The Independent Variable - Matt Haugland


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Obamabortion

I like President Obama. I want him to do well. I don't want him to be unfairly hated by so many people the way Bush was. But he makes it harder to like him when one of the first things he does in office is sign an executive order to use my money to help pay for abortions in other countries.


Sunday, January 18, 2009

5th Amendment

I wonder why the law does not require defendants to testify in their trial. This makes no sense to me. I understand that the 5th Amendment gives people the right to not testify against themselves. But if their testimony is incriminating, doesn't that mean they're guilty of something?

Maybe we should do away with the part of the 5th Amendment that says one should not be "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself", but still keep the spirit of it -- force them to at least go up on the stand. If they don't want to answer any particular questions, they would still have the right to say "I don't want to answer that because it will incriminate me". The jury can decide how to interpret that.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Next 2 Years

Here are a few links about the main thing I'll be working on over the next 2 years:

North American Wind Power News

NEDC News

Energy Current News

The Daily Oklahoman


Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Blogging Again

I'm not sure if anyone is gonna read this, but I decided to start blogging again. For the first post in a long time, I'll give you a little update on what's been happening since May 26.

  • I've had a great girlfriend, Samantha, for almost a year now. Last summer I took her to California for the first time.


  • Business has been going very well. I recently received a major grant to develop a wind power forecasting system over the next two years. That will begin in Feb. I also will have my first real paying customer, beginning around that same time.


  • I'm starting to be happy about Obama being elected, now that I'm gonna be so closely involved with wind energy. I'm just hoping he doesn't raise taxes!


  • I've been very closely following the Caylee Anthony kidnapping/murder case. It's been a long time since I've missed an episode of Nancy Grace.


  • I've been more interested in college football than ever (if that's possible!). And I've been learning about various strategies, formations, plays, etc. I've been thinking about developing a web site with very unique statistics and rankings.


  • Lots of other things.


  • I look forward to writing more here soon! Please post a comment if you have any topic suggestions.