More unusual art: food.

Self-identified Republicans prove they are nuts.

Markos ran a poll of “self identified Republicans” in order to actually have some hard data to back up what he has been saying. Here is a tabulation of some of the more interesting results.



Almost 40% of those self-identified Republicans think that President Obama should be impeached. It’s too bad that they weren’t asked why they thought this. Given what happened to President Clinton, “I do not like the current president” or “I did not vote for the current president” are apparently sufficient grounds for impeachment these days.

Over half of these people think that the 2008 presidential election was stolen. Half. By ACORN. A run-on-a-shoestring national advocacy group that helps minorities and disadvantaged people vote and get their voices heard in local politics. ACORN. Stole a national election. My God, the level of craziness in this is absolutely off the chart. You know, if I were a “self identified Republican”, I would think that they last thing I would want to be talking about is stolen elections.

Almost one quarter of the respondents believe that their state should secede from the union. Again, it would have been nice to ask their reasons behind this. They don’t like the current president? That’s the reason? That is what happened when Abraham Lincoln was elected and look what happened next. You would think people might have a few second thoughts about advocating something like this, yet there they are. It apparently doesn’t even matter that their preferred party might win the presidency back within three years. No, they want their state to secede, and they want it NOW. And the breakdown, which I saw in a different post, had the respondents in the old Confederacy states over 80%. The respondents in the northeast and west were slightly less insane on this question.

Only 33% of these respondents think that President Obama is more qualified to be president that is Sarah Palin. I just don’t even know what to say about that one.

In total, the results of this poll are very illustrative of why the two sides cannot have a substantive dialog about anything. We just have two very different realities. The two sides of this country are as far apart in how we view our reality as, say, the Israelis and Palestinians or maybe the Catholics and Protestants during the Irish “Troubles.”

I actually believe that there isn’t anything short of another World War or invasion from another planet that would pull the two sides together. Republicans and conservatives have decided that it is their duty to God and Country to vehemently oppose anything that President Obama and the Democrats are trying to do. Every single thing, even things that Republicans used to support (such as Pay As You Go, which requires Congress to cut spending by an equal amount to balance out any new spending proposals), they are now against, because their sworn enemy now supports it. This isn’t a policy. This isn’t even rational. This is pure craziness.

And thanks to Marcos, we now have poll results that prove it.

More unusual art: Breckinridge CO National Ice Sculpture Championship Part 2

See Part 1 of this series for part 1 of this series.... Obviously.

More unusual art: Breckinridge CO National Ice Sculpture Championship Part 1

Pretty amazing stuff, considering how much work these people are putting into their creations and yet they will be gone within hours of experiencing warm temperatures.

FU, e-bay.

No, really. Just Fuck You. Several times.

I used to be somewhat active as both a buyer and seller a few years ago, but haven't really done anything lately. I had been wondering why pretty much all sellers only advertised Paypal as their only accepted means of receiving payment. When I was looking at bidding on something this week, I had noticed one of them had a statement, "We only accept Paypal per e-bay payment policy." My reaction was, "What?!" I went and looked, and sure enough, their payment policy page has a list of what is acceptable now and what is prohibited. And asking for payment via check or money order, except on a very small list of categories, is prohibited.

There apparently is a raging discussion on a number of e-bay posting boards which I skimmed through yesterday. A lot of people are upset about this. I refuse to have a Paypal account, as I have heard some people have had bad experiences with it. My wife used to have an account which was hacked and some crook ran up hundreds of dollars on it charging tickets to concerts. We didn't have to cover any of those, as our CREDIT CARD company (not Paypal) called us up and asked if these were valid charges. So, no. I don't trust Paypal or any electronic payment method at all.

e-bay's rationale for going this way is pure BS. "It protects both the buyers and sellers!" Oh, bull hockey. Money orders, if you don't trust personal checks because people can and do bounce checks, are perfectly safe. There is no reason to require this, other than perhaps the fact (and I didn't know this until yesterday) e-bay just HAPPENS to own Paypal. Gosh, what a coincidence! And Paypal charges $45 a year to have an account! How about that?

They are doing this just because they can, and it opens up all new "sources of revenue" (i.e., screwing your customers) to them. This is the same rationale as airlines charging $$ for people to pay for checking bags when flying. For a family going on vacation, this can add up to hundreds of dollars, if they check them both ways (which is pretty much a given, I would say).

I absolutely detest Corporate America these days. They are all about screwing their customers and grabbing as much cash in as little a time as possible. This thinking is now so pervasive, we hardly even notice it anymore.

I have pretty much decided to avoid flying whenever I can. Sometimes I can't, but sometimes I can. I am either asking to attend business meetings via a web conference (which has been remarkably successful) or taking the train. Yeah, taking Amtrak for long distance travel takes a while, but it sure is a more sane and civilized way to travel than the zoo that is commercial air travel. And I guess I am now going to boycott e-bay. Screw them.

Poster from Very Demotivational.

"Courtney Cox Not Pregnant"

That's one of the headline stories that greeted me this morning on the Seattle PI web site.

Famous people don't even have to actually DO anything now to get a story written about them. They just have to NOT do something....

Tethys Behind Titan

What's that behind Titan? It's another of Saturn's moons: Tethys. The robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn captured the heavily cratered Tethys slipping behind Saturn's atmosphere-shrouded Titan late last year. The largest crater on Tethys, Odysseus, is easily visible on the distant moon. Titan shows not only its thick and opaque orange lower atmosphere, but also an unusual upper layer of blue-tinted haze. Tethys, at about 2 million kilometers distant, was twice as far from Cassini as was Titan when the above image was taken. In 2004, Cassini released the Hyugens probe which landed on Titan and provided humanity's first views of the surface of the Solar System's only known lake-bearing moon.

Photo and text from NASA's Astronomical Photo of the Day. See list at the right for a link. Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA.

You know what I can't figure out?

I can't figure out how the Democrats now holding a 59-41 majority in the Senate "imperils" pretty much everything that the Democrats are trying to do. How did this happen? Whatever happened to majority rules? I haven't researched this or seen anyone else with the numbers, but I would imagine that the times in the history of this country where one party held 60 or more seats in the Senate are very, very few and far between. So, are we saying that 95% of the time, nothing can get done in this country because one party or the other doesn't hold a super-majority in the Senate?

What kind of a stupid system is this? And why does it only seem to apply to the Democrats? Is this what Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and John Adams really wanted to implement?

The Dems should have taken the Republicans up on their "offer" during the Bush administration of the so-called "nuclear option" which would have done away with the filibuster. Would have served the Rethugs right. However, the Dems will eventually be back in the minority (probably sooner than later, the way things are looking) and they wouldn't want to take away that tool from their future toolbox. No, couldn't do that. Besides, that would upset all these Republicans who are going to keep on calling them mean names regardless of what they do.

I always used to hear the phrase that democracy is messy, but it works. Well, I rather doubt that little platitude is true any more. Democracy seems to have come to a screeching halt, with the transmission laying in the middle of the road. This system is no longer working as it was intended, but no one is going to have the balls to actually try to fix it.

Why are Democrats worried about NOT pressing ahead with healthcare reform before the new senator from Mass. is seated?

I cannot believe how accommodating the Dems are on this. Does no one remember just a few months ago how Republicans threw everything they could, including the kitchen sink, in order to NOT seat Al Franken as a senator from Minnesota, after it was very clear that Franken had won the election? And Republicans were very clear on their motivation. They were doing everything they could so the Dems would NOT have that mythical 60 vote super-majority that could pass healthcare reform. But now, we are all worried about subverting "the will of the people of Massachusetts" if the Dems try to push something through at the last minute?

Man, the Democrats are pissing me off. Yes, there are fighters within the party, such as Alan Greyson from Florida. But, taken as a whole, the Democratic Party comes off as scared of its own shadow.

Massachusetts elects a tea-party Republican who once posed nude as a replacement for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat.

Oh, boy. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, this happens. Everyone and their brother already had their spin on this one mapped out long ago. Republicans, of course, are claiming that this represents a total repudiation of everything that the Obama administration was trying to accomplish, especially healthcare reform. Many progressives are claiming that Obama deserted his progressive base, the one that really turned out to elect him in 2008, so they stayed home and all the true independent voters decided that the Republican in the race was the true anti-establishment candidate.

Truthfully, I have no idea what it all means. Since I always go for “the answer is likely to be more complex than it is to be very simple” approach, I would guess that, whatever rationale a person might come up with for what occurred in Massachusetts, it is probably true for at least some section of the electorate. Me, I am just dumbfounded that the state that I considered to be the most liberal in the country just elected a tea-party Republican who brings along lots and lots of baggage to replace Ted Kennedy, of all people. Kennedy’s passion was healthcare reform, and the results of this special election are likely to kill any chance of that happening. But what it means for the future and for the country as a whole, I have absolutely no idea, other than the Democrats better watch out.

I really doubt that even this severe of a wake-up call that pulls the rug out from any notion that the ever did have that mythical “60 vote super-majority” in the Senate will motivate the Democrats to use reconciliation (which means they can pass legislation with just a regular old run-of-the-mill 51-49 majority) to pass healthcare reform. The Democrats are just that gutless, afraid of offending someone (who, I don’t really know). I do know that Republicans never had and never will have any such self-imposed limitation, as they used reconciliation on numerous occasions to pass their legislation such as Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy without bringing in other sources of revenue. That alone is one big reason why the deficit that President Obama is currently wrestling with is so huge. Yet one more example of IOKIYAAR (It’s O.K. If You Are A Republican). I have no idea where the healthcare package that is currently in negotiation between the two Houses of Congress might end up now, but I would bet even money it won’t be improved through the use of reconciliation. I think the absolute best-case scenario right now is that the Democrats in the House swallow whatever bitterness they already feel about the process and just vote Yes on the version passed by the Senate. That, at least, is a doable scenario and it doesn’t require getting people like Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and Susan Collins to vote for something that you know they absolutely will not support.

Why is it that the world always presents so much turmoil and the chance to totally screw things up for the Democrats, even when the last two national elections pretty much gave them a mandate to finally accomplish many items on their agenda? It’s the Republican Party that is currently resembles a zoo whose attendants left all the doors to the cages open and all the animals, who haven’t been fed in weeks, are roaming free. The Tea-Party brigade is attempting to take over the actual machinery of the Republican Party, while the Republican Party itself is trying to co-opt the outrage and energy provided by their Tea-Party promoting base. The Republican Party looks to be imploding, and this special election in Massachusetts once again shows the Democratic Party to be run by a bunch of incompetent boobs.

Will Sarah Palin be the Republican Party’s candidate in the 2012 presidential election? Could she win? It beats the hell out of me. In a sane world, the answers to both of these questions would be an unqualified “Hell, no!” But this is not a sane world. Who knows what the electorate of this country is actually thinking or might do in the future? It’s a total mystery. It would be downright amusing to watch all of this play out, if this were some farcical comedic film. But as it appears the direction of that this country could go is currently resting on a knife’s edge. One little nudge could cause it to go hard-over, one way or the other. I was really hoping that the nudge might have been the 2008 presidential election. However, it now appears that is not the case. Let’s hope that nudge was also not the 2010 special election in Massachusetts.

Movie Review: Avatar

Sort of a combination of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Aliens, Dances with Wolves, Disney's Ferngully and maybe one or two episodes of Star Trek TOS thrown in for good measure. The special effects and computer animation was absolutely outstanding and this is the first movie in 3D that I have seen. (My eyes don't work really well together, so I have never been able to watch those 3D movies with the red and blue glasses.) It was pretty dang neat. The imaginative scenery and plant and animal life on the planet were captivating. The storyline itself was a little silly, overly simplistic and more than a little predictable. However, I found it very interesting that by the end of the film, you were rooting for the blue people from an alien world and against the villainous sky people, who just happen to be from Earth. This made for an interesting "teachable moment" while driving home with my 14 year old daughter, to whom I have been introducing the idea of movies as metaphors. I explained the whole "Godzilla as a metaphor for the atomic bomb" one to her a while ago. Actually, I just asked leading questions and let her provide her own answers. "Who did the blue people remind you of? That's right, the Indians!" I didn't even have to point out the horses and bows and arrows. So, it was nice to be able to do that. She was actually the one who brought up the issue of predictability. I was rather proud of her to recognize that.

I won't bother with any sort of substantive review here, as it has been done already in numerous places. It was certainly worth the time and money, which is certainly more than can be said of many recent films. It better have been, considering how much James Cameron spent to make this thing.

Image from Official Avatar The Movies Wallpapers By NOSHOMAX

Thoughts regarding Pat Robertson.

According to Pat Robertson, God in all His Glory just killed around 50,000 Haitians because their ancestors of several generations ago made a pact with Satan (“and he said, “Okey Dokey”), so they could gain their freedom and not live as slaves anymore.

