Stacy McCain Does It Again! Live Blogs Conservative Win In Alaska

Stacy McCain, a professional reporter and highly successful blogger, is in Alaska where he live blogged the manual count of absentee ballots in the GOP senatorial primary election there.

A Tea Party candidate, a conservative Republican, one Joe Miller, had challenged the GOP establishment candidate, Senator Lisa Murkowski, a liberal.  The vote was close, but went to Miller.  Murkowski has conceded the race.

Read all about it here.

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Investigatory Panel Finds "Little Evidence for IPCC Claims About Global Warming"

From the U.K. Daily Express:

THE world’s leading climate change body has been accused of losing credibility after a damning report into its research practices.

A high-level inquiry into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found there was “little evidence” for its claims about global warming.

It also said the panel had emphasised the negative impacts of climate change and made “substantive findings” based on little proof.

The review by the InterAcademy Council (IAC) was launched after the IPCC’s hugely embarrassing 2007 benchmark climate change report, which contained exaggerated and false claims that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.

The panel was forced to admit its key claim in support of global warming was lifted from a 1999 magazine article. The report was based on an interview with a little-known Indian scientist who has since said his views were “speculation” and not backed by research.

When you stop laughing, read the rest of the story here.
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Mosque Burned in Tennessee

A mosque under construction in Tennessee was burned to the ground a couple of days ago. The mosque site was located in a suburb of Nashville. The sheriff there has said the burning has been ruled as arson.

Of course, the Left is saying that it was opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque that caused the arsonists to start the fire. On the contrary, the Tennessee burning was undoubtedly provoked by the decision to build the Ground Zero mosque in the first place. If domestic Muslims had any sensitivity for the feelings of other Americans, perhaps they wouldn't be facing growing opposition from a motivated citizenry.

So who's responsible for the Tennessee arson? Muslims and the left wing liberals who support them. A local Tennessee Muslim said:

"We unfortunately did not experience hostilities for the 30 years we've been here and have only seen the hostility since approval of the site plan for the new center," said Sbenaty.

What happened to alienate the non-Muslims in the area?  Well, there was this thing called 9/11, and unending terrorist attacks across the globe, and many would-be terrorists arrested right here in the USA.  Then  there was the mosque to be built at Ground Zero, which has further alienated millions of Americans.  Many see it as a "victory" mosque to celebrate the death of infidels there.  No doubt this hostility spilled over to the Tennessee area.  Now, every time a mosque is under construction, the local residents will be reminded of the seditious and violent nature of Islam....and they will resent it.  Thank Feisal Abdul Rauf.

One local resident explained why Islam is viewed with growing hostility in Tennessee (and elsewhere):

"They are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic group," Bob Shelton, a 76-year-old retiree who lives in the area, told The Associated Press.

Read it all here.

To paraphrase the Reverend Jeremiah Wright:  "Islam's Chickens...are coming home....TO ROOST!"
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Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally Was Huge

American Power has some excellent photos of Glenn Beck's rally in Washington this week.  See them in the post  "By Any Measure, Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Was Huge."

The crowds there were impressive.  Here's one example from Donald Douglas's post:

Time Magazine's Strange Islamic Graphic

Time's Graphic:  an Islamic Mosque

The graphic on the right appeared on the final page of the August 30, 2010 print-edition of Time Magazine, attached to the article "Sacred Spaces" by Nancy Gibbs.  It appears to be a depiction of a mosque at night.  The crescent moon and single bright star in the sky tell us that this is definitely representative of Islam.

However, if you turn the graphic upside down (see bottom image), you can see an image of the Twin Towers and the World Trade Center in New York, the site of the Islamic attack nine years ago.

I find the graphic vaguely offensive.  If it were in any other magazine but liberal Time, I might consider it a clever piece of art:  tying the World Trade Center tragedy together with its root cause, Islam.

Time's Graphic Upside Down:  The Twin Towers

What do you think?

Hat tip:  Always on Watch

I'm Not the Only Islamophobe: Blogmocracy Wants to End Islamic Immigration Too

The Blogmocracy has a post about two Muslims in Dearborn being arrested for a planned terrorist attack. Rodan writes, while I applaud:

Our elites have given preferences to Immigrants from Islamic countries. Dearborn Michigan has become an enclaves of AL-Qaeda, Hizballah and Muslims Brotherhood supporters. This is not Immigration, it’s Colonialism and the goal is to establish an Islamic state in America. No matter how we appease, they seek to carry out acts of aggression. In the latest episode of Islamic Imperialism, 2 men identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofiand Hezem al Murisi from the Deaborn area have been arrested on Terror charges.

Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with “preparation of a terrorist attack,” U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.

Rodan concludes his post with this:

It is time to end Islamic Immigration. This is just latest case of Islamic Colonialists using America to prepare acts of aggression. The time for tolerance of Islamic Imperialism must end.

Yes, it is time. When will the fools in power listen? Perhaps after a dirty bomb is set off in a major city.

The Economy: Things Will Get Worse Before They Get Better

The Washington Examiner's editorial of August 27 states that the economy will be getting worse, and soon.

The editorial states that almost all major economic indicators are pointing downward; that unemployment is close to 20% (counting those who have given up or fall off the unemployment roles), which is the same as the Great Depression.  Worse, the economy is expected to take a dive when the Democrats raise taxes:

The really bad news, however, is that things are going to get worse before they get better unless President Obama and the Democratic Congress reverse course and abandon their plan to impose a huge tax increase on Jan. 1, 2011. That's the day the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire. Tax rates on all five income brackets, not just those paid by "the rich," will increase by 2 to 4 percentage points, thereby blowing a $921 billion hole in the nation's ailing economy. Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have sent federal spending skyrocketing, from 20 percent of the gross domestic product to 25 percent. The coming tax increase will drive the cost of government even further into the stratosphere, which will deprive the private sector of nearly a trillion dollars that could have gone to job creation.

/sarcasm
 Aren't you glad you vote DEMOCRAT?  Don't you wish everybody did?

Read it all here.  Hat tip:  Protein Wisdom

Pamela Geller Gets Death Threats

Pamela Geller says that she has noticed a spike in Islamic death threats recently.  It is only a matter of time before she becomes Geert Wilderized:  having to move around to different places at random, always protected by bodyguards, to avoid assassination by Muslims.  Geert Wilders' protection is paid for by the Dutch government; Pamela has no such resource.

