24
Jul
This weekend Keith Olbermann, who OBVIOUSLY hates Bill O’Reilly, went a little too far in his zeal to trash O"Reilly:
Of course, the usual suspects trashed it. However, what tells me that Keith went too far is this bit:
"Hell, if you’re lazy, you can even just don an O’Reilly mask and do a stupid dance. You cannot, however, don an O’Reilly mask and do a Nazi salute. MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tried it this weekend, and the humor just got overshadowed by that whole systematic extermination thing."
Sound like Real Clear Politics or Expose The Left? Well, it’s not. That’s from GAWKER. A zine dedicated to exposing the trashiness that Hollywood glamour truly is ( whether they know it or not ). They took time out from exposing more than we need to know on people we most usually could care less about to do that bit on Keith. I give Keith less than six months survival time. Unless of course, he actually comes up with some content people actual care about.
24
Jul
The Democrats were slow to jump on the Middle East crisis bandwagon, but they’ve more than made up for it:
- Bill Clinton – grab a rifle, get in a ditch and fight and die for Israel.
- Howard Dean - If you think what’s going on in the Middle East today would be going on if the Democrats were in control, it wouldn’t, because we would have worked day after day after day to make sure we didn’t get where we are today. We would have had the moral authority that Bill Clinton had when he brought together the Northern Irish and the IRA, when he brought together the Israelis and the Palestinians.
-
John Kerry – "If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened", "The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East," Kerry said. "We’re going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it." "This is about American security and Bush has failed. He has made it so much worse because of his lack of reality in going into Iraq.We have to destroy Hezbollah," he said.
This is the same tired crap the Dems have been spewing for eight years and what has it got them? "I wouldn’t have done that….". What WOULD you have done Kerry? Do you seriously think the people of the United States would have just said "okey dokey, invade the entire Middle East"? Why is Hezbollah any more of a problem to the US than, say, the radical Islamists in Somalia torturing and killing thousands of Africans? Are they any more or less a threat to the US than the radical Islamists of Indonesia, the Philippines, central Asia, Pakistan, or any other place in the world? Why would you have singled out one conflict that you claim would not have happened if the Democrats were in control? Al-Islaam, and terrorists in general, were well supported in Iraq. That is DOCUMENTED. Some people are making the assertion that the current unrest in the Middle East is due to the destabilizing of the upper tier of terrorist support with Iran and Syria vying for top dog in the lucrative terror industry. I believe that a LOT more than I do revisionist hindsight. John Kerry had a lot of impact on national policy from 1993-2001. The Dems were in control. If they were so damned good, why are we STILL fighting the same people we were 30 years ago?
As for Dean, what was the result of Clinton bringing together the Isaelis and Palestinians?
Honestly, it’s BS like this that I think keeps the Dems out of control.
Of course, Scott Ott gets the best take on Kerry. I just love this guy!
For questioning another blog’s stereotyping of the Republican Party as a bunch of radical science hating religious fundamentalists, I got hate email, again. For those that felt compelled to believe the Kos stuff and ignore my own, I’m gonna give you two examples here. One’s Republican, one’s Democrat. OK?
This is what the Republicans are offering for Governor of Nevada:
I’m sure the Kos guys can tell you her name in a flash. And, she surely will get the entire UNLV student population vote. That’s Mimi Miyagi. She’s not exactly your typical neo-con. In fact, she’s a porn star. And, a good one at that. If that’s not cool enough, she’s blogging her campaign!
Now, this is what the Dems are offering us in Georgia:
She doesn’t blog much, and I’m not going to look to see if she’s been in any adult movies, but she does enjoy slapping cops and playing the race card a lot.
Need I say more? Well, I could, it was the Republicans that offered California Mary Cary a little while back as well.
