Saw a program on PBS last night about Detroit called Detropia.  Things still look very bleak even with the auto companies making good profit now.  It talked about mayor Dave Bing is trying to consolidate the city's population to a smaller area and try to use the rest of the land to start urban farming.  The program did not really talk about how these two things can be accomplished.  It seems to me people are not going to willingly move to another part of the city unless there is a benefit, like a tax rebate.  As Bing said, the city is broke so how is it going to pay people to move?  And how is this urban farming to going to work?  What do they do with the land in the winter when things don't grow with snow on the ground?  Are these programs still on the agenda?  All I know is that I don't want to be in Bing's shoes!

This program made me think about the fires in Bangladesh factories recently.  There has been a lot of calling by activists to stop manufacturing in Bangladesh and other countries where safety violations are rampant.  While that is well meaning, I am sure the people of Bangladesh and other countries don't want the manufacturing to stop.  People who are starving are willing to take whatever safety risks to feed their children.  The Mexicans are willing to risk dying to cross over to the U.S. to find a job.  So the people of Bangladesh are willing to work in unsafe factories.  We should demand that companies from the U.S. do a much better job of policing the factories that make their products.  But in reality we are not doing the impoverish people any favor by taking away their jobs.

The truth is there are more and more people competing for limited manufacturing jobs all over the world.  Detroit will not get significant number of jobs back.  The city will have reinvent itself.  But with the poor public education system, I am not sure how they are going to be able to train the next generation in other types of work.  This will not be limited to Detroit but to rest of America as well.  I can see where the gap between the rich and poor will widen.  If you are not educated enough to get a professional job, you will be stuck in the service economy.  The middle class will shrink.  Having said that, I am not a pessimist for America as a whole.  Most of America can avoid what happened to Detroit and other old cities. Will talk about that in the future.

I think for the first time there is no surprising finalists for DWTS.  All four finalists are deserving.  I think anyone of the four can win.  A lot will depend on the performances Monday.  Based on consistency and how I think the fan voting will go, I predict the order of finish:  1.  Pickler. 2.  Jones.  3.  Raisman. 4.  Zendeya.   I would not be surprised if it was backwards!

The action of the  IRS making it difficult for conservative groups such as the Tea Party to get tax exempt status is obviously wrong.  No particular group should be discriminated against when applying for something from the government.  An investigation is needed to see how high  the order came from or was it something that a group of bureaucrats decided to do it themselves. But beyond that, why do any group of people or institution get tax exempt status anyway?

I found 10 major ways to get tax exempt on the internet.  The most troubling to me is religious organizations.  I mean, if we have separation of church and state, then why do we give favor to churches.  I understand that the law does not favor a particular religion.  But then how do you decide what is a reasonable religion and not a dangerous cult?  It maybe reasonable for the money raised for charity work by a church to be exempt.  But what about the money raised to try to get more members?  I don't think the government should be helping any church to increase its membership.  Another way that is just troubling is exemption granted to labor unions for various activities such as "educating members".  This is basically a way of promoting unions which lead to increase membership.  In fact, using money for education purpose seem to be a popular way for an organization to get exempt status.  Again, it is not the business of the government to increase any organization's membership, in my opinion.

There maybe public good that come out of exempting certain organizations.  But I think in most cases the benefits are questionable at best.  Since both the Republicans and Democrats claim that they are for simplifying the tax code, getting rid of the tax exempt status laws would be a good first step.  Why do we let the IRS make judgment calls of what groups of citizens get such a big tax advanatage?

I have just finished reading Jason Collin's article in SI.  I applaud him for coming out but I don't agree with some people who compare him with Jackie Robinson.  When Robinson came to the Majors there was not much movement in the areas of civil rights.  Even some of his teammates were against him.  I think the gay right movement is much further along now and judging by the response Collins have received, I don't think he will face challenges anywhere near what Robinson faced during his time.  That is not to say that he won't be heckled by fans.  Jeremy Lin was heckled even during Ivy League games and those fans are affiliated with some of the greatest institutions of higher education in this country.  But Collins will not be bothered in the locker room or by opponents.  Ironically everyone who has come out against him (and there are very few), has been attacked themselves in the court of public opinion.  Take Chris Broussard of ESPN.  He gave his opinion that as a religious person, he is against gay life style.  He was immediately attacked.  While I don't agree with him, he has the right to what he believes.  If you only have to listen to opinions that is agreeable to you, then you are not living in a democratic society.

