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“Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage — not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage,” Bush said. (Associated Press)

I actually agree on President George W. Bush on this one.

I think a tax on gas is needed to improve our roads. The people who drive the most should be the ones paying the most to improve roads in certain areas. I think gas taxes should be increased. Its it helps environment by making people use gas less, good for alternative oils, and should raise money for our desperate highways that need new bridges, overpasses, and lane expansions due to population..

Featured today is a (rather long) two part video. It may take a while to watch, but both parts are really interesting. The first is about the danger of the rising Religious Right and the second concerns the war against our privacy.

Very long but the 2nd half is a good wake up call for privacy. I mean isn’t it bad enough we have cameras on every stoplight in the US now. There is no privacy anymore. Something needs to be done!

Microsoft should fire their marketing department and hire the department over at Apple that makes up some of the stuff we see in Mac vs. Windows. This is not a tech site where we talk about gadgets all day nor do I claim to be an editor at CNET.com but as a webmaster and everyday computer user I feel my thoughts on this issue may concern many in a similar situation. Many of us have thought of making the switch lately with the disappointment of Vista and the rising popularity of iPod’s. I have liberal friends who praise Mac up and down and was one of them were the first people to buy an iPod. I also used Macintosh computers on newspaper and yearbook staff in high school so I have been curious to become that cool person again with an Apple.

The claims you hear from most Apple computer users is that their computers are somehow faster than an IBM cloned Windows computer. Faster than my Sony Vaio? Yes, I love speed in cars and anything that can get me where I want without wasting time and energy. A fast computer, fast internet access, and fast cars come at the top of my list.

Let me just say first of all I have learned many lessons from this experiment. The first is that when you want to return anything Apple you cannot. Apple flatters itself in the fact you cannot return their products. I found that their mouse called the “mighty mouse” is the slowest and heaviest mouse I have used in years. I called MacMall.com to return the product and they said Apple has a rule that says you cannot return their products. Why does Microsoft have a bad name? At least they let you return their peripherals if you dislike them.

The liberal movement to use Apples and Macs to go up against the all-mighty corporate Microsoft is something that attracted me to this computer as well. In buying this computer and all the peripherals I have learned that Apple is more hassle and big brother than it misleads the public to think (especially with the AT&T - Apple - Disney pact). Apple is good at advertising and Microsoft sucks at it. The marketing department at Mr. Softy should be fired because they should be putting out the fires instead of just laying there taking the stabs from Apple.

One of the things I found with Apple is that you cannot buy this “much faster” computer. That is one of the biggest myths. Apples do NOT run faster than Microsoft windows computers from what I have seen. I actually found it slower with more irritating spinning wheels which were annoying after awhile. The memory upgrades seem to be higher on Sony and Dell computers than on Mac’s I found on Apple.com and MacMall.com.

When you use a Windows computer you can turn off the security alerts. Most people do not realize this. Turn the annoying alerts off so you can access programs and it is hassle free. When you use a Mac you cannot turn off the annoying license pop-ups that come up EVERY time you install something.

When you try to use the mouse you cannot use the right click at first. I had to go into preferences to turn on the right click. Another annoying thing was trying to resize screens. I could not for the life of me figure out how to increase or decrease the windows. I finally emailed my brother and he said to go down to the BOTTOM of the window and there you have a small area you can click to expand. This was not convenient compared to MS Windows where you can easily click on any of the sides of the window.

We may all be disappointed with Windows Vista but the Mac is really not that much better at this point. I will most likely go back to using Windows XP Professional or Media Center.

Some benefits of the Mac that you cannot as easily find with the Windows based computers are just a few that do not motivate me to switch. One is the Genius bar located in malls and in some cities where you can ask questions or attend classes to learn to use their products better. Another major thing I love is the Bluetooth integrated in the computer but it only seems to work with the mouse and keyboard that are Apple branded that I have seen so far. The Logitech laser mouse for notebooks that I installed has its own Bluetooth USB signal I had to plug-in. I will also praise the fact the Mac synched with my Palm Treo easily via Bluetooth compared to the hassle I had with Windows and their Bluetooth sync.

All in all I was not that impressed with Mac mainly because I am spoiled with my Vaio. They are beautiful to look at but I can be a liberal carrying Sony Vaio Elite instead. As long as we are happy with our computer then its best just to stick with the solution you are used to. We all should aim to have the best computer that processes things the fastest to get things done. Time is money and the more money we make we can give to good causes.

Oh one more thing… The Safari browser is supposed to be three times faster than other browsers? Why do they dare make this claim? Firefox works better for me.

