iPad

Have had my iPad for almost 24 hours. Impressions:

1. Blogging generally sucks on it. I'm new to blogging, but there are some things that are not dispensable, such as the ability to look up a website for more info, cutting and pasting including links, and uploading pictures. None of these come easily to the iPad, at least not when you're in the middle of writing a post. I tried BlogPress but it crashed on me, and the shortcomings mentioned were not really addressed. For short reports, like when you're on a trip or something, then it's okay. For extended write-ups, not so good. And if you want to embed flash videos, well, not so good either. I know Apple is just looking out for the consumers and think that Flash is buggy and all, but damn it, we should be able to decide whether we want a useful but buggy feature or not. Damn nanny mentality nonsense.
2. The keyboard is functional but feels weird. Well, it's basically tapping on glass, and if you have long nails, it doesn't respond as well as you'd like it to. Also, editing can be a hassle. The copy/paste feature works, but also needs some getting used to. I've tried a few times to write something on the iPad. I always end up finishing it on the Macbook Pro.
3. Calendar is not as fully functional as iCal. If you need to put in a repeating event, for example, you can't specify "every third Friday" like you can on iCal. There are a couple other needling things, but it's basically usable. I just have to do a lot of syncing with the laptop.
4. The RSS readers I've tried so far really suck. Feeddler has crashed on me every time I open it, but it's closest to the functionality I want (I use Shrook on the MBP). Early Edition is overrated.
5. Among the news apps, Fluent News is my favorite so far. The NYTimes app also works really well, which is something coming from me because I hate the NYTimes. But since installing their free app, I actually read more from their editorial page in one day than I have in the last six months.
6. Free Books app rocks. It pulls in stuff from Project Gutenberg, and does it in a nice, stable and elegant manner. The Kindle app and iBooks also work pretty well. I want to buy a book that I've been meaning to read, but I can't decide whether to get it via iBooks or Kindle. With Kindle, I can read the same book on my laptop and iPhone as well as on the iPad. But the iBook app is so pretty…
7. Goodreader is awesome. I have tons of PDF files from my woodworking plans and crochet patterns. It's always been a pain to keep track of them on the MBP. But with Goodreader, it seems so much easier. The transfer between MBP and iPad is fast, too, via USB connector. Most important: the app has been pretty stable.
8. ABC player would work a lot better if ABC had any shows worth watching. Well, okay, I do watch Castle online.
9. The Marvel Comics app is as good as I expected it to be. Now, if they'll just allow online subscriptions on it, then I'm all set. 
10. Moonlight Mahjong developers are awesome. I purchased it on the iPhone originally, and downloading the iPad version was free. Graphics are great.
11. I transferred my Doctor Who HD iTunes purchase onto the iPad and watched it using the built-in video player. I think the HD is a little overkill. Pretty, though.
12. Wifi signal sucks. Where the MBP has 4 bars, the iPad can only get one. I haven't had the connection problem others have reported, though. Even with the weak wifi signal, Safari still loads pretty fast. I can only imagine what it would be like if the wifi signal problem were fixed.
13. The App Store is a money blackhole. It's too easy to buy apps. The prices seem cheap. Before you know it, you're redeeming your fourth iTunes card because your account just ran out of cash again. If I were paranoid, I'd think this was done on purpose…
14. The rest is pretty much how things are done on the iPhone.

And that's about what I have so far. The iPad is a nice sexy shiny new toy. I just wish I know what I could really use it for that I currently couldn't with my MBP and my iPhone. I'm thinking it'll be more convenient for traveling. And newsreading (via Fluent News mostly). But that's about it for now. If I find new ways to use it, then I'll post it here. Otherwise, this is probably the end of the iPad posts.

Unpresidential

When Barack Obama won in November, 2008, I peeled off my McCain-Palin bumper sticker that same night. I thought, "We have a new president. I voted against him, but he's my president now, too." I think most of the country thought the same way, that's why Obama's approval rating started out so high.

