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A rational theory about the Malaysian airplane

I admit — it’s fun to speculate on all the dramatic things that could have happened to the lost Malaysian plane.  gilligan  Hijackers, an inside job, aliens — you name it, someone has been able to find time on the news shows to flog their pet theory.

I always like Occam’s Razor in these situations, and look for the simplest explanation.  And the one that makes the most sense and doesn’t require us to believe in some conspiracy is that this was simply a fire on board leading to a crash somewhere.

It explains the sudden turn (to get to the closest airport), the lack of communication, and the shutting down of parts of the engine that could be on fire.

Here’s a link to an article by a very experienced pilot explaining why this is the best explanation.

Now, are there other possibilities?  Sure.  And it’s fun to imagine them.  But sadly the most likely explanation is simple and not quite so exciting, though plenty dramatic.

Editorial cartoon: Always Obama’s fault

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Surgeon General candidate not pro-death enough for NRA

Obama’s candidate for Surgeon General has some explaining to do.  Apparently his views on guns is completely unacceptable to the Senate, who will probably refuse to confirm him.   Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy
After all, Dr. Vivek Murthy has positions on guns that are compatible with the vast majority of Americans, and which mirror positions taken by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Emergency Physicians.   And we can’t have that.

As we all know from our basic government classes, the Surgeon General has supreme power over our country, and can write laws to take away everyone’s guns and enforce these laws with his leagues of stethoscope-wearing minions.

The NRA is doing everything they can to make sure this absolutely sane, mainstream doctor is not confirmed.   Maybe Ted Nugent is available?

Of course, we are all perfectly aware who will win this, and it won’t be the American people.  The NRA is, after all, very good at killing things.

Editorial cartoon: You break it…

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Capitalists except when Obama does it

The Obama administration recently announced that the regulation of domain names for the internet, which has been controlled by the government, will soon be decided by the free market. dot-com-domain-seisure  So of course conservative groups who rail against government regulation cheered loudly, congratulating Obama for supporting capitalism.

Ha ha! Just kidding!

Just a few days ago we saw how conservatives love capitalism and the free market (except when government regulations help their Big Money contributors).   

And how the basic premise behind Fox News is “Whatever Obama does, we’re against it.”

So I don’t have to let you know how Fox reacted, do I?  

Editorial cartoon: Rainmakers

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Majority supports Obamacare, Republicans still want to destroy it

The latest polls show that a majority of Americans support Obamacare, with the numbers going up as more people benefit from it and see that it hasn’t caused the sun to fall from the sky.doctor-obama

Fifty-one percent of Americans favor retaining the Affordable Care Act with “small modifications,” while 13 percent would leave the law intact and 34 percent would repeal it. That’s the highest level of public acceptance for the law yet.

What people still don’t like is the mandate.  Typical Americans, aren’t we?  We want it but we don’t want to have to pay for it.

Hey, I’m one of those who doesn’t like the mandate, although if we’re not going to pay for it any other way, we need to have the mandate. Give me a medicare for all plan already and save us all some money and then we can get rid of the mandate.

None of these polls showing support for it has deterred Republicans, who recently held their 50th vote to repeal it.  It’s almost unreal, isn’t it?  50 useless votes?  From the party that complains about government inefficiency and waste?

Maybe they’re sick.  And I don’t think that’s covered.

Editorial cartoon: Priorities

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Capitalists when convenient

You can no longer buy a Tesla in New Jersey.

Governor Chris Christie’s bureaucracy just passed a regulation that requires all automobile companies to use franchises to sell their cars.    Tesla_Roadster_Japanese_display

If you can think of any possible reason why such a regulation is needed, please let me know.

This only affects electric car manufacturer Tesla, now prohibited from selling its vehicles in New Jersey since they sell direct.   This regulation prohibits the citizens of New Jersey from being able to shop for a legal product they may want to purchase.  The only beneficiaries of this are the gas-burning automobile manufacturers.  Hey, speaking of them, did you know that they donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Christie re-election campaign?  Pure coincidence, I am sure.

Chris Christie and his Republican friends may talk about the “free market” but clearly that only applies to their  rich friends.  (I could make a similar argument about cable companies and other monopolies that are sanctioned by governments.)

Conservative and libertarian groups who are honest and true to their ideology are outraged (as are liberal groups, of course).   The New Jersey state legislature can still try to pass legislation to redact this (assuming they can get enough votes to override Christie’s veto).

Editorial cartoon: Original intent