Pamela has made her blogging career about exposing the violence of Islam.  Now she becomes the target of that violent religion.

I advise her to buy a gun and learn how to use it.  If one of them kicks in your door to kill you, the gun could prove valuable.  You owe it to yourself and your kids.

  

Making Progressive Pets of the Enemies of Civilization

An excellent post today at Protein Wisdom:  Resisting an Epiphany by the Sanity Inspector (hat tip:  Smitty at The Other McCain):

Americans are a kind, forbearing, humble, welcoming people, lefties’ incessant accusations otherwise notwithstanding. I have never had a negative personal experience with a Muslim and, SFAIK (anonymous internet flammage aside) no Muslim has ever had one with me. I suspect that that is true of most everyone reading this, left or right. In fact, I sometimes have occasion to help Muslims who are new to the area, or to America altogether. They just want to run their convenience stores, parking garages, and halal meat shops, and get on in life, same as everyone else.

And yet the Islamic terrorists, well-trained foreign agent or Sudden Jihad Syndrome flipout, are hiding among them, not us. And the alleged moderate Muslims who run interference for them are quick to scold us for noticing, as are the progressives who tend to make mascots of civilization’s enemies. And every snowflake in an avalanche can plead “who, me?”.

On the ground, under the news radar, most people get along fine much of the time, even in the world’s hot spots. Muslims will even visit Palestinian churches to receive The Virgin’s blessing, I’ve heard. And yet “My biking buddy is a Muslim, therefore Islam is a religion of peace” is as idiotically simplistic a statement as “I get along fine with all the black people at work, therefore there is no more racism in America.” Only difference is that the stakes are far higher with the former delusion.

The writer is warning of the danger of overlooking the Islamic threat, because we all know moderate Muslims.    It is easy to conclude, wrongly, that these moderates are representative of the whole.  The mistake could be fatal, as it has often been in the recent past.

That's all fairly obvious and offers no new insights for me.  What I really got from this article is the author's reference to the Left "making mascots pets of the enemies of civilization."  I would substitute "pets" for "mascots."  Mascots are animals selected as lucky symbols of a sports team; the term pets more accurately describe the Left's relationship with Muslims:

Definition of PET

1

a : a pampered and usually spoiled childb : a person who is treated with unusual kindness or consideration : darling

2

: a domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility 

The above definition succinctly describes the Left's passion and protection for, and relationship with, America-hating despots.  Substitute the word "potential terrorist" for animal in #2 above.

Now that really was an epiphany!

Islamic Extremists in the Workplace: Department of Defense Covers It Up

The Washington Times had an editorial this week that describes the disturbing delusional tendencies of the Pentagon brass regarding Muslims in the workplace.  The editorial describes the review of the Fort Hood shooting incident in which a Muslim army officer shot and killed 14 people, most of them soldiers.  The review is an exercise in denial and a cover-up of internal Islamic threat:

On Aug. 18, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates released the final Fort Hood follow-on review, in which he proposed initiatives to "mitigate internal threats, ensure force protection, enable emergency response and provide care for victims and families." Radical Islam is nowhere to be found.

The DoD report offers incorrect solutions to a misdiagnosed problem, i.e., that ardent Muslims kill people.  It's what they do.  So the DoD and the Army have simply refused to admit the problem exists.  This is the real danger of "political correctness," when reality itself is denied through a determined effort not to see it.  An alternate reality is promoted instead, and God help anyone who pricks the bubble of illusion.  So speak no evil of Muslims, voice no doubts as to their loyalty or propensity to treason, regardless of the mounting evidence:

The Defense Science Board currently is examining "behavioral indicators of violence and radicalization," and the report recommends a better force protection reporting system for suspicious behavior. This is where the system breaks down. Maj. Hasan didn't slip under the radar because of an inadequate reporting system or lack of indicators that he was a problem. He escaped strong scrutiny solely because he was Muslim.

The DoD's message -- Don't report suspicious Muslims:

In the prevailing politically correct climate, few officers want to risk reporting anything to do with a Muslim for fear of official retaliation.

Read the entire editorial here.  Hat tip View From the Right.

Rick Darby's Take on Muslims in the USA

I learned of this blogger from View From the Right.  He is Rick Darby and writes very well with excellent insight and common sense.  Here's his take on "moderate" Muslims:

For the umpteenth time: I don't want to root around like a truffle hound looking for "moderate" Islam. I don't want to reform Islam. I have no time for converting Muslims, updating their politico-religious system, winning their hearts and minds. They're welcome to believe their beliefs and practice their practices, in their own historical turf, even territory that they took by military force. But they must not be allowed to colonize the United States and gradually expand their influence and pressure, culminating in sharia law, as is happening in Britain.

We should put an end to these idiotic arguments about mosques, prayer mats, foot baths, dogs in taxicabs, halal meals for "American" soldiers, and all the rest. The only way to do that is to end Muslim immigration and convince the Muslims already here to leave, even if we have to pay them.

Amen brother.

Read Rick Darby's blog here.
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Pat Condell: Bad Faith at Ground Zero

Hat tip: Infidel Bloggers Alliance

The Enemies Change But Liberals Stay the Same

I'm what Rush calls a "seasoned citizen." I have grandkids. So I have seen a lot of politics in my lifetime. It's interesting to notice the parallels between today and times past.

During the Cold War, the Russians were often threatening and bellowing and promising to destroy us. Every time they launched some new aggression, it was said to be a response to ours. What was theirs was theirs and what was ours was negotiable. They made lots of missiles and so did we.

Conservatives saw the Soviet's ultimate goal as world domination and the destruction of capitalism everywhere. Since the communists were violent, untrustworthy and aggressive, conservatives believed in a strong military and advanced weapon systems. The latter were to act as a military deterrent to Soviet aggression.

Liberals on the other hand, saw the Cold War as some big misunderstanding. Somehow, we and the Soviets had come to inadvertently distrust one another. They were just like us, shared the same values of peace and prosperity. We had to show the Soviets that they had nothing to fear from us, that we meant them no harm.

Liberals believed that if we would disarm and destroy our nuclear stockpiles, the Soviets would soon follow suit. But liberals went further than that, they convinced themselves that it was our fault the big misunderstanding happened in the first place. It was because we supported some undemocratic regimes, or interfered in communism's internal affairs -- by supporting opposition groups, or spying on them, or boycotting their goods. If and when communism failed, it was because of our subversion, not because communism just doesn't work.

