CONSERVATIVE SHRUG

What The Fuck Is Liberation Theology?

2010-08-29T23:12:00.003-04:00

Every now and then I hear some shit about this "religion" when the good Rev. Wright (Obama's Pastor) opens his mouth to taste his foot. I'm basically lazy, so I went to Wiki to get the overview.

Liberation theology[1] is a movement in Christian theology which construes the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions. It has been described by proponents as "an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor's suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor",[2] and by detractors as Christianity perverted by Marxism and Communism.[3]

So the "critics" call it Marxism. So I looked at the rest of the liberation theology page at wiki. First thing that jumped out to me was the "Major Figures" section. Pretty much a bunch of Marxist thinkers and socialists. Mostly a bunch of assholes I have never heard of - or more accurately a bunch of Marxist assholes I never heard of. OK, I have heard of a few of them, but I was trying to be cool about it like the President.

More from one of those major figures at Wiki,

Gutierrez emphasized practice (or, more technically, "praxis") over doctrine. "Praxis" is a term borrowed from Marxist theory, particularly the work of Antonio Gramsci. (Praxis is a Greek term that is also the basis of praxeology, a study of "human action" in the world, which is the title of a book by Ludwig von Mises and used by Austrian School of economics). According to Gutierrez, praxis is as important as belief, if not more so.

Ummm. OK. I understood borrowed from Marxist theory, but what is the goal...beyond redistribution. After reading a couple of articles, I think the point is that Marxism resulted in utopia, where followers of this "religion" seek salvation through Marxist principles.

Ultimately, this sounds like the same delusional horseshit that leads parents to feed their kids cyanide kool aide. The fact that the President of the United States is a practicing liberation theologist explains a lot about the type of legislation we've been subjected to in the last two years.

Jeesh, I wish the President were "just" a Muslim.

It Was Already Too Late Before I Knew What I Know Now

2010-08-23T23:01:00.004-04:00

The Lamed Vav says we only need a righteous 36 to justify the rest of us.

Universal Salvation says it only takes a few to damn the whole.

The only way to make sure we get saved is to kill all of those who can't be.

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Thus if I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate while the enemy is fragmented.

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It was supposed that the pearl buyers were individuals acting alone, bidding against one another for the pearls the fisherman brought in. And once it had been so. But this was a wasteful method.

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That few in public affairs act from a mere view of the good of their country, whatever they may pretend; and though their actings bring real good to their country, yet they primarily considered that their own and their country's interest was united and did not act from a principle of benevolence.

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The flaring torch was burning in the place, and sent its red glare from face to face. The Chiefs in front, near to the flame, kept their eyes to the ground with an air that might have been mistaken for respect. The men in shadow were less reserved.

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All things were made to be yours and you were made to prize them according to their value.

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What ails thee, king's daughter? Thy tears would melt a heart of stone.

And when she looked to see where the voice came from, there was nothing but a frog stretching his thick ugly head out of the water.

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Married Couple Reunite In The Skies Over Pakistan

2010-07-02T06:55:00.004-04:00

This is really something.

A newly married couple, both Air Force pilots, had not seen each other much in the year since they were married. Why? Well, they are both serving their country on separate deployments. Here's the thing.

Christine pilots a KC 135 stratotanker and her husband Jeff is a F/A 18 pilot.

At the end of the mission in Afghanistan, Jeff was checking in with the refueling pilot at it turned out to be...wait for it...his wife.

Jeff McLean wrote in an e-mail Thursday that he and his wife had tried to coordinate their flight schedules but with more than 50 KC-135 tankers taking off every day to refuel both Navy and Air Force fighters, it was too difficult to connect in the air. On his last combat flight, Jeff McLean knew she would be flying in the same area at the same time but since they had never been able to meet on previous flights, he was merely hoping to hear his wife's voice on the radio.

I will occasionally get my wife flowers to show her how much I love her. Jeff sends his wife mach diamonds and the sweet glow of afterburners.

"After she gave me about 10,000 pounds of fuel, I flew right up next to her cockpit. She turned on the lights and waved, and I could see her, but it's pretty dark in my jet, so I'm not sure that she ever saw me waving . . . We were able to fly together all the way out of country and back over the Arabian Sea at 500 knots, then I had to head back and land on the ship and she headed back to her base. As we broke apart, I lit my afterburner, which hopefully looked pretty cool in the dark. It was an absolutely perfect flight."

Jeff's wing man took a picture of the chance meeting.

Flotilla Diplomacy And Ideological Warfare

2010-06-02T08:03:00.007-04:00

In the last month, confrontations between ships have dominated the international news.

Item One, North Korea. North Korea leader Kim Jung Il decides the sink a South Korean Navy vessel, the 1,500-ton Cheonan. Forty-seven sailors lost their lives and the world's reaction...a big yawn.

Item Two, the Eastern Med. Israeli defense forces enforce a common-sense blockage that looks for weapons and ammo while taking on the expense of moving thousands of tons of supplies a day. Turkey and Hamas, decide to create an international incident by sending a meaningless amount of supplies by ship and ignoring the open port miles away. Instead they challenge the blockage with the results they expected. Essentially a suicide bomb via ship. Nine people on board die in the ensuing skirmish. The reaction, OUTRAGE from all over the world. Rent-a-mobs show up outside media centers in New York and San Fran and the liberal media slobbers on themselves to catch the crazy, over the top, flagellating crowds chanting death to Israel.

The difference. Poor South Korea does not have the backing of the world's leftists since they are protesting George Bush several years ago. In fact, the attack on the South Korean Navy vessel is the much more serious issue. An act like that has started wars, big wars. And will probably result in a war on the Korean peninsula unless the South decides to concede - which appears possible.

North Korea feels emboldened by something...perhaps nuclear bombs?

What emboldened the Turks and Hamas? Their act was no less provocative and senseless. But they knew they have the backing of the major leftist organs, the UN and world media. Sprinkle in a little dose of anti-Semitism and presto, you have another fake incident that gets blamed on Israel.

To what end? Both of these acts have a similar purpose. To push modern civilized people into a corner and force them to react against thuggish dictatorships and theocracies who play by no rules. I think it is no mistake that the focus of these attacks are modern capitalistic democracies. I think it is also not a coincidence that the global leftists have sided with the forces of destruction and chaos in both cases.

Leftists long ago realized that they can not build a better example of the human condition than democratic capitalistic societies. Not in Russia, Cuba, North Korea. Not in Venezuela. Not in China, that current darling. Therefore leftists are left to either concede their philosophy leads to misery or sadly - attack democratic capitalist countries and try to make them look worse than the alternative.

The great flaw in this ideological battle is that capitalist democracies believe they can win with measured responses to these provocations. That there are moral equivalencies that can lead to common understanding. Both ideas are dangerous and will only lead to more violence.

The answer has always been to not pick fights, but when one is started finish it as quickly and humanely as possible. Leave no room for ambiguity or desire to continue the provocations. Win these fights when they are forced upon you or else suffer permanent hostilities.

I have heard many leftist TV analysts say that it doesn't make them anti-Semitic to disagree with the Israelis policy of interdicting weapons destined for Hamas. Maybe, maybe not. But it sure is a great place to start.

Ol' Jim Crow Is Back

2010-05-06T20:55:00.008-04:00

I am always amused how people can justify awful behavior. We all do it to one degree or another, but in the hands of powerful people self-delusionment leads to abuse. My thesis is that the convergence of political correctness and the racial preference bureaucracy have codified a new Jim Crow. The new version has many of the same trappings: Code Words, government backing, entrenched racism that even the racist proponents can't recognize.

Case in Point: Three stories, one in Michigan, one in California and the third in New York.

Dateline Ann Arbor:

An Ann Arbor elementary school principal used a letter home to parents tonight to defend a field trip for black students as part of his school’s efforts to close the achievement gap between white and black students.

“I also think it’s important that you know that I have talked to the children who did not go on the field trip, and I think they have a better understanding of the purpose of the AA Lunch Bunch now, as I hope you do. I’m sorry if any kids were upset by the field trip or my discussion afterwards with them, and I have let them know that.

“The intent of our field trip was not to segregate or exclude students as has been reported, but rather to address the societal issues, roadblocks and challenges that our African American children will face as they pursue a successful academic education here in our community.”

So he wants to address societal issues...byyyyyyyy segregating them from society. Oh, but Dicken Elementary School Principal Mike Madison was not done there.

District spokeswoman Liz Margolis said after the trip was over, those who went returned to their fifth-grade class and were greeted by boos by those who didn’t go on the trip. Margolis said Madison, who is black, heard the boos, and went to talk to the class. She said he and the class had a “discussion” about race issues.

“He wasn’t yelling at them. He was very passionate about it,” Margolis said.

Being "very passionate" is Jim Crow code talk for yelling at white students who were disappointed at being segregated. This whole thing was an offshoot of the "African American lunch bunch" program started by Mr. Madison.

Dateline Morgan Hill California.

Five students wearing t-shirts representing the US flag in one form or another were sent home on May 5th. Their crime? Wearing an "American" shirt on a Mexican holiday. In America. The school administrators deemed the American garb "incendiary" in an American school.

Administrators at a California high school sent five students home on Wednesday after they refused to remove their American flag T-shirts and bandannas -- garments the school officials deemed "incendiary" on Cinco de Mayo.

The five teens were sitting at a table outside Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Calif., on Wednesday morning when Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez asked two of them to remove their American flag bandannas, one of their parents told FoxNews.com. The boys complied, but were asked to accompany Rodriguez to the principal's office.

The five students -- Daniel Galli, Austin Carvalho, Matt Dariano, Dominic Maciel and Clayton Howard -- were then told they must turn their T-shirts inside-out or be sent home, though it would not be considered a suspension. Rodriguez told the students he did not want any fights to break out between Mexican-American students celebrating their heritage and those wearing American flags.

Cinco used to be a cool holiday. Eat nachos, drink overpriced Mexican swill and puke that third shot of 1800 you shouldn't have done on the way home. For the longest time, I thought Cinco was just another "fun" holiday, just like St. Patricks day.

Then ol' Jim Crow came along and now the boss-man says we gots to shows our respects or a beatin' is sure to come. That is Jim Crow talk for having proper deference for your master.

Back to the story,

The boys told Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez and Principal Nick Boden that turning their shirts inside-out was disrespectful, so their parents decided to take them home.

In the end, the school district will dole out an "unnamed" level of discipline for the school administration, and untold numbers will be forced to watch a two hour re-education/sensitivity video.

Dateline New York City.

The situation: Within a day of the discovery of the truck bomb in Times Square, Mayor Bloomberg went on TV to discuss what he knew at that point. For sure much could have been suspected. New York. Car bomb. Terrorism...and on and on. Chief Wiggam of the Simpsons could have had a profile of the suspect in minutes.

But not today. After getting briefed by Homeland Security, Mayor Bloomberg had these prescient words with Katie Couric.

Bloomberg: If I had to guess 25 cents, this would be exactly that. Somebody….

Couric: A homegrown….

Bloomberg: A homegrown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.

Homegrown...upset about healthcare... Yup, code talking again. The conversation they were really having is, "find me a white man in his 40's, probably a Tea Party type, and I'll show you the scumbag that did this thing."

But wait. Bloomberg did not stop there. After he was forced to admid it was not Whitey McTeabagger, he had another warning about those damned Teabaggers:

“The fact that so many people are out and about in Times Square today, where I just came from, really shows that, and I want to make clear that we will not tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistani or Muslim New Yorkers.”

Backlash. That's part of the new Jim Crow too. It takes the place of "don't let 'em 'round your womenfolk." Cause everybody knows you can't trust a whitey, but especially a teabaggin' whitey.

All taken together, these incidents this week exemplify the reinstitution of Jim Crow. Not the fire-hoses and attack dogs. Rather the insidious and institutional belittlement of a people who, by birth, are of the wrong color to enjoy a life free from instant accusation and simultaneous conviction. A people who are set-aside by race and barely tolerated by the same government that professes to be the gatekeeper of their rights and liberties.

But hey, I hear the president is now using the term "tea baggers." It has been a long time since ol' Jim Crow had a place at the table in the White House. Yes sir missr. Yes sir.

The Detroit Salt Mines

2010-04-19T20:58:00.006-04:00

A lot of people in Southeast Michigan are not aware of the massive mines underneath their own feet. Under the Fisher Freeway near the River Rouge lies one of the best salt deposits in the world. The salt mine, in operation since the late 1800's, has over 50 miles of tunnels and could supply the earth with salt for millions of years. How deep is it? Try 1,200 feet. The salt deposit is about 40 feet thick and bone dry. Unlike the surface, there are not any rats or cockroaches.

I went down with a tour when I was a young geology student. That tour sold me on the idea of being a geologist. After seeing western geology, I always hated the area for being flat and geologically boring...at the surface anyway. I learned a valuable lesson that day; Sometimes really great geology is hidden just below the surface.

Detroit was covered by a hyper-saline sea during the early Devonian Period (still roughly 400 million years ago). The Devonian is known as the "Age of Fish," but you won't see any fossil fish here.

Nice little cross section from the Detroit News.

A picture of the "room and pillar" mine.

Some of the mineral halite from there is as clear as glass. By the way, crystals like the ones below can be had for about 7 bucks.

UNRWAL

2010-03-29T07:12:00.008-04:00

I was over at the Detroit Pistons page at Detroit News last night and a I thought there was some internet typo slang I had missed - like pwn and pron.

User Griz, expressing his dismay that the Pistons could let a former player abuse them so much after a terrible season.

Man, Flip Murray schooled Ben Gordon today .. for about 12% of BG's salary ..

UNRWAL and INSANE to keep Joe Dumars as GM .. Yeah .. it will take some work to get a good GM, but it wont be hard to find a better one ... this team is toast

Link

It took me a second but UNRWAL must have meant unreal. Later, Griz explains his mistake.

I guess UNRWAL was suppose to be UNREAL ..lol .. but it still expresses my true emotions right now!

Sorry Griz, I am stealing your typo.

Dude, did you see that FBI raid on TV. Dude, that was unrwal!

...AND Climate Change

2010-03-25T07:41:00.007-04:00

With climate change hysteria unwinding, you would think there would be a memo to physical scientists to cut the crap. But alas, it appears funding trumps common sense and nearly every study concludes that "XXXX AND CLIMATE CHANGE are responsible for YYYYYYYY."

Take this sub-headline from Sciency.com:

Climate change and damming the Nile threaten Egypt's agricultural oasis.

Hmmmm. Didn't I read a scientific study about a year ago that the Aswan High Dam and reservoir were rapidly filling up with sediment? I did.

The reduction of silt is causing serious downstream erosion (lack of seasonal deposition) and massive changes in the sediment chemistry. The dam is preventing the annual deposition of 12 million tons of silt on land.

NOTE TO HEADLINE WRITING GUY AT SCIENCE.COM - 12 million tons is a really big number. Forty years of that really big number has an incredible impact. No qualitative climate changey science needed.

So why add ...and climate change... to every science article? Easy. It's about funding. I am reminded of a famous (infamous) Mississippi lawyer who claims, "have a wreck, get a check!" For disaster chasing scientists its, "have a climate change, get a check!"

John Bohannon's article about the sinking delta also proves one of my favorite maxims about modern science philosophy. I call it the Allen Irwin Blind Spot Trap. To quote myself...

When we scientists observe and report something for the first time, like the ozone hole, there is a natural tendency to believe it must not have existed for long before we observed it. The other problem is that we are developing the ability to observe things at an amazing rate. Therefore we end up with some really good data over a very short periods of time...the Blind Spot.

The last part. Any good scientific study must have a disaster at the end. Just as Irwin Allen brought us Earthquake, the Towering Inferno - scientists seem compelled to run models that predict disaster. Otherwise, who would read that drudge.

Bohannon hauls out the old bogey-man global warming...

The dam, however, now blocks the sediments far upstream of Cairo. As a result, the delta is sinking. At the same time, the Mediterranean Sea is expected to rise as a result of global warming.

...when the simple answer is staring at him like the GEICO googly eyed money thing.

A quick review of some recent stories at Science.com found several other references:

Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People: Lots of people, overfishing, AND GLOBAL WARMING.

Radically Rethinking Agriculture for the 21st Century: Loss of arable land and increasing development of farming systems that use saline water and integrate nutrient flows, bla bla bla, AND GLOBAL WARMING!!!

The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: Talking about global warming PROVES global warming is real.

Welcome To The End Of The Holocene

2010-03-20T00:31:00.003-04:00

The recent, or Holocene, epoch started at the end of the last ice age. It will end with the start of the next glacial period. The most recent interglacial, or warm, periods have lasted 10,000 years. Our little warm period is celebrating roughly 10,000 years...nowish.

Unfortuneately, there won't be any ice hurricanes like from the day after tomorrow to let us know the epoch (gig) is up. Hurry Jake, CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!

This information has been known for a long while. In fact it was the basis for the snowball earth projections in the 1970's.

What is new are some studies showing the climate during the last interglacial, or warm, epoch called the Eemian. Russian and German scientists studying lake bed sediments from the Eemian discovered that the end of that epoch was characterized by wildly fluctuating warm/cold cycles. See the paper here.

Quoting from the study,

The current interglacial epoch – the Holocene – has already lasted more than 10,000 years and reached its highest point so far around 6000 years ago.

