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Plus more stuff - 12 January 2009
Jan. 13th, 2009 01:09 amGreetings, group. Life abounds and makes for more interesting things. Reviews about the usefulness of The Secret that has nothing to do with the words printed on the page, for example. And Tilt-shift photography, which makes reality look like a miniature model. And photography about the end of the twelve days of holidays most people celebrate from 25 December to 6 January.
On the international news desk, text messages as psychological warfare in Gaza, as well as new accusations that Israel is using white phosphorus in their weapons in violation of the laws of war, while Israeli troops continue their advance. Despite all this, Mr. Blair says everything is in place for a cease-fire. Others suggst killing aid to Gaza will eventually kill the war, because enough young men and other civilians will die and remove the surplus from the populace. This is not a bad result, and in fact may be the right result, according to some.
The outgoing administrator rejected a request for bunker-buster bombs by Israel so that it could bomb Iranian nuclear capability. Instead, the U.S. opted for operations that would sabotage the program.
The United States is finding that techniques and equipment useful in Iraq are pretty useless in Afghanistan, moving too slowly or not being able to adapt to the terrain. Additionally, the increased prevalence of marskmen on the Taliban side makes for slow going.
Domestically, the outgoing administrator wants access to the rest of the TARP funds, The Minnesota Senate race appeal is asking for reams and reams of documents, ACORN faces mroe problems over an embezzlement scandal that it announced last year, with several former management and board seeking to have it investigated on the way it handled the matter, a United States soldier who fled to Canada to avoid the Iraq War has been ordered deported, and a new head will be installed at the CDC after the current one resigned, as other scientists claim the FDA's review processes are corrupted.
Carjackers who made out with a car, a cell phone, and some cash were apprehended when a text sent to the phone talked about hot women and drugs available soon. The stellar examples of intelligence that the carjackers were, they took the bait and found the police instead.
Possibly weirder, a convicted sex offender won a lottery designed to help sexual abuse victims, and he plans to donate some of the winnings to the organization that helped conduct the lottery.
Steven Pinker on personalized genomics, what they might be able to do, and what things we need to be thinking about now, as genome sequencing becomes much cheaper.
Last out of this desk, Mark Driscoll, a Calvinist pastor who has no qualms about answering NC-17 questions or preaching on those topics, even as he brooks no nonsense about premarital sex, “modern” biblical interpretations, or whether you’re saved or damned. He prefers the manly macho Jesus, who can drink, smoke, cuss out people, and watch action movies to the one that he feels is prevalent these days, the “feminized”, feel-good Buddy Jesus. Sounds like Pastor Mark is the next step along the path to swinging back toward fundamentalism. More sobering than the swinging style of Pastor Mark, The General's Inner Frenchman describes how well a "quiver full" believer can think of 15 children as great glory to God, and how much she enjoys all of it (well, excepting the pains), despite that it makes her miserable not being able to achieve her perfection.
In the opinions, Pastor Anderson is certain that Barack Obama is playing the part of Satan, which seems kind of tame compared to some of the excerpts from Ms. Coulter's newest book.
Hendrik Hertzberg sits on the other side and talks about the high expectations and approval ratings for the incoming President, including post-campaign buttons and other artifacts that indicate a large segment of the populace is quite hapy to see the transition happen. The feel-good will probably last until someone thinks the other side of the aisle is stiffing them. Or does something they don't like. Or the loud and vocal elements on the fringe of either side successfully sabotage any centrist efforts by loudly insisting that the conservatives stick to their principles and the liberals to theirs. For now, though, people are buying up commemorative D.C. Metro fares and cards and the language on how best to sell stimulus packages is under revision.
Austin Cline speaks on the use of unions and regulations as a way to provide checks and balances on corporations, and that with everyone looking out for their own self-interest, things should work - assuming unions haven’t been stripped of the power they need to actually effect change. I wonder if he’d be sympathetic to Gordon Duff's insistence that the military and its officers be cleased of the political friends, domioninist officers, and others who have corrupted the service organization into something that does not serve the country.
Movie representations of events like Milk don't capture the feeling... or the several days worth of civil unrest that followed the assassination. Those riots become less about individual groups flaring and more about the point when the people had an effective champion taken away from them, keeping them from achieving great gains, and then the military kept them where they were and dispersed their energy.
