Dubya Wins!

Each time we elect a president, I like to try and think ahead a bit and see what things are likely to happen. Obviously, I'm no expert; this is just my gut feeling on the situation at hand. Now that I have this blog, I think this is the perfect place to express it.

My predictions for the next 4 years...

1. Debt Increase - The US National Debt which is currently $7.4 trillion will exceed $15 trillion. There appears to be no end in sight for the current 2 occupations (Iraq & Afghanistan). I can only guess that we will continue to spend at our current rate or higher.

2. More tax cuts for the rich - If it wasn't already a sweet enough deal for those who make $1mil+/yr, it's going to get better. Who will pay? Those of us who make $250k or less a year. Our day-to-day expenses (gas, food, clothing, etc) will continue to go up, our salaries will stay flat or go down, and we might get 1-3% shaved off our tax bill which Bush will say is a tax cut for the middle class (whoo hooo), but we will experience a net decrease in spending power. My only advice is to suddenly find a job paying $1mil+. Good luck, because 5-10% of you will probably lose your job to outsourcing.

3. Another Occupation - Dubya will get bored with Iraq and Afghanistan and decide to invade another "Evil Doer" nation. This of course will increase point #1 above (the national debt), but also some how or another improve his approval rating. Everyone seems to love a good war against "evil."

4. Education fallout - The no child left behind act has been his claim to fame as far as education goes, however it's not really working. Charlotte alone has lost over $10mil in federal funded programs for at-risk kids. Bush just says that it's working, and everyone seems to believe him. Soon enough the truth will come out that it's a failing program and by then it's already too late for our youth. Luckily, we will have the military for them to join since we will be in dire need of bodies to help with point #3 above (the new occupation). You could probably send your child to private school (and get a tax break for it in the next couple years [another prediction]) if you could only afford it. However because of point #2 above, you will find it harder and harder to come up with additional money. Your only choices are to find a high paying job, increase your personal debt or suffer through failing public schools.

5. Increase in Crime - Fewer available jobs paying less money only means more crime. It's not rocket science.

Sorry for all the negativity, but I just don't see the next 4 years as very bright. We'll check back in 4 years to see how close I come.

Tax break for offshoring tech jobs

It seems George Bush has given a major tax cut (from 35% to 5.25%) for those tech companies who are using offshoring for "research and development." uh huh...

"Bush Signs Tech Tax Break" on internetnews.com

Blogshares?

I accidentally discovered this game called BlogShares. It basically puts values on various blogs and people buy and sell the blogs like stocks. I was googling someone and the #1 hit was a link to his blog from BlogShares. I just happened to search for my blog, and sure enough:

zhunzi.blogspot.com

In fact, several of my friends blogs were listed!

New Vodaphone V602 sees through clothes :)

The new Vodaphone V602 has been having problems in Japan. It seems it can be adapted with a ~US$180 night vision device and be used to see through clothing. Finally tech has caught up with every guy's fantasy....

Article on The Times Online
Article on Podgadget
Article on Engadget

Key chain TV remote control

For some reason, I can see the amount of tape on the front of public TVs increasing...

CNN Link: Key chain remote control turns off TVs

This guy has invented a keychain that will turn on or off about any TV. Perfect for wrecking havoc in your favorite sports bar.

Canadian Tech Hero

I discovered this article about a Canadian guy named Andrew Greig who has a sweet home setup. He's running VoIP that travels with him on his PDA, MythTV with tons of recorded shows. And best of all, he shares all of this and internet bandwith with his neighbors. They all use VoIP thru his VoIP PBX, and are able to watch both live and recorded shows through his MythTV server setup. It's a must read for any geek.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040930.html

Thank you Mr. Cheney

Thank you for pointing me to 2 great websites:

Factcheck.com (aka www.GeorgeSoros.com)

Factcheck.org

Pitcairn Island

I am always curious about islands that nobody has heard of. Sometimes I will look at my world map, and just find an island, and then do some research on it to try and figure out if anyone lives there and if they do, what is their life like.

Today I was reading CNN and there was a big scandal brewing on the little Pitcairn Island. I became very curiuos about this island, and the people who lived there. I decided to check on CIA World Factbook first (one of my favorite places to read actually). It peaked my interest even more, so I decided to Google it.

In any case, I encourage everyone to read a little about it. Seems like a very interesting lifestyle choice that these people make to live here. It's definitely a life much simplier than the busy stress inducing world of big city life.

Nokia 6820 and Debates

I got a new Nokia 6820 today. I love it. You'll notice I now have a moblog on the side nav.

Don't forget to watch the debates tonight!

How do you step on your own hand?

I ran into some more interesting information about copyright recently and thought I'd pass it along.

The government finds out it's hard to speak when you have duct tape on your mouth:
Pentagon Censors Gov't Openness Videotape

I also found an interesting organization that is working towards releasing creative works under a license specified by its creator. The organization is called Creative Commons.