Local AZ Treasonous Loons

Yeah, excited right wing 2nd amendment zealots try to say that bringing weapons to Presidential Rallies is demonstrating their 2nd amendment rights. Sure, nice story. But, when you read deeper (as Dr Desert Flower did Sunday morning), you find that the Baptist Preacher, of the church where the first AR15 carrying protester attends in Tempe Arizona, has preached to his flock " Tempe pastor asks for death of President Barack Obama". (18 USC section 871 "Threats against President and successors to the Presidency")

Yes, a treasonous, religious leader, has published a sermon on his website "Why I Hate Barack Obama" - and how he is praying for his death. In the sermon, he is stating how he wants the President to be killed (like a slug with salt), and "aborted". The US Secret Service has had a talk with this nice man too. What harm does a public figure asking for such things do? Well, it inspires an individual in his parish to take his loaded automatic weapon into the center of a major metropolitan area. A reactionary Pastor with a history of confronting authority (Border Patrol & Department of Public Safety officials) violently, inspires his flock. Yeah, it's all about 2nd Amendment rights and "freedom". If you believe that, I've got some land outside of Florence Arizona in which you might be interested.

Żywiec Warka - good strong beer

At the wonderful little Polish Deli on the west side of Phoenix, there's "The Warsaw Market". A few weeks back, before my Godfather and aunt came to visit, I picked up some Polska Kielbasa and some Warka beer. Last Saturday, while floating in the pool in 115F weather, I enjoyed my first Warka. It was delicious, and highly recommended.

This full bodied beer is named after the village of Warka Poland where they've been brewing beer there for over 500 years. It is where US Revolutionary War General & Hero Kazimierz Pulaski was born, and his name and semblance are on every bottle. Good stuff. $2 a bottle. Zachwycający!

NFL + DVR = 80 minute game

Last night as I watched the Chicago Bears trounce the Denver Broncos on NBC, for the first time in my life, I watched a NFL game as it was being recorded on DVR. Commercials took about 4 seconds to fast forward through. Booth reviewed calls took all of 10 or 15 seconds. I did not have to listen at all to Chris Collinsworth droning on - except when he would NOT Shut Up in the 4th quarter. Finally, Madden is gone, and now we have to listen to Collinsworthless? Ah, but DVR to the rescue!

Paused to light the grill, recycle consumed beer, obtain more cold beer, grill wings, eat said wings, were an extra 30 or 40 minutes all-together, max. I could really get used to this. As Stephen Colbert says "it's like having a DVD player, a time machine, and friends, all in one!"

On a regional note, cry-baby Cutler did not do too badly. Finally da Bears have a QB who can do more than hand off to the running back! Hester did a nice 40 yard punt run back to help change momentum. It was a nice Sunday Night pre-season opener. It looks like it won't be a losing season for da Bears. =)

Too Much Junk Mail?

Tired of having your snail-mail filled with catalogues you don't want, or need? Getting credit card applications and home loan refinancing offers on a daily basis? Well, I signed up to opt out of catalogs - like Victoria Secret that sends sometimes 2 or 3 a day - at www.catalogchoice.org. It is free, and simple to sign up. No phone number or credit card needed - though they will take paypal donations. You just enter in the customer numbers and source codes from the catalogs and they contact the sends. We'll see how well it works. Other services (myjunktree and greendimes) wanted credit card numbers - yeah, like I really want to sign up for that! No thanks.

Additionally, the US Postal Service recommends writing to these perpetrators of deforestation & mass marketing of your financial information:

MAIL PREFERENCE SERVICE
DIRECTOR MARKETING ASSOCIATION
POST OFFICE BOX 643
CARMEL NY 10512-0643

EQUIFAX INC
NAME REMOVAL DEPARTMENT
POST OFFICE BOX 740241
ATLANTA GA 30374-0241

EXPERIAN
ATTN CONSUMER SERVICE DEPT
901 WEST BOND STREET
LINCOLN NE 68521-3694

TRANS UNION LLC
NAME REMOVAL OPTION
POST OFFICE BOX 97328
JACKSON MS 39288-7328

Time will tell if the actual influx of useless, unwanted, personal information sensitive mail begins to abate, at all. Il faut voir.

