As I’ve said many times here increased regulation including net-neutrality regulation will result in poorer quality services and/or higher costs.  This is a natural byproduct of governmental interference in the market.  Gizmodo had an article that articulated this very point in regards to the recent regulation called for by the FCC chairman Julian Genachowski.  The regulation he called for has resulted in AT&T allowing VOIP on the iPhone.  AT&T is allowing it not because they feel it’s good for business.  Rather they are seeking to be ahead of the regulations forthcoming and provide a way for them to justify price increases. It’s always been my opinion that the FCC and Congress should spend their time and energy increasing competition and seeking ways to break up these sudo monopolies owned by the telco and cable companies.  Instead Obama’s administration will monkey with the market decrease quality and increase prices.  Further placing the US at a disadvantage on the world market. Cross Posted at RightSideofTech.com

Forget about any moderation in the U.S.; it’s our civic duty to push everything to the point of bizarre. Take freedom for example, now we have a whole new level of freedom — the freedom to be as stupid as we wanna be. “Stupid” is now the new “smart.” If you have potential to be “outrageously stupid,” congratulations, you could go far. You could become a millionaire with your own reality show, or a TV/radio talk show host, maybe a news anchor, or a politician or maybe even president of the United States! The more outrageously dense you are, the more potential you have for hitting it big! Goodness, are you still using your brain? What are you, stupid!?

Turn off and dumb-down. Why do you think when President Obama planned to give school children a pep talk to study hard on their first day of school that some parents and teachers refused to have the children listen to his speech? Those adults knew that being smart would only lead to children working harder! Why work when you can be rich and famous just by being an obnoxious dolt? Barack Obama may be the Commander-In-Chief, but so was George Bush. Now admit it: Between the two, who has more money and fun? Heh, heh, heh!

And speaking of who’s having more fun: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, guess who’s sticking his tongue at us (literally!) on TV — none other than former GOP House Speaker, Tom Delay, on Dancing With The Stars. I had hoped to be entertained; instead I was being grossed out by Tom Delay’s dance stylings of shaking his booty and having his icky hands all over two-time champion, Cheryl Burke. He had to mention that his demands were met to get her as his dance partner. Eeeww. Watching him dance makes me want to shower.

“The Hammer” as he was called in congress, is indicted by a Texas grand jury on criminal charges of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. It has been three years now, and the prosecutor has yet to bring the case before a jury. Yes, even he’s dumbfounded, no doubt.

Turn the channel and surprise: Former GOP governor Sarah Palin is on the news. She’s in Hong Kong addressing finance professionals as the keynote speaker at the annual conference of brokerage investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. Previous speakers at this conference were Alan Greenspan, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Hey, who needs brains when you’re Sarah Palin? The world is her oyster bar to slurp up.

Then the heckler that refuses to get out of our face, GOP Representative, Joe Wilson is keeping us posted on his success. Thus far, he’s collected $2 million for deriding the president in his childish “town hall” outburst. But wait, now he has an action figure too. That’s right, a Joe Wilson doll programmed to utter, “You Lie!” selling for $39.95. Truly a must have for every child: A heckling “You Lie!” non-action action figure.

If you still think it pays to be smart in life, just see how much more it pays to be an absolute doofus. Reality show, soon-to-be-divorced couple, Jon and Kate Plus 8, is the perfect example. They have earned more just by being their screwed up selves, having their screwed up lives with their eight children being filmed in front of millions to gawk and admire. Kate is bent on continuing her Hollywood lifestyle regardless of how it affects the children’s well-being, and Jon is simply running around like a dog trying to be with as many women as possible. Can someone please tell him not every woman is a fire hydrant.

Nonetheless, they have eight children to send to college…wait a second, if dumb is the new smart, the children have no need for college. There you go — more money for mom and Rover.

So stop being a fool asking smart questions when brain-numbing questions are the trend now. Even news reporters know, asking a freaking foolish question over and over again, will eventually land the important, “gotcha!” slip up from the person being interviewed. Catty remarks are always better than facts. Boring facts do nothing for enquiring minds.