Do I have that right, Pat? God waited several hundred years to obliterate an entire city because of something their ancestors did? This is the Just and Merciful God I keep hearing you and others like you talk about? You know, based on what the Bible says about the Jews, Moses and the Pharaoh, I would have thought God would have been on the side of the slaves. You remember that, don’t you, Pat? God conjured up a number of plagues to help convince the Pharaoh to let the Jews go. Parted the Red Sea. That's really impressive and dramatic stuff. You would think that God must like helping slaves. But in the case of the Haitians, it was Satan that came to their rescue. And your God was pretty peeved about that, apparently.

I am sorry, but your God sort of sounds like a malicious Motherfucker to me. Your God apparently likes to hold grudges and punish the innocent. He will kill tens of thousands of people at the drop of a hat who probably have no idea what He might be upset about? This is your God, Pat, you sordid piece of shit? This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Haiti is populated with black people who don’t share your extreme view of Christianity, would it? If I remember correctly, you weren’t very sympathetic after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and it left thousands and thousands of people, who also happened to be black, homeless if they were weren’t floating face down in filthy water. Is there any connection there at all, Pat? I think at that time, you blamed Katrina on a gay pride parade held in New Orleans. Yes, that certainly makes sense. God should then wipe out the poor, mostly black section of the city because, you know, God hates fags.

Is this what you and George Bush talked about when you used to be able to just call up the sitting President of the United States of America whenever you felt like it? Did you tell George that it was O.K. to invade Iraq where thousands and thousands of non-white, non-Christian innocent civilians would die because of this invasion and the lousy job that Bush and his minions did? Is God fine with that, Pat, you sanctimonious prick?

If that is your God, Pat, then I think you should just go to Hell. You and He will get along nicely.

UPDATE: According to KO on MSNBC, the estimated death toll in Haiti is now up to 140,000. That's two football stadiums full of people, as a way of comparison.

These aren't the squirrels you are looking for...

From Very Demotivational.

Don't come complaining to us. You've been properly warned.

From Oddly Specific.

Wingtip vortices.

Actually, these vortices are coming off the outboard corner of the trailing edge flaps on the wings, not the wingtips themselves. But you get the idea.

See, honey, when two airplanes really, really love each other....

So, it comes to this.

Our national discourse is now about whether or not President Obama uses the word “terrorism”, regardless of whether or not there is video evidence of him doing exactly that on numerous occasions.

What a screwed up country.

You know what's really weird? The Lingerie Football League. That's what's really weird.

Check out this story and video at the Seattle PI. Extremely bizarre.

Maybe they can work NASCAR in there as well. And country music....

Update: I added pictures, just because the weirdness doesn't get translated properly just with a couple of lines of text. Maybe I will get a few more hits from these pictures. And no, I don't find these photos especially tittilating. Just weird.

The Republican Party let the Crazy Genii out of the bottle, and there is no putting it back in again.

Many books and blog posts have been devoted to the idea that, in order to chase the votes of the Religious Right, they continued to pander to them and promise them the moon. I still remember the acceptance speech of Dan Quayle at the Republican convention where he spoke of “family values” and introduced the demonization of a television character (Murphy Brown) for being an unwed mother. This was my first introduction to the “family values” crowd, as I was an extreme political novice at the time. But I do remember being dumbfounded that an entire nomination acceptance speech would be dedicated to something that government had absolutely no control over.

Of course, the Republican Party of Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush I had no intention of actually delivering on those promises. They were just using those “wedge issues” to get the extreme conservative right all riled up in order to guarentee they would vote and get all their friends and family to vote as well. But did the Republican Party ever really decide they were going to push something like a revoking Roe v. Wade? No, they did not. For one reason, not everyone on their side supported that position. Another reason is that their real intention was to put that issue safely away in a box, only to be brought out next election where they could bash the Democrats and rile up their value voters again.

It really didn’t take a genius to figure out that the religious right wasn’t going to take this for decades and decades, where they were only important during the campaign season. No, those people wanted results, especially since they had been promised to have their every wish granted by the Republican Party for the last 35 years. The quickest way for them to achieve their goals was to actually take over the Republican Party. Which is what we have now, and why the “stars” of the Republican Party are people like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Jim DeMint, etc., who I doubt that the mainstream conservatives of 35 years ago would have given the time of day.

But that is the situation we now find ourselves in today. The lunatics are in charge of the asylum, and no one really knows what to do about it. In fact, it is considered “bad form” for the mainstream media in this country to point out that this has occurred. There are two reasons behind this. One is that many in the media are terrified of getting accused of being a “liberal press.” The other is that many in the media, especially in the “Beltway” of Washington D.C., have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, which says that Republicans are serious people and should be in charge and that Democrats are strictly unserious who want huge government and are weak on national security. Plus, there are many who have made their way into the mainstream press who actually believe the right wing ravings, such as Charles Krauthammer. I won’t even get into the fact that there is a new even-righter wing press in this country now, centered around Fox News and supported by Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Maulkin, Ann Coulter, etc., whose entire Raison d'être is to blame Democrats for every real and imagined problem that this country has ever experienced. It is now common practice for this right wing media to blame Democrats for the Great Depression and claim that they are the real fascists.

There is no going back. There is no putting the geneii back in the bottle. The only possibility seems to be if the rational grownups in the Republican Party would be to retake the party and put in place real leaders and try to minimize their crazy fringe. However, I see no prospect of this actually happening. Any tiny attempt at criticisms along this line have been met with immediate and harsh condemnation where the person who spoke up either ended up apologizing (usually to Rush Limbaugh) or pretended that isn’t what they meant and they were really criticizing Democrats, because everyone knows that Democrats can’t be trusted, ever. Democrats love terrorists, want to destroy this country and are in league with governments all over the world to set up a Single World Government. The other option is that, instead of criticizing the current Republican Party and trying to change it, the rational adults, such as Chuck Hagel and Lincoln Chafee, retire and fade away into the night.

I do not know where this society is going to end up. I cannot see the current situation as being stable, where the status quo can be maintained for years. This looks decidedly like a very dynamic situation, where the current status is just a transformational one ready to morph into something else. It could go toward the recovery mode, or it might get decidedly nastier. I am thinking that I should really make some plans (hopefully just contingency plans and nothing that I really expect to put into action) to move to another country when I retire. I feel I have too much invested in my current job, house and financial situation to pick up and leave now, less than 10 years away from retirement. But afterwards, who knows? If things do start really getting out of control, such as having the Tea Party crowd in charge of the country, then there will still be enough time to actually pick up stakes and get the hell out of Dodge.

Hopefully, it won’t come to that. One friend of mine says that my fears are overblown, that things are never as dark as can be imagined. Another friend says, in so many words, that things are much worse than we are admitting and views the current United States as an out of control monster. And I see his points, why he is saying what he is saying. What the real state of affairs is, I am not sure we are actually going to be able to gage until 30 years from now, where historians can look back and this fork in the road and see which way our country and our society went.

2010: Happy New Year.

One can hope, I suppose.

My end of the year list: Bad Advertising!

Everyone seems to make a list at the end of the year. I would guess it is now part of those internet traditions that everyone is aware of. Books, movies, bad celebrity dresses, stupid quotes, etc. So, in keeping with this tradition, here is my list of deceitful, manipulative, stupid or annoying television commercials that I hope to never see again in 2010.

1. Capital One Credit Cards: This series of commercials have to be one of the weirdest ways to promote a credit card whose fine print is no doubt littered with landmines that will increase your loan rate at the drop of a hat. Visigoths ransacking villages, a dumbass in front of a computer whose dog is much more intelligent than he is and survivors of an airplane crash who are stuck on an island trying to get off are the spokesmen and women for Capital One. But the big selling point for this particular credit card is you can put your own picture on your card! Absolutely fu*king amazing! Let’s order a couple and one for little Sally as well, even though she is only six years old! What a STUPID selling point. Anyone who actually orders one of these credit cards on the basis of being able to put your picture on it deserves whatever happens to them.

2. Free Credit Reports Dot Com: This one has been in the news a lot, so this isn’t going to be much of a surprise. But advertising something “free” if you buy their service and is something that you can get free anyway from another source anyway is not really “free” in my mind. That’s like telling someone that they can get a free car jack, as long as they buy this car. No, that’s not even a good analogy, because to be a true analogy, you would need to be able to get a car jack for free somewhere. This is a commercial put together by lying SOB’s that do not care they are lying. “Free”, my ass.

3. The Big Head “Burger King”: These commercials, to their credit, are not deceitful. They are just weird and creepy. In these commercials, Burger King comes off as some sort of creepy stalker guy who never says anything. He’s just there. The ad agency behind these ads obviously figured that the Jack In The Box commercials are such a big hit that they would make their own! The only problem is, they failed miserably.

4. Ads for health insurance companies: Now, these aren’t all for the same company. This one is more of a category or genre. All these commercials are trying to accomplish is to make you feel all warm and cuddly about your insurance provider who is STILL going to find any reason they possibly can to drop your coverage if you get really sick and need it. One commercial that comes to mind actually doesn’t even really mention insurance. It’s just some kid talking about her mom who donates her piano, which she had as a kid and really loves, to a school or some other kind of organization that really needs it. Heartwarming. *Sigh* How nice… The problems are, of course, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with health insurance and it never addresses the fact that the CEO of this company will probably make about 85 mil this year while dropping coverage for anyone who might come down with a cold.

5. Verizon “Maps”: These commercials are annoying on their own. I especially disliked the one with Santa and his reindeer, which mercifully is not shown anymore since Christmas is over. But the point here that I haven’t seen anyone make is the colors of the maps. Verizon’s is red, and boy, it covers almost the entire U.S.A. A.T.&T’s map, on the other hand, is blue and barely covers anything. Yeah, this is deceitful on its own merits, since they are implying that ALL cell phone coverage provided by each company is what is shown, not just the 4G variety. But red vs. blue? That’s an interesting choice, especially when you look at the politics behind Verizon. I wonder what target audience these commercials are aimed at?

6. Jewelry commercials: This again is more of a category than a specific series of ads, because all the big jewelry chains do this. I wrote about this one before Christmas. But it’s not just Christmas. Valentine’s Day is also a biggie. I’ll just repeat what I said before.

The Christmas ads that really burn me are the ones for jewelry. I really dislike ostentatious displays anyway, and big, fat diamonds are about the best way to show that. Talk about a totally worthless expenditure of money to support an industry that has a corner on the market. That aside, I am really annoyed by the implication that buying someone a really bright, shiny bauble is the ultimate in romance. All these people in these commercials are young and beautiful, and they act like they came out of a romance novel. Tell me, what guy in his right mind would go out in the middle of the forest and wrap a living tree in lights, just so he can spring a diamond necklace on his girlfriend? And that assumes that he has a REALLY long extension cord or lugged a car battery out there as well. I think that these ads are really targeting the lazy bum who really isn’t normally too keen on keeping his wife’s or girlfriend’s feelings close to his heart and sees that buying jewelry would be a nice, easy (albeit expensive) way to immediately get back in his wife’s or girlfriend’s good graces. The women in these commercials always, without fail, are just awestruck and have this look on their faces that they would do absolutely anything for this guy who just bought her this piece of junk.

7. Geico Insurance: I admit I kind of liked the caveman commercials and the ones with the gecko are tolerable. But the ones with the stack of money with googlie eyes are weird and don’t even make a lot of sense.

8. Mixed message ads: This, again, is a category. It seems very trendy now to have commercials that are about two things at once. Sometimes, tie-ins are evident, such as toys of the latest Disney movie at McDonalds. But sometimes, there doesn’t even have to be an obvious tie-in. They are just trying to ride the latest wave of popularity. One playing now is about a bunch of guys eating a Big Mac that has something to do with James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar. I just do not get that one.

9. Miracle Whip “We will not tone it down!”: I won’t say much about this. Just watch it. Miracle Whip, the ultimate in rebellion!

You have any nominations? I may promote good suggestions from any comments received into this post itself. Boy, won't that be a thrill for YOU.

What did I learn from 2009?

I suppose I learned the lesson that Stupid is now not just acceptable. Being Stupid does not disqualify you from anything. In fact, in many cases, being Stupid is very helpful. It endears you to “common folk.” It shows that you are one of them. It reinforces their Stupid beliefs when they hear someone famous espousing the same Stupid things that they also believe in. Being Stupid can elevate an unemployed plumber to celebrity status. Being Stupid can make common folk believe you are doing something great when you quit your position as an elected official and somehow try to turn that into a selfless and noble act. Being Stupid can get you a program on a major cable “news” outlet where you can say whatever Stupid thing that pops into your mind and the audience eats it up. Being Stupid seems to actually be a requirement to become an elected official from the state of Oklahoma. Being Stupid results in joy when the U.S. loses a bid for hosting an Olympic Games and anger and resentment when the President of the United States wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Being Stupid is no longer a cause for shame. Being Stupid is something to be cultivated and celebrated. When you say something Stupid, or even Really Stupid, you are no longer required to remove yourself from the public limelight for a suitable period of time. No, the correct response to being caught saying something Stupid or Really Stupid is to either pretend you never said it, even when your Really Stupid remark is one of the most highly viewed You Tube videos of the week, or become offended that the liberal elite media took your statement out of context or is so liberal and elite that they are obviously out of step with the rest of Stupid America.