For the older generations this weekend

I found this link in my gmail draft folder, and had forgotten I'd ever saved it. Admittedly, I could not stop laughing as I watched it. It's office, and family friendly, as long as you don't object to seeing one very happy tortoise, and one rather... beleaguered on.

Giant Tortoises do live longer than humans. They build up those 1.5 billion heart beats a little bit slower than we do... except perhaps, during Youtube video sessions. =)

Ocotillo Sculptor

Some sculptors like to work in metals or other materials (links here, and here), but I prefer working with the real, organic, growing, living thing, and persuade it into the form I desire, regardless the 37mm spines with points sharp enough to make Mel Gibson giddy as he practices Aramaic, covering every arm. Ocotillo Sculpture, is one of my hobbies. The hummingbirds love to perch within the heavily guarded confines as well, as it is adjacent to the nectar feeders. Ocotillos in the wild can sprawl quite alot.

Compare and contrast 2008 to 2009, above. It's a constant evolution, and I enjoy bending hardy desert organisms to my somewhat clumsy, determined, bi-pedal, stubborn Eastern European will.

Château de Calage Coteaux du Languedoc, $6

At my local Fresh & Easy I picked up a Château de Calage Coteaux du Languedoc for all of $6 last week. Coteaux du Languedoc's are a blend of Syrah, Grenache with a touch of Mourvèdre, though the earlier vintages (1991 and 2007) from Calage apparently had no Mourvèdre content. $6 for a applellation Coteaux du Languedoc made me pause and think, what was wrong with this wine? So I picked up only 1 bottle, imagining poor storage, heat affected, or some other calamity.

Earlier this week for lunch I paired it with Amy's Cheese Enchiladas on Tuesday, Thai food Wednesday, and finished it off with fresh sliced cucumbers & celery with hummus today, and damn was it tasty! Smooth, but not lacking tannins. Dark and rich without being bitter or significantly oaky. Raspberries & cherry notes without being overly fruity. I'll be buying this in quantity going forward. Merveilleux.

Yeah, and once again, that dern guv-mint regulation and control 'raises it's ugly head', guiding French wine producers to make Consistently Delicious vintages available to global consumers.

Quelle horreur!

National Language?

I saw this rather funny cartoon today.

Ooh doe he you ee guh doe dee he ah chaw la gee gah woe knee he sss dee, wah doe.
[Please use the Cherokee language, thank you.]

Abaachii miizaa - [The Apache language]
Ha annsi? - How are you?
Doo ansi. - I am fine.
Iheedn - Thank you
Magaanii - White Man

Do you speak Cheyenne?
Nets hesen stsehe?
He speaks English.
Eve'ho'enestse.

Reminds me of a T-shirt I saw in Sedona last weekend:

US Airways & United Headed to Bankruptcy, Again

I heard on the radio this afternoon that "Tempe based US Airways", United Airlines, and American are very likely headed for bankruptcy again as they continue to operate in the red, posting consistent losses every quarter. In the 2 passports I filled from 1999 to 2002, and the 1 platinum and 3 gold frequent flyer status I used to have, I can say unequivocally, that all three of these airlines repeatedly treated me as a 2nd or 3rd class citizen. NW, Delta, Continental, Dragon Air, SW China Air, Singapore Air, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, British Air, Air France, Austrian Air, and Alitalia all treated me fairly, professionally, equitably. Quantas did not do well inside Australia, but were OK over the Pacific. Southwest has treated Dr. Desert Flower reasonably well as she's flown them (I have not yet).

In my perspective, airlines that suck and treat their customers poorly, like US Scare, United, AA, and Quantas Should go out of business, or get bought out by competitors. There's way too much capacity in the US airline market currently (just look at the massive numbers of planes in storage), and when there's companies like SW who have (for the most part) happy repeat customers, and Delta & NW who understand how to treat their frequent fliers well, why should incompetent, surly, inefficient, and un-friendly airlines continue to operate? [surly, as defined by having peanuts angrily thrown at me on a US Air regional flight by a flight attendant who was so pissed off to have to be flying at 6am, after I dared to ask her if I could have any peanuts after she passed me by twice, giving me none, while slapping down peanuts and paper towels on other surprised passenger's tray tables over rural Western Pennsylvania, for example]

If the Federal Government tries to "bail out" these failing airlines, I might just join the fringe libertarian protesters in downtown Tempe picketing against such a plan.

