Kerry Proposes Health Care Plan

Hmm, I guess this is a time warp from 2004.

Sen. John Kerry on Monday proposed requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2012, "with the federal government guaranteeing that they have the means to afford it."

That is a lot of money is expecting the government to cough up. I wonder if you will be able to opt out of this program or is everyone required to have it no matter what. It sounds like the same tax and spend crap that always comes out of the Boston liberal camp. Even the Repubs in Boston like to give away the free stuff paid for with tax payer cash:

Kerry faces the reality that the governor of his home state — Republican Mitt Romney, himself a potential 2008 presidential candidate — has not only talked about but enacted a sweeping health care overhaul designed to bring universal coverage to Massachusetts.

Llamas enlisted in Zionist Plot!

Or so says the Arab Street once they get their hands on this story.

Israeli newspapers carried pictures of South American llamas accompanying commandos out of southern Lebanon, their saddlebags full of fighting gear.

Yedioth Ahronoth daily quoted a senior Israeli military commander as saying the white-furred pack animals could carry up to 60 pounds each over rough terrain, were quiet and required feeding only once every two days.

I think Iran needs to come out and say that llamas are against Allah. Plus they need to have a violent protest soon. Maybe the Arab Street should be burning the Argentinean flag and running around with placards stating "No Blood for Llamas! Also Lorenzo Lamas needs to watch his step just in case things get crazy.

Europeans The New Big Player in Lebanon

Hmm it seems that they are going to be forced into a greater role in the Middle East if a large force of peacekeepers are needed after the inevitable cease fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Italy, Germany, Ireland, France and Turkey have said they are considering
joining a U.N.-run multinational force. Britain and the Netherlands appear
unenthusiastic.
Foreign ministers from across the continent will discuss
their options next week at a hastily arranged gathering in Brussels,
Belgium.

Of course Europe has those Old Colonial Blues when it comes to intervening in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Tony Blair office says that Britain is unlikely to contribute
troops because of its colonial history in the region, and its extensive military
commitments elsewhere. Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk-Jan Vermeij said
his country also had no plans to participate.

And there is nothing like a Israel vs. Germany showdown that is just 60 years in the making.

For Germany, the legacy of World War II presents troubling complications: What
if German men in uniform find themselves confronting Israelis?

New Motorola Phones

Here are some pics of their new lineup of phones. They look pretty high tech and might be the kind of thing that propels them to new market share gains:

This is the MOTOKRZR. It kind of looks like a super thin RAZR phone. I like how thin it is since I usually carry my phone in my pants pocket. Good thing I held off on the PEBL. This thing looks pretty cool.:



And this is the MOTORIZR. It is a slide phone to compete with the offerings from Samsung:

Motorola Introduces MOTOFONE

This seems like a shrewd move to attack Nokia in their strongest business.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT - News) today announced the MOTOFONE, a new handset poised to redefine the market by making high design and smart technology truly affordable. The MOTOFONE combines Motorola's award-winning design sensibility with smart features and easy functionality. Motorola's thinnest phone yet at approximately 9mm thin, MOTOFONE borrows key elements from Motorola's iconic portfolio and gives them a new twist. Flat keypad, colors, innovative materials and finish processes combine to make a device that's beautiful and affordable for everyone around the world.

They are making a cool phone for the emerging market which seems dominated by clunky, crappy looking phones that sacrifice looks for cheap materials. Here is a picture from this site of the new phone and some info on it. It looks pretty cool to me and not like some of the plastic crap the low end market has to endure. I have seen some of the lower end Samsungs and Nokias and they look pretty cheap and seem like they would be easily broken. This thing has some decent style points to it and should be a pretty decent seller I should think. I wonder what the margin is on each of these?

Netflix Gets Hammered

Hmm, there might be a buying opportunity coming soon in this stock.

And now, the bad news. Despite a 62% surge in subscriber growth, revenue rose just 46% to $239.4 million as new customers took to lower-priced plans that clearly didn't ding margins. The problem is that analysts were expecting the top line to clock in at $242.6 million.

Coming in a little light at the top will continue, with Netflix aiming for at least $980 million in revenue for all of 2006. Wall Street was perched just above the $1 billion mark.

It also costs Netflix more to rope in each new customer. They are now paying $43.95 when they were only paying $38.13 a year ago. That means their advertising budget is too high and could be slashed to bring prices down. It will hurt when you pay $43.95 to bring in a person that is only going to get the 2 movie plan for $11.99 a month.

I think the stock is getting fairly valued here in the $18 range. They are still the premier DVD rental name and have pretty clean financing and a large cash horde. However the only near term catalyst though will be announcing their plans for video on demand. If it sounds like something that would be able to grow their bottom line then the stock will probably rise. If it is something sad-assed that they cobble together to meet revenue numbers then you can say hello to single digits and a Blockbuster (BBI) style valuation. It should be an interesting watch list name in any case.

Amazon Disappoints

Bad news for Amazon stockholders.