Don't forget, water levels rose about 100 feet or so at the start of the holocene and those levels are going to be reversed at nearly the same rate we will pay off the national debt.

Now for the good news.

...we are currently at the end of the Holocene and could therefore expect to see a cooling-down in a few thousand years if there had been no human influence on the atmosphere and the resulting global warming.

Global warming may save our rear ends. Like some diabolical plot device from a Bond movie, we are screwing our planet up in the nick of time. Phew!

Since I love a heavy dose of irony, I propose we call the next glacial period, The Gorian.

Now hear this Goldfinger, your luck has just changed.

The Prius And Munchausen Syndrome

2010-03-14T08:35:00.005-04:00

The Prius was the darling, a car that was talked about as if it were alive.

Then a funny thing happened. The US Government got in the car business, in a big way. Then all of those niggling issues became big ones at the same time Toyota's ambition to be the biggest, and the inevitable loss of quality, was exposed. A perfect storm perhaps but that isn't interesting or new.

What's new is the "my Toyota tried to KILL me" experience that many are having. Having your Toyota try to kill you makes you unique. Makes you special. Relieves you from making car payments.

And then came James Sikes. Joe Shmoe from El Cajon California. Victim.

On Monday James Sikes, 61 years old, called 911 and told the operator his blue 2008 Toyota Prius had sped up to more than 90 miles per hour on its own on Interstate 8 near San Diego. He eventually brought the vehicle to a stop after a California Highway patrolman pulled alongside Sikes and offered help.

During and after the incident, Sikes said he was using heavy pressure on his brake pedal at high speeds.

When I saw that on TV earlier in the week I turned to my wife and said he was faking it. With all of the press coverage I knew it was a matter of time before someone took the opportunity to become interesting. I said he was probably behind on the payments. Plus he had purchased a Prius in California. A blatant attempt to be noticed.

Munchausen: It's Not Just For Killing Babies Anymore.

And it never was. It was about getting sympathy. Having people see you as a victim. Being a sympathetic character makes you special. It means you have built-in excuses for not accomplishing anything. People like you. Not in a normal way, but hey at least they know you exist.

I've always felt that 30% of the country suffers form varying degrees of Munchausen. It's the only way to understand so much of what goes on. We've elevated victimhood to near saint like status in this country and wonder why people fake shit like this?

James Sikes: His Story Unravels

The funny thing about faking your victim status is this: The bigger victim you are the more "they" are going to look into the matter. In this case, some of the best engineers descended on this little Prius within hours. I'm sure that was a sinking feeling for James, who only wanted what was rightfully his after all of these years, and maybe a new Prius.

James Sikes Getting all of the attention he deserves.

And then the truth started coming out.

During and after the incident, Sikes said he was using heavy pressure on his brake pedal at high speeds.

But the investigation of the vehicle, carried out jointly by safety officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Toyota engineers, didn't find signs the brakes had been applied at full force at high speeds over a sustained period of time, the three people familiar with the investigation said.

The brakes were discolored and showed wear, but the pattern of friction suggested the driver had intermittently applied moderate pressure on the brakes, these people said, adding the investigation didn't find indicators of the heavy pressure described by Sikes.

Oops!

We know what James is all about. But do we know what got this whole thing started is all about? Do we? When the NHTSA looked into the safety issues of Toyota, were they looking out for us or their vested interest in THEIR car company. When they rushed out to California, did they think they were burying a stake in the heart of Toyota or did they expect to find a sad little man whose story made not one bit of sense.

That's the problem our government has, now that they are a player and the referee in the same game.

New Drone Revealed: We're Doomed

2010-03-06T06:18:00.004-05:00

The Navy has unveiled the new X 47B unmanned combat air system (N-UCAS), via JaxAir News.

I could tell you that it looks like an early version of a Cylon raider, but...

Now let's deal with that acronym. N-UCAS. Or sounded out NUKE US. If this had been a reveal in the last season of Battlestar Gallactica, we would have been pissed off. No way! Too heavy handed!

I guarantee you that the dorks working on these drones not only watched every episode of Battlestar Galactica, they own costumes, dolls and build mock-ups of every craft from the show. Even the stupid presidential one.

Therefore, the design and name of this new drone is not only predicable but could be part of some sick self-fulfilling prophesy/fantasy straight from the Book of Pythia.

Anyway here's the ladies taking a sun bath. Thanks for destroying our planet you sick drone worker guys.

What Ever Happened To: The Ozone Hole

2010-01-09T13:18:00.005-05:00

This is the second look back at yesteryear's looming environmental disasters. I'll call it disaster science. You know, the disasters that were going to kill us before global warmi, er climate change. Last time it was What Ever Happened to Acid Rain?

Gen-Xers should well-remember the dire predictions about the rapidly disappearing Ozone layer in the 1970's and 1980's. We were warned of skin cancers, crop failures. Starvation. Diseases. Soylent Green snack bars.

Why did we care about ozone in the first place?

Ozone (O3) is the unstable, naturally occurring little oxygen allotrope that filters UV from the sun. Without ozone we would be dead or look something like George Hamilton (expect a lot of 1970's references here).

It concentrates in the ozone layer, up in the stratosphere, about 10 miles up. By 1978, we had a protocol, THE Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to phase out the man-made production of ozone depleting chemicals - the chlorofluorocarbons (AKA CFCs).

The iconic image I have from that era is my mom (all moms) spraying the hell out of their hair with AquaNet hairspray. That stuff had CFC as a propellant. It would burn. And would make a hair helmet that could stop a .32 special.

Disaster science was in a fever pitch in those days. The UVA and UVB rays that were cruising through the thinning ozone layer were giving Patagonian sheep back sores and would eventually destroy all food crops. The ozone hole was big. Really big. And getting bigger.

There were even some really cool cartoon graphics (these were the pre-CG days you know) depicting the size of the ozone hole by 2000. That's right, the hole covered all of the US (except San Francisco) and another hole engulfed western Europe.

Science Fiction Meets Science Fact

I have a little theory about modern science discoveries, its in three parts. I call it the Irwin Allen Blind Spot Trap.

When we scientists observe and report something for the first time, like the ozone hole, there is a natural tendency to believe it must not have existed for long before we observed it. This is the Blind Spot part.

The other problem is that we are developing the ability to observe things at an amazing rate. Therefore we end up with some really good data over a very short periods of time. I'll call this the Double Blind Spot part. In other words, we tend to love technology, and new data from new technology inspires scientists to make long term projections using data that represents a tiny fraction of earth's history. In other words, statistically significant wild ass guesses (or SWAGs).

The last part. Any good scientific SWAGs has a disaster at the end. Just as Irwin Allen brought us Earthquake, the Towering Inferno - scientists seem compelled to run models that predict disaster. Otherwise, who would read that drudge.

Back to the ozone hole. It "appeared" over Antarctica just about the time we could measure it. And the observation caused all manner of panic. The problem with the science in the 1970's was that the annual ozone hole was first measured in 1956, long before the ozone-destroying CFCs were in common use. The hole appears at the end of the dark, cold Antarctic winter, lasts about three to five weeks, and then disappears.

In a rush to write their scripts, scientists forgot to notice this natural phenomena.

The science was quickly settled and the science text books were produced. We, the evil developed nations were killing the planet.

After we settled the science...well, we did some more science. Turns out, that the actual "ozone layer" is not some delicate, static and fragile wrapping about the outer atmosphere. Rather it is a volatile component of the atmosphere that is both created and destroyed by solar radiation.

[Side snark: Science is like that. Things we think we know (i.e. settled) turn out to be quite unsettled after a second or third look.]

That's right. Ozone creation (and destruction) is a self-limiting process, so we can not "run out" of stratospheric ozone. The more ozone (O3) is destroyed, the more free oxygen radicals (O1) are available to bind with free oxygen (O2) to create ozone (O3), the same applies with free oxygen (O2). And on and on it goes.

The Science is Re-Settled

Like OJ Simpson pulling George C Scott from a burning building during an earthquake after a plane crash with an impending dam break - the earth was saved. Was it the Montreal Protocol or previously unknown natural compensating factors? Decades down the road, it looks like it was both. But mostly natural factors.

You see, the holes never engulfed those nasty industrialized nations. And the old science said it could take a decade to get those big ole CFC molecules fully circulated. Not to mention the CFCs that were still produced in third world countries. According to the settled science, the ozone layer could not be saved until 2050. Bad science. Bad

Either way. The hysteria cooled to a concern, eventually fading to a footnote. The new science books sheepishly navigate the topic and respectable scientists don't talk about the ozone anymore.

In the end, what did this crisis bring us? I could make an argument that the ozone hole killed Elvis and brought us frustrating pump bottle hair spray. I could also argue that the ozone hole is like an ex girlfriend. Remembered but left unspoken.

Want to know more? Here are my sources.
CFC Production Yes we still use a lot of that stuff

Steven Milloy at Junk Science

THE EPA

Spike TV for some palate cleansing videos after all of this sciency stuff

File Under Unintended Consequences

2009-12-20T09:50:00.005-05:00

The green movement has brought about so many unintended consequences so fast we hardly have time to count them. Here is another.

Cool traffic lights take heat on snowy risksTom Greenwood / The Detroit News
Some northern states are reporting a unique problem with light-emitting diode traffic lights: the cool burning LEDs don't generate enough heat to melt ice and snow that accumulates in front of the lenses on the signals.

Although there are no LED-related reports of crashes or deaths in Michigan, it has reportedly led to dozens of accidents in other states.

Seriously. I can imagine engineers and scientists of the past actually considering this before they let a product go out the door. Glass covered lights, 20 feet in the air...blowing snow...

"We are working on the problem," Dutta said. "We may put a longer shade on the light to shield it from ice and snow, but we're not sure about putting a heater into the light. A heater would cost us money to run the lights, which we don't want to do.

Are traffic engineers to real engineers, what political scientists are to real scientists? I mean, how in the Hell does this turn into a problem you "work on?" How do you miss this?

But don't worry...

...it has reportedly led to dozens of accidents in other states. But we will come up with something down the line: in terms of energy and life cycle savings of LEDs, this is a tiny problem."

A tiny problem huh? Three people get a heart attach while taking Celebrex and the entire market is killed.

Anything for the Greening of...

I guess if we can sacrifice our economy for cap and trade and we can print 30 billion a year for that Copenhagen nonsense, then killing a few people and wrecking a bunch of cars is an easy decision...as long as it is done to "save the planet."

If "greening..." were a conservative idea, it would have been litigated, legislated, and perp walked to GITMO. If Greening were conservative, it would have been water boarded by the ACLU while Janeane Garofalo pulled out it's fingernails. But the media will always ignore these examples because they don't fit the Big Narrative.

Nothing to see here...

The Greatest Fox News Slideshow...Evah

2009-12-13T19:05:00.003-05:00

Seriously. Watch it all the way to the end, there is a treat waiting for you.

LINK

Hint:

Bowfishing Jumping Carp And Hot Chicks Noodling Catfish...Oh Hells Yeah!

2009-11-21T17:39:00.003-05:00

With the recent news about Chinese Silver Carp making their way ever closer to the Great Lakes, I was looking for some video. Then I came across this...it's called Aerial Bowfishing. Someone is going to get hurt.

The glowing arrow shots are the best.

It's Saturday night, so how about some hot chicks noodling catfish!!!

Vaginaplasty?

2009-11-13T07:17:00.003-05:00

This was on Drudge (via the BBC), but I couldn't let it pass without comment.

Women are undergoing surgery to create perfect genitalia amid a "shocking" lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says.

And by perfect they mean...

...which generally involves reducing the amount of tissue that protrudes from the lips which cover the vagina.

OK, so its called labioplasty, but what kind of man would want LESS of that. Am I alone on this? When I saw the headline I assumed the doctors would be going the other way with that.

I have to wonder if this is some sort of pedophillic desire to make women look like little girls.

Whatever. I'm against it.

The Bush Recovery of 2009

2009-10-20T15:13:00.004-04:00

How about another installment of Democrat Logic.

As I understand the current state of Democrat thinking, here are the basic assumptions regarding our current economic state.

1. The recession of 2008/2009 was entirely Bush's fault.

2. The recession is either over, or nearly so.

See: Bernanke, AP Economic Revival, Obama: Worst Behind Us

3. TARP Money has been spent, but the so-called Stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) has had very little of its funds obligated...actually spent. The numbers range from 10.2 to 18 percent. The higher numbers may reflect a different accounting method: one that puts the money on the "spent" side of the ledger as soon as it is given to the states.

4. Bush was primarily responsible for TARP.

5. Obama was responsible for ARRA (he signed it after all).

If the above 5 items are true, as Democrats tell us there are, then #2 is attributable to #4 since #5 has not had enough time or expendature to have made a difference. In other words, this is President Bush's recovery.

Furthermore, it is entirely logical to attribute part of the stock market resiliency to the Bush tax cuts set to expire next year.

So, thank you Mr President (Bush), according to your political enemies, this is your recovery.

Thomasville, AL: End Of Summer Purge

2009-10-14T07:18:00.000-04:00

Its been a long summer. Football is here and now is a good time to clear out the notebook.

Notables:

My nephew got a ticket for driving without a seat belt. It cost him $25. No I'm not missing a zero. As you recall, the Thomasville Times warned you on June 4th about the click it or ticket program this summer. Tsk Tsk.

.................

A local Doctor from India brought back some seeds to plant in Alabama soil. Shhhhh...Don't tell the USDA, but I think we have a new invasive species.

And grow they did. "He told us they would run, but we didn't think they'd take over the whole world," Stephens joked. The two vines have grown so rapidly of late, they have become intermingled and it's hard to tell one vine from another at first glance.

The broad green leaves resemble Kudzu and the vines have flowers that bloom in the early evening. The leaves when rubbed, give off a faint smell of peanut butter.

When taunted, the flowers growl and have a faint smell of flesh.

.....................

Ozelle Hubert sets a new record for the most meaningless election protest. He lost by 60%.

You should probably call Obama...oh you did. I'm sure he'll be putting you on his to do list...right after rewriting the national anthem.

He (Ozelle) said he also believed that the actions was a conspiracy of a special interest group in retaliation to Barack Obama being elected the nation's first African American president.

He sent a copy of the letter to Obama, state officials, the state Democratic Party, the U.S. Justice Department and the local media.

We'll be checking in on Ozelle to see how things progress.

...................

And as I understand things, the mayor is still tired of conspiracies.

...................

And for the reallly big show the Canebrake Players of Demopolis to put on the musical "Big River.

Counting Tree Rings: Global Warming Makes It Hard For Scientists To Count

2009-10-14T07:17:00.000-04:00

I'm ripping this from Andrew Orlowski again. This is about as boring as a scientific scandal can be. Hockey stick graph excluded of course.

A scientific scandal is casting a shadow over a number of recent peer-reviewed climate papers.

At least eight papers purporting to reconstruct the historical temperature record times may need to be revisited, with significant implications for contemporary climate studies, the basis of the IPCC's assessments. A number of these involve senior climatologists at the British climate research centre CRU at the University East Anglia. In every case, peer review failed to pick up the errors.

At issue is the use of tree rings as a temperature proxy, or dendrochronology. Using statistical techniques, researchers take the ring data to create a "reconstruction" of historical temperature anomalies. But trees are a highly controversial indicator of temperature, since the rings principally record Co2, and also record humidity, rainfall, nutrient intake and other local factors.

Picking a temperature signal out of all this noise is problematic, and a dendrochronology can differ significantly from instrumented data. In dendro jargon, this disparity is called "divergence". The process of creating a raw data set also involves a selective use of samples - a choice open to a scientist's biases.

Yet none of this has stopped paleoclimataologists from making bold claims using tree ring data.

In particular, since 2000, a large number of peer-reviewed climate papers have incorporated data from trees at the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. This dataset gained favour, curiously superseding a newer and larger data set from nearby. The older Yamal trees indicated pronounced and dramatic uptick in temperatures.

How could this be? Scientists have ensured much of the measurement data used in the reconstructions remains a secret - failing to fulfill procedures to archive the raw data. Without the raw data, other scientists could not reproduce the results. The most prestigious peer reviewed journals, including Nature and Science, were reluctant to demand the data from contributors. Until now, that is.

At the insistence of editors of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions B the data has leaked into the open - and Yamal's mystery is no more.

From this we know that the Yamal data set uses just 12 trees from a larger set to produce its dramatic recent trend. Yet many more were cored, and a larger data set (of 34) from the vicinity shows no dramatic recent warming, and warmer temperatures in the middle ages.

In all there are 252 cores in the CRU Yamal data set, of which ten were alive 1990. All 12 cores selected show strong growth since the mid-19th century. The implication is clear: the dozen were cherry-picked.

The scientists essentially flattened out the Midieval Warm Period and exaggerated the data in recent decades...making the now imfamous Hockey Stick Graph, used to great effect by ALGORE and the UN. The whole thing is an elaborate fake.

Go here for more to learn more on the fake graphs. And then maybe you too could get millions in grants.

North East Passage...Open For First Time?

2009-09-29T04:09:00.004-04:00

The sea lane or passage, from northern Europe to Asia, was sailed earlier this month. According to the Reuters and UK Telegraph, this was the first time:

They travelled from Ulsan, South Korea, in late July to Siberia by way of the North East Passage, a sea lane that, in years past, was avoided because of its heavy ice floes.

Scientists report that the Arctic Ocean ice cap has been shrinking to unprecedented levels in recent summers, because of global warming, opening up many passages that were ice-choked in earlier times.