The outgoing administator rests on his laurels about continuing to fight a war that shouldn't have happened, based on the reasons given, until the result he wanted come into being. The populace, however, has a significantly more negative view of him than he does. Although, Mr. Sowell would like him to pardon Scooter Libby for his memory failures, considering that his memory was all he was indicted and punished for.
John Bolton complains that the U.S. needed to veto the cease-fire resolution instead of abstain on it, and this would set a perfect precedent for the incoming president, which he will slavishly follow, to all our detriment. Austin Hill beleives the incoming President will reward Hamas for its actions, instead of punish them by opening up talks, instead of keeping with isolation. Garry Kasparov exhorts the West to stomp on dictatorships, including Russia, so as to prevent them from killing and harming people. Anastasia O'Grady wants to stomp on Venezuela. Messrs. Rivkin and Brown want to stomp on people suing for libel in foreign courts on matters that are protected speech in America through the adoption of statutes that provide for punishing damages collectable against those who do those suits.
Alasdair Palmer believes that security services should be able to operate outside the law, because those totally legal are neutered and unable to extract useful information. Bill'O agrees with him, as does David R. Stokes, both protesting the appointment of Leon Panetta to head the CIA. After all, our opponents are fanatics who won’t stop at anything to kill and hurt us, so why should we treat them with any respect if we capture them? Dick Morris and Eileen McGann add to the complaints about Panetta, as well as complaining about the Office of Legal Counsel pick, Dawn Johnson, a compmlaint the WSJ echoes, because they see them as people putting limits on things that shouldn’t be limited. Charles McCarry also wants us to praise the CIA for its excellent work in keeping us safe from the last seven years as he suggests how the CIA’s internal culture should shift so as to make it back into an agency that does excellent work.
Neal Boortz replays an old column (although I'm not sure whether it's his or another's) by suggesting that instead of a stimulus plan (that is obviously there to permit the incoming President to solidify the government’s control over everyone and turn us into de facto socialists), that the government declare a tax holiday for six months and let the people spend their money the way they want to... and with a nice bonus - the people then revolt when the taxes start being taken out of their checks again, and they can bring down the government in a nice efficient manner and then throw themselves completely at the mercy of the market and the corporations. Devin Nunes suggests similar reforms for California.
Floyd and Mary Beth Brown believe firmly that newspapers should fail and close rather than take assistance form the government, because government-supported papers are propaganda machines, not independent watchdogs. The WSJ believes that supporting a bill to let borrowers in bankruptcy have a judge renegotiate their mortgages will lead to higher interest rates across the board, and is a nice deal to help Citigroup at the expense of their competitors.
Joel Klein and Al Sharpton team up to promote charter schools and more funding for urban education, claiming that accountability is good, and that both of these items will improve performance, especially for minorities. George Will complainsthat everyone's suing over safety matters, including at school, where teachers can’t actually restrain a kid having a tantrum without a lawsuit happening.
Amanda Carpenter complains about a Senate bill that would reclassify lots of land as non-drillable, calling it pork-laden and very convenient to have land that could be put to better use in commercial enterprise suddenly become immune to it.
Last out of opinions, Ken Connor pooh-pooh's Michael Newdow and his suit claiming that the invocations of the inauguration and the phrase "so help me God" are impermissible establishments of religion, by pointing at the long tradition of religious references in the culture, and a Supreme Court decision saying that legislative prayers are permitted because of that tradition. So, not really relying on the law, but the tradition that “America is a Christian nation” people swing as a club. Mr. Newdow’s suit will not likely be heard or seriously considered. This tradition had better be cited in favor of the first Muslim president who wishes to have a different tradition’s invocation and possibly change the oath segment so as not to commit a blasphemy, if s/he deems “so help me God” to be one.
Working the science and technology floor, more evidence linking ancient dinosaurs to modern birds, making good memory from memristors, exoskeletons for farm workers, courtesy of Japan, a patent for a method of mapping the brain through ultrasound, "writing" on atoms with an atomic force microscope, using communications algorithms to derive good multidrug combinations, immune reprogramming implants, the best robots of 2008, the carbon market's worth, no doubt the source of much pointing about how environmentalists really just want money, and toy applications of brainwave readers, including an item intended to have you “use the force”. Probably part of all the gadgets and stuff at CES. Lots and lots of gadgets.
