January 31, 2008 by crazyopinions.

Surely, they cannot be serious. A country seriously in debt proposes to give 150 BILLION dollars to its citizens, who are also seriously in debt. If there’s an economic downturn in store for the US in 2008 [rhetorical statement], then it’s merely a consequence of past misdeeds.

Indeed, time to face the music.

Yet, not one of the presidential candidates comes out against this package. Most are busy proposing their version. Only the Libertarian Ron Paul is against it in principle, yet nothing in his official releases or blog specifically denounces this stimulus package.

Where are YOU going to spend your windfall? If you do the right thing, and pay down your debt, then you won’t stimulate the economy!

Let’s sum up: the US government is officially encouraging you to be irresponsible with your money.

Or is it just us? After all, WE admit we’re Crazy!

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January 14, 2008 by crazyopinions.

The NASA Messenger project to Mercury is getting ready for the next big achievement, the closest ever [124 miles] flyby of the planet Mercury. This is just the prelude to the planned 2011 orbit of Mercury by the same spacecraft, after it takes another three years to circle back around.

As we await the new pictures about three hours from now, our kudos go out to NASA and the JPL project team. Mankind is still reaching [only as we are able, at this point] for the stars, and we wish them all the best.

For the latest, visit the project web site:

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/

The latest press release:

“Today, January 14, 2008, at 19:04:39 UTC (2:04:39 pm EST), MESSENGER will experience its closest approach to Mercury, passing just 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the planet’s surface. As the MESSENGER spacecraft continues to speed toward Mercury, the Narrow Angle Camera, part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument, acquired this crescent view of Mercury. The image was taken on January 13, 2008, when the spacecraft was at a distance of about 760,000 kilometers (470,000 miles) from Mercury. Mercury is about 4880 kilometers (about 3030 miles) in diameter, and the smallest feature visible in this image is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) across.

During the historic flyby encounter today, extensive scientific data will be gathered. The MDIS instrument will acquire over 1200 images of Mercury, including images of portions of the surface never before viewed by a spacecraft. The MDIS instrument is just one member of a whole suite of instruments that will be used to study Mercury during the flyby. The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) will observe Mercury’s surface as well as its tenuous atmosphere. The MESSENGER Magnetometer (MAG) will accurately measure Mercury’s magnetic field, and the Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS) will characterize Mercury’s space environment and interactions with the solar wind. The Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) will sense surface topography along a narrow profile. The Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) and X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) will make the first measurements of Mercury’s surface elemental composition.

MESSENGER will begin to transmit the new data to Earth once all of the scientific measurements are completed, about 22 hours after the spacecraft’s closest approach to Mercury. These flyby data will shed light on fundamental scientific questions related to the formation and evolution of the planet Mercury. As scientists analyze the data, the MESSENGER spacecraft will continue on its planned journey, which includes two more encounters of Mercury in October 2008 and September 2009, before entering an orbit around Mercury in March 2011.

Image acquired on January 13, 2008, 06:34 UTC.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

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January 8, 2008 by crazyopinions.

Normally, we take a dim view of radio talk show hosts. They tend to favor ratings over substance. Mr. Beck, however, always seemed a bit more balanced, a bit more fair in his judgements. If he wasn’t, it was probably because the intent was sarcastic comedy or satire.

It now appears that Glenn Beck has taken leave of his senses. His rantings this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, on his website and elsewhere, border on crass sensationalism, ala reality television.

Granted, the health care system in the US is broken and needs help before it collapses. Mr. Beck is making vague claims that the majority of the health care workers did not care about him, really. They also gave him drugs which made him feel badly.

Please, Glenn, wake up and smell the coffee of reality. Or, in his case, maybe an upscale Latte Grande. It seems that he is out of touch with what millions of Americans encounter every day in the USA. Did he expect to receive preferred treatment as a celebrity? He isn’t aware that average workers, even health care workers in the trenches, are not paid to care. They are paid to perform a task. In his case the task was to remove inflamed anal tissues, control bleeding and relieve pain. This, they did do, even by his own accounts.

If Glenn is upset that he came out of his drugs too quickly, blame outpatient surgery procedures and expensive hospital stays. If he is upset that his drugs had nasty side effects, then he had better learn what narcotic pain killing drugs are, and what they do.

We have sympathy for his medical condition and the less than stellar bedside manner of his caregivers, but his naivete stumps us. Of course, this could be his backhanded way of generating discourse on the subject.

With his money, he should’ve been able to afford only the best care. If not, then buy some clues. If this is any indication, Mr. Beck has a long, turbulent life ahead of him as a first-hand consumer of products and services.

We can’t wait to see what he tries to buy next. Like Rush Limbaugh, perhaps he’ll go after more of those crazy drugs!

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January 4, 2008 by crazyopinions.

With apologies to the Dan Ackroyd character in Twilight Zone: The Movie. Imagine, if you will, the present state of affairs:

-Toyota displaces Ford and is now #2 worldwide.
-Mortgage surprises continue. What’s in YOUR portfolio?
-Oil futures flirt with $100 again and again. Yet, executives at US automakers predict rosier things in six months, as we approach the 2008 election. What are they smoking?
-Obama AND Edwards beat Hillary in Iowa. Nearly 60% of young voters choose Barack over the others.
-Huckabee trounces Romney in Iowa, after the evangelical and far right vote shows its true colors.

Where’s the scary part? Here at Crazy Opinions, our prediction on Benazir Bhutto was, unfortunately, right on the mark. For 2008, let’s offer a prediction that all of the above will create a “perfect storm” by the second half of 2008, and perhaps as early as summer. Your results may vary, but in general:

-Oil will pressure both automobile profits and inflation. By 3Q 2008, the US auto industry will be virtually paying you to take a new truck.
-The combination of tight credit and high energy costs will cause food to rise and consumers will, finally, stop spending.
-Politics will change dramatically. Technology and youth will combine to put a never before seen combination of talents in the US government and White House.
-Economic erosion will progress thoughout the year, and Iraq will implode as US forces and their families wear themselves into the ground.

The upshot of all this? A volatile mix for the fall US election, with interesting results. Be careful, pundits. It could get REALLY, REALLY scary!

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