Sunday, August 31, 2008

Military Imperialism As A Means To National Suicide

PopulistAmerica.com

A sobering 12-step analysis of the danger--the real danger--We are facing and have faced since 2000:

4. Military imperialism impresses upon the public mind the odd but dangerous suggestion that dissent and resistance are tools of the enemies of legitimate political authority ---and almost never the tools of the friends of liberty.

11. Military imperialism has the undying support of the cowardly and cunning fools who are themselves not directly in harm's way. By shielding themselves from the inevitable problems and terrors (including death) that this impolitic policy is bound to provoke, they are assured of continuing in their frightful, socially unproductive, and grossly wasteful imperial exploits.

Poll: Voters uncertain on Palin - USATODAY.com

Early polls--like first impressions--can mean a lot. But being compared unfavorably to Dan Quayle? Well, that's just gotta be a bad, bad sign...

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Blackwater: A Private Army at Taxpayer Expense

Chycho.com - Analysis and discussion about the world we live in.

I was discussing this very same issue with a friend of Mine who served in Egypt (U.S. Army) for an 18-month period. He doubted Me when I told him Blackwater was a private army beholden only to the murderous moron's hyena cabal. Here it is, people, the jack-booted tread of a clear-cut fascist characteristic: Government-funded, armed men and women that operate outside the law.

Daily Kos: Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother [Photos Video]

Did the current Republican V.P. candidate fake a pregnancy to cover up her 16-year old daughter's "oops"?

The Raw Story | Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent, by declaring indefinite state of war

Ah, yes, the insistent goose-step march to seize as much power before leaving the nexus. Impeachment is a necessity that may be falling ever-shorter from what is ultimately deserved. 

Friday, August 29, 2008

McCain's Prickly TIME Interview - TIME

Maybe John's feeling the pressure, where the long campaign road is beginning to feel like a death march, each blaring whistle-stop a tortuous cell of barely-endurable pain and suffering that saps the will and fortitude to go on.

Or maybe he's just a mean old man.

McCain Picks Palin: Let the Brickbats Fly

Republican presidential candidate John "I Was a P.O.W. at the Naval Academy" McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice

president.

Palin is pushing for Creationism to be taught in Alaskan schools. Big deal: 1,000 more under-educated Gen Y-ers won't make a deep dent anywhere.

Palin's a Vogue girl under investigation for improper ethics while in office. Let's call them Beauty and the Beast, and when McCain croaks (he is 72 and was a P.O.W. at the Naval Academy), she can play both roles, seeing as how she's very, ah, inexperienced and most likely a Rover

choice.

Bush vs. Jesus, '04 Campaign

An oldie, but a goodie. Just slip McCain in where the Bush was (go ahead, make your own double-entendre remarks at your leisure) and this oldie ain't far off the '08 Campaign mark.

QUESTIONS THAT WON'T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ

From the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, September 10, 2002, almost one year to the day of 9/11, Congressman Ron Paul asked 35 questions. The answers--or rather, the lack of clear, compelling, honest and verifiable answers--to these 35 questions, will haunt the Nation for generations to come. 

QUESTIONS THAT WON'T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ

Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. I am concerned there are some questions that won’t be asked- and maybe will not even be allowed to be asked. Here are some questions I would like answered by those who are urging us to start this war.

1. Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War was because we knew they could retaliate?

2. Is it not also true that we are willing to bomb Iraq now because we know it cannot retaliate- which just confirms that there is no real threat?

3. Is it not true that those who argue that even with inspections we cannot be sure that Hussein might be hiding weapons, at the same time imply that we can be more sure that weapons exist in the absence of inspections?

4. Is it not true that the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency was able to complete its yearly verification mission to Iraq just this year with Iraqi cooperation?

5. Is it not true that the intelligence community has been unable to develop a case tying Iraq to global terrorism at all, much less the attacks on the United States last year? Does anyone remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and that none came from Iraq?

6. Was former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro wrong when he recently said there is no confirmed evidence of Iraq’s links to terrorism?

7. Is it not true that the CIA has concluded there is no evidence that a Prague meeting between 9/11 hijacker Atta and Iraqi intelligence took place?

8. Is it not true that northern Iraq, where the administration claimed al-Qaeda were hiding out, is in the control of our "allies," the Kurds?

9. Is it not true that the vast majority of al-Qaeda leaders who escaped appear to have safely made their way to Pakistan, another of our so-called allies?

10. Has anyone noticed that Afghanistan is rapidly sinking into total chaos, with bombings and assassinations becoming daily occurrences; and that according to a recent UN report the al-Qaeda "is, by all accounts, alive and well and poised to strike again, how, when, and where it chooses"?

11. Why are we taking precious military and intelligence resources away from tracking down those who did attack the United States--and who may again attack the United States--and using them to invade countries that have not attacked the United States? 

12. Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab world's worst suspicions about the US, and isn't this what bin Laden wanted?

13. How can Hussein be compared to Hitler when he has no navy or air force, and now has an army 1/5 the size of twelve years ago, which even then proved totally inept at defending the country? 

14. Is it not true that the constitutional power to declare war is exclusively that of the Congress? Should presidents, contrary to the Constitution, allow Congress to concur only when pressured by public opinion? Are presidents permitted to rely on the UN for permission to go to war?

15. Are you aware of a Pentagon report studying charges that thousands of Kurds in one village were gassed by the Iraqis, which found no conclusive evidence that Iraq was responsible, that Iran occupied the very city involved, and that evidence indicated the type of gas used was more likely controlled by Iran not Iraq?

16. Is it not true that anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 US soldiers have suffered from Persian Gulf War syndrome from the first Gulf War, and that thousands may have died?

17. Are we prepared for possibly thousands of American casualties in a war against a country that does not have the capacity to attack the United States?

18. Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American economy? How about an estimated 30 years occupation of Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?

19. Iraq’s alleged violations of UN resolutions are given as reason to initiate an attack, yet is it not true that hundreds of UN Resolutions have been ignored by various countries without penalty?

20. Did former President Bush not cite the UN Resolution of 1990 as the reason he could not march into Baghdad, while supporters of a new attack assert that it is the very reason we can march into Baghdad?

21. Is it not true that, contrary to current claims, the no-fly zones were set up by Britain and the United States without specific approval from the United Nations?

22. If we claim membership in the international community and conform to its rules only when it pleases us, does this not serve to undermine our position, directing animosity toward us by both friend and foe?

23. How can our declared goal of bringing democracy to Iraq be believable when we prop up dictators throughout the Middle East and support military tyrants like Musharaf in Pakistan, who overthrew a democratically-elected president? 

24. Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings that revealed the U.S. knowingly supplied chemical and biological materials to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and as late as 1992-- including after the alleged Iraqi gas attack on a Kurdish village?

25. Did we not assist Saddam Hussein’s rise to power by supporting and encouraging his invasion of Iran? Is it honest to criticize Saddam now for his invasion of Iran, which at the time we actively supported?

26. Is it not true that preventive war is synonymous with an act of aggression, and has never been considered a moral or legitimate US policy?

27. Why do the oil company executives strongly support this war if oil is not the real reason we plan to take over Iraq?

28. Why is it that those who never wore a uniform and are confident that they won’t have to personally fight this war are more anxious for this war than our generals?

29. What is the moral argument for attacking a nation that has not initiated aggression against us, and could not if it wanted?

30. Where does the Constitution grant us permission to wage war for any reason other than self-defense?

31. Is it not true that a war against Iraq rejects the sentiments of the time-honored Treaty of Westphalia, nearly 400 years ago, that countries should never go into another for the purpose of regime change?

32. Is it not true that the more civilized a society is, the less likely disagreements will be settled by war?

33. Is it not true that since World War II Congress has not declared war and- not coincidentally- we have not since then had a clear-cut victory?

34. Is it not true that Pakistan, especially through its intelligence services, was an active supporter and key organizer of the Taliban?

35. Why don't those who want war bring a formal declaration of war resolution to the floor of Congress?

Transcript: Dennis Kucinich - The Associated Press - Politico.com

Remarks made by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the Spearhead of  Impeachment, at the Democratic Party's National Convention:

"This administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green."

Amen.

Read the brief, searing speech. Then think about it. That's the first step We all need to take.

FreeRice

I saw this site about a year ago and figured it would need time to prove itself. It has, with a simple premise: Answer questions and with each correct answer you donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program.

Take your pick of English Grammar (Picky Grammar Lady, anyone?), English Vocabulary, Chemistry, World Capitals or other categories and note how your level rises or falls according to how well you answer the increasingly-difficult questions. And note too how you learn, for wrong answers elicit the same question until you get it right, and some questions are repeated to make sure you really know the answer.

Stretch your brain and help feed the hungry: It's only a few seconds away.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bush steps up fight over congressional authority

Associated Press

The Constitution's brilliance was in framing a government within a balance of powers that was subjugated to the citizenry.

Lie to the citizenry to avoid proper limitation of government authority. Then, eliminate the checks that keep the balance of power in semi-functionality and let the plunder...continue.

Diebold Problems Affect Florida Primary Election

BradBlog.com

If I tell you I'm going to kick you in the face, and I show you how I'm going to kick you in the face and in your presence I kick other people in the face and I remind you that I want to kick you in the face, whose freaking fault is it when I kick you in the face?

It doesn't matter: You're the one living the with pain. Again.

Michael Dukakis Feels Sorry

2Parse.com

In this short video, former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, he of the big head and poor showing against Bush Sr. (1988 election, for those of you who might be wondering), lays the blame squarely on his narrow shoulders for allowing the murderous moron (Bush Jr., for those of you who might be wondering) to rise to power-mongering.

Fox News: Fair and Balanced (Their paragraph alignment, that is)

ProseBeforeHos.com

It seems like a parody lifted from the pages of MAD Magazine or The Onion. But. It. Ain't.

The perfect foil, these Fox Noise weasels. Fair and balanced, they call themselves, as if saying it made it so; as if the point of journalism is something else and they have rediscovered it.

And to think that Weekly World News, the home of Bat Boy, the Alien Elvis Love Child and Bigfoot's Laundry Woman, is now gone. Or maybe it just turned a corner toward insanity and became the Fox Faux News Network...

Synthetic Blood From Stem Cells?

Wired.com--MedTech

As the article points out, this could be the "breakout product" stem cells need to overcome resistance (in the U.S. of part of A.) to their widespread use. Imagine the sheer impact of having blood enough to treat all patients who need it in whatever life-saving quantities may be needed, free of potential incompatibility problems.

With stem cells, the potential is seemingly unimited; falling behind on studying and developing that potential cannot be a good idea.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

McCain endorses song about "f***ing" at high school; reaction

DailyKos.com

THIS is why I was laughing so hard--literally and on Jenius Jots--about John McCain receiving an endorsement from Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. (Yeah, he's from Puerto Rico but he calls himself "Daddy Yankee." Tell Me about the national self-image screw-up We live under...)

A quote, if I may:

Something is wrong with our priorities here if the Republican conservative candidate can appear at an American high school before an audience of ecstatic teenagers and plug a song about "f***ing"--and that goes largely unnoticed.

And with your kind permission, one more quote:

Some pointed out that "Gasolina" is Puerto Rican street slang for "sperm," and the woman singing back up was demanding more "sperm" from Daddy Yankee. In the English lyrics excerpt below, the translator says "gata" is slang for "babe." But other commenters wrote in to me last night to tell me that it's the equivalent of an American slang word: "p***y."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahohstopithurtsHAHAHAHHAHAhahaha

No Fool like an old Fool...

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Crack Wise

ReadersDigest.com

Ah, the old reliable "Laughter is the Best Medicine"...

I can attest to this, for the worst times in My life have always been those days when My sense of humor, that sometimes infernally-irritating habit I have of trying to slice some funny out of what's around Me, goes away. When it goes away, I guess My inside curls up and says The hell with it...

Bad Credit? Why You Shouldn't 'Rent to Own'

ABCNews.go.com

Ah, Disney keeping the vestiges of the ol' go.com alive and churnin'...

Bad credit means you're at the mercy of the industry that spawns credit, the "consumerist" industry. (My phrase, I think. If not, Mine to use here.) Now you can have good credit by playing the game within the rules, i.e., buying and paying more than you should... or you can have "good credit" by not paying useless fees and interest and saving money so you can afford to get what you need when you need it.

What did you expect? A magic money tree?

Looking Back at Five Years of Bush's Wreckage in Iraq

Alternet.org

As I read (and posted) recently, a "war on terror" cannot be won on any single battlefield because by definition, terrorism eschews a single battlefield. To say We can win a "war on terror" by use of military force is like saying We will kill flies with baseball bats: Our reach, and effectiveness, is far short of the total grasp needed.

So here's a summary of five years where the deaths were not analogical flies, but flesh and blood humans, too many of Ours, too many of Theirs, all of them--really--Us.

 

Kucinich Pursues Impeachment to Prevent 'October Surprise' Attack on Iran

Democrats.com

I much--much, I tell you!--rather have Dennis Kucinich impeach the murderous moron's ass because he has earned it many times over, but this "pre-emptive strike" angle makes sense. A lot of sense. And given the deteriorating climate of the government's actions, it makes all the sense in the world.

Hobson's (Ugly-Ass) Choice

Populist America.com

No, Hobson's Choice is not about "The lesser of two evils," it's about simply "evil," as in having no choice at all.

I may have disagreed with the opening premise, but by the end of the article, I was sold. I guess a Jenius can change His mind every once in a while...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Settlement Gives Everyone Free Copies Of Their Credit Report & Score.

Hey! Free! Whee!

CNN Political Ticker: Jon Stewart lectures reporters on coverage

In the land of the blind and mindless, the one-eyed glib clown shall lead them...

Money tight, some finish college in 3 years - The Boston Globe

Considering that the value of a college education is deemed closer to negligible than substantial nowadays, chopping off 25-40% of the time invested in a degree is actually a good idea. Look at it this way: You get the desired result for a much lower investment.

As for worries about the quality of education received, I detect more than whiff of hypocrisy in the "self-exploration" argument. After all, that extra year or two translates into more money for colleges, right? 

Washington Wire - WSJ.com : McCain's Yankee Doodle Daddy

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh, please, stop it! HAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha

Quick, McCain, for 1,000 votes, name a Daddy Yankee song and find his birthplace on a global map!

"Gasoline"?!! And "Somewhere near Cuba"?!? 

HAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha

Note the closing lines: "The event was labeled a “press conference” but McCain didn’t take any questions from reporters. The last time the once-media loving candidate did so was Aug. 12."

HAHAHAHAhahahahahahanocomment

YouTube - Bush, Cheney, PNAC, & The Criminal Conspiracy To Invade Iraq

A ten-minute BBC video report that portrays more closely what the world thinks is happening in the U.S. of part of A. than the mainstream media does. Note the dry tone throughout the piece.

Cover story: 'A Truman for our times' by Edward Luttwak | Prospect Magazine August 2008 issue 149

I do read opinion pieces that don't agree with My correct ones. What caught My eye here is the idea that a legacy to the last few years of the off-White House can be seen already, but I have to ask: How much of an angle are We taking here to be able to see this apparent legacy?

Monday, August 25, 2008

In Case You Missed It - 2007 50 Things We Know Now (That We Didn't Know This Time Last Year)

I wish #49 would happen to politicians...

 

A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash - NYTimes.com

Registration required. Idiotic New York Times. Try BugMeNot.

Nature evolves. That's a fact. What works in Nature, remains; what doesn't, gets eliminated. That's a fact. Why those facts are seen to clash with faith-based beliefs is a travesty, for there's no need for that to happen. Science searches for an explanantion; Faith gives you one, if you choose it. Seems to Me there's plenty of ground between them to live and let live.

Ah, but that's the rub, isn't it? "To let live" is a level of maturity way out of the reach of way too many people.

Ohio's Election Stolen Again? State May Face 600K Voter Purge in Coming Weeks | | AlterNet

Where there's smoke...

Funny how smoke can signal and hide at the same time. It can serve as the end or the beginning of a process equally destructive. It can signal victory or defeat, and often both at the same time.

Go ahead, see the smoke. Then wonder if it's a signal or a curtain, the start or the end, a moment of victory or the pain of a defeat, and if so, wonder who has been defeated.

Or will be.