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN - news) on Tuesday reported a 58 percent drop in second-quarter net income as a severed partnership with Toysrus.com and higher technology investment spending cut into profits.

The company's stock fell 10 percent following the announcement.

That technology investment shouldn't be a big deal since that is a one time thing but that toysrus.com thing may leave them flatfooted. They need to be a player in the online toy space before Christmas but probably won't be able to compete effectively with Wal-Mart and Toys-R-Us. They need to ramp up a toy selling arm that rivals already have entrenched and that could hurt them.

Ken Jennings "Blasts" Jeopardy

Hmm, he is now "blasting" Jeopardy and Alex Trebeck on his web site.

"Nobody knows he died in that fiery truck crash a few years back and was immediately replaced with the Trebektron 4000 (I see your engineers still can't get the mustache right, by the way)."

Jennings also takes aim at the show's "effete, left-coast" categories and "same-old" format.

Well I guess those are strong words but I wouldn't call it blasting the show. He just says that it is old fashioned and Alex is wooden in his mannerisms. The categories have always been effete left coast stuff because that seems to be the target audience. A steady diet of "Hip-Hop of the 90s" or "Coldplay Songs" would sink the show.

Israel Masses at the Lebanese Border

It looks like it is almost go-time for an invasion into Hezbollah controlled lands.

An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press in Beirut that between 300 and 500 troops are believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks.

Hey if this U.N. idiot wasn't supposed to talk to the press then what is he doing talking to the press? Even though he is anonymous it doesn't excuse the fact that he isn't authorized to brief the press about this. The U.N. is a big joke anyway.

Google Knocks it Out of the Park

Wow Google is really going all out by beating estimates again.

Excluding expenses for employee stock compensation and several other one-time items, Google said it would have earned $2.49 per share -- well above the average estimate of $2.22 per share among 32 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

It marks the seventh time in eight quarters as a public company that Google has soared past the earnings hurdle set by Wall Street, even though its management insists the search engine isn't being steered by investors' relentless push for higher profit.

It also seems to be putting out these good numbers at Yahoo's expense:

Through June, Google held a 44.7 percent share of the U.S. search engine market, up from 36.9 percent at the same time last year, according to comScore Media Metrix. Yahoo ranked a distant second at a 28.5 percent share, comScore said.

Google's Web sites also have been attracting more new users than Yahoo, Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. -- the owners of the Internet's most trafficked Web sites.

Too bad they won't split their stock to make it more reasonable to buy a round lot.

House Backs Israel 410-8

It seems that there was a bi-partisan show of support in which the House backed Israel up in its war with Hezbollah terrorists. Here are the Congressmen that voted pro-Hezbollah according to the House Clerks office:

Neil Abercrombie
John Conyers
John Dingell
Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI)
Jim McDermott
Ron Paul
Nick Rahall
Pete Stark

Yup, our boy Neil Abercrombie is on this list. It just goes to show that at least part of the Hawaii delegation can't agree to side with our only real ally in the Middle East. Even when they are defending themselves from terror and trying to get their kidnapped soldiers back. At least Ed Case voted pro-Israel on this thing. That is one of the reasons why I'm going to vote for him in November. He isn't a raging, insane liberal that is soft on Islamic terror.

Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill

This is why Bush has such poor poll numbers:

Senate supporters of the bill likened that logic to opposition suffered by Galileo, Christopher Columbus and others who were rebuked in their time but vindicated later.

Polls show as much as 70 percent public support for embryonic stem cell research.

Yes lets go against the wishes of 70% of the public while your approval numbers are in the toilet. It also lets China or whomever steps up to the plate get ahead of us in the research gap. While we dicker around with restraints on something that could potentially help millions of Americans.

If the cure for cancer or spinal cord injuries or something comes out of Stem Cell research then Bush will actually be the Conservative Caveman that his critics make him out to be. He will be figuratively standing in the school house door while China or Korea leaps ahead of us in Pharma research. This kind of stuff is why I am a Moderate instead of a hard line Conservative. I just can't fathom the thinking that true scientific progress that can potentially help millions of people can be slowed so easily by social issues like this.

Will Snakes on a Plane be No. 1 at the Box Office?

It sure will be interesting if this movie does make it to number one in its opening week. It seems like they are dodging the critics to go right to the fans at ComicCon in San Diego.

If Snakes slinks to the top of the box office in its first weekend--and Pandya expects it will--it'll join the likes of When a Stranger Calls, Madea's Family Reunion and Underworld: Evolution, all 2006 films that claimed number one status without the benefit and/or distraction of critics' screenings.

"As it becomes more common to open films without press screenings, it becomes less of an issue," Pandya said.

Hmm, if it does make a bundle of money I think more lower budget films will dodge the critics and do what Snakes is going to do. I mean why have the critics hurt your movie when you have generated a ton of buzz and grass roots advertising via blogs like Snakes did. This paragraph certainly sums up this view:

Business-wise, Gitesh Pandya of the number-crunching movie site BoxOfficeGuru.com thinks New Line's decision will actually boost Snakes' bottom line.