Therefore, here’s to us all for pushing freedom of speech and civil rights to glorious heights of bombastic absurdity. So-called values such as dignity, ethics, morals and proper etiquette require too much thinking. Puh-leeze! Stop thinking so much; why waste time? Intelligence is out; stupidity is in. Until people stop being rewarded for being as stupid as they wanna be, acting stupidly holds more promise than responsible consciousness. Oh-oh, I’m starting to feel an urge to heckle already!

Enough is enough. GOP conservatives are pushing the envelope with their boorish, childish behavior. What makes them think it is acceptable in civilized society to act irresponsibly and express any unfiltered negative thought that runs through their minds? Isn’t part of being a mature adult the ability to be respectful of others and not behave like bratty children, yelling and screaming and saying whatever mean, ugly notion they can think of just to get their way? Is this what we want our children to aspire to as adults – that it’s fine to behave like big bratty children and never grow up?

How disrespectful of the GOP conservatives to spread a malicious campaign about President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren being a political ploy to indoctrinate them for political gain. There is nothing wrong, and everything right about the President of The United States telling children on their first day back at school to study hard and do well. Former Presidents Reagan and George Bush senior did the same. Where was the uproar over their speech to school children back then? Why the uproar now?

And where are all the weenie democrat lawmakers on this? Why aren’t they speaking out and standing behind their president on what would be a good example to children to do well in school? They should be outraged by the ridiculous antics the conservative GOP are pulling, while they just stand by and watch. Are lame democrats doing their civic duty by allowing GOP conservatives to create chaos in the U.S.? When will they take control and fight the outlandish disrespectful behavior?

GOP conservative talk radio & TV show hosts the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Bill O’Reilly are the worst examples of adults behaving like brats. What’s worse is that they behave as though spreading ugly, negative thoughts is fine, and they have a right to say whatever nonsense they can think of just for their own giddy pleasure. This is understandable behavior from children, but not adults who should have the maturity to conduct themselves as such. These people are regressing and taking the country down with them.

And don’t give me any hogwash about God telling them to behave in this atrocious manner. Blaming God for one’s bratty behavior is a poor excuse for wanting to act like an imbecile. Shame on them. I would like to know what God they are praying to that accepts such abominable conduct?

My God is a loving God that tells me to respect others, and not to be mean, ugly and wish ill will on others. This is from the bible – GOP conservatives claim to be religious Christians, but can God really be happy with such mean-spirited behavior? It would do well for those claiming to be religious to read the bible – and understand it. There is absolutely no excuse for such irresponsible, child-like behavior, unless they are children.

To the democrat & the respectable GOP lawmakers, I say it is time to lead the country and teach citizens to act as respectful, responsible adults! It is your civic duty to take control over the chaos that the wayward conservative republicans are creating and bring order and dignity to the nation again. This, I repeat, is your civic duty. Shame on those politicians that continue to stand by and allow a boorish few to create havoc and bring down the nation with such blatant disrespect.

Do it for the children, because what they are seeing is that there is no need to grow up and take responsibly for their actions. If errant adults can do it and become feared and famous, then why can’t they?

The number of people who I consider great can be counted on one hand. Many have done good works, perhaps even great works, but to place someone on a level of greatness, well, it’s a whole other level. Anyone considered great in my book, must be able to overcome extraordinary obstacles, and leap beyond that to do extraordinary things. Overcoming tragedy, or a tragic mistake, is one thing; but to go beyond the personal tragedy and accomplish feats that benefit others, is another – it simply speaks of greatness.

Edward “Ted” Kennedy did just that. Many have long forgotten the tragedy in 1969 when Kennedy, driving under the influence of alcohol after a party, drove off the Chappaquiddick bridge with his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. The campaign staffer drowned, but worse, Kennedy survived and failed to report the accident to authorities until several hours later.

