I just got through watching John Adams. Those were great men, who had flaws, but they put the country first, We sure could use a readjustment back to that period.

The Hickory Hound

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”
— Robert A. Heinlein (To Sail Beyond the Sunset)

As newly registered user i only want to say hello to everyone else who uses this site

I wouldn’t say that any one candidate has come up with everything on my wish list but here are a few things that I like about certain candidates (and which candidates have the opposing view). To give you an idea of where I stand on the issues, see below.

1) Taxation: Most of the Republican candidates have endorsed the tax cuts and pledged an effort to make them permanent if they are elected (this, in contrast with the Democrats which have all stated they will increase taxes or (obviously) be forced to because of entitlements they are pushing). This is the most important issue to me.

So on this list, put Romney, Giuliani and Thompson.

2) Oil company profits, renewable energy, drilling in Alaska: More than a few of the Democrats have stated that they think that we should use an oil industry windfall profit tax to fund research into alternative energy. I strongly oppose this (and most other Robin Hood taxations). To the best of my knowledge, none of the Republican candidates support this.
I support exploratory (or better) drilling in Alaska. Most of the Republicans support this.

3) Universal Health Care: I think that we DO need to constrain the runaway costs in health care but I do not believe that another government program is the answer. I would much prefer market reform than another entitlement program that will just add another tax burden.
Romney supports universal health care coverage but not via another government program. I am unconvinced that universal health care is necessary but if we are going to move in that direction I would prefer to keep the government out of it as much as possible.

I would give this one to Giuliani or Romney if Romney can find a way to accomplish universal coverage through market reform.

4) Spending, balancing the budget: While most republicans see themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility, I think we all know that they have failed to put this philosophy into practice during Bush’s time in office. This disappoints me greatly but it is still a key issue to me. No democrat has convinced me that they are up to the task (and with the entitlement programs they are pushing they won’t be able to do it). However, Giuliani has stated that his priorities are a balanced budget and low taxes).

5) Stem cell research: This one hits pretty close to home for me as my father suffered from Parkinson’s disease. I do believe in stem cell research (even from discarded fetuses). Giuliani supports this (as do most of the Democrat candidates). I do not believe, however that we should harvest fetuses solely for the purpose of research. Scientific advances will most likely end this debate (and remove the need to use stem cells from controversial sources).

6) Abortion: I am basically pro choice as a government policy but pro life personally. I.E. I do not think that the government should be in the business of deciding what women do with their bodies (late term abortions excepted).

Most of the Democrats are pro choice and the majority of the Republicans are pro life. Giuliani is pro choice.

7) Immigration: I am in favor of a more secure border and harsh treatment of businesses that knowingly hire illegals. However, I do favor some path to citizenship (assuming the illegal is required to learn english, etc).

Clinton supports a path to citizenship but I don’t like the fact that she wants to give it away with few requirements.
I am much more in favor of Giuliani’s plan that requires the illegal to learn english and have a steady job.

There are many more positions I could discuss, but that should be a post instead of a comment. I promise, at some point in the future I will get this done. In the meantime, these are my thoughts on some of the key issues.

Manly

Place a business card on the counter and the os populates the fields of your reservation in a second. Maps to popular locations would be at a touch. Sign me up.

Doc

Minority Report. This is similar to the interface the cops were using. They didn’t physically touch the screen (some sort of glove if I remember correctly) but similar idea.

Business intefaces would change for managers who need certain types of data. This is like the Apple video I saw about 10 years ago where the furniture in the work place (desktops cube/office walls) will be the visual device for processing data. As you walk in it recognizes you and you use voice and touch instead of a keyboard to interface. Price is an issue but if the demo machine we just saw cost $10K now, it will be half that in a few years. $5K for a home system is do-able for most. Home automation interfaces would be a perfect application for this. Home communication center (better than what HP is putting out there now).

Only time will tell but I am with you. A little price break and I want one. What about gaming… I have to stop. I keep thinking of things to use this with.

Later,

k.