"These kind of movies are marketing-driven, not critic-driven," Pandya said. "So the only thing the critics could do is hurt it. And even if the reviews are good, they wouldn't mean much."

So in a way the critics are irrelevant to the marketing of any internet buzz related movie. I wonder if this could lead to the end of the professional movie critic as we know it? The most valuable target audience might end up going to their internet peer group first and foremost and totally ignore the critics. They could go to their MySpace friends, or to blogs with insider connections like Aint it Cool News, and soak up the free internet buzz.

That would mean that wiser movie producers will use the internet buzz to shill their movies and totally dodge Ebert and Roper or anyone that can hurt the word of mouth going into the opening of their movie.

I guess the so-called Oscar contender type movies will always be there to give the professional critics something to do. I mean those movies have a financial incentive that the critics directly affect. An Oscar nod engineered by critics backing a movie will make the Box Office go up no matter what.

Israel Rolls the Tanks into South Lebenon

It looks like the ground offensive has begun in the Israel/Hezbollah war.

Israeli troops punched into south Lebanon on Wednesday as warplanes flattened buildings including one thought to hold Hezbollah's top leaders, intensifying an offensive despite mounting international pressure and a Lebanese appeal to spare the country further death and devastation.

I wonder what the UN is going to do now? Beg the US to send troops into the area most likely.

Weird USB Drive Problem

I just wanted to put this down for posterity. I was trying to get my USB drive to run on this machine that had E: drive mapped to another network resource. So when I inserted the USB drive didn't pick up a drive letter for some reason and I was not able to access the drive. This seems to be a known problem with WinXP and here is the workaround that I found after Googling.

WORKAROUND

To prevent this issue from occurring, when you map a network drive, assign the highest available drive letter to the mapped network drive. To work around this issue if the new volume appears in Disk Management, specify a different drive letter for the new device or volume. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.

2. Under Computer Management (Local), click Disk Management.

3. In the list of drives in the right pane, right-click the new drive and then click Change Drive Letter and Path(s).

4. Click Change, and in the drop-down box, select a drive letter for the new drive that is not assigned to a mapped network drive.

5. Click OK, and then click OK again. Both the mapped network drives and the recently installed drive appear in Windows Explorer.

Turn Back the Clock on Lebanon

This is a pretty sad story of how a group like Hezbollah can bring what was a country on the rise right back to its chaotic years just like that.

Days before the violence erupted, newspapers had been full of gleeful predictions of a prosperous summer tourism season. But for the past six days, the headlines have told of fresh devastation.

Tourists from Europe and the Gulf — who just a week ago thronged the streets, Parisian boutiques and restaurants — are fleeing. Hotels that boasted almost full occupancy now are almost empty.

After reading about all of the runup to their elections (and them kicking Syria out) Lebanon seemed like a potential tourist destination. Now it will be years before that industry gets back on track. I think Lebanon needs to take a hard line on Hezbollah and maybe even go so far as to ban the organization from its government.

Israel Thinking About Ceasefire

This seems like perfectly reasonable terms of a ceasefire. I think America has talked to Israel and told them that Lebanon's elected government isn't some terror group even though they have members who are part of a terrorist group.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that the fighting in Lebanon would end when two Israeli soldiers were freed, rocket attacks stopped and the Lebanese army deployed along the border. But he appeared to scale back from previous demands for Hezbollah to be dismantled.

The Lebanese army deployment demand is a new one and that might have come directly from Washington. It is a way for Israel to say that they are at war with Hezbollah and not with Lebanon's elected government. Having the Lebanese army deploy shows that Lebanon is in control of the situation and are taking an active roll in keeping the peace.

Bush Curses at G8

This is an interesting insight into Bush's mindset toward Hezbollah.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen." He suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.

He is 100% true. Just like how we could get Israel to stand down if we put pressure on them. I'm sure Syria could broker a ceasefire at any time as well. Of course the UN isn't putting any pressure on them to do it. It is always America's job to reign in Israel but its no one's job to reign in Hezbollah.

Bloggers from Lebanon and Israel

Very interesting people blogging from the flashpoint in the Israel/Lebanon war. I love how the internet can pull things together like this. People are writing their thoughts as the bombs drop seconds after things have just happened. The world becomes that much smaller.

Hezbollah Rams Israeli Ship with Drone

Now this is an interesting turn of events in the Hezbollah/Israel War.

Hezbollah rammed an Israeli warship with an unmanned aircraft rigged with explosives Friday, setting it ablaze after Israeli warplanes smashed Lebanon's links to the world one by one and destroyed the headquarters of the Islamic guerrilla group's leader.

Now that seems like a novel way to attack a ship. Kind of like the Oka Flying Bomb from WW2 but without the pilot. Here is a picture of the Oka Flying Bomb:



Here is a picture of the Hezbollah Flying Drone: