So, what happens when the next president is not selected by the Electoral College?  This may be a relevant question if a third party candidate can actually win a state or two.  Is this possible?  Maybe -  Nader has thrown his hat into the ring, and although Bloomberg has said he is not running, some people think that he may just be biding his time.  The problem is if that third party picks up enough votes to prevent a candidate from getting the 270  needed to become the president-elect.

If that happens, the House of Representatives goes into emergency session to choose the next president.  But, it is not a straight vote - each state votes as a block.  The candidate needs a majority, 26 states, to win.  If a state's representatives split evenly on the vote, then the state is thrown out.  If you  take the current Congress and assume that each representative is going to vote for his/her party's candidate, then it would fall out like this: 26 Democrat, 21 Republican and 3 ties.  So, the Democrat candidate would win.  But, of course, it is not that simple.  A shift of only one or two states could move some states from the D to the R column, or representatives voting in line with their state's general election results could change things.  In that case, the House would be deadlocked, and the job would fall to the Vice-President Elect, who is chosen by the Senate.

In the Senate, the Vice-President elect has to get 51 votes, and the current VP can not vote.  Right now, with Lieberman caucusing with the Democrats, that would be enough to elect the Democrat Vice-Presidential candidate.  If he chooses not to, then the Senate is deadlocked as well, and the job then goes to the Speaker of the House.

That's right - President Pelosi.

Sweet dreams...

Posted by: jcallery at 09:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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For Christmas I built myself a new computer.  I had been struggling along with a Pentium 4 that I had built years ago and decided it was time to upgrade.  Plus, this was a good time to do it as the new Intel Core 2 Quads were reasonably priced and nVidia had finally released a decent video card in the $200-$250 range.  I do my fair share of gaming, as well as some 3d design and modeling, so I needed something that could handle the graphics load.  Also, I wanted to try my hand at overclocking, so I picked parts with those requirements in mind while keeping an eye on the bottom line.


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Posted by: jcallery at 08:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Did you buy a diamond within the past 10 or so years?  You may be eligible for some cash back.

Posted by: jcallery at 10:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I thought we already had a catch phrase for this, and that phrase is 'group think'.

This is a problem that has troubled the business world, and their have been techniques developed to help prevent it.  Take brainstorming for example.  The traditional way to brainstorm is to get a piece of chart paper or find a whiteboard and start writing down everyone's thoughts on a given topic.  The problem is that people get focused on what others have said and stop thinking for themselves.  What is already written on the board becomes the sum of the knowledge of the group, although there is more still sitting in people's heads - they just don't know it because they are focused on what has come before.

In order to prevent this, brainstorming has become a private/public affair.  First, write down privately what your thoughts are on a topic.  Then everyone reveals what they have written.  This removes the tendency to get focused on one idea, and allows more of the 'problem space', as the article puts it, to be explored.  After the public round, you may repeat the process, as the revelations may have kicked off other ideas in people's minds.

And, this is why large corporations keep design bureaus in several different countries.  They can share new ideas, but don't have the interconnections necessary to get caught up in group think.  For example, in addition to chip design in the U.S., Intel also has a design bureau in Israel.

Posted by: jcallery at 10:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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According to the latest Rasmussen poll, McCain has a commanding lead over Obama in Florida.  It is more than his lead over Clinton, which is reversed from about every other state.  It sounds like the difficulty over Florida's delegates is having unintended consequences for the Democrats.  Obama's opposition to seating Florida is depressing his numbers, and the question is whether or not that would carry over to the general election.  It also raises the question about whether or not Florida Democrats will be enthusiastic in their support of either candidate if their delegates are not seated after all. 