Phil Platt over at Bad Astronomy went off on politics again today. Once again stating the Republicans are destroying science. He does state "IF" the Democrats behave the same, he will take them on as well. He then cites as his evidence a resolution by South Dakota Republicans supporting creatiionism. This comes along with "other issues". One of the primary "other issues" has been stem cell research. Everyone seems to pretty much agree this has been one of the centers of "the Republican war on science". What no one wants to do is look at reality. Here’s the funding levels for the NIH, ranked by by funding increases for the period of 2003-2007. The keep this post from blowing Typepad’s servers, I’ll just list the Top 10 increases in funding:
| Influenza | 249% | |
|
109% | |
|
100% | |
|
95% | |
|
89% | |
|
60% | |
|
53% | |
|
50% | |
|
50% |
That’s right, Human Embryonic Stem Cell research is the fourth most increased funded program out of the 210 listed. The asterisk here of course is that it was NEVER FUNDED BEFORE 2002. The "Republican Congress" Phil cites passed that budget, not the South Dakota Republican Party. Yesterday the "Republican US Senate" passed a resolution regarding expanding stem cell funding into new areas. Now, if Phil’s going to lump ALL legislation in the lap of the "Republican Congress" regardless of who’s doing what, then the Republicans should get credit for passing it. Some voted for it, some voted against it. But, the bottom line is there is no such thing as the "Republican Congress". There are more Republicans than Democrats, but anyone who’s dealt with DC in the least bit knows that unless you have 2/3 majority, the minority party has just as much influence in getting things done. And, don’t read too much into this Phil, but South Dakota’s Republican Senator voted FOR the expanded funding, supporting Bill Frist, the Tennessee Republican who put it on the floor for a vote. Now, it’ll go to President Bush, who is ethically opposed to using HUMAN EMBRYONIC stem cells. That’s not a war on science, that’s a question of ethics that has not been resolved. However, in lieu of that ethical question not being resolved, he has allowed substantial funding into that area. So, don’t give me the "ban" crap. The evidence isn’t there.
If Phil were to search Congress using Thomas.loc.gov for "Intelligent+Design", he’d find the following results:
1000 Bills from the 109th Congress ranked by relevance on "intelligent+design ".
0 bills containing your phrase exactly as entered.
0 bills containing all your search words near each other in any order.
30 bills containing all your search words but not near each other.
970 bills containing one or more of your search words.
That’s right, the South Dakota GOP has such a profound impact on "the Republican Congress" that not one single mention is made of "intelligent design" or "creationism". And, although Phil is quick to mention South Dakota, his sources are even quicker to "forget" this flap in 2004:
According to Capital sources, GOP House Speaker Rod Jetton is coming under fire from some Christian conservatives for "anti-creationism" legislation he passed in 2004.
State House observers may recall that Jetton (along with co-defendant sponsor Jason Crowell) passed legislation that year making the Hypsibema missouriensis the "official dinosaur of
Missouri". Hypsibema missouriense was a "duck billed" dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (89 to 65 million years ago). A herbivore, it had evolved specialized teeth to handle the tough, fibrous vegetation of the time.
As an Official State Symbol, pictures of the "duck billed" dinosaur, along with a description of its "evolved" teeth, are now being sent to over 100,000 Missouri school children every year. Some Christians conservatives view Jetton’s legislation as a major setback in their campaign to ban the teaching of evolution in
Missouri classrooms. With Jetton’s clout weakened by scandal, watch for religious conservatives in the Missouri House to attempt to repeal Jetton’s "anti-creationism" handiwork.
<>
I’ll make that story a little clearer for those who don’t want to read it all, a REPUBLICAN endorsed a DINOSAUR thereby endorsing EVOLUTION so the Christians want him out.
So Phil, I’ll call it what it is. You’re partisan as hell. Don’t feel too bad about it though, academia has hated Republicans for a long time. They justify it through citing vast research into only one aspect of an issue. In this case, the South Dakota GOP is the only thing that’s important. All the evidence contrary to what the South Dakota GOP did is totally irrelevant. The fact that Republicans are coming under fire for supporting creationism AND opposing creationism should tell people like Phil something’s amiss. But, I bet my bottom dollar it won’t. Any takes?