Last for tonight, a tribute to NS11, a dirigible warfare craft. Well, that and ways of making you hallucinate that don't involve illegal or controlled substances.
On the international news desk, text messages as psychological warfare in Gaza, as well as new accusations that Israel is using white phosphorus in their weapons in violation of the laws of war, while Israeli troops continue their advance. Despite all this, Mr. Blair says everything is in place for a cease-fire. Others suggst killing aid to Gaza will eventually kill the war, because enough young men and other civilians will die and remove the surplus from the populace. This is not a bad result, and in fact may be the right result, according to some.
The outgoing administrator rejected a request for bunker-buster bombs by Israel so that it could bomb Iranian nuclear capability. Instead, the U.S. opted for operations that would sabotage the program.
The United States is finding that techniques and equipment useful in Iraq are pretty useless in Afghanistan, moving too slowly or not being able to adapt to the terrain. Additionally, the increased prevalence of marskmen on the Taliban side makes for slow going.
Domestically, the outgoing administrator wants access to the rest of the TARP funds, The Minnesota Senate race appeal is asking for reams and reams of documents, ACORN faces mroe problems over an embezzlement scandal that it announced last year, with several former management and board seeking to have it investigated on the way it handled the matter, a United States soldier who fled to Canada to avoid the Iraq War has been ordered deported, and a new head will be installed at the CDC after the current one resigned, as other scientists claim the FDA's review processes are corrupted.
Carjackers who made out with a car, a cell phone, and some cash were apprehended when a text sent to the phone talked about hot women and drugs available soon. The stellar examples of intelligence that the carjackers were, they took the bait and found the police instead.
Possibly weirder, a convicted sex offender won a lottery designed to help sexual abuse victims, and he plans to donate some of the winnings to the organization that helped conduct the lottery.
Steven Pinker on personalized genomics, what they might be able to do, and what things we need to be thinking about now, as genome sequencing becomes much cheaper.
Last out of this desk, Mark Driscoll, a Calvinist pastor who has no qualms about answering NC-17 questions or preaching on those topics, even as he brooks no nonsense about premarital sex, “modern” biblical interpretations, or whether you’re saved or damned. He prefers the manly macho Jesus, who can drink, smoke, cuss out people, and watch action movies to the one that he feels is prevalent these days, the “feminized”, feel-good Buddy Jesus. Sounds like Pastor Mark is the next step along the path to swinging back toward fundamentalism. More sobering than the swinging style of Pastor Mark, The General's Inner Frenchman describes how well a "quiver full" believer can think of 15 children as great glory to God, and how much she enjoys all of it (well, excepting the pains), despite that it makes her miserable not being able to achieve her perfection.
In the opinions, Pastor Anderson is certain that Barack Obama is playing the part of Satan, which seems kind of tame compared to some of the excerpts from Ms. Coulter's newest book.
Hendrik Hertzberg sits on the other side and talks about the high expectations and approval ratings for the incoming President, including post-campaign buttons and other artifacts that indicate a large segment of the populace is quite hapy to see the transition happen. The feel-good will probably last until someone thinks the other side of the aisle is stiffing them. Or does something they don't like. Or the loud and vocal elements on the fringe of either side successfully sabotage any centrist efforts by loudly insisting that the conservatives stick to their principles and the liberals to theirs. For now, though, people are buying up commemorative D.C. Metro fares and cards and the language on how best to sell stimulus packages is under revision.
Austin Cline speaks on the use of unions and regulations as a way to provide checks and balances on corporations, and that with everyone looking out for their own self-interest, things should work - assuming unions haven’t been stripped of the power they need to actually effect change. I wonder if he’d be sympathetic to Gordon Duff's insistence that the military and its officers be cleased of the political friends, domioninist officers, and others who have corrupted the service organization into something that does not serve the country.
Movie representations of events like Milk don't capture the feeling... or the several days worth of civil unrest that followed the assassination. Those riots become less about individual groups flaring and more about the point when the people had an effective champion taken away from them, keeping them from achieving great gains, and then the military kept them where they were and dispersed their energy.
The outgoing administator rests on his laurels about continuing to fight a war that shouldn't have happened, based on the reasons given, until the result he wanted come into being. The populace, however, has a significantly more negative view of him than he does. Although, Mr. Sowell would like him to pardon Scooter Libby for his memory failures, considering that his memory was all he was indicted and punished for.