Polygamy Primer (for Law Enforcement & Human Services)

I saw this interesting link on KJZZ's home page this afternoon.

Mexican Fence Post Cactus Steroids?

The GIANT Mexican Fence Post cactus in my front yard is the main organic feature of my property. I thought that the previous owners had splurged and planted a massive cactus. No. I chatted with a neighbor yesterday who told me that his puny 6 ft tall cactus and the Canadian snow bird's across the street 8 ft tall cactus and my 20 ft tall giant were all the same size when planted 5 years ago by the builder. My somewhat obstreperous neighbor (he owns hot rods that he's built, and expresses strong opinions without reservation) told me how my home's original owner used to be out in the mornings, "puttin' somethin' on it that made it grow so damn big!"

So perhaps my predecessor here in west Phoenix had concocted some brew of plant steroids, tweaked Just Right. This weekend, I'll have to remove several new buds before they turn into Large Arms that make some of the main stalks lean even more precariously than they are leaning now.

The Return of Archie

While eating leftover homemade Thai food at lunch today (first time I used actual peanuts as a stir fried ingredient, yum!), I noticed my buddy Archie (or his son, Archie Jr), hovering outside the sliding glass door, checking me out to see if I was an aggressive predatory threat. He perched up on the shaded wire hanger I never had the inertia to take down last year, and pugnaciously chased away all other hungry males from the full nectar feeders.

I don't understand why people express a disdain for bird watching, especially if it is passive ("hey, look, there's a cool bird") sort of watching. I can understand having an antipathy perhaps for donning binoculars, field guide, mosquito repellent or sun block and actively hunting for them in a forest or under-brush maybe, if that's not your cup of tea. Ornithophobia has never been my thing.

It's nice to have "someone" to eat lunch with from time to time, when you work at home everyday. =)

T.R. Reid's "The Healing of America"

Has anyone read this book yet? I've heard good things about it, but have not yet had the chance to consume it. [I am hoping my literary ravenous friends Jill or Ron or Matt or others may have already devoured & digested this tome].

The AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE SH*THEEL

[From Dr. Zaius a few days ago]

I AM AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE SH*THEEL

this morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

[Very Well Put!] [origin links here]

Prescient Observations, on Juan Williams' pedigree

Back in June I ranted against how NPR called Juan Williams as "NPR Contributor". Today, on Diane Rehm, he was properly introduced as "Juan Williams of Fox News." Good, it only took 2 months for DRS to get it right.

Sadly, Diane broke her hip while tripping over her dress yesterday... another argument for higher dress hems! I hope she does not go the route of Frau Barritz, from my sophomore year in High School - an octogenarian HS German teacher who tripped over her grand child, broke her pelvis, and never recovered. We DID get some interesting substitutes that year though!

Inappropriate, Unwise, and Wrong

Today I heard on NPR News that a Scottish Trade Minister described the "hero's welcome" that convicted mass murderer & Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi got in Tripoli last night as "Inappropriate, Unwise and Wrong". Well, sorry Scotland, but your "compassionate decision" to release this guy in time for Ramadan, was "Inappropriate, Unwise and Wrong". What else did you expect? House arrest, without prior guarantees? really? I'd always thought the Scots were a more savvy ethnic group than that, and not so remarkably naïve.

If al-Megrahi really WAS NOT guilty, then who in Libya was offering up leads to, investigations of, support for, finding who the "real culprits" were? What over-whelming exculpatory evidence was shown pre- or during trial? Oh wait, there wasn't any.

I've flown over Scotland in 747s, 777s, 757s, 767s, AB-321s, AB-330s, and I've found it really hard to put out of my mind, that in the cargo hold, there might be some plastique planted into a jam box, or suit case, or shampoo bottle by a mis-guided jihadist that'll kill me and everyone around me. That makes it quite hard to feel bad for a Libyan dieing of prostate cancer who was convicted in a western court of mass murder.