As I pointed out several times before here, it’s not a party issue Phil’s looking at. It’s a religious thereby ethical issue. Sticking it to the Republican Party will NOT resolve the issues Phil complains about. I’m sure he’d complain a little less if it were Democrats doing this, but that just makes the issues harder to address. So, to answer his assertion, I am Republican, I’m not a resident of South Dakota, and therefore I’m not appalled, disgusted, amazed, stunned, in awe, stupefied, or even aghast at what the people of South Dakota think about creationism. They set their standards, my state sets its own. I for one don’t see that creationism and evolution necessarily conflict. No one’s really explained that one to me. I’ve also not been convinced "the big bang" is the ultimate beginning of time, what was there before the bang? So, I’m open to all arguments. But, not at the expense of shutting any angles out at this time. So, until the ultimate answer of "where did we come from" is PROVEN, I don’t think anyone really has the right to shut the other side up.
Stick to science Phil. Leave the partisan stuff to Kos and the like. If you’re going to turn Bad Astronomy into a political forum, at least approach it as you would any scientific theory. Look at both sides of the issue and then compare the results. Coming to the conclusion and then cherry-picking data to support the conclusion isn’t terribly scientific now is it? It’s fair to challenge people on the theory of creationism. It’s not fair to bias one select group and give others a free pass to continue espousing that theory you disagree with. Several Democrats in the House voted against stem cell research yesterday, they are as culpable in the "war on science" as any Republican. How many people are singling them out? They get a free pass. Where’s the constant rantings against "the Democrat War on science"? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. And yeah, it’s purely partisan when you do that. You said you would call Democrats to task for doing similar stupid things. IMO, at this point in time, stem cell funding is profoundly more critical to the survival of mankind than arguing over the exact beginning of time that no one in our lifetime will ever be able to prove one way or the other or even come remotely close. So, call those Democrats as well as those Republicans who opposed it to task EQUALLY. Not doing so is exactly what you’re claiming you’re not doing, practicing partisan politics.
17
Jul
Got another email, this one reads:
Look at the black patch under the U.S. flag.
The patch says "Doing the work of" The flags are France,Germany,and Russia.
This SHOULD be on the front cover of Time, Newsweek, etc.
Let’s you and I "put it there" by forwarding this all around the world!
Repeats or not…I’m not breaking this one…
Once again, it’s fake. See the original here.
The obvious give-away is that US military uniforms are standardized and strictly enforced. This soldier would have been reprimanded for altering his uniform in this way.
17
Jul
President Bush got caught using the S word due to an open mike he obviously wasn’t aware of. You can see the video at Expose the Left. Now, once you get past the shock and awe of hearing Bush use the S word, you’ll notice Blair doesn’t miss a beat with the conversation. He’s not shocked, he’s not awed, he doesn’t even notice it other than to flip the mike off a minute or so later.
Now folks, this tells me something clear. Apparently Bush using the S word isn’t new to Blair. And, IMO, that’s a good thing. It’s one thing to pander to the masses by stuttering and stammering trying to find the proper words to express very strong feelings. It’s totally another to do that in private. Bush’s message was very clear. That’s the way, and I imagine a lot of people, like it. IMO, that’s the very message Bush needs to be sending to the Middle East right. We’ve had it with that shit, it needs to stop.
14
Jul
Got another one of those conspiracy theory emails. Not sure why I appeal to "that" crowd! Here goes, you might have seen this one already:
Read all of this one, it is interesting!! Read down to the very bottom highlighted in green, you don’t want to miss this!
VERY INTERESTING-
- The Garden of Eden was in Iraq.
- Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
- Noah built the ark in Iraq.
- The Tower of Babel was in Iraq
- Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
- Isaac’s wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq!
- Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
- Jonah preached in Nineveh – which is in Iraq.
- Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
- Amos cried out in Iraq!
- Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
- Daniel was in the lion’s den in Iraq!
- The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the Fiery furnace.
- Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in Iraq.
- Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
- Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
- The wise men were from Iraq
- Peter preached in Iraq.
- The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon, which was a city in Iraq!
And you have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deep roots.
Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.
No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated it than Iraq.
And also, This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle. Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages…
The following verse is from the Koran,
Koran (9:11 ) – For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace.
(Note the verse number!) Hmmmmmmm?!
I BETTER NOT HEAR OF ANYONE BREAKING THIS ONE OR SEE DELETED This is a ribbon for soldiers fighting in Iraq. Pass it on to everyone and pray. Something good will happen to you tonight at 11:11 PM. This is not a jokeone will either call you or will talk to you online and say that they love you. Do not break this chain. Send this to 13 people in the next 15 minutes. Go.