The passage.

Turns out, believe it or not, they were wrong. Way wrong.

Andrew Orlowski at the UK Register, tracked down the original reporting and found more sloppy reporting (at best) or eco-terror mongering (standard operating procedures) from the MSM.

The route offers significant gains over the alternatives via Suez or the Cape, it's shorter, quicker and cheaper. But until technological advances in the early 20th Century it was considered too hazardous for commercial operation.

Since the 1930s the route has seen major ports spring up, carrying over 200,000 tons of freight passing through each year, although this declined with the fall of the Soviet Union.

The UK Independent still has this headline on their website:

A Triumph for Man, a Disaster for Mankind
Two ships are finishing the first commercial navigation of the fabled North-east Passage. It is an epic moment – but also a vivid sign of climate change in the Arctic

Media hype. Check. But where is the hysterical quote from Greenpeace? Oh hells yeah, we got that too.

"This is further proof that climate change is happening now," said Melanie Duchin, Arctic Expedition leader on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, who added that the development put greater pressure on world leaders to agree a major emissions cut at their Copenhagen meeting in December. "This is not a cause for celebration but cause for immediate action," she said.

I believe this is getting Salem Witch Trial crazy...in that these people really believe what they "feel" is true, therefore science must back it up. When you believe, facts back you up naturally. And when someone does research, they are apostates that are going straight to HELL!

You Lie!

2009-09-11T08:35:00.003-04:00

I Rep. Joe Wilson was looking to sell some T-shirts, he certainly is off to a good start. Its a pithy little slogan that has gotten everyone's attention.

How about this little video, Bush getting booed by the democrats while he discusses the need for social security reform.

Wilson was not only right to do it, but it should have been more coordinated. They should have chanted "let us in" or "talk to US" and made the issue about Obama refusing to discuss any republican ideas. The ideal time was right after Obama said, "I'll take ideas from everyone..." Its a shame that opportunity was missed.

Obama Joins The Other Firsters: To Become UN Security Council Chair

2009-09-08T21:40:00.003-04:00

So Obama can't play God...it's above his pay grade. And now he is going to chair the Security Council at the UN.

It has never happened before. I guess other presidents had a full plate. Isn't this, to turn his own phrase, below his pay grade?

Here's a funny:

“The council has a very important role to play in preventing the spread and use of nuclear weapons, and it’s the world’s principal body for dealing with global security cooperation,” Susan Rice, US envoy to the UN, said last week.

OK, where. Which country has been stopped exactly?

Maybe Obama just feels more comfortable with like minded people. You know the ones who blame this country first for everything.

Here is the current council:

The Council is composed of five permanent members — China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States — and ten non-permanent members (with year of term's end):

Austria (2010)
Japan (2010)
Uganda (2010)
Burkina Faso (2009)
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2009)
Viet Nam (2009)
Costa Rica (2009)
Mexico (2010)
Croatia (2009)
Turkey (2010)

Now there is a group we can count on to do the right thing. Maybe this will give him a chance to catch up with family?

Paint The Town Red: Firsters Rail Against Capitalism At Venice Film Festival

2009-09-07T10:55:00.005-04:00

UPDATE: A picture of the lovely couple. Chavez blows kisses while Oliver Stone...naw that's just too easy.

Looking at the headlines from the Venice Film Festival, its hard not to notice the strong anti-capitalist theme throughout. Hollywood's favorite dictator, Hugo Chavez, is there and he brought his personal media consultant, Oliver Stone, with a fresh "documentary" about the beloved leaders "great life story."

Up on the screen, its Michael Moore's latest, "Capitalism, A Love Story."
A 2 plus hour scab picking exercise that concludes "Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil."

Taken as a whole, this Venice Film Festival looks like a gussied up political rally for Hate America Firsters...or just Firsters.

As the master scab picker, Moore has gutlessly picked subjects that play to his Firster base. Why not examine the horrors of political repression by modern-day dictators or the treatment of women in Muslim countries. Instead Moore chooses to make films that come across as being made by an overweight, hormonal teenager who is angry at a slightly overbearing father. Good thing for him he keeps choosing his father subjects well, because the really evil ones cut peoples throats, or worse - disinvite you to those fabulous Hollywood parties with the 10 count shrimp.

And how about ol' reliable, Oliver Stone. His "documentary" plays like a pre-teen girls' love letter complete with XOXOXO and a Hello Kitty stamp. Stone, the Lion of Hollywood Firsters, lovingly presents Hugo's story as Venezuela's "peaceful revolution" since Chavez came to power in 1998: that "he(Chavez), who grew up in a peasant family, is an emblematic figure of bottom-up change."

I guess being a Firster is like living a life of a perpetual child: you know where the dangers are and are able to avoid them while living at home and complaining about Dad.

Rockwood Tn Youth Crying Tears of Blood: Channeling The Regal Horned Lizard

2009-09-04T07:03:00.005-04:00

No really! Tears of blood. They said they took him to a specialist (in blood tears?) and they were stumped.

Now for the news you won't get from the State Controlled Media.

And of course this seems like a good excuse for...From Dusk Till Dawn.

Global War On The CIA

2009-09-01T06:47:00.001-04:00

The following article was written by Kent Clizbe. He is a former member of the CIA's Directorate of Operations. In 2001, in the aftermath of Sept.11th, he returned to the CIA to serve multiple Counter-Terrorism deployments. In 2005, he was awarded the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion for his anti-terrorism work.

His editorial here was published in Newsmax. It will leave you seeing red.

In the early days and weeks after September 11, 2001, a small cadre of men (and a few women) with vast amounts of intelligence experience reported to the Langley, Virginia headquarters of the CIA. These unsung heroes were then dispatched across the globe to run operations against the Al-Qaeda conspirators who leveled the World Trade Center and struck the nerve center of the US military.

The FBI, a domestic law enforcement agency, did not have the ability or skills needed to track down and strike the attackers overseas...and the Pentagon was like an elephant attacked by a mouse — mighty, but helpless in its mammoth rage.

Kent Clizbe notes that the CIA field officer corps were basically a grey bearded skeleton staff left in the "wake of the Clintons' anti-intelligence" purging of the CIA.

Their mission in the wake of 9-11: “Deny, Disrupt, Destroy.”

As a group these officers, "sacrificed the quality of their marriages, participation in their children’s and grandchildren’s lives, the profitability of their businesses, and more. Personal and professional issues festered and rotted while they fought to keep America safe and prevented further attacks on our homeland."

And the blood squirting from your eyes part...

In contrast, where was Eric Holder? Before leaving President Clinton’s employ, he orchestrated the pardons of several Puerto Rican separatist terrorists. Then in 2003, as a partner in the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Mr Holder’s client, Chiquita Brands, admitted paying to support terrorist death squads in Colombia and paid a $25 million fine. During the time that my friends worked to disrupt and destroy terrorist networks threatening America, Holder’s firm represented — for free — 16 terrorist detainees held at Guantanamo.

Has he made any personal or professional sacrifices since his country was attacked in 2001? If he has, it is difficult to find them. When the Special Prosecutor comes calling, maybe someone from Covington & Burling can represent my colleagues for free, like they did for Lakhdar Boumedienne and ten other terrorists in Gitmo.

And with Obama and Holder bringing the same Deny, Disrupt, and Destroy mentality to bear against the men and women of the CIA, the question is why? Why does this country have to keep purging it's overseas intelligence operations with every other administration? And where will the next generation of CIA officers come from who are willing to sacrifice comfortable lives only to return to vilification and prosecution?

The answer is they won't come. And someday we will have another 9-11 commission spending months staring at the obvious and drawing politically motivated conclusions to protect the interests of the permanent bureaucracy in Washington that holds such contempt for men and women like Kent Clizbe.

Fox Has Just embarrased Themselves Again With Another "Hottest..." Slideshow

2009-08-29T09:35:00.004-04:00

This time it's the Hottest 10 Female Athletes. To be fair, they claim they got their list from the readers of radaronline.com.

1. Serena Williams
2. Amanda Beard (I'm on board with the first 2)
3. Anna Kournikova (OK, ten years ago, but OK)
4. Gabby Reece (ditto)
5. Laila Ali (What? Who even has her name in the mix?)
6. Danica Patrick (She has to be driving NASCAR before she earns the right)
7. Venus Williams (Uh...NO. Not today, not 10 years ago. NO)
8. Maria Sharapova (OK, but there are other sports)
9. Steffi Graf (Are you fucking kidding me?)
10.Misty May-Treanor (Enough!)

I had to head over to radaronline.com to see how this list could happen. It was very clear...immediately. The joint is pink and full of gheyness.

Three glaringly obvious misses.

1. Allison Stokke

2. Leryn Franco. Javellin. Paraguay

3. Natalie Gulbis.

Fox needs to go somewhere else for their "hottest" lists. They always miss Marissa Tomei in the hottest 40 over 40 and this list was terrible.

Obama's New Budget - Thirdworldian

2009-08-26T00:10:00.002-04:00

I know its not a word. But what else could describe debt levels at (or over) 75% of the entire GDP. If this country were known by any other name, the IMF would be taking over.

That chart isn't some creation of a right wing racist nazi teabagging hater of a black man in the White House. Those are Obama's numbers, nicely presented by the Heritage Foundation.

So how much will we have to tax to simply pay for the spending?

This much.

I'm going to guess that corporate taxes approaching anything close to 50% is doomsday, 80%...Thirdworldian.

Combination Nazi Bastards and Racist Pigs

2009-08-25T00:33:00.004-04:00

First the background. The song of the summer? Maybe, maybe not - but the inspiration for this post anyway. Hearing the left constantly repeat racist and nazi reminded me of the Das Racist song.

So what are opponents of socialist takeovers? Nazi's? or Racists?

OK, so opposition to tax hikes is racist.

So they are Nazi's?

Meh. Maybe the left needs a new Thesaurus.

Now if I could only get that damn song out of my head.

White House Dinner Theatre

2009-08-20T23:38:00.005-04:00

The Scene:

The Oval office. The lights are down. Three men sit next to the President's desk. The lights of Washington twinkle in the background.

The Players:

Robert Gibbs. Gibby. The Family Guy.

Rahm Emanual. Rahmbo. Dead Fish.

The President.

Act 1

The curtain raises in mid-conversation.

President: Holding a paper in his hand. "But I gave them three more weeks of cash for clunkers and THIS is how they repay me?"

Rahm: "That poll means nothing. Its not personal, they still really like you. We'll get the healthcare thing done and then we can rebuild your approval numbers by Christmas. Just imagine the images of children opening gifts in the White House again. It'll be magic."

President: "What! Not personal. That's funny coming from you. You said this would be done by August. You said those Tea Party dipshits were a flash in the pan. You said you had the party in line. What the fuck happened?"

Rahm: "Look, I accept that, but this will be done in a few weeks and people will forget. Don't worry. This thing will pass. Healthcare reform doesn't kick in until your second term. People will forget. There will be other things..."

President: "Second term! Don't insult me. Bush got reelected Rahm. Fucking Bush got reelected..." His head drops.

Rahm knows better than to speak for a minute. Just give the man a minute and he will regain his composure. Unlike that fucking wife of his...

A waiter knocks and quietly enters with the evening snack ordered earlier. Nachos. No one is hungry now, but the waiter is a welcome distraction from the tension. As he leaves, Rahm senses that the mood is lightened.

Rahm: "I have the focus group information we discussed earlier. Many of the cash for... ideas tested off the chart. Cash for spl..."

President: "ENOUGH! No more gimmicks. I want my ass out of the kettle."

Gibbs: "Gentlemen, if I may."

President and Rahm: "Shut the fuck up Gibbs!"

The curtain lowers.

End of Act 1

Multi Agency Task Force Takes Down Obama Joker Face Ring In Orlando

2009-08-20T07:12:00.006-04:00

A multi-agency task force led by US Postal Inspectors and two police agencies in central Florida have found and are ready to prosecute a couple of teenagers for posting Obama joker face posters.

Clermont, Fla., Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the state attorney will review evidence to determine whether to charge the unidentified teenager with gluing "dozens" of the posters last week to the city's light poles, public and private buildings, bridge overpasses, road signs and a mailbox.

Its a good thing these guys are on the case. We can't have the public exposed to this kind of political terrorism.

By the way, there is a contest over at InfoWars.com. Here's the banner ad.

The problem, as the task force leaders describe it:

scrap(ing) off the "very, very adhesive" substance used to hang the posters with a pen knife or putty knife, which removed the mailbox's blue paint. The mailbox then had to be primed and repainted, adding to labor costs, which totaled roughly $200.

When asked, a local employee at Home Depot

suggested a $6 bottle of Goo Gone would have done the trick.

"It does take a little rubbing," the employee said.

Yes, it does take a little rubbing.

Clean Air Act: Inflection Point For Global Warming?

2009-08-17T21:43:00.003-04:00

Click on this graph with the date of the Clean Air Act noted.

It could be one of those funny coincidences like falling in love with a girl who you've ignored for years just as she meets "the one."

Dr Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies has led a new study which indicates that much of the general upward trend in temperatures since the 1970s - particularly in the Arctic - may have resulted from changes in levels of solid "aerosol" particles in the atmosphere, rather than elevated CO2. Arctic temperatures are of particular concern to those worried about the effects of global warming, as a melting of the ice cap could lead to disastrous rises in sea level - of a sort which might burst the Thames Barrier and flood London, for instance.

In other words, we cleared the air and allowed the sun to shine in.

Shindell's research indicates that, ironically, much of the rise in polar temperature seen over the last few decades may have resulted from US and European restrictions on sulphur emissions. According to NASA:

Sulfates, which come primarily from the burning of coal and oil, scatter incoming solar radiation and have a net cooling effect on climate. Over the past three decades, the United States and European countries have passed a series of laws that have reduced sulfate emissions by 50 percent. While improving air quality and aiding public health, the result has been less atmospheric cooling from sulfates.

Meanwhile, levels of black-carbon aerosols (soot, in other words) have been rising, largely driven by greater industrialisation in Asia. Soot, rather than reflecting heat as sulphates do, traps solar energy in the atmosphere and warms things up.

Given the choice between acid rain and global warming, I'll take the acid. The oceans are acidifying anyway due to the increasing CO2, so might as well blow up those bag plants and burn that juicy eastern coal.

100 Pound Watermelons And Small Town Living

2009-08-15T11:54:00.003-04:00

It's August, small town Alabama. A man brings his 98 pound watermelon by the local paper to be photographed for the weekly edition.

From the Thomasville Times:

Allison Driver of Sweet Water brought this huge, 98 lbs. watermelon by The Thomasville Times office last week. The melon was so big, it had to ride shotgun in the car with him. Rather than trying to get the massive melon out of the car, Driver just got back in the driver's side to pose with his prize.

In other news, The Surginer Volunteer Fire Department has barbecue for sale for $7 per pound.

A simple way of life.

This Is Why FRM, Stuff And The Others Were Started

2009-08-15T09:33:00.004-04:00

After years of having gay men mock women like this as fat in US Weekly and any other rag with a "fashion" section.

And who could forget the awful Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I think I will go buy a subscription to Maxim.

Black Guy Creates "White Supremacist" On Facebook

2009-08-14T20:41:00.003-04:00

What a dummy. The Feds are always going to run this kind of stuff down.

African-American man has pleaded guilty after being accused of impersonating a white supremacist in a fictitious Facebook account to make death threats against an African-American university student.
...
A court document provided by the U.S. attorney's office said Hart told an FBI interviewer that he intended the threat to be a prank "to get a reaction."

Lone nut theory?

One white guy does this and the State Controlled Media will exaust every resource looking for a conspriacy. Ask a tough question of Obama, 12 hours later all of your personal information is out there courtesy of you state departments.

Hart admitted creating the fictitious account in November, pretending to be a white supremacist outraged by the election of Barack Obama as the nation's first African-American president, the statement said.

Remember When Dissent Was Patriotic?

2009-08-14T16:41:00.004-04:00

The good old days. We used to be able to cover our faces and run around howling at the moon about any damn thing.

Remeber when they "understood our anger." Our patient representatives like Nancy Pelosi used to like disruption.

And the louder and more virulent the language...well that just meant you really meant it.

Politicians could call out other politicians.

Remember when yelling at a president was considered "cool?"

Detroit Public Schools Filing Bankruptcy - Time For A 100% Charter System

2009-08-13T23:30:00.006-04:00

The Detroit Free Press has been covering the final gasps of the failed Detroit Public Schools.

The Detroit Public Schools may have no choice but to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which would make it the first big-city school district to use bankruptcy court to avoid paying millions to vendors, employees and bondholders, experts said Thursday.

The insider mismanagement, embezzlement, and shameless disregard for the kids has been captured by Mike Thompson at the Freep.

I can only imagine the outcry if an outside group, say white conservatives, were stealing from the poor and mostly black inner-city kids of Detroit. Yet in Detroit, we get reelections of criminals like Kwame Brown and can barely elect an honorable man like Mayor Bing. How long before the Mayor is run out of town for trying to curb the rampant cronyism and pay-to-play? A recent audit showed that there were at least 257 "ghost" employees - people who get paid but don't actually work.

DPS is almost 300 million in debt, yet it's infrastructure/legacy costs are just as high as when the system served a much larger population. While shrinking by almost 65,000 students between the years of 2002 and 2008 (157,003 to 94,054) may seem like a large number, the district is now approximately half the size it was in 1970. In fact, DPS spends a large part of it's budget closing schools - and it's still not enough.