Conservatives pointed to the bloody history of Soviet communism, the planned starvation, the mass murders, the totally ruthless rulers, the complete lack of human liberty. In fact, communism was a double whammy: not only did it reduce populations to the point of starvation, it also removed all liberty.

The ruthless history of communism, the millions dead, all were there to see and study. But liberals didn't want to see or to know. Facts disturb happy thoughts. They wanted to believe that they could control the unhappy situation by accepting blame and paying penance. Conservatives thought that liberals were naive and self-delusional. Conservatives thought that liberals wanted to commit national suicide and take the rest of us with them.

Today, the new enemy is Islam. It, like communism, is a strong ideology, something believed on faith rather than fact. Like the communists, the Muslims believe they have not only the right but the duty to make the rest of the world just like them. So they attack New York, London, Madrid, Mumbai and Beslan, and kill many strangers who caused them no harm. This is nothing new for Islam; they have been attacking nations and peoples for 14 centuries, all for the same religious reasons: to force the world to submit to the will of Allah.

Today liberals are the same. They make excuses for the Muslims the same way they once made excuses for the Soviets. It's all a big misunderstanding; it's all our fault. All we have to do is show them we mean them no harm; if we make major concessions, they will come to trust us and follow suit. Let them build a monument to our destruction on the site where the first strike occurred. This will assure them that we mean them no harm.

The more things change the more they stay the same.
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Conservative Bloggers as Homework Projects

I often have one or two frequent liberal readers who want to debate everything. I don't mind, I have plenty of time on my hands anyway. Their verbal gymnastics are interesting to watch, as they try to disprove the factual and defend error.

However, why does one liberal make such a long-term project out of me? Am I homework for a liberal social studies class, or a project for a cell in Democratic Underground or the Daily KOS?

I don't know. Maybe they just want to practice their arguments. Have any other conservative bloggers out there noticed this phenomenon?

The Climate Change Dictionary

I found this in the comments section of a news article about the recent Bolivian freeze.  It was so good I decided to reprint it.

Climate Change Dictionary

PEER REVIEW: The act of banding together a group of like-minded academics with a funding conflict of interest, for the purpose of squeezing out any research voices that threaten the multi-million dollar government grant gravy train.

SETTLED SCIENCE: Betrayal of the scientific method for politics or money or both.

DENIER: Anyone who suspects the truth.

CLIMATE CHANGE: What has been happening for billions of years, but should now be flogged to produce 'panic for profit.'

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Leftist Nutcase Prize, unrelated to "Peace" in any meaningful way.

DATA, EVIDENCE: Unnecessary details. If anyone asks for this, see "DENIER," above.

CLIMATE SCIENTIST: A person skilled in spouting obscure, scientific-sounding jargon that has the effect of deflecting requests for "DATA" by "DENIERS." Also skilled at affecting an aura of "Smartest Person in the Room" to buffalo gullible legislators and journalists.

JUNK SCIENCE: The use of invalid scientific evidence resulting in findings of causation which simply cannot be justified or understood from the standpoint of the current state of credible scientific or medical knowledge.
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Why Liberals Love Feisal Abdul Rauf

In the New York Post today, John Podhoretz explains why liberals are so enamored of Feisal Abdul Rauf, the slick Muslim advocate for a Mosque at Ground Zero.

The gist of it is that Islamic militants have continually borrowed the left's rhetoric and pseudo-facts in explaining why evil is good and good is evil; or by saying that, if someone attacks us, it's our fault and we should apologize.

As Podhoretz explains:

What Rauf really sounds like, in the speeches and writings unearthed since the controversy began, is a Western leftist specializing in offering analytical defenses and sociohistorical explications of the Arab-Islamic position.

Podhoretz gives the following example of Rauf's duplicitous left-speak:

Thus, when he told an audience in Australia that "We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims," he was invoking a shibboleth of the anti-Iraq-War left. In his pacific voice, he referred to how "US-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of over half a million Iraqi children."

Thus, he conveniently forgot (as those who use this line of argument always do), that the sanctions resulted from a unanimous UN Security Council vote and were placed on Iraq in the 1990s as a way of avoiding military action after Saddam Hussein violated the terms under which he was allowed to remain in power after the 1991 Gulf War.

Under any moral understanding -- any clerical understanding -- of responsibility, the absolute responsibility for any and all deaths therefore rests on Hussein. It was he who violated rules to which he'd agreed, and he who could've done the things that would've ended the sanctions regime.

In the same speech, Rauf explained away Mideast terrorism: "After 50 years of, in many cases, oppression, of US support of authoritarian regimes that have violated human rights in the most heinous of ways, how else do people get attention?"

This, too, is familiar gruel for the American left, which has a terrible weakness for finding the root causes of the internal repressive acts of sovereign regimes in American actions.

Read it all here.  Hat tip:  View From the Right
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Obama Halts Trial of USS Cole Bomber

The Obama Administration has indefinitely postponed the trial of a major Al-Qaeda figure, one Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.  Al-Nashiri was involved in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and who is accused of organizing the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

The Washington Post has the story:

The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that "no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future."

Read it all here.

And they wonder why so many people believe Obama is either a traitor, a Muslim or a fool.
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Dancing on Our Graves: Feisal Abdul Rauf

Rauf Dancing On Our Graves

Funny how conservatives see things so differently from liberals.  The former see the Ground Zero Mosque as grossly insensitive, a painful reminder of who killed those 3,000 souls on September 11, 2001.  Yes, Islam killed them.  Not radical Islam, as if that were some unnatural variant of this ideology, just Islam.  Feisal Abdul Rauf, the New York Muslim who is heading the project, blames America and the west for Muslim atrocities throughout the world.  Yes, they may be bloody, violent and hateful, but we made them do it.  Right.

The liberals, on the other hand, see the Ground Zero Mosque as some kind of spiritual outreach, an attempt by Rauf to heal the wounds and build bridges of tolerance and understanding.  They almost tear up when describing Rauf as this sensitive, spiritual soul.  There is definitely something strange about liberals.  They seem to be walking zombies with Stockholm Syndrome.

For a different take, see what "Discover the Networks" says about Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Here's what I think of him, as expressed in this Photoshop.

San Francisco Examiner Editorial: "Defending 9/11 Victims Isn't 'un-American' "

The San Francisco Examiner has a great editorial today, related to Radical Rauf and the Cordoba Victory Mosque.  It says, among other things:

Rauf might gain some credibility if, while on his current U.S. taxpayer-funded junket to the Middle East, he used the occasion to challenge Muslim leaders to end their barbaric practice of executing those who convert from Islam to another faith. He could further gain credibility in the U.S. by demanding that Muslim leaders allow Christian and other missionaries to operate openly and without fear in their societies. There are 100 mosques in New York City. Will 100 Christian churches ever be permitted in places like Riyadh and Kabul?

Read it all here at the San Francisco Examiner.

The Examiner's points are well taken, but we all know that Rauf isn't ever going to advocate religious tolerance from Muslims to other religions.  Like virtually all Muslim leaders and Imams, he believes that tolerance only flows one way:  from us to them, never from them to us.

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Obama's Global-Warming Power Grab Riles Texas

Many have long warned that the Global Warming hoax is a major federal power grab in disguise.  Obama is now using the EPA to create new law without the bother of a Congressional vote.  Texas in particular is affected.  Peggy Venable in the Washington Times says that Texas will fight:

The state's slogan is "Don't mess with Texas." But the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing just that, and at stake is whether the Obama administration can impose its global-warming agenda without a vote of Congress.

President Obama's EPA is already well down the path to regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, something the act was not designed to do. It has a problem, however, because shoehorning greenhouse gases into that 40-year-old law would force churches, schools, warehouses, commercial kitchens and other sources to obtain costly and time-consuming permits. It would grind the economy to a halt, and the likely backlash would doom the whole scheme.

Read it all here.

Is the Bad Economy Caused by Global Warming?

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Probably not, but thanks for asking.

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Home Sales Hit New Low; A Depression, Not a Recession

Existing home sales hit a 15 year low in July. Foreclosures are 30 times what they were before the crash in 2008.  Meanwhile, an economist says we are in a depression, not a recession.

No argument there.  Recessions don't last this long or go this deep.

The question is:  how will the Democrats spin this?  That's not hard to figure out.  They will say that George Bush ruined the economy and a vote for Republicans will be for more of the same.  This is the tack being taken by Jerry Brown against Meg Whitman for governor of California.
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Shootout at High Noon: Cameron Throws Down Gun, Skedaddles

James Cameron, the Hollywood film director and maker of the movie "Avatar" has greatly embarrassed himself.

Cameron, an ardent believer in man-made Climate change (aka global warming) wanted to shoot it out with the climate change deniers.  Per Not Evil Just Wrong:

Cameron said he was itching to debate the issue and show skeptical journalists and scientists that they were wrong.

“I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads," he said in an interview.

When the boneheads polished up their six shooters and brushed off their ten-gallon hats, Cameron had a change of heart.  He was last seen leaving Dodge City by the back door of the Climate Change Saloon.  His only word in departing was "Mama!"

The blog "Not Evil, Just Wrong" has the story.

Hat tip:  The Other McCain

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Islamophobic Americans

Powerline tries to answer the question:  Are Americans Islamophobic?  There seems to be snide insinuations in the mainstream media that we are, and that it is a bad thing.  Omigod!  You mean most Americans have a problem with an ideology that promotes head chopping, bomb-throwing, women-beating, gay-executing barbarianism?  One could only hope.

Powerline puts it into perspective:

In the end, of course, the question comes down to how one defines Islamophobia. If it means disliking American Muslims because of their religion, then I don't think the charge sticks. If it means disliking a good deal of what many Muslims are doing in the wider world, and seeing some sort of a connection between that conduct and the religion of Islam, then Americans may well be Islamophobic. But we would be fools if we weren't. [emphasis added]

Am I an Islamophobe?  On steroids.
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OUTRAGE! Christian Church Will Burn Qurans on September 11, 2010! (I approve)

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida plans to burn copies of the Quran.  They will do this on September 11, 2010, to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Islamic attack on New York.  The talking heads have already begun their spin.

The left and their Islamic allies are "outraged."  RINOs are expressing concern.  Is burning the Quran the Christian thing to do?  Won't we just alienate the Muslims even further?  Will this come back to bite us in the butt?  Oh look at me, I am so TOLERANT and RESPONSIBLE!  I'm not like the unschooled rednecks who want to burn Qurans.  Shall I pose for pictures now?

So they're outraged.  Too bad.  I am in a continual state of outrage every day that Nancy Pelosi is in office.  I am outraged that I don't have gainful employment.  I am outraged that I may lose my house.  I am outraged that our Islamic enemies are building a triumphal mosque at the site of their greatest atrocity, where they no doubt will symbolically dance on our graves.  I spend so much time being outraged that my outrage gland is cramping up and may shut down from sheer exhaustion.  So I don't give a rat's rear end if leftists, Rinos and Muslims are outraged over the burning of this nasty, hateful little book.  Welcome to the club, the Outrage Club.  I am the frigging President.

Did the Quran cause the atrocity of 9/11?  You bet your ass it did.  Hatred, violence and intolerance are the key hallmarks of the Islamic religion.  Whatever the bloody pirate "prophet" hated has been marked as a target for all time.  The chief among these targets is the Infidel, i.e. those of us who reject this vile ideology.

So should you be OUTRAGED over Dove's planned burning of the Quran?  I am not, any more than I would be if someone wanted to burn Mein Kampf, the Communist Manifesto or Mao's Little Red Book.  In fact, I will visit some used bookstores and look for cheap copies of the Quran to burn on September 11.  This will not accomplish much in the grand scheme of things, but it will very satisfying and will allow me to express my utter contempt for the Islamic "religion."

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Playing Music for the Vets in Livermore, California

My band played for the vets at the V.A. hospital today in Livermore, California.

These events generally set up tables under awnings and serve food and entertainment to vets, many of whom are patients.  There are a lot of vets in wheelchairs, some missing limbs.  Some vets are honored for various things, like having been a POW in World War II or Korea.  Today they honored a 90 year old vet who served as an engineer in World War II, building roads and airstrips on the islands leading to Japan, including Saipan.  He signed up right after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  We all applauded him vigorously.

I had not been to Livermore previously, but did not have a good mental image of it. It just didn't leave a good taste. What kind of town would name itself after liver?  Why not Hamhocks-more, or Salami-more?  Or Tri-tip-more?  However, I was surprised to see how green and rural Livermore is, and how beautiful.  There were vineyards everywhere.