The bolded part made rounds a while back, I had gotten it before. The rest is kinda new to me. The problem with it’s conclusion is Eagles are not indigenous to the Middle East. The authors would have no clue what an Eagle was or ever seen one. Bald Eagles, which the author compares, are indigenous only to North America. To make it clearer, search Koran Online for Eagle. The response you get is "Your simple query produced no results". The rest of the article is simply re-asserting the fact that 2,000 years ago Iraq was one of the wealthiest and most educated civilizations on Earth. It’s roots date back to the dawn of Man. However, that’s no longer true as the constant struggles of Islam dealing with the ascent of technology and civilization have continuously drug Iraq to a third world status sitting on a wealth of resources. They won’t be to correct the destruction they’ve done to their society for generations. The prophecies of Iraq may happen, but it won’t be any time soon.
This doesn’t really surprise me. The Top 10 Worst Cities for ID theft:
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Denver
- San Jose
- San Diego
- Atlanta
- Salt Lake City
- Las Vegas
- Sacramento
- Phoenix
Now, maybe a map would make this appear more obvious:
Anyone want to take a stab at why there is such a concentration of ID thefts in California? I mean, people have money in other parts of the country as well. I personally “assume” that the combination of money and silicon valley breeds a different type of criminal, ie more intellectual than physical. That’s just an assumption. But, I think it’s a safe one. The only dot that appears east of the Mississippi River is Atlanta. And, there’s a ton of computer based companies and schools in Atlanta. However, silicon east is in North Carolina. And, not a dot appears near there. Is there some ethical difference between computer motivation in the South than the West? Dunno. The cities that gave the US organized crime, New York and Chicago, are missing from this list as well. So, IMO, that means the typical criminal logic that used to apply doesn’t with this newest form of theft. It’s apparently a totally different mindset. And, above anything else, it seems to love sunlight. And, it seems to thrive in liberal cultures. ( Atlanta, for those not wanting to think it out, gave us Cynthia McKinney. I don’t think I need to explain Southern California or Seattle. )
This is a very interesting set of data to me. I’d like to see some more detailed follow-up to it. The report does make a couple of correlations:
The study shows a clear link between an increased rate of methamphetamine use and an increased rate of identity theft. Residents in cities like San Francisco (top percentile) and Denver (86th percentile) are at higher risk. Cities like Birmingham, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and New Orleans are at the least risk.
I think it goes a little deeper than drug use or personal income levels. To me, risky behavior is just risky behavior. Whether it’s drug use or crime, it’s a mindset. A risky person will take all kinds of risks. A conservative person won’t take a lot of risks of any sort. In other words, liberalism seems to be the root of all this. That’s certainly not the conclusion this printed version leads to. The point out that people are more likely to use ATM’s and such, and apparently do meth in some areas. But, if you look at it a little differently, you get a total different picture I think. Let’s compare those same 50 cities and their liberal rating percentile from 2005:
| ID Rank | Liberal Percentile | City |
That’s a LOT of blue there. In fact, it’s 74% blue. Is that supposed to be a coincidence? I personally don’t think so. And, for what it’s worth, two of those Top 10 cities are within a teeny tiny fraction of being blue as well ( Am I really supposed to believe San Diego is one of the more conservative cities in the US? ). With those two dancing on the statistical edge, cities that are in the upper 50 percentile of liberal cities in the US make up 90% of the Top 10, and 78% of the entire list.
Sometimes I toy with numbers just to yank people’s chains. In this case, I’m pretty serious. The correlation between liberalism and ID Theft is mine. The correlation between ID theft and hard drugs is not. It’s hard NOT to prove there is no correlation between hard drugs, crime, and liberalism with this data. I would be receptive to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and data that proves otherwise.
Got this via email:
A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED
KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA This is for all the kids born in the 70′s who do not remember, and didn’t have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear.Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the “100 Women of the Century.” BY BARBARA WALTERS
Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam.
The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot
The pilot’s name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat.
In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison the “Hanoi Hilton.”
Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ’s, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American “Peace Activist” the “lenient and humane treatment” he’d received.
He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp Commandant’s feet, which sent that officer berserk.
In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant’s frenzied application of a wooden baton.
From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E’s). He spent 6 years in the “Hanoi Hilton”,,, the first three of which his family only knew he was “missing in action”. His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a “peace delegation” visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number
on it, in the palm of his hand.When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man’s hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: “Aren’t you sorry you bombed babies?” and “Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?” Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper. She took them all without missing a beat. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper.
Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day.
I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years.
I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia; and one year in a “black box” in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South
Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda’s “war criminals.”When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received… and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as “humane and lenient.” Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weights placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane.
I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me.
These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of “100 Years of Great Women.” Lest we forget…” 100 Years of Great Women” should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots.
There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane’s participation in blatant treason, is one of them.
Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that we will never forget.
RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF
716 Maintenance Squadron, Chief of Maintenance
To which I found this:
http://www.pownetwork.org/fonda/fonda_driscoll.htm
Due to a recent inquiry by a reporter/author wanting to contact LtCol Jerry Driscoll to verify elements of the “infamous” Jane Fonda story, I received the following which should probably be of interest to all based on the number of times the JF story has made the rounds. I hope we will all follow his request to stop the story whenever we get it. Cheers, Al
Al, I am the “Driscoll” in question. As you may or may not know, the jane fonda story just WILL NOT DIE!!!!~! You have probably seen it. The part about Larry Carrigan and me is totally BOGUS!! So if you see someone sending it, PLEASE stop it then! The part about the civilian captured by NVN troops in SVN is true, his name is Mike Benge. ….
Thanks. Regards & ^6! Jerry
Urban Legends totally dissects this thing. It’s mostly bogus with just enough truth to make it believable. And, what really amazes me about getting this email is it originally circulated in 1999. That was the year Barbara Walters honored Hanoi Jane!
So, if you do get this email, laugh at it and delete it! And you might reply to inform the sender they are seven years too late.
12
Jul
Ok, here’s the story:
An undated handout photograph shows a Dutch billboard advertisement. Sony Corp. said on July 11, 2006, it has pulled the Dutch billboard campaign for the new white version of its PlayStation Portable video game player and apologized to anyone offended by ad, which critics dubbed racist. (joystiq.com/Handout/Reuters)
This is stupid beyond imagination. Has political correctness gotten so completely out of hand that simply mentioning the word “white” leads to racial tension? Sure, white is coming, but why would one single person on the planet assume it was a racial overture? Is the mere printing of the word “white” so enflaming that no one notices that the babe in the pic is LOOKING at something very intently?
Get over it people. This is pathetic. If you see racism every time you see the word “white”, you’re the one with the problem, not whoever printed the word.
My idiot of the day is whoever was offended by that billboard in the first place. And, if that idiot wants to explain their logic here, I’d love to hear it. I’m calling it as I see it, the billboard’s not racist, the people reacting to it are. Racism cuts many ways, it’s not all white.
Yahoo’s pic wasn’t too good, I didn’t see what was going on clearly enough apparently. Here’s a clearer version of it:
OK, you can call me stupid now. The thing is actually a white woman domineering a black woman. Gawd, how stupid can Sony be? I figured she was holding the product. That would have been a striking image with excellent product placement. No problemo I would think. That being the case, eveything I said above would have been true. However, a white person showing aggression towards a black person is racially insensitive and needlessly provoking racial tension. In this case, Sony is the racist for taunting the racial issue, and I apologize to the ex-idiots of the day for being insulted. Now, their defense is it only ran in Holland. But, the world is very small these days. And, oddly enough, Sony relies heavily on world-wide advertising. They can’t expect to have it both ways.
Sony is the true idiot of the day here. What the hell are they thinking? What is their target audience? Whites only? I mean, do you think any black kid would be caught with that thing now? Sheez.
Now, I’ve been around long enough to know that advertisers like to push buttons. That’s all fine and good. However, it’s the manufacturer that has the ultimate yes or no and whether an ad runs. So, bottom line, Sony screwed this one up BAD.
CAD does an excellent take on this story. Much better than I did originally for sure.
