Heading for the NY Subway

You know, a picture is worth a thousand words. This reminds me of the movie Grey Lady down. A Boston Globe flunky called me to peddle a subscription ( same owners ) I told them I didn't have that much fish to wrap or puppies to train.


I think Salzberger needs to take the Helen Thomas pledge.

A Crick in the Brain

In the article "Crick's last stand" of the Economist (Jul 28), the late Francis Crick of DNA fame attempts to give insight to the neuromechanisms behind consciousness. Since he's dead, a Nobel prize winner and therefore untouchable, I feel the irresistible urge to put a pin in the remnant ego balloon that is still floating around in science circles.

Mechanistic explanations of consciousness are hard to come by because consciousness is so poorly understood. Indeed, it is one of the few unexplained phenomena that are genuinely mysterious rather than merely problematical.

It's very difficult to study a state of mind so few possess.

But Crick, together with his long-time collaborator Christof Koch, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, focused on a part of the mystery that seems tractable. This is the integrated nature of conscious sensation.

I like the derivative nature of conscious sensation. For example, the sudden negative impulse from conscious state to room temperature, during the instant an American sniper writes a lead prescription for a terrorist.

As the two researchers put it in their paper, which was published this week in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, "When holding a rose, you smell its fragrance and see its red petals while feeling its textured stem with your fingers."

The stem of a rose might result in the fragrance of Bactine and the texture of a fresh band-aide.

The part of the brain that caught the two researchers' interest is the claustrum, a thin sheet of grey matter that lies concealed beneath part of the cortex (the outer covering of the brain that carries out the computations involved in seeing, hearing and language).

I thought the outer covering of the brain was responsible for carrying the cannabinol enhanced rant, from a moonbat's brain to the nerves of its salivary glands.

The key to the researchers' claim is that most, if not all, regions of the cortex have two-way connections to the claustrum, as do the structures involved in emotion. It is plausible that the smell, the colour and the texture of the rose, all processed in different parts of the cortex, could be bound together into one cohesive, conscious experience by the claustrum. The authors liken it to a conductor who synchronizes and co-ordinates various parts into a united whole.

I liken it to Colonel Sander's, who synchronizes and co-ordinates various parts of a hasty meal into a united bout of constipation.

Thus far, this is mere anatomical speculation fuelled by the fact that very little is known about what the claustrum actually does.

Now there is where I see potential.

Crick hoped that his final paper would inspire researchers to begin to develop molecular techniques to disable the claustrum in animals to observe the aftermath. Time will tell whether Crick's spectacular contribution to understanding genetics will be replicated in the sphere of consciousness.

So, I ask anyone wishing to comment, what does this 'claustrum' actually do?

Jimmy the Meek

Today:

Carter: Guantanamo Detentions Disgraceful

I've got a headline for you Jimmy C:

Insolublog: 444 day 1979 Iranian Hostage Detentions Disgraceful


(And BTW, Thanks for destroying the CIA by installing John Deutsch.)

I hope the meek don't inhabit the earth.

Ted's Brain now safe from Liver

Read Buckley F. William's post Ode to Ted Kennedy's Liver.

I was concerned that the senior senator's brain might actually be in peril. To my great relief, I discovered that the senator has already moved his brain to more comfortable quarters.



There it is. Safe and sound. Whew!

Just give Disease a Chance

Today's news.

• Outbreak of human 'swine flu' in China worsens
• U.S. warns Iran against violating nuclear deal

Isn't there some way we can convince China to arrange an exchange of cultures with Iran?
They should be encouraged, in the interest of amity, to appoint some their new microscopic ambassadors to the embassy in Tehran.

Let's get Kofi on the horn.

Side note:

Woman sues Denny's over toilet burns

Having to accept an express digestion package from a Denny's patron; I should think the toilet was the victim here.

Please Helen Don't

... let us stop you from ending it all if Dick Cheney is elected president, as is reported on Drudge. To be honest I didn't realize she was still alive. I thought the Washington Press corps did a wonderful taxidermy job on her, so they could preserve her seat.

Helen was is the first of the liberal press squad to completely insult and defame the office of the Presidency. What a great legacy she will leave when she pulls that trigger. I'm sure Dr. Phat Tony, Wyatt or CUG would provide a little physician assisted suicide by instructing her on how to disable the safety. After Terry Shiavo, we can all agree that putting Helen out of our misery would be the best thing for society.

We will miss you Helen. Don't let the pearly gates hit you in that dusty spacebag a$$, when they drop you down the elevator shaft to hell.

This Week on the UNternet

(A Precision Guided Humor Assignment)

Two weeks after assuming command of the internet, the UNternet declares that the US is not doing enough to curb its use of bandwidth. (Secretly, they set up an internal cadre to sell router vouchers to France, Germany and Russia).

Monday, The UNternet commerce commission has passed its 117th resolution denouncing Nigerian spammers. The spammers were strongly cautioned that serious steps would soon be taken.

Monday, The UNternet commerce commission approved a 5Billion euro IMF loan to Nigeria to upgrade the country with modern computer equipment and a new telecommunications infrastructure.

Tuesday, Microsoft has lobbied, and won, a permanent seat on the UNternet Security Council.

Yesterday, the UNternet convened to deal with a raging computer virus called 'Genocide' released by Al Qaeda on the internet. Today, they resolved to re-define the name of the virus as 'Tribal Combatant' and table the problem as a local issue.

Today, the UNternet commission on human rights has resolved that every blog post must obtain approval by the UNternet communications committee, to ensure it meets the minimum guidelines for anti-Semitic content.

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!

The Big Pig

Sean Murphy writes in the Globe today about how the Big Dig leaks will be years in the fixing.

Finally, the criminal hack ranch, known as the Mass. Turnpike Authority released their written confession regarding the matter.

Leaks in the Big Dig's Interstate 93 tunnel roof will persist for years to come, despite current efforts to patch them with a grout sealant, according to an independent report released last night by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

The grouting program will seal an estimated 3,600 leaks in the tunnels this year, but more than 42 percent of those seals are expected to reopen, requiring a second round of grouting, the report said.

As a result, Turnpike Authority managers estimate they will face 1,543 leaks next year, 661 in 2007, 284 in 2008, 121 in 2009, and 77 in 2010, the report says. No estimate is made beyond 2010.

We need a new PBS home improvement show called "Ask Matt Amorello".

US Taxpayer:

Matt. I'm very dissatisfied with this 14 billion dollar bathroom. This morning I heard a loud bang next to the shower valve. Now there's water spewing out between some of the tiles. What's your advice?

Matt:

Go down to the home depot and find some high quality grout sealant. Squeeze in between any tiles where water is coming through. You may need to repeat this process as time goes on.

US Taxpayer:

Ok. Now the water seems to be gushing into my basement, through the floor.

Matt:

Buy a water pump. While the pump is clearing out the water, Get in there with a few cans of 'Great Stuff' and fill in as much of the space as you can. Then remove the pump.

US Taxpayer:

Ok. Now all the drywall is not so dry anymore.

Matt:

Who needs drywall? Use glass instead. Maybe we can put a few ornamental fish right in the wall.

US Taxpayer:

But Matt! All of my electrical circuits are shorting out!

Matt:
Look. Massachusetts is a high-tech state. Everybody is going wireless around here. Look to the future.

Sean goes on.

The cost of sealing those leaks is expected to drop from $7.3 million this year to $3.1 million in 2006, $1.3 million in 2007, $574,000 in 2008, $246,500 in 2009, and to $156,000 in 2010, based on a per-leak repair cost of $2,029.
The estimate was contained in a report posted on the Turnpike Authority website at about 7 p.m. yesterday.

So the US taxpayer could buy a kick-a$$ computer, for over 5000 school kids, for every leak in the brand spanking new Big Drip tunnel?

Mariellen Burns, the authority's director of communications, did not return calls last night, and in her e-mail notifying reporters of the report, she did not address the future cost of leak repair and maintenance.

We pay a premium for irony in the Gay State. I'm sure top dollar was offered for this director of communications, who can't communicate directly.

"The bottom line of the report is that managing water is a part of any underground construction project," she wrote.

Wow, you have to deal with water, when a tunnel runs under water. Maybe you guys should have planned on keeping the water out, instead of managing it. Everybody knows management is the first to go in any round of layoffs.

Turnpike officials, including Chairman Matthew J. Amorello and project director Michael P. Lewis, could not be reached for comment last night.

I'm sure he could be reached for a big mound of shrimp, free cocktails and a big, sloppy kiss on his posterior.

In November, when the Globe reported that the I-93 tunnels had hundreds of leaks, Jack K. Lemley, an outside consultant hired to investigate the problem, said of future repairs: ''You're talking years here, even a decade."

It was hard to capture Jack's head shaking and raucous laughter in print.