John Bolton complains that the U.S. needed to veto the cease-fire resolution instead of abstain on it, and this would set a perfect precedent for the incoming president, which he will slavishly follow, to all our detriment. Austin Hill beleives the incoming President will reward Hamas for its actions, instead of punish them by opening up talks, instead of keeping with isolation. Garry Kasparov exhorts the West to stomp on dictatorships, including Russia, so as to prevent them from killing and harming people. Anastasia O'Grady wants to stomp on Venezuela. Messrs. Rivkin and Brown want to stomp on people suing for libel in foreign courts on matters that are protected speech in America through the adoption of statutes that provide for punishing damages collectable against those who do those suits.
Alasdair Palmer believes that security services should be able to operate outside the law, because those totally legal are neutered and unable to extract useful information. Bill'O agrees with him, as does David R. Stokes, both protesting the appointment of Leon Panetta to head the CIA. After all, our opponents are fanatics who won’t stop at anything to kill and hurt us, so why should we treat them with any respect if we capture them? Dick Morris and Eileen McGann add to the complaints about Panetta, as well as complaining about the Office of Legal Counsel pick, Dawn Johnson, a compmlaint the WSJ echoes, because they see them as people putting limits on things that shouldn’t be limited. Charles McCarry also wants us to praise the CIA for its excellent work in keeping us safe from the last seven years as he suggests how the CIA’s internal culture should shift so as to make it back into an agency that does excellent work.
Neal Boortz replays an old column (although I'm not sure whether it's his or another's) by suggesting that instead of a stimulus plan (that is obviously there to permit the incoming President to solidify the government’s control over everyone and turn us into de facto socialists), that the government declare a tax holiday for six months and let the people spend their money the way they want to... and with a nice bonus - the people then revolt when the taxes start being taken out of their checks again, and they can bring down the government in a nice efficient manner and then throw themselves completely at the mercy of the market and the corporations. Devin Nunes suggests similar reforms for California.
Floyd and Mary Beth Brown believe firmly that newspapers should fail and close rather than take assistance form the government, because government-supported papers are propaganda machines, not independent watchdogs. The WSJ believes that supporting a bill to let borrowers in bankruptcy have a judge renegotiate their mortgages will lead to higher interest rates across the board, and is a nice deal to help Citigroup at the expense of their competitors.
Joel Klein and Al Sharpton team up to promote charter schools and more funding for urban education, claiming that accountability is good, and that both of these items will improve performance, especially for minorities. George Will complainsthat everyone's suing over safety matters, including at school, where teachers can’t actually restrain a kid having a tantrum without a lawsuit happening.
Amanda Carpenter complains about a Senate bill that would reclassify lots of land as non-drillable, calling it pork-laden and very convenient to have land that could be put to better use in commercial enterprise suddenly become immune to it.
Last out of opinions, Ken Connor pooh-pooh's Michael Newdow and his suit claiming that the invocations of the inauguration and the phrase "so help me God" are impermissible establishments of religion, by pointing at the long tradition of religious references in the culture, and a Supreme Court decision saying that legislative prayers are permitted because of that tradition. So, not really relying on the law, but the tradition that “America is a Christian nation” people swing as a club. Mr. Newdow’s suit will not likely be heard or seriously considered. This tradition had better be cited in favor of the first Muslim president who wishes to have a different tradition’s invocation and possibly change the oath segment so as not to commit a blasphemy, if s/he deems “so help me God” to be one.
Working the science and technology floor, more evidence linking ancient dinosaurs to modern birds, making good memory from memristors, exoskeletons for farm workers, courtesy of Japan, a patent for a method of mapping the brain through ultrasound, "writing" on atoms with an atomic force microscope, using communications algorithms to derive good multidrug combinations, immune reprogramming implants, the best robots of 2008, the carbon market's worth, no doubt the source of much pointing about how environmentalists really just want money, and toy applications of brainwave readers, including an item intended to have you “use the force”. Probably part of all the gadgets and stuff at CES. Lots and lots of gadgets.
Last for tonight, a tribute to NS11, a dirigible warfare craft. Well, that and ways of making you hallucinate that don't involve illegal or controlled substances.