The Veterans Administration hospital there has a lot of acreage, and an ancient looking white building is the hospital.  It reminded me of the Alamo, only a lot bigger.  Spanish architecture, I guess.  The grounds were like a large park, a wonderful place for walking or picnics.  There were flocks of wild turkeys roaming the grounds.  At first I thought they must be peacocks, but they looked too fat and edible to be peacocks.  Then someone told me they are wild turkeys and wander about unmolested.

In the chow line, I noticed a sign by the sidewalk that said "DO NOT FEED THE TURKEYS."

However, they fed me anyway.  It was much appreciated.
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Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

Polls show that 24% of Americans think that Obama is a Muslim.

Gee, I covered that possibility months ago, with a graphic of Obama denying it.  I am giving it new life in this post.

The White House responded to the poll by stating categorically that Obama is a Christian, and prays daily.

As a matter of fact, he prays five times daily, facing east!  Yuk yuk yuk!

Fun With Math (?): Converting Centigrade to Fahrenheit and Vice Versa

Some Background:
The global warming alarmists often live in Europe, so we see lots of references to temperatures in centigrade.  Here in the U.S. we are still used to reading temperatures in Fahrenheit.  It's useful to be able to convert from one temperature scale to another, especially to put alarmists arguments into a more familiar perspective.

My Screw Up at YouTube:
There is a National Geographic video at YouTube showing the ecological disaster that would allegedly occur if global temperatures increased even 5°C.  Well I whipped out the conversion formula I learned in high school and tried to convert that increase to its Fahrenheit equivalent, which has more meaning for me as an American.  So I computed 5°C * (9/5) +32 = 41°F.  Well now, I thought, we'd have to have the sun become a supernova before such an increase would happen, so the whole argument is moot, cause it ain't ever gonna happen, at least not for billions of years.

Thinking It Through
However, my thinking was wrong.  We weren't comparing two temperatures, we were comparing an increase in temperature, an interval rather than a point on the thermometer.  So how do you convert an interval, say, how is an increase in 5°C converted into °F?

Well, let's see.  The centigrade thermometer is based on a 100 degree scale:  start at 0 degrees (freezing point for water) and end at 100 degrees (boiling point for water).  The Fahrenheit thermometer is based on a 212 degree scale.  It starts at 0 and ends at 212 degrees.  Freezing (for water) is at 32 degrees and boiling of water occurs at 212 degrees.  Okay, so converting an interval, C to F, should be C * 212/100, I thought.  That converted 5°C to 10.6°F.  Sounds reasonable.  If correct, I should be able to convert back to C by the upside down version of the formula:  C = F*(100/212).  However, this did not convert 10.6 °F back to 5°C. It converted it to 2.36°C.  My formula didn't work, but why?

Eureka!
Aha, it dawned on me.  Water freezes at 0°C and at 32°F.  The scales are not really comparable because the F scale covers a greater range of temperatures.  To make them comparable, I had to knock off the first 32° from the F scale (212 - 32 = 180).  So the formula for comparing temperature intervals are these:  F = C*(180/100) and C = F*(100/180).

So an increase of 5°C is equal to an increase of 9.0°F, and vice versa.  This formula works both ways, so it seems correct.

So now, in order to evaluate National Geographic's nightmare scenario, I have to think:  what ecological disaster would occur if global temperatures increased 9.0 °F?  That would be hot, indeed.  The Medieval Warming Period is said to have increased only 7°F, at the most.  However, that period saw longer growing seasons, easier living conditions and greater longevity.  The warming was beneficial to man, not deleterious.

So even if temperatures did increase 5°C, would it really destroy the planet?  I doubt it.  I also doubt that the temperatures ever will increase that much, barring some unforeseen ecological change (man made carbon emissions won't do it.)

Okay, for those who are interested, here are the formulas for converting temperatures.

Converting From Centigrade to Fahrenheit:
It the temperature is 5 degrees C, what is the temperature in Fahrenheit?  Use the formula:

F = (9/5 * C) + 32

So to convert 5°C to F:  (9/5 * 5) + 32 = 41°F.

Converting From Fahrenheit to Centigrade:
If the temperature is 41°F, what is it in centigrade?  Use the formula:

C=(F-32) * 5/9

So to convert 41°F to C:  (41-32) * 5/9 = 5°C

Now, if the temperature increases by 5°C, how much did it increase in F?  The answer is not 41 degrees, because we aren't measuring two temperatures, but the interval between two temperatures. The formula to compute this is:  C * 180/100 = F.

So an increase in 5°C = 5* (180/100) = an increase of 9.0°F

To convert a temperature interval from F to C, the opposite formula is used:
F * (100/180) = C.

So an increase in temperature of 9.0 °F, expressed in C, is as follows:
9.0 * (100/180) = 5°C.

Now that I have put you all to sleep, pleasant dreams!

Bill Whittle Opposes the Ground-Zero Mosque (Video)

Democrats Want You To Suffer: Plan to "De-Develop" the United States

Abandoned Factory

When I read the book "Green Hell" by Steven J. Milloy, I was surprised at what he said about "green" sources of energy, like solar and wind.  He stated that environmentalists don't want us to use oil or coal for energy, but neither do they want us to use nuclear, solar or wind.  Brian Sussman, in his book "Climategate" said the same thing, giving examples of environmentalist lawsuits to stop green energy projects.  The alarming truth is that the eco-fanatics want to decrease the supply of ALL energy.  But why?

The leftist assault on energy -- all forms of energy -- is based on two nutty theories.  

Number one is the theory that the earth is becoming overpopulated, and this will lead to more pollution, accelerating man-made global warming and the destruction of life on earth.  This is because more people require more jobs, and more jobs means more industrialization.  More industrialization means a larger carbon footprint and ecological doom.  To save the earth, we must therefore reduce industrialization, which in turn will reduce both jobs and the population.  The best way to do this is by restricting sources of energy and the jobs such energy makes possible. 

Reducing energy and resources will make us suffer, and in turn, produce fewer children, so the population will shrink.  Therefore, we must deindustrialize, or de-develop, the United States.  This is why leftists hope for $8 a gallon gas; to punish us for our overindulgence and prosperous lifestyle and force us to live with less.  Here's one example of such an attitude:  $8 A Gallon Gas?  Bring It On!  If that isn't repulsive enough, here's another.  

Number two is the theory that, in order for the third world to develop and escape grinding poverty, the USA must "de-develop" or de-industrialize.  The factories and industries that are shut down here, can then be transferred there, exporting jobs and resources to the third world.  This, in the leftist mind, is a way to "redistribute" the wealth globally.  However, such a scenario will result in unprecedented joblessness in the US and substantially reduce our standard of living. 

Part of this attitude is the erroneous notion that the economic pie is fixed; that it can't grow, and we can only find new ways to divide it.  This view is demonstrated by the notion that "if your child eats, another child goes hungry." Barack Obama is on board with this theme.  Back in 2008 he said:

We can’t drive our SUVs and, you know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times, whether we’re living in the desert or we’re living in the tundra and then just expect every other country is going to say OK, you know, you guys go ahead keep on using 25 percent of the world’s energy, even though you only account for 3 percent of the population, and we’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us.

In addition, there is the belief that industrialized nations caused anthropegenic global warming and therefore owe great reparations to the non-industrialized world.  If you and I suffer, that's just too bad.  The hoi polloi must be sacrificed to the greater good.

Joel Kotkin, writing in Forbes, states that Obama's Science Advisor, John Holdren, agrees with the leftist goal of de-development.  Kotkin writes:

Holdren in the 1977 book Ecoscience (co-authored with Anne and Paul Ehrlich) developed the notion of "de-development." According to Holdren, poorer countries like India and China could not be expected to work their way out of poverty since they were "foredoomed by enormous if not insurmountable economic and environmental obstacles." The only way to close "the prosperity gap" was to lower the living standards of what he labeled "over-developed" nations.

The silly notion of de-development, or economic suicide for the west, is thirty years old, but is in the ascendancy today.  Kotkin adds:

Yet however wrong-headed, Holdren's world view now has jumped from the dustbin of history into the craniums of presidents and prime ministers. President Obama's pledge to "restore science to its rightful place" has morphed into state-sponsored scientific ideology.

If you thought my post title was an exaggeration, think again.  The eco-fanatics, socialists and redistributionists actually do want you to suffer.  It will help them achieve their goal of economic redistribution, the deindustrialization of the United States, and turn the planet into a pristine paradise, i.e. one with a minimum of human beings.  Well, except for China and India, who are smart enough to refuse going along.

So now when you hear of Obama and the Democrats stifling energy development, even green energy development, know that this is all according to plan.  If you are out of work, losing your house and facing a frightening future of poverty and want, at least you will know it has all been for a good cause.  Yeah, right.

Related Post:  The De-Development of America

Obama, Once Thought To Be a "Being of Light," is Now Merely Radioactive

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, a young unknown knight sought to seize the sword from the stone.  He was Barack Hussein Obama, seeking to be President of the United States.  He had no resume to present, no deep and wise sayings, no definable philosophy, no work history to speak of.  He was, in effect, a walking Rorschach Ink Blot, upon which the fantasies of millions could be projected.

Some saw the inkblot and concluded that it was an empty suit.  Others saw a butterfly.  Personally, I thought it was a horsey.  The enlightened among us, however, saw in it a being of light, a man so possessed of wisdom and goodness that he had the transformative power to turn toads into princes and road apples into gold.  Elect him and we would all be lifted onto a spiritual plane heretofore unknown in the annals of mankind.

As one transformed toad intoned:

Barack Obama isn't really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway.

This is what I find myself offering up more and more in response to the whiners and the frowners and to those with broken or sadly dysfunctional karmic antennae - or no antennae at all - to all those who just don't understand and maybe even actively recoil against all this chatter about Obama's aura and feel and MLK/JFK-like vibe.

To them I say, all right, you want to know what it is? The appeal, the pull, the ethereal and magical thing that seems to enthrall millions of people from all over the world, that keeps opening up and firing into new channels of the culture normally completely unaffected by politics?

No, it's not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn't have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity.

Instead of slapping the reefer from the toad's hands and storing him in a rubber room, millions upon millions followed the toad, who followed this new Pied Piper of Politics, who in turn played a fife while dancing down the yellow brick road in green tights (think Peter Pan).  Some noticed that the yellow brick road led to a steep cliff, but put it out of their minds.  It had to be right, because Obama was a being of light. Now, however, we know the real reason the "being of light" glows in the dark.  He's radioactive.

Meanwhile, watch that last step.  It's a doozie.

.....

"Jobless Millions" Give Up on the American Dream

The U.K. Guardian has another depressing article on the semi-permanency of our huge jobless problem.  The article is titled "Jobless millions signal death of the American dream for many."  It says:

The headline jobless figure of 9.5% is bad enough but does not begin to convey the problem as it fails to measure those who have stopped looking for work. Over the past three months alone more than a million Americans have fallen into that category: effectively giving up hope of finding a job and dropping out of the official statistics. Such cases now number some 5.9 million and their ranks are likely to grow as millions more find their jobless status becoming a permanent state of hopelessness. Surveys show that with each passing week on the dole their chances of finding a job get slimmer.

Last week there was a similar cheery article from the New York Times.  It was called "Jobless and Staying That Way."

I have a feeling that, come November, there will be even more unemployed:  Democrat senators and congressmen.  I am polishing up my boots to a high sheen, all ready to kick their rotten asses OUT.

....

A Divorce Agreement for Liberals and Conservatives

I am always getting these "pass it along" emails from friends, often containing some heart-warming tale or scary story that isn't true or some homey wisdom.  I usually don't even read them.  However, this one caught my eye and has some good ideas and is rather funny, so I thought I'd post it.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: 

We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.

--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.

--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel.

--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.

--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens.

--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.

--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.

--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

--You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.

--We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.

--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem." --I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

--We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.

--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.

P.S.S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.

Video: Child Prodigy Found -- Jackie Evancho, 10 Year Old Girl With an Amazing Operatic Voice

Ten year old Jackie Evancho went with her parents to see "Phantom of the Opera" two years ago, when she was eight.  She loved the music so much she started singing it around the house.  That led to an audition for the television program "America's Got Talent."  During her performance, she blew the audience and judges away with an amazingly mature soprano voice.  The YouTube video of her performance rapidly went viral and is embedded below.

Dang, I struggle to stay on key singing "Folsom Prison Blues" and this young lady was born with a tremendous voice.  She will be a great opera star someday, count on it.