Estimating the number of future leaks is a risky venture, said Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, the consultant hired to study the impact of the two kinds of defects that have plagued the project as it nears completion. Those flaws are the thousands of small roof leaks at the roof-wall joints of the tunnels and the 189 soft spots in the tunnel walls, including the one that breached and flooded the northbound roadway on Sept. 15.

Another consultant checks in. I'm glad that we are spending the taxpayer's money fixing the problem. This is like stuffing a burlap bag full of cheap hamburger, letting sit out in this July sun, then hire a consultant to identify the smell and ooze as the weeks roll by.

"As the work continues, the recurrence rate [of leaks] could change," the report posted last night said. ''Any increase in the recurrence rate will result in more grout locations and higher incurred costs by MTA until a steady state is reached."

A positive leak rate derivative means more grout and money. Folks, breathe it in while you can; we are in the presence of pure genius here.

The Deloitte report said no estimate of the cost of future leaks had been made by the Turnpike Authority or Big Dig managers until March. At that time, Kenneth M. Mead, the US Department of Transportation's inspector general, was threatening to hold up $81 million in federal funding for the project unless he was assured that Turnpike Authority officials were adequately addressing the leaks.

The Feds should have given MA the bums rush out the door a long time ago.

The Deloitte report also concluded that fixing and preventing leaks has cost $38 million. Nevertheless, the report said the total cost for the Big Dig should remain within the estimate of $14.625 billion because the leak costs are paid from contingency accounts.

'should remain within the estimate of' In Big Dig speak, that's a code phrase for 'will rocket past the sum of'.

This project is an embarrassing insult to America's fine engineering community. You can put all the lipstick and pearls you want on a pig. It's still the Big Pig. The stinking French can dig a tunnel under the English Channel better than we can dig a tunnel under the beautiful people.

Chinese Bubble Gum

George Melloan writes in the WSJ today about China's currency re-valuation.

He writes about the opinion of the economist John Rutledge, who is complaining about all the bad things which may happen as a result of China no longer pegging the Yuan against the US dollar. The Chinese will use a world currency basket instead. Mostly valued with, the dollar!

Insolublog could not disagree more. China's economy has been overheated for quite some time now. They have serious issues with their economy, their environment and their labor force. Just because things have been working well all this time, does not mean that a cliff is not fast approaching on the horizon.

Look at the Enron, Worldcom and Global Crossing pyramid schemes which were revealed for the delicate houses of cards they were, when Greenspan tweaked up the rates. They railed at the Maestro for that, but think about all that real retirement money passing through the hands of all those exuberant, card shuffling fools. It could have been a much bigger bubble, with a much bigger explosion, had the sharp, balancing needle of a tight money supply not deflated it.

UPDATE:

A lot of people seem to think that the Chinese will somehow be magically transformed by the free market, into a benevolent democracy. This is pure bull feces.

They have a totalitarian communist government, fully loaded with all of the accessories. They have the worst of communism coupled with the worst of capitalism. They have an elite political power class, fully educated, which would put Kerry, Kennedy and all the beautiful people into servant's quarters.

A true libertarian view would demand a level playing field. The currency fluid then seeks all the low spots proper. This is not the case with the Chinese government.

They have been, and still are, gobbling up US Treasury bonds to artificially moderate the trade imbalance. They have an enormous slave labor pool with no pesky health and safety rules. They are traveling down the pollution path often traveled by burgeoning world powers, before they get the proper religion about poisoning themselves. Remember Chernobyl? That's what happens to a people, that have no Constitutional steam valve, to hold their political apparatus in check.

How can the US truly compete? Well, we can't. The service sector is being short circuited. The Chinese are running off with our intellectual property, and laughing all the way to the bank. They marvel at our never ending thirst for their cheap crap. We cannot compete techically, because our educational system is being destroyed by political correctness. It's being compromised by a left wing group think attitude that spawns racist demagogues like Ward Churchill. The Chinese are only really interested in our technology. They consider our culture a heap of hedonistic garbage. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

They are eagerly engaged in the process of building a domestic base of totalitarian driven consumerism. Check your free speech at the border. Look at the energy consumption meter. China and India are nipping at our heels. They are driving up the prices of the global energy markets.

I'm waiting to see what we can and will do, when the Chinese want to pluck that Taiwan plum off the tree. They lust after the billions we have invested in computers, semiconductors and industrial process sciences. We only have two weapons. Nuclear war, or going bankrupt when they dump those bonds. Yeah, that'll show em.

