Remembering Jay Again on Memorial Day

Posted on Monday, May 28, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

It is not just on Memorial Day that I am reminded of Jay’s sacrifice for his country. However, it is on Memorial Day that I find it appropriate to remind others of his honorable life, which was underscored by his making the ultimate sacrifice. Last year, I wrote the post below about Jay. The same words and sentiments still apply a year later.

I still miss you, buddy.

The cross-currents of individual lives can be interesting things. Through time we each follow our own paths. On occasion, these paths intersect unexpectedly with those of greater men and women.

During my life, my path crossed several times with one of my generation’s finest.

I met Jay in high school. He was a serious, quiet, and determined person. He was also one heck of an athlete, leading my high school soccer team to the State Championship as its all-star goalie.

Opting for a more serious life dedicated to service, Jay applied for and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

After we graduated from high school, I never considered that my path might cross with Jay again during my military career.

But alas, the military community is a small one.

When Jay arrived at the National Training Center, I was happy to see him again.

Life has a funny way of timing things. Coincidentally, our daughters were born a day and one room apart in the same hospital ward.

During my last year of military service in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, I was thrilled to learn that Jay would command Echo Troop, Alpha Troop’s sister company, where I had served as an executive officer.

I knew the soldiers of Echo Troop well. At the National Training Center Alpha and Echo Troop served together every month as a Soviet-style Motorized Rifle Battalion. We ate together and we trained together.

Before leaving the high Mojave desert forever, I came to see Jay one last time to make sure he knew what great soldiers he would command.

It was the last time I would ever speak to him.

Twenty months later, while sitting in the comfort of a business school classroom in Massachusetts, I learned that Jay would not be returning home to his family.

Exemplifying the principle of leadership by example, Jay was personally inspecting a vehicle at a traffic control point in Iraq when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated.

He died on April 29, 2005.

Jay was a quiet and serious officer who cared deeply about his soldiers and his country. His integrity, loyalty and selfless service were impeccable. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that others may live in freedom and for that we all owe him a great debt.

Jay, I still sorely miss you.

Posted in California, Defense, Energy Security, Middle East, Terrorism, War | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Heinlein’s Business Habits

Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

According to bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith, famous science fiction writer Robert Heinlein penned five business habits for being a successful fiction writer. They are:

1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you start.
3. You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.
4. You must put it on the market.
5. You must keep it on the market until sold.

Since earning an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest, I have begun sending out my stories to various fiction markets. Like most aspiring science fiction authors, I am also beginning to accumulate my fair share of rejections.

In a vacuum, these rejections can be extremely discouraging. Fortunately, a rudimentary knowledge of statistics and a slavish dedication to Heinlein’s business habits can make the sting of these rejections much easier to put into perspective. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Mathematics, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

A Tale of Two Julias

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

As Democrats continue to push their hyperbolic “War on Women,” something actually useful has resulted from the exchange between Republicans and Democrats. I would like to thank both the World in Motion and Doubleplusgood Infotainment blogs for making me aware of both incarnations of the “Julia” ads.

Source: Obama for America

It all started with the Obama’s campaign ad known as “The Life of Julia“, which takes “a look at how President Obama’s policies help one woman over her lifetime — and how Mitt Romney would change her story.” Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Education, Finance and Economics, Healthcare, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 63 Comments

Bush vs. Obama: Unemployment (April 2012 Jobs Data)

Posted on Friday, May 4, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Change in Total Private Employment (in thousands), Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Update: Click here for the most recent jobs statistics.

On the first Friday of every month, I update the unemployment numbers so that I can compare the unemployment rate under President George W. Bush with the unemployment rate under President Obama at that time. The genesis of this ritual began when I felt compelled to respond to some left-leaning sites that were comparing Obama’s first two years and four months in office with Bush’s last and worst economic year (the above chart shows the most recent incarnation of this narrative).

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments

It’s Communist Christmas!

Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Happy May Day, Comrades!

Posted in Humor, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Barack Obama: Osama Slayer

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Since everything seems to come in threes, it seems both Republicans and Democrats are now fighting over another ridiculous campaign non-issue beside the “war on women” and the “war on dogs”: the slaying of Osama bin Laden.

On the one hand, some Democrats are touting Obama’s role in bin Laden’s execution as a sign of his superior leadership (see the Obama campaign commercial above). Other Democrats are appalled that he would politicize this issue. Certain Democrats are also claiming that Romney would not have taken similar actions were he president and faced with the same decision.

On the other hand, some Republicans have been openly dismissive of Obama’s role, while others are appalled that President Obama would make Obama’s assassination a campaign issue. Moreover, Republicans have scoffed at the idea that Romney would not have made a similar decision. Romney himself noted, “Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order” in a not-so-thinly veiled attempt to remind voters of the perception that Democrats have traditionally been weak on defense.

Now, even the Navy SEALS and former intelligence officials are weighing in, and what they have to say will surprise you: Continue reading →

Posted in Defense, Finance and Economics, International Security, Leadership, Policy, Politics, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , , | 88 Comments

Writers of the Future Contest 1Q29 Results

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Back in December, I posted an article on the Writers of the Future Contest, and then provided an update in early March once contest participants started receiving rejections. I then posted another update estimating that as of March 15th, the contest had sent out between 44% and 53% of the contest’s rejections.  Between then and now, there was a slew of another 40-plus rejections on Duotrope. As of today, the contest has not yet officially reported any finalists or semifinalists. However, the contest administrators began awarding Honorable Mentions last week.

Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction, Technology, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Another Campaign Non-Issue Explodes in Democrats’ Faces

Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Source: Twitter via David Axelrod

First it was the hyperbolic “War on Women.” Now it’s the “War on Dogs.” The fundamental problem is that the Democratic Party cannot invent enough non-issues to distract voters’ attention from the reality of an anemic economic recovery. Moreover, they seem remarkably flat-footed when Republicans point out their hypocrisy or respond with equally absurd attacks.

I guess what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Two weeks ago, it was Hilary Rosen’s barely veiled contempt for stay-at-home moms. This past week, Republicans pointed out that President Obama ate dog during his youth in the wake of criticism on Romney’s transport choices for his family dog several decades ago.

At some point one would think that the Democratic Party would stop engaging in these ridiculous lines of attack. Instead, they defend them even further until the logic of their arguments no longer makes any coherent sense. Continue reading →

Posted in Finance and Economics, Humor, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 38 Comments

War Over Women Reaches Hyperbolic Fever Pitch

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

When Republicans raised legitimate First Amendment concerns about the government’s requirement that religiously-affiliated employers provide free contraceptives to employees, the left spun the issue into the hyperbolic “war on women.”

To be sure, Republicans like Rush Limbaugh did not help matters by degrading the debate into an ad hominem attack when he branded Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut.” Rather than remaining above such an absurd media circus, President Obama needlessly waded into the fray by calling Fluke to express his “express his disappointment that she has been the subject of inappropriate personal attacks and to thank her for exercising her rights as a citizen to speak out on an issue of public policy.”

One would have thought the president had more pressing issues on his plate like dealing with a massive fiscal deficit, spiraling federal debt, an anemic economic recovery, rising gasoline prices, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a nuclear-armed North Korea, the still-precarious situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a host of other issues far more important than defending the “honor” of one 30-year-old Georgetown law student. Moreover, Democrats used Limbaugh’s crass comments to make sweeping generalizations about all conservatives and their supposed “hatred” of women, while the president blithely accepted a $1 million donation from Bill Maher, who has said far worse things about Republican women like Sarah Palin. Predictably, legions of left-leaning apologists have rationalized why Rush Limbaugh was blameworthy and Bill Maher was blameless.

Shocker!

That said, I am not writing this post to call out the left’s hypocrisy nor to debate why or why not Bill Maher can call a Republican woman something nasty but Rush Limbaugh cannot. I am writing to show how hyperbolic the debate becomes on both sides when one side dismisses a legitimate constitutional issue as nothing more than a nefarious and misogynistic plot.

President Obama’s War on Working Women

Since the left opened itself up to ridiculous claims, the GOP took the bait and rushed right in, with candidate Romney pointing out that 92.3% of those who lost jobs lost during the Obama administration were women. Liberal talking heads like Rachel Maddow have even rationalized this number away by arguing that if Mitt Romney had started his analysis on February 1, 2009 when Obama had his first full month in office (a fair point), women’s job losses would have represented 3x the total number of net job losses (to make her point sound more absurd, Maddow cited 300% instead of 3x). She further asserts this figure (i.e., 300%) sounds so unintuitive and ridiculous that no one would believe it. Of course, that would simply mean that men gained jobs (a negative number in this equation), while women lost them. Her new figure only strengthens Romney’s case. Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare, Humor, Leadership, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

Enough with the Scapegoating

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

“What drags our entire economy down is when the benefits of economic growth and productivity go only to the few … and the gap between those at the very, very top and everybody else keeps growing wider and wider.”

— President Obama in a speech to Florida college students on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

With Rick Santorum’s exit from the Republican race, the country now informally enters the general election. Not surprisingly, the president seems to be revisiting the broken wealth redistributive philosophy that was so successful in the Soviet Union.

To be fair, Americans have been benefiting from relatively lower Federal taxes in recent years, while the government has been on an accelerated spending binge. Much of this state of affairs is by design. During recessions, deficit spending can help fill slack consumer demand. However, at some point the American people and their government must restore the balance by paying more taxes and spending less, respectively.

As such, I do not disagree in theory that Americans ought to pay more taxes to help reduce the deficit. The American government can accomplish much of this task by simplifying the tax code so that the pain is spread around and the overwhelming majority of Americans pay more.

By default, a simplified tax code would result in the wealthy paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes. Nevertheless, rather than supporting a policy that would ask all Americans to contribute their “fair share” to reduce long-term fiscal deficits, President Obama chooses to scapegoat a small percentage of the population, and demand that it carry even more of the outsized tax burden than it already does.

How is this responsible? How will dragging one group down raise everyone up? What happened to improving the conditions for economic prosperity for everyone? How does the president think inciting class envy against a tiny fraction of the nation’s citizens will help solve America’s problems?

After all, when almost half of the population no longer pays Federal income taxes, they will increasingly vote for more programs from which they benefit, but for which they bear none of the costs. The result is ultimately bankruptcy followed by chaos. Wealth redistributive policies do nothing but increase government dependency, and stifle the competitive spirit that once made America the envy of the world.

Surely, President Obama is above engaging in such base and divisive politics. Scapegoating didn’t work well amidst the 1930s’ economic turmoil. It is unlikely to offer a good solution today.

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Leadership, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Taxes | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments