romney his money, all current indications are that he made it legally, but we have a man who has continually changed his political stance to expedite his political career, and that’s simply not the person I want leading the country, despite all of the shortcomings of Barrack Obama. Please also note that what I wrote about here are just a few of the things Mitt has flip-flopped on, watch the last link in this article – it’s a very well-crafted video that pretty clearly shows – with context – how many issues Romney has done a 180 on.

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Amazon Announces New Kindle Models

September 12, 2012

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Amazon has refreshed their Kindle lineup.  You can now spending anywhere from $69 to $499 on a Kindle-branded device.  Obviously, with such a spread in price, there are going to be large differences in the actual devices.  $69 gets you the bare bones 6″ model that is (almost) exclusively a reader, and has no color.  The $599 Kindle Fire 4G LTE in 8.9″, full color, 64 GB of storage, and runs on a 4G LTE network.

Reader or Tablet?

I think Amazon made a smart decision when they branded the higher end models Kindle Fire.  This nicely breaks the models into two families.  The Kindle Fires are tablets which run apps and also allow you to read.  The other Kindle models have very limited functionality beyond reading.  Customers will have different preferences.

Let’s take a look at the existing Kindle product line:

Note: prices shown are for the “with special offers” version which inserts advertisements (and coupons) into the screen savers.  These never appear within the text of the book you are reading, just the screen savers.  Many people like them, but for $20 more you can opt for a model that doesn’t have them.

Kindle readers

Kindle (WiFi)
$69
This is the bare bones model.  It’s a basic ebook reader, with access to Amazon’s large collection of books.  It’s a good price for an entry level reader, especially one with the backing of a strong brand.  If all you’re going to do is read, and you’re reading in well-lit areas, this is a good reader for you.
Kindle PaperWhite (WiFi)
$119
The PaperWhite has a higher resolution and contrast than older Kindle, but what really sets it apart is the presence of a built-in light.  This makes the PaperWhite more suitable for bedtime reading if your partner is trying to sleep.A 3G version is available for $179.  This allows you to use Amazon’s free 3G service (as well as WiFi) to download books.  There’s also a rudimentary web browser that you can use in a pinch – it’s OK for some lightweight browsing while you’re killing time at the mall, but it’s not well suited for heavy duty browsing.
Kindle KeyBoard (3G + WiFi)
$139
This is the only Kindle with a physical keyboard.  I have an older version of the Kindle Keyboard (mine has 3G, but not WiFi), and I like the keyboard for my occasional web browsing sessions.  Probably a niche product at this point, although I’m in that niche.

 

Kindle Fire tablets

Kindle Fire
$159
This is the new and improved version of the original Fire, at a lower price.  7″ display, WiFi, 8 GB of storage, and the ability to add apps.  Oh, and you can read books on it, too.  Inexpensive entry level tablet. I actually just bought a used first edition Kindle Fire myself. Ships Sept 14.
 Kindle Fire HD
$199
The HD has an HD display, Dolby Audio, WiFi, and come in a 16GB model for $199 or a 32 GB model for $249.  Ships September 24.
Fire HD 8.9″
$299
 You can get the HD with a larger screen (8.9″ compared to the standard Fire size of 7″) for $299 (16GB) or $369 (32GB).  Ships November 20.
 Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless
$499
This model is available for $499 (32GB) or $599 (64GB).  They key feature is that it runs on 4G LTE networks (as well as WiFi).  You can buy a year of service from Amazon for $50 (250MB per month).  There are also options to upgrade the plan to 3GB or 5GB per month.  It’s quite possible this cost of the data plan will change in the futue, but $50 for the first year is a steal.  Ships November 20.

 

Recap of Week 2

September 11, 2012

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Week #2 is in the books, and there is a lot of news on the college football front.

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 01:  An Arkansas Razor...

No much to cheer about for Razorbacks fans on Saturday

Arkansas was clearly the upset of the week, losing to Louisiana Monroe. Arkansas somehow managed to stay ranked even after this debacle. Oklahoma State also moved out of the rankings after losing to the Pac XII Arizona Wildcats. The Pac XII also recorded big wins as UCLA knocked off Nebraska in a defensive struggle, and upstart Oregon State shocked Wisconsin,10-7 in Corvallis. Wisconsin was so shocked that they promptly fired their offensive line coach, Mike Markuson. It sure does not look like Monte Ball will be in the Heisman discussion this year.

