MN State Fair musings, the new cars of the Big 3, and why I really dislike the coverage of "Hurricane Irene"

Today me and the missus headed up to the "Great Minnesota Get-Together", and that it was. The drive up was rather uneventful, had some fun on the 494-35W interchange but other than that the drive both up and back was pretty casual. While at the fair we had some of the great food items which come to your mouth via a sharp wooden dowel, usually less than 1/4 inch in diameter. Of course the customary "about-a-foot-long" hot dog was entirely in order, but as my father pointed out to me at an early age, the only proper hot dog stand are those that have the old-time ketchup and mustard dispensers with the crank operation. Only the crank operated dispensers have the ability to correctly and accurately place the condiments. No if's, and's, or but's about it.

The wife and I dined on the delectable Pronto Pup, consumed a serving of deep fried fruit on a stick (which is delicious by the way, not heavy at all and quite refreshing considering its covered in batter and then cooked in boiling oil). The other food items were all quite good except for the "Chicken Fried Bacon" from the outdoorsy place on Machinery Hill. The bacon was rather flavorless and the dipping sauce tasted like a cheap mix of maple syrup and some white thickening agent that allowed the place to use barely any maple syrup at all. Now I'll honestly say I'm not a huge fan of savory and sweet. I don't dip my sausage in my maple syrup and the thought of bacon and ice cream makes me a little queasy. This was pretty despicable fooding here. Like I stated, the bacon had zero flavor, no smoke, no fat, nothing that would make you think that real bacon was involved. I thought the breading was flavorless as well and rather dry on top of that. I know for a fact that the food had been sitting out for an extended period and that didn't help the cause any, but what ended up coming across was simply some tasteless chewy "meat" product covered in a dry and powdery breading with a rather unpleasant maple sauce. The only thing that saved it for me was my cup of Summit's EPA.



Now on to the fun stuff...CARS!

Looking at cars for me is quite entertaining. New cars always have little bits of technology built in and seeing the latest and greatest designs from Detroit, Tokyo, and Munich make car shows fun for guys like myself. The downside to a lot of large car shows is the simple fact that it's usually out of the way or in a time that's rather difficult to attend. That's why I love the State Fair. Not only do all three of the Big 3 show off their models, but others had come to play this year...that other player being Kia.

Now I know the plucky little Korean company has a lot to prove, its older sibling Hyundai has broken into the market in recent years with some high quality fieldings taking on the luxury makers with its Genesis sedan, it's sporting Japanese rivals with the Genesis Coupe, and has continued on a pretty strong path taking on the best from Europe and Japan. However, Kia has always been a black sheep between the two. It is the cheaper of the cheap twins. The wonders of the Kia Rio of the turn of the millennium were things of horror. Most people would opt for a used Geo Metro over a new Kia Rio. But with that image in mind the little company that could has decided to aim straight down the sights and try to take out is main competition by not only building a better car, but building cars that people want to own.

The tiniest little tent for a car maker was at the Minnesota State Fair. The tent had one of every model Kia made, and what a busy little tent it was. They had a well colored and optioned Kia Soul, a nicely equipped Kia Forte, and the stunning Kia Optima which was "dressed to the 9's" in its full turbo trim. I have to say this in my own defense, I am a Kia fan. I think that the introduction of the Soul to take on the funky Scion brand and the Nissan Cube is pure brilliance. Offer nearly the same product with a slightly different look that's a little more mainstream at a lower price.

The Kia Forte takes aim again at its Japanese rivals primary. The Forte Sedan and "Koup" do an excellent job at trying to fight against Honda's Civic, and Toyota's Corolla for market share and I think that the Forte does an excellent job at again building a similar product for a lower price. Not only does the Forte look better, but it's cheaper and has a look that people like, especially the Kia Forte Koup.

However the biggest stunner in my mind was the brand new Kia Optima. The model demo'd was the top of the line turbo version with every option available equipped. The seats were beautiful, the look was great, the interior looked superb and as my wife said "This is a really nice car". It was a really nice car. Her parent's Honda Accord is not nearly as nice nor as well set up on the center stack. The car looks fantastic and is one design that will not be lost in the shuffle like most do in the mid-size sedan category that has been dominated by Honda and Toyota for the past decade or more.

