Articles by bladerunner

Bladerunner is using all of his engineering talent and hidden capabilities to advance the Gospel. So sue me.

We are Doomed… Part 2

July 24, 2009 in Everything Else by bladerunner | Permalink

Here we are, back in the fray.  This time, we are discussing the arrest of prominent Harvard professor (of African-American culture) Gates;  he was questioned and arrested as he was trying to get back into his home after an extended overseas trip.

A diverse coalition arrests Prof. Gates

A diverse coalition arrests Prof. Gates

My credentials to address this issue, and why I’m a better commentator than the person holding the highest office in the land, President Obama, are here, in a previous post. President Obama weighed in on this issue and lent it an aura of importance and substance that it probably does not merit.

Let’s go ahead and dissect this one with our racial-bias-free scalpel, shall we??  Prof. Gates has just gotten back from China (14 hour flight) and is probably tired and just glad to be home. But then he notices that his front door is jammed.  Turns out his home was broken into during his absence.  While getting his front door unjammed, a neighbor calls 911.  So far this sounds reasonable.  Biased? No.  I would have called 911 even if only 2 white people or 2 white females or 2 white female models were trying to force my front door open (in the latter case, I would have gone in and joined them).

Police arrive and question Prof Gates.  Biased? No. The police’s job is to ask questions.  And there was suspicious activity at the front door, even if it was the owner of the house trying to force his way in.   Prof. Gates refuses to show ID.  Biased? Yes.  If he believes that he is being asked for ID only because he is black, he is mistaken. Period.  A good cop would ask for ID even if it was President Bush found in the house1.   Prof. Gates starts asking for the officer’s ID.  Biased? No.  We have a right to know our officer’s name during an investigation.  And don’t forget, the police are also there to investigate the previous break-in as well.  Instead of starting charges of racial profiling (Biased? Yes. Big time.) Prof.  Gates should have filed the police report on the break-in right there.  The police are a service that he and all of us in the community are paying for.  And yelling at the police is never a good
idea, even if they deserve it.  Showing deference, or at least cooperation to a man with a gun is always a good idea.  And don’t forget that you paid to give him the gun.

Mistakes made? Plenty, but mostly by Prof. Gates, from what is being reported.

Mistakes Made by Policeman:
Police should never walk into your home without being invited by the owner. They need a court order to come in unless you invite them in; there may have been some words issued by Prof. Gates that could be construed as an invitation, so be careful what you say.

Mistakes made by Prof. Gates:
The owner should never leave the safety of his home and follow the police outside.  You are giving up some of your rights by entering a public venue.  Don’t shout at a policeman and berate them in public.  You can show your displeasure by ammending  the police report and complaining at the station house. He should have started break-in investigation as soon as police arrived.  This really throws suspicion off of you, when you are aiding police.  And police are a service that you are absolutely paying for, so use it. Don’t bring up race.  But if your teaching specialty is hammers, everything around you starts looking like a nail.  Automatically bringing up race dooms us all.

Mistakes make by President Obama:
President Obama’s outrage is OK.  After all, Prof. Gates is a personal friend.  Any of us would  automatically take the side of our friend in a dispute against a cop.  I believe the words “rogue officer” were unfortunately uttered by someone in the fray.  But as President, Mr. Obama must put down his personal feelings and keep the debate cordial and race-neutral.  By quoting statistics that blacks and latinos are disproportionatly arrested (it’s true) he fueled the fire.  A President must weigh his words carefully and keep personal emotion out of his statements.  In this case, the arresting officer is clean and the President will come out looking badly.

Incorrectly regarded as a mistake:
Arresting a middle aged man that walks with a cane is perfectly OK.  So is arresting an elderly woman walking in crutches.  Or a teenager in a wheelchair.   All of these folk could constitute a danger to a policeman and any of them could pull out an exotic home-made weapon from cane, crutch, wheel chair.  A good ninja can make a weapon out of eyeglasses or a toothbrush2 so everyone should be treated the same way: handcuffs and extreme vigilance.   I remember from “The Fugitive”  that Federal Agent Tommy Lee Jones removes Harrison  Ford’s handcuffs once they are back in the squad car and offers him an ice pack for his wrists. I’m not sure if this is standard procedure, but I guess once you’re in the squad car you are more manageable and less likely to try to start a getaway attempt.  And the ice pack is just a nice touch from a really cool, tough Federal Agent.