DPS has a few "select enrollment" schools that are doing well. They hold these up as some sort of shield to the vast majority that are providing third world education.

A very wealthy man, Bob THompson, opens up charter schools and leases them for $1 per year as long as the kids are served properly. The Charter School System is now up to 54,000 students. More importantly, 90% of those kids are going to college. As you would expect, DPS is fighting this "black flight" tooth and nail.

For these charter kids, 83% of those who attended a four year university re-enrolled for a second year, and 57% of those who attended a two year college re-enrolled for a second year, beating national re-enrollment averages of 73% and 45% respectively. (wiki Detroit News and Free Press)

Detroit families are grabbing every opportunity to get their kids out. That any are still being forced to remain in the DPS system is criminal. Instead of using stimulus money to prop up the DPS, the money should be spent to close the remaining schools and ensure the kids get a good education in the charter system. After three decades of miserable failure, the unwinding of DPS is now inevitable - the only question is how much money is spent on a facade.

Obamas DOJ Going After the CIA Officers Who Interrogated Zubaydah And KSM

2009-08-09T10:34:00.002-04:00

Obama has a political tin ear. We know that now, and this report from the LA Times is just another line of evidence.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. is poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of terrorism suspects, current and former U.S. government officials said.

A senior Justice Department official said that Holder envisioned an inquiry that would be narrow in scope, focusing on "whether people went beyond the techniques that were authorized" in Bush administration memos that liberally interpreted anti-torture laws.

Remember all of the other special prosecutors? Yeah, the ones that went far afield from their original charge? Narrow in scope and special prosecutor do not go together. This is destined to go on until the final moments of the Obama administration.

Bracing for the worst, a small number of CIA officials have put off plans to retire or leave the agency so that they can maintain their access to classified files and be in a better position to defend against a Justice investigation.

"Once you're out, it gets a lot harder," said a retired CIA official who said he had spoken recently with former colleagues. The inquiry would probably also target private contractors who worked for the CIA during the interrogations.

And who were these techniques used on?

One passage of the CIA report declassified this year said that the method had been used "at least 83 times during August 2002" on Abu Zubaydah, the first senior Al Qaeda figure captured by the agency. Waterboarding was then employed "183 times during March 2003" on Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The initial complaints were that the techniques were supposedly used on hundreds of people. That the CIA was just grabbing any Joe (or Muhammad) and torturing them for fun. Turns out the CIA used these techniques on just a couple of the worst - hundreds of times. Meh.

Not to make light of this, but this was one of those Jack Bauer situations with the clock ticking. It's easy now to look back say you did not like how we rolled up Al Qaeda. We had the masterminds and they had the intel to stop more attacks.

Politically, this will play out poorly for Obama. This plays into the anti-American theme he keeps stumbling into. From apology tours to glad-handing vehemently anti-US dictators, Obama seems to be mixing adulation overseas for success here at home. A mistake that leads to an early exit from the White House.

Navy Rolls Out The F-35 Lightning II JSF

2009-08-06T19:32:00.002-04:00

Meet the Lightning IIfrom the Naval Air Station JAX News.

By MC2(SW) Rebekah Blowers Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) welcomed the Navy’s first Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C Lightning II, to the fleet in a July 28 ceremony. The F-35C is the Navy’s first stealth fighter and possesses uncompromised carrier suitability and low-maintenance stealth materials designed for long-term durability in the carrier environment.

CNO Adm. Gary Roughead said this aircraft adds tremendous capability to the fleet and that “Our Sailors will never be in a fair fight because this airplane will top anything that comes its way.

The F-35C is on schedule to meet the Navy’s initial operational capability in 2015. It combines stealth with supersonic speed and high agility. The Lightning II employs the most powerful and comprehensive sensor package ever incorporated into a fighter.

This is one bad MF-er.

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 1.67[164] (1,283 mph, 2,065 km/h)
Range: A: 1,200 nmi; B: 900 nmi; C: 1,400 nmi (A: 2,220 km; B: 1,670 km; C: 2,520 km) on internal fuel[165]
Combat radius: A: 610 nmi; B: 500 nmi; C: 640 nmi (A: 1,110 km; B: 910 km; C: 1,150 km) on internal fuel[165]
Service ceiling: A/B/C: 60,000 ft[166] (18,288 m)
Rate of climb: classified (not publicly available)

Thrust/weight:

With full fuel: A: 0.89; B: 0.92; C: 0.81[40]
With 50% fuel: A: 1.12; B: 1.10; C: 1.01[40]
g-Limits: F-35A: 9 g, F-35B: 7.5 g, F-35C: 7.5 g
Armament

Guns: 1 × GAU-22/A 25 mm (0.984 in) cannon — slated to be mounted internally with 180 rounds in the F-35A and fitted as an external pod with 220 rounds in the F-35B and F-35C.[40]
Hardpoints: 6× external pylons on wings with a capacity of 15,000 lb (6,800 kg)[40][43] and 2× internal bays with 2 pylons each[43] (Total weapons payload of 18,000 lb on A and C models.)[167],
Missiles:

Internal: 4 air-to-air missiles, or 2 air-to-air missiles and 2 air-to-ground weapons.
External: 6 air-to-air missiles, or 4 air-to-ground weapons and 2 air-to-air missiles[47] with combinations for the following missiles:
Air-to-air missiles:
AIM-120 AMRAAM
AIM-132 ASRAAM
AIM-9X Sidewinder
Air-to-ground weapons:
AGM-154 JSOW
AGM-158 JASSM
Bombs:

Mark 84 general purpose bombs
Mark 83 GP bombs
Mark 82 GP bombs
Mk.20 Rockeye II cluster bomb
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser capable
Paveway-series laser-guided bombs
Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) (Quad launcher counts as a single air-to-ground weapon above.)
JDAM-series

White House Snitch Program

2009-08-06T06:45:00.006-04:00

Time to settle in for some ol-timey fascism. Six fucking months and this President has snitch lines. I can only imaging the outcry from the left if Bush had started a snitch program for people talking badly about the Iraq war.

I've said it before and I'll say it for the 4th time. This guy is the Democrats Nixon. He has the same thin-skin and can't stand anyone anywhere disagreeing with him.

It's now our duty to report on our fellow citizens, who quote:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Freedom-lovers, that's right from the Whitehouse.gov website.

Sure, that kind of language conjures up images of Hitler youth turning in their Jew-loving parents to the authorities for their beloved leader. But why not have fun with it. I have sent over 20 tips to the "won" to help him track down and eradicate the kind of non-standard and unapproved subversive thought. Have fun: flag@whitehouse.gov.

Remember, our beloved leader needs YOU to snitch on your friends and family.

Peak Oil...Again...Really?

2009-08-03T20:57:00.005-04:00

Peak oil alarmists have been at it for a long time and they have been wrong every single time. The old doomers (peak oil advocates) have since merged with the new doomers (global warming theorists) in an uncomfortable eco alliance. I'll explain below.

A new report in the Independent claims, yet again, we are heading to catastrophe sooner than we thought.

The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production...warned Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA).

... the IEA concluded that the global energy system was at a crossroads and that consumption of oil was "patently unsustainable", with expected demand far outstripping supply.

Oil production has already peaked in non-Opec countries and the era of cheap oil has come to an end, it warned.

Compare that with the (now) famous comments from Jimmy Carter in 1977:

Unless profound changes are made to lower oil consumption, we now believe that early in the 1980s the world will be demanding more oil that it can produce ... Each new inventory of world oil reserves has been more disturbing than the last. World oil production can probably keep going up for another six or eight years. But some time in the 1980s it can't go up much more. Demand will overtake production. We have no choice about that.

More importantly, if the peak oil doomers are right then our carbon based economy has a built in expiration date that doesn't require a cap/tax system.

Here is the Hubbert "peak oil" curve.

There are Hubbert-ian (more here at Wiki) peak curves for all fossil fuels with a consistent theme...we will be running down the back side of the curve starting in 2020 - at the latest. Which is coincidentally, the timeframe where the draconian carbon caps are scheduled to kick in.

The obvious conclusion is that natural and market forces will do all the heavy lifting promised in cap and tax - and in a similar timeframe. So if the old doomers are right, the carbon economy is resource limited and we will be forced to come up with a non-carbon alternative. If the new doomers are right, cap/tax will become a conservation program that will prolong our carbon economy by decades.

We need a new curve, let's call it the Gore Curve, to quantify how wrong both of these groups have been - and will continue to be.

Obama Joker Face Socialism Poster

2009-08-02T00:22:00.001-04:00

It's been showing up in LA.

Remembering The Good Times

2009-07-31T20:47:00.002-04:00

Dan Lacey. Perfect

RIP Pontiac 1926-2010

2009-07-31T19:14:00.005-04:00

From the 1959 Bonneville to the 1969 GTO to the Firebird T/A, Pontiac was a legendary car company. Nothing said performance like that arrowhead logo on the hood. Like all American car companies, GM lost it's way by the 1980's and forgot about the "main thing." You had a bunch of Harvard B-school pricks running a car company. They drove BMWs of course and too many of the white collar and union guys were buying Toyota's.

Lot's of blame to go around, but this is what we are left with in 2009...lots of blame and no leaders.

If this didn't work for you, there was just no hope:

Marketing. Man this is marketing.

Honor Killings

2009-07-31T10:38:00.005-04:00

Mark Steyn has THIS up on his page, about the mysterious drownings of 7 Muslim women in a Ontario.

The third Muslim girl found in the swimming pool has died. That's seven drowned young Muslim females showing up in the same morgue within a month. In other circumstances, they'd be planning the movie with Ashley Judd or some such as the crusading feminist Assistant DA. But as the M-word's involved I expect poor Zainab Shafi and the rest will be quickly forgotten.

The Boston Globe profiled several of the more public killings in the US:

In the Atlanta suburb of Jonesboro last month, a Pakistani immigrant allegedly strangled his 25-year-old daughter with a bungee cord because she was determined to end her arranged marriage and had gotten involved with a new man. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Sandeela Kanwal's father, Chaudhry Rashid, "told police he is Muslim and that extramarital affairs and divorce are against his religion [and] that's why he killed her." In court last week, a detective quoted Rashid: "God will protect me. God is watching me. I strangled my daughter."

In Upstate New York a few weeks earlier, Waheed Allah Mohammad, an immigrant from Afghanistan, was charged with attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing his 19-year-old sister. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that Mohammad was "infuriated because his younger sister was going to clubs, wearing immodest clothing, and planning to leave her family for a new life in New York City" - she was a "bad Muslim girl," he told sheriff's investigators.

On New Year's Day in Irving, Texas, the bullet-riddled bodies of the Said sisters - Sarah, 17, and Amina, 18 - were found in an abandoned taxi. Police issued an arrest warrant for their father, an Egyptian immigrant named Yaser Abdel Said, who had reportedly threatened to kill them upon learning that they had boyfriends. According to the Dallas Morning News, Yaser Said was given to "gun-waving rants about how Western culture was corrupting the chastity of his daughters."

These are brutal, premeditated, and bloody crimes intended to send a message and our government is treating this as a series of isolated incidents. In a strange way, these honor killings seem to be treated like black on black killings in the inner city. As long as they are not affecting the "good" people, meh why bother. Maybe it's more about political correctness and a fear of profiling a protected group.

Either way, I can only imagine the government response to any other religious group if they had a comparable year. Terror cells in the churches...frequent honor killings of their daughters and wives...Afghan training camps. I'm sure there would be memos from Janet "Big Sis" Napolitano. Maybe a few jack-booted wake up calls at 2AM.

I am reminded of a story from Detroit, about an honor killing nearly 90 years ago. The young woman was thrown into a river, legs weighted with concrete. She was literally torn off the family tree and family members born after her death knew nothing of her existence. The Detroit News covered the story in 2007. The story below is a fascinating read.

Frances Costa was thrown into the river in 1920, when she was 16, her legs weighted down with concrete. She has long since become a part of the river, one of its innumerable watery secrets, lost forever. Lost, until a great-niece started asking questions of family members, and found horror in the answers.

It was Costa's two older brothers, relatives said, who killed the girl.

"When I first heard about it, I thought, 'oh my God, I have the blood of murderers running through my veins,' " said Tintori, standing by the river off Belle Isle on Tuesday. The West Bloomfield mother and wife, 59, is a successful author.

She is also the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter of a Sicilian family that came to America in the early 20th century harboring secrets, as well as the unshakable rule that family secrets must never be told.

Omerta is what they call it in Sicily: the code of silence.

Tintori has shattered her family's omerta with her memoir "Unto the Daughters" (St. Martin's Press, $24.95), about her quest to find out what became of her great-aunt.

To Tintori's sorrow, after persistent questioning of older relatives, she discovered that Frances' murder was an honor killing.

Parts of the narrative changed in the telling, recalled from the fading memories of older people. But several facts remained consistent in Tintori's interviews: Frances was murdered by two men, most likely her older brothers; she was drowned at Belle Isle, and her sin was some sort of sexual impropriety, as decided by her male relatives.

"I thought about writing it as fiction, with everybody's name changed," Tintori said. But instead, she felt it important to revive Frances' name.

"Otherwise, she was a woman who would be lost to history, she was dispensable."

Family name changed
Costa is not the family's real surname; Tintori changed that in the book, and her grandparents' surname as well, in order not to embarrass relatives who had nothing to do with the crime, or descendants who don't know about it. But she brushes off the idea that telling the story brings her family shame.

"It's a horrible thing in our family's past," Tintori said. "But to the people who are humiliated or embarrassed, or feel this should be kept secret, that is giving more credence and protection to the perpetrators. Women in the Middle East are just starting to stop being afraid and speak out for the victim."

The Costa family drama played out in the early 1900s on Monroe Street on Detroit's near east side, an area known as Little Sicily.

The family emigrated from Corleone, Sicily, several years after the patriarch, Domenico, and his two oldest sons, Rocco and Pasquale, came to Detroit to escape their life of rural poverty and find jobs. In March 1914, Domenico brought his pregnant wife, Concetta, and their younger children to New York on a steamship, and then to Detroit by train.

Tucked away in Little Sicily, the Costa family still lived by the customs of the homeland. Women were under the supervision of their male relatives, and were worked hard, first in their father's home, then their husband's.

Once, Tintori's grandmother Giusippina handed her fiance, Nino, his hat at the house on Monroe Street, a simple act that earned her a beating from her father. As a young woman, she wasn't allowed to touch him. Earlier in Sicily, as a 7-year-old, she'd had teeth knocked out by her mother for taking bites out of an apple used to scent a linen drawer.

Such violence doesn't surprise Donna Gabaccia, director of the University of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center and author of a book on Sicilian immigrants, "From Sicily to Elizabeth Street."

The violence in the Costa family "struck me as being the kind of everyday violence that was very common," Gabaccia said.

The "gender dynamics" in Sicilian families were different than in most American families. Disrespect or disobedience by a daughter was met with instant punishment, usually by the mother.

And yet, Gabaccia said that brothers killing a sister was a relatively rare phenomenon. Usually, she says, an honor killing would be a husband taking action against an unfaithful wife

The missing daughter
The family secret started to unravel in 1993, when Tintori was 45. She found out there were six young Costa children who came to America to join their two older brothers, not just five. She was in her aunt Grace's kitchen, poring over old family papers, when the subject of Frances came up. Opening an old family passport, her aunt Grace pointed to an entry on the long list of children that had been crossed out with a pen.

"That's the one they got rid of," she told Tintori. "Did your mother ever tell you?"

Reeling in shock, Tintori pressed her aunt for details. "That's the one they murdered, Frances," her aunt said. "The next sister after Gramma."

Frances, her aunt told the author, was "oversexed" and was always being caught in the alley with boys. "They just said she had to go away," Tintori quoted her aunt, who died in 2001. "Everyone understood what that meant."

Later, after Tintori implored relatives to talk, more details emerged, both from Grace; from Tintori's own mother, Jenny, and her great-uncles Louie and Michael, Frances' younger brothers.

It was one of the oldest stories in the world, Romeo and Juliet played out on Detroit's east side. Frances' Romeo was a young barber whose name is lost in the mists of time.

Her father objected to the barber, adamant that Frances marry a much older man who was high up in one of the local Italian gangs. But Frances was in love, and she would sneak off to the alley to meet her barber.

Family members told Tintori that Frances and the barber got married. When she returned to tell her parents, her two older brothers Rocco and Pasquale resolved to punish her for disobeying their father.

The brothers were rough characters who ran with gangs back in Sicily, Tintori discovered. In Detroit they worked at Ford, but they soon quit for the even more lucrative bootlegging trade, and were known to run with the neighborhood gangs.

Rocco and Pasquale thought they would impress the local gangsters by getting rid of their sister and restoring "honor" to the family.

That they chose Belle Isle to kill Frances disturbed Tintori greatly. She thought back on the many picnics on Belle Isle, and happy wedding photos taken in front of the Scott Fountain. What did her older relatives think when they went there, Tintori wonders. Did they think of Frances?

When Rocco and Pasquale told the gang capo who hoped to marry Frances that they had killed her and restored honor to the family, he was horrified. A hit was ordered on the brothers, which created a whole new set of problems. Their father went to the gang boss, begging that his sons' lives be spared. Domenico's plea: That he had already lost a daughter.