Finally a Discovery

It's good to see, amongst all the 7th century Islamic barbarism, some 21st century technology back on its feet. With 3 engines that produce 37 million horsepower, a fuel pump that uses 100hp alone, this is no gay hydrogen hybrid vehicle. Go America.

Ancient Marital Aide

Now the BBC is in the act. I guess foaming at the mouth 24/7 about the evils of the west makes the old salivary glands dry out. So, best to give it a rest and move on to other topics. I am referring to "Ancient Phallus unearthed in Cave."

A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say.

Come now (heh). No surprise that it was in a cave.

The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura.
The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone. Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report.

14 fragments.. ouch. I wonder if they found it with the pelvis of a 28,000 year old pervert.

"In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints," explained Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, at Tübingen University.

It's always nice to have an 'all-in-one' tool lying around. When your not knapping flints and sapping loan defaulters, you need to do something with your time right?

"It's highly polished; it's clearly recognisable," said Professor Conard.

Only in ancient Germany could you find a petrified phallus polisher adept enough to lay down that shine. No wonder they lost two world wars.

The Tübingen team working Hohle Fels already had 13 fractured parts of the phallus in storage, but it was only with the discovery of a 14th fragment last year that the team was able finally to put the "jigsaw" together.

I'm sure professor Conard was barely able to contain his excitement.

The different stone sections were all recovered from a well-dated ash layer in the cave complex associated with the activities of modern humans (not their pre-historic "cousins", the Neanderthals).

I guess the Neanderthals just did not have the right tool making skills.

The dig site is one of the most remarkable in central Europe. Hohle Fels stands more than 500m above sea level in the Ach River Valley and has produced thousands of Upper Palaeolithic items.

And a few lower Palaeolithic items as well.

"Female representations with highly accentuated sexual attributes are very well documented at many sites, but male representations are very, very rare," explained Professor Conard.

And the professor has explored every one of those sites. There's no way a stone schlong, exposed to the elements and the natives, is going to last as long as its counterpart. Simple second law of thermodynamics and first law of male ego here. What's the first thing that breaks off, or is broken off, a sculpture?

Oh. Well. Feel free to read the rest.

Would you like to supersize that?

I'm so glad the AP has so much time on its hands. They were able to
pen this wonder in Indiana entitled "Woman convicted because of pet pigs' odor".

Debra Fields kept two 300-pound hogs -- Bacon and Molly -- as family pets.

Pets? I know whole families described thus.

The two pigs, according to evidence submitted during the trial, could generate as much as 35 pounds of solid waste and several gallons of liquid waste every day. Fields testified there is no odor because she did not smell it, and that the odor detected by a Hobart code enforcement officer was attributable to swine flatulence.

I wonder just how much swine flatulence it takes to eject 35 pounds of solid waste and several gallons of urine. Looks like an engineering problem Claudius of Rome would envy.

In his ruling, the judge said that testimony was "not credible."

I find that shocking.

He ordered Fields to pay a fine of $250 plus court courts for violating the nuisance ordinance. Longer suspended $200 of the fine on the condition that no other violations occur through the end of the year. Fields, who could have been fined up to $2,500, declined comment after the Thursday ruling.

I guess it's best to keep your mouth shut when all you get is a fifty dollar ticket for immersing your neighbors in the olfactory Nirvahna that is Bacon and Molly.

But here's the best part. The automatic Google advertising block.












Yes. That's a law firm comfortably tucked between detox and feminine hygene spray, as an epilogue to a story about intolerable pig odor.

There is a God.

Magnetic Personality

I have reached the blog threshold on this new consumer gripe. I am talking about those little white security strips that resonate your guilt between two magnetic figure eight coils at the Home Cheapo.

Yes those are the gates of St. Gabriel. Well. This modern wonder is now being combined with two other phenomena. The Self checkout and the untrained, guest worker. I wince every time I walk through this thing, with the firm knowledge that there is now a high probability that the electronic equivalent of Nathaniel Hawthorne will leap out and brand me with a scarlet letter.

Luckily, tonight I was wearing the Power Line T-shirt I got for my birthday. Unluckily, I didn't have a camera. I stop, glance back in the store. All the customers are glaring at me. None of the staff seem the least bit interested. That's it. They can’t be bothered to deactivate the tags. They can’t be bothered to tell self-checkout customers they have merchandise of this ilk. Maybe they are too overworked, so the Home Cheapo can use one person to field the merchandise of six automated kiosks. Sorry, but that's not my problem.