On a down note for the Pac XII, the Colorado Buffaloes got…well…buffaloed in losing to Sacramento State on a game winning field goal by Edgar Castaneda.

My beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers

Of course I get to write about this now and then, why? Because it is my article of course, and many of my so called “readers” (if there are any) are Husker Fans as well. The Corn got shelled this week past Saturday in California by a team that looked much more ready to play than the Scarlett and Cream.

As any of you football fans can relate to, the sky is bluer, the flowers prettier and the steak dinners taste better all when your team is winning.

Once you suffer a loss, or that unexpected loss, suddenly it is Armageddon.

UCLA exposed some match ups that gave the defense bit time trouble. Unfortunately, Nebraska had no real answer for it this past Saturday.

This week Arkansas State rolls into Lincoln. The Red Wolves currently are 7th in the NCAA in total offense. Nebraska is 96th in total defense. Looks like the 20-24 point spread may be getting smaller by this weekend.

Week #2 Heisman Leaders

  1. Braxton Miller – QB – Ohio State – An impressive 151 yds per game average running and 4 td’s to go along with another 362 yards passing and 3 TD’s through the air. Can he throw himself the ball? IF so, hand him the trophy now.
  2. Jonathan Franklin – RB – UCLA – keeping the love here as he piled up a monster night against the Cornhuskers and leads the nation with a 215 per game average.
  3. Kolton Browning – QB – Louisiana Monroe – an impressive first outing of the year, skinning the Razorback defense on a 42 for 67 performance for 412 yards and 3 TD’s. He also added another 69 and a score on the ground in the upset win.
  4. Ryan Aplin – QB – Arkansas State – 101 on the ground and 625 in the air through two games = 5 total touchdowns and a 1-1 record. Can he beat the Huskers and be 2-1?
  5. Cody Getz – RB – Air Force – 43 rushes for 348 yards and only one negative rushing play in all of those carries. Oh yeah….6 touchdowns as well. SERVICE!

Until next time, stay classy Colorado Springs, Colorado

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College Football National Championship Rant

September 10, 2012

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This is my annual rant about college football ranking. The two major systems that are used until the 6th week when the BCS system kicks in, are the coaches poll and the sports writer poll. Both of them are based on the feelings of the voters and are heavily stilted toward the fashionable conferences. Admittedly, the major conferences do each have 3 or even 4 good teams. I also do not have a problem with the polls being the opinions of the voters. What I complain about the is the inconsistency that this method brings. A team can win and still drop in the polls. A team can get pounded and only drop a few spots. The thing that gets to me is when teams with several losses is still ranked above an undefeated team. Now we are only in the second week of the season, so there are no apparent problems yet.

When we finally get the BCS system results, the rankings get much more stable. An opinion pole is include in that system along with a computer poll and several statistical polls. As the polls progress, there is still a bias towards certain conferences based on “strength of schedule”. So if you play teams that are ranked, you go up in ranking. If a lot of the teams in your conference are ranked, you guaranteed a ranked position. The result of this type system is the insanity of having a national championship game featuring two teams from the same conference.

There are 12 conferences plus some independent schools eligible for the BCS. A true playoff would have the 12 conference winners contending for the championship. To be fair to the independent teams, there would have to be some “wild card” invitations for those independent teams that are still highly ranked. This would allow teams who are blocked out of BCS bowls because of the polls to have a chance. If there is that big of a talent difference, then the playoff games will just be warm ups for the big boys. If the opinions are incorrect, then the smaller schools will have a chance to prove them wrong.

Is there a perfect polling method? Probably not. My rant is a reaction to the ridiculous statements by sports casters with the new playoff proposal that two slots should be reserved for the South East Conference. One of the problems, or benefits, of the bowl system is automatic bids. For the national championship, all positions should be earned, not awarded. The four team playoff is a good start, let’s not mess it up immediately by determining who should be in it at the beginning of the season. The SEC is good right now, but that is the genius of the conference system, you determine a single champion. Then you have the various champions compete for the right to claim the top spot for the year, just like the pros.

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