Stupid is now so routine that most Stupid things rarely even get noted anymore, other than at some of the liberal blogs, who are obviously loser teenagers in pajamas who work from their parent’s basement. Being Stupid didn’t disqualify George W. Bush from being President of the United States, although most people in the country probably didn’t realize how incredibly Fu*king Stupid he actually is. However, we may be reaching the point that being Stupid may be the thing that gets someone like Sarah Palin elected President.

STuPid. Get yours today!

Sarah Palin makes even less sense now she’s a climate change denier.

From the Washington Monthly, here is one of her tweets on Twitter about her new favorite subject, the Great Big Climate Change Hoax.

In a late night posting on her Twitter feed, Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continued to blast climate change believers Friday, calling the talks in Copenhagen, Denmark a representation of man's "arrogance," for believing people have an impact on nature.

"Arrogant&Naive2say man overpwers nature," Palin tweeted.

"Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng," the former Republican vice presidential nominee wrote.

Uh huh. It’s “arrogant and naïve to say that man overpowers nature.” I guess she is unfamiliar with things like the Chernobyl accident which has rendered huge amounts of land in the former Soviet Union uninhabitable for centuries, mountaintop removing mining, clear cutting of forests, or having rivers and lakes so polluted that, not only can’t people actually go in them, but they actually used to catch fire.

Maybe she’s talking about a global scale, not just localized impacts on the environment caused by mankind’s activities, although I would argue that chopping down the Amazon rainforest is having a global effect. Maybe she thinks that the Earth is so huge that it will be able to absorb anything that mankind chooses to do.

This is the same kind of thinking that Americans held in our early history, which lead to the slaughter and near extinction of what used to be vast herds of buffalo. They are there for the taking. Mankind is the master of the planet, and what self-respecting master of anything willingly puts rules on himself? We can do anything we want! We can overfish the oceans so that the population of jellyfish has exploded due to lack of predators. Rules are for wimps and liberals. After all, photographic evidence of receding glaciers is easy to ignore when you have "Climategate" to talk about.

It’s all part of the conservative thought process. No restraints on anything that they want to do, and to fight tooth and nail against anything that their perceived enemies are for. I don’t know if this attitude comes from what they think are the teachings of Christianity or not. It seems likely to me. We are, after all, God’s chosen people. We’re special. I saw one quote sometime last year about God and climate change. Some person (I wish I had kept this quote) said something like, “God won’t let the Earth be destroyed.” I thought THAT statement was the epitome of arrogance. God will save us from anything that we choose to do. Except when God Himself chooses to destroy the Earth in Armageddon. Or maybe, this perspective on the universe is more rooted in the deep psychology of conservatives. I don’t know the answer.

There are two things that spring to mind when I see something like Princess Sarah’s statement above. One is that she is somehow one of the leading lights of the new conservatives. This person doesn’t even seem to have enough on the ball to qualify as a third grade teacher.

She is also so lacking in science that she doesn’t know the different between an eon and an ion. But I suppose that’s about par for the course for someone who has stated that living in a place where you can see Russia somehow gives her credibility in international diplomacy, and that Africa is a country.

God, this country is so screwed up.

So, this is what it is like to live in a parallel universe.

Huh. Interesting. I thought there might be more time warps or cities whose entire population consists of people who look like Winston Churchill. Of course, there is Lady Gaga. And the fact that the absolutely most important story of the year is the fact that Tiger Woods apparently screws around a lot. I guess this must really be a parallel universe.

Because, you see, in the universe that I thought I lived in, people act in a rational way and do things because they are in their self-interest. This universe I find myself in is in no way rational. Everywhere I look, people are acting like they have been infected with the Franz Kafka disease. Nothing makes sense anymore. The richest and most powerful country on earth has been brought to its knees by some unknown force that renders it incapable of doing anything remotely intelligent.

Affordable healthcare that can’t be cancelled just because you get sick and need it for once is the same thing as the Holocaust. The President of the United States is a fascist, a communist, a socialist, a non-America Muslim with a crazy Christian pastor who is actively trying to destroy the country. Protesters with signs within 100 yards of a Republican president is enough to get you arrested, but carrying a loaded gun to a town hall meeting where a Democratic president is speaking is just exercising one’s right to freedom of speech and to carry guns anywhere you might want to. It’s fine to invade another country that was absolutely no threat, where over 4000 Americans have died and trillions of dollars are spent, but spending money on propping up an economy on the brink of collapse and millions of people are out of work is a cause for angry mobs wearing Lipton tea bags on their hats to come out and carry racist signs. Television news picks up rumors and treats them like the Watergate break-in, but politicians spouting untruths on television that anyone with a computer and 15 minutes free time could easily demolish are invited back on next week’s program. Things such as filibusters that were the epitome of evil three years ago are now acceptable. Science is now on par with palm reading and phrenology. Hard scientific data showing our globe is heating up at an alarming rate is a plot to destroy capitalism. Everything that your enemies do is either sinful or a crime, but when you and everyone else that thinks just like you do does the same thing, that’s O.K.

Nothing makes sense. Our society has decided to play by the rules of Calvinball, and no one is willing to point it out.

So, this is a parallel universe… I don’t particularly like it much, but I suppose it is better nothing at all. I just wonder how I got here and whether it’s possible to find my way back to the universe that I thought I knew, where things made sense and people acting rationally. Probably not. Wormholes only work in one direction, as far as I know.

Here’s my annual “bah, humbug” post.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am not bashing the Christmas holiday itself. I am what you might call a “non-believer”, but I really have no problem with celebrating what is supposed to be a purely Christian holiday. I have said before that if I were a Christian, I would probably be a tad annoyed at what the holiday has become as well. And that is what I am really annoyed about.

Pressure. That is really what this holiday has become. There’s pressure to find the perfect gift, to bake the perfect pie and cookies, to have the perfect Christmas with your perfect family. Why? Because corporate America wants to sell you stuff. And not just ANY stuff. A lot of stuff and most of it expensive.

I remember when Christmas commercials were a lot about kids toys and maybe a commercial for an electric razor thrown in for good measure. (“Even our name says Merry Christmas!”)

What are the predominant Christmas commericials these days? From what I see, they are for luxury automobiles and a lot of very fancy and expensive looking jewelry. How many people really go out and buy luxury cars for themselves and their spouses at Christmas? And this is at a time when it is estimated that one in 8 kids in America is getting support from food stamps. Where unemployment is running in the double digits. Luxury cars for Christmas? I guess the well off will buy their gifts no matter what else is going on around them, and that this advertising is aimed at them. People without jobs or getting assistance from food stamps aren’t going to have much purchasing power, so the advertisers seem to have acknowledged that fact and just about abandoned the lower and part of the middle class altogether.

The Christmas ads that really burn me are the ones for jewelry. I really dislike ostentatious displays anyway, and big, fat diamonds are about the best way to show that. Talk about a totally worthless expenditure of money to support an industry that has a corner on the market. That aside, I am really annoyed by the implication that buying someone a really bright, shiney bauble is the ultimate in romance. All these people in these commercials are young and beautiful, and they act like they came out of a romance novel. Tell me, what guy in his right mind would go out in the middle of the forest and wrap a living tree in lights, just so he can spring a diamond necklace on his girlfriend? And that assumes that he has a REALLY long extension cord or lugged a car battery out there as well. I think that these ads are really targeting the lazy bum who really isn’t normally too keen on keeping his wife’s or girlfriend’s feelings close to his heart and sees that buying jewelry would be a nice, easy (albeit expensive) way to immeidiately get back in his wife’s or girlfriend’s good graces. The women in these commercials always, without fail, are just awestruck and have this look on their faces that they would do absolutely anything for this guy who just bought her this piece of junk.

My favorite holiday, I think, is Thanksgiving. It hasn’t been completely taken over by crass commercialism. This is mostly because there aren’t any gifts involved. If there were, you can bet that Corporate America would immedialely jump in there. Christmas should be like Thanksgiving, with maybe a few gifts but witbout any pressure. Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Emphasize the “merry” and “little.” Celebrate family. And your religion, if that is part of it for you. But do not pressure yourself into living up to some ridiculous ideal concocted by Madison Avenue to sell you an every increasing array of very expensive crap that you probably can’t afford.

Robbie the Robot falls on hard times.

It's sad to see when big movie stars hit rock bottom.

Uh, you missed a spot over there by the front tire.

Out of control Russian rocket, or something else?

From MSNBC:

A spectacular spiral light show in the sky above Norway on Wednesday was caused by a Russian missile that failed just after launch, according to Russia's defense ministry.

When the rocket motor spun out of control, it likely created the heavenly spiral of white light near where the missile was launched from a submarine in the White Sea.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a Bulava ballistic missile test had failed.

However, it is my firm belief that this is all a gigantic hoax involving the governments of a multitude of countries.

In reality, I have proof that the sighting over Norway was actually of Gamera, the giant, rocket powered flying turtle.










You decide.

Amazing photos of physics in action.

Kopp-Etchells Effect

When helicopters pass through dust storms, contact of the particles with the rotating blades produces either sparks or static electricity.

The phenomenon has been observed during combat operations in Afghanistan; Michael Yon has documented the effect, and has named it after two U K Soldiers who died there. "Kopp-Etchells"

When operating in sandy environments, sand hitting the moving rotor blades erodes their surface. This can damage the rotors; the erosion also presents serious and costly maintenance problems.

The abrasion strips on helicopter rotor blades are made of titanium, which is very hard, but less hard than sand; so when a helicopter is flown near to the ground in desert environments abrasion occurs, and at night there is a visible corona or halo around the rotor blades, caused by the sand hitting the titanium and causing it to spark and oxidize .

Note that these photos are under copyright by Michael Yon.

This is so sick and disturbing in so many ways.

From the Seattle Times.

Four officers were shot and killed at 8:15 a.m. as they worked on their laptops at Forza Coffee Company in Parkland. The first two officers were "flat-out executed," while the third tried to stop the gunman and the fourth fired at him, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Those killed were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Gregory Richards, 42.

Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar has scheduled a 10 a.m. news conference today to discuss the officers and the shooting.

Clemmons has a long criminal record in Arkansas and Washington. He was released from custody in Pierce County just a week ago, and was facing a charge of raping a child. Family members described him as being in a state of mental deterioration. Last spring, he was also accused of punching a sheriff's deputy in the face.

I have so many questions about this... Where did a guy with documented criminal history like this and who was released from prison only last week get a gun? I have seen other stories that said this guy believed he was a "messiah" and President Obama was going to visit him, personally, to verify this. This guy was obviously unstable. Why was he released? Why did he get clemency in Arkansas? (No, I am not blaming Mike Huckabee, even though this is the second time this has happened with someone he let loose from the Arkansas criminal justice system. If anything, it's the system at fault. A Democrat could have just as easily let this violent lunatic go.)

I am so sick about this. These people were doing their jobs and they lost their lives for it. Their families will never see them walk back in the front door.

I am so sick of this country right now...

American politics as seen as a Japanese giant monster movie.

I wish I had written this.

From Vagabond Scholar.

I've have concluded two things about politics in the U.S..

1) The U.S. government is essentially and forever broken. It's broken-ness is forever and will never return to a government "for the people, by the people." It is sort of "directed" (but not totally run by) by Big Money, War-Mongers, Egomaniacs and Fundamentalist Religionists. The U.S. government does not have the best interests of its citizens in mind. Only when those best interests coincide with the interests of at least one of those other groups does anything actually happen.

2) The citizens of the U.S. deserve exactly the kind of government we are getting, because we let this happen and we did not push back when it was hijacked by these special interests. We're screwed, and it is now too late to do anything about this. The only thing that I can see that a single person can do is keep his/her head down and hope the unpleasantness doesn't sweep him/her up.

So, that summarizes everything I could put in a political post, I think. Everything else is just more details about those two points above.

Merry Christmas.

No, still haven’t thought of anything to write about….

Thanks for checking in, though.

I do know that I don’t really like what this blog has become, which is very much a one-trick pony complaining about the insanity of the conservatives of this country right now. I think this feeling about the blog reflects my general feeling about this country as a whole. I don’t like where it is going and what it has become. To quote the immortal Joel Robinson, "It stinks!" No amount of complaining about it is going to change that fact. Pointing out the insanity isn’t really even cathartic anymore. It’s boring. And when you admit your own blog is boring, then it’s time to go in a different direction.

I thought I hit a pretty decent stride about a year and a half in, and I was actually doing writing some interesting stuff and getting some interesting things from elsewhere to collate here. Maybe I need to try to get back to that. It is really difficult to gather up the enthusiasm to actually write an interesting and coherent entry, especially when my job entrails a lot of reading and writing.