Did do some stopping in at the Big 3. Chrysler knocked it out of the park. The entire Jeep lineup looks great, the new Dodge Challenger with it's larger engines still looks as beautiful as ever, and the new Dodge Charger is one that I would love to own personally. The interior of the Charger was extremely well done with lots of soft touch surfaces. The best part is that the Charger is the only rear-wheel drive sedan on the market that isn't from Germany or England here in the US. Not only that but it has an available 6-speed manual transmission and the V8 models have optional all-wheel drive. Not to mention all of Chrysler's stuff looks really, really good. Ford is doing well, and Chevrolet might as well scrap everything they have and try to start fresh. I guess the FIAT ownership of Chrysler has helped in a large way.


Oh, and we got to sit in a Fiat 500 for the first time...let me just say this...and Abarth version will be amazing.



Now for "Hurricane Irene". Lets face it, it was over blown. NYC didn't get wiped off the face of the map, and as I type this the Weather Underground is showing winds in DC at 22 mph and in NYC at 2 mph. That's right...Hurricane Irene is whistling at a whopping 22 mph in DC right now.

Again, the media blows it out of proportion because they need a story for the weekend...when there isn't one, they make it up...like they did here and here

Great job guys...great job.







Keep your eyes open, I know I will

Smus

I love it when grand premises can be dismissed using grade school knowledge.

The idea that the world is overpopulated is total, complete, and utter crap.

Watch, I'll prove it to you using 4th or at most 5th grade math. I'll even use algebra to make it seem neat.

X / Y = Z

Z > A


X is the world population
Y is the area (in square miles) of the state of Texas
Z is the resounding population density if you were to put the entire world into Texas
A is the population density of New York City.

X = 6,775,235,700
Y = 268,581 sq mi
Z = 27,532 people/sq mi
A = ?


Lets run the problem!

6,775,235,700 people/ 268,581 sq mi = 25,226 people/sq mi

25,225 > 27,532

The above inequality is false.

Therefore, the world is not over populated.


Look, one world problem solved by basic math. yay.

Libya, and why I do dislike Sen. John McCain.

Wow, well it's been a while since I blogged, and that's just a crying shame isn't it? I know you were all just pining for me to post up some more political and economic mumbo-jumbo so you can question either my thought process or my sanity. Let not your heart be troubled 'O reader of mine, for I am back and rip-rearing ready to go to set any an all info you've heard or seen in the past two months since I've posted last. That's right, its 2 months to the day that I posted my last little entry.

I believe the last one I posted about was the comparison between the US, China, and a bunch of old countries that are either falling apart with good food, or are falling apart with mediocre food (I'm looking at you Greece). Well not today friends, not today. I think we will start off with a magical little journey to the near east. Well, northern Africa to be exact. The little country of Libya, which has been in the news, has decided to have a little skirmish within it's borders. The UN has decided to intervene. Now normally I'd applaud the UN for having a spine, but let's face it, the only reason that the current president of the United States has told his ambassador to the UN the go-ahead with approval of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 (that's in 2011) to establish a "no-fly zone" over the sovereign nation Libya.

Now, this may not seem like a big deal. I mean, Quadaffi is a brutal thug-dictator, but his impotence is almost embarrassing. I mean in being a standard dictator bad-ass he has failed miserably. No one been shut up as quickly as he was. Granted most didn't need to, but when Reagan decided to bomb Tripoli in '86 for the attack on a night club in Berlin that killed a number of US servicemen in a night club, well you get the picture.

Either way, the problem I have with the UN, the EU, and the USA is quite simple. What has Quadaffi done? Ok, he oppresses his people. So does China, so does Saudi Arabia, so does every other 3rd world shit-hole nation. Hell, even the US oppresses people's rights and freedoms, so who are we to go into Libya and tell the Mad-man Quadaffi that he can't go and stomp out a rebellion? The major problem I have, and this is mainly with the US's foreign policy by both Republicans and Democrats is that they're war happy.

War happy politicians are the closest thing to pure scum on this planet. Maybe its because I'm elligible for the draft, maybe its because I'm a cynic, maybe it's because I'm tired of being yanked around like some rag-doll, but either way when a politician starts talking about military engagements it makes my skin crawl. Like this moron.




Yes, the man I foolishly voted for in the 2008 presidential election is (as I soon after realized to my dismay) a complete and utter fool. When people like Sen. McCain state that we should implement a "no-fly zone" over a sovereign nation, that requires military assets. Now, Libya isn't exactly Bangladesh here, they have a moderatly sophisticated anti-aircraft system composed of Surface-to-Air Missles or "SAM" sites all over the country. Now, the kicker of this "No-fly zone" resolution isn't just a resolution imposed by a global version of the student council, it also allows for full on attacks from both air and sea against Libyan military forces. This is a direct quote from the UN Resolution...

Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 (2011), to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory...

Know what that means? That mean's we'll be doing this...



for these guys...




