Are the Republicans true to their platform?

Here's an interesting article on ReasonOnline Nothing short of defeat will put the GOP back on its limited government track It makes a useful point. It says "The Republican Party has ... given up all pretense of any allegiance to limited government." The evidence? "In the last eight years, the GOP has given us a monstrous new federal bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. In the prescription drug benefit, it's given us the largest new federal entitlement since the Johnson administration. Federal spending—even on items not related to war or national security—has soared. And we now get to watch as the party that's supposed to be "free market" nationalizes huge chunks of the economy's financial sector." Worse yet "This administration believes that on any issue that can remotely be tied to foreign policy or national security (and on quite a few other issues as well), the president has boundless, limitless, unchecked power to do anything he wants."

The article isn't optimistic about an Obama administration either saying "He'll just be bad in different ways". Nor is the argument about choosing the lesser of two evils. No, his argument is that since neither party is truely about a conservative, limited government, if the Republicans lose they will have to regroup and rebuild "around the principles of limited government, free markets, and rugged individualism".

It's a good read, not going to the level of insightful because it doesn't go in depth enough but it is an interesting opinion.

On a lighter note, one of the ads that was on the page had the text "Who's more likely to Cheat: Obama or McCain" Is that really the most important part of the election? Where is the "Who's more likely to put the country in an extended depression?" or "Who's more likely to piss other countries off more?" (Neither of which I know the answer to)

An article about ship salvage

I actually saw an ad on a website for this article and it looked interesting, so I clicked through and read all 10 pages. High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The race to save the Cougar Ace. It is about a salvage company and their effort to save a car-transport ship that took on water and was abandoned. It talks alot about the people who do this type of stuff and what they did for this particular job. They only get paid if they are successful but they can make a lot of money.

There is also an article from the Wall Street Journal about what happened to the cars from the boat. How to Destroy Brand-New Cars.

Monday the Bullfrog

Monday the Bullfrog is a book/stuffed animal. Yes it is both, at the same time. The mouth of the stuffed frog opens and each of the heavy cardboard pages is about the animal the bullfrog ate that day, each day a different one until Saturday, but I won't spoil the suprise on that one. I doubt they are all animals bullfrogs eat (crabs? I think not). Also part of each animal (such as the crab's claw) are made of different types of material and stick out from the page, so there is something new for the kids to play with each day. An odd book, but at least I will always know that "Tuesday was furry and white". Buy at Amazon