Vince Guaraldi's Last Gig Site (Butterfield's) Has Been Demolished

Site of Butterfield's Nightclub, in Better Days

The site of Butterfield's nightclub in Menlo Park, California, was the last place Vince Guaraldi played with his trio.  He died in the hotel next door during a set break on February 6, 1976, from an aneurysm near his heart.

I first visited the site on February 6, 2009, on the 33rd anniversay of Vince's death. I commented on the site and took photos of it; see Searching For Answers:  the Death of Vince Guaraldi.

The last time I saw the site was on March 3, 2010, when I noticed the building that was once Butterfield's nightclub had been boarded up.  See my post about it here.

Butterfield's has finally been demolished.  Reader JD works in Menlo Park and has regularly checked the site.  JD writes:

Found your post, "Vince Guaraldi's Last Gig Site (Butterfield's) All Boarded Up." Since I'm in Menlo Park quite a lot, I stopped by Wednesday to see if anything had changed. Oh, it has. Butterfield's is gone. Photo attached.

Had to shoot through the temporary construction fence. Looks like this is pretty fresh demolition, since the heavy gear is still on site.

And so it goes.

JD

Recently Excavated Site Where Butterfield's Once Stood

New Must-See Video on the Nature of Islam and Sharia Law

Here is a video that explains basic facts to the multitudes who believe that Islam is just another religion. Hat tip Another Black Conservative.

National Anthem Forbidden at the Lincoln Memorial?

Dan Riehl has posted about an incident in which high school kids spontaneously sang the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.  A park cop came along and told them to shut up, that singing wasn't allowed at the Lincoln Memorial because it is a "content-neutral" site.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think the cop was totally out of line.  Some national monuments deserve a respectful silence.  I wouldn't want people singing songs, even patriotic ones, in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers either, or anywhere at Arlington Cemetery.  The songs would disturb the feeling of reverence and meditation.

Now for Ted Kennedy's grave, songs should be allowed, but only those appropriate and representative of the life and values of the Senator.  Like "Chug-a-lug"or maybe "Dang Me" by Roger Miller.
........

Stephen Hawking's Nightmare Scenarios: Yawn

Attack of the Killer Mushrooms

It appears the great theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is now warning that we must leave earth and begin colonizing other planets.  The reason is that because we are all so selfish, aggressive and messy, we are destroying our environment and need a new litter box for the human race.

It's amazing how so many scientists predict doom and gloom for eons into the unfathomable future.  Not sure what brand of crystal ball Hawking is using these days, or whether it has been recently calibrated.  Hawking proclaims:

"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."

Well now, there's a practical suggestion for a non-existent problem.  Hawking cites the number of nuclear warheads still in existence as support for the coming disaster.  And if those don't bring extinction to the human  race, there's always the doomsayer's favorite fallback, global warming.

University of Sussex astrophysicist Dr. Robert Smith said global warming may reach a point "where all of Earth's water will simply evaporate." He said life will disappear on Earth long before the 7.6 billion years some say the aging sun will expand and destroy Earth.

Since we are imagining nightmare scenarios that are based strictly on fantasy rather than scientific fact or research, does one really need to be an astrophysicist to let one's imagination run wild?  Why not predict that mushrooms will sprout legs and teeth and begin eating humans as a garnishment for steak?  The perfect revenge!  Or that Bessie will climb out of Loch Ness and begin spitting fire and stomping Tokyo like Godzilla?

So to Hawking and Smith, I say SHUDDUP!  If I want to scare myself I'll watch Hulu.com reruns of old Night Gallery episodes.  The scary scenarios of egghead scientists, for me, conjure only mild disgust, because of their obvious leftist political slant:  Man is BAD.  The world would be such a nice place without humans!  Vote Democrat now and free the world of the human race.

A more practical solution would be to contact carnivorous space aliens and have them transport all liberals to their planet for a nice meal.  The liberals being lunch, that is.  Now there's a nightmare scenario I could live with.

......

Moscow's "Worst Heat" in 1,000 Years (BS Warning)

I don't know why Drudge, a conservative, always pushes stories that seem to support "global warming," but he has another one up today:  "Muscovites Flee Worst Heat in 1,000 Years;  Death Rate Doubles."  Thousands of Muscovites are fleeing the city "to beat the heat."

The story's title is not supported by the news story itself.  There is no mention of how anyone determined this is the "worst heat in 1,000 years," a pretty neat trick since the mercury thermometer wasn't even invented until 1714, though there are complicated ways to estimate prior temperatures, e.g. boring trees and analyzing tree rings, taking ice core samples, etc.

And what is this terrible heat?  35.5° C, which translates to 95.9° F.  That's a fairly normal temperature for summertime across the USA, especially in August, so what's the big deal?  On July 29, Moscow experienced its "highest temperature ever" ("ever" is not defined, but records go back to 1879), 38.2° C, or 101° F.  Again, 101 isn't an extraordinary temperature, though it is higher than Moscow's usual summer temperatures, which often top 86 °F.  Of course, usual temperatures are not affected by extensive wild fires as is the case today.

The real reason the death rate has doubled in Moscow, to 700 per day, is that the city's air pollution is horrible, with high levels of carbon monoxide and smoke from extensive wild fires.  That is also the real reason so many are fleeing the city:  smoke is hard to breathe.

These dramatic headlines are part of the global warming agenda of big, liberal newspaper chains:  to insinuate into the public mind that earth temperatures are soaring, so people can remember man-made global warming hysteria, put 2 and 2 together and get 5.  We are being programmed.

Google Sued for Age Bias

Potential Google Employee?

People who are over 50 have a much tougher time finding a job, as liberal Silicon Valley is one of the most age-biased sectors in the country.  It is widely understood here that older workers are treated as lepers.  I once worked in a temporary assignment for a controller named Steve M, at a software company in Cupertino.  Steve was very rude and disrespectful to me in staff meetings (probably because my superior accounting experience made him feel threatened), so I had a meeting with him to discuss it.  When I brought up the topic of age bias, he told me that "one of his best prior employees was an older person [a secretary]," but that "the older you get the more rigid your thinking."  I was astounded by Steve's ignorance, insensitivity and outright bigotry.

 I have seen people with advanced Tourette Syndrome who had more tact and social skills than Stevie boy.  When I got up to leave, somewhat in a state of shock, his last mocking words to me were "Don't die!"  This jerk had lawsuit written all over him, but was careful to voice these insults in a meeting that included only him and me.