As his first year unfolded, however, it was obvious that Obama never saw himself as the president of the United States. He never really saw himself as non-partisan. I think he just always saw himself as a liberal Democrat first, above all else. If you disagree with him, then you are to be vilified and destroyed.

So, his message to blacks and Latinos and women doesn't really surprise me. He zeroes in on his perceived constituency and neglects the rest. Is there any doubt left that this man is the worst president ever?

From the Washington Post:

In the video message to his supporters, Obama said his administration's success depends on the outcome of this fall's elections and warned that if Republicans regain control of Congress, they could "undo all that we have accomplished."

"This year, the stakes are higher than ever," he said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by Democratic officials. "It will be up to each of you to make sure that young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again.

Things I missed while I played with the iPad

• The Republicans voted against cloture on the Democrats' finance reform bill. I don't know if I'm more shocked about Ben Nelson voting with them, or that the Maine senators (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) also voted with them. It's not over, of course. How many times did we declare health care reform dead, only for it to rise again and again, until it finally ate whatever brains the liberals had left? Which brings me to…

• The Obama administration sat on the CMS report regarding the economic impact of health care reform until after the house passed the bill. No matter how I look at it, that's really really bad. What were they thinking? Were they thinking? Oh, I forgot. It's the arrogance. They think they can get away with anything because of the compliant mainstream media. Now I'm just sad. For the country.

• Immigration law opponents riot in Arizona, and the media dozes. I saw the video on Fox News of the cop who was hit with a water bottle in the head. Apparently, it's only bad if Tea Partiers do it (not that they've ever done anything like it!). Maybe next time we have a Tea Party, we should pretend to be illegal immigrants and thrash the entire place while assaulting peace officers. Then maybe the media will finally be sympathetic to the Tea Party.

• Via Ace of Spades, the Arizona law requires a justifiable stop or detention before the provision about checking papers on reasonable suspicion of illegal status kicks in (that's pretty much lifted wholesale from AOS; how many different ways are there to say the same thing anyway?). So much for the hyperventilating. It's funny that Democrats don't read the bills they're for, and they don't read the bills they're against either. Did they all go to the same failing school or something?

• Jon Stewart goes after the murderous bullies that went after South Park. What can I say? Except good for him, and he's showing more balls than the wimpy mainstream media. The MSM reminds me of the guy who lost his watch in the dark. He spends his time looking for it under the lamppost because that's where the light is. So they look at the Tea Parties and desperately try to find any acts of violence. Meanwhile, Muslim extremists threaten and murder artists and illegal immigrants assault police officers, but everything is hunkydory. Bastards.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
South Park Death Threats
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

• The ash cloud that grounded thousands of flights turned out to be another computer modeling artifact, just like global warming. Satellite images show that the ash clouds were largely non-existent over Britain, which based the decision to ban flights on Met Office computer models. This doesn't bode well for the "Trust the Government" campaign.

Blogging on the iPad

My long delayed iPad finally got here this morning. I'm still playing with it and figuring out how things work. The keyboard isn't bad, but it does take some getting used to.

I'm downloading some apps I've been itching to get my hands on and will be back later.

Funny how anti-climactic it felt when I finally got the iPad. To be fair, nothing could live up to the expectations that I had for this thing.

Still, new toy and all. Will come up for air in a few hours or so.

VA SNAFU

lol

Last month, a decorated Gulf War hero received a letter from the Veterans Affairs Administration that said: We are working on your claim for menstrual disorder. He was surprised -- but not as much as one might think.

Pass the bill so you'll know what's in it

That's what Nancy Pelosi said, and she wasn't kidding.

Yesterday, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report titled "Estimated Financial Effects of the 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, [aka Obamacare - ed]' as amended.' The results predictably resulted in handwringing and spin from the White House and derision from conservative pundits.

In a nutshell: Obamacare is going to cost more money.