Marchese De Petrri Il Valore Chianti Riserva 2003, yum

Enjoyed a wonderful $6 Trader Joe's bottle of Chianti this week, Marchese De Petrri Il Valore Chianti Riserva 2003. Full bodied, subtle floral notes, smooth, delicious. I enjoyed a glass with some mushroom & cheese tortellini Tuesday, several handfuls of cashews on Wednesday, and I'll be finishing it off tonight with the bacon wrapped turkey mignons I've been defrosting. Six bucks? Well worth it.

Photovoltaics Not Insignificant For Much Longer

Earlier this month, Richard M Swanson had an interesting article in Science "Photovoltaics Power Up". What caught my eye, was the 2nd page, wherein he said "the PV industry installed more than 2 GW of PV power plants in Spain during 2008. Construction times for 2 GW of conventional generation would be 10 to 15 years." The Spanish, and Germans, have taken the lead in renewable energy power plants. Heck, even here in Arizona and in Nevada, the Spanish are building large scale solar facilities.

Meanwhile, here in America, it's "Drill Baby Drill" by our domestic energy corporations.

Youtubes, The Internets, Big Trucks, The Google, Mooses, Sheeps

Too funny, from Kent Jones!
"I used The Internets to find Poppy with The Google "

Murdoch, you've studied Goebbels Very Well

Wow, liberal pollsters Rasmussen (sarcasm intended) put out a report yesterday on Health Insurance Reform, "that 57% oppose the plan if it doesn't include a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers." That's a majority of Americans.

Foxnews, who so quickly loves to quote Rasmussen, DOES NOT COVER THIS. No mention of it whatsoever. Does not fit their pre-determined message. Rupert, yes, you're SO Fair & Balanced.

But don't let the FACTS get in the way of what you want to believe.

My Wallet Votes For Costco and Trader Joe's, Not Whole Foods

Last week, the day before Whole Foods (or as Dr Desert Flower and I call it, "Whole Paycheck") CEO Right Winger John Mackey told Americans that health care reform is not needed, they just need to 'shop at Whole Foods', I went to Costco, and got my favorite Medjool dates, clementine oranges, Mexican mangoes, organic spinach, macadamia nuts, peanuts, cashews, Ketel One Vodka, etc. The smiling, enthusiastic, helpful workers at Costco are consistently friendly and customer centric - I've asked the cashiers upon checkout on several occasions what they think of working at Costco, and universally, they've had very positive responses. It's almost like a cult, but in a good way.

The next day, I get an email from my buddy Matt about Mackey's public statements and previous machinations and then I hear of the fall out from Whole Food's loyal customers, a large percentage of whom are very disillusioned with such anti-progressive, self-serving, CEO comments. Mackey's statements are par for the course, as he tries to prop up his sagging stock, sells off a million dollars of it, and then pisses off his activist customer base. It'll be interesting to see if the activist boycott degrades Whole Foods sales revenue in August & September, or if it's alot of noise without any substance. My money is on Costco and Trader Joe's - where employees are happy and the merchandise is desirable and healthy - and Farmer's Markets. Sprouts is also a good buy, but it's a 8 mile drive for us to get there =\.

Open Carry Laws Do Not = Poke A Badger With A Stick

Arizona has an "Open Carry" law, where you can walk into any public place, carrying a loaded firearm (including places that serve alcohol), as long as it is obviously a weapon - you can't try and conceal it or disguise it as flower bouquet or something innocuous. I've seen people carrying 45s, 357s, and 9mms at Target Stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. It's part of the "wild west" culture out here I guess, ok, I can understand that.

But when the democratically elected, legal President of the United States comes to your state, and visits it's capital, and the Secret Service imposes a 5 mile "no fly zone", deploys roof top snipers, flies in (2) C-130s worth of armoured limousines and decoy vehicles, what inspires a citizen, or 15 citizens, to walk up to the downtown convention center where the President is speaking to the VFW annual meeting with an AR15 over your shoulder? Heck, the Secret Service chased down, detained, and interrogated a pilot who flew from Mesa to Chandler, NOT near Downtown, but within the no fly zone's edge - and KJZZ the radio this morning said that seven pilots were questioned for violating the no fly zone in and around the nation's 5th busiest airport during the President's visit.