As for Frances' barber, he disappeared. "He thought he would be next," Tintori said.

Police kept out of it
It's hard to imagine today how such a thing could happen in the 20th century, in a North American city, without raising the interest of the police.

"Omerta," Tintori said. "You don't tell."

Detroit was also a densely populated, somewhat lawless place in 1919, when Prohibition went into law in Michigan. Organized crime was just taking shape and rival neighborhood gangs fought over turf.

JoEllen Vinyard, a history professor at Eastern Michigan University, describes what the city was like in the newer immigrant enclaves.

"There were more blind pigs after Prohibition, than there had been bars," Vinyard said. "The city was packed to the gills because of all the new migration from the South that had come in, and a booming auto industry. It was lawless, the gangs were pretty much in control of their territory."

Detroit's newer ethnic neighborhoods, where Italians and Poles lived, were particularly impenetrable.

"These were very closed, ethnic societies," Vinyard said. "They had their own churches and social groups, they associated with each other. Many did not even speak English, especially the women."

Many girls from the ethnic neighborhoods didn't even go to school. Because the older Costa daughters Giusippina and Frances already could read and write, they didn't attend school, so there was no sudden absence to explain after Frances disappeared. After Tintori found out what happened to Frances, she summoned up the nerve to ask her mother Jenny about it. Her mother's reaction was immediate, profane and angry. "Forget about that (expletive)" she shouted. Jenny had never even told her husband, Tintori's father, about Frances.

Faced with either outright hostility, or with tears from the older generation -- her great-uncles Louie and Michael both cried when recalling their sister Frances -- Tintori pressed on for years, trying to piece together how such a thing could happen in 20th century Detroit.

Tintori's great-uncle Louie, who was a boy when his older sister Frances was killed, spoke to her several times over the years about Frances' murder, usually insisting that only "family" be present, no in-laws.

His story varied at times, but key details remained the same. After one of the brothers told his parents what they had done to Frances, Louie said his father cried, and his mother screamed all night, so loudly that she could be heard for blocks.

Although Frances' generation, the one that guarded the secret, are now all dead, the family's younger members, many years distant from the crime, were more supportive of Tintori's quest.

One of Grace's daughters, Donna Schepke, 45, of Warren remembers when her cousin started digging for the truth about Frances in the early '90s.

"I found out about (the murder) right as Karen was starting to, because my mom was still alive and bits and pieces were slipping out here and there," Schepke said. "Every time we'd get together with Karen it'd be, 'What else did you find out?'

"It's a little bit disturbing to know that this happened in your family, basically you only see stuff like that on TV," Schepke said.

"But you know what? I'm not ashamed, I'm not disgusted. I'm just really happy that she wrote the book to tell the story of my great-aunt Frances, to finally let her rest in peace."

Speaking out for others
While Tintori's family happens to be Sicilian, honor killings of women have occurred in many cultures and religions.

Today we hear about such practices in the Mideast and Africa, but "it's quite common around the Mediterranean and in all the religious groups that live around the Mediterranean," said researcher Gabaccia.

"You find concerns about honor in Greek Orthodoxy, you find it in Catholicism, you find it in Islam, you find it in the non-Islamic parts of Africa as well."

Tintori said she hopes her book helps to show how far we've come as a society, "and how far some societies still need to come."

Tintori and her cousins plan to have a memorial service for Frances, with a priest. "But, I thought, where would I go? Where would she be?"

In the river, at Belle Isle.

"I'm glad the roses ended up on the rocks," Tintori said, after tossing a dozen into the river. "They'll stay there longer."

Russian Navy Realeases The Alien Files

2009-07-28T06:37:00.007-04:00

Is this the Russian "Blue Book?" From Russia Today.

The Russian navy has declassified its records of encounters with unidentified objects technologically surpassing anything humanity ever built, reports Svobodnaya Pressa news website.

The records dating back to soviet times were compiled by a special navy group collecting reports of unexplained incidents delivered by submarines and military ships.

Actually, the story here is better than either of the X Files movies.

On one occasion a nuclear submarine, which was on a combat mission in the Pacific Ocean, detected six unknown objects. After the crew failed to leave behind their pursuers by maneuvering, the captain ordered to surface. The objects followed suit, took to the air, and flew away.

Many mysterious events happened in the region of Bermuda Triangle, recalls retired submarine commander Rear Admiral Yury Beketov. Instruments malfunctioned with no apparent reason or detected strong interference. The former navy officer says this could be deliberate disruption by UFOs.

“On several occasions the instruments gave reading of material objects moving at incredible speed. Calculations showed speeds of about 230 knots, of 400 kph. Speeding so fast is a challenge even on the surface. But water resistance is much higher. It was like the objects defied the laws of physics. There’s only one explanation: the creatures who built them far surpass us in development,” Beketov said.

Navy intelligence veteran, Captain 1st rank Igor Barklay comments:

“Ocean UFOs often show up wherever our or NATO’s fleets concentrate. Near Bahamas, Bermudas, Puerto Rico. They are most often seen in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the southern part of the Bermuda Triangle, and also in the Caribbean Sea.”

Another place where people often report UFO encounters is Russia’s Lake Baikal, the deepest fresh water body in the world. Fishermen tell of powerful lights coming from the deep and objects flying up from the water.

In one case in 1982 a group of military divers training at Baikal spotted a group of humanoid creatures dressed in silvery suits. The encounter happened at a depth of 50 meters, and the divers tried to catch the strangers. Three of the seven men died, while four others were severely injured.

One could say it all sounds a little fishy. Or maybe this is the silvery creature they were chasing?

That's Victoria's Secret model Natasha Poly by the way.

More here and here.

Science Bi-czar: Obama's New Science Czar's Book Promoted Forced Abortions and Sterilizations

2009-07-22T06:33:00.008-04:00

From the IBD:

Our new science czar, John Holdren, once backed compulsory sterilization and forced abortion as part of a government population-control program. The only thing missing was a Soylent Green recipe.

In a recently rediscovered 1977 book, "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment," ...Holdren, (Science Czar) revealed his views on all three topics. They are disturbing.

On page 837, Holdren writes "it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society."

So our new Science Czar turns out to be another leftist lunitic that looks to communist China for policy making and has no regard for the constitution. Sounds like his boss.

Overproducing children? On the next page, Holdren asserts that "neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions a right to reproduce."

On page 943, Holdren proposes "a comprehensive Planetary Regime (global constitution) could control the development, administration and distribution of all natural resources ... not only in the atmosphere and the oceans, but in such freshwater bodies as rivers and lakes."

Hmmm, where have we heard that before? Kyoto? Cap and Trade?

This guy takes the "blame America first" mantra to new heights. Let's just call it "blame humans first."

What is this, the 55th Czar Obama has appointed? I think that is ridiculous, but we did see what happens when you only have one... I wonder if he calls Michelle his little Czarina. Or maybe she calls him that?

Either way, Obama is acting like he will either be a Czar in 2113 or retired.

Wing Man City

2009-07-20T19:34:00.001-04:00

For JD

Deficit Neutral Healthcare Reform: A Logans Run For Old People

2009-07-19T17:03:00.004-04:00

Peter Orszag, President Obama's budget director, went on record today to describe the House bill on health care reform as "deficit neutral."

Orzag could just be your run of the mill administration lackey lying through his teeth, or he might be telling the truth. Let's assume for a minute he actually believes what he is saying. That means there are two very powerful items in the bill that offset the hundred of billions of extra costs the OMB sees in the legislation.

The cost savings from rationing and denial of care must be much stronger than others have assumed. We know about the provisions to cut back on "end of life" or "extraordinary measures" care. But that would only be a short term savings and that has been taken into account in the CBO estimate anyway. To offset the understood costs, the government would have to limit care to the sick and injured in their prime of life. To do that hospitals would have to close...a lot of hospitals. As long as we have the current number of health care points of entry, costs are going to rise faster than inflation.

Beyond that, the administration must see a gradual reduction in the number of doctors due to over regulation, high taxation, and reduced direct payments as the "government option" drives private insurance from the market.

The real savings, and the point of all of this, is when we start seeing the reduction in life expectancy. Old people cost a lot of money beyond health care: social security and the pensioners from failed companies that we have (and will assume in the PBGC).

Imagine the savings if you could drop a couple of million 80 year olds from social security AND Medicaid simultaneously! Believe me, the administration has and it could be the only basis on which they have deficit neutral projections.

Or they could be lying through their teeth.

Imagine a world...

5th Child Molested At Orlando Area Waterparks This Summer

2009-07-18T08:47:00.005-04:00

FoxNews has the latest incident.

David Eugene Thomas was being held without bond Friday at the Orange County Jail after he was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy at Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon.

The other incidents occurred at Typhoon Lagoon, Sea World's Aquatica park and Universal's Wet 'n Wild park.

This could be nothing more than a cry for universal health care or hate crime legislation, but let's assume for a minute that this is a trend. Let's also assume that most of these subhumans are doing this and not getting caught.

I think it's fair to extrapolate this data and conclude that molestations are happening every single day at those parks and the vast majority go unreported. I'll explain below.

According to the RAINN center, adults report only about 40% of rapes and assaults. Adults.

For child molesters, the FBI estimates that only 3% of the bastards will be caught and that only 5% of the incidents are reported.

Using that data, these 5 incidents probably represent approximately 100 assaults this summer. Given that we are about 60 days into the summer season for these parks, it's a reasonable conclusion that this is an everyday occurrence.

It appears that these reports are not sounding the serious alarms that it should. I assume that a little judicious police profiling would prevent these worthless bastards from operating at these parks. It just doesn't seem that there is a high enough level of concern, and given the recent history in Florida, that is outrageous.

I am not willing to search for NAMBLA-esque chat rooms for more evidence, but this seems like a trend that has a purpose behind it and Orlando police better put some resources on this immediately or another tragedy is certain.

And By Protecting Choice We Mean, Getting Rid Of Choice

2009-07-16T19:59:00.002-04:00

And by getting rid of choice we mean giving the American people a permanent bureaucracy that will be responsible for shortening their lives to help pay for social security.

Investors Business Daily is doing the heavy lifting - they are reading the Health Care For All Americans bill.

Most conservatives suspected this legislation is a big step to eliminating private insurance - even over President Obama's vociferous claims otherwise.

Given that pretext, you would think these pricks would at least try and hide their real objectives. Well, you would be wrong.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

...

It took just 16 pages of reading to find this naked attempt by the political powers to increase their reach. It's scary to think how many more breaches of liberty we'll come across in the final 1,002.

Most "American" Cars

2009-07-05T23:23:00.004-04:00

This is a trend that has been coming for a long time, but it's still kind of a stunner. According to Cars.com survey of the most American cars, Toyota is doing it better than most US based car companies.

Example: Full size truck with the most US parts and manufacturing - the Tundra.

And then this from the Detroit News.

Toyota Motor Corp. also is the most American car company, according to the rankings of the index in terms of U.S. content in its cars and trucks.

The methodology might be a bit skewed since it only counts total parts and doesn't have a scale for labor intensive parts like engines.

Still, Toyota has maintained it's workforce in the US while the US based makers have downsized dramatically.

Will Toyota keep making cars and trucks here when cap and trade is enacted?

Can I Pull It Out With My Teeth?

2009-07-03T11:23:00.004-04:00

Fun...with fire!

CD Bubbles. Old but fun. And I did it at a party the other night.

This one features a potty mouthed young lady.

Billy Mays: RIP

2009-06-28T15:43:00.004-04:00

Hat tip Bill, via TMZ.com.

There won't be wall to wall coverage for Billy Mays. There probably won't be many "best of oxiclean" clips on cable news. But another king died today. The King of Pitch was only 50 years old and had plenty of time to surpass Ron Popeil as the greatest of all time.

Dismissed early in his career as a Bluto-like blusterer with no staying power - Billy showed them all he meant business when followed up the Orange Clean with Oxi Clean. And who could forget the kaboom! success in sweaty late night appearances on the Home Shopping Network. Heady days those...

Like Barry Sanders retiring too early, the passing of Billy Mays leaves us with a massive hole in "as seen on TV" advertising.

Sham-Wow guy, you have some mighty big shoes to fill.

Billy, you made me stop surfing a few times when almost no one else could have.

NBA Draft: Suit Review

2009-06-27T18:23:00.006-04:00

New money. New suits. Class...still a few years away. These guys are not "the most interesting man in the world" candidates in these threads (Dos Equis reference).

From the bleachreport.

Autin Daye, new Detroit Piston, is 6'10" and weighs 195 pounds.

Jrue Holiday, his name is missing a vowel and his suit is missing...something.

Stay thirsty my friends!

OK, here's the commercial.

Tornado

2009-06-26T18:52:00.001-04:00

OK, it was technically a water spout. As I walked out of my office on NAS Jacksonville this afternoon, I was staring a huge tornado about 1 mile away.

Either way it was totally awesome. Some of my co-workers got better shots with real cameras.

Here is a shot from Firstcoastnews. NAS Jax is on the left and downtown Jacksonville is in the background.

The Curious Case Of Brooke Greenberg

2009-06-26T18:26:00.004-04:00

She is 16 (see below in the arms of her younger sister), has the body of a 3 year old and still can't speak. Broke Greenberg still has baby teeth but her bones are like a 10 year old. Does she have the fountain of youth gene?

...doctors are hoping to use Brooke's case to figure out the genetics behind aging. Dr. Richard Walker of the University of South Florida and geneticist Maxine Sutcliffe believe that Brooke has a genetic mutation that prevents her from aging. They are hoping to isolate the gene to figure out how it is that humans age.

"Without being sensational, I'd say this is an opportunity for us to answer the question, why we're mortal, or at least to test it," Walker told ABC. "And if we're wrong, we can discard it. But if we're right, we've got the golden ring."

Detroit Public School System Full Of Ghosts

2009-06-24T07:24:00.005-04:00

By ghosts, they mean they are cutting checks for people who don't work there, literally. From today's Detroit Free Press.

A payroll audit this month at Detroit Public Schools turned up 257 names that will be subject to an investigation into so-called illegal ghost employees, officials said Tuesday.

All of the district's estimated 13,880 workers had to pick up paychecks or direct-deposit slips in person by June 12 as a first step in determining if anyone who is not on the payroll is collecting pay.

This is amazing. DPS made their employees go downtown to pick up their paychecks/direct deposit slips in what could be termed an "old school" audit of actual employees.

These incompetent bastards can't figure out who works there and they are entrusted with teaching kids...sad

I wonder if the ghosts will return the stimulus money Obama sent? Or were they considered "shovel ready" projects too?

OK I'll stop now.

Line 'em up!

Sham Pow: Update for Photos

2009-06-23T23:32:00.006-04:00

Vince Shlomi, the Slap Chop and Sham Wow! guy beat the hell out of a prostitute in a hotel room after he alleged she bit his tongue. The before and after pics of the prostitute tell the story. The story broke over at the Smoking Gun a few months ago.

Here she is after a regular bust...

And here she is after getting sham pow'ed

Now she got her slaps in too...

Unboxing: Ungirlfriend, Unlife

2009-06-22T20:38:00.005-04:00

Unboxing. I thought it had something to do with math. Then I saw apple dorks slobbering over the new i phone. This guy takes the cake.

I could call this guy a geek, but that would be slandering a lot of geeks. The thumb-stroking of his i-Phone at 3 minutes is slightly disturbing. And then we are treated to a little home video with his rubber ducky, piggy, and sex slave lion.

Faces Of Parkour

2009-06-19T01:30:00.004-04:00

When I heard about Hillary Clinton busting her elbow I thought that it sounded like a free running crash. An elbow? Parkour idiots and old people break their fucking elbows. I'm sure I have more sympathy for Hillary than I do for those 5'5" ex-gymnasts who seem to do this in place of having girlfriends. I'll give you the opening to Casino Royale, but isn't that where it stopped being cool? If not then, it lost it when 45 year old fat asses started training for it in DC. When big tits Bob from Fight Club joins your free running class, it's time to find something else.

Maybe Obama is leading some Rose Garden free running and that is how Sotomayer broke her ankle. Something is up, or else Obama is picking the clumsiest fucking administration in history.

Fox's Hottest 40 Over 40...Again With The Tomei Snub

2009-06-18T06:49:00.007-04:00

Last year, Fox News published it's hottest 40 over 40 and I was curious how they might miss Marissa Tomei. OK, this is pre-Wrestler and not many saw Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

This year, a new hottest 40 and they did it again. Yes, they found Valerie Bertinelli, and she deserved it, but how in the hell does Sarah Jessica Parker get on that list again.

Where's Glenn Beck on this? If this doesn't qualify for the one thing...I just don't know.

Seinfeldian: Attorney Blames Woman's Death on Spray Tan

2009-06-03T23:50:00.004-04:00

This is how George's prosecution would have looked for the death of his fiance after licking the tainted invitation envelopes.

MIAMI — A defense attorney has suggested that a spray tan might be to blame for the death of a 33-year-old South Florida woman whose husband is now facing a second-degree murder charge.

Prosecutors believe 36-year-old Aventura developer Adam Kaufman strangled his wife, Eleonora Kaufman, in November 2007. But during a bond hearing Tuesday, defense attorney Bill Matthewman floated a different theory.

So what would I add to the story to make it a complete episode? You would have to have this guy representing Kaufman...