In conclusion: Archangel summed it up nicely when he said that a tired, weary Prof. Gates probably reacted inappropriately when confronted with a stressful situation.  Also, the arresting officer has a super-clean background in racial sensitivity and even taught on how to avoid racial profiling.

Circumstancial evidence points to Prof. Gates being at fault.  But now that his friend Prez Obama has taken his corner, it will be difficult to find a reasonable solution that does not include the signing of a non-agression pact at the White House’s Rose Garden.  Such is life.

  1. Given our current liberal climate, has President Bush been cleared of from the initial break-in of the house?  I’d like to know [↩]
  2. this is a good topic unto itself, for a different article [↩]

We are doomed… Playing The Race Card

July 23, 2009 in Everything Else, Politics, Rants by bladerunner | 2 comments

Race relations are a big topic this year.  From the office of the Presidency to the next Supreme Court Justice to the selection of Surgeon General, race would seem to be a central factor in selection.  Not that these folk are not good, smart people; they seem to be good enough to do what their positions require.  But were they selected because of their overwhelming qualifications, or because they held some promise and they also advanced the color-blind American agenda?   Don’t get me wrong: it’s a good agenda.
Just witness the statue of Justice; it is blindfolded, ready to go into combat with that really big sword.  Another blind entity dispensing martial arts justice1.

Disclaimer: I am not a Caucasian, if that is even important.  Most dwellers of the Russian Caucasus region look nothing like your typical redneck person (sic)  from the Deep South. I could not pass for White, whatever that means.

But I have to take issue with the case of the alleged discriminatory Swim Club in Pennsylvania. Much has been made as to how a daycare class of minority students was run out of the club by just-awful white racists.  I think that the swim club is being harassed unfairly, by a day-care practicioner that has a chip on her shoulder.  Look at the facts, in a color-blind way: Was the group large? Yes. Did the group create a crowd that is unusual for the club? Yes. Did the crowding enhance the ability to swim laps in the pool or to enjoy a quiet swim? No.  Just for those reasons, I would have ended my contract with the daycare program: our facility is just too small to accommodate you.  There were 2 other groups that received the same reasoning for termination of contract; they are not making any waves (sorry, I could not resist)  about it.

Cute kids, ugly situation, flawed decisions.

Cute kids, ugly situation, flawed decisions.

But this one person decided that the swim club was too exclusive to be allowed to exist.  Exclusivity being defined as having the need to swim in a calm environment without 65 kids jumping into the pool. Trust me, I have small kids, it gets very loud.  So she took the comments of some of her students and decided to bring a lawsuit against the club.  Allegedly, some daycare kids heard others at the swim club make derogatory remarks, eg:watch the dark skinned kids or they’ll steal your towel and don’t they ruin a perfectly good pool outing.  Although I never automatically take a kid’s word above a trusted adult, this is what this unknown person did.  And now the swim club may have to close, since it cannot afford to mount a legal defense.

Did the swim club err? Yes.  They should have kept their contracts and notified members that certain swim periods would be crowded, since the club was assisting daycare groups that no longer had access to a regular swimming pool.  Did club members have the right to complain? Yes.  They had paid their dues and expected access to a swimming pool that was normally uncrowded.  Did they have the right to make racists remarks?  No. The club leadership should have used this opportunity to educate their members about life in the  20th, er, 21st Century.  Should they have used the words “[the kids] changed the atmosphere and complexion of the club?”  No. These are perfectly good English words,  but they do sound like the color of the kids’ skin had something to do with the decision.  Stupid word choice.

Solution?  Have the swim club institute racial sensitivity classes for members (including its President);  apparently they need them.  Have the daycare come back to use the pool and drop its legal case.    Contact between the swim club members and the general population is a good thing and would foster understanding between people.   But now  that the news shows have shown the swim club as a “bad” place and placard-wearing losers are using this as an opportunity to appear on those news shows (don’t they have jobs?),  this mess will move to its sad conclusion: the swim club will close and those very stereotypes that should be destroyed will be reinforced.  Oh yes,  everyone out of the pool !!!