I was happy to see that an appeals court has allowed an age-bias lawsuit against Google to go forward, brought by an over 50 manager, one Brian Reid, who feels he was fired for being "too old."  The explanation that they gave him for his dismissal was that he was not a good "cultural fit."  Sounds indeed like code for "too old."  Mercury-News.com says:

Google recruited Reid, who had managed the team that built one of the first Internet search engines at AltaVista and who has a doctorate in computer science, in the summer of 2002. But the company fired Reid, then 54, within two years, allegedly saying he was not a "cultural fit," after co-workers and a supervisor had described him as "an old man," "slow," "sluggish" and "an old fuddy-duddy," and made remarks such as that Reid's compact disc cases should be relabeled LPs, according to court documents. Reid's supervisor, Urs Hölzle, then 38, and currently a senior vice president and Google Fellow, regularly told Reid that his opinions and ideas were "too old to matter," according to the documents.

Google, age bigots extraordinaire.  I hope they lose the suit.  No room for anyone at Google who doesn't have green hair, facial studs and lots of tattoos.  God knows, it isn't what you know that counts, but how fashionable and trendy you are.  Now I know why they never acknowledged my resumes for advertised jobs that were well within my experience and expertise.

If I ever get an interview with Google, I will have to lie about my age, wear a T shirt with a liberal slogan on it, and paint my face with red dots using a felt tip pen, to simulate pimples.  That and some water-based tattoos that can be washed off.  I wonder if they have fake facial studs that you can put on with glue?  I'll have to look into that.  A nose ring, an ear ring, and maybe a dog collar with studs.  That's the ticket!  Google will take one look at me and say "Resume?  You don't need no stinkin' resume.  You're HIRED!"

......

Unemployed, Desperate and Despondent: I'm Not The Only One.

The New York Times has a cheery article about the chronic joblessness effecting 14.6 million Americans.  It's called "Jobless and Staying That Way."

Of those millions, about 1.4 million have been unemployed for more than 99 weeks -- that's almost two years of unemployment.  That's the point when unemployment benefits run out.  I have been unemployed just over a year, so there are people worse off than I am.  Last week I received a bail-out, not from the government, but from other bloggers and blog readers who donated $1,700 to help me pay some bills (with much thanks to R.S. McCain and Smitty who started the fund drive on my behalf).

Actually, I am not despondent and do not plan on jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge anytime soon.  Right now I feel somewhat upbeat.  Why, I have no idea.  Even before I read this article, I had already come to the conclusion that I am not going to find a job, so no use worrying about it.

I know I am not alone in this boat.  And November gets closer every day.
......

Argentina Boils as Global Warming Strengthens Its Fiery Grip

Oh wait a minute, I got that wrong (AGAIN).  Argentina is colder than Antarctica as the coldest weather in 40 years transforms the country into a huge ice cube.  Read about it here.

Meanwhile, a million fish have been boiled to death in Bolivia, creating an unprecedented ecological disaster. (OH WAIT, I misread the article.  Actually, they froze to death.  Dang, I just can't see to get it right.)

Forgive me, I just love to bait the global warming crowd.  The last time I did it, it resulted in a long debate with Sven.  It's so much fun I can't resist.

Okay, just to be fair, Argentina and Bolivia are in winter when we are in summer.  That's because the earth tilts on its axis,  creating summer for the part of earth leaning towards the sun, and winter for the part leaning away.  The positions are reversed later in the year, putting us in winter while South America is back into summer.  Also, as Sven points out, one cold snap doesn't prove a long term trend, and he's right.  However, the winter temperatures in South America are much more severe than usual.  I can't help but feel that we have entered a cooling period.  (I suspect that a lot of folks in Argentina and Bolivia feel the same way.) This is based solely on my personal observations and is quite subjective.  However, such cooling periods are not rare. The last big cooling period was between 1940 and 1970 and lasted 30 years (duh).

I wouldn't mind if I am wrong and next year it's nice and toasty.  Frankly, I'm tired of freezing my tush off.  Is Global Warming real?  One can only hope.

Selected Quotes from H.L. Mencken

Henry Louis Mencken (12 September 1880 – 29 January 1956), better known as H. L. Mencken, was a twentieth-century journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic, and freethinker, known as the "Sage of Baltimore" and the "American Nietzsche". He is often regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the early 20th century.

Here are some of his quotes that are so applicable to today.

Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. (1918) [Like anthropogenic global warming?]

All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him...One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. (1919) [Obamunism]

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are. (1919) [Deniers of man-made global  warming?]


Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods. (1919) [all modern administrations and candidates]

All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. (1920)  [The election of Barack Obama?]

The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-bye to the Bill of Rights. (1920) [hmm...a new American revolution?]

Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle — a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could be applied to him, he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism. (1930) [Lindsey Graham?]

If he became convinced tomorrow that coming out for cannibalism would get him the votes he needs so sorely, he would begin fattening a missionary in the White House yard come Wednesday. [Spoken of F.D.R., 1936] [Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi]

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.  (1949)  [Man-made global warming?]

I believe in only one thing and that thing is human liberty. If ever a man is to achieve anything like dignity, it can happen only if superior men are given absolute freedom to think what they want to think and say what they want to say. I am against any man and any organization which seeks to limit or deny that freedom. . . [and] the superior man can be sure of freedom only if it is given to all men. 

Government, like any other organism, refuses to acquiesce in its own extinction. This refusal, of course, involves the resistance to any effort to diminish its powers and prerogatives. There has been no organized effort to keep government down since Jefferson's day. Ever since then the American people have been bolstering up its powers and giving it more and more jurisdiction over their affairs. They pay for that folly in increased taxes and diminished liberties. No government as such is ever in favor of the freedom of the individual. It invariably seeks to limit that freedom, if not by overt denial, then by seeking constantly to widen its own functions.  [the Democratic Party today]

The only guarantee of the Bill of Rights which continues to have any force and effect is the one prohibiting quartering troops on citizens in time of peace. All the rest have been disposed of by judicial interpretation and legislative whittling. Probably the worst thing that has happened in America in my time is the decay of confidence in the courts. No one can be sure any more that in a given case they will uphold the plainest mandate of the Constitution. On the contrary, everyone begins to be more or less convinced in advance that they won't. Judges are chosen not because they know the Constitution and are in favor of it, but precisely because they appear to be against it. [activist judges, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Democrat appointments]

I found these quotes at Wikiquote, which has many more quotes if you are interested.