So, I casually back up into the field. The thing starts to wail continuously. One of girls waves her hand at me to usher me along. The alarm continues. She doesn't even raise her eyes to inspect the situation. I stand firm.

You’re Ok. Just go ahead.

Are you sure?

Yes. Go on!

I'm not certain. This machine seems firmly convinced that I am about to deprive this establishment of these illuminating pearls of the orient. (Chinese recessed lighting)

A gentleman buying conduit and adhesive laughs and walks past me. I continue to rant over the alarm.

How do you know that guy didn't just abscond with some precious wire nuts or something? After all, I have a moratorium on this alarm system.

The girl, flushed red, collects my bag from my hand and ushers it over the moby magnet on the counter, permanently de-clawing my source of amusement.

Sorry sir, but we are very busy here.

I know you are, but why annoy people with security that is not secure?

Do you want to speak with the manager?

No. I'm just going to blog it instead. She glared blankly.

Have a nice day.

Saddam Complains

Saddam is upset that he is being denied access to his lawyer. We are sorry, Saddam, but conjugal visits with young males is strictly forbidden for security reasons.

The Left checks in on Roberts

(A Precision Guided humor assignment)

Here is the latest roundup of important quotes from our fellow political bretheren, on the nomination of John Roberts for the SCOTUS.

Sen. Ted Kennedy

Err.. um... I'm just not comfortable with a man who has no skeletons to speak of. We want backbone on this court.

Sen Joe Biden

When I was at home in Vermont, in my dungarees, reading the Roberts memoranda, an apple fell on my head. It then occured to me, at that moment, ( squinting and gesturing to the C-SPAN camera ) the gravity of this choice for nominee.

PFAW

Why is the far right rejoicing about Souter's nomination?
Why is the far right rejoicing about O'Connor's nomination?
Why is the far right rejoicing about Robert's nomination?

Rep. Nancy Pelosi

The Republicans nominate Robert Bork. The Republicans nominate John Roberts.
I, for one, detect a very disturbing pattern here.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein:

Robert's is an original constructionist. How are we supposed to build a great future, for the children, without sweeping away all that old debris?

ACLU:

Robert's gaping lack of Ginsberg style credentials, raises serious concerns about his credibility.

Sen. Robert Byrd

Who farted in this committee room? Ahhm the onleh one allowed to soil mahself on the hallowed floahs of this heah oh-gust bodey.

Sen. Robert Byrd (Update) after realizing that there was at least one person in Washington who wasn't treating him like a preserved cadaver, fitted with a chattering embedded iPod, pre-loaded with DNC rhetoric.

I thank President Bush for reaching out to senators on both sides of the aisle as he worked to select a nominee for the court.

Sen. John Flippin' Kerry

We need a nominee who will be totally consistent with the facts and analysis.

Sen. Barbara Boxer

Who care's about Roberts! I want Karl Rove's head on a platter. Quit changing the subject.

Autorantic Virtual Moonbat

Speaking of Nomination: Unlike you and Clarence Thomas, I am not in love with capitalism! Bu$$$h wants Belfast for the oil. KWIM?. As a puppy, I am frantic!!!! Charlton Heston!!!? Kenneth Lay!? Well, I can't tell one robot for the BLOGOSPHERE from the other. (Condoleezza Rice either, figuratively speaking!!!!)

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!

Survival of the fittest

If you are a member of the poor or conservative class in Mass. You can enjoy the smelly wonders of Salisbury beach. I can almost smell the fried dough now.



If you are one of those elitist Champagne buttered lobster tail types, like Sen. Kerry (who served in Vietnam), the fun waters of Nantucket await. Here's a massive tiger tourist who was caught shopping for the beautiful (and delicious) people near Martha's Vineyard today. Where's that sailboard now Senator?

Ladybug Magnet

Globe columnist Robert Sullivan laments, in his article Bright Flight the exodus of talent from MA. He quotes the economist Richard Florida as attributing MA success to:

three Ts --technology, talent, and tolerance -- characterized by the presence of high-tech industry, a highly educated workforce, and a population diverse enough to include, among other things, a large number of immigrants and a sizeable gay community.

Sullivan rambles on, in Florida's words, about how 9/11 immigration reforms may be partly responsible. He then mentions that:

Massachusetts was the only state in the union to lose population last year--and if not for immigrants, it would have registered population losses during the 1990s and perhaps the 1980s as well.

The implication is, of course, that immigrants somehow provided some sort of rescue I.V. drip for the gaping wound, bleeding off all that real MA talent. How about sewing up the brain trust head wound instead?

