We Are At War With Warmongers

Cheney is just a warmonger. He is essentially saying, "We are at war with bad people." Well, I'm sorry Cheney, but bad people are going to continue to be here forever in some form or another. So, as long as you focus on intangible things such as "terrorism", you will think we are forever at war. You might as well set the threat level to RED and toss out all of the other colors for eternity. What way of life is that, really? Cheney wants the terrorists to win because he wants us to be terrified. Terrorists only win when we change our way of life to accommodate their actions.

Cheney considers us to be at war with intangible ideas such as "terrorism". Obama understands that we are at war with tangible groups such as Al Qaeda.

in reference to: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31054.html (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bias is Fun

Under the Obama administration, one al-Qaeda terrorist gets onto a plane and tries (but fails) to blow up his underwear. Due to this, Obama gets an "F" for protecting Americans. Number of Americans who died in that incident: 0.

Under the Bush administration, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. Due to this, which grade should Bush get for protecting Americans? Number of Americans who died in that incident: 2,973.

It seems to me this guy is grading on an extremely skewed curve. It looks like everyone gets an "F".

in reference to: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100020934/barack-obama-gets-an-f-for-protecting-americans/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Delayed Perception

This ignores the fact that the economy is dynamic and often slow moving. Actions taken today might not be felt for generations.

So, do you have models which prove that actions taken from 1920-1950 were not that which was responsible for the economic climate felt from 1950-1980? Perhaps actions taken from 1950-1980 are directly responsible for what we are feeling today? And, perhaps actions taken today will be felt 20 or 30 years from now by future generations.

in reference to: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/reagan-reagan-reagan/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bad Analogies

What Google is doing with Google Books would NOT be like if you or I went into a library and scanned a million books. Just because someone can make a bad analogy doesn't make their analogy fact. Google got the permission of the libraries.

If you or I got the same permission from the libraries to scan a million books... not for personal use, but to make it possible for others to find these books and know which libraries these books are available in... we would not be put into handcuffs. However, I'm sure that people would use bad analogies to make us look like criminals.

in reference to:

"“Imagine if you or I went into a library and scanned a million books. You’d be taken out in handcuffs,” said Edelman. “For Google to get this unique right and for it to be able to continue to use the fruits of this unauthorised scanning, that rubbed people up the wrong way. It’s like a school bully stealing your ice cream and then, when the teacher catches him, he gets to eat it anyway. It doesn’t feel fair, does it?”"
- http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6898010.ece (view on Google Sidewiki)

Missing Money

The point that Daniel is missing here is that if the $150 billion were simply handed out to individuals, sure you could pay twice as many people for a year... or the same number of people twice as much... but to when end? And, why only a year. The 650,000 jobs saved are presumably for more than just one year. These are jobs that (as long as the stimulus work keeps doing its job) will last for many years.

Furthermore, the $150 billion did not go into only "salaries"... but into resources to, for instance, repair roads or repair schools. So, you can't simply divide the money by the number of jobs and determine whether it was worth it or not. Sure, it makes the math simple, but the problem itself is not simple. We have gained value not only in the jobs saved, but the infrastructure which was rebuilt.

in reference to: http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/10/should_the_stimulus_saving_or_creating_650000_jobs_impress_us.php (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Voice Blog: What is that number again?

One of Google's top priorities for the automated transcription feature in Google Voice is trascribing numbers.

Google Voice Blog: What is that number again?

Google has been testing a new feature with Google Maps recently.  Now, search results contain a "star" icon.  Clicking this icon "stars" the location within your account.  By visiting My Maps and scrolling to the bottom of the list, you can see your "Starred Items".