Even though Collins is technically an active player in the NBA, he is at or near the end of his career.  In fact, if this article did not come out, the chances of him of getting a contract next year is slim.  So I don't think he will be hurt in terms of staying in the league by coming out.  I don't think you can accuse any team of prejudice for not signing Collins for next season.  It will be more interesting when a player near the peak of his career come out and is a free agent.  Then we will know what teams think.  I bet that most team will act depending more of that player's ability than sexual orientation.

It is interesting that Jason's identical twin Jarron is not gay.  Obviously having identical DNA does not mean same personality.  On the other hand environment do not determine personality either as both Jason and Jarron grew up in the same household, went to the same high school and college.  So who knows what really make up who we are.  Interesting enough of the 4 sets of identical twins I know of in NBA, the skills of 3 sets of twins are about the same.  Tom and Dick Van Arsdale, the Morris twins of Phoenix Suns and Jason and Jarron Collins are all about same in style and skill as each person's twin.  Only Brooke and Robin Lopez are somewhat different with Brooke being a better offensive and overall player whereas Robin is better on defense.  But given that Brooke and Robin have big difference in hairstyle whereas the other 3 sets of twins look exactly the same, I conclude that hairstyle is the ultimate determining factor in skills of NBA twins.

We got the two bombers but why they did this is still unclear.  All I know is that the Russian government is happy that Chechens are involved.  This will make it easier in the future for the Russians to go in and claimed that they are going after terrorists.  In the past, the U.S. may have considered Chechens freedom fighters.  I guess terrorists are the ones against your cause, while freedom fighters are those for your cause.  From indications so far the bombers did not do this for political reasons.  It seems likely that the older brother was radicalized because of feeling of alienation in this country.  That certainly was a reason in terrorist activities in the U.K.  But in this case, I think this is not a valid excuse for these brothers.  For all account they were doing well financially and the young one was in school and had many friends.  They had lived what most immigrants think of as the American dream.  To turn against the country that gave them asylum is just evil.  If they did not like it here, they could have gone back like their parents.  In fact one went back for 6 months, he could have just stayed there if he thought America was evil.

So are they going to ban pressure cookers now?  If shoe bombs and liquid bombs have failed and still we have to take off our shoes and give up our water before boarding, why allow pressure cookers which have succeeded, to be sold?   Oh, I forgot.  Being a successful weapon now, pressure cookers will be protected under the Second Amendment as arms.

After following the Masters this weekend, I am convince more than ever that it is the most annoying sport.  I rarely watch golf except when Tiger is in contention or when Jack Nicklaus was in contention in the old days.  These two were so much better than their contemporaries that you just have to watch to see if they can come up with the heroics.  Sure, once in a while somebody like Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros or Tom Watson might go on a good run and you may watch.  But otherwise if Tiger or Jack were not in contention, I do not watch.

So this weekend with Quan Tianlang being the youngest player ever to make the cut and Tiger being in contention, I tuned in.  So what happens?  They penalize the poor 14 year old for slow play.  Now, I see players agonizing over two foot putts, changing clubs and even going to the porta-john during golf tournament and they are going to penalize this kid for slow play?  The LA Times wrote that since 1997 there were 22 penalties for slow play in the European Tour.  There were none in the U.S. PGA tour during this time.  The official that penalized Quan is European.  He is also the guy that penalized Ballesteros twice and Harrington once in a major.  It seems to me that is not uniform officiating.  Maybe this guy is one of the few who is enforcing the rules correctly.  Or maybe he just like to get on tv.  They said that Quan's group was 22 minutes behind by the 17th hole.  Well, the kid maybe the reason for this but I would think that Ben Crenshaw shooting an 84 during that round may have slowed things up.  If they want to speed up the game, have the players run the course instead of walking.  This way the 14 year old will have an advantage for sure!