Though Massachusetts is famously liberal in terms of national politics, there is a lingering perception of provincialism and racism here. And even overcoming this perception may not be enough, for tolerance is not necessarily the same as openness to new ideas.

You could have fooled me. He talks about 'squelchers'. He talks about how hard they are to count. He talks about how their affect is an open question. What a seething mass of speculative tripe. This implies, with the obligatory poo-poo of any real statistics, that there may be, or probably IS, an undercurrent of intolerance.

Gosh, I hope so. Hey Bob, Maybe it's because MA has high fees, taxes and a freedom choking state bureaucracy. Maybe it's the high real estate prices, and real estate taxes. Maybe it's the entrenched teacher's union lobby, which is a frequent 'squelcher' of basic progress and promoter of political correctness. Add to this, the fact that MA is actively promoting itself as the next San Francisco with tourist ads etc. Many in the engineering community see this as a poisonous atmosphere for raising families. Oops! There's that racist provincialism! Sorry. I guess you can't separate the talent from the common sense. Isolublog!

Yeah right, we need more of Robert Florida's deadbeat bohemian culture to fix the state's problems. Just make sure you put a fresh attractant, in that Ladybug Magnet, every time you change the profane tank.

Original Intent

I was listening to Scott Miller on RKO this morning argue that if orignal intent were used across the board in SCOTUS rulings, men would not vote for president, women would not vote and we would still own slaves.

This is a hopelessly pathetic argument, which cannot be defended. Original intent is not immune from the amendment process. This is the intended process for restricting rights or abolishing persecution. Original intent then applies to the text of the amendment as a base point for decisions. Activist judges routinely seek out obscurities in the language of the Constitution to support their personal view, arguing purely on the semantics and not the intent, often leaving out the context.

Million Mullet March

Dr. Phat Tony's recent History of the Mullet (Part 1) could not have been timed better to coincide with today's Onion article Nations Shirtless, Shoeless March on Washington for Equal Service rights.

Check out the Bud Hutchins character.

The Grand High Indra Nooyi

There is a subtlety regarding this latest White House toilet seat cover from Charmaine Yoest. Nooyi breezed along, spewing all her high and mighty international group hug, stand against the tide of American imperialism, line Kerry's war chest and call this country the 'middle finger of the world' oral sewage. But that didn't stop her little ego from accepting a White House invitation to dinner. Bush probably knows that her currency, within her own public circles, has been permanently devalued.

I know. It's just an exuse. But I had to say something.

Teddy's Fine Anniversary

A nice reminder from not so past events, since Michelle Malkin pointed out

The Death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

From July 7,2005 WSJ Opinion Journal.

"Well, just as an attorney, as a human being, I would have thought that if there were recommendations that were so blatantly and flagrantly over the line in terms of torture, that you might have recognized them. I mean, it certainly appears to me that water boarding, with all its descriptions about drowning someone to that kind of a point, would come awfully close to getting over the border, and that you'd be able to at least say today, "There were some that were recommended or suggested on that, but I certainly wouldn't have had a part of that, as a human being."

- Sen. Ted Kennedy during the Gonzales hearings.

This is too big a cross to bear

I scored as a character I totally despise.




I wan't a rematch, and a shower!

Operation Anaconda (Iraqi version ?)

UPDATE Nov 17, 2005:

This appears to be a snopes legend, check it out.

My friend Mark e-mailed these pictures of an anaconda or large python. He was told that it was near Jebel Ali. This could not be confirmed. Both he and I find it hard to believe the snake was from Iraq. If anyone knows, feel free to comment. We will assume for the sake of argument that it was.


The poor thing looks like he was in the middle of digesting an insurgent, before he decided to cross the line of fate. I have a tear in my eye, being a former fellow slithering reptile.



Yikes. I wouldn't wan't to be on the business end of this yawning maw.

Abuse of our Intelligence

A remark for those who would take exception to the Koran incident (and follow up fatwa incident) reported by a nice doggie today.

Were the guys reported in War of the Worlds trying to push some buttons? You bet. The Palestinians did the same thing in this World Net Daily report back in May, when they used the Bible as toilet paper. All over a false report by one of the other faces of terrorism, Isikoff of Newsweek. That's the beauty of free speech.

Here's what the Christians and Jews didn't do when that incident occurred:

• Riot in the streets, killing a dozen or so people.
• Saw the heads off of hostages, * masturbate in the blood, take videos of the incident and distribute them on the web.
• Rush out and burn all the churches of nearby Muslims.

*Those weren't books by the way; they were human beings; Just to remind our humane friends from the left what they are defending and not defending.

No, the other half of terrorism would rather call a false incident of Koran abuse at Gitmo government sanctioned torture. We should file a torture suit against the federal government the next time an NEA grant is used to display Crucifixes immersed urine or dung flung on a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Hypocrisy breast feeds on moral relativism.

Flash point Terror

Wandered over to Michell Malkin. Saw the great flash production by Winds of Change.
If anyone doubts the state of War, this visual synopsis will bring that big red freshness back into your cheeks. So will another shocking video of the shooting and survival, thank God, of ARMY PFC. Steven Tschinderer.

Spot Terrorists with ConservaSpecs

(A Precision Guided Humor Assignment)

Worried about being accused of being insensitive to race or ethnicity, in your quest to identify the perpetrators? New ConservaSpec(tm) profiling glasses bring the miracle of high speed terrorist targeting technology anywhere you happen to be.

Our highly skilled and trained team of red state conservative engineers have programmed the ConservaSpec series of ProfileView(tm) plug-in modules with all of the latest audiovisual profiling data available. All information is collated, analyzed and rated for threat assessment. The ConservaSpec then reports the results to the bearer.

ConservaSpec's bluetooth option allows the glasses to wirelessly interface with the appropriate government agency and our vast online database of scum-bags, through your PDA or laptop.

Our FascIslaMod(tm) ProfileView module examines all the relevant criteria. It identifies potential bombers, vitriolic clerics and watch list proscribes. Features include:

• Middle eastern male between 16 and 35
• Nervous sweaty appearance
• Large backpack, handbag or package
• Mumbling chants about virgins
• Dozens of others...

ConservaSpec has other ProfileView modules as well. Try our new UndocuMod(tm) for picking out temporary guest workers.

ConservaSpecs come in a wide range of colors, lens shades and feature 100% UV protection. License soothing popular voices for the integrated warning system, such as Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Pat Buchanan, Oliver North and others; Or program your own.

Rely on ConservaSpec for complete comfort and moral detachment. Security personnel and citizens, can concentrate on staying alive, in this war on terror. You will never have to worry about being accused of profiling again. Just raise your hand and say:

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Hollywouldn't Last a second in Cuba

First, go to freestarmedia.com and watch the internet video 'Sardinas vs. Cuban Communism'. After that, ponder these CNS logged travel brochure testimonials from the Hollywood left on the Cuban government.

Saul Landau (filmaker)

"[Castro] has brought a greater equality in terms of wealth distribution than I guess any country in the world today."

Jack Nicholson

"He [Castro] is a genius. We spoke about everything."

Naomi Campbell

"a source of inspiration to the world."

Blah. Blah. Blah... This list is shamefully long.

After this, don't forget Sean Penn's deep nose dive into Saddam Hussein's private parts.

How can anyone trust the left with the freedoms granted to us by self evident rational providence? There's a nice Independence day wrap-up by Heywood on Supply Side Politics to remind us what Independence is about.

Janus of Terror

Terrorism is a two part reaction. It is a violent, foaming,
exothermic epoxy. The resin is the violence of individuals with a political agenda. The activator is a news media or medium, willing to provide the resin with the coverage it needs to swell swiftly with its terror and solidify its message.

The main stream media transforms the thugs into global terrorists; A demon all too gleeful in its coverage of the bloody carnage. The media is not there to report the facts. They are there to sensationalize the drama for profit and ratings. They are there to nurture the hysteria with a gaudy parade of pundits, profits, propaganda and political correctness.

They flood the senses with a concinnity of cowardice, obtuse verbal attack on civilization and a blanket apology to the barbarians. Statements of
condemnation must be forced from their lips, spit with the deliberate
hollow ring of insincerity. Their gritted teeth always chase the condemnation with the ubiquitous apology or the self deprecating qualifier.

No war on terror can ever succeed without holding the politically
correct media, such as the BBC, with its despicable guidlines, to account. From the Telegraph:

The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".

These are the words of a suicide statement, not worth picking through.

Now the Brits stand shocked at their domesticly brewed terrorists. Youngsters suckled on a lifelong diet of self flaggelating diversity garbage. Youngsters told that their nation is poison, and their fifteen minutes of global fame awaits, followed by an orgy in the afterlife. Youngsters who have had the steel links of self sufficiency, self determination, pride and merit eroded from their social anchor, with the corrosives of failed social experiments and multicultural environs.

The social engineers have smashed the marble pillar of national pride to rubble and sand. The rubble and sand has been sifted into different piles labeled with their respective little cultural flags. The marble pillar is gone. No longer able to support the nation. I fear the United States of America is heading down the same ugly path.

Bureaucratic Slopthink

This may be generalizing, but I find the most common contemporary liberal mind-set is sloppy with the facts, loose with analysis, driven by emotion and corrupted by the aliasing of groupthink. They accuse others of the very thing they are guilty of to a fault; Thinking which is built upon junk science and hasty, shallow conclusions. Many contemporary liberals are not classical liberals. They are functional Marxists.

I blame the self-congratulatory back slapping attitudes of the public education pundits and college intellectuals. None of these people live in a universe of reality and consequences. They do not understand the concept of finite resources. They do not engage in true (not artificial) competition for those resources and the requisite demands for excellence and performance. They have spent their entire lives in a PC world of nebulous ethical apology and the dismissal of individual achievement. They play endless academic games erecting barriers to personal progress and opening sewer pipes for flattery and administrative graft.

The law of diminishing returns does not exist for them and their ilk. The public teat is a never ending cornucopia. The concepts of good and evil do not exist. Somehow, they have this pervasive vision of a fictitious miracle bureaucracy, which will be capable of regulating and controlling everybody's life and financial security, by making life fair through the re-distribution of wealth. There is this mystical omniscient bureaucratic collective, which will be magically impervious to the corruption and inefficiency that has plagued every such creature, since the dawn of civilization.

It's not possible. It never has been. It doesn't exist anywhere now. It is impossible to construct, by all the metaphysical laws of human biology.

Liberal Lament for the Bush Oil policy

How I lament the 'Bush' economy. Since my Woodward inspired conspiracy prediction that Bush would call his 'oil buddies' to lower prices just before the election was pure landfill, I'll flip the prediction 180 degrees. Bush called his 'oil buddies' to raise prices before the election to boost the profits for the buddy coalition. Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense. Never mind. Ok, ok, go with it anyway.

China artificially pegs the yuan against the dollar and pilfers intellectual property, carrying us along in their runaway economy. China, India and Russia run up world oil consumption to record levels. China exceeds Japan as the second biggest consumer in the world, and will probably exceed the US in the near future. By the way, they don't have to worry about those pesky environmental laws either. They have the worst of communism AND capitalism. Consumption in the marvelously diverse and peaceful Europe, if you ignore the burning anti-Semitism everywhere, is also up. So, oil prices largely surge on record consumption. Nope. I'm going to put my dark sunglasses on and blame Bush.

Now we add a loss of production in our Gulf due to four hurricanes, which we know God sent our way since he's pissed off at Bush. Normally mentioning God would be against my left wing agenda, but when it's against Bush, I'll use any club that comes within arms reach. Add onto this the political turmoil in Venezuela. Add onto this the fact we have not built a refinery in the US for over twenty years, bottlenecking gasoline production specifically. So, oil prices largely surge on short supply. Nope. I'm putting my fingers in my ears and saying La-La-La-La real loud.

Hmm.. Supply and Demand. I remember somebody mentioning something about that in Berkeley, between bong hits. Oh well, those were the days. Now we have a perfect storm for the sixty dollar a barrel oil prices, and the inflation we see today. Add onto this the first attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Follow this by threats from the same terrorists to disrupt the world energy economy; That is, when they find some free time in between fabricating IEDs and masturbating in the blood of innocent people, while chanting to their God. This party really makes the oil futures speculators happy. High oil prices means inflation and a weak dollar.

Look at all this time we have wasted, not looking for alternative fuels, like mixing alcohol with granola and Birkenstocks. Everybody knows that the big oil companies have hushed up all of those brilliant energy physicists who have discovered cars that run on the oil from adolescent skin breakouts and get a bazillion gazillion miles per gallon. We should all be using electric cars, since electricity is practically free. Just put large coils of enameled wire next to the red carpet at the Grammy Awards and wait for the flux of all those magnetic Hollywood personalities to walk by.

But seriously, I know Bush is to blame. Just like I know it was the Sun's fault that I stubbed my toe this morning. Funny, the Sun rose in the sky right about the time my toe hit the leg on that coffee table, so you do the math. Life is so easy on the left. It's too bad we didn't elect Kerry. He had a plan. We still don't know what it was. He hasn't shared it with us, you know, for the good of the country.