Check back periodically. Maybe I will find myself a muse somewhere. I tried to pick one up on eBay last week, but was outbid at the last moment. I hate when that happens.

I am considering giving up political blogging.

It's just too damn depressing. When the Bushies were in charge, blogging about the outrage of the day was easy (as, I suspect, it was for many other bloggers). All us liberals were just really pissed off. Now that the Dems supposedly have the reins, it's just depressing. There is too much insanity out there to even wrap my head around. There are too many people whose reality is just completely different than mine, and I cannot reconcile this fact. I can deal with differing opinions, but a totally different view of reality? This is the "reality" where Obama hates America and is actively trying to destroy it and where Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck not only makes sense, they are somehow holders of great wisdom they are dispensing upon the masses. The reality where God really hates Barack Obama. The reality where healthcare reform is really just like what the Nazis did in WWII.

Not only am I considering giving up political blogging, I am considering not even watching MSNBC in the evenings and reading all the blogs every day. Again, it's too depressing.

I have said this before, and I lasted all of about two weeks. But it might be nice to concentrate on some intelligent writing again, which I believe I used to do in the past, rather than just rant about the latest stupidity from the right-wing of American society. So, we will see how long this lasts. The only thing that will probably occur is that I will just get really bored at work if I don't take 10 minutes off every once in a while a look in to see what is going on that day.

UPDATE: Not unsurprisingly, I guess, I am having a difficult time figuring out something I can write about that isn't politics. This is one problem with having a hobby that involves writing and also a job that involves a lot of writing. Once you sit at your desk all day, reading and writing stuff, then it's kind of difficult to gather any enthusiasm about writing more stuff for fun. If I had a job where I sat all day at a desk and assembled model ships inside a bottle, I would think it would be difficult to come home and assemble model ships inside a bottle just for grins. Of course, I am making no comparisons between blogging and model ships inside of bottles. Just a thought that popped into my head... Writing a blog seems MUCH more difficult.

This just about explains everything about the healthcare "debate."

Picture from Attaturk, who stole it from somewhere else.

Blogging? What's that?

Oh, yeah. I write stuff down for very few people to read.

Maybe this weekend. It's been a full week.

Meanwhile, here is an older photo I took of the Cascade Mountains during this time of year. If you time it just right and manage to miss the rain and snow, the Cascades are a pretty incredible sight during autumn.

Waves. Part 2

I like to post interesting or amazing photographs. I get many of them via e-mail (such as the post below with photographs of Hoover Dam or a much earlier one of a Washington State ferry in rough waters) and those e-mails usually do not include any attribution. In this case, however, I do know who took these incredible images; Clark Little from Oahu, Hawaii. These photographs are obviously under copyright. Given that this is a tiny, tiny little blog and these images have already “escaped” via e-mail, I figure these no harm in posting them if I give an attribution. It’s sort of like a commercial for Mr. Little and his work, from which he obviously earns his living… I just found these photos incredibly beautiful and hypnotic. I could stare at them for a long time.

Here is a link to Little’s official home page. Buy his book if you find these images as stunning as I do.

Here is a link to Little’s Facebook page. Go there if you want to find out more.

Waves. Part 1

I like to post interesting or amazing photographs. I get many of them via e-mail (such as the post below with photographs of Hoover Dam or a much earlier one of a Washington State ferry in rough waters) and those e-mails usually do not include any attribution. In this case, however, I do know who took these incredible images; Clark Little from Oahu, Hawaii. These photographs are obviously under copyright. Given that this is a tiny, tiny little blog and these images have already “escaped” via e-mail, I figure these no harm in posting them if I give an attribution. It’s sort of like a commercial for Mr. Little and his work, from which he obviously earns his living… I just found these photos incredibly beautiful and hypnotic. I could stare at them for a long time.

Here is a link to Little’s official home page. Buy his book if you find these images as stunning as I do.

Here is a link to Little’s Facebook page. Go there if you want to find out more.

“Domestic terrorism” in Seattle.

I guess only the rather liberal Pacific Northwest feels free to call something what it actually is; domestic terrorism. Because, you know, terrrorists are always foreigners.

Here is a link to the story in the Seattle Times. The suspect apparently pulled up beside a patrol car on Halloween night and opened fire on two officers, killing one and wounding the other. Premediated murder. He was also apparently involved in a bombing also against police offices earlier in the month. And the clue that tied to the two crimes together? A small U.S. flag was left at both crime scenes.

When police raided this guy’s apartment, there was a confrontation and he tried to shoot at the arresting officers. He was, very appropriately, shot by three officers. He survived and is in the hospital. A search of the suspects apartment “turned up bomb-making materials, improvised explosive devices and two rifles, including a "military-style assault rifle" similar to the type of weapon police believe was used to kill Brenton and wound his rookie partner, Officer Britt Sweeney. More hazardous material was found later Saturday, and at 8 p.m. residents in Monfort's building were evacuated briefly, according to Tukwila police dispatch.”

(Note: This is about five miles from where I work. Also in the same area is the truck plant where Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer used to work and and Lake Sammamish State Park, which is where Ted Bundy first learned how to lure young women into his beat up Volkswagon bug. About 25 miles down the road in Tacoma is where the D.C. sniper bought his rifle used to kill a number of people while he was hidden in the truck of his car, modified specifically for that purpose and where he killed one of his first victims.)

This event won’t even make the national news, because it is such “small potatoes.” After all, it was only a single policeman that was killed by a lone nutjob. Nothing to see here, no conclusions to be drawn. This comes right on the heels of the horrific killings at an Army base in Texas and several killings in Orlando at a business complex.

The atmosphere in the country right now is just heavy with the potential for violence. Lots and lots of angry people being egged on by their favorite radio or television “entertainer”, easy access to guns, the disintegration of all social restraint, all are contributing to this potential. In the eyes of many, it is now acceptable to take out their anger and frustration by killing people. I can’t believe that many on the right are still spouting off with implications of violence and killing. Michelle Bachmann spoke of people coming to Washington D.C. to confront lawmakers, using the following language:

"I'd love to have every one of your viewers to join me so we can go up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my healthcare.'"

"The American people realize this is it. Just like that brand new Michael Jackson movie came out, ‘This Is It.’ This is it for freedom. If you believe in liberty, and if you’re rejecting tyranny, this is it. Dr. Mark Levin wrote a seminal book that really swept this country called Liberty and Tyranny. And that’s what this debate is about next week. Liberty and tyranny."

The last time I heard the words “the whites of their eyes” and “tyranny” used together, it was about the Revolutionary War. This was, no doubt, intentional by Bachmann. But she is using references to taking up arms against an oppressive government (which at that time was Britain). She is purposely trying to stir up the anger of people at the very government of which she is a part, and insinuating that violence is acceptable.

This is not going to end well. There are already too many angry nuts out there with guns who are more than willing to go out and kill Americans against whom they hold a grudge, real or perceived. This is why many of us rational people were aghast when people starting bringing loaded guns to town hall meetings where President Obama was speaking. Legal or not, that is an insane thing to do. There is no upside.

This is not going to end well. It may not even end at all. This may now be the normal condition of this country. And that scares me a lot.

A healthcare reform bill passes the House.

I expect to see jack-booted healthcare Nazis showing up at everyone's front door to drag away anyone over 60 at any time now.

Really soon.

Just wait a minute....

Jesus Christ, I am confused about the teabag movement.

I believe that, under normal circumstances (which does not include updating a computer), I am a very rational person. I act upon my decisions that are (usually) made in a deliberate and logical manner. This is quite the opposite of what is going on with the tea baggers.

These are angry people, no doubt. I get they are very unhappy with the government paying for stuff that they don’t like with THEIR money. I understand. I was very unhappy that the government invaded and continues to occupy a country that had nothing to do with the horrible events of 9/11. I don’t like the idea that any of what was initially my money was used for that purpose. So, great. These people don’t like the idea of “government run healthcare.” Except for Medicare. That’s apparently fine. And VA run hospitals. Those are fine, too. And all the representatives and senators like their government run healthcare system as well. But universal healthcare? Socialist! Communist! Fascism!

How about other things that the government provides for the common good of everyone? Are they upset about that as well? Take, for instance, the government spending billions and billions of dollars updating the Air Traffic Control system. To the best of my knowledge, the Constitution says absolutely nothing about the government being able to run an Air Traffic Control system, especially on the taxpayer's nickel. The current ATC system is antiquated, but does provide a very good level of safety. We hardly ever see airplanes running into each other, for example. But the government has spent, and is still spending, billions on updating this system. I, personally, am not making any judgment about this. I am just pointing out that is what the government is spending MY money and YOUR money and the TEABAGGER’S money on. Why am I not seeing huge demonstrations against socialistic Air Traffic Control? Hey, it’s protecting the lives and welfare of the citizens of the U.S. Not everyone flies on airplanes. This is really no different than the health care debate. What’s up here? Why the difference? Why the over-the-top rage at an attempt for the richest country in the world to provide basic health care to its citizens? It’s a top priority to not have our citizens die from airplanes crashing into each other or the ground, or even suffering the relatively mild inconvenience of a delayed flight due to weather, but it’s O.K. for uninsured or underinsured people to die because they can’t afford the healthcare they need, or even if they do recover, they have had to liquidate every single asset they possessed?

That’s really insane, when you stop and really consider the question. But, of course, no one ever does really stop and consider the question from a purely rational point of view. It’s all gut emotion.

Another thing I absolutely do not get is that the fact that the tea baggers believe that the Republicans winning two gubernatorial seats in the election this week is some big blow to the Democrats and President Obama specifically. Yet, the Dems won two congressional elections (in California and upstate NY), which is at the federal level. The Dems just picked up one more vote in the House in support of healthcare reform. Why don't those results predict the imminent collapse of the Republican Party? I have no idea. Yet, the race in NY-23, where the tea baggers succeeded in driving out the more moderate Republican, hand-picked by the local GOP, and replaced her with a far-right candidate who ended up losing the congressional seat that the Republican Party has held successfully since the goddamn Civil War, is some sort of teabagger victory? What the hell? Black is black, and white is black. Heads, I win; Tails, you lose. Every single goddamn things that happens in the universe is good news for the GOP and it’s teabagging nutjobs who are currently at the wheel. Where someone using logic looks at this situation and sees complete madness, the teabaggers see complete victory, now and in the very near future. Only about 20% of the respondents of several recent polls identified themselves as Republicans. 20%. Hardly a formula for winning national races, I would like to say. Yet, the teabaggers are now emboldened by the defeat of the official Republican candidate in NY-23, so much so that they are going to target yet more incumbents who do not meet their ideology, and in doing so, will probably produce yet more elections where the teabaggers do not win the war (the election itself), but they won the battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party, and after all, that's all that matters!

This has become a common theme of this blog; the seemingly insane actions by the extreme conservatives of this country. I just can’t seem to get past the fact that I live in the same country as several million insane people.

Seattle produces yet another crazy person.

I suppose we should all just feel relieved that “Reverend” Ken Hutcherson is only a hate filled idiot and isn’t actually a mass murderer like Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, or Ted Bundy. But I am not sure where all the insanity comes from here. Something in the water? The fact that it rains a LOT in the fall and winter and sometimes never gets past “bright twilight?” I dunno, but it’s obviously something.

Ken Hutcherson is a well-known homophobe, spewing his hatred regarding gays on a regular basis. But this rant, via Pam Spaulding at Pandagon, is pretty damn unusual, even for him, given that Hutcherson is black.

I have watched the news, I have seen television, and I have heard different commentators talk about my friend, all the while knowing the things they say are lies. I am proud to be an American and proud of the United States of America, and again this makes it personal to me. I not only see Rush Limbaugh and the conservative movement in this action being attacked, but the entire foundation of what made America great.

Freedom is under attack, and we as Americans need to wake up and stop this madness in the greatest nation ever formed.
Let’s talk about what seems to have happened to Rush Limbaugh. Here is a man who loves professional football almost as much as he loves America’s traditions, values, and heritage of liberty. Rush has dedicated his life to the study of both football and America. He understands America and superbly communicates his understanding with millions every weekday. He understands the game of football, and has influenced it positively by being its biggest fan. Yet Rush has suffered attempts to destroy him with lies, misunderstandings and a direct effort to eliminate his influence in America...over the pretext of what? A game?

I truly believe that this is brought on by what I call the Minority Thought Pattern. Let’s not mince words: the Minority Thought Pattern is the total disdain and hatred of what God has accomplished through the white male throughout history. Coming from an African-American, I know this will shock you.

I am not minimizing the accomplishments of women, African-Americans, immigrants, the religious, or anyone else who is part of America. But the white male was here on Plymouth Rock for God to use, and the Pilgrims had a great belief in that God. The nation built out of their efforts, reflecting their values (most especially their religious values), has become the light of liberty for the world and an obstacle to those power-hungry individuals who hate it.