The promise that the Democrats made involved an expansion of coverage while bending the cost curve downwards. It defied logic, but then, what liberal promise doesn't?

A summary from NRO:

1. People losing coverage: About 14 million people will lose their employer coverage by 2019, as smaller employers terminate their plans and workers who currently have employer coverage enroll in Medicaid. Half of all seniors on Medicare Advantage could lose their coverage and the extra benefits the plans offer.

2. Huge fines for companies: Businesses will pay $87 billion in penalties in the first five years after the fines trigger in 2014, partly because they can’t afford to offer expensive, government-mandated coverage and partly because some of their employees will apply for taxpayer-subsidized insurance.

3. Higher costs for consumers: Tens of billions of dollars in new fees and excise taxes will be “passed through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and devices prices and higher premiums,” according to Foster. A separate report shows small businesses will be hit hardest.

4. A program created to fail: The new “CLASS Act” long-term-care insurance program will face “a significant risk of failure,” according to Foster. Indeed, he finds, “there is a very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection will make the CLASS program unsustainable.”

5. Spending increases: Under the new law, national health spending will increase by $311 billion over the coming decade. And instead of bending the federal spending curve down, it will move it upward “by a net total of $251 billion” over the next decade.

6. “Free-riders”: An estimated 23 million people will remain uninsured in 2019, roughly 5 million of whom would be undocumented aliens; the remainder would be the 18 million who decline to get coverage and who will pay the penalty.

7. Spending reductions are fiction: Estimated reductions in the growth rate of health spending “may not be fully achievable” because “Medicare productivity adjustments could become unsustainable even within the next ten years, and over time the reductions in the scope of employer-sponsored health insurance could also become an issue.”

8. You can’t keep your doctor: Fifteen percent of all hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers treating Medicare patients could be operating at a loss by 2019, which will “possibly jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries.” Doctors are threatening to drop out of Medicare because cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates mean they can’t even cover their costs.

9. Coverage but no care: A significant portion of those newly eligible for Medicaid will have trouble finding physicians who will see them, and the increased demand for Medicaid services could be difficult to meet.

Pretty much every one of those points were pointed out by opponents of the bill (now law), but no one listened.

In addition:

Joint Economic Committee Republicans explain in a new report the impact of a rarely mentioned $14.3 billion per year tax on health insurance, effective in 2014. They find this tax will be mostly passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums for private coverage. It will cost the typical family of four with job-based coverage an additional $1,000 a year in higher premiums and will fall largely, and inequitably, on small businesses and their employees.

This election year is proving to be very very interesting.

earth day

action needed against the Dodd financial regulations bill

From our Tea Party coordinator:

This Friday Senate Bill 3217, also known as the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, introduced by Democrat Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, is scheduled to hit the floor of the US Senate where it must wait 72 hours before it comes up for a full vote. CLICK HERE to read the actual 1,421 page bill.

The vast majority of Tea Party Patriots' Local Coordinators from all over the country agreed that this is a bad bill and we oppose it. 

In short, it grants permanent, unlimited bailout authority to the Federal Reserve. It's like TARP forever without the nasty, unpopular debates and votes in Congress.  Beyond that it gives the Fed the power to takeover vaguely defined "nonbank financial companies."  And the Fed has the power to decide what constitutes a "nonbank financial company" on a case by case basis.

Here are some links to a few articles that give a bit more insight into this very, very bad piece of legislation which must be stopped:

How To Create Bailouts Forever

Hidden Danger in Dodd Financial "Reform" Bill

Dodd Bill Creates Permanent TARP and You Can Quote That

Connecting the Dots: Does Wall St. Want Dodd Bill?

Obama: Read My Lips, No More Bailouts (But Let's Keep $50 Billion Around Just in Case)

So, what am I asking you to do?