PS> The daycare is seeking punitive damages against the swim club. I’d hate to think that the daycare program  is trying to shake down the swim club for money over this incident.  A lot of good daycare programs are receiving  reduced funds nowaways, and this may be a tragic way to raise money.  I will continue to think that it’s only the sad interaction between flawed people that has gotten us to this point.  That, and the eagerness of a lawyer to get some cash from (maybe) affluent people.

  1. remember the TV show Kung Fu? [↩]

Zoe Saldana VS. Sonia Sotomayor

June 6, 2009 in Everything Else, Film, Humor, Politics, Rants, Television by bladerunner | 2 comments

One is a prominent Latina female.   The other is trying to get into the Supreme Court. You be the judge as to who will have a longer lasting effect on the American people.

Sonia Sotomayor     VS.   Zoe Saldana

My vote is with Zoe.  She is from the Dominican Republic and is a living embodiment of the richness of African culture that came to the Caribbean and still influences the culture there. And she looks extremely hot in the Starfleet issue miniskirt and booties.  A worthy successor to the lovely Communications Officer, Lt. Nichelle Nichols, and I believe Zoe speaks fluent Spanish.

On the other hand, we have an outspoken, intelligent Latina female, Sonia Sotomayor.  She has been called a “racist”  by the right-wing but I do not concur.  From her isolated comments, I make her out to be more of a mysandrist1  But she is going into a Supreme Court slot that is being vacated by another liberal-leaner, Justice Souter, so her positions2 should not make much of a difference in upcoming court decisions.  She will be outspoken, though, so it will be nice to hear a strident counterpoint to the pontificating statements of conservative Justice Scalia.

My score: 

Zoe Saldana (1) for a fantastic Star Trek franchise debut.   

Sonia Sotomayor (-1) for inflamatory statements that were issued when she was not open to micro-scrutiny as she is now.   Once she gets coronated as a Justice, I’ll reset her at (0).     I’ll give her (+2) rightaway if she trounces Scalia at the weekly Supreme Court Poker game. 3

  1. Definition: a hater of males.  In this case, white males. [↩]
  2. Normally, I would now digress into  positions held by Zoe Saldana, but I’m not familiar with her record  : )  [↩]
  3. Always bet your hidden aces; do not try to trap or you’ll get your dream pair cracked by trip deuces or some such tripe [↩]

Angels and Demons: are they real? (Part 2)

May 14, 2009 in Books, Everything Else, Film, Rants by bladerunner | 1 comment

Well, the answer to the titular question would be yes, for if you believe in angels then you must also believe in their counterparts, the demons.  And of course if you don’t have a spiritual bent, then this whole article is moot and you can just skip it and go see the new movie.  I suppose this is similar to watching the Star Wars movies:  I don’t believe in The Force powering up the Jedi Knights, but it sure makes for an entertaining 2 hours at the cinema.

Angel or Demon?

But if you do believe, as I do, then let me get back to the discussion we started in part 1.  I am going to relate the first part of the argument that was started so long ago in the back of a church bulletin:

(Read 1 Timothy 4:1-5)1  This passage describes the great Apostasy that is to come.  Do you think the Bible teaches that Demons are active?  Why don’t we hear much about Demons here in the United States?

The scripture passage is copied here, for your convenience (verses 1-2):

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

Well, I think the Bible has tons of passages showing that Demons are active.  Even without a Bible degree, I recall a couple of times in the old days when people would foam at the mouth and throw themselves into fires, while under the influence of demons.  In today’s newspapers, there are plenty of stories of people doing similarly unexplainable things (like killing their entire families or trying to kill all of their co-workers).  So if the equation is demons = crazy behavior then we can safely say that demons are still active.  But why don’t we hear more about them in today’s world?? How come the angels grab all of the attention and show up in all the movies and books and holiday cards?2

 As I said earlier, if you believe in Angels, then you must also believe in Demons.   I believe that you don’t see much demon activity because we do live in a society ruled by science, which has disproven the existence of demons (if you could ever prove a negative, which a lot of experts believe is a lot harder than we think).  If our society no longer believes in demons, then you can be sure that they have a lot more flexibility to act in our daily lives.  If you have ever found  yourself in a terribly emotional state (rage, depression, etc.)  then who is pushing the chemicals and hormones around in our brain??  Could someone be pressing on your adrenal gland at just the right time??  If our bodies are masses of cells, what leads them to start behaving in some fashion that we have not initiated with our mind??