So a zealot carrying an AR15 (with a 20 or 30 round standard magazine), into a public area that is under Secret Service surveillance, is like poking a badger with a stick, or trying to lick a spinning fan blade, or shooting a hornets' nest with a paint ball gun, or walking into Peshawar in drag trying to hand out Bibles. These provokers are not a "patriots" as right wing blogs and commentators try to make them out to be. They're just the kind of inhabitants of this country who have too much time on their hands, who try to pick fights in bars (and who I stand up next to, and then they back down and cower for the last 20 years) and who are immersed in their own agendas so deeply that they do not understand view points that are different from their own. If they are truly "patriots" then, Mohamed Atta was a "patriot" too, he "fought passionately for" what he believed in, as was Benedict Arnold, Joseph Goebbels, Timothy McVeigh, and many others. A "patriot" doesn't have to twist their logic into such extreme gymnastics to justify their actions and their ideology.

When a little girl's hemorrhoid operation goes awry

"The hole that they stitched up in Glenn Beck's ass hasn't healed enough for him to stop talking out of it." - Jon Stewart, 13 August 2009

When a little girl's hemorrhoid operation goes awry. Link here.

Renaming recommended, perhaps

President Obama and his family visited the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks this last weekend, and that got me looking at lists of national park and recreation area names in the Western US.

Maybe it's time for the state of California and the US Department of the Interior to consider renaming this area, no? I've never been there, and I have no desire to go there, being happily married.

Camel Walk

SCOTS (Southern Culture On The Skids) is playing in the Reno during the annual Reno Air Show this year. My buddies Matt and JoeM and I will enjoying the show. Lil Debbie Lil Debbie! You make me wanna walk... like a camel!

The Tau (Protein) of Repetitive Head Injuries

Greg Miller has an interesting article in this week's Science magazine, where preliminary data is discussed that shows 12 out of 13 brains of former NFL players, as well as 4 former professional wrestlers' brains who all died in their 40s.... have all shown unusually large concentrations of tau proteins. Tau proteins, that are associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Yikes.

So the next time you're thinking about beating your head against a brick wall, head butting an opponent in hand-to-hand combat, running into a dolphin, or signing that permission slip for your little kid to play Pop Warner football, think about the tertiary effects once they reach their 40s and beyond. Sure, some with thicker skulls and unusually robust constitutions will over-come it, but I am not going assume I am in that 3rd standard deviation of the general population.

What's the BBC referring to?

Phoenix NPR plays BBC news here and there throughout the day, and I've heard the BBC announcers reporting about news in
Somali-er
Indy-er
Chine-er
Australy-er
Americ-er
Ken-yer
Kory-er
Flori-der
Carolin-er (both north and south)
Alask-er
Indian-er
Californ-er
Nevadd-er
Arizone-er
I'm not quite sure where all of those "-er" regions really are, but the English invented the language, so I really should find out.

Newt, Palin & Dimbulb want to kill old people!

Rachel Maddow this evening has a poignant piece about how Dimbulb did voice ads on talk radio earlier this year for "legalzoom.com" promoting living wills (just as she does!), Gingrich wrote in the Washington Post about Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse Wisconsin's initiative to get 90% of the residents to have advanced directives, and how 1/2 term former Alaskan governor Palin declared April 16th 2008, as "Health Care Decisions Day" in Alaska.

You can't make this stuff up. What a bunch of lying, two face, flip flopping, fear mongering hypocrites.

Health Care For the American Poor, is NOT Christian

Oh, one would think that taking care of the sick, or letting the sick take care of themselves on a level playing field, would be a "Christian" thing to do, support Jesus Christ's teachings, what with the Beatitudes
"And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

...and Matthew 10:41-42, Proverbs 22:22, Deuteronomy 26:13, Proverbs 31:6-9, Matthew 25: 35-40, and on and on, in both the New and Old Testaments (which 1/2 of all Americans don't know which one was written first).

Yeah, you MIGHT think that, but you know, when Jesus Christ comes again, it'll be the Rapture[TM], and no one will care if you've got Health Care or Not. I actually heard a "Republican Strategist" use this logic (that the Rapture[TM] is coming) arguing it at the end of the The Ed Show on MSNBC today. "You think Christ will take time out, during the Rapture[TM], to see if there's a public health care plan passed?" she shouted.

Selfish, narrow minded, CINO moron.