It will be interesting to see if Florida gets a place at the convention, and if they don't, how it affects turnout in the state.  Needless to say, as a state that has been a battleground state in the past two elections, this could have a significant effect on the race.

via Hotair.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So the government has decided to shoot down a dead spy satellite with an SM-3 missile.  I gotta say this is pretty cool.  Of course, the official story is that we don't want the hydrazine gas that it uses as propulsion to take someone out when it crashes on earth.  Anyone who thinks about it for two seconds will recognize the incredible propaganda opportunity that has fallen into the government's lap (pun intended).

The SM-3 has been tested several times for the role of theatre ballistic defense.  It is carried by Aegis outfitted ships such as the Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke class.  Interestingly enough, it is also used by foreign navies including Japan.

All the tests, of course, have been under controlled circumstances.  Now, we have a chance to prove that it works in less than ideal situations.  This is about as close as we can get to running an actual interception without a rogue nation launching on us.  And that is most likely what all this is about - or at least if that isn't what it's all about it's certainly a nice fringe benefit.

The successful interception will hopefully make players like North Korea think twice about doing anything crazy.  The proven ability to intercept a missile may actually provide a deterrence, especially as long as they have limited inventories.

Posted by: jcallery at 10:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I heard some discussion on the radio today about the military's response to a nuclear attack on the continental U. S.  The assessment seemed to be that we are not ready for a catastrophe on the nuclear scale.  Which, to me, is not surprising.

I spent 5 years in the Navy, over 3 years of that on a nuclear submarine.  I know that handling nuclear, radioactive, and contaminated materials is not a simple matter.  You can not simply roll in to the scene of a nuclear catastrophe and expect to respond as you would normally do.  Everything must be handled differently in order to ensure the safety of the responders and to limit the spread of contamination.  The consequences of this was seen in the response at Chernobyl, where many of the casualties were first responders.

There are people available who would be better suited to work in this environment.  Typically, first responders in areas around nuclear power plants and Navy bases where nuclear ships are docked are better trained in dealing with these matters.  When I lived and worked in Groton, we routinely did exercises responding to a nuclear accident on a submarine at the base. 

Also, and perhaps more interesting, there are a lot of ex-nuclear Navy types like me who are around and would be more adept at working in those situations.  Maybe something like pairing up ex-nukes with first responders would help them do their job while the nuke makes sure that it is done in a way that will not result in their harm.  Of course, getting them all on some kind of emergency response list would be herculean task, but I'm sure that they would be ready and willing to help out should something of the magnitude of a nuclear attack happen.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, Barack Obama won his sixth, seventh and eighth primaries in a row last night, and he won them in landslides.  He certainly seems to have the momentum, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.  I just have to wonder, is there a segment of those voters who are supporting him just to block Hillary?  Her negatives have always been a problem - at times over 50% of the population have said they would not vote for her.  Now, those that are Democrats have someone else to vote for with a realistic chance of stopping her.

If that is the case, it may be a bright spot for the Republican candidate.  Once (if) Hillary is stopped that voter bloc will no longer be in play.  And given the high turnout in the Democrat primaries and caucuses, that would be a good thing for the Republican candidate should those people decide it is too much trouble to vote in November.

Posted by: jcallery at 06:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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During the 1800's, missionaries from the western European countries spread all over the world, taking the gospel to people groups that had never heard the good news.  This was brought up during a talk at my church's mission conference last weekend, by a Bishop from Africa with whom my church has worked for many years.  His point was that although those missionaries brought the Word that saved them, they also tried to encapsulate it in the cultural trappings of the western European - where the African life was full of joy and song, where drums and dancing were a way of life, the missionary churches were somber and reverent, and holiness was linked to quiet contemplation.  Of course the great thing is that even through the cultural misunderstanding God could and did a mighty work on the continent.

Also, it is interesting to compare that with the beliefs of the evolutionists of the period....


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Posted by: jcallery at 07:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was having a discussion over lunch with a friend when we got on to the subject of how the early church worshiped.  Interestingly enough, there are some letters and other documentation existing from the first and second centuries that fill us in on how the early church went about 'having church'.


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Posted by: jcallery at 09:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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