We will be doing their dirty work.




I don't like this. I don't mind if France and England and the rest of the "Arab League" get's their hands dirty; as a matter of fact I'd love to see French fighter/bombers fly over Tripoli and bomb the hell out of it. The simple fact is this, the UN loves to start wars, they love to interfere, the love to micromanage and inject their big-government, nanny state ways to become more powerful all while creating even more issues in their own wake. I really hope that President Obama won't commit US forces to this civil war in Libya.


Keep your eyes and ear's open, I know I will.


Smus

Is America really Rome? I don't think so...

Well with a new year comes new challenges and new thoughts. As I was working today, this thought crossed my mind, "Is America in 2011 destined for the same fate as that of ancient Rome of the middle of the 400's AD? Would the collapse of the US economy bring around another proverbial dark age?" My thoughts lent me to this conclusion, and a mildly startling one at that. I don't believe were Rome. I think were Greece.

Now, this is the Greece of yore, the one that was unified against the threat of Persia, the one that was ultimately conquered first by Phillip II of Macedonia, and then continued by Alexander the Great until his untimely death. How is America like Greece? And if were Greece, then who's Rome?

I'll answer the last question first, and explain later in this posting why I feel this way. The short and simple answer is China. China is Rome. Anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish.


Ok, on to the serious business of trying to link the USA with ancient Greece.

First and foremost, lets compare Greece to the US, versus Rome and China in terms of expansion. To begin, before Greece was unified under Phillip II, it was a land that was simply ruled by different kings, constantly squabbling and fighting over territory (much like our own states). Now, prior to Alexander the Great, the Greeks never had massive expansion campaigns, nothing major anyways. Similarly, the United States has held its own borders fairly well, only expanding when the price was right (a la Louisiana Purchase) or when the fight was worth the gain (Mexican-American Wars). This is dramatically unlike that of ancient Rome, which expanded at any given opportunity to grab resources and land (much like China is doing in Africa) which some argue was the primary reason for Rome falling. An empire so large was hard to control and its borders became very porous, leading to rebellions and marauding barbarians (arguably, the United States has more issues with that than China).

The second difference is technology. The biggest reason the Romans were so successful is the simple fact that they copied every single good idea the Greeks came up with. Everything from Art to Science was copied from the Greeks by the Romans and used to their own advantage. A perfect example of this is the introduction of private property ownership in China, a former "Communist" regime that is more of an authoritarian fascist government than one of true "Communism". Another example was allegedly leaked on the internet as photographs of a new Chinese stealth fighter they're developing. That's right, the Chinese are developing a brand new stealth fighter, ironic,it looks like a cross between the older F-22 Raptor and the brand spanking new F-35 Lighting II (or Joint Strike Fighter). Again, a pretty dramatic copy of a successful level of technology being implemented for their own use.


The third difference, and I think the most important one, and possibly the last one I touch on tonight, is a simple matter really and that matter is size. China is essentially tied with the US for overall size, but that size does include Alaska, subtract that and we are surely smaller. Now, on top of that factor in the incredibly rich resource area of northern China known as Manchuria, similarly sized coal reserves and an abundant mountainous region in the south known as the Himalayas which as far as I know have not yet been fully explored for their natural resources, and that's just minerals. The region of southeast Asia is fairly full of possible oil reserves, not to mention the closeness to Russia (a massive petroleum monster), its cozy relationship with the entire Middle East (it doesn't have any issues with Islam, and it kindly keeps its nose out of other peoples business, none of that Christian values of trying to help others ruining their plans) for petroleum products, it's booming industry's and its increasingly powerful technological and financial sectors and you have the possibilities of a very strong country, and empire if you will. This doesn't even include the most important factor, and that's population. China's population dwarf's that of the United States by just over 4 to 1.


Ancient Rome was not only larger than Greece in size, but in population. It took the technology that it gained and used it to it's advantage. It's power was unmatched, but that was its eventual downfall. To much power to control, to much land, and a constant barrage of marauders and opposing army's like Hannibal or Attila eventually lead to the crushing defeat of Rome.

So, does that mean we must stem the tide of power? To be honest, in my personal opinion, I don't think we could if we tried, nor should we. The power of Rome was unmatched, but not unquestioned. It's shear weight crushed itself, as we are seeing now. Without a blistering rate of growth the poor who moved from the countryside have began to become restless, tired of a lack of freedom. But, much like ancient Rome, the government knew how to stem the tide of discontent. I say we watch and wait to see what happens.




Keep your eyes open, I know I will.

Smus.






The F-22

The F-35

New Chinese stealth fighter