I’ll play the rational scientist and respond that our bodies have been conditioned to pump hormones into our bodies at times when our very existence is threatened.   Quick, get that adrenalin shot in your system so that you can outrun a woolly mammoth and survive to procreate another day !!  So when we are in a situation that demands action, our bodies sometimes respond inappropriately and send the chemicals flying into our bodies, possibly making us go cuckoo and go grabbing for the nearest blunt object, projectile weapon, etc.  But as I recall, we also have been programmed for “fight or flight”   so why is it that most of the time we take this 50-50 choice and go for “fight”  against our very loved ones??

Who pushed the balance to the side that drives us to want to ram our truck into our neighbor’s house because his dog will never quit yapping??  That’s the “fighting” side that’s winning.

I’ll stop here, but if you want to read verses 3-5 of the Bible verse go ahead.  It is even more apropos since it talks about men advancing the cause of Demons by spouting heresy3  or in the case of the movie “Angels and Demons”  by spouting half-baked ideas about secret societies and giving it the veneer of truth.  This is OK when a movie bills itself as escapist entertainment, but the film-makers have gone out of their way to give credence to the theories in the film;  this helps the box-office but it does not advance the cause of truth.    And you thought Chariots of the Gods  in the 1970′s was a hoot; this new film goes one better.

Angels don’t have a prayer when you have CGI on your side.

Stay tuned for Part 3:   Demons, a distressing spirit.

  1. This would be in the Bible, of course [↩]
  2. Beelzebub wishes you Happy Holidays — now there’s a card I’d like to send a friend [↩]
  3. In this case the issue was abolishing marriage and incorrectly having to abstain from sinful foods — more reason to skip the cheesecake tonight.  But go ahead and propose to your girlfriend; it’s OK [↩]

Doug Prasher – Nobel Prize Hero

April 27, 2009 in Books, Everything Else, Rants, Technology by bladerunner | Permalink

Notice that I did not use the familiar phrase: Nobel Prize Winner.   That is because Doug Prasher is a victim of circumstance, Nobel prize rules and a slowing research environment.   You can read his full story here as provided by NPR, but the gist is that he was a scientist that provided a vital link in the research that culminated in this 2008′s Nobel prize win.  However, because his funding ran out at a succession of research jobs, he is now under-employed as a courtesy shuttle driver in Hunstville, Alabama. 

Courtesy Shuttle Driver and Nobel prize researcher Doug Prasher

But he is a hero, because he did the unselfish and ethical thing: he shared the fruits of his research with other scientists and helped them to get to the Nobel prize.  Heck, if the prize committee did not have the 3-person rule for awards, Doug might have found himself with winfall cash and an invitation to Sweden (do they pay for the airfare??) .

My advice to Doug: sell and write your story to Hollywood.  If they could make a crummy movie about the guy who invented the windshield wiper, they can certainly make a movie about your story.  I am hooked already, and have found your persistence and courage inspiring.  You are not only putting your kids through college but also providing a vital service in our community.  I can only hope that the added attention to your tale brings about a job offer in the scientific field where your contributions can make our economy grow (are you listening, President Obama??)

Now, the auto industry is slowing down; nobody is buying cars.   I hope this does not result in further unemployement for our hero; the auto dealership should trump up the fact that a Nobel prize researcher works there.  This could result in upscale clientele — people that don’t care if the new Toyota SUV only gives you 10 miles per gallon.  Better yet, someone hire Doug to invent a car that runs on hot air;  there’s plenty of that blowing around our state and federal government centers as they try to get their hands on our (and our children’s) money using the recession as an excuse…….

UPDATE: Our hero will be going to Stockholm after all !!  The Nobel prize winners invited Doug and his wife to travel with them to Stockholm and be at the ceremony, where he will be thanked for his contribution.   That’s how a real scientist behaves; kudos to all involved.   Now don’t get me started talking about Rosalind Franklin  and how Watson and Crick scammed her out of their Nobel Prize for their so-called discovery of the DNA double helix !!

Are Demons Real ?

March 21, 2009 in Everything Else, Film, Travel by bladerunner | 1 comment

With the upcoming release of the fictional “Angels and Demons”  (or as I call it DaVinci Code part deux) I have to ask the real question: Are there real demons??  Are they walking among us as seen in the movie “Constantine?”

