Placeholder post (and minor newspost).

I'm going to be heading out with the family later this week for a long-awaited vacation into some Utah mountains for skiing and snowboarding. With any luck there will be no injuries this year and I will continue to carve slopes without making a huge fool of myself.

A few news-clippings of interest:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f04a88b8-48ea-11e0-af8c-00144feab49a.html#axzz1FzHT0OJx

I'm kinda interested in upgrading to a Droid phone from my steadfast Motorola SLVR L7, but the still-blossoming market and bleeding-edge tech could use a bit of refinement, in my opinion. It's also worrisome that (in the article linked above) it's noted that Google pulled an unusually stealthy maneuver by removing some malware from phones without first notifying anyone. Not that I don't mind proactive antiviral software, but it seems to add a bit of character to my previously ubiquitous perception of Google's policy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9411955.stm

Palin's been a figure of note in the media for the past few years- I'm not entirely sure why everyone's so up-in-arms about this lady, either. She seems well-intentioned, if somewhat uninformed. Haters gonna hate, yeah?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/7/government-posts-biggest-monthly-deficit-ever/

FEELS GOOD TO BE AN INDEPENDENT when I think about how I didn't vote for Obama- and then I realize that I'm still stuck with this ridiculous debt just like everyone else in the US of A, and it makes me cringe more than a bit.

I think that the whole economic system (at the moment) is messed up, sure, but I can't think of a significantly better solution besides being more conservative about how we do things. I'm sure to catch some flak for this next bit, but I think that Glenn Beck may have a point (more like lots of points), especially when he's talking about finances.

I might also suggest that we move away from the entire theoretical-assets-have-value system and return to the empirical-assets-have-value system. What I mean by this is that we don't have paper money unless we also have physically valuable items (a la precious metals and minerals) to match their value. I think this would probably have a catastrophic effect on the "American Way of Life", what with the idea of paying 200 USD for a widescreen plasma/LCD television now and thirty dollars a month for the next thirty years- but something needs to happen to change the INSTANT GRATIFICATION*** mindset- where the three asterisks indicate the subsequent indentured servitude required in exchange for services rendered.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Libya-Gaddafi-Forces-Unleash-Air-Strikes-In-Fierce-Counter-Offensives-Against-Rebels-In-Key-Towns/Article/201103115946929?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15946929_Libya:_Gaddafi_Forces_Unleash_Air_Strikes_In_Fierce_Counter-Offensives_Against_Rebels_In_Key_Towns

Man, that's a long link. The whole middle-east thing is coming to a rolling boil, in my opinion. Something needs to be done, and simply "liberating" a country - whatever that may entail - isn't going to suffice. I'm thinking something along the lines of a more-than-stern talking-to is going to be required.

We could also go all British-colonial era on the collective middle-east and deliberately cause suffering to improve the nation long-term. Just kidding, that's a terrible idea.

That's all for now, folks. I'm flying out on Thursday the 10th, so there may (or may not) be posts from the 11th to the 18th.