Will I purchase an iPhone when they are supposed to come out on June 29^th? Yes, I will order that online from Apple’s website or walk into an AT&T Store. I will have to change from Sprint but I will just keep my Treo on Sprint a few months just to see if I feel this same way about the iPhone. I may decide to have the iPhone a few days and be done with that product as well.

I watched the Republican Debate on CNN last nite. It was rather entertaining. I love how Giuliani came back at McCain about him reading the 400 page immigration reform but I was really impressed by the Texan Ron Paul. Senator Sam Brownback was just horrible— he was asked the most moral question and his answer was “pro-life.” I mean come on you jerk what about the war going on and violence and shootings on campuses! Brownback is clueless. He needs to learn to be more like Ron Paul from Texas who can differentiate church and state.

There was an entertaining moment when Giuliani was asked about abortion and then lightning struck a few times and you could not hear what he was saying… some of the candidates stepped away from him it was funny. He finally got it out and he had a good response.

I can deal with Mitt Romney, Giuliani, and Ron Paul but not Brownback (Kansas) or Gov. Mike Huckabee (Arkansas). I thought Mitt Romney defended his faith well but Huckabee was very defensive sounding. I am so sick of faith being mixed into politics. I certainly do not think a preacher can run our country.

It is too bad Arnold could not be up there — then it would have been even better. Thompson will probably ride his Law and Order straight to the nomination

You can tell by watching Ron Paul speak that he is more sincere than McCain and Mayor 9-11. McCain is two-faced and will tell you anything. That is why he was boo’ed at a few university audiences and he deserved it. He is a good BS’er though. If Ron Paul wins the nomination I may vote Republican. Ron Paul is the only Republican that I like. The others drip with insincerity and ignorance.

TheStreet.com was quoted saying “All of the candidates danced around the question. Only Rep. Ron Paul of Texas called the war a mistake.”

Ron Paul was also on Bill Maher’s HBO season finale saying what a lot of us have been saying since 9/11—that it was gitback for the Gulf War’s “blasphemies”—the Muslims considered it blasphemy to put “infidels”, especially women infidels in camo, within a stone’s throw of their holiest places during the first Gulf War. I mean, when Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, they do it prayerfully and with cleansing rituals and extreme respect…for them, it’s the journey of a lifetime, something they do to honor God. And here’s these American soldiers, including women soldiers, just tromping around like they owned the place. Pissed them off a lot and Bin Laden used that outrage.

It’s hard to come up with an American parallel that would illustrate how they must have felt about it…most Americans don’t get universally emotional about any one thing that much.

Paul’s saying it is kind of like Nixon going to China—only a Republican could get away with it. If a Democrat said that, he or she would be gone.

I just noticed on CNN that these news anchors were endlessly commenting on Lindsey Lohan’s wreck and possible DUI.  I am not sure why everyone is so infatuated with Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton.  It is not just infatuation but its a media driving them to act the way they do.  The paparazzi following them around like they are our pets.  Of course, most people are just wanting to see them fall just like the same audience that watches the hockey games to watch fights or doom for someone else’s life.

Lindsey Lohan’s dad and other people are calling for her to go to a faith based rehab.  Nothing could be more silly than that.  I mean all of our tax money is already going to these faith based programs that really do nothing but try to convert people to join their lifestyles or cults.

The media is also commenting of how we should keep more eyes on the clubs in Hollywood.  Most of the clubs there are 18 to enter but the underage drinkers are sneaking in drinks or are drinking before hand.  This is not the clubs fault.  It should be 18 to drink anyway.  It is silly we make it 21 to drink and you can let 16 year olds behind the wheel of a hummer while dvd’s are playing.

Maybe all of this celebrity drinking and driving has something to do with the release of the Amy Winehouse’s song about going to rehab.

Watch out Jim Cramer you have a monster after you that the good hearted democrats have been hiding from for years. Fox News who is trying to put more business in their news since they plan to start a cable business news channel is watching everyone on CNBC like a hawk. Fox News Channel has been airing the story on Jim Cramer all day as the top news story and their New York Post article was the only article I found in Yahoo or Google news when I searched earlier today.

Fox News also hates the fact that Jim Cramer is a Moderate and not a flaming retarted Republican. Of course News Corp (which I own stock because of MySpace – full disclosure) is jealous of a top rated show on CNBC like Jim Cramer’s. I would rather loose my money with News Corp going bankrupt than see them take down CNBC, Yahoo, or Google. I think the shows on CNBC are fair minded most of the time with an exception of the way they handled Hillary Clinton after the stock shakedown in February.