It was the scandal that shook the nation. People were outraged – not only because of the tragedy, but also because after being found guilty, Kennedy received only a two month suspended sentence for a misdemeanor charge. It was just too obvious that some strings were pulled and that Kennedy was let off easy. Kennedy’s political career looked almost certain to be over. He was damaged goods and back then, there was little if any tolerance for someone exhibiting poor judgment and character.

But if ever there was a good example of someone who had not squandered the public’s faith and generosity after given a second chance, it was Ted Kennedy. Since then he worked tirelessly pushing civil rights, education and health care legislation to move the country and the world forward. His accomplishments were many, and certainly regained the public’s trust.

What I found so intriguing about Kennedy was his unending effort that went well beyond what was expected of him after Chappaquidick became a thing of the past. Perhaps his religious upbringing, or his cultural and family influence, drove him beyond mere self-preservation into near obsessive selfless service. But even those influences fall short of what could be a deeper motivation – by causing the end of someone’s life, he had a mission to give as much as he could of his own life. Life does not always go in a straight line, and Ted Kennedy rose above his failings to improve the lives of all. That was no minor feat – it was greatness.

Today columnist John C. Dvorak made the claim that Vivek Kundra was a phony.  In his story he disputed the education and qualifications of Mr. Kundra.  Among the claims he made was that Vivek Kundra had lied about his MS degree in Information Technology.  It appears shortly after the release of this blog entry GigaOm reported:

University of Maryland University College spokesman, confirmed that Kundra graduated from the school with a Masters of Science in Information Systems Management.

This fact seems to clear up the fact that he did in fact have a MS from University of Maryland.  However there still is no evidence he had a degree in Biology as he claimed in his Washington DC bio. While the education stuff is entertaining and controversial I find the questions about his background more interesting.  Here you have a man placed in charge of multiple billions of dollars of US IT spending.  This same man seems to lack any significant experience in IT that would justify such an important position.  While I agree that he is more than willing to throw resources towards Web 2. 0 technologies this will not solve the underlying problems that exist in Federal IT spending and implementation.  The fact that he spent $18 million dollars to build Recovery.gov is ridiculous.  His spending might be justified if he had made significant improvements in data availability.  However according to OMB watch:

…administration has yet to release much new information that wasn’t previously available online.

Obama did what he always does in his appointments.  He choose a candidate that was politically connected over skill set and experience.  That is why he choose a Leon Panetta for CIA Director.  He choose a politically connected individual over someone with a strong military or intelligence background.  Consistently he has proven that he would rather find someone that benefits him in some politically strategic way rather than choose individuals for their qualifications and experience.

If my father were still alive, I’d be worried. I would want to know exactly on what grounds did the Cambridge police have to arrest the Harvard professor. This would concern me because, you see, my father could easily have been Professor Henry Louis Gates being taken away in handcuffs with his mouth agape.

My father, bless his soul, was one of those belligerent cantankerous old geezers that at times, someone would wish to haul away in handcuffs. It’s actually pretty funny when I think about it – my own dad being dragged away just for being himself! He would be exactly like that professor in the photo, wild-eyed, cursing and screaming at the police! Of course he wasn’t that way all the time – just if you happened to catch him in a bad mood and started bothering him. But he surely would be hot and bothered after returning from a long trip exhausted, and then having to break into his own #@&!!! front door because the #@&!!! door wouldn’t open, and then having the #@&!!! police come by asking him if he’s the owner of the #@&!!! place or if he’s trying to burglarize it. Yes, absolutely that could easily have been my dad being taken away in handcuffs. And that is why, if my dad were still alive today, I would be very concerned.

People really have the Cambridge incident entirely wrong. Cambridge Sergeant James Crowley was not, and is not a racist. And Professor Henry Louis Gates was not, and is not a dangerous man. But instead of seeing the incident for what it was – a legal issue – it was hijacked as a race issue. Moreover, till today it’s still being looked at as a race issue, which is ludicrous.

What simply happened was, there were three combustible words thrown in to ignite the entire situation. Whenever you have these words involved – Arrest, Race and Stupid – all thoughts of basic civil rights go out the window. The problem is those three words together hit a nerve in most people, so rather than viewing the situation as a legal issue, suddenly the issue becomes racism.