It's "Indians" not "Native Americans"

Last weekend, Dr Desert Flower and I went to the Heard Museum here in downtown Phoenix. It was a great museum show casing Arizona's indigenous tribes, their histories, their art, their cultures, their way of life's destruction by the white settlers and by federal US troops as well as by Mormon settlers from the north, and it detailed their mis-management and deliberate cultural realignment by the Federal bureau of Indian Affairs in the last century. It was also Admission Free on the 2nd Sunday of the month, which was an unexpected bonus (they take donations at the door on the 2nd Sunday for those who can give).

One theme I kept noticing at Heard, as well as in Washington DC at the "National Museum of the American Indian" about 4 years ago fro my friend Rick R's wedding, is that the indigenous peoples DO NOT call themselves "Native Americans" or "Original Americans" or "Indigenous Tribes" or other PC names. Nope. They refer to themselves as "Indians". Therefore, going forward, I will refer to them as "Indians" as well. It's not derogatory, or demeaning. It's what Indians in America call themselves, in Arizona and in DC (at least). I have no need for contrived labels that white people come up with to try and make themselves feel better. Many other Indians agree with me here, here, here, and here. So many worried non-Indians seem to get that wrong - heck I did for 40 years, before I realized "Native American" is seen as demeaning.

Bob Inglis & Glenn Beck, not BFFs

Bob Inglis, who ran UNOPPOSED in the South Carolina Upstate (representing eastern Greenville, Spartanburg, and the metropolis of Boiling Springs, where I once had tires mounted and balanced) got SHOUTED DOWN in a town hall meeting recently, when he told his constituents to "turn off the television when Glenn Beck comes on".

Inglis, who is rather moderate Republican - though he still only wants to protect un-born Americans and thinks once you're out of the womb, you don't need no protectin' - is not a bad guy. I never voted for him when I was living there out of principle that I do not vote for someone running unopposed, as I don't support totalitarian regimes that I am not personally the head of (ask my son sometime about the Benevolent Totalitarian Dictatorship he grew up in). I doubt Inglis will run unopposed again.

The ignorant, fearful, lemming like, mis-informed SC Upstate Right Wing Rednecks, who I used to work with, lived near, tolerated peacefully in the SC upstate, go nuts on Bob. Further promoting the Republicans as a purely regional party of the upcoming white minority.

The 'anybodybutbob' video is an amazing showcase of total ignorance. When swine flu or any epidemic hits SC in the future, DO NOT send vaccines! Let SC get their energy from angry anti-American Islamic regimes since the federal guvernmint should not use energy efficient light bulbs! "Listens to NPR too much"? LMFAO! Ignorant, mis-informed fools. No, watch Fox instead. Dee-de-dee!

"We Want Our Country Back!"

When you say "We Want Our Country Back!" Do you mean the CSA?

What a bunch of ignorant, confused, sore loser lemmings, who are so EASILY mislead by Right Wing mis-information. Euthanasia has traction, yeah, key on that! "Guv-mint bureaucrat between me and my doctor!" - regardless that there's already a profit minded private insurance bureaucrat denying you care between you and you doctor - yeah, key on that!

Stupid Birthers. Stupid medicare recipients protesting against Government provided health care. Stupid unemployed (and without insurance) protesters believing their talk radio Masters and faking injuries. How long will it be before a mirror-image "B" is scrawled into another fool?

Wow, Bill Maher was so very right in his New Rules commentary last Friday.
"...At a recent town hall meeting in South Carolina a man stood up and told the Congressman to "keep your government hands off my Medicare!". Which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways. This country is like a college chick after two Long Island iced teas. We can be talked into anything, like wars. And we can be talked out of anything, like health care."

Tip of the hat to my buddy Matt for these gems.

Robot Chicken, Not Squidbillies

Under advisement of a life long friend, I started watching Robot Chicken while riding the stationary bike, 2 episodes at a time. I've found it remarkably creative and amusing. My old friend also recommended Squidbillies... but after watching, or rather, wasting 30 minutes of my life today, seeing the very first episode where they explained Early Cuyler's origins, and a second episode where he is hired as the Dan Halen CEO, I found it at best slightly funny, and at worst, a chaotic mis-match that could only be written on while high and intoxicated. If a character gets killed, like the sheriff did in the origins episode, he should remain dead, for at least the episode. I know the Simpsons bring back dead characters in new episodes often, and it's funny - but killing off a character 2 or 3 times in the same episode, I don't truck with that.