Constantine battles demons

We have plenty of fictional film evidence to show these demonic beings (Constantine, again) but now I think we’ve had enough evidence in the news programs to proceed with a real discussion:


   * Alabama shooter kills 10
   * German shooter kills 10
   * Oakland shooter kills 3 cops.
   * and on and on……

Yes, I understand that out of a billion inhabitants a few people out of their minds is normal.  But what drove them out of their minds?  99.99999 percent of the population can neutralize the instict to kill their enemies/ loved ones/ strangers on the street,  so what tips these .00001 percent over the edge? 
My answer: demons.

And not the run-of-the-mill demons that make you go for that extra slice of pie for dessert or make you lie to your friends about missing their party last week.   I’m talking about the true evil that makes you contemplate flying yourself and a plane full of fuel into a building.  Demons that can literally drive you out of your rational mind and do something indescribable.

Some time ago I attended a church that printed a series of questions on the back of their bulletin.  These were questions that could be used to initiate discussions about ethics, morals, spirituality, etc.  Aptly enough, this section was called “The Back of the Bulletin” 1  For some reason, I was attracted to keep their discussion titled “Demons, Are They Real?”  but never got a chance to start this investigation.  The time for that investigation is now. 

Over the next few weeks, I will post each new question from The Back of the Bulletin on this blog, and hopefully a spirited (sic) discussion will follow.   Just to give you my background:   I’m an engineer and not attracted to the artifacts of the world beyond the veil (those things we cannot see) such as spirits, ghosts, demons, etc. I’ve never seen a UFO or experienced anything that cannot be explained by science, physics, chemistry, gaming theory. I do believe in God and therefore must believe in Satan.  For whatever reason, they both feel that they need entities to carry out some actions, so therefore I believe in angels and demons.  I don’t believe that demons make you cheat on your taxes or grab extra food at a buffet; these are behaviors that can be easily explained by our background as opportunistic hominid foragers more than by the spiritual world.

But when a rational person (and millions of years of evolution has resulted in a fairly stable brain) goes on a rampage, I have to believe that there was an extra spiritual push in there, somewhere.   I will discuss the mechanics of the brain and how it can be gamed to see/feel/experience something extraordinary,  but there’s been no proof that the deranged individuals that we are discussing were under the influence at the time of their terror sprees.  Sherlock Holmes would not settle on demons as the underlying influence2  but we may surprise ourselves when we start eliminating all other factors from the equation.

  1. Better than what you usually find there: Bulletin sponsored by You’re Next Funeral Home [↩]
  2. Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth. [↩]

Quantum of Solace musings

January 25, 2009 in Film by bladerunner | Permalink

 I finally saw the movie and since it’s been out a while,  I think I can add a few spoilers from here onward…..

Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred

Well, the movie was pretty good, and perhaps it is because I went in with very low expectactions.  Yes, the title sequence was a little flat but I thought that blending the female figures into the sand dunes was very creative.  Half the time you thought you were looking at some pattern when there was nothing there.  Musically, it was also very forgettable. However,  they were brilliant in holding the 007 theme until the very end credits.  Part of my brain was in tension awaiting that musical cue, which did not come until the end.  This is a fantastic way of bookending what was obviously part II  of  “Casino Royale”  last year.  And it signals the start of the Daniel Craig years, which should be good.

The villains keep on referring to “our organization” throughout the film,  but they never reveal it to be SPECTRE.  In the end, they make a reference to Quantum, but that would be a bad direction for the series to take.  If they are going back to the classic Bond years, what is better than SPECTRE??  And the plot of this movie was perfect for the “extortion” part of the organization.  Bring back SPECTRE !!!

Good movies steal from the best.  This movie has echoes of “Thunderball” in the death of Agent Fields, the comely young British agent that dies while trying to help Bond.  And echoes of both “GoldFinger” and “For Your Eyes Only”  in the young woman trying to avenge a death in the family.  Excellent stuff.

Also, “Quantum” may be the first Bond movie where the ingredients and process to make the vodka martini are explicitly spelled out.  There may have been a reference to this unique drink in an earlier film, but I don’t think it was as detailed as here, making a nice counterpoint to the Vesper drink which was featured in “Casino Royale.”