Elaine could go on a $30,000 date with the mayor while the city is shut down for a lack of funds and Jerry could start a riot in France with a joke about Muslim youths.

Womens Softball and Mexican Pizza

2009-06-02T07:14:00.008-04:00

Last night I watched the third inning of the women's college world series, AKA WCWS. I didn't set out to watch it but circumstances, and a table of 50-somethings trying to be cougers - who also happened to be sitting right below the TV with a MLB game, dictated that I turn the 45 degrees to spend a few quality minutes with the the Lady Gators and the Huskies, but I'm sure they use a name other than Lady Huskies.

Turning my shoulder to the aging cougars, I watched intently as the third inning began. It is a sport after all and I am a man eating a Mexican Pizza and drinking a beer.

Washington had three straight hits to start the inning and loaded the bases. The problem was that each of the hits were those those swinging bunts, where the oversized lime-green ball dribbles to a fielder whose hands are too small to make a good throw to first base.

Note to guys: You can't spill your beer chasing foul balls at the WCWS. Not that lime green ball. Not cool.

About a quarter of the way into the pizza, I realized it was really bland. No heat, no spices. Just like the game on TV.

Anyway, the next hitter sent a blast bouncing to the WCWS warning track, AKA the infield basepath. It squeaked through into center field. The throw to home was late and the catcher tried to catch a runner at second. That's when it got spicy.

The catcher uncorked her toss into deep center. The center fielder watched the errant toss sail and the base runners started flying like a herd of gazelles fleeing a hungry momma lion.

They were running up each others backs, and darting to and fro.

And I lost it. I yelled at the TV, "that's the best hit of the night number 3" and I started laughing. Controlled at first, then I noticed the ladies just staring at me, quiet now with their sloppy drunk eyes and I bursted. Food coming out of nose, face bright red, uncontrolled gut buster. The harder I tried to stop the more it came.

After about 30 seconds of this, I threw my napkin in the air and said, awww fuck.

Apparently, I drew the attention of the owner and he sat down with me and asked what the hell was so funny. I explained the situation and he got me some napkins and 2 free beers.

I settled down. The drunk ladies left. Gee I wonder why. And I had the place to myself.

Getting back to my mexican pizza, I noticed that towards the middle the jalapenos and onions really kicked the dish into gear. And working through my beer I ended up watching the game.

Quiet now, I realized that the ladies need to spice up their game a little more and the biggest problem is that damn ball. Does the WNBA play with bigger balls than the NBA? Do women golfers hit bigger balls than Tiger? Do women soccer players have bigger balls than the males? OK, bad example.

My point being that softball needs to right-size it's equipment. Just use a baseball. Better throwing. Better hitting. These ladies are athletes and they can handle a faster game. The Olympics didn't dump softball because they didn't have compelling players and stories. They dumped it because the game is flawed. There are lots of Olympic sports that are not competitive. There are something like 3 different biathlon medal events that the Scandi's win every time.

Fix the ball ladies and the Olympics will beg you to come back.

By the way here is the link to the third inning outburst that made me lose it.

I looked it up...they are the Lady Huskies. And they kicked Florida's ass 8 zip.

Garrett "Teddy" Townsend A Hometown Hero

2009-05-25T21:30:00.005-04:00

I grew up not far from Teddy. I know the street where he saved a 7 year old boy from certain death. I didn't know Teddy personally, but I know who and what he is all about. I know him because these people were my neighbors growing up. From the Detroit Free Press

Garret Townsend, 58, died shortly after rescuing the 7-year-old boy, who had fallen into approximately 10 feet of water in a pit that had been dug for a new home's basement on the 3900 block of Miracles Boulevard.

Teddy didn't know how to swim. But I know there wasn't a seconds-worth of hesitation when he looked around and saw that he (and his life) was the only thing between that kid and a muddy grave.

Here is a picture of the pit after it was drained this morning.

The orange construction (snow) fence was added when they drained the pit.

Teddy's wife and daughter must know that his sacrifice was just part of his character. I know they won't ever be comforted, but he would not have wanted to live if he hadn't saved that child. That part of him that compelled him to jump into the dark water, was a big reason you loved him. That didn't die today.

God bless you Teddy and every one like you.

Contempating Suicide? Be Sure About It If You Are In China

2009-05-24T08:08:00.003-04:00

From the Beeb

BEIJING (AP) - Chen Fuchao, a man heavily in debt, had been contemplating suicide on a bridge in southern China for hours when a passer-by came up, shook his hand - and pushed him off the ledge.

Chen fell 26 feet (8 meters) onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion laid out by authorities and survived, suffering spine and elbow injuries, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

The passer-by, 66-year-old Lai Jiansheng, had been fed up with what he called Chen's "selfish activity," Xinhua said. Traffic around the Haizhu bridge in the city of Guangzhou had been backed up for five hours and police had cordoned off the area.

Several things jump out there.

1. Why in the hell are you trying to kill yourself off a 26-foot ledge? Call that disability point, not a suicide leap.

2. The guy was standing there for 5 hours? I agree with Lai, that is plenty of time to contemplate things. Dave Ramsey can fix your financial life in a 2.5 minute segment.

3. Most important. What kind of a protective air cushion causes spine and elbow injuries when you fall from 26 feet? If this happened in America, Chen would be a fucking millionaire, pay off his bad construction debt and go on the Rodney King talk show circuit.

Apparently, Lai was seen saluting the crowd in TV after Chen bounced. That doesn't fit my stoic buddist image of Chen, but it is TV.

Explains Lai:

I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish," the newspaper quoted Mr Lai as saying.

Their action violates a lot of public interests. They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals.

And then this explains everything.

The bridge has gained a macabre reputation, attracting at least 12 would-be suicide jumpers since the start of April, according to the China Daily report.

None of the 12 has jumped, although each has held up traffic for several hours, it said.

How 'bout some Obama haiku. The only rule is it must start like half of his phrases...In America

Using my Obama voice,

In America
people get suicidal
and jump from up high

In China the shame
is a wasted tragedy
and no body count

Banana Republic Leadership

2009-05-04T23:22:00.003-04:00

From ABC News Jack Tripper.

A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration's Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.

This is amazing. Use the White House press corps to destroy people? Threatening private citizens? I've said this before and I'll say it again. This guy will end up making Nixon look like an amateur.

To quote our fearless negotiator in chief:

"While many stakeholders made sacrifices and worked constructively, I have to tell you some did not," the president said. "In particular, a group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out...[for more than 29 cents on the dollar]."

A great ruler always governs from the gut. He can't be held back by constitutions or laws. He needs the flexibility to pick and choose. To make or eliminate rules. To threaten, if need be, to get things done. Law in a Banana Republic works that way. And it's for our own good. Kinda reminds me of a Hugo Chavez story from December.

The White House denies this report of course. And threatens anyone who repeats it with severe repercussions. When can we cancel the next election already?

What? Antartic Ice Not Melting?

2009-04-18T17:55:00.002-04:00

Who could have seen this coming. Real scientists that's who.

From Fox News

Ice is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.

Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Center shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years.

Looking at snapshots of ice thickness over 5 or 10 year periods is little more than observing a high temperature on a summer day when equating weather to climate, but this information does fly in the face of those global warming Henny Penny's.

But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand morons, so...

Ahmadinejad Shows Obama How To Handle Tea Party Types

2009-04-18T08:46:00.004-04:00

Via AP (so no link)

Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States.

She gets 6 years total, but her sentence breaks down thusly:

1 year for actually speaking out about women's issues.
2 years for being incredibly hot and not finding that "hobo" look in a Members Only jacket attractive.
3 years as a negotiating chip/human shield.

It's Official, EPA Declares Air Is Bad For You

2009-04-17T12:11:00.004-04:00

How you get trillions of dollars of taxes (cap and trade) without having a congressional debate? Easy, have a bureaucracy promulgate a regulation.

From Fox News.

...the Obama administration's release on Friday of an EPA proposed finding that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare.

The EPA also will say tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles contribute to climate change.

Here's the comedy. After praising the proposal, Sen. Barbara Boxer added,

...the best and most flexible way to deal with this serious problem is to enact a market-based cap and trade system, which will help us make the transition to clean energy and will bring us innovation and strong economic growth.

So we are going to have a market based government mandate.

What Sen. Boxer is really saying is, "let's destroy the source of 85% of American energy consumption capacity without a solution and a magic bullet will come along when prices skyrocket."

That's like saying let's hold someones head under water until they grow gills.

Here a little bit of info from the DOE that Ms. Boxer might want to grasp before taxing the shit out of everyone.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas -- currently provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the United States, nearly two-thirds of our electricity, and virtually all of our transportation fuels. Moreover, it is likely that the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels to power an expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.

Because our economic health depends on the continued availability of reliable and affordable fossil fuels, the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy oversees two major fossil fuel efforts:

1) Emergency stockpiles of crude oil and heating oil

The Department is responsible for maintaining the readiness of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. In the event of a major supply interruption, the President could order emergency stocks from either of these two reserves to be released into the market.

2) Research and Development of future fossil energy technologies

My 2 cents. You better have a workable alternative for that 85% of energy you are about to make too expensive for average Americans.

Jacksonville FL Tea Party

2009-04-15T23:50:00.004-04:00

Awesome day. Great weather and NO phony politicians. This is what grass roots politics is all about. Forget about the media coverage - either way. I could guess at the crowd (and be wrong) so I'll say about 2500.

Maybe We Can Find Somthing To Criticize Obama About Via Political Cartoons

2009-04-11T08:02:00.008-04:00

I saw this over at Savage, so I went looking for some more cartoons from the era. Maybe something that can help inprire someone, somewhere.

Hmmm, this could be turned into something...

OK, I'll try my hand.

Here's a couple from Michael Ramirez at IBD. He's probably the best political cartoonist out there right now.

And one with a second interpretation.

Hurricanes and Sunspots

2009-03-16T04:54:00.003-04:00

There is about a 2-3 year lag from the peak of sunspot activity.

Guess when we will have our next hurricane cycle? That's right. After the sun starts it's next solar cycle.

Because sea surface temps follow the sun.

And You Only Thought This Happened In B-Movies

2009-03-14T23:49:00.003-04:00

Two guys commit murder. One pleads out and testifies against his partner. In prison, they end up in the same cell and one of them ends up dead in 15 minutes.

McALESTER, Okla. — A 23-year-old inmate beaten to death at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary had been put in a cell with convicted killer he had testified against.

Prison spokesman Jerry Massie says Paul Duran Jr. fought with one cellmate and then was put in a cell with Jessie James Dalton.

Duran was found beaten to death about 15 minutes later.

Massie says the two were not supposed to be put in the same cell and prison officials are trying to determine how it happened.

I'll tell you how it happened. Duran pissed off the prison guards and they made a "mistake."

This makes Prison Break a little more believable. Well, except for season 3. And 4.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory Satellite: NASA, We Have A Problem

2009-03-08T05:22:00.010-04:00

It was really a good idea. Get accurate data on green house gasses and spend a little quality time with "science" (as opposed to the usual hysterical fear mongering).

The OCO, orbiting carbon observatory, was set to start working this month, but the satellite shit the bed soon after liftoff. See NASA's explanation here.

Why do I have a feeling that Al Gore and Mark Serreze are secretly happy that this thing went bad? If the science debate is over (Al Gore) and we are in the "death spiral" (Mark Serreze), the new data would only be a distraction. Because they really like the current GHG-global warming hypothesis, and without a platform like the OCO we are back to having science standing on it's head trying to disprove an unproven hypothesis.

Obama Offers To Srap Missle Shield For A Handfull Of Magic Beans

2009-03-03T04:14:00.010-05:00

:::Update Medvedev says go to hell:::

So who are we negotiating with here, the Russians or the Iranians? Aren't the Russians selling the Iranians their missile technology? Didn't the Russians help build the nuke plants? Aren't they one in the same?

President Obama offered to consider scrapping plans for a missile defense shield in Europe if Russia helps rein in Iran's nuclear program, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

The article said Obama wrote to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to tell him Russia's aid in resolving the threat from Iran would make the missile shield plans unnecessary, according to an account from Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

A senior administration official told FOX News that Obama sent a letter to Medvedev but "we won't comment on the specifics."

So as long as Iran promises to be good we will drop our defenses... Seriously, it's not like Iran promotes the use of missiles anywhere.

Back to the fairy tale analogy. In Jack's fantasy, he really doesn't have much to lose in the first place. All he gives up is a broke cow and he ends up with a warm meal and a crack at the golden goose. That plus a couple of hours away from his bitchy mother.

In Obama's fantasy, he's betting an American city that the bad guys will stop hating us because we are no longer a threat to defend ourselves. ...And that Russia and Iran will tell him the truth.

Given those two scenarios, the fucking vine to the clouds and the gold-shitting goose takes less suspension of disbelief than honest self-reporting from the Iranian Mullahs.

The Russians and Iranians have to be laughing their asses off at Obama. So what is the fallback position here? You just offered up your most valuable negotiating asset in the first go-round.

Not to mention that Obama has spent the last 18 months signaling that he would scrap missle defense for NOTHING. So the Russians will pinch one of their best trading partners over something that has no value to you? I guess he assumes the Russians don't read newspapers. And in case you didn't notice, nobody fucking asked.

I never understood Jack's mom getting pissed off at the kid for not getting top dollar for that old cow. But if a promise is all Obama can get for our missile defense system after decades of development, we would have been better off having Jack as our Secretary of State.

Update: Medvedev says go to hell. AP translates as,

Russian President Medvedev has said he's willing to discuss the proposed US missile shield with Washington. But he added that any deal linking those talks with negotiations regarding Iran would not be productive.

Russian President Dimitry Medvedev's comments came in response to a New York Times report that US President Barack Obama had written a secret letter to his Russian counterpart offering to halt the planned missile shield, which would be located mainly in Poland and the Czech Republic, in return for Moscow's help in stopping Iran from developing long-range nuclear weapons.

Japanese Scientists Compare Computer Climate Modelling To Ancient Astrology

2009-02-27T17:21:00.001-05:00

It looks like kool-aid sales are down dramatically in Japan. From the people who practically invented doomsday movies, comes this (from the UK Register):

(they)compare computer climate modelling to ancient astrology. Others castigate the paucity of the US ground temperature data set used to support the hypothesis, and declare that the unambiguous warming trend from the mid-part of the 20th Century has ceased.

The report by Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) is astonishing rebuke to international pressure, and a vote of confidence in Japan's native marine and astronomical research. Publicly-funded science in the West uniformly backs the hypothesis that industrial influence is primarily responsible for climate change..

And this:

The report by Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) is astonishing rebuke to international pressure, and a vote of confidence in Japan's native marine and astronomical research. Publicly-funded science in the West uniformly backs the hypothesis that industrial influence is primarily responsible for climate change, although fissures have appeared recently.

Leave it to a much older culture to take a "longer view" of our sketchy climate data.

Busted

2009-02-22T14:02:00.003-05:00

This has not been a big story in the US, but the British papers have been covering Obama's Churchill snub all week. From the Telegraph.

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.

But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

So it's not really a bust...more of a floating head, but it's the messages sent to the one ally we could count on in the last 7 years that is a bit disturbing. Does it signal an end to the wartime presidency or is it another of Obama's famous middle finger messages?

One clue was mentioned by the Telegraph.

Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

I'm willing to forgive the diplomatic faux pas, since the replacement is now the only Republican with any real power in Washington - Abe Lincoln.

If we keep moving towards socialism at the current pace, the bust in the White House during Obama's second term may look like this.

Sensor Drift, A New Weapon In The Green Scare Or Just Henny Penny Coming Home To Roost

2009-02-21T07:28:00.008-05:00

Why is it that every time there is a malfunction of some kind in environmental science methods, the error is always on the side of global warming? I'm just saying, from the hockey stick graph to forgetting the role of the sun in the Earth's climate, a conspiracy-minded individual might start to get suspicious.

The problem is that it's not the environmental scientists that are catching the errors...it's everyday folks looking at the data. OK, by folks I mean science geeks who work in windowless rooms and can looks at thousands of fields of data without getting drunk first.

Case in point. The National Snow and Ice Data Center was forced to admit that the maps they have been making this year of Arctic sea ice were grossly underestimating actual sea ice. The problem, something called sensor drift. The really big problem. A 5-year old could draw the edge of the sea ice better than the NSIDC.

A statement from the NSIDC clears things up:

As some of our readers have already noticed, there was a significant problem with the daily sea ice data images on February 16. The problem arose from a malfunction of the satellite sensor we use for our daily sea ice products. Upon further investigation, we discovered that starting around early January, an error known as sensor drift caused a slowly growing underestimation of Arctic sea ice extent. The underestimation reached approximately 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) by mid-February. Sensor drift, although infrequent, does occasionally occur and it is one of the things that we account for during quality control measures prior to archiving the data. See below for more details.

We have removed the most recent data and are investigating alternative data sources that will provide correct results. It is not clear when we will have data back online, but we are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

So by quality control, you guys at the NSIDC mean the random chance that a reader catches your mistakes.

The money quote from NSIDC:

On February 16, 2009, as emails came in from puzzled readers, it became clear that there was a significant problem: sea-ice-covered regions were showing up as open ocean...Sensor drift is a perfect but unfortunate example of the problems encountered in near-real-time analysis.

In other words, real-time data is great when it is used to gin up end-of-the-earth stories in the New York Times, but real time data "is what is is" when it makes you look like Henny Penny.