Note: From My Friend, The Picky Grammar Lady: Re: Ohio voting rolls purge- I believe in the last presidential election, one Ohio county had MORE PEOPLE VOTING THAN THEY HAD RESIDENTS... (It smacked of New Orleans politics...) I'm not so sure that some purging isn't in order in Ohio...

Leaked memo: e-mail recovery will outlast Bush presidency

Ars Technica

Shall We call it "a technology issue," thus absolving the murderous moron and his hyena cabal of responsibility?

I ask in sarcasm, knowing full well this is as far as this issue is going to go. 

Quotations Regarding War...and Government

QuestionWar.com

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."  – Edward Abbey

"War is the tool of small-minded scoundrels who worship the death of others on the altar of their greed."   – John Cory

"No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots."  ~ Barbara Ehrenreich

"To criticize one's country is to do it a service .... Criticism, in short, is more than a right; it is an act of patriotism-a higher form of patriotism, I believe, than the familiar rituals and national adulation."  – Senator James W. Fulbright

"The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people."  – Frank Kent

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. " -- Abraham Lincoln

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."  – James Madison







'Uncounted,' A Film That Will Leave Audiences Angry and Empowered

"Ohio was the battleground state where tens of thousands of votes intended for Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, were handed to George W. Bush. Thousands more went uncounted. Chalk that up to a well-funded Republican machine, which used every weapon in its arsenal, such as shredding voter registration rolls, to make sure Ohio, the state that would decide the outcome of the 2004 election, went to Bush.
In other words, the 2004 election was stolen and the evidence to back up this flat out assertion is overwhelming to say the least."

Make up your own mind, but do it fast: The next possibly-stolen election is a little over two months away...and the world is watching very closely.

Note: From My Friend, The Picky Grammar Lady: Re: Uncounted... It seems like basic, basic auditing checks must not have been performed... A polling site should know how many voters voted (I've voted in several states, including some with electronic balloting, and you still have to sign on the dotted line that you voted). They know how many electronic votes they show recorded. A simple math check should immediately highlight any discrepancies in the number of votes. Both parties usually have poll workers at each location (my mom is one in Louisiana) - can't chalk it up to "one party's politics." It seems like you'd have to be really inept or lazy not to be able to determine that there was a problem if you went to the trouble to perform a low-level check.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

An amazing economics experiment and how it got field workers to pick a lot more fruit. - By Tim Harford - Slate Magazine

Apropos of the "money changes community" post just two donw from this one... "proof".

I want my country back--Populist America.com

"...as Tim O'Brien has pointed out, while it's possible to have both liberty and security, you can't have an empire as well. Once the American government decided to run the world, Americans were forced to choose between liberty and security - because you can't have all three. Once you become an empire, either liberty or security must go.

Most likely, however, we will lose both liberty and security. We're losing our liberties, but innocent Americans will continue to be hurt by terrorists because of what our government is doing overseas."

And lest you jump blindly at the writer's jugular:

"I love America, and I can't stand quietly by while the land of peace and liberty is being destroyed. 

I love the America of the Constitution and limited government - not the America of the Patriot Act and the Orwellian Department of Homeland Security. 

I love the America that Washington and Jefferson said should be far removed from all the age-old quarrels of Europe and Asia, while trading benevolently with people all over the world - not the America that has troops in a hundred countries while our own government prohibits us from peaceful trading with dozens of countries. 

In short, I want my country back."



Greg Mankiw's Blog: Does money undermine community?

I bet you never thought of money this way...

Do-It-Yourself InkJet and Laser Printer Repair (HP, Apple, Epson, and More) - fixyourownprinter.com

Folks, you know printer ink (especially inkjet ink) is more expensive than gold. So how about a one-stop shop for saving money on supplies and repair bills when it comes to your printers?

Here it is: fixyourownprinter.com 

Have fun saving money!

Find Out Exactly Where Your Money Goes: Keep a Spending Log | Dumb Little Man

The Jenius can attest to the power of this little exercise, for I was under the impression that I knew exactly where every penny went. Turns out I was off in My "knowledge" by 35%! That means I was spending 35% more than I thought, not exactly a fast-track to improved personal finances.

Do the log and learn something about yourself that you can immediately put into practice--to your great benefit.

Dutch paving stones clean air pollution | Green Tech - CNET News.com

We need these paving stones now in Puerto Rico, where roughly 3 million cars roam unchecked over an area far smaller than the 3,600 square miles We have all told.

America's Best Colleges 2008 - Forbes.com

As a public service, here are the best colleges in the U.S., by a new source. And just to balance out the love, here's a ranking of the worst. I note with some surprise that Ole Miss was Top 25 in one of these lists...

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Ninth U.S. Bank Collapse in 2008; Pace Accelerating

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Nine down, an estimated 50-80 more on the way. Let's say that's wrong, that only 25 more banks collapse: What does that do to the U.S. economy? Seems to Me it delivers a harsh body blow, as roughly $300-380 billion get sucked out of government coffers and ends up as debt We have to shoulder.

Someone has to pay the piper, and the piper is not Us: It's someone who will own Us in the long run.

Slashdot | As of October, FBI To Allow Warrantless Investigations

Let the debate begin!

Oh it has already. On the Internet. Or portions thereof.

How about the Mainstream Media? Still spewing sewage of the partisan variety? Anybody standing up and saying "Hey! Over here! More rights trampled!" Anybody giving a damn about the fact--beyond dispute--that We are increasingly becoming prisoners in the "Land of the Free" and that the erstwhile "Home of the Brave" is being run by craven lunatics?

If "the terrorists" wanted to ruin the "Land of the Free" and expose Us as something other than the "Home of the Brave," I'd be hard-pressed to say they haven't won...

US Role in Georgia Crisis Cannot Be Ignored

From military build-up to tacit support of policies against South Ossetia to representation for inclusion in NATO to "You back the U.S., the U.S. will back you" mentality and --presto!--it's not Georgia that's to blame... it's Russia.

Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

Oh this is a sticky wicket, what with elections coming up soon and everything...

Friday, August 22, 2008

FT.com / World - Tbilisi admits misjudging Russia

The Deputy Defense Minister of Georgia: (We) did not believe Russia would respond to (our) offensive in South Ossetia and (were) completely unprepared for the counter-attack.

No Russian invasion of a neighboring country, as the current spin keeps trying to peddle. A Georgian attack repulsed--in force--by Russian troops. That's what happened, and the spin is nothing but a lie.

American Ingenuity Leads to Biodiesel Breakthrough : Gas 2.0

THIS is the heart of Science, from the Heartland, with Love.

FBI May Start Spying On Americans "Without Any Basis For Suspicion": Information Clearing House - ICH

Italy's OVRA, 1927.

Germany's S.S./Gestapo, 1934.

Russia's NKVD, 1946.

The C.I.A., 2001, pre-9/11; the F.B.I., projected 2008. Before the murderous moron leaves office.

This isn't conspiracy theory: It's simply happening around Us.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Right to Earn a Living Under Attack | News & Commentary | The Foundation for Economic Education: In Brief

In Puerto Rico, this has long been the case, and it's merely gotten worse what with new regulations, shorter terms for permits and increased reporting, not to mention more taxes. So if you're looking for an example of an underground economy that practically matches the "legitimate" one, We have a hotel room waiting for you.

Pajamas Media: Government Workers Immune from Economic Realities

I have been saying this for years: The government's primary economic focus is improving its own microeconomic status. In short, it will feed and groom itself at Our expense. 

Like a tumor enhancing its capillary network...

Planning to E-Vote? Read This First: Scientific American

"'Nothing we do now will affect the November election,' Dill says. 'We don't know how to make secure paperless voting.'"

Here. We. Go. Again.

The Raw Story | MSNBC: Bush creating 'embryonic police state'

You may disagree with the headline, but you cannot argue against the enormous increase in the past seven years of surveillance and spying against citizens, all done under the cover of "national security."

Italy's OVRA, 1927.

Germany's S.S/Gestapo, 1934.

Russia's NKVD, 1946.

Surveillance and spying turned inward, under the cover of "national security." All were intelligence agencies first...just like the C.I.A. 

Go ahead, disagree.

You're wrong.

White House missing as many as 225 days of e-mail

Actually, the estimate by the White House itself, is as high as 473 missing days from a 20-month period. That's about 75% missing.

Oh, yeah, sure, right, uh-huh, definitely this is a mere oversight.