Jim Cramer is a great guy and works damn hard for his money. I subscribe to his action alerts plus which is around $400 or so a year and he has definitely made me some money. If he admitted something he shouldn’t have then that was in the past and we can certainly forgive him for that. He claimed it was legal and knowing Cramer he was just trying to get it out there so things can be changed. It may be wrong but what about the lies that Fox News gives us on a daily basis – why don’t we prosecute them for those lies and misleading information.

Click here to view the video discussed, which aired Dec. 22, 2006, on TheStreet.com TV.  Also, view Jim Cramer’s response to the accusations.

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I think Jet Blue is taking too much blame for this tarmac debate in the media compared to American Airlines who got off easy. I am glad that the media is making a big circus out of this though because hopefully it will get a bill passed. Yes, I am sure it is the airports fault too and DFW, JFK, the Austin airport, and the Tulsa airports involved in these messes should have had better control of the situation… but the Airlines SHOULD have canceled ALL flights in these weather conditions in the first place. From now on if there is a tornado warning, lightning, or ice storm at the destination airport all flights should be canceled to that destination airport. Sorry but that’s the way it should be to avoid this mess again at least until some kind of federal bill gets passed to protect our rights.

Jet Blue is stepping up to the plate and created their own bill of rights which is going to cover all the people who were stranded. Jet Blue was still canceling flights yesterday and the CEO of Jet Blue was on the today show and said they just didn’t have enough employees to keep things running during the snow storm. I am glad he is stepping up with money back guarantees for sitting on the tarmac but they really should have anticipated what trouble the snow storm would have caused, after all their HUB is in New York and they do have snow there every year so I can understand weather delays. I just can’t understand loading people on a plane and holding them there for hours with no escape.

If you read down this story, you’ll note that Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Scarborough country was held hostage on the tarmac for nine hours.  I didn’t happen to catch his show tonight but it’ll be interesting to see if he has any more to say about that experience as things go along.  The article doesn’t specifically say, but from context a couple of paragraphs later, it sounds like it may have been American Airlines.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17145277/

There was also Jet Blue flight that a reporter from CNBC’s On the Money was stuck on for 9 hours on the tarmac.  This seems to be getting worse and worse without some kind of action from lawmakers.  Bad weather or not this is unacceptable behavior from Jetblue and American Airlines to leave passengers as prisoners for so many hours. 

Rep. Michael Thompson, a California Democrat, said on Thursday he planned to introduce a bill that would address delayed flights, time on the tarmac, cancellations, and lost or damaged luggage.

We are glad to see a lawmaker finally standing up for peoples rights who are stuck on an airplane.  I think as this thing gets more and more publicity and it happens to more of us we will be against the airlines attempt to fix this problem themselves.  They have failed so far and it will take lawsuits or federal laws to make sure this doesn’t happen again.  If you do not think we need something like this passed then I advise you to go sit on a plane headed to Australia and just look out the window and pretend you see the airport tarmac the entire time and also pretend there is no running water, overflowing bathrooms, screaming babies, and then breathe into a taco bell bag for the entire time for that horrible sense of smelly-stale air.

I am not sure whether to call it the Grammy’s or the Dixie Chicks Show because it was taken over by the country music superstars on Sunday night.  This was a welcome surprise that the Dixie Chicks took home so many Grammy’s.  Especially after they were shut out by the same people and shut out by their own music genre of Country.  Winning an award on this show normally increases your album sales as well so expect some big ka-ching coming the way of these musical girls.

I am also happy to see that Mary J. Blige took home three Grammy awards.  She just recovered from drug problems and has been through a lot the last few years.  I am glad to see her come back in full swing.  Her performance was kind of lame compared to how active she normally is though.  I like it when she gets more into the music and dances around more.

I was disappointed that other great artists like Hello Goodbye and Madonna who did not get any mentions or awards.  I feel the Grammy’s give too many awards to one group they pick every year and do not bother to spread things out more to everyone who deserves recognition.  This may be a reason we do not get the quality of music that we had once before.  I mean how many awards can John Mayer or Blunt win before everyone turns blue in the face?  It was especially evident this week on 60 minutes when Norah Jones commented about taking home so many awards that she felt “she showed up to a party and ate someone else’s birthday cake.”

Maybe the Grammy committee does not listen to enough music outside of their box.  I am not complaining that the Dixie Chicks took home so many awards but this happens every year and they need to broaden their scope.