Given the choice between having to think about law or racism, guess which one wins out? Everyone has an opinion on racism, but not many have an opinion on law – unless it’s coming down on them personally.

All of the uproar only confirms that people love getting their ire up about racism. But try talking to them about civil rights and their eyes glaze over. Worse, if it requires any kind of thinking, by the time they get pass the word “civil,” their minds have already gone to their happy place. They much prefer to talk about racism. “Racism” is much sexier than “civil rights.”

And people do love being titillated. Which explains why public opinion is formed mostly on the basis of appearance and chatter these days. If anyone’s in trouble, the first thing they’ll do is immediately contact the media and present their side of the story. With the public now being judge and jury, it’s all about public relations, marketing, and presenting everything in a nice neat little package to win people over and sway their thinking. So now, really, ask yourself: Is it “my” opinion, or am I just being manipulated?

Sergeant James Crowley was not lying when he said he’s not a racist. He’s not. Racism wasn’t the problem; his abuse of power in the situation was. He was given two identifications verifying that Professor Gates was indeed the owner of the home. Sergeant Crowley should have left the premises at that point. What was the reason for the arrest? That the professor was going to hit him with his cane?

Granted, police work is difficult, but it is imperative that ordinary citizens have the right not to be arrested in their homes over a personality conflict. This was a personality conflict.

Sergeant Crowley’s actions were wrong and the simple solution was that he needed a little time off.

Perhaps the sergeant might have been concerned about being fired or ruining his good record after facing the professor who demanded his badge number, supervisor’s name and even possibly threatening a lawsuit. This may have triggered the sergeant to take the drastic measure of making an arrest. I understand why the officer did it, and why he continues to defend his actions, but nonetheless, it was wrong. This needs to be made clear to him.

Thus, after all is finally said and done, the teachable moment in all of this will be: We certainly know how to rile up the nation in just three little words.

Apparently the Obama administration did not get the memo that its 2009 and not 1692. On the Whitehouse.gov blog a post encourages readers:

If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

This reminded me of the Salem witch trials where people were encouraged to turn in their neighbors for “fishy” behavior. In addition to this odd behavior Redstate.com is reporting the Obama administration is using provisions from the Broadband Data Improvement Act to gather information on individuals with broadband access including IP address, address and Internet access points on the home. I’m not normally one for conspiracies but this has all the makings of a good one. Cross posted with Rightsideoftech.com

There are generally three types of people on the Healthcare Reform issue: Those in favor of reform (Have no health insurance or if they do, their coverage sucks!), Those against reform (Have health insurance and can’t understand why you don’t), and those against reform with NO health insurance (The Joe the Plumber/ Sarah Palin group, too busy foraging in the forests to know better).

Those with health insurance have the muscle to beat back healthcare reform with every twitching nerve in their health covered bodies! Plus, they’re armed with compelling reasons too – any one of which they will throw at you when discussing the subject, or drop them all at once on you like a ton of bricks in a final ad hominem attack. You can’t let your guard down when it comes to debating healthcare reform with these people or they’ll push the issue right back to where it started – at the very beginning with nothing ever being accomplished. Remember: this has been going on for at least 16 years since the Clinton Administration.

The same old scare tactics work every time because obstructionist republicans and rubber chicken democrats keep sounding the alarm that healthcare reform will do nothing but add to the deficit and increase healthcare costs in the long run. People scare easily and always end up running for the quick fix. Why are we such ninnies? The initial deadline set for August before congress goes on recess would have been workable with a solid bill ready until some in congress started whining that more time was needed. Now congress has until the end of the year to pass the bill. What are they waiting for; the deficit to go to $1 gazillion+ so they can complain that the deficit is way too much again?