Obviously environmental scientists just don't get the BIG PICTURE. Credibility is king for researchers. Eventually, eventually the truth wins out. Real science will win out. And if you are not willing to participate in the actual scientific process, someone else (probably with a lot less grant money and fewer Hollywood friends) will expose your research for what it is. And when that happens, sensor drift (and all of the other excuses) will be exposed for what it is.

Researcher bias.

And by Henny Penny, I mean Henny Penny. Check out Prof Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) and his "death spiral" - global warming hyperbole.

Subsidizing Irresponsibility

2009-02-19T00:08:00.005-05:00

The old adage has never been more true: You want more of something, subsidize, it. Less of something, tax it. This country is subsidizing irresponsible behavior like a meteor is going to wipe out the earth in a matter of weeks.

Self reliance is dead. It's dead as a concept. It's dead as a romantic idea. It's dead dead.

Item. The oct-tot mom from California. The poster child of irresponsibility. She is the this generations' Alex DeLarge of aimless self gratification. A "disabled" worker using a phony settlement check and tons of government assistance who goes on plastic surgery trips so she can look like a fat and very poor man's version of Angelina Jolie. All the while sprinkling the hospitals with a score of her offspring. Which of course means we have to sell several more millions of dollars worth of t-bills to some nameless chi-com.

She has been walking around with her middle finger pointed at the country for years. Sure. Sure. We know you don't have time to read the meter, you are just here for a little invitro.

Maybe Kubrick was right. A sick society is responsible for creating the "little Alex's" and Nadya's of the world. But that really wasn't his point was it?

Maybe Nadya is doing exactly what the government wants her to do? I mean how many tax payers will it take in 20 years to pay for the social programs AND the next handfull of stimulus/bailout programs.

The only way this Ponzi scheme works is if we get hundreds of millions of new suckers to pay taxes. Nadya may just end up being the most patriotic woman in the country.

"White Male Worker" Is The New N Word And The New Segregation Era

2009-01-28T21:46:00.005-05:00

Robert Riech had a Freudian slip and almost no one noticed. But for those of us in the struggle, we hear the code talk. We know what you mean when you say "white male." Because you say it like a dirty word and then say you "got nothin' aginst us."

Tell me Obama, is this stimulus plan separate but equal?

Instead of separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, "white male workers" get separate government programs. We have to ride in the back of the new economic bus.

As explained, there are many ways to keep that damned dirty white males from filthying up the stimulus plan. "We" can have conditions or criteria that will exclude those who have worked hard to become "skilled."

Maybe if I tell 'em that my Grandma was Ethiopian?

13 Sets Of Rules And One Outcome For The One

2009-01-27T07:52:00.003-05:00

The Obama Administration announced they were going to support letting states go it alone when it comes to auto emission and mileage standards. From CNN.

President Obama signed a memorandum Monday requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an application by California to set more stringent auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards than required by federal law.

If the EPA grants a waiver allowing California to set its own emissions standards, the nation's largest state will be allowed to require automakers to produce trucks and cars that get better mileage than what is required under the current national standard. Thirteen other states could take similar action.

A new era of States Rights!

No so fast.

Rather than take issues head-on and call them what they really are. Obama and his team play little Orwellian games with language to avoid a tough discussion.

Lets call this backdoor CAFE what it is. chickenshit. They know those controversial standards would not have passed without pissing off his blue-dogs who will lose more jobs to Japanese and Korean auto makers. Rather than make 13 or 14 different models of cars, the automakers will be forced to the toughest of the state standards. Presto, new CAFE without the headache of having to sell the nation on the idea.

Just like the chickenshit socialism being disguised as "stimulus" and chickenshit welfare being called "tax cuts," it seems this administration will be masters at the avoiding fights by selling things under new names.

It takes a willing media.

Of course it does. Without a lapdog White House Press Corps and every newsie gushing about Michelle's latest designer dress, none of this happens. Yeah, the same media that blasted Sarah Palin's nice threads during the campaign, are now praising Michelle's couture closet.

It takes a pretty damn stupid public too.

Of course all of this is obvious. Tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes. Energy independence by taxing energy producers. Stimulus via birth control. An infrastructure focused stimulus plan that spends 5% of it's moneyon infrastructure. If people are either too stupid to recognize the double talk or simply don't care anymore then we are truly fucked as a nation.

On the other hand. If the public is a mass of idiots and the media is in his back pocket, why resort to the games? Just say that paying $4 bucks for gas is good for them and let that be that. I'm not sure. Maybe there is a little nagging doubt about that middle 15% that really decides elections.

Obama is playing the cool kid saying you can do anything. That there is no limit to the money and the party will go on forever. Dissenting voices are being treated like the nerdy high school killjoy.

For now the answer is, print the money and sell the debt as fast as you can. We will all just take the blue pill and spend money in shopping malls until the government checks start to bounce.

You Can't Just Listen To Rush Limbaugh

2009-01-24T15:21:00.006-05:00

At the end of an almost perfect week. A week that included more praise and adulation (bordering on worship) than any president in modern history, President Obama took time out of his busy schedule to notice that there was a person in the country not agreeing with him. The President warned Republicans that"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." I think this very little incident gives us an interesting glimpse into the man.

Richard Nixon had thin skin too.

Being too aware of your critics is one of the many personality traits that lead Nixon down his path of paranoia and self-destruction. Clinton had his rapid response team. I guess President Obama has a zero-tolerance of disagreement policy. Bush didn't respond to anything. It seems amazing that a President could propose the most massive spending program in history and not expect some dissent. Especially after we learned that the second biggest (the bank bailout known as TARP) become a political slush fund and was used by banks to buy other banks...all without oversight or accountability. But I'm sure this one will be different.

You can't just listen to Barney Frank either.

Barney Frank looks at TARP and stimulus like all of the other incumbents: Fast cash for friends and an easy path to reelection. Barney has the same trouble all politicians have with unlimited funds. From the Wall Street Journal:

Troubled OneUnited Bank in Boston didn't look much like a candidate for aid from the Treasury Department's bank bailout fund last fall.

The Treasury had said it would give money only to healthy banks, to jump-start lending. But OneUnited had seen most of its capital evaporate. Moreover, it was under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use.

Nonetheless, in December OneUnited got a $12 million injection from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. One apparent factor: the intercession of Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful head of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Frank, by his own account, wrote into the TARP bill a provision specifically aimed at helping this particular home-state bank. And later, he acknowledges, he spoke to regulators urging that OneUnited be considered for a cash injection.

In other words. We are letting this congress pick winners and losers based on nothing more than political ties. More of the same old pay to play bullshit.

The answer is called the Resolution Trust Corporation.

The RTC liquidated "toxic" assets without a lot of political interference in the 80's and 90's...like the TARP was supposed to do, but didn't. Why? It's not so hard to figure, there wasn't any money in it for the politicians. When RTC was done, it was dissolved. No one left to lobby, no kickbacks. The damn thing was too fucking efficient. Fast forward 15 years and it became blindingly clear we needed RTC 2, but congress recalled the efficient and unprofitable (for them) way things went before and decide to take a new path, one that morphed a 2 page bill into thousands pages of pork.

Why not just give everyone a check for one million dollars?

Really, how different is that from the philosophy that government can spend it's way out of a recession. Hell, it would probably be cheaper in the long run because it would teach people about basic economics. I can only imagine what a new car would cost by the end of the first week.

Hayek had it right, this is the road to serfdom.

Writing About Killing President Bush Gets You A Movie Deal...Or Two

2009-01-17T23:39:00.003-05:00

Do the same about the not-yet-inaugurated Obama. You get arrested. Even if you do it on a website dedicated to aliens and UFO's.

Unfuckingbelievable.

Actually, this rank hypocrisy was easily predicted, but it's nauseating nonetheless.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities on Friday arrested a U.S. man on suspicion of threatening to kill President-elect Barack Obama based on statements he posted on a website about UFOs and aliens, the Justice Department said.

Steven Joseph Christopher, in three postings to www.alien-earth.org, said he planned to assassinate Obama in Washington "as a sacrificial lamb," the department said in a statement.

"It's really nothing personal about the man. He speaks well ... . But I know it's for the country's own good that I do this," Christopher reportedly wrote.

Here is a clip from the flick that fantasizes about the assassination of Bush.

For web postings that mention killing the Bush, just use google. From Nobel Prize winner Betty Williams to online games and t-shirts, the list is expansive with almost no arrests.

Try to imagine the scenario where a similar movie is made about Obama...not that I would care to see it. But the point is that even if Obama is the worst failure ever, this would never happen.

Either we live in a country where it's acceptable to call for the president's assassination or it's not. Unequal application of justice is not political correctness, it's a form tyranny. Tyranny that is particularly alarming at a time when the government is expanding at the fastest pace ever seen. How long before justice is solely driven by what is acceptable and not what is lawful or unlawful?

We Should All Have Wings

2009-01-11T07:51:00.005-05:00

After seeing an article in the Jerusalem Post I got a chuckle over a term I have long found ridiculous.

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip on Saturday targeted Hamas operative Amir Mansi, a senior member of Izzadin Kassam, the group's military wing.

The implication is that Hamas has a peace loving political wing that seeks a mutually beneficial relationship with Israel. In truth, the political wing is probably made up of the smarter guys from the military wing who have a thing about getting shot.

Having a military wing means never having to say you are sorry.

What a great concept. You send in your guys to shoot rockets, strap bombs on their backs or whatever and when bad things happen. Boom. Instant deniability. For, you see, it was our militant wing. And for all good people in the political wing, we just can't control those darn military wing guys.

Yassir Arafat used that militant wing vs political wing game with the PLO movement to great effect for years. I remember the IRA had the same setup. In any case, it's a game played by organizations that don't want total war, but don't want total peace either

It's like it never happened.

Hamas has been sending out their militant wing to shoot something like 3000 rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip during this most recent Egyptian negotiated "cease fire." And peace is assured as long as Israel doesn't shoot back. In fact the constant barrage of rockets became a boring daily event and the media stopped reporting on them, unless there was a body count. It was only when the Israelis started making noise that Hamas was about to get punished, that the world took notice of this again. Obama famously said, "...if someone was shooting rockets into the apartment where my daughters were sleeping...you bet I would shoot back..."

And so Israel has finally responded. Responded against people who don't wear uniforms. Shoot rockets from hospital roofs and school yards and religious sites. Predictably the media starts their "Israel is overreacting" reporting within days because everyone knows these rockets are coming from the "militants" and not the innocent civilians of Gaza.

All kids play this game of proportional retaliation.

When a younger brother tweaks a big brother on the ear after being dominated on the Play Station, he is playing the same game. Little brothers know that big brothers get in trouble for hitting little brothers. Big brothers know that too. But little brothers hate getting beat all the time. So they do the equivalent of firing a few rockets into big brothers' territory.

Eventually big brother hits the little brother, who then runs screaming to mom. Dad is forced to intervene. No matter the punishment, it was worth it to the little brother because it's his only way to release his frustration.

Is it any wonder newspapers are dying?

The media will spend weeks finding out if Sarah Palin was really pregnant two years ago, while a ploy designed by 8 year olds is beyond their comprehension. And once again "world opinion" and editorial pages are insisting that Israel back off. One more time. So we can have a "cease fire" that now seems defined as Israel not shooting back.

This cycle is going to end in one of two ways. Little brother is going to mature and find other things to occupy him or there will be total war.

The question is, what could individuals do with their militant wings? Not pay taxes? Steal? Cheat on their spouses? What about those camera speed traps? We could say, I wasn't driving that day, it was my militant wing. That guy refuses to slow down and your ticket is a total overreaction to me...the law abiding political wing of me.

Emmanuel Jal - War Child

2009-01-02T04:33:00.003-05:00

I just finished reviewing a first copy of this young man's life story for Amazon and it was an amazing journey. A real life Long Walk. He is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, a jenajesh, and was conscripted into the SPLA to fight the Muslim government army during the Sudanese civil war in the 1990's. Most of the 2 million dead were Christians from his home in southern Sudan. He was separated from his family at age 9 and survived countless military attacks, refugee camps and a prolonged military campaign...all before he was 18.

He is now a music artist and his story, detailed in the book War Child will be released in early February.

A sample.

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Whatever Happened To Acid Rain And Why Didn't It Have Any Staying Power

2008-12-28T08:48:00.009-05:00

I saw some dead trees on the edge of a swamp the other day and recalled the iconic "acid rain" forest pictures in the 1980's. Back then, anywhere there was a patch of dead trees, people automatically thought...hmmm acid rain is killing the earth...making us sick.

Looking back, acid rain hysteria ended up as a footnote sandwiched between global cooling and the ozone hole. A lousy place historically if your job required research money. (Side note: An interesting bit of research would be finding out what those acid rain PhD's are publishing today...any guesses?)

I'll admit, I'm a child of the 80's. So looking back at that era can be tough sometimes. The clothes were awful. And now I have to admit that our attempts to terrorize the public through research were just as bad as the hair.

It started well enough with articles such as Likens (1984), "Acid rain: the smokestack is the smoking gun." That's good stuff on the face of it, Al Gore used the same imagery to great effect.

We had people out there chasing acid rain snowstorms and acid rain thunderstorms. We had tipping points, mass extinction predictions. Everything was in place. My generation was about to do something that would be remembered forever. Then...

The 1990's.

That first big Nirvana CD should have been a clue. The public was craving something more serious. We offered them the death of a salamander and the 1990's gave the public the whole damn world in peril.

I can't blame the public for taking to global warming the way they did. You are not going to make movies with acid rain showers chasing frogs. But ice hurricanes chasing actors! Whew. That's good stuff.

I guess acid rain never really stood a chance. Sure, the data never matched the claims. And the earth has natural balancing systems we didn't know about when we chose acid rain in the first place, but that has never stopped global warming. I'm not bitter (OK, a little). I just have to admit that global warming is a better product and we had a nice little run back in the day.

Just don't expect me to be sorry when you fail global warming.

The Trouble With Rubles

2008-12-27T07:59:00.007-05:00

The big bluff is almost over. For the last several years Russian leader Putin (I'm not sure what he is calling himself these days) has put on a show of force - promising a return to Russian greatness. From warships in the Panama Canal Zone to attacks in Georgia, the Russians have been everywhere trying to reassert their old influence. And there have been the assassinations to intimidate and punish political rivals and enemies.

The growing problem for Putin is that his economy is a one trick petro pony (they have lots of other mineral resourced too, but that didn't work well with pony). All of it: minerals, crude oil have sharply declined in value and while the Russians are putting up a bold face, the economic reality will have them mothballing those ships and watching their currency devalue further.

To illustrate, the following graph shows how many rubles a dollar would buy. It's a 180 day graph and it shows the accelerating problem since August. Built at exchange-rates.org.

In some cases, workers are not getting paid and the protest in Vladivostok is an ominous sign for the Kremlin...especially since starting in that area is always a good strategy in Risk.

Putin will continue to crush dissent because he probably believes this downturn in commodity prices is short-term. Like Washington, Moscow is pumping cash into selected companies to try and buy their way out of this downturn. And also like Washington, these guys don't seem to understand that if you are willing to give your money away for nothing, it will have no value and the impact of all of this "stimulus" is deficits and a longer recession.

These troubles in Russia signal even bigger trouble for smaller countries built on the same strongman/petro economy. Venezuela has something like $65 barrel oil built into their budget. PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.), Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum company does not have the resources to develop their oil fields. Hugo has directed much of the PDVSA revenue to support his expanded social programs. Hugo will accelerate the problem if crude prices stay in the $30's for an extended period of time.

With a little perspective, one might see the positives of this global recession. Just one year ago, Putin and Hugo were looking to become regional, if not global, forces based solely on $140 oil. A 75% hair cut has funny way of curbing ambitions.

Oil prices will rebound. The global economy will recover and futures will turn up as soon as demand starts to rise - literally within days. The problem for Russia is the long-term impact to the structure of their economy. With each of these downturns, Russia is losing the social and industrial infrastructure that is not being replaced during good times because they do not have a dynamic or inventive system.

The best analogy of the economic situation in Russia is a real estate flipper being upside down on all of his mortgages. Even if, over time, the value of the homes come up to the prices you paid, the costs of holding the homes in the mean-time probably means you are bankrupt. So too with Russia. The fixed costs of the economy are established and Russia will print the Rubles it needs to run the government-owned economy. The result is further currency deflation and of course the inflation of real goods. A double whammy for an economy based on government spending.

There is probably something of a warning in there for the US as well, but why worry about Rubles? They don't hurt anybody.

Hugo: Drive By Dictator

2008-12-23T06:23:00.004-05:00

Hollywood's 2nd favorite beloved leader was riding in his limo and spotted a nearly complete shopping mall in Caracas and said:

"They had already built a monster there," Chavez said. "I passed by there just recently and said, 'What is this? My God!"'

Which, of course, is Blago speak for "I don't remember getting any kickbacks on this project?"

Best quote from the AP writer (Via FoxNews), "[This] illustrates Chavez's tendency to govern from his gut, and to leap in when he thinks other government agencies — in this case city planners — aren't doing their job.

Of course with the ever expanding number of "Czars" we should expect similar "rule from the gut" kind of governance. Did I really see a middle class czar position named by Obama? Ugh.

Shrek Found Dead In New Jersey

2008-12-18T18:32:00.003-05:00

Fox News has this one here.