Missed Dearly:  Our special armaments agent Q and his gadgets.  And some girls in bikinis,  this is supposed to be escapist entertainment !!!  If the writers can come up with an iconic villain that is not too preposterous in today’s realistic environments that would be great.  Maybe a guy with nanobots that transform him into an animal at convenient times1.

  1. Cybernetic lycanthropy, as Archangel has so succinctly put it [↩]

Obama Inaugural — A Pointless Farce

January 17, 2009 in Politics, Rants by bladerunner | 5 comments

Well, now that I have your attention let me soften up a little here.  Any Presidential Inaugural in the United States should be an occassion of joy.  In what other part of the world would you see the reins of government for such a powerful nation change hands so smoothly??  Bush is out and Obama is in, and not a single person has been incarcerated or worse.

Well, maybe I’m premature.  Given the low temperatures at the Inaugural and the fact that you have limited bathroom access and seating, you may yet see a few casualties of the new government.  A word of advice to our older readers: don’t go.  This standing around for 6 hours in freezing cold is for the young.

And it is the young that should be celebrating; they are the ones that put Obama over the top and elected him President.  In their excited fugue state, they are going to go and throw a fantastic party next Tuesday to celebrate the first African-American President of the United States.    But I’m here to throw a little cold water on your party,  a little dose of reality on the Change Band-Wagon that rolled so smoothly over the remains of the GOP ticket last November.   You voted for change but what you’ve been getting is pragmatism: your new President has limited options in the face of a melting economy.  You voted to punish the rich, but it seems that we still need the rich to kick-start the economic engine from its current stupor.  You voted yourselves a ticket to the opening of a cornucopia of endless green energy and bio-fuels, but instead you are standing in the soup line with the rest of us.  Better get out of the line and get behind the serving table: we are going to need all the help we can get.

The euphoria I expect to see next Tuesday reminds me of a fantastic wedding day put together for a couple that never gave much thought to what is needed to form a long-lasting marriage.  The couple was so focused on having a great time at the wedding that they did not plan out the rudiments of a real marriage: a firm financial and emotional foundation for the life-long effort that lay ahead. 

I have heard so much about the menus for the different Inaugural celebrations being held but not much about how folks are going to pay for the meal and the entertainment.  Is this money disposable income or is it coming from your unemployment benefits?  Is it worth spending a piece of your future to get a short-lived high?

This is akin to the feeling you get when your team wins a game.  For a few moments life seems wonderful, but it is a feeling that is built on a meaningless event.   Roger Ebert has a great article on the feeling of elevation  and how you get it at the movies: it is a great sensation but it is built on something less than reality.  When the movie is over, so is the feeling of elation.  It take a little extra effort to turn the memory of that moment into action that lasts a lifetime.   I can only hope that that is what will happen on Inauguration Tuesday.  Go get  your jollies that day, but don’t lay the weight of the future on Mr. Obama; only you and the hard work of a few million others can make it as bright as you are expecting it to be.

I love a parade–Stephanie Edwards is back!!

January 3, 2009 in Everything Else, Rants, Television by bladerunner | Permalink

Sometimes, the Universe surprises me.  Karma balances out and all is well with the world.

I was pleasantly surprised on New Year’s Morning to find out that Stephanie Edwards is back as co-host of the big Pasadena Rose Brou-ha-ha.  As you may recall, she was unceremoniously dumped several years ago to the surprise of many traditionalists and to the detriment of the local KTLA parade coverage.   I covered the outrage here  and others also picked up this story.    Here she is, soldiering on under one of the few rainstorms to hit the Rose Parade (2006):

Stephanie Edwards in the rain.

But now she is back and her replacement was moved to the sidelines in an ironic turnaround that makes for gossipy good fun.  And for good measure, she returns to a higher-paying salary;  payback is a bitch.

Obama Wins !!! Break out crystal ball.

October 22, 2008 in Politics, Rants by bladerunner | 5 comments

Yes, Presidential Election Year 2008 seems to be over.  Or is it?? Read on.

With most polls placing Democratic candidate Obama 10+ points over Republican candidate McCain, it would seem to be a routine slide to November 4th this year.  However, I like to keep things interesting, so here are my top predictions for an Obama presidency:

Item 1: Obama wins. Duh.