Hyenas cackling. You can hear the hyenas cackling...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

One Teacher’s Cry: Why I Hate No Child Left Behind

"While I still connect my lesson plans to students’ lives and work to make it real, this no longer is my sole focus. Today I have a new nickname: testbuster. Singing to the tune of “Ghostbusters,” I teach test-taking strategies similar to those taught in Stanley Kaplan prep courses for the SAT. I spend an inordinate amount of time showing students how to “bubble up,” the term for darkening those little circles that accompany multiple choice questions on standardized tests."

"...As an educator, I know these tests are only one measure, one snapshot, of student achievement. Unfortunately, they are the make-or-break assessment that determines our status with the Department of Education."

"...We’ve got things backwards today. Children should be in the front seat, not the testing companies. And teachers should be rewarded for teaching, not for being Stanley Kaplan tutors."

No Child Left Behind? No. Children Left Out.

George Washington's Blog: The FBI Admits It Has No Case Against Ivins

If you don't remember Bruce Ivins and the anthrax scare he supposedly caused right after 9/11, you're part of the problem. For, you see, the F.B.I. made out a case against him built on evidence as solid as the bubbles in the murderous moron's head. End result: Ivins was disgraced and eventually killed himself.

Now the F.B.I., instead of arguing its case, is basically doing a neo-con favorite: smearing chaotically. For, you see, it appears that Ivins was innocent of the anthrax attacks. So like the weapons of mass destruction that "forced" Us into Iraq, so the supposed "mad scientist" who made "inevitable" the horrors of the misnamed Patriot Act.

And so it goes... 

Most startups do not create value, says Professor Scott Shane | Small Business Trends

I was ready to jump all over this, when it dawned on Me: The Professor is right. But the results presented still surprised Me, for I would have thought they were skewed a little more favorably to moderately-successful small businesses.

Business & Technology | Savers are the losers in today's tough times | Seattle Times Newspaper

Be financially smart, avoid excessive debt, save money...and watch as the government steps in to save idiots who do the exact opposite while your money gets shaved away like polar ice caps. 

Makes you wonder, don't it?

The Great Consumer Crash of 2009 - Seeking Alpha

Having your credit limit upped another $1,500 is NOT--I am telling you, NOT--a raise. Being handed a new credit card with an immediate-purchase 10% discount is NOT--listen to Me, NOT--a raise. Being allowed to go into deeper debt is NOT--mark My words, NOT--a raise.

Earning--and keeping--more money is the only legitimate way to raise your salary, income and personal wealth. See how these simple concepts were largely ignored by two generations who are now watching vultures coming home to roost.

Educating Millennials - Why We’re Doing it Wrong | VirtualWayfarer.com | A Place For Intellectual Musings

"Simply put, tech savvy Millennials are not being engaged or challenged by the one-dimensional delivery systems in a majority of today’s classrooms. They are not interested in sitting passively and having information spoon fed to them. Much of this information is not interdisciplinary or connected to the real world. They can do better on their own in this new, comprehensive ‘digital classroom’. If we don’t reevaluate the way we educate Millennials, I expect female enrollment numbers to peak and begin to decline as they become more engaged in technology which follows the trend we are currently seeing among males."

I'm not completely sold on this, for it smacks of two overly-common failings of academia-think: Gender influence and microlabeling, the tendencies to want to "equalize" the sexes by separating them and giving names to "new" things.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

8 Essential Skills They Didn’t Teach You In School - Stepcase Lifehack

A. Freakin'. Men.

Free the Airwaves

What argument would you have against this?

Commentary: Is McCain another George W. Bush? - CNN.com

"John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. "

Okay, despite the legacy boost and the undeniable power boost from having TWO of the highest-ranking Naval officers as ancestors, this guy finishes 5th from the bottom? There's a marker for future reference, one that seems to be very--very--consistent later in life.

Mainstream media dilemma - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

I've been Twittering (Gil The Jenius) about this and thrashing the local media in Dondequiera.com. Just so you know I'm FAR from being the only one...

Neuroscience: One Pill Makes You Autistic -- And One Pill Changes You Back

There are times when I wonder if We shouldn't take Science out back and beat it silly with a 2X4...

Monday, August 18, 2008

Suspicious Microbiologists' Deaths

I first saw this story when the death toll was nine. Now what is it?

10 Leadership Qualities

Here's a simple checklist you can use to evaluate the candidates before you vote. Though I bet you basically use it to confirm whatever awful choice you have already decided upon. (Not blaming you: They're all awful.)

Belief-Based Map

HAHAHAHAHAhahahahawitty

Roads as Solar Energy Collectors

Go ahead, try to figure out how it can be done. Then slap yourself in the forehead because it's so darn obvious.

The leading cause of U.S bankruptcies: Medical costs

And according to this article/video, 75% of those declaring bankruptcy had health insurance...

A Better Vista = XP

How does it feel to produce an "improved" product, only to have your customers clamor for the old? Only Coca-Cola and Microsoft know...

Free Will in Humans...and Subatomic Particles

Now it's already a truism of quantum theory that the subatomic universe is unpredictable by current concepts, so whether the unpredictability is due to randomness or free will makes no difference to science. But to think that math can prove free will, and that by extension that free will is thus proven at the subatomic level, is a fascinating line of inquiry.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Is It Worse Than Watergate? Americans Won't Know - Unless We Investigate, Charge and Prosecute | AfterDowningStreet.org

At this point, the refusal to seriously look into what's been going on at the highest government levels in the U.S. of part of A. is a criminal act in itself. Or is it just a passive 5th Amendment strategy? Whatever it is, investigating is a requirement, not an option.

Why corporate governments want to control the Internet

Chycho.com - Analysis and discussion about the world we live in.

In a nutshell: Information is power and widespread access to information threatens established power bases. See why here.

Cancer's Three Developmental Signatures

Journal-News: Dayton, Ohio, news and information

More news on the cancer front: Seems all cancer tumors show one of three growth patterns. Maybe now "Divide and conquer" will make headway against this disease.

Max Bergmann: As Things Fall Apart

As the (off-White) house of cards collapses, the whispers become coherent sounds of crashing failure...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Texas School District Will Allow Teachers To Carry Guns | THE HOT JOINTS

Maybe I should sigh and murmur "Well, that's Texas for ya..."

Democracy Now! | Russia-Georgia Conflict Fueled by Rush to Control Caspian Energy Resources

A discussion of why Georgia is important oil-wise, why Russia would want to move in, why Iran is such a U.S. target and how it takes multiple presidents to screw not one or two golden opportunities, but three.

 

The Annexation of South Ossetia: Russia’s War For Control of Oil � In One Ear… Out the Other

South Ossetia has--had--de facto independence from Georgia, unrecognized by the UN or the European Community, but accepted by Russia, Georgia...and the United States. Georgia moved in first--that is beyond dispute--with U.S.-backed forces trying to secure a swift capture. That would have given an oil chip (the pipeline there) to the U.S.  Instead, it has placed a once-independent nation firmly in the grasp of a country that couldn't annex it politically.

This is foreign policy by hawkish morons too stupid and too cowardly to do the necessary military jobs themselves.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Bad Bad Teacher? No, Bad Bad Lawyer!

Bad Bad Teacher: Melissa Monroe

"Attorneys for Melissa Monroe have announced they will file a motion to challenge the constitutionality of the state law prohibiting public school teachers from engaging in sexual contact with students."

Uh, what the f*** did you just say?

Shakespeare's line about first killing all lawyers keeps coming up for a reason. This is happening in Arkansas, so let's hear it for Dixie! Oh, and it's happening in Bentonville, where Wal-mart got its start.

Not that they have anything to do with this. Just thought I'd point it out...

The Russia-Georgia Truth Visual Aid

Someone poke the murderous moron in the off-White House awake and tell him to look at this cartoon. Even he can understand what it says, though he'll still continue to lie in the face of evidence. He's a genius that way.

Drug that uses the body's cells to blast cancer | Mail Online

It seems that every other week or so, a new cancer-fighting treatment is revealed. Makes Me wonder if We are actually making progress in the form of routing the disease or if We're hacking at dead branches, biological dead ends, that lead Us back to a starting board. 

I hope it's the former, but even the latter, as Edison would say, tells Us something We didn't know before.