Robot Chicken has a catchy theme song.. buck buck buck..... as the credits roll too! =)

Fundamentalist Extreme Straw Grasping

Crooks & Liars has this hilariously ludicrous piece, about how BHO was called out as the Anti-Christ, by Jesus[TM] himself!

A good laugh before bedtime! LOL!

Comedy writers could not make this kind of stuff up!

Why Do I Keep Contrasting Science & Republican Ideology?

Because Scientists do. This is an extract from an recent issue of Science, one of the premier, peer reviewed journals of the reputable, real science community. The AAAS ran a member poll, where thousands of scientists replied.

Debt, Debt, Everywhere - I see red

But... it's all Obama's fault? Isn't it? =) [as a percentage of GDP, see here]
Inheritance can be very unpleasant, no?

AZ State Board of Registration, but of what?

When I moved to AZ, I made sure to register my PE license, since I enjoyed taking the test back in SC in 1992 so very much. This month's newsletter has something in the header I've not noticed before:
"...SURVEYORS AND CLANDESTINE DRUG LABORATORY SITE REMEDIATION FIRMS"

Really? I knew Arizona had a problem with meth labs, but I had no idea there was a separate Board of Technical Registration classification that includes 7 firms to date. Yikes.

Persuasion

I was doing some file cleaning from my hard drive this afternoon, and found this gem from my buddy Matt in 2006. Ah, the good ole days of W's administration!

MoveOn.org has found it's mirror image

The Republicans and Right Wing Conservatives are not as stupid as they seem to be - to rational, thinking, non-ideologues, who are persuaded by facts - at least in observing what works, and then adapting that model to fit their own means. Freedomworks.org is the Extreme Right Wing (or the newest mantle "libertarian") homologue of the "progressive" (or "far left") MoveOn.org. George Soros' millions are analogous to Steve Forbes' millions. MoveOn doesn't typically pay their activists to attend town halls, where-as Freedomworks has many hired guns who follow their scripts - lock step, as the Right does so well.

MoveOn has 5 million supporters. Freedumbworks does not publicize how many supporters they do or do not have, but the very angry, very vocal, disenfranchised far right is less than 5% of the US population (at least for those who oppose health care reform), whereas independents are a solid 1/3rd and supporters of Health Care reform are the vast majority of Americans.

Everything Needs To Be "For Profit"!!

All this outrage about how "Health Care NEEDS to be PROFITABLE!"
Why stop at Health Care? Why not make Everything in the U.S. subject to the free market, let Capitalism drive perfection into every aspect of our lives. After all, only Socialist Countries fund and regulate things like:

• Sewage Treatment
• Municipal Water Supplies (you know, Cholera & E.Coli free, that sort of thing)
• National Defense
• Disaster Relief (response to earth quakes, hurricanes, floods, etc)
• Election Regulation & Monitoring
• Police Forces
• Fire Departments (and yet somehow, Ambulance Services are still for profit?)
• Securities & Exchange Enforcement & Regulation (who needs that, anyway?)
• Murder Investigations
• Bridge Maintenance
• Dam Maintenance
• Fire Code Enforcement
• Elevator Inspection & Code Enforcement (think about that next time you press the button to select your floor)
• Product Safety Regulation (for the profit driven companies who don't care if they sicken or kill a few consumers from time to time)
• Food Safety Enforcement (like E.Coli on lettuce, or tomatoes, or... )
• Air Traffic Control (so that one for-profit company's radar network doesn't have to hand off to another company's for-profit radar network, when the lives of 1000s of people are at stake)
• Road Maintenance, especially on Federal Highways (ever drive on I-40 across New Mexico? yikes! pathetic)
• Charity Health Care (Doctors without Borders, The Red Cross, Red Crescent, etc... you know, the places that the Angry Right Wing Believers insist that the poor should get their Health Care)

Let's make absolutely every aspect of our lives open to the free market. Come on people! What are we waiting for?