This is extremely personal to me. It’s about a friend. When I look at Rush, I don’t see a white man; I see a friend. I don’t see a talk show host (a very famous talk show host); I see a friend, and friendship overrides color and political stances. I don’t see a controversial figure, but a man whose heart and thoughts I know, and a man who is not a racist.

My, my… A black guy defending Rush Limbaugh against charges of racism. That’s novel. But it’s his statements about white males being an instrument of God that really grabbed my attention. That’s just out-and-out creepy. If those statements were coming from an old white guy, they would be reprehensible. Racist. Egotistic to the max. Uncaring about anyone that looks different than him, certainly. But coming from a black guy as it does, well, I am sort of at a loss here. Self-hatred? Maybe. It’s also possible that Rev. Ken is so invested in the ultra-conservative dogma that he believes ever bombastic piece of offal that people like Rush throw out there. Yeah, a bunch of rich, old, conservative white guys kicking Rush out of their professional sports ownership group because they didn’t want to deal with the controversy that ensue by having Rush around is JUST LIKE attacking everything that made America great!

*Sigh* The human mind is am amazing thing. It has the most fantastic ability to rationalize away anything that doesn’t fit in with its preconceived notions.

These are supposed to be Thanksgiving colors, in case you couldn't figure that out.

I'm not sure it totally works, but then, it's only for about a month.

Boeing continues its exodus from Seattle.

Boeing has just made the decision to set up a second 787 production line in South Carolina. Actually, “just” is not an appropriate use of the word here, because many believe that Boeing management made the decision quite some time ago and was just playing the leverage game with SC to get more favorable terms. They played the same game as many owners of professional sports teams do. They set up a conflict between the current home and some other location that is just lusting after whatever it is. The owners then use the conflict to pull a power play and use their toy as a bargaining chip to see who is going to give them the most favorable terms. Sometimes they stay (like the Seattle Seahawks that almost moved to L.A. and the Seattle Mariners that almost moved to Tampa) and sometimes they go (such as the Seattle Supersonics, that did move to Oklahoma City). Who is going to give the rich owners even more goodies?

But, for Boeing, the die was cast long ago; Boeing was going to South Carolina. Boeing management had had its fill of strikes by the Machinists Union. (SPEEA, the engineering union, went on strike over 10 years ago and it had a significant impact, but by making membership in the union mandatory for all engineers, that union has effectively been neutered. It will not strike again.) It didn’t matter if there were valid grievances or not. They didn’t like the strikes. This follows their move of corporate headquarters to Chicago a number of years ago. Boeing is, without any doubt, no longer one of the fixtures of the Pacific Northwest.

I have absolutely no doubt that whenever Boeing decides to build their next airplane, such as a replacement for the long-in-the-tooth 737, it will also go to South Carolina. Boeing can make a ton of money by selling the land that the 737 plant current sits on, and they can go somewhere where the infrastructure will already exist, complete with a non-unionized work force.

I’m not going to try to do an analysis here. It’s just one more example of huge corporations existing for themselves and their shareholders. They do not exist for the benefit of their workers or their communities. Those things are seen, more often than not, as the enemy. I don’t know why this should be. Why are people who buy stocks in a company more important than the people who put a huge chunk of their lives into it? To me, that’s an astounding business model and one large proof that, in today’s America, the almighty dollar is the only thing that matters.

I could write some major paragraphs about the 787 program itself, which has been an unmitigated disaster for Boeing. It is over two years late and the first airplane still has yet to fly. It is not a coincidence that this is the first major airplane program undertaken by the company after its supposed “merger” with McDonnell Douglas, in which McDonnell Douglas essentially bought Boeing with Boeing’s own money, and, with the exception of Alan Mulally, who is now departed and the CEO of Ford, put in ex-McDonnell Douglas people into upper management. The program has been mishandled from the beginning, and it is because of how Boeing is now run. But yet, moving to South Carolina is seen as being “in the best interests of the company.” The workers who will lose their jobs were not the cause of this fiasco, yet they are the ones that will suffer.

Seattle will survive this blow, and the blow that will come in the future when the 737 replacement is also built somewhere else. The Pacific Northwest is a pretty vibrant area in a lot of different ways. We still have Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and some other high-tech businesses. But continued losses such as Washington Mutual (see my earlier post on that subject), major parts of Boeing and the Seattle Supersonics does feel like we are absorbing some major punches in the gut. We are slowly losing what has earlier defined Seattle. Things come, things go, but the quest for the almighty dollar remains.

(Disclaimer: I worked at Boeing for 19 years, before moving on about 9 years ago. I still work in commercial aerospace. Nothing I have said in this post came from any sort of inside knowledge. Everything is readily available from public sources, such as newspapers and the internet.)

"I never knew there was such a thing as a condom plant!"

Doctor, just what is in those bottles, anyway?

Photo from "The Thing from Another World."

The New Hoover Dam Bypass

Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, the two side of a
$160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam slowly takes shape.

The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be twisting and winding around and across the dam itself.

When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona. In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive concrete arches which jut out of the rock face.

The arches are made up of 53 individual sections each 24 feet long which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.

The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge. But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.

The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan. Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day.

The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York to San Francisco. The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead, is 110 miles long and took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.

An extra note: The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior to the drought and development in the Las Vegas area. It is over 100 feet above the current water level.

(Ed. note: The source of these photos and accompanying text is unknown. I received them in an e-mail, without attribution. If anyone has a correct attribution, I will add it or will remove these photos. They are very high quality and not likely to have come off of someone's Flicker page.)

Update: Several random thoughts regarding these pictures:

1) That's going to be a hell of a view for someone driving across that when it's completed.

2) For $160 million, that looks incredibly fragile and unstable. It looks, at this distance, to be supported by something akin to really tall cement matchsticks. A good gust of wind seems to have more than an even chance of blowing it over sideways.

3) There's NO way I would ever work on something like that! Total freakout time. I doubt I could even drive across it.

4) How'd those guys get out there, anyway?

5) And where is the cement coming from when they are pouring the new sections?

Joe Lieberman's ego; really large, really ugly, thinks it can fly.

Yaknow, I'm really going to miss Halloween when it's over. I am getting to use all these cool photos that otherwise would make absolutely no sense.

(For those interested, the shots are from The Giant Claw, via the B Movie Graveyard. One of THE worst giant film monsters ever. It makes Godzilla look positively frightening.)

Washington Mutual (WaMu): a prime example of the greed and arrogance of our financial institutions.

Every once in a while, a print newspaper actually does some fine investigative reporting. The Seattle Times is running a series on Washington Mutual, which started out as a local home loan business but eventually become one of the main dominoes that contributed to the economic meltdown of the last two years. It is unfortunate that the investigative reporting here is taking place AFTER all this had gone down. Investigating something that has already happened is much easier than investigating something that is currently going on which could have some significant downsides. However, that said, I would still highly recommend this series. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

It’s (unfortunately) a very predictable story. WaMu started out as a small company that had firm principles and treated their customers and employees fairly. However, new management came in, took over, and decided that the only thing that mattered was to grow the company and make huge amounts of money, no matter what.

One very important instrument in how this was accomplished is known as an “option ARM.” Adjustable rate mortgages are iffy enough, if the borrower doesn’t understand what he is getting into. However, these loans came with additional choices. You could pay the entire monthly premium plus the interest, you could pay part of the premium, or you could even pay none of the premium. Heck, you could even pay only a portion of the interest due for that month. The outcome of anyone doing this, of course, is that the amount you owe the financial institution goes up, not down. And when the loan hits a certain benchmark, all options are cancelled and the borrower is stuck with essentially a fixed rate mortgage that has a much larger monthly payment than their original standard fixed rate loan.

All of these nasty little details were hidden in the fine print of the contract, of course. And because the mortgage brokers that WaMu used to sell these loans got very large commissions, they never felt a lot of pressure to tell the potential customer anything that might frighten them off. Rather, these loans were pushed as a great way to save money!

Read this little snippet from one of these stories in the Times:

WaMu did not reward brokers for getting its customers the best deal. Just the opposite. The worse the terms were for borrowers, the more WaMu paid the brokers.

Look at that again. WaMu knowing pushed a business model (through unregulated brokers) to sell their option ARM product to people who they knew could not afford the ultimate outcome. In a number of cases that are documented in these articles, a borrower ended up with a higher monthly payment from the same lending institution than with the original loan! That is unconscionable, in all senses of that word.

However, WaMu didn’t really care. They were making money hand over fist. One big reason they didn’t care is that these loans, which were very aggressively pushed, were also constructed to be sold as part of a package. That’s a very fine business model. They reap huge benefits for risky loans, but because they sell them as “investments”, they take none of the risk for these loans that they knew a large percentage of them would never be paid.

That is the face of today’s financial industry in America. That mindset is all that is necessary to believe that the CEO and upper management are deserving of huge bonuses, when their customers and their own company are going through very tough times. People cannot get out of mortgages they can’t afford. Working families are being evicted from the houses they have lived in for years. What might happen in the future was not a concern to the executives at WaMu, because that was in the future. The only thing that mattered was raking in as much cash as possible in as little time as possible.

Of course, this is the same description that can be applied to any pyramid scheme, where the only thing that matters is to be on top of the pyramid. By the time the entire thing collapses, you have yours and that’s all that matters.

I am always at a loss about how to wrap up a post on something like this. Some pithy insight, some clever reference… But it’s difficult to even contemplate the overwhelming greed and hubris. And, not only that, it's institutionalized greed! It was their business model, just as is the practice of canceling insurance policies of sick people, sometimes VERY sick people, just when they need financial assistance. "Why, that's required if we are to make money. Don't you want us to make money? You must be a socialist...."

This is the one of the faces of the current Republican Party. This is what Republicans stand for, and this is what they are fighting so hard to preserve in their battle against healthcare reform. They are for the top of the pyramid making as much money as they possibly can, by whatever means they can.

Why the other faces of the Republican Party, the fiscal conservatives and the family values Christians, put up with this, I have no idea. The financial institutions in this country are certainly not structured to benefit them.

Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Democrats and liberals are evil, are pro-terrorist and anti-American, and Obama isn’t an old white guy.

Who cares what the Mayans thought, anyway? Aren’t they dead?

Apparently, some Mayan prophecy predicts the world will end in 2012. There’s a major motion picture about it. There are a lot of homebrewed doomsayers around that have adopted this one, based on the number of hits that a Google search on “Mayan prophecy 2012” yields.

Yeah, so the Mayans were pretty good astronomers. They built some pretty cool stone edifices. I’ve been to Chichen Itza and it is impressive, as ancient ruins go. According to the Mayans own stone carvings, they also had a nasty habit about cutting the beating hearts out of living captives (maybe slaves, maybe vanquished enemies) to offer to their version of the Supreme Being.

I do admit, this whole thing is a windfall at the box office, at least for several weeks, for Columbia Pictures and Centropolis Entertainment. But why, exactly, should we care about what a bloodthirsty, albeit vanished, people thought regarding the end of the world? They couldn’t even see their own imminent demise.

Insane? Or do they just not care?

One definition of insanity that I have always heard, which I believe is attributed to Albert Einstein, is to keep repeating the same action over and over, with the expectation that the results will be different. That certainly applies to conservatives these days. They keep “doubling down” on the strategy that requires them to really appeal to their identifiable base; the angry “tea-baggers” who require Republicans to attack Democrats on every single issue, whether that issue has any substance or not. The percentage of people in this country who identify themselves as Republicans is now down to around 20%, Republicans have lost the last two national elections, poll after poll show that satisfaction with the Republican brand is way down. Yet, the conservative element demand ideological purity, and even someone like Lindsey Graham are labeled as traitors if they vote with the Democrats on anything.

That’s the modern Republican Party.

Another definition of insanity, this one of my own making, goes something like this. Someone keeps going completely ape-shit over every single little thing. Some of the issues might be real issues where there is some room for true disagreement on the issues, some are completely bogus or made up. And some criticisms, which usually elicit the biggest ape-shit reactions, are for things that the Republican Party itself did under the Bush administration or continue to do to this day. Karl Rove is a great practitioner of this particularly tactic.

Yet another definition of insanity might be along the lines of someone who continually criticizes others for not following along with their policies and ways of thinking when a) their party has been booted out of office and they are in the minority, and b) the policies they have been advocating have already been proven to be disastrously wrong. A good example, of course, is Dick Cheney and his attack dog daughter, about Iraq, about Afghanistan, about torture, about Gitmo…

All of these definitions of insanity can currently be applied, in spades, to modern conservatives. Yet, they continue to do all of these things. Why? Do they actually not understand that, eventually, everyone stops listening to Chicken Little, especially when Mr. Little’s motives are obvious? Someone cannot make every new “issue”, real or imagined, into a catastrophe in the making when the next day or week, they forget all about that issue and jump into the NEXT new potential catastrophe. Eventually, even the most fervent believer is going to stop believing. To the rest of us, they seem to resemble the spittle-flecked doomsayers ranting on a street corner about the end of the world in the loudest voice possible using the most dire language they can conjure up. They appear to be nutjobs who, if one pays any attention to them at all, it is to snicker at them or shake your head in wonder.