Bush warns Russians against 'bullying' - CNN.com

HAHAHAHAhahahahaIraq

THIS is what the U.S. of part of A. is reading/hearing about the Russia-Georgia conflict. "Russia invaded and the American-supported Georgian army defended itself." Wrong.

The murderous moron strikes--literally--again.

Some notes: When the Russian Army defended itself then moved into Georgia, the U.S forces backed off. You got that: They pulled out and left an Afghanistan and Iraq War ally out in the cold. And through Georgia passes one of the most important oil pipelines in the world.  Owned by Russian interests, I might add.

Alex Jones’ Prison Planet.com: Georgia and U.S. Strategy

And just so you get the under-reported, misreported facts straight on the Russia-Georgia conflict...

US Politician predicted Georgia Conflict Back in 2002

Now you are aware that there's been a brief war--a "skirmish" that leaves people just as dead--in the Republic of Georgia? It was in all the papers--in Europe--and casually ignored here because, well, you know, there's fireworks in Beijing!

Here's a clear framework for what happened between Russia and Georgia recently. Yes, it's from 2002. In this "microwave" society of instant gratification and "what have you done for me now," We ignore the simple reality of history. There's plenty of history between Russia and Georgia. You'll get a good idea of the trigger points for more wars in under 90 seconds.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Bush's Grim Vision

The Consortium

Note the date: June 21, 2002. Go ahead, read it, and then think about the last 6 years, and how even the direst foreboding of this article fell short of current reality.

"Vanishing Liberties" Coffee Mug

Unemployed Philosophers Guild Home

HAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahaha

"Pour in a hot beverage and watch your civil liberties disappear! Mug features the complete text of the Bill of Rights, but pour in a hot beverage and see what remains thanks to the Patriot Act!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha

Flash animation!!

Drink shit, Americans.

College Daze - Forbes.com

hahahahahahahaha

"The years after high school are for learning how to be a grown-up. Today's colleges are terrible places to do it."

No, really...hahahahahahaha

"Higher education" indeed...

Bush Faces Rare Audience Challenge in N.C. - washingtonpost.com

I grew up an Air Force brat and was told, at an early age, that one should always respect "the uniform," if not always the person in it. I learned better.

What works--and is necessary--in the military is absolute folly in civilian and political life. A President becomes a president when he fails to uphold his office and becomes a murderous moron when his actions indicate he sends other people into harm's way based on lies and stupidity.

The criminal in the Oval Office who tries to portray himself as "a reluctant warrior" is at least hewing closer to truth, for he did skip his cushy sorry-ass job in the National Guard as a son of privilege. That this execrable excuse for a soldier gets to send real soldiers to war is a criminal tragedy We would do well to punish and avoid in the future.

3rd World Farmer: A simulation to make you think.

Normally I don't advocate games to make a point (My point in playing them is to win), but here's an enlightening simulation into what over a billion people face as daily life. No game can ever truly teach you what a situation is, but it can--as this one does--open your mind to seeing things in a very different way.

Democracy in Five Questions

Bye bye blackboard .... from Tony Benn

I want this as a poster.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

What in the world is this kid drawing? • VideoSift

This is what happens after a very long day. Worth a smile...

Our phony economy—By Jonathan Rowe (Harper's Magazine)

"Few words are so laden with authority and portent. When you say “the economy” is up, no news is better. When you argue that a proposal will help the economy or hurt it, then you have played the ultimate trump card in your polemical deck, bin Laden possibly excepted.

This, by the way, is not an argument against growth. To be reflexively against growth is as numb-minded as to be reflexively for it. Those are theological positions. I am arguing for an empirical one. Find out what is growing and the effects. Tell us what this growth is, in concrete terms. Then we can begin to say whether it has been good.

The failure to do this is insane."

How insane? Quoting further:

"By the standard of the GDP, the worst families in America are those that actually function as families–that cook their own meals, take walks after dinner, and talk together instead of just farming the kids out to the commercial culture. Cooking at home, talking with kids, walking instead of driving, involve less expenditure of money than do their commercial counterparts. Solid marriages involve less expenditure for counseling and divorce. Thus they are threats to the economy as portrayed in the GDP. By that standard, the best kids are the ones who eat the most junk food and exercise the least, because they will run up the biggest medical bills for obesity and diabetes."

Leading to the question:

"How did the notion of economy become so totally uneconomic?"

Read this article and find out.

Learn Your Economic Type

ITIF: Innovation Economics

Uh-huh, a quiz to place you on a scale you never knew existed. Turns out Yours Truly is "Strong" for Rubinomics, which I note is the most "modern" of the types listed. 

I've always said I'm a Jenius ahead of His time...

50 Things New Teachers Need To Know -- Gently Hew Stone

Now I don't agree with all of these and they don't apply to every subject matter, but I agree with numbers 3, 4 and 16 and wholeheartedly agree with numbers 10, 25 and 41. Especially #10. 

Join Dennis Kucinich & Demand Impeachment Hearings

FYI. DIY. ASAP.

The U.S Can't Have It Both Ways -- By Andrew Sullivan

"Once you trash the international system, declare yourself above the law and even the most basic of international conventions against war crimes, you have forfeited the kind of moral authority that the US once had. Bush and his cronies speak as if none of this has happened."

That's what burns Me the most. For most of My life, as the formative vision of society I grew up with, the U.S. of part of A. was not perfect, but it stood for higher ideals. Yes, there was racism, but there was wide-ranging effort to minimize and even abolish it. Yes there were conflicts, but more than just lip service was paid to values and moral standards. And when a President transgressed the law, the world watched--in shock and awe--as what would have been a non-issue anywhere else got Nixon booted out of office.

Now what do We have? A blithering criminal--military slacker, business failure, drunkard--leading a pack of the most insidious vermin in U.S. history. And why are they the worst? Because their actions have undermined the U.S. in every aspect possible: Political, economic, social and moral.

Can the U.S. of part of A. say "We are above that" to torture? To false imprisonment? To human rights violations? To open political machinations? Can the U.S. of part of A. point to its own Constitution and say "It stands as a beacon of human dignity," when the murderous moron in the Oval Office is on record as saying he "wipes his ass" with it? Can the U.S. of part of A. stand on the world stage and say "Be like us" and not have most of the world roar back "Hell no!"?

That's what pisses Me off the most, that the country that--despite its mistakes and flaws--could claim to "Be above that" could consistently make that claim be worthy of respect. And now, the U.S. of part of A. is anything but above anything: In fact, it is only beneath--contempt.

Justice Staffers Won't Be Prosecuted For Illegal Hiring Practices

Cronyism in, Integrity Out. The title sound bite of the current misadministration.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Raw Story | Tape: Top CIA officer confesses order to forge Iraq-9/11 letter came on White House stationery

Do you get the impression that smoking guns in the murderous moron's misadministration keep dropping all over the place? But just like Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs, they "disappear" because of bird brains?

Ceasefire in Georgia: Putin Outmaneuvers the West - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Now that it's pretty much over, here's a wrap-up of what happened in "the other Georgia" and how the U.S. looks in the aftermath of the five-day war.

Scholars and Rogues: Impeachment? Truth and reconciliation commission? Never mind that — haul George Bush into a court of law, part 1

Three-part interview (of sorts) with former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, whose The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder is a best-seller--but you didn't hear that from any mainstream media outlet.

Business & Technology | "I.O.U.S.A." a big-screen look at the U.S.' monster debt | Seattle Times Newspaper

Tired of comic-book hero flicks, overly-violent flicks, dumb-is-as-dumb-does flicks and chick flicks? How about a horror flick, about the economic travesty the U.S. and--by extension--a good chunk of the world are getting into?

One-Third of new Owners Owe More Than House is Worth

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Here's a recipe for financial disaster at a national level: Take the single most valuable property most people will ever own and devalue it by (A) Making it so easy to over-extend themselves buying it that they are in a financial bind immediately, and then (B) Let the economy tumble to the point where that property loses 10-40% of its value.

Intel Abuse: As if you needed more evidence - The Seminal :: Independent Media and Politics

"I have argued in the past that if we know of illegal administration spying on journalists and other non-suspects, and we know of pre-9/11 surveillance, then we for all intents and purposes know that these are not programs designed to fight some foreign terrorists threat. I have often wanted to ask Democratic leaders if they realize that their phone calls and e-mails are being swept up in Bush Administration dragnets—and then I want to ask them if they care.