Tiger then got penalized 2 strokes for dropping the ball 2 yards from where he was supposed to.  I mean what is 2 yards when you are 200 yards from the hole.  If he move the ball near the green, yes, he should be penalized or even disqualified.  I know Tiger should know the rules.  But he obviously did not otherwise he would not have incriminated himself by saying he dropped it 2 yards from his previous shot while being interviewed.  In fact, the rule committee had watched the tape after a view called in about the violation and decided there was not enough evidence to penalize Tiger.  It is only with his own incrimination that they made the ruling.  Can you imagine someone calling in and say Lebron had stepped out of bounds and the replay was not conclusive and they ruled only after Lebron admitted he stepped out, after the game.  If golf has all these anal rules and they insist they be followed, then have officials everywhere on the course to observe every shot and ball drops and make rulings right there.  It is a rich sport that can afford the number of officials needed.  It is not fair for the players to know every rule and then say that not knowing the rule is not an excuse on not calling a penalty on himself. 

Given all my displeasure with the game, obviously I don't think it should be in the Olympics.  We don't need to add another rich man's sport to a menu that already include sailing and equestrian.  It is a game even someone like Tiger or Jack win less than 20% of the time, so it is relatively meaningless to be called an Olympic champion.  Also can you imagine the controversy if an European official call a penalty on a Chinese golfer who is in contention for a medal?  It will be USA/USSR basketball 1972 all over again!

I am not too bummed about M losing to Louisville.  I think the better team won although M could have won that game.  Burke is going to the NBA as expected and Hardaway will probably also even though I think he will be drafted higher if he stayed another year.  I think Spike proved that he can be the point guard and the other freshmen will be much better next year.  I am already surprise how much McGary has improved already.  So I think they will be in contention again next year in the very tough Big Ten.

After I had said that North Korea did not post much of a threat, Kim Jong Un started to cause problems by putting North Korea in a state of war preparation.  That would seem counter to my claim that secular dictators are not irrational and their first priority is to survive and keep power.  Kim's action does appear irrational, trying to pick a fight with the most powerful country in the world.  It is possible that he is crazy and thus throw out all of my theory.  But it is not likely the case.  His father also had seem to be crazy at times.  But each time he threatened, he was just trying to get concession from the U.S.  Kim Jong Il also had at least 3 sons so if Jong Un is really crazy, I don't think he would have been picked as the successor. 

I think that being so young and being the third generation dictator, there is a lot of pressure to show that he is tough enough for the job.  There may even be some possibility of someone planning a coup.  If Kim knew about such threat, the best way to prevent it is to rev up nationalism and making himself look tough and capable of leading.  Certainly having been educated in Europe, he can't possibly think that he can win a war.  But if, like his father before him, he is able to get some concession, then his hold on power will be stronger.

The U.S. should act calmly.  We should put more military power into the region but do not sound threatened.  I think eventually China will get through to Kim behind close doors.  China has great interest in keeping the peace because a war would destabilize the region.  War would also likely destroy North Korea.  Even though North Korea is an unreliable ally, China gains leverage with the U.S. by being North Korea's main benefactor.  China also does not want war refugees coming over the border.  Most importantly a war would mean greater U.S. involvement in the region.  This will increase American influence in Asia and make China's goal of becoming the dominant power in Asia much more difficult to achieve. So China will make some assurance to Kim about his survival and convince him to pull back.

Well two final 4 picks correct isn't bad!  OSU should have made it given their easy bracket.  They have nobody to blame but themselves.  Syracuse blew up the other bracket.  I am just glad that M got lucky and made it.  I think you have to get at least one lucky game if you are going to win the tournament.  Now we have to see if Burke is truly the best point guard in the nation as he tries to solve the Syracuse zone.  It would be difficult for McGary to play like he has in these four games but then Hardaway has not been playing like he can.  He will have to because he is the only one other than Burke who can break down defenses and get his own shot.  Given that lucky game against Kansas, I think they can go all the way!