Ahmed Rashid - An Informative Read

I just finished Ahmed Rashid's Taliban - Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism in Central Asia last weekend. Chalk full of personal interviews, facts, time lines, maps, glossaries, 4 pages bibliographies, colloquialisms, 20 pages of foot notes, written in 2000, Taliban was well organized, insightful, and a very interesting read. The follow on book Descent Into Chaos - the U.S. and the Disaster In Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, written in 2008, I'm only 20 pages into so far.

Through his detailed accounts of the region's history, the main power brokers, and current events, Mr. Rashid subtly expresses a sadness for his native Pakistan as it implodes and staggers drunkenly down the road to disaster paved with corruption & drug money while driven with a fear of India and a proclivity for extreme fundamentalism. I'm looking forward to driving through this 500 page tome.

If you're looking for light hearted entertainment, this aint the book for you. If all the somewhere-a-bads, and vague-i-stans intrigue you, the differences between a Mujaheddin and a Taliban fighter elude you, and clueless Western myopic parachute reporting aggravates you, then give Rashid's works a try.

How Well Off Is Your State?

Dr Desert Flower sent me this handy link last weekend: https://www.healthcare.gov/
It nicely summarizes the haves and have-nots. My favorites are my former state of SC, and current residence in AZ. They're just facts, showing the existing landscape.

Nobody (80% of America) wants to give up a damn thing, as long as they stay healthy. First time they're struck with a serious illness, and their private (not employer provided) personal health insurance plans drops them, or wriggles a way of declaring the illness a pre-existing condition (you took an anti-inflammatory once, 10 years ago!), or they want to change jobs and can't afford COBRA (or try this COBRA instead) =P ...then hopefully they'll have some good bootstraps.

Right Wing Fear Mongering and Dis-information (they want to kill old people! the government wants to ration health care! soylent green is people!) has mobilized the polarized, lemming-like, very-selfish-I-got-mine-screw-you disenfranchised masses to vociferously attack any form of change, no matter how small or non-existent the sacrifice is to Joe-Six-Pack. I suspect America will remain the medically dysfunctional, hyper-selfish, polarized boot strap colony of CINOs that it's evolved into over the last 60 or so years. Il faut voir

March2014 update:
Affordable Care Act: Obamacare & Health Reform Facts
http://healthreform.kaiserpermanente.org/

Understanding the Impact of Obamacare on Medicare http://blog.ehealthmedicare.com/media-center/infographics/?pid=11

What does Marketplace health insurance cover?
https://www.healthcare.gov/what-does-marketplace-health-insurance-cover/

Affordable Care Act: State-by-State Impact
http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts/bystate/statebystate.html

The Lifestyle Revolutionaries Guide to Addiction Intervention
http://www.lakeviewhealth.com/InterventionGuide.pdf

Boy Sticks Fork Into Outlet

"Boy Sticks Fork Into Electrical Outlet"
"3 American Hikers on Iraqi Border are seized by Iran"
"Licking Frozen Flagpole Makes Tongue Stick"
"Boy Pokes Grizzly Bear In the Eye with Stick And Is Mauled"
These are not news stories. These are people making very bad decisions. They have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Don't ask for a diplomatic mission to free you. Don't plead to have Bill Clinton come to negotiate for you. You get what you deserve.

Unless you are in an SNL skit like "Bad Idea Jeans", don't do stupid things with the expectation that nothing bad will befall you.

Red Pill, Blue Pill. BHO = Morpheus?

I saw this last week while traveling. Colbert puts it beautifully.

Looking North at Dawn? or South at Dusk?

I saw this beautiful image online last month, and saved it as my desktop. I tried to look on Good Earth with the angular pan feature, to line up the buildings, but my version of Google Earth no longer has a Z-axis tilt feature =(

I've been to this city almost a dozen times... I Should Know this... but... I THINK it is Dawn looking North, since there's no large spire that is next to Place de 18 Juin to the SE of the Tour Eiffel, like there should be if it is looking South.

What do you think?

Malkin's gone off the deep end...

I guess desperation combined with having one's distorted paradigm shattered after 8 long years of believing you were in some sort of self-proclaimed majority, leaves a person grasping for straws, hunting witches where there are none, becoming more and more delusional. Michelle Malkin's distorted "biography" of Michelle Obama is a good example how political extremists filter and mis-interpret facts, and publish out-right lies.