You see, while the New York Times and the Washington Post have their lawyers to turn to when they are the victims of intelligence abuse (and the lawyers have been brought in for this current case), most of us only have our elected representatives to watch out for our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. If Congressional leaders can’t be convinced of the gravity of this situation, we’re all screwed."

Monday, August 11, 2008

No Child Left Behind: The Test - Rethinking Schools - Volume 19 No. 1 - Summer 2004 - Rethinking Schools Online

Seems the correct program title is "No! Child Left Behind"...

Compressor-Free Refrigerators Soon?

Penn State Engineering News Archives

Imagine refrigerators that use less energy to cool themselves and clothing that could help keep you cooler in the hottest summer... by 2012?

Adeona: A Free, Open Source System for Helping Track and Recover Lost and Stolen Laptops

Most of My Friends and Colleagues use laptops, so here's a nifty way to provide some additional security to a valuable piece of personal property. Won't stop having your laptop seized for no reason by border bandits disguised as government workers, but you can then make sure they take it where they say they will.

Seth's Blog: The secret of the web (hint: it's a virtue)

The quick-fix. The shortcut. The "instant" success. For every example of one of those there are dozens--if not hundreds--of examples of the other kind of success, the true kind, the success built on on focused, steady effort. Let Seth Goldin tell you in a nutshell.

Why Misgovernment Was No Accident in Bush's Washington

"Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals. It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society. This movement is friendly to industry not just by force of campaign contributions but by conviction; it believes in entrepreneurship not merely in commerce but in politics; and the inevitable results of its ascendance are, first, the capture of the state by business and, second, all that follows: incompetence, graft, and all the other wretched flotsam that we've come to expect from Washington."

Ever seen hyenas at a kill? At first they trickle in, wary. Then, with increasing speed, they rush in until a swarm overwhelms the site, with cackling, snarling and chaos the end result.

I've made My point.

Crooks and Liars: How Obama Should Respond to the “Celebrity” Charge

The insidious attack, the basic tool of the modern democratic political campaign. It is used often because it works, playing on the average person's indifference to most issues and mental laziness. 

But weapons have counterweapons, and it's time for the counterweapons to shine, especially to gut insidious lies from any party.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

No Cash for Clunkers - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

I blogged about the proposal earlier, now here's a counter-argument. I'm not generally in favor of government-anything, but the search for solutions does need to include their potential role, both as potential supporter and usual opponent.

The Eternal Value of Privacy

"Cardinal Richelieu understood the value of surveillance when he famously said, "If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged." Watch someone long enough, and you'll find something to arrest -- or just blackmail -- with. Privacy is important because without it, surveillance information will be abused: to peep, to sell to marketers and to spy on political enemies -- whoever they happen to be at the time.

Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance."



Millions Who Had Abortions Don't Know It: Bloomberg.com: Opinion

Here's another example of "back-door" policy revisions by an over-grasping government. I'll cut to the very simple premise that undermines this whole sorry platform: Every crime is proven with evidence (in a just judicial system, which might not be an accurate assessment of where We stand right now, but let's say it is.) How can anyone prove that this "abortion crime" has been committed?

You don't need OTC or prescription drugs to flush a zygote or a fetus: Women have been doing it for millenia with common herbs and minerals. Abortions have been self-performed or carried out throughout history and unless We intend to police, monitor, track and spy on all women 24/7, abortions--both medically-defined and these poppycock-based ones--will continue to happen, for there is no reasonable way to stop them.

Does that make them right? That's your call. But if you call contraception "abortion," then you're opening the false door to considering that any attempt to not conceive a child is wrong. Not only is that Medieval in its ignorance, it also means that male masturbation could be considered a "crime" along the lines of "mass murder." 

And you thought hairy palms were scary...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

The New Reality Of America Dvorak Uncensored: General interest observations and true web-log.

I did mention something about Our ancestors and their freedoms, didn't I?

How journalists should handle global-warming skeptics. - By Ron Rosenbaum - Slate Magazine

"The editorial deplores the way that journalism has lately been failing in this mission (of presenting dissent): 'Rather than engage speech that strays too far from the dangerously narrow borders of our public discourse, the gatekeepers of that discourse—our mass media—tend to effectively shout it down, marginalize it, or ignore it.'"

"Big Media" is in the hands of some 9 conglomerates and it is only in the wilds of the Internet that one can find--like needles in a haystack--the strongest voices of dissent. Is that the way it should be, and what does it mean to the growing trend of efforts to circumscribe/limit Internet access and usage?

The Real Purpose of the Constitution: Tenth Amendment Center

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” That issue is one that appears to have been settled, as we are no longer a nation in which the will of the people is upheld by those chosen to represent them." (Emphasis Mine.)

Tell Congress to Rein in DHS Travel Abuses

American Civil Liberties Union:

Do it before they take away what little is left of the rights Our ancestors enjoyed as rights, not as privileges for a hyena-like few.

Ayad Allawi and Bush administration's forgery of documents, Ron Suskind | Salon

Some old oater serial from the 1930s may have had more smoking guns than the current regiume in the off-White House, but I doubt it: You couldn't have seen the cowboys for the smoke. (That's the probable strategy, don't you think?)

Did a guy named Phil start Philosophy?: America's Economy Thrives on Unhappy People

In  marketing they call it "Creating the need." Such a mentality assumes that "need" is more often artificial than natural; seems to support the "dissatisfaction" thesis of this article.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Group Plans Campaign Against G.O.P. Donors - NYTimes.com

"Because they do the same thing!" is not--and never is--an adequate reason to engage in any activity. How about putting this much effort into actually trying to discuss a pertinent issue or educate the voters so they can make up their own minds?

Too difficult? Name someone who's actually tried it.

Science Videos Search Engine

I may never get work done anymore... An ever-expanding collection of videos on science-related topics, neatly organized for your viewing pleasure. Explore and enjoy!

Op-Ed Columnist - Know-Nothing Politics - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

"...(K)now-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy."

Welcome, also, to Puerto Rican politics, where knowledge is frowned upon, facts are bad and the only thing that matters is who shouts loudest and longest.

Mustafa Qadri: Musharraf is being impeached, why not George Bush? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

"Richard Nixon was almost impeached for clandestinely seeking to undermine his Democratic opponents (he resigned before he could be chucked out) and Bill Clinton was impeached for failing to disclose his sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky (the House of Representatives impeached him, but the Senate acquitted him, and he wasn't subsequently removed from office). It is therefore reasonable to query why impeachment proceedings against George Bush have only been countenanced so hesitantly and only now."

Lack of intelligence, integrity and courage, I'd say.

Nixon was impeached for an underhanded political strategy and subsequent cover-up; Clinton for sex and the subsequent cover-up. The case for impeaching Dubya is so clear--between outright crimes and subsequent cover-ups--that comparing the three would be like comparing two pop-guns to an atom bomb in terms of damage done. We impeached the bush-league stuff, why not the Bush itself?

And yet, the dithering--the craven, cowardly, cynical dithering--goes on.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

How the West (Except for the U.S.) Ended Slavery by Thomas DiLorenzo

"Greatest Emancipations is an historical account of how all the nations of the Western world – except for the U.S. – ended slavery peacefully by utilizing multiple strategies. These strategies, implemented by the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Danes, and others, included slave rebellions, abolitionist campaigns to gain public support for abolition, election of antislavery politicians, encouragement and assistance of runaway slaves, raising private funds to purchase the freedom of slaves, and the use of taxpayer funds to buy the freedom of slaves." (Emphasis in the original.)

Slavery ended in Puerto Rico the way the book describes, in a relatively peaceful manner, with several dozen prominent leaders and a society adapting to change over time. That the U.S of part of A. didn't go that route, and that U.S. historians would rather have the exception be the rule, is at the heart of what should be a non-controversy.

Ian Williams: The White House's forged evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Concerning Ron Suskind's book and what it has revealed, here's the basic question I asked Myself: "In summary, who are you going to believe: a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist or a White House that has provably lied about WMDs, about al-Qaida, about torture and indeed about almost any other subject?"

Case closed, as far as I'm concerned.

WorldChanging Seattle: The Future of Shopping Malls: An Image Essay

A great friend of Mine and I once discussed this topic, arising from a comment I made about malls being the future "blank canvases" of Our communities.

Well, whaddaya know? Arent't the Intertubes grand? Best idea: The mini-village.

Asset Protection BLOG - Mark Nestmann: "Exit Tax" Becomes Law

Joining the ranks of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia should be on the murderous moron's headstone, which could have happened sooner than expected.

I will refrain on opining whether sooner would (be) have been better...

Pro Libertate: The Big Bailout: America as a Full-Spectrum Kleptocracy

"Sober observers understand it to be the most corrupt legislative assembly in human history. To those characterizations of the United States Senate we must now add another, perhaps the final one: Gravedigger of the republic. 

With the Senate's passage of the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout last Saturday (July 26), the United States of America has now become the world's first full-service kleptocracy, a form of government described earlier in this space as a government of, by, and for the robbers."

I'm a Yankee Doodle dandy...

From the same article: "Congress has yielded its war powers to the executive branch. It has now effectively surrendered the power of the purse, as well. What, then, remains by way of the legislative branch's ability to check the executive?"

...A Yankee Doodle do or die...

Continuing: "There is no limit to what can be spent on the (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac)  bailout, or the extent of government involvement it will entail. In his efforts to lobby congressional Republicans on behalf of the bailout, Paulson reportedly assured them that he has "no intention" of using those extraordinary powers. This means, of course, that they will be used immediately. It also means, inevitably, that Fannie and Freddie will be nationalized, and that taxpayers will pay the full burden of the bailout."

...A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam...

And: "The Fannie/Freddie bailout is another example of the familiar equation behind corporatism (or, to use the more loaded synonym, fascism): The risks are subsidized, the losses are socialized, and the profits are privatized."

...Suborned on the Fourth of July...

Coding Horror: Quantity Always Trumps Quality

Forget the word "coding." The visceral reaction to "quantity trumping quality" is "That can't be! After all, quality is--well--you know, quality and quantity is just a bunch of stuff."

Okay, snappy dialogue aside, We tend to think that quantity is the opposite of quality, that they are incompatible and thus We should, if We take pride in Our work, strive for quality by focusing more on producing less...for higher quality.

But real-world observation and "productivity platitudes" (Ready! Fire! Aim!) tell Us something different: Quantity is almost always a precursor and adjunct to Quality, that "many attempts done consistently" often lead to "better and improving results."

Quantity and quality. Sounds so simple.

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty: Blog Archive: Lawrence Lessig Predicts i-911 Event

An "i-Patriot Act" makes as much sense as shooting a race horse in the head to make it run faster. I say We shoot selected politicians in the head to make them think, for a change.

You decide who gets shot and when.

CNN - Salt water could be key to greener world - June 18, 1996

Yes, you read that right: June 18, 1996. What were you doing that day? 

Twelve years later, We have more proof that salicornia, aquaculture and land reclamation do work and that salicornia can also be a major source for biofuels.

Now, Pelosi, After this Smoking Gun, Will You Call for Impeachment?

Talk about "deer in headlights," here's a really dumb deer in some glaringly bright headlights. And We keep thinking the U.S. of part of A. has a two-party system...

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Vitamin C Shows Promise as Cancer Treatment | LiveScience

Or how about broccoli for the treatment of diabetes-related heart disease?

Or a new potential treatment for the one of the deadliest forms of cancer, pancreatic cancer?

Sciences: More fun than a barrel of monkeys. (Also known as "Congress," "School Boards" and "Federal Reserve Bank System".

How Our Culture Keeps Students Out of Science - Chronicle.com

"At least on the emotional level, contemporary American education sides with the obstacles. It begins by treating children as psychologically fragile beings who will fail to learn — and worse, fail to develop as 'whole persons' — if not constantly praised. The self-esteem movement may have its merits, but preparing students for arduous intellectual ascents aren't among them. What the movement most commonly yields is a surfeit of college freshmen who 'feel good' about themselves for no discernible reason and who grossly overrate their meager attainments."

In other words, dumb brats. Read on about trying to fight the "science as anathema" cultural message We wallow in and how the educational system actually helps that message rather than fight it. 

Giant Kites To Harness Wind Power | Device Daily

Cheaper than turbines, requiring less land space and taking advantage of wind speeds that dwarf those at slightly above sea level... As long as Charlie Brown isn't flying them, We have a winner.

Scientists a step closer to producing fuel from bacteria | Science Blog

Biofuels that come from non-nutritional sources are a true boon. Here's one coming from a humble bacteria that could potentially power electrical grids around the world.

When Google Owns You | chrisbrogan.com

I've joked for years that Google's strategy is this: One day, all computer screens will go black at the same time and this message--and only this message--will appear on them: WE HAVE TAKEN THE INTERNET. PAY $1 TRILLION AND WE WILL GIVE IT BACK.

Business Interactive Features - Diagrams - Illustrations - Portfolio.com

For all the local Fools who pay lip-service to the power of small businesses (I mean you, Centro Unido de Detallistas), a chart that shows how these often tiny companies literally hold up the economy.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Nearly Waterless Washing Machine to Debut in 2009

I must have looked at this item 15-16 times in the past few days. Didn't erase it, so it must be worth posting.

(I'm hashing out My mental debates here. You might want to find make yourself comfortable.)

Sexual assault in military 'jaw-dropping,' lawmaker says - CNN.com

"Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."

In one Veteran's Affairs hospital in Los Angeles, four out of every ten women there said they had been raped. Sun Tzu wrote thousands of years ago about The Moral Law an army has to have to be successful, starting from the highest general on down.

What can We expect given that the Army's "highest general" is a service-AWOL, drunk driving, business and administrative failure puppet of oil and neo-con ids?

Cliff Schecter: Barack Obama can't ignore Republican attacks | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

"George Bush was a cheerleader in high school. He ran multiple businesses into the ground, was bailed out by daddy, was a drunk for years, probably used cocaine, was arrested for drunk driving, went AWOL on military service in the Alabama Air National Guard and had only the political experience of being governor of Texas for one and a half terms, the weakest state chief executive in this country (Texas' state constitution gives most of its powers to the lieutenant governor).

And yet Gore and Kerry could not find a way to portray this man as unworthy of the office he sought to inhabit, so he has gotten to inhabit it for eight long years, while the U.S. has suffered through every disaster short of a plague of locusts descending upon the land."

The Electoral Campaign of 2008 will once again be a watershed moment for the nation. And by extension, the world. Will Barack Obama and his staff gut the Republican heist-fest or will We see more of the same We've seen for 30 years?

New Microscope Ditches The Lenses, High-Resolution Microscope Could Be Made Cheaply, Act As Boon To Health Field Workers - CBS News

Having recently heard about the conditions on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, this new microscope would go far in helping analyze and diagnose patient conditions. Combined with other technologies, We could begin packaging low-cost "Medical Boxes" that could have a significant impact on the quality of health care in underserved areas of ther world.

The "Consumer Economy" Was Always a Mockery

"The "consumer economy" was always a mockery. No serious economist ever suggested that you could get richer by consuming wealth. But that didn't make consumerism unpopular. The more people consumed, the more GDP went up. GDP measures output, not wealth creation; but who could tell the difference? In a cartoon economy - no one. Besides, spending made people feel as though they were getting richer." (Emphasis added.)

I have long argued against consumption, especially based on credit, not because I'm an economist, but because I am not. Spending to become rich is as stupid as overeating to become thin. 

Here's a brief article that ties in personal spending, bogus financing of "cartoon" houses and government policy leading to the current recession in a nifty 5 minutes of reading.

The Seven Myths of Energy Independence

Local topics now include the idea of seeking "energy independence," seeing as how We're and island and have to import oil and all. One idea is to build a natural gas pipeline along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and then We can...import...natural gas to fill it up.

Here are 7 Myths We need to look at seriously (with the appropriate local modifications) in order to come to grips with Our energy needs for the next 20 years. By then, Xenu and his schizoids will have given Us anti-matter based cyclotrons...

The Raw Story | Suskind: Bush ordered fake letter linking Iraq to 9/11

This claim is made in a book by a well-respected (except for hyena-cons), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, who like all true journalists, documents every claim. 