Saw parts of the women's game between Baylor and Louisville.  Even the women's game now has some parity where anyone can win.  Well, I don't think both Baylor and Connecticut will lose so Connecticut is going to win now.  But one thing I notice is that the officiating is much worse in women's basketball.  The game is slower with smaller people so you would think it would be easier to officiate.  So obviously the women don't get the best officials even in the playoffs.

This week mark the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war.  At the same time, Obama is traveling in the middle east.  This reminds us of the problems this area has caused us over the last several decades and the many mistakes we have made over there.  Here are some of my thoughts:

1.  The several thousands U.S. lives and maybe a hundred thousand Iraqi lives lost were terrible price to pay for a war that was wrong.  That was on top of the trillion dollars spent and the lost of focus in finishing the job in Afghanistan.  Never again should we allow crazy politicians lead us into such a war.

2.  One of the reason we are bogged down in this region is because of our dependence on oil.  We propped up despots who are friendly to us so that we can get the oil we need.  We must do everything we can to become energy independent as soon as possible.

3.  We spend a lot of money in the region trying to bring peace but we have not gotten much for it.  About the only thing the Israelis and Palestinians have in common is that they don't agree with what our presidents have propose for each side to do to even start the peace progress.  So lets withhold our financial support unless each side agree with our proposals. 

4.  Support Muslim countries that have been friendly to the U.S.  A country like Jordan must become economically much stronger in order to prevent extremists from taking over from King Hussein.  If populous Muslim countries like Indonesia and Turkey can become more prosperous then it will demonstrate to average Muslims that the U.S. is helping them and is not their enemy.

5.  Don't sweat about Iran and nuclear weapons.  Just like Iraq, Iran will not be dangerous to us.  By constantly worrying and complaining about their nuclear weapons program will only help Muslim extremists recruit terrorists.

On a lighter note the Big Ten did well this weekend.  Four teams made it to the sweet 16.  Minnesota and Illinois won a game and played well against tough opponents in the second game.  Only Wisconsin was disappointing.  As predicted the team that is in Gonzaga's region has the best luck.  That is OSU.  I think they will have a clear path to the final 4 now.

Well, OSU got that prize 2 seed in the region with Gonzaga.  As a result I predict that OSU will make it to the final 4.  M and MSU both got "home" games in Auburn Hill for the first 2 rounds so they should advance to the sweet 16.  If they don't it is their own fault.  I think M has a better draw than MSU.  I think Kansas and Georgetown are easier to beat than Louisville and Duke.  So I have M advancing to the final 4 along with Louisville.  I know that is homer talk and may jinx myself but hey this is one year that 3 or 4 seeds are almost as good as 1 and 2.  I will take Miami over Indiana in the last regional.  I think Miami could well have been a 1 and I think they are better than Kansas.  Plus I can't pick 3 Big Ten teams!

I think Oregon really got screwed.  A 12 seed  after winning the Pac 12 tournament?  I know that the Pac 12 is ranked low and deservedly so in some respects.  But Oregon went into a slump when their point guard went down.  If Trey Burke went down, M would lose a lot more games.  The guy came back and helped Oregon win the finals but the selection committee guy said that they had to look at the whole season, not just the last game.  But then they lowered UCLA to a 6 because they lost one of their starters before the final   They can't argue both ways!

Just finished watching DWTS.  My top 3 picks are Zendya (or whatever her name is), Jacoby Jones and Dorothy Hamil.  Zendya was by far the best but the concern is that nobody my age knows who she is and people at her age is not going to watch the show.  Jacoby Jones has great potential even though his technique was not too good today.  Did you see how out of breath he was? I know he had surgery and so been idled but he had more trouble than anybody I ever seen on the show and he is a young athlete.  Dorothy Hamil is pretty good and will get lot of sympathy votes due to her age and her cancer history.  The country singer Pickler was also impressive.  The gymnast was not as good as I thought she would be but maybe she can improve.  It seems to me Ashley Judd really let herself go!