Four things:

1.) Please contact your own Senators first and voice your opposition to this bill.  If possible, physically go in person to the local home offices of your two Senators and speak to someone there who will take note of your opinion and pass it on.  If you're not able to go in person, please call, email, andfax the offices of both Senators from your state. (Find Your Senators by State on the Senate Website)

2.) Call, email, and fax these 8 Republican Senators who are not yet 100% opposed to this bill:

Bob Bennett of Utah (202) 224-5444
http://bennett.senate.gov/public/

Susan Collins of Maine (202) 224-2523
http://collins.senate.gov/public/

Christopher Bond of Missouri (202) 224-5721
http://bond.senate.gov/public/

Saxby Chambliss of Georgia (202) 224-3521
http://chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm

Bob Corker of Tennessee (202) 224-3344
http://corker.senate.gov/public/

John McCain of Arizona (202) 224-2235
http://mccain.senate.gov/public/

Olympia Snowe of Maine (202) 224-5344
http://snowe.senate.gov/public/

Scott Brown of Massachusetts (202) 224-4543
http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/

3.) Write Letters about this issue to your local paper for publication on or before Sunday.  Also leave comments on as many news blogs and websitesrelated to this subject as you can find.

4.) Forward this message to as many people as you can and ask them to take these same 4 steps as soon as possible.  Use the full power of your circle of influence to move others (at least 1 more person) to take action.

Once again it's up to us to defend America from out of control government.

Thank you for performing this valuable service for your country!

"Looks like some guy named Steve Jobs was able to nudge my app past the gatekeepers"

That was from political cartoonist Mark Fiore, via Wired.com.

Fiore’s NewsToons app was rejected by Apple in December, four months before he won the top journalism prize for his animated, politically themed cartoons. Apple rejected the app, citing rules against making fun of public figures.

Steve Jobs reportedly called that a mistake in an e-mail response to a user, and Fiore said Apple called him last Thursday asking him to re-submit his app, after news of the ban richocheted around the web.

In related news, Steve Jobs doesn't want to sell porn and says get an Android instead.

“You know, there’s a porn store for Android,” Jobs said. “You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to go there.”

All I can say, without implying I read porn, is "Hurrah for free markets!"

Oh, and "Hurrah for free speech!"

"Snake Oil Legislators"

CalWatchdog:

As legislators stand in front of the microphone and pitch their irrelevant bills, they do not see the voters any more, or the constituents, the fathers and mothers, and the young adults who work at a menial jobs to pay the bills. Legislators have lost the concept of the collective good while focusing on the special interests and unions.

This week, some of the bills being heard in Assembly committees exemplify the out-of-touch legislation and business-as-usual:

A.B. No. 1650 Feuer. Public contracts: state and local contract eligibility: energy sector investment activities in Iran;

A.B. No. 1787 Swanson. Administrative procedure: regulations: narrative description;

A.B. No. 1802 Hall. Pupil health: diabetes: insulin injections;

A.B. No. 1822 Swanson. Massage therapy. (Urgency);

A.B. No. 1878 Lieu. Statewide Forms Management Program;

A.B. No. 1916 Davis. Pharmacies: prescriptions: reports;

A.B. No. 1922 Davis. Civil rights education: California Civil Rights Education Commission;

A.B. No. 2052 Hayashi. State surplus personal property: centralized sale;

A.B. No. 2077 Solorio. Centralized hospital packaging pharmacies;

A.B. No. 2181 Hagman. State Contract Act: contracting by state agencies. (Urgency);

A.B. No. 2256 Huffman. Product labeling: flushable products;

A.B. No. 2466 Smyth. Regulations: legislative validation: effective date;

A.B. No. 2472 Huffman. Building standards: green innovation permit program;

The state is in a full-blown economic crisis in California, and legislators are conducting hearings about the statewide forms management program, civil rights, hospital pharmacies, green business and “flushing products.”  Most of what the Legislature deals with should not even be state business – this is known as “busy work,” designed to make it look as if they are working hard, but most of it is pure drivel.

Personally, I think calling them "snake oil legislators" is being too kind, and an offense to snake oil salesmen everywhere.