With each new allegation and the piles of evidence growing like a sci-fi movie fungus, We may have reached the point with this sub-gutter-level Administration of simply throwing Our hands in the air and saying "Let God take care of it all." Which, in My view, is the same thing as letting the hyenas slink off into the...bush.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Fixing the Economy

"The problem with Americans is that they fail to understand that the federal government is the cause, not the cure, for the ailing economy, the healthcare system, and a host of other problems facing our nation."

Okay, read this and see if you agree. 

Are Contractors Above the Law? - The Washington Independent - U.S. news and politics - washingtonindependent.com

Another KBR failure, in this case, a shower so badly put-together that a soldier died by electrocution.

A former subsidiary of Halliburton (snakes in a pit together) and awarded over $20 billion in Iraq war contracts, KBR is one of many--far too many--contractors raking in money at the expense of soldiers' lives. Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that famously read "The buck stops here." In the murderous moron's off-White House, the bucks go elsewhere, as gifts to fellow hyenas. 

cryptogon.com: Archives: The “Suicide” of U.S. Army Private LaVena Lynn Johnson

The basic facts are horrendous: "According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Private LaVena Lynn Johnson killed herself on July 19, 2005, eight days before her twentieth birthday. Exactly how did she end her life? She punched herself in the face hard enough to blacken her eyes, break her nose, and knock her front teeth loose. She douched with an acid solution after mutilating her genital area. She poured a combustible liquid on herself and set it afire. She then shot herself in the head. Despite this massive self-inflicted trauma, she somehow managed to drag her then fully clothed body into the tent of a KBR contractor, leaving a trail of blood along the way and set the tent ablaze in a failed attempt to cover up her crimes against herself."

The Army, The Department of Defense and KBR Engineering are lying. To doubt that is to believe that Ms. Johnson tortured herself, then committed suicide not once, not twice, but three times.

Hard to Find 800 Numbers | Hiding from their own customers? No longer.

As a public service of The Jenius, based on all the work done by somebody else.

That's why I'm a Jenius.

Supply-Side Education - ChronicleReview.com

Some educational theorists decry the notion of "Educating for the workforce," seeing it as barely a step above brainwashing. It can be, but when education fails to prepare a person for dealing successfully with a changing world, then noisy theoretical spitting contests about whether We are engaging in propaganda, brainwashing, New Age mysticism or flavor-of-the-day strategies take a back seat to the simple fact that Our children are increasingly less-prepared academically for the world We live in.

News & Broadcast - Affordable Vision for All

Having been legally blind from about 9 to just past 30, this idea resonates with Me quite well. Look at the cost: roughly $1 a pair! I have to find a way to help make this happen

The Heart of the Economic Mess | | AlterNet

"The heart of the matter isn't the collapse in housing prices or even the frenetic rise in oil and food prices. These are contributing to the mess, but they are not creating it directly. The basic reality is this: For most Americans, earnings have not kept up with the cost of living."

How was all this handled so as to hide the problem? "...the first coping mechanism was to send more women into paid work... (then) turned to a second way of spending beyond their hourly wages: They worked more hours. The typical American now works more each year than he or she did three decades ago."

Read on and try not to think of the rich getting richer based on politics aimed at conserving that process to the point of collapse.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Simple Dollar: Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance on the Back of Five Business Cards

This is very, very good and well worth investing (pun intended) five minutes. Learn it, apply it and you will be much more successful in your personal finances than you have ever been.

Minding Mistakes: How the Brain Monitors Errors and Learns from Goofs: Scientific American

You know, if I actually made mistakes, this is how My brain would go about learning from them...

Has America become Fascist?

I wrote about this in 2004, have continued to write about in Gil The Jenius and keep bringing it up simply because it is an undeniable truth: The U.S. of part of A., under the murderous moron's hyena-infested cabal, is a fascist country.

The White House is Briefed: Phoenix About to Announce "Potential For Life" on Mars | Universe Today

This is an amazing claim, and if it's true, I have two thoughts: (1) Many of Our most cherished notions regarding religion and biology will be rocked and (2) Whatever microscopic life-form We have found on Mars is light-years smarter than the murderous Oval Office moron receiving the briefing.

Another take on Mars and possible life here

Saturday, August 2, 2008

U.S. agents can seize travelers' laptops: report | Reuters

Oh, yeah, this is da bomb!

"Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing..." and "...applied to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens, and were needed to prevent terrorism."

Uh-huh. Everything now is "needed to prevent terrorism," but what's needed to prevent this continuing spiral into fascism? 

Food Apartheid: Banning Fast Food in Poor Neighborhoods

Item One: The U.S. of part of A. has a majority of its adults listed as "overweight."

Item Two: States with the highest percentage of persons deemed "low income" have many of the highest percentages of overweight people.

Item Three: Studies have shown that with a limited income, most of the food consumed is higher in sugars and fat than that consumed by people with higher incomes.

Item Four: Food is comfort. That's a subjective assessment, but you and I know it's true.

Even with the first three items, how the hell does the Los Angeles City Council conceive and approve an ordinance that would ban new fast food restaurants in low income communities? 

Rather than going all Nader on their pointy heads, here are three options they might want to consider:

1) Improve schools: It leads to better prospects for getting out of and avoiding low income status.

2) Focus on health maintenance rather than health care.

3) Stop focusing on racially-tinged idiocies and get to work on real problems.

Why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the Bechdel test | the Hathor Legacy

Two women talking to each other about something other than a man is, I believe, the definition of a chick flick. Maybe I'm wrong about that, especially since chick flicks tend to be about nothing other than men. But here's how bad the whole "women in film"/gender issue gets, from a successful Tinseltown insider who writes:

"I’d just moved from a state that still held Ku Klux Klan rallies only to find an even more insidious form of bigotry in California - running an industry that shaped our entire culture." 

Bigotry. Against women. In Hollywood. I'd be snarky about this if it weren't so damn disheartening.

Health Care for America NOW - Blog

Now I can see the logic in the argument of "better health care leads to a  better economy," but I wonder how well this linear relationship would work in Puerto Rico, where practically 45% of Our adult population doesn't (want to) work.

High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius: Scientific American

You knew I wouldn't pass this one up... Of all the points highlighted at the beginning of this article, here's the one that truly--indubitably--stands out: "People often overestimate the importance of intellectual ability. Practice and perseverance contribute more to accomplishment than being smart does."

A. Men.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Karen Heller: The dumbing down of science | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/28/2008

A damning indictment of a museum acting like a video game arcade. And don't give Me that "Education doesn't sell" crap. That's the same type of argument people use to excuse Hollywood's over-excessive production line of shitty movies: "What the people want."

Phooey. By and large, people aren't dumb. Show them something new, in a way that challeneges their minds, and they will respond. It's human nature. But taking the low road to pandering is never--never--a long-term strategy for success in any endeavor.

Shankar Vedantam - When Play Becomes Work - washingtonpost.com

I know people who offer their children money to do simple house chores, such as cleaning their room or washing dishes. I don't agree, for I see these as natural responsibilities of living in a house/apartment with other folks. Now here's an exposition of an easily-observed phenomenon and how it applies to daily life.

BookMooch: exchange books and trade them, like a book swap or book barter

My Book Collection (yes, it has a title) hovers near 5,000 tomes. This little gem of a website applies more to Me than probably anyone else reading this and is placed here as a private--as opposed to public--service announcement. However, it is a wonderful concept and it has that mild sense of great adventure I particularly love.

The Kindergarchy

Oh, My, did I enjoy this. From the coining of "kindergarchy," (is "supercilious brat just short of potty training" the new code phrase for "the murderous moron in the Oval Office"?) to the description of "helicopter parents" to pinpointing the underlying anxiety that pervades the "new American family," this column is filled with talking points.

As My lovely friend would say: Deal with it.

Xoom: Seeing Is Believing

Now this is just very odd... A man born without eyes, who paints fairly accurate images based on how he reasons things to be. He has "conceived" the idea of colors, perspective and proportion despite never having seen anything in his life.

I'm gonna have to let this one simmer for a while...

EETimes.com - MIT claims 24/7 solar power

Excellent news, as what's going on here is at least a four-fold increase in efficiency, making solar power a much more affordable and economical solution to energy needs. Here's another take on the same subject, with an analogy you won't forget.

So it's doomed to languish in science journals and conspiracy websites. Hope not.