And don’t tell me all the hemming and hawing isn’t being done to accommodate those health insurance lobbyists! Blame the health insurance companies for rising healthcare costs. Give them a competing government plan and watch how fast they will lower their fees rather than hear them belly ache every year about how much money they’re losing. Health insurance companies hold the scalpel these days, and are now the bane of our individual lives. If they’re so concerned about our health, why aren’t they doing something about their skyrocketing costs making us sick to our stomachs?  Health insurance companies need to get their hands out of medical practice and allow doctors, clinics and hospitals to do their jobs.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has backed the $1 trillion-plus Democratic House health-care bill, H.R. 3200, and Dr. Michael Maves,  AMA’s executive vice president and CEO, expressed in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charlie Rangel, that “This legislation includes a broad range of provisions that are key to effective, comprehensive health system reform.” It continues to list details of sensible improvements and cost-cutting measures to streamline operation of the healthcare system. This is why health insurance companies such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield are trying so hard to get congressmen to stall and obfuscate the healthcare reform issue. Health insurance companies don’t want to compete with a government plan less they be exposed with all the money they have been making from doctors, health facilities and patients.

Recently while on Twitter, my view on healthcare reform was challenged by a republican. Here is some of what he said:  Healthcare insurance for everyone isn’t realistic, You don’t have to be insured to get medical help for almost anything (even as small as a hangnail), Here (In the U.S.), where there is a high illegal population, we have hospitals who seek to ONLY see people without insurance, Healthcare and government will control (ration) care, Medicare and Medicaid ALREADY exist to insure those who can’t afford it, Steps we are taking as individuals are already in the right direction so what good will it do to create a giant government bureaucracy in the name of that which we are already doing?

(Of course he threw in Cap & Trade, illegal immigrants, housing, and global warming, which was fine since I answered those issues too.)

It was obvious he was getting his info from Rush Limbaugh or some other blowhard. I pointed out to him comments that were twisted or untrue. Others, I responded as follows: Healthcare insurance can and should be for everyone and government must act; it would be inexcusable not to. Everyone does have access to healthcare but not everyone can AFFORD it. People losing their jobs will also not be able to afford it. Those, through no fault of their own who are unemployed and NOT on welfare, and must pay out-of-pocket, will find medical costs ASTRONOMICAL and cannot easily afford it. Medicaid will help if you are on welfare, but Medicare will not cover much of the cost. I know this from experience with Medicare; I know the costs. As far as government rationing care, this is just a scare tactic by insurance companies, I worked at a huge health insurance company before, and I know those upper management people are making big bucks! They don’t want government involvement because then it will force them to lower THEIR rates and compete! Cost of healthcare is weighing on the economy. People cannot afford to take a short-term survivalist outlook because it will affect ALL – the economy as well – in the long term. If only few have insurance while others are without or unable to afford health treatments, this will AFFECT EVERYONE and hospitals & clinics as well.

Surprisingly, what seemed to stop him in his tracks was when I asked him, “Do you have medical insurance? And if YOU DON’T have medical insurance, why would you be so against having it under healthcare reform?”

He answered, “I do have insurance which I carefully chose to best aid my wife and myself in an emergency. I also know it will give us the opportunity at the absolute best doctors and care in the world should we need it.

I’m sure it surprised him when I said, “Yes, I have medical insurance too and have my own personal doctors that I will continue seeing. That won’t change. You know, having healthcare coverage myself, I could very easily be against healthcare reform because it would benefit me. But if my doctors begin having fewer patients, thus less business, what is the certainty they will be able to continue their practice? The short-term survivalist outlook will affect us ALL in the long run. ”

There was no response from him after that.

The next day I received a message (tweet) from him. “I will agree that many in the GOP are just as bad as democrats now, but that’s why we’re working to oust them. And Obama on Iran IS weak.”

Okay, sure, whatever he says. Even he couldn’t disagree with healthcare reform.

Note To Congress:  The AMA has endorsed H.R. 3200, a perfectly sound bill that can still make it in time for the August deadline. Don’t be surprised if your individual standing looks much worse in December for having delayed this bill until then. If the hope is for the bill to be killed by then, well of course the public will be looking for the surgical team that killed the patient.

And please, let’s not get funny with watering it down either.