A deer hunter discovered the man wrapped in the rug in a wooded area off the Atlantic City Expressway in New Jersey on Dec. 8, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Authorities have no idea who he is or who might have executed him.

"This was a very large man with very small, round, distinctive ears," said Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel during a press conference. "Somewhere, someone is missing this person."

Large man with very small round distinctive ears....

And some guy who looks like a real world Shrek.

The Wrestler...The Reviewers Are Blown Away

2008-12-17T19:48:00.004-05:00

Mickey Rourke playing a washed up 80's wrestler with Marissa Tomei as his stripper girlfriend. I'm soooo there. Bill Simmons at ESPN got an advance copy and raved...here. With all of the crazy plastic surgery, Mickey looks like he has gone through 20 years of WWF abuse. Scripted or not, many of the old WWF guys are dead from the hell they put their bodies through.

More on Marissa. I really don't think she gets the credit she deserves. Is it the nude scenes? I don't know. But her performances in In The Bedroom, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and Welcome to Sarajevo proves she is getting better with age. Fox News had their 40 Hottest Women Over 40 list last week and she wasn't on it. Kelly Rippa was. Sarah Jessica Parker too.

Recent pic of Marissa.

Mickey...why?

Global Warming Is A Ticking Time Bomb Waiting To Go Off and Obama Has Like Minutes To Stop It

2008-12-17T06:14:00.005-05:00

Well, that's the claim of the AP's Seth Borenstein. In his less than reasoned piece he makes the case that the Earth cooling back to 1992 levels is proof for how fast we are actually warming.

When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.

Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it.

Scientists are increasingly anxious, talking more often and more urgently about exceeding "tipping points."

"We're out of time," Stanford University biologist Terry Root said. "Things are going extinct."

U.S. emissions have increased by 20 percent since 1992. China has more than doubled its carbon dioxide pollution in that time. World carbon dioxide emissions have grown faster than scientists' worst-case scenarios. Methane, the next most potent greenhouse gas, suddenly is on the rise again and scientists fear that vast amounts of the trapped gas will escape from thawing Arctic permafrost.

The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has already pushed past what some scientists say is the safe level.

Hysterical.

Mother Nature, of course, is oblivious to the federal government's machinations. Ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. Experts say it's thanks to a La Nina weather variation. While skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.

Of course, real scientists are objecting to this kind of shark jumping histrionics.

Scientists skeptical of the assertion that climate change is the result of man's activities are criticizing a recent Associated Press report on global warming, calling it "irrational hysteria," "horrifically bad" and "incredibly biased."

They say the report, which was published on Monday, contained sweeping scientific errors and was a one-sided portrayal of a complicated issue.

"If the issues weren't so serious and the ramifications so profound, I would have to laugh at it," said David Deming, a geology professor at the University of Oklahoma who has been critical of media reporting on the climate change issue.

In the article, Obama Left with Little Time to Curb Global Warming, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein wrote that global warming is "a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid," and that "global warming is accelerating."

Deming, in an interview, took issue with Borenstein's characterization of a problem he says doesn't exist.

"He says global warming is accelerating. Not only is it continuing, it's accelerating, and whether it's continuing that was completely beyond the evidence," Deming told FOXNews.com.

"The mean global temperature, at least as measured by satellite, is now the same as it was in the year 1980. In the last couple of years sea level has stopped rising. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24-year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980."

Deming said the article is further evidence of the media's decision to talk about global warming as fact, despite what he says is a lack of evidence.

"Reporters, as I understand reporters, are supposed to report facts,"Deming said. "What he's doing here is he's writing a polemic and reporting it as fact, and that's not right. It's not reporting. It's propaganda.

"This reads like a press release for an environmental advocacy group like Greenpeace. It's not fair and balanced."

I would love to hear Seth Borenstein order lunch, it would probably go something like, "look man, I'm hungry, the blue plate was supposed to be here in like 5 minutes. I don't have 20 minutes to eat. My stomach is already touching my SPINE! My god hurry that food!"

Hey Seth, are you saying that It Could Happen Tomorrow? At least their hurricane ice storms were interesting.

A Lie Too Big To Fail

2008-12-04T06:46:00.002-05:00

How rich is this? Nancy Pelosi is offended by the leadership of the Big 3 because they are begging for money with no coherent plan to stay viable for the long term. Plus they had the audacity to ride around in private jets. She thinks their leadership should be removed before we give them another penny.

I agree with that sentiment.

And that goes all the way around, only it's a lot more serious than the rank hypocrisy of our Speaker of the House.

In fact, the Big 3 management teams and congress have made almost identical mistakes in the last 50 years. Philosophically, both have lived on short business/political cycles that promote short term fudges rather than long term solutions; all while executing long term plans that always outspent revenues. Gamblers suffer from the same eternal optimism even in the face of economic reality: the difference being the inveterate gambler has a day of reckoning that may involve a kneecapping instead of a bail-out check. Pain and the threat of death: the self-checking mechanism that prevents gamblers from running up trillions in debt.

I can see the wisdom in that system.

The thing that has surprised me is the absolute silence on social security solvency, even as we have just watched the perfect model for how big programs collapse. Will a future congress and president fain surprise when the first whispers emerge that social security checks will start getting smaller?

The government has been lying about social security for years, so that much is not new. What is new is the perspective provided by the financial collapse of the government-private mortgage industry. If this isn't THE needed wake up call to take a longer view then we surely won't hear another.

The big lie is exposed in this Government Accounting Office.

Social Security’s benefit costs will soon start to grow rapidly. In 2017,
Social Security is projected to pay out more cash in benefits than it receives
in revenues.1 As figure 6 shows, after that time, the gap between costs and
income grows continuously, and, unless action is taken to close this gap, the
trust funds will eventually be depleted in 2041.

Right now, the surplus is used to fund other parts of the government, so 2017 is a much scarier date than it would appear on the face of it.

Here's the money shot.

Starting in 2017, the Treasury Department will begin to redeem
trust fund securities in order to continue to pay full promised benefits.
Specifically, in order to convert the Trust Fund securities into cash, the
government will require increased government revenue, increased borrowing
from the public, or reduced spending in the rest of the government.

When the Treasury has to redeem securities some very tough things will happen. The GAO's projections are that everything (value of securities and willing buyers) will continue as normal for 40 years. That is the same kind of thinking that backed the sales of mortgage backed securities...i.e. that the value of homes would never go down for any length of time. We just saw what happened to those kind of eternally optimistic projections.

Vaclav Klaus: Czech Republic President To Take Turn At EU President

2008-11-25T06:32:00.002-05:00

This is rich. Vaclav is a free market guy and strong skeptic of the frothy global warming scare tactics. He has famously called Al Gore the “apostle of arrogance.”

The New York Times article is here.

PRAGUE — In the 1980s, a Communist secret police agent infiltrated clandestine economics seminars hosted by Vaclav Klaus, a fiery future leader of the Czech Republic, who had come under suspicion for extolling free market virtues. Rather than reporting on Marxist heresy, the agent was most struck by Mr. Klaus’s now famous arrogance.

“His behavior and attitudes reveal that he feels like a rejected genius,” the agent noted in his report, which has since been made public. “He shows that whoever does not agree with his views is stupid and incompetent.”

My favorite quote: “Klaus is a provocateur who will twist his arguments to get attention,” said Jiri Pehe, a former adviser to Vaclav Havel, Mr. Klaus’s rival and predecessor as president." Hmmm, pot meet kettle.

Like many people who grew up in a communist country, the cool factor of Marxist ideas and enforcers like Che and Uncle Joe is quite low.

Those who know Mr. Klaus say his economic liberalism is an outgrowth of his upbringing. Born in 1941, he obtained an economics degree in 1963 and was deeply influenced by free market economists like Milton Friedman.

Mr. Klaus’s son and namesake, Vaclav, recalled in an interview that when he was 13, his father told him to read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to better understand Communism’s oppressiveness.

“If you lived under communism, then you are very sensitive to forces that try to control or limit human liberty,” he said in an interview.

After Vaclav, I'll wager the EU will find a way to end the rotating presidency thing.

David Mamet's Inspiring Speech In Protection Of Free Speech and Condemnation of the 'Fairness Doctrine'

2008-11-22T23:17:00.006-05:00

This should be required listening for conservatives, as many of Mamet's points are understood at the gut level but here are drawn out in precise and engaging language.

Click on the BBC link here.

On political Correctness:

"It goes against the American grain. It just will not wash, for we know that it means ‘totalitarian’. How can any politics or speech be correct? A person’s politics may be acceptable or unacceptable...but to deem it (speech or politics) correct implies it adheres to the one true form which can only take place in a dictatorship."

UPDATED: How Can Hillary Even Be Considered For SecState?

2008-11-17T07:25:00.000-05:00

Update from the NYT Clinton Vetting Includes Look at Mr. Clinton

A team of lawyers trying to facilitate the potential nomination spent the weekend looking into Mr. Clinton’s philanthropic organization, interactions with foreign governments and ties to pharmaceutical companies, a Democrat close to both camps said. While Mr. Clinton has used his foundation to champion efforts to fight AIDS, poverty and climate change around the world, he has also taken millions in speaking fees and contributions from foreign officials and businesses with interests in American governmental policies.

Obama advisers are discussing what Mr. Clinton would need to do to avoid a conflict of interest with the duties of his wife, who is said to be interested in the post. “That’s the first and most important hurdle,” said a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “He does good work. No one wants it to stop, but a structure to avoid conflicts must be thought of.”

They have done good things with that money...therefore it's OK? That's the sniff test here? I guess if I give 25% of the money to ACORN, it would be OK to rob a bank as well. UGH.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought "we" already discussed this? Bill and Hillary have magically made tens of millions since he left office and most of it came from foreign governments. The library cash from the Saudis. The special consulting deals in Dubai and other middle eastern nations. The Clinton's bank accounts are just brimming with foreign dough and the media has pulled another convenient Mel Haney memory trick to pretend that the conflict of interest issues here are "nothing to notice."

Maybe this is a "helping Hillary pay off her campaign debt" thing? If it is, I would rather Obama just cut the check from his campaign account than put Billary back in a position of power while they pile up money from foreign governments.

How much money did Bill get from the Chinese Internet company? How much illegal cash did Hillary get from Chinese nationals? Who could forget their phony bundling efforts in NYC's China Town where buss boys were cutting $2000 checks like extra heapings of fried rice? Who could forget the phony addresses near the LA Airport where bags of cash were magically appearing and Chinese nationals (again) were found responsible? Who could forget all of that? The big bad main stream media...that's who.

On the other hand, if you need details about Joe the Plumbers taxes from 14 years ago, the MSM has it on the tips of their forked tongues. That kind of opposition research seems to reside in the hard-wired RAM of the MSM, while the massive conflict of interests created by Bill Clinton have never been explored.

For that matter Sean Hannity, who's dreams must consist of sweat-filled del Toro-esque vignettes of William Ayers and crazy preachers, and much of his fellow "alternative media" seemed to miss this point as well.

And the point is this: In most of the developed countries in the world, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton would never be able to serve in government again after taking these consulting fees and direct donations in grotesque amounts from foreign interests. After they left the White House, these two acted like game show contestants in one of those cash grab money boxes and now, forgetting the damn shame of this behavior, we are supposed to accept Hillary as a high federal official again.

The media will continue their search for a human interest story and ignore the political one right in front of their noses. Forget about the Fairness Doctrine, this country needs a Competence Doctrine.

Over the next week the media will ask "will she or won't she," when the better question is "how dare she..."

My Two Point Plan Alternative To The Pelosi Three Point Plan For The Auto Maker Bailout

2008-11-16T07:38:00.010-05:00

Here's the Pelosi Three Point Plan(from Detroit News).

The auto industry's survival plan must meet several conditions, Pelosi said:

• Restructure the automobile companies to ensure their long-term economic viability;

• Meet standards for fuel efficiency that ensure the competitiveness of U.S. autos, including new fuel-efficiency standards; and,

• Deploy advanced vehicle technologies required to compete in the domestic and global market."

Here is my Two Point Plan.

• Buy Toyota and Honda with this bailout (TARP) cash and let congress run them for a few years.

• Remove all congressional restrictions on the Big Three.

GM, Ford and Chrysler won't have any more trouble selling cars in this country or any other.

A Short History Lesson For Congress As They Get Ready To Buy Into The Car Business

2008-11-12T18:37:00.004-05:00

I can hear Barney Frank asking me if I would like an undercoat with that new Buick.

From an AP article via Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation to send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.

I guess this is a natural fit since the only people more detested than the cheesy used car dealer is the Dem controlled congress. But before we throw the rice on this new marriage, it might be helpful to review the history of government operated car businesses. It's a beaut!

Renault (French)

After WWII the company was confiscated and nationalized. By 1981 saw Renault became the largest car maker in Europe, with a production rate of 2 million cars annually. Perhaps the road was too straight, it sought expansion towards America as well as Scandinavia. Firstly, it took major shareholding in AMC (American Motor Corporation) in 1980, which led to the production of Alliance (Renault 9) and Encore (Renault 11) in the United States. Secondly, it took full control of US truck maker Mack. The American adventure turned out to be a disaster as sales in Europe was also declining. Heavy loss led to the sold out of AMC to Chrysler in 1987, since then Renault did not return to America again.

So we have French government engineers to thank for the
Gremlin

and the AMC Pacer

Of course, the whole mess was bailed out by Nissan.

How could anyone forget the car that would fall apart as you drove it off the lot...the YUGO! It was so incredible that the factories were deliberately bombed by NATO forces during the Kosovo War.

I don't want to imply that all government owned car companies make shit cars, but I don't have to...their success at the landfills and recycled pot metal dealers speak volumes.

I would be remiss to ignore the great cars that came out of the Soviet Union.

I think they called them Mosckvithe's or something like that.

After these words (and pictures) of caution, I'm sure I'm worrying about nothing. As long as the new GM design team has Nancy Pelosi signing off on their designs and Ford engineers run new safety features past Harry Reid, this whole thing will come off smashingly well.

Commies Hate 007 Too

2008-11-11T17:03:00.002-05:00

Poor Olga Kurylenko, she thought she was playing a movie character in a farsical movie about spy games.

Wrong.

The Ukrainian actress, who plays a Bolivian secret agent opposite Daniel Craig's 007 in "Quantum Of Solace", has also gained ire of the Communist Party of St. Petersburg, which in an open letter on its website condemned her for aiding "the killer of hundreds of Soviet people and their allies." The group's statement describes 007 as "a man who worked for decades under the orders of Thatcher and Reagan to destroy the USSR."

Now, I am not sure which Bond they are talking about, but I would guess it's the Sean Connery.

"The Soviet Union educated you, cared for you and brought you up for free but no one suspected that you would commit this act of intellectual and moral betrayal."

Now for the real reason I linked this article.

Balkanization, Should We Really Be Worried?

2008-11-11T07:02:00.005-05:00

For the last six years, we have heard that phrase about the "rule of law" so much that maybe Valerie Jarrett tripped over herself when she said "Obama needs to be ready to rule from day one," on Meet The Press.

Maybe. But the attitude that would lead one to use the word "rule" has been popping up frequently enough to convince me that this is more than a slip of the tongue.

Soon after the polls opened up in his favor, Obama began talking about compulsory national service and a "civilian national security force" that is just as strong and well funded as the military. I wonder what such a force would do on days when they don't have to attack the bad guys? They would probably do what other national police forces do in other parts of the world...enforce the rulers' wishes on walking around everyday people. For the United States, such a force would probably end up being the official enforcer of all things "PC." Given the selective enforcement of rules or wishes that would surely ensue, such a force would probably be seen as an occupation army in a certain southern segment of this country.

I strongly disagree with Rep. Paul Broun that these things along with Obama's "spread the wealth" comments represent a new Marxism or Nazism. Quite the opposite.

Instead of a strong sense of nationalism and the creation of a renewed world power, Obama is proposing a pull-back, a blaming of his own nation for the ills at home and abroad. No, the Obama movement lacks both the outward focus and hyper-nationalism found in both the Marxist and Nazi movements.

Instead we have a fracturing country never able to unite behind any single leader as the political poles seem to drift further apart. The renewed push for the fairness doctrine (or variants thereof) will be more about punishing the other side. More of the spite-filled politics intended to infuriate and divide.

I'm reminded of Joe Biden's instincts when it came to Iraq. He proposed splitting Iraq into three pieces in a plan that was the only thing that Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish leaders agreed on in 2006. They hated the idea because they understood what a permanently fractured country looks like. It looks like the Balkans - divided in pieces and permanently hostile.

It is exactly this prospect of Balkanization in the United States that has the rest of the world so happy with this election. Most of the world believes that an outward focused, or interventionist, United States is a major problem. In many places the US is seen as a bigger problem than terrorism. Most public polling around the world confirms that unless you have recently been ruled by a communist dictator, you probably dislike the US...by a wide margin. The polling consistently indicates that the world roots for the underdog, even the underdog that brutally represses it's people. It is probably the same psychology that makes me hate the NY Yankees, even when they play the Kansas City Royals.

That Obama has not directly addressed the heightened concerns raised by the promises of our spiteful congressional leadership is a good reason to be worried. Obama does not need the powers of "the one" to unite the country, he only has to stop politics of division and the rest will take care of themselves.

Obaaaaama, It's Time To Play

2008-11-03T17:15:00.001-05:00