So, my question is, are the current conservatives insane? Do they really believe what they are doing? Do they believe what they are saying? Or do they just not care? Do they know they are lying through their teeth and don’t even care if most sane people also know it, just as long as they whip up the base by throwing them more blood red meat? What is really going on here?

I actually do not know which choice is scarier. If these people don’t recognize the lies they are spewing and do not recognize the fact that they are, many times, contradicting their stated positions of two years ago or even two months ago just so they can go bonkers about how President Obama is destroying this country, that means that the lunatics are indeed in charge of a major political party. On the other hand, if everyone knows what they are doing and the reasons they are doing it, but don’t even care, that means that one entire political party has lost its ethical and moral compass.

So, which is it, do you think? And do these two choices even require an “either/or” answer? Can both be true at the same time? And is that possibility even worse than just only a single one?

If that “viable third party” is going to show up, I wish it would get on with it. I just do not know how long this country can go on with one of its two main political parties being insane.

Reader submitted pet photos.

I think you need to changes filters on your camera.... And you might want to rethink that gift of the Mad Scientist EZ Gene Splicer kit for your son.

When botox treatments go bad.

Georgia Republicans think that screwing with people’s trust is fine.

From Thinkprogress. Look at this Republican fundraiser mailing. Seems to look… kind of official, doesn’t it? Sort of like….or exactly like something one might get from the Census. And elderly people that trust stuff they get in the mail, like “You may have won a million dollars!”probably take this to be exactly what it looks like it is. So, would there be ANY reason at all for someone not to take this at face value and fill it out? And maybe put in some money when it asks for it?

Well, except for the part about political affiliation, I guess. That part looks a little suspicious. I love the choices.

Are you:
a) A conservative Republican
b) A moderate Republican
c) A liberal Republican
d) Independent voter who leans Republican
e) Other

You know, there seems to be a few choices left out there.

Georgia Republicans. Always trustworthy. Always playing by the rules.

What’s amazing to me is that people who do this do not seem to realize they are just validating all the ill will that non-ultra-conservative, non-insane people feel about the Republican Party these days. We don't have to prove these people are lying assholes who will do anything to win. They are proving that FOR us, without us having to do anything more than document their asshole-ness.

Spitzer discovers largest ring around Saturn

This is from an e-mail I received from an engineering and musician acquaintance. I am not sure of the original source of the material.

The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. The Ball Aerospace-built Multiband Imagaing Photometer captured the infrared image that led to the discovery.

The new belt lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system, with an orbit tilted 27 degrees from the main ring plane. The bulk of its material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles). One of Saturn's farthest moons, Phoebe, circles within the newfound ring, and is likely the source of its material.

Saturn's newest halo is thick, too -- its vertical height is about 20 times the diameter of the planet. It would take about one billion Earths stacked together to fill the ring.

"This is one supersized ring," said Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. "If you could see the ring, it would span the width of two full moons' worth of sky, one on either side of Saturn." Verbiscer; Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park; and Michael Skrutskie, of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, are authors of a paper about the discovery to be published online tomorrow by the journal Nature.

That is a huge ring of material. The fact that it is not in the equatorial plane of Saturn makes it very unusual, but also makes the source of the material very easy to deduce.

Update: I wanted to make sure about this before I posted it. Saturn's moon Phoebe is very unusual. It has a highly elliptical orbit, which indicates it may be a captured object and did not condense from the disk of planetary accretion material from which Saturn eventually coalesced. It also has a very unusual makeup. From wiki:

However, images from the Cassini-Huygens space probe indicate that Phoebe's craters show a considerable variation in brightness, which indicate the presence of large quantities of ice below a relatively thin blanket of dark surface deposits some 300 to 500 metres (980 to 1,600 ft) thick. In addition, quantities of carbon dioxide have been detected on the surface, a finding which has never been replicated on an asteroid. It is estimated that Phoebe is about 50% rock, as opposed to the 35% or so that typifies Saturn's inner moons. For these reasons, scientists are coming to believe that Phoebe is in fact a captured Centaur, one of a number of icy planetoids from the Kuiper belt that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune[13][14]. Phoebe is the first such object to be imaged as anything other than a dot.

Heeeyyyyy, Abbott!!!

Is that a statue of Anubis in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

I’m at a loss as to what to write about, so I'll trot out a zombie analogy.

There’s almost no point in making snide comments about the insanity that makes up a great portion of this country. The insane part refuse to admit they are insane, the media refuses to point out that they are insane, the non-insane part keeps trying to negotiate “in good faith” with the insane part, with very predictable results. The insane keep trying to one up themselves, seeing who can be more insane than the last insane person.

If, somehow, the insane people in this country were replaced by zombies overnight, this whole scenario wouldn’t seem much weirder than it does now. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever considered the possibility of some of the things we are currently seeing. Illogic, hatred and fear rule the day, and all the non-zombies seem powerless to do anything about it.

I imagine that this is not going to end well.

Shih-Tzu blogging: Nina gets a new doo.

This is the "blow dry" stage, which she isn't overly enthralled with. This has the makings of a great Halloween costume with her as a porcupine.

Tea Bag Protesters now targeting Republicans they don't like.

From Americablog:

The 75-minute forum filled several sections of Furman University's Timmons Arena and attracted demonstrators, critics with handheld cameras, shouts of "traitor" and "Sotomayor" - and a smattering of supporters.

Graham repeatedly told those who shouted to "chill out," and addressed most of the hot-button issues that have rankled some in the state's conservative epicenter, including an op-ed column he co-authored this week with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, which called for climate change legislation.

One man told Graham he had "betrayed" conservatism and made a "pact with the devil" by working with Democrats, and asked when Graham would switch parties.

Yes, well, I would surmise that the Beast that is the anger, racism and insanity that the Republican Party has used to their advantage over the last few years has been released and is now turning on its erstwhile master. It's angry and wants everyone to know it. It refuses to be placated by vague promises of future action. It wants its insanity RIGHT NOW, and refuses to take anything less. I hear that a lot of wingers are not very happy with Olympia Snowe for voting with the Democrats on a very watered down health care reform bill. I actually kind of feel sorry for her. I certainly don't agree with a lot of her positions on issues, but I do think she is a non-insane Republican who is actually trying to do the right thing. However, the Beast does not allow for disobedience to the cause. The Beast gets very unhappy with those who don't follow orders.

I hope the Republican party enjoys the next couple of years.

Photo from here.

Movie Review: John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter has directed and produced some very noteworthy horror films. His films The Thing, The Fog, Halloween and Escape from NewYork are minor classics of the genre.

I have some mixed feelings about Carpenter’s films. Some of the storyline’s are really kind of suspect, shall we say. The theme and the incidental music throughout, on the other hand, are usually first rate. This film, Prince of Darkness, is no exception. It has some very good points (at least as far as horror films go) and some very medicore points. Prince of Darkness has a great introduction and buildup, but unfortunately, the ending doesn’t really hold up its end of the bargain. Truth be told, it's a little bit on the silly side. However, I am not certain how Carpenter could have really "closed the deal" to make a truly great ending and not overreach.

What I really do like about Carpenter’s films, including this one, is the overall atmosphere and the sense of foreboding that permeates the entire story, from beginning to end. This film has some truly creepy cimeatography going for it. The church in which most of the action takes place is a perfect setting for what is to occur. It’s rundown and neglected. The focus of the camera on such things as a dead bird, swarming ants and cluster of worms and other unknown things on the window help build the suspense. The homeless people just standing around and staring at the church is pretty unsettling. Something is going to happen, you just are not sure what. In that regard, the beginning of this film is actually somewhat similar to some of Hitchcock’s films. The first time you see the film, you are not quite sure what’s going to turn out to be important and what’s not. However, the entire thing blends together to make for a suspensful and atmostpheric buildup. The film is actually enhanced by the fact that the cast, with the exceptions of Donald Pleasance and Victor Wong (veterans of other Carpenter films) and a fanstastic cameo appearance by Alice Cooper, consists of non-stars. It’s difficult to tell who might end up surviving the coming ordeal and who might be “offed” in the first half hour of the film.

This film has been panned by a good number of film critics. As with any movie, what you feel about the film depends greatly about what you expect out of it. If you are looking for a classic, you should stick to something like The Third Man, with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton. This isn’t going to be it. But if you are looking for nothing more than a creepy little film that entertains for a little under two hours, one that has some genuinely startling moments and isn’t so ridiculous that it ellicits guffaws and knee slaps, then I would recommend finding this one on DVD or putting it on your list at Netflix.

I've done a little redecorating in preparation for Halloween!

Notice the orange title of the blog? Very inspiring, I thought. Ah, this season is something special indeed. There is a crisp feeling to the air. The leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees to gather in sodden little heaps in the streets that end up clogging all the storm drains. Children are full of anticipation and excitement, waiting for that special day when they get to dress up in cheap plastic costumes from Target and Wal-Mart so they can go out and harass their neighbors into giving them enough sweets to rot the teeth of anyone who even opens the bag full of goodies. Older adults use the holiday as yet another excuse for a "let's get drunk and act just like idiots!" party. Retail stores ring up sale after sale of bags of mini-Snickers and Skittles. Ah, just a joyous feeling!

For me, I like the season because of all the monster and sci-fi flicks that show up on the television. Of course, it isn't as good as back when AMC was actually a good channel that showed classic movies without commercials. TCM is a great channel, but they don't seem to hold monster flicks in very high regard. I will admit to being a fan of the classic horror and sci-fi films. I think I got this from my mother, who was exactly the same way. She would not only let me stay up late to watch King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet, she would pretty much insist that I did. My current video collection currently runs over 2100 titles (yes, I freely admit I have no life), many of which are the aforementioned monster, horror and sci-fi. I have your classics, I have your also-rans and I have your so terrible that it peels the paint off the ceiling. My plan for a change of pace, since I am in a huge rut lately, is to write some reviews of some of these films. That takes a special disregard for convention, I think, to write a review about a movie that is 50 to 60 years old that hardly anyone even remembers anymore.

Great Pumpkin from here.

President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wow. As many people are saying this morning (even the White House, apparently), "My, that was unexpected." I tend to agree. I am not sure that an award of this stature should be given just for a general sense of changing the direction of the country and its standing in the world. It seems like it should be given for some breakthrough moment, such as signing an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord, or something along those lines. So, in that context, I think some criticism of this award may have some merits.

On the other hand, it's certainly going to be fun to watch wingnut heads explode, like some mass viewing of Scanners or something, for the next few days. Oh, the outrage! After all, it's rather difficult to give a Nobel Peace Prize to someone who is JUST LIKE HITLER!

UPDATE: I saw where some commenter at DailyKos said "It sounds like the, 'Boy, is the world relieved you guys didn't choose McCain' award."

UPDATE II: From Steve Benen at Washington Monthly:

For all the recognition of George W. Bush's unpopularity, it's easy to overlook the ways in which the international community was truly mortified by the U.S. leadership during the Bush era. The irreplaceable leading nation could no longer be trusted to do the right thing -- on use of force, torture, rule of law, international cooperation, democratic norms, even climate change. We'd reached a point at which much of the world was poised to simply give up on America's role as a global leader.

And, love him or hate him, President Obama changed this. I doubt anyone on the Nobel committee would admit it, but the Peace Prize is, to a certain extent, an implicit "thank you" to the United States for reclaiming its rightful place on the global stage.

It's indicative of a degree of relief. Much of the world has wanted America to take the lead again, and they're rightly encouraged to see the U.S. president stepping up in the ways they hoped he would. It's hard to overstate the significance, for example, of seeing a U.S. president chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council and making strides on a nuclear deal.

This is not to say Obama was honored simply because he's not Bush. The president really has committed himself to promoting counter-proliferation, reversing policies on torture, embracing a new approach to international engagement, and recommitting the U.S. to the Middle East peace process. But charting a new course for American leadership, breaking with the recent past, no doubt played a role.

UPDATE III: So, when President Obama fails to convince the International Olympic Committee that the Olympic Games should be held in Chicago, that is a reason for celebration, but the President of the United States winning the Nobel Peace Prize is a reason to go trashing both the giver and the recipient? Uhhh..... Excuse me for being cynical, but what does this look like to you?

“Good science” vs. “Bad science.”

I have written before about the scientific method, but I’ll give a quick little summary here, for all you humanities majors out there.

You start with a set of what should be undisputable facts or observations. “See, that big barn over there on my neighbor’s property? It’s red. Right?” It’s something that everyone can, or should be able to, readily agree to. Then you start asking, “Well, how did it come to be red?” You might start making a hypothesis that explains your questions about whatever it is that you have observed. “See that guy over there? He’s my neighbor. It’s his barn. He probably just got finished painting it that color.” Of course, you don’t know for certain that your neighbor just painted the barn. However, there are all sorts of clues that your supposition might be a true one. That’s your theory. You just have to go about figuring out if your theory is valid or not, such that other people armed with the same starting point and facts as you will come up with the same conclusion. You are out to give validity to your theory.