But he does not win by the 10+ margin that the polls predict.  I believe that the contest will be a lot closer on Nov. 4th.  There will be a lot of Republicans kicking themselves in the butt for not voting.   Shame on you;  all Americans should vote on this Election Day.  The unexpected vote numbers will possibly be blamed on the Bradley Effect witnessed in the California Gubernatorial election of 1982 :folks did not admit to the pollsters that they would not vote for a black candidate.  When the election took place, the true numbers came out.  But this disparity in reporting vs. reality will result in……

Item 2: Media backlash. 

All of us are aware that the media was in bed with candidate Obama, eg: Saturday Night Live lampooned this phenomenum when they showed reporters asking candidate Obama if he needed a pillow or if it should be fluffed some more.  Candidate Hillary Clinton alluded to this “Obama Effect”  during her own candidacy.  I believe the American people will not tolerate 4 more years of this whore-pimp situation and will strike back against the media by NOT WATCHING.  Expect higher viewing numbers for reality-television shows and Entertainment-Tonight-type programs as news viewership declines.  Same for newspapers, unless they print sale-coupons or cents-off coupons for food.  Which brings us to…..

Item 3: Economy in the toilet. 

Despite Obama’s “efficiencies”  and his research into extracting sunlight from cucumbers1  the economy will continue its slide into crumminess or at best, into stagnation.  There will be an initial bump upwards, due to the change-is-coming effect, but this will quickly be replaced by the cold truth of reality.  Useless investment in ocean wind farms and solar panel cities will not trickle down to other sectors of the economy.  They will not produce enough energy to fuel an economic resurgence, but they will make for an exciting IMAX film coming to your neighborhood soon !!! 2  Which easily leads to…..

Item 4: Blame it on Bush. 

Blaming anything and everything on Bush has become such a popular pastime that I don’t think  it will stop.  Obama got elected by blaming the Bush Presidency and I don’t think he will stop.  Blaming the continuing crisis on 8 Bush years will get pretty old, though, and soon.  The Economic Crisis got him elected, but it will also bring Obama down in popularity and job acceptance poll-numbers.  There will be books written on this period of economic distress, which is why I find it so curious that none will be written about……

Item 5: Big Conspiracy. 

I always connect a big event with the people that most benefit from that big event.  This crisis got Obama elected, ergo, the Democratic Party is behind it.  Now wait.  Before you consign this thought to the rubbish bin section of your brain, consider this:  the crisis was bound to happen, the bad home loans were in place, the banks were running on vapor; but what made it happen just NOW??  Why did it not happen months ago, or on November 5th?  Why was it so fortuitously timed for a particular person to benefit??  Just the timing of it makes my conspiracy-theory-minded Spidey sense tingle.  And trust me, I am not the only person making this kind of fantastical leap: most reporters got their reputations by developing that investigative-hunch-bone that makes them uneasy when things “just happen.”  But the lack of investigative reporting makes me wonder about how far this conspiracy reaches.  Could it be that not only the Democrats but also the Republicans have something to hide in this mess, and they have both managed to keep the press at bay??  Newshounds know that you can’t piss both sides of the political process, or you end up with 4 years of reporting on Libertarian and Green Party issues.  But they can still redeem themselves and avoid Item 2.  It just may not be possible to do so.  Just look at the finger that pushed the first domino in the chain of bank failures, that’s were the fault lies.

And bonus Item 6: 

Obama’s ethanol initiative will pollute the environment in a big way and turn environmentalists against him.  Again.  But nobody cares about this, so please ignore.

Afterthought Item 7: Sarah Palin runs for Presidency 2012.  This year shows that inexperience is not a detractor to the Presidency if you are popular enough.  After discarding the McCain deadweight (sorry John!!), Palin will reject public funding for campaigns and go on to raise prodigious amounts of cash that will take her to the Presidency.  But watch out: her run will encourage Hillary Clinton to also run in 2012, capitalizing on her opposition to Obama since the very start; she will find an understanding American public.  That’s the campaign *I* want to see made into a movie!!3

  1. “Gulliver’s Travels”, Jonathan Swift [↩]
  2. As an engineer, I am actually intrigued by these new power systems; they
    will look pretty cool but will not produce the scale of energy needed by a country the size of the USA [↩]
  3. NOTE to Spike Lee: we don’t want an inspirational Obama film starring Denzel Washington, unless Obama is running a secret war against extraterrestrials on the Dark Side of the moon, with lots of special effects explosions and USA space troopers launching out of the Capitol building [↩]

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