The reason I said “give validity to” instead of “proving” is that the term “proof” implies absolute certainty in something. Many times in science, there will never be 100% certainty of something. However, if you can get your theory in good enough shape that your peers agree with your conclusion and no one can really come up with either 1) major points your theory doesn’t address or ) a better alternative, then people start using the word “proof.”

Anyway, to get back to my red barn analogy… There may be a number of ways you might go about trying to figure out if your neighbor painted his barn red. For instance, you could ask him. If he says “Yes, I did. Do you have a problem with that?”, then your work is pretty much at an end. Unless, of course, someone calls your neighbor a liar or, even better, comes up and declares, “No, I painted the barn! Don’t listen to that man!” Then you are kind of stuck. You now have two competing conclusions that cannot simultaneously both be true. You now need some additional input about why your original theory might be the correct one.

Say you observe that your neighbor is holding an open can of red paint. Additionally, he is also holding a paint brush full of wet red paint, his pants and shirt are all covered in very wet paint, and there are red footprints leading from the barn directly to where he is standing. This is getting very close to becoming your “proof.” You have convinced yourself, your wife and anyone else who will listen. However, those people may not actually know anything about painting. Or barns. Or perhaps they just don’t really care one way or the other.

Therefore, the next thing you need to do is get your peers (those who DO care about painting, barns and painting barns red) to agree with your conclusions about why that barn is red. You may go speak at a conference specializing in barn construction and circulate a paper you wrote on the subject of your neighbor and his barn. You might write an article for “Barns Monthly” magazine and “The Journal of National Association of Animal Husbandry Buildings”. Those, of course, are the most widely read publications for those who care about such things. Your peers read your article and most come to an agreement that, yes, you are correct in your starting point (it is indeed a barn and it is red) and how it got that way. Yes! You have triumphed! You are the King of the World! Fame and a lucrative speaking career beckon.

However, the next month, you might receive a letter from one of your rivals. He puts forward an alternative hypothesis. “No, the barn is red because the local lumber company, five miles down the road from your neighbor’s barn, is selling barn siding that is already painted red. Your neighbor bought his lumber there. I have a copy of his receipt.”

Your first reaction is, of course, “Oh, crap!” Your finely crafted case about how your neighbor’s barn came to be red is about to come crashing down around your ears. Utter humiliation awaits. Your wife isn’t speaking to you and your dog bit your hand when you tried to pet him. You must do something to rectify this terrible situation. Immediately, if not sooner.

So, it appears obvious that your theory needs to evolve to take these new facts, which are not really open to dispute (sale on red lumber, copy of the sales receipt) into account. Aha! You have it! Yes, your neighbor bought lumber already painted red, but he didn’t use it to build his barn! He used it to build a garage instead! Your original hypothesis is still sound! How else do you explain the wet, red paintbrush, the open can of paint and the footprints?

And so it goes. The reason I went on at such length about such a seemingly trivial and/or stupid scenario is that I wanted to put what really happens during the scientific method into a concept that non-scientists could easily understand. Even with its dramatic oversimplifications and stupid analogies, the scenario above gives an approximation about how the scientific method actually works. To repeat, this is how my “good science” of my title works. It doesn’t matter what kind of answer you get. It’s the process that matters! Start with facts. Make a hypothesis that fits the facts and answers all open questions. Peer reviews. Continually adjust your hypothesis whenever new facts come to light or when someone points out where your logic is not sound.

Here are the points I want to highlight. There are rarely absolute proofs to anything. You might have a model of understanding that comes very, very close to answering all the open questions about some phenomena. Maybe not all questions, but your theory works very well. Or maybe, your theory does indeed answer all open questions, until the day that someone either asks a new question that no one has ever thought of before, or perhaps some new facts or observations are uncovered that now cast some doubt on your hypothesis.

A very good and very understandable example of this is of Newtonian physics. You remember Sir Isaac Newton, don’t you? The chap who got bonked on the head with the apple? Described his theory of universal gravitation? One of the most influential scientists and mathematicians to have ever lived? Yeah, him. His theories worked incredibly well to describe how gravity affects our world. You could use it to set the elevation of your cannon so that your cannonball hits the enemy over across the valley. Terribly useful stuff. Newtonian physics ruled the day.

However, when one gets looking closer, it appears that Newtonian physics doesn’t exactly predict the motion really big things, like planets, when you start examining it in detail. Surprise! It turned out that Newtonian physics was only an approximation. It didn’t predict everything that it should. And the closer that people starting examining the facts and data, the more it appeared that there were some major shortcomings into his theories. Enter Einstein and the theory of relativity, and the floodgates were opened.

I don’t want to get into a history lesson about classical vs. modern physics. That would be pretty tedious. My point is that Newtonian physics was never The One True Answer. Oh, you got very good predictions about how everyday objects react. But it was never more than an approximation. At the scale we cared about, those approximations did not matter. You never saw the errors because they were so small. Now, mathematicians, astronomers, physicists and cosmologists are getting into some very, very strange and disturbing theories about the universe. They are nowhere near the classical Newtonian physics. However, Newtonian physics still predicts some things, like that apple or that cannon shot, extremely well. So, was Newton’s theory wrong? Or right?

I apologize about how long it has taken me to reach this point, but I am now getting to what I really wanted to discuss. This is what really upsets me when I hear religious fundamentalists or ideologue conservatives talk about something like evolution or global warming in absolute terms. They obviously do not understand the scientific method. They just do not. There are very, very few absolutes. Black/white answers are sometimes only aren’t possible; they are also a pipe dream. And something you may be absolutely certain about one day can crumble right before your eyes with the introduction of a new set of data. That does not mean you were totally incorrect! That just means you need to go back to the drawing board. Your theory may need just a tweak, or it may need to be totally scrapped. You don’t know until you start digging into it, armed with your newly acquired facts and data.

The one “criticism” that I hear about the theory of evolution is “It’s only a theory!” Of course it’s only a theory! Jeez. That’s a really, really dumb thing to say. So is the theory of gravity. Do you disagree that gravity exists? Of course not. But the explanation we currently have as to why gravity exists is incomplete. Those scientists and mathematicians who work out on the esoteric edges of their fields may feel they are getting close to having an answer (hint: it’s called M Theory and involves a universe made up of eleven dimensions), but they are not there yet. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot of the answers already worked out. “It’s only a theory!” is not a valid criticism! That’s how the process works! Anthropologists, geneticists and researchers in many other fields agree that evolution is a fact. They just cannot explain every aspect. There are still many unanswered questions. So what? That does not mean that the entire concept is wrong! It just means it is still a work in progress.

Another problem that seems to occur in today’s society is that we demand everything be “dumbed down” to the point that every single person feels that they must be able to understand something before they will admit it to be true. If they can’t understand it, then, by definition, it isn’t true. What hogwash. Experts in a field are experts for a reason; they know more than you do about something! That’s what makes them an expert! There is a reason it takes eight years plus to get through college and earn a Ph.D. in something. It’s complex! It’s difficult! Their conclusions do have more validity than yours do! You probably don’t know jack about the subject, if you really want to get to the heart of the matter.

Yet another problem is that many people seem to feel that they are free to disagree with a scientific conclusion if it doesn’t support their already set-in-concrete opinions. If science doesn’t come to the conclusion that they wanted it to, then it becomes “bad science.” The Earth’s climate is actually getting warmer, and the activities of mankind are a major contributing factor. The Earth is much, much older than 6000 years. Evolution in living things does indeed occur. Earth is not at the center of the universe, nor does the sun revolve around the Earth. On and on… Many people throughout history have taken a very dim view of scientific conclusions that are at odds with a position in which they have a vested interest (e.g., the Church, Galileo, and is the Earth at the center of the universe or not?). The scientific method does not care if you have just had the rug jerked out from beneath your feet. That's too bad, but that is your problem, not science's. Deal with it.

It does not matter to the scientific method what the answer turns out to be. You cannot dictate your preferred answers to the scientific method. That’s dishonest and manipulative. You must start with the question, make a hypothesis and then end up with a convincing answer! You cannot start with the answer first! Nor can you object to the facts and observations that the scientific method started from. The barn really is red. It is not green. To say otherwise is false and it makes the holder of such views look like an idiot. That is what bad science is; it is not science that doesn’t give you the answer you wanted.

In the last 25 years--but it has really picked up speed in the last 10 years--our society has devalued science and the answers it can provide. Sometimes we may not like the answer. That doesn’t mean science is somehow wrong or bad. It just means that we should probably either adjust our way of thinking or possibly do something to change the outcome that the scientific method is predicting. That might be anything from cutting the emissions of greenhouse gasses significantly to perhaps realizing that evolution is not necessarily in conflict with the existence of God.

What we have now is a society that values opinions more than answers reached by the scientific method. And, the current thinking goes, the more fervently you believe in something, the better chance it has of being true. This is not a good thing, to put it mildly. That is the way that civilizations collapse. They cannot cope with the reality that will ultimately come crashing down on their/our collective heads.


Photo from here.

THE SOLDIERS OF GLENN BECK: BEWARE THE EVANGELICAL RED GUARD

I have long maintained that religious extremism in America is every bit as dangerous as terrorism, and that it is, in fact a form of terrorism. The following analysis should make your hair stand on end:

Over the last 30 years Evangelical fundamentalists have managed to do what Chairman Mao failed to do with his Red Guards: indoctrinate a whole generation of evangelical people to see their own society as the enemy and act like subversives from within the culture. These people are as anti-American as Al-Qaeda. The "Christian Reconstruction" movement is working for theocracy. Reconstructionism (of which Gary North is one leader) says that the law given for the political and legal ordering of ancient Israel is intended for all people at all times.

Reconstructionist leader David Barton gives a definition:

"The Christian goal for the world is the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics, in which every area of life is redeemed and placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the rule of God's law."

Frank Schaeffer also warns:

Those who say that the Religious Right and the far right have lost their power are looking through the lens of rule-obeying democratic liberalism. They don't understand that their opponents will always carry the proverbial lead pipe in his or her back pocket. To the progressives who think that the Religious Right and the right wing has lost its power I say this: You're correct when it comes to political facts (for the moment) of the last election, but you're dead wrong when it comes to the way revolutions work.

Who are Glenn Beck's foot soldiers? In effect what we have is a group of indoctrinated people who have never actually lived in America because they were brought up deliberately cloistered from it by their parents and churches. Because they are legally "Americans" they can move freely around our democracy trying to destroy it working within the United States. Today they are acting like a fifth column, no, they are a fifth column. Some of them have not just seceded metaphorically, there is even a growing movement for states to secede literally.

Today the right wing America haters actually are doing to America what no "illegal" immigrants ever do: work to overthrow our democracy and replace it with a theocracy. The home-schooled, privately educated brainwashed horde are an antidemocratic, fundamentally anti-American political movement. For a start they do not accept the results of the last election.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html

Read the full story....

Cross posted at MadMikesAmerica and The Wulfshead

You know, this is all Ted Turner's fault.

He created the 24 hour a day news channel, CNN. Many people laughed at the concept when it was first introduced. I remember being skeptical. But look what has happened since then. At least, what, five all news channels (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg), plus their spin-off such as Headline News and Fox Business Channel. Each is on a 24/7 news cycle, and the Beast must be fed. You must have content to fill up something like that, and they all must turn a profit. That's where you start playing to an audience to get the viewers, which brings in the $$$. News programs are now not really there to inform; they are there to entertain, to put notches in the belt of viewer demographic numbers, to be a steady income stream to their home corporations. This gives us Glenn Beck, Shaun Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Keith Olbermann, etc. etc. (I refuse to lump Rachel Maddow in there, because I think her program, although really slanted in the liberal direction, is there to inform and not just to inflame passions.) This process has turned our political process into one big carnival, including clowns and sideshow barkers. Informing the electorate of important issues is really not even on the radar screen anymore.

Thanks a whole goddam lot, Ted Turner. You should have stopped at colorizing movies.

Chicago does not get 2016 Olympics. Incredibly petty, small-minded, mean-spirited people are delirious.

There aren’t too many links I have seen today about the ridiculousness the some conservatives let loose when they discovered that “Obama lost the Olympics.” Here’s one from Balloon Juice, where the offices of the Weekly Standard “erupted in cheering” when the news was announced. Rachel Maddow put together a video segment of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh crowed that it “the worst day in Obama’s presidency!” Beck was just positively giddy. Here’s a You Tube Link put up by The Young Turks of the same thing. If you want to see it, prepare to be nauseated.

These people are so lame. They hate President Obama so much they will cheer any setback, even if it means a rather large setback for the country as a whole as well. One can legitimately argue the merits of hosting an Olympic Games. There are some very valid concerns, such as cost overruns, recouping your investment, dealing with huge construction projects and traffic nightmares, security, and on and on. But one cannot argue that hosting an Olympics would have created lots of jobs in the Chicago area, and very quickly. It would have brought prestige to the city and the country. Yet, these nutjobs think this is the most wonderful thing that has happened in recent years.

I cannot begin to describe how incredibly stupid and mean-spirited these people look. They resemble nothing more than a bunch of junior high schoolers taking great joy in seeing a better looking, more popular rival fail. "Juvenile" is a word that comes to mind.

However, what these people seem to miss is the fact that President Obama isn’t somehow shamed. This is not a cause for embarrassment. Rio made a great proposal, and they won. South America hasn’t ever hosted an Olympics, and it is probably high time they did. The United States has hosted several in the last 30 years. And there’s this. Madrid didn’t get the Olympics either. Yet, the King of Spain made the trip on behalf of his country. Is he now somehow embarrassed, such that the King should slink away and go hide in a hole? No. The same reasoning applies to Spain and it does to the U.S.

I do think that many conservatives realize how stupid they look, and are maybe trying to dial back some. David Brooks had an interesting column in the NYT the other day. Lindsey Graham came out and said that Beck and Limbaugh are not good for the Republican Party, which I wholeheartedly agree with. But for now, we have this… spectacle of lunatics with national platforms going apeshit because they feel that President Obama has been embarrassed. They truly are scraping at the bottom of the barrel if they get that much unbridled joy out of this. I got rather sick to my stomach watching these cretins. How do they live with themselves?

We do know one thing about Glenn Back now that we didn't before. The next time we see him crying over something that has "upset" him, you know that Vicks Vap-O-Rub is involved.

Rightwing lunatics with a national platform are now calling for a military coup in the U.S.

From Crooks and Liars:

From John L. Perry at Newsmax:

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the Obama problem. Don't dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:

Did you get that? Perry doesn't advocate a military overthrow of the Obama administration, he's...just sayin'. Does anyone doubt that we'll see "military coup" signs at the next tea party? Mr. Perry believes he has the pulse of our military, but his assumptions go beyond the pale, straining the limits of credulity:

Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend being trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.

They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation, under President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012 election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office.

They can see that the economy ravaged by deficits, taxes, unemployment, and impending inflation is financially reliant on foreign lender governments.

I realize that pretty much 100% of my posting of late has been exlusively about how insane the conservatives of this country have become since Barack Obama became president. But I can't really seem to help myself. At first, I thought it was going to be fun to watch. Now, I just sit back and watch with dispair. I hadn’t realized how low what passes for rational discourse by what passes for rational adults could go. And, I am absolutely positive that it will continue to decline.

I just saw at Talking Points Memo that Newmax has taken down this post. And, of course, the author of this piece of dreck comes out with the same old song and dance. He wasn’t advocating a military coup. He was just talking about the possibility. Yeah. Uh-huh.

I just don’t get what these people think they are seeing. What could President Obama possibly be doing that would somehow justify a military coup? What? What has got these people so upset that they truly believe that the President of the United States is “trampling the Constitution?” What causes them to weep during townhalls and state that they “want their country back?” President Obama wants to make sure that everyone in the country has adequate healthcare coverage and that the current system doesn't drive the huge deficit even higher than it already is? That the President is trying to save the economy from going under like the Titanic after it hit that iceberg? What? Yeah, I understand all about racism masquareding as political protest. I understand sore losers who think that Republicans should win every single election. I understand people with an overblown sense of entitlement being upset when they see those entitlements slipping away from them. But really. Some of this stuff is absolutely crazy.

I have a question for these asshats. Well, I have several hundred, actually. It was somehow the end of the world when Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said, while performing in London, that they were ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. But it’s O.K. to have web based polls to vote on whether Barack Obama should be killed? It’s O.K. to talk about secession from the country, which is about as un-patriotic as one can get, I would think. It’s fine to openly discuss the possibility of a military coup? Je-ZUZ. But the question I was thinking of is this. If somehow conservatives were successful in removing Barack Obama or getting him to step down, would they then be satisified with President Joe Biden? That would somehow make everything O.K.?

Captain Picard grabbed from Watertiger at Dependable Renegade.

Glenn Beck is given the key to the city in Mt. Vernon, Washington.

He also addressed a crowd of “about 7000” at Safeco Field in Seattle. I was very upset when I learned that Beck was from around here, Mt. Vernon being about 45 miles north of here.

I am not sure what it is about the Pacific Northwest that produces lunatics. However, I am convinced that we have more than our fair share. There was Ted Bundy, of course. He started his killing spree about 15 minutes away from where I work. And there was the Green River Killer, who worked about five miles away from where I work. And, more recently, there was the Washington D.C. sniper, who lived in Tacoma and actually bought his high powered rifle he used to pick off innocent people around D.C. while hiding in the truck of his car, specially modified for that purpose. And there was the lady (I believe she was a female) who wanted to kill her husband, so she tampered with a bunch of bottles of Tylenol, laced them with arsenic and put them back on store shelves, all to hid the crime of killing her husband. I also think the lesser known (nationally) Hillside Strangler in Spokane was originally from here. Ann Rule has made a good living writing about horrific criminals from here, including a book called the I-5 killer.

Personally, I think it has something to do with the weather here. Oh, much of the year, there is not a more beautiful place in the country. The mountains, forests and water make for some spectacular vistas. But the winter is another story altogether. It’s always overcast and dark, usually raining or in the process of either stopping or starting to rain. Everything’s always wet and slimey. It gets dark at about 4 p.m. It’s really damn depressing in November. That’s my theory anyway.

Now, what has all this to do with Glenn Beck? I’m just rambling, as I am certainly not trying to say that Beck is a mass murderer worthy of another book by Ann Rule. However, it is my contention that Beck is certainly rather unhinged. You only have to watch him on television or listen to some of his rants on his radio program to come to this conclusion. I think speaks volumes about our society today that this guy has both a national television and radio audience, he has a large and passionate following and he makes tons of money for the corporations he works for. In any sort of sane universe, this would not be so. Beck would be another nutjob wandering the streets, maybe down in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, yelling that the end is coming, and most people would try very hard not to make eye contact.

But no. This guy was given the key to the ciity of Mt. Vernon yesterday. Mt. Vernon is a nice little town. It is one of the largest growers of tulips in the world after Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands. It’s a nice rural smallish city with a hometown feel. And their mayor goes and gives Beck a huge honor.

Now, this is not to say that this all went off without any protests. I understand the town of Bellingham, in protest, gave a key to their city to Jon Stewart. According to this story in the Seattle Times, there were several hundred people who showed up to protest. I thought briefly about doing it, but quickly arrived at the conclusion that it was pointless. There is no arguing with a crazy person, and his supporters, who are all convinced that he is speaking “The Truth.” There’s nothing so pointless as arguing with true believers.

I just wanted to point out this paragraph from the story in the Seattle Times. It’s really too bad there wasn’t a picture of this.

Early Saturday evening, outside McIntyre Hall, Beck's supporters and critics mingled and occasionally broke into debate. Cars and trucks paraded down the street, with honking and jeering. One group made an enormous sign playing off the Mad Hatter pouring a cup of tea, only their sign said "Mad Hater" — a reference to Beck and the national "tea-party" protests.

This doesn’t really explain whether this group was a bunch of Beck supporters or protesters. If they were protesters, it was a good play on a theme and right to the point. However, given the atrocious spelling of the Tea Party protesters, there’s a good chance that this was a sign from Beck’s supporters and they didn't have a clue.

Photo from the Seattle Times. I particularly like the lady dressed up as the Statue of Liberty. Yes, I can see how someone calling the first black President a "racist" and "someone who hates white culture" and who helps circulate the rumor that President Obama desires to round people up based on their political affiliation and put them into interment camps is symbolic of liberty and freedom. "Give us your tired, your poor, your insane masses yearning to destroy everyone who holds opinions different than theirs..."

UPDATE: I would like to thank Bill Moyer, who is the Director of the Backbone Campaign. This is the organization that was responsible for the Mad Hater protest sign this last weekend. He was kind enough to comment on this post and give me a link to a photo of the sign that, unfortunately, the right-leaning Seattle Times didn't see fit to include in their print or web edition. Here is that photo. Thanks again to Mr. Moyer. Great sign. Perhaps I should have gone after all. It looks like I could have done some nice networking with non-insane people.

Want to bet anything on whether these people have read the "Consitution"?

Jeez, what is it with wingnut protesters who CANNOT SPELL?!?

Morans.

Photo from Blue Gal.

A very angry, anonymous video blogger (with a very cute accent) takes apart Kirk Cameron.

Please check out this link. This is really funny and really good at the same time.

I didn't realize that Kirk Cameron (who was hardly on my radar anyway) is now somehow the spokesman for creationism. Watch this lady take him apart, piece by piece.

(One of these days, I am going to take the time to figure out how to download You Tube videos and embed them directly into my posts here. But, until then, just click the link. It's worthwhile.)

Republican Party = Old Confederate States of America?

Certainly seems that way to me. Now, we have some actual polling data that sort of confirms that. From Daily Kos via Washington Monthly.



Look closely. See? That's like a whole lot of people who don't live in the South that don't look too favorably toward the Republican Party.

Oh, wait. That graphs seems to have left out Hawaii and Alaska. I am sure that will balance things out…. Not.

I really am curious about how long this situation can sustain itself. I really don’t think a one party system is healthy for the country. Will the sane, moderate conservatives (and liberals, for that matter) ever put together a viable alternative to the Republican Party? Could we go with version 2.0 of the Bull Moose Party? We certainly have our present-day version of the Know-Nothing Party.

UPDATE: Thinking about this graph got me wondering. I certainly trust Markos at DailyKos to hire someone that will use very scrupulous polling methods to come up with data like this. However, this does seem a little too far in the way of people not trusting the Republican Party. Those are huge numbers. I am wondering if those are really reflective of reality. For example, the deep south, I would have thought the numbers would have been about 80% Trust Republicans and 20% Doesn't Trust Republicans. From what I hear about places like Arkansas, I am not sure this graph really reflects the true feelings out there. But, it is hopeful. If everyone in the "Doesn't trust Republicans" camp either votes Democratic or doesn't vote at all, then maybe 2010 isn't looking as dire as it is currently sounding for the Dems.

"God, I LOVE gruel!"

"I wonder if da peeple of Californiya wood like it too?"

This here is what's known, in common parlance, as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

From Crooks and Liars:

Tammy Bruce, last night on The O'Reilly Factor (talking about President Obama):

Bruce: But ultimately, it comes down to his inability to govern, and the fact that he seems to have, it seems to me, some malevolence toward this country, which is unabated.

Yeah. Anytime President Obama does or says ANYTHING, the conservatives mobilize their shock troops, who go absolutely bat-shit crazy. Insane people, egged on by conservative pundits such as the aforementioned O'Reilly and Bruce, freaking out, carrying guns to town hall meetings, certainly demonstrates President Obama's "inability to govern" and "malevolence toward this country", doesn't it?

What are these idiots looking at that allows them to come up with such harebrained conclusions that President Obama hates white people or has "malevolence" toward the country that just elected him President? That is just so insane... You know, it used to be that people trying to sell a lie would have to at least make it somewhat plausible. Now, they just pull anything they feel like out of their butts and spout it on national television.

Zoinks!!

“Let’s get out of here, Scoob! It’s that horrible fiend, the obamanible Healthcare Reform Ghost! He kills old people and little dogs, and he’s also a socialist!”

(I assume that everyone remembers how every single episode of the original Scooby Doo ended, with the monster/ghost being unmasked to be one of the main players in the game who had an interest in scaring everyone off. Now, who might that be….? This sort of ruins the joke, explaining everything, but sometimes I am rather obtuse. I hate being the only one who gets one of my jokes.)

No one ever said that protesters had to make sense.

From The Denialism Blog, here's a fine picture from yesterday's "9/12" rally, which was to protest... something. Apparently, a lot of people don't think that everyone in the country should have access to health insurance whose company can't just drop their coverage for whatever reason they want. And there are some people who don't like deficits. But only under a Democratic administration, of course. Deficits were fine under George Bush. And some people apparently don't like Muslims. Or Hitler. Or socialism. Or communism. Or fascism.

But what the hey, it seemed like a nice day to have a mass demonstration. Did you know that Freedom Works (run by ex- Republican majority whip Dick Armey) was a big sponsor of yesterday's demonstrations, and they were actually charging other organizations for participating? So I heard on Rachel Maddow. Yep, really a grass roots affair.

New photo from the updated Hubble Telescope.

Since we seem to be on a space kick, both real and fictional, here's a newly released photo from NASA taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Astounding. This photo is a Portrait of Stephan's Quintet, also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92. Please check out this link to see more photos.

You know, there is an analogy for something in here somewhere.