Do the Paul Ryan...

The ladies definitely seem to like Paul Ryan :)  I've overheard several fawning female conversations at work, where some of the participants are known progressives.  Uncle Joe Biden can't even come close...

Iowa Electronic Markets This Morning...

Now they seem to have consolidated at just over 2:1 for Obama.  It will be interesting to see what happens to this market after the Biden/Ryan debate this week, and also after the (much anticipated) news of an Obama campaign contributions scandal surfaces today – if there really is a foreign contributions scandal...

Curiosity: Collecting and Analyzing Martian Dirt...

Curiosity has successfully scooped up it's first “cup” of dirt, and has loaded it into the chemical laboratory.  This first sample won't be analyzed; it's just going to be vibrated through the entire laboratory to clean it out.  The next sample will actually be analyzed.

I like the rover's shadow in this photo:

Deconstruction...

Here's a nice analysis of the Obama campaign's talking points:

New Symbol for the Democratic Party...

Via my lovely bride:

The Democratic Party today announced that it is changing its symbol from the Donkey to a Condom because it more accurately reflects the Party's political stance.

A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of dicks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed.

Hmmm... Yes!

New Ad...

This one from American Crossroads, Karl Rove's 527 PAC.  It doesn't pull any punches in the fight to deny Obama a second term. Via my lovely bride:

Curiosity: MHLI Looks at Dirt...

The Mars Hand Lens Imager onboard Curiosity is taking a close look at the Martian dirt in Rocknest:

OMG the Ball!

My lovely bride pointed out that this dog is the spittin' image of Race (our adult border collie).  Via friend and reader Simon M.:

If You've Lost Saturdy Night Live...

I don't watch television at all these days, and I haven't seen an episode of Saturday Night Live for at least 20 years.  From my reading, though, it seems that these days the show is just as biased toward progressives as the rest of the lamestream media.  Assuming that's true, then last night's skit is not good news for Obama: there's no way to spin this as pro-Obama – especially the closing line...

Israel Shoots Down an Unidentified Drone...

This drone almost had to be Iranian (either directly or through their proxy Hezbollah).  In any case, the Israeli radar and defense system was more than up to the task of dispatching this thing.  Israeli Defense Force (IDF) official video below, the full (public) story here.

Ouch!

Music...

Just Because...

Potentially Very Bright Comet Discovered...

It's potentially very bright because it's going to pass quite close to the sun, in late 2013.  Such predictions in the past have proved quite unreliable; some are bright, some are not.  The actual brightness depends on a lot of factors, only one of which is how close it appears to the sun.  Another critical factor: how many times it's been close to the sun before (which determines how much volatile material is left in the comet).

But...if they're right, and this comet really is brighter than the full moon, then it will almost certainly be the brightest comet in the history of humankind.  That will make it quite an event to see!

This Map Pretty Much Says It All...

Below is a heatmap of gasoline prices around the country.  Red is bad.  I live in California.  Ouch.

And the predictions in the news, if one is to believe anything coming from such muddle-headed fools, is that prices are headed to $6, $7, and possibly more $ per gallon.  I may work from home more often...

Our Unseemly “Betters”...

Mark Steyn has a few observations on the first presidential debate, including this bit:

The small things are not unimportant – and not just because, when "small" is defined as anything under 11 figures, "small" is a big part of the problem. If Americans can't muster the will to make Big Bird leave the government nest, they certainly will never reform Medicare. Just before the debate in Denver, in the general backstage melée, a commentator pointed out Valerie Jarrett, who is officially "Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs," a vital position which certainly stimulates the luxury-length business-card industry. Not one in 100,000 Americans knows what she looks like, but she declines to take the risk of passing among the rude peasantry without the protection of a Secret Service detail. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a private jet to fly him home from Washington every weekend.

The Queen of the Netherlands flies commercial, so does the Queen of Denmark. Prince William and his lovely bride, whom at least as many people want to get a piece of as Valerie Jarrett or Leon Panetta, flew to Los Angeles on a Royal Canadian Air Force boneshaker. It is profoundly unrepublican when minor public officials assume that private planes and entourages to hold the masses at bay are a standard perk of office. And it is even more disturbing that tens of millions of Americans are accepting of this. The entitlements are complicated, and will take some years and much negotiation. But, in a Romney administration, rolling back the nickel'n'dime stuff – ie, the million'n'billion stuff – should start on Day One.

Mitt made much of his bipartisan credentials in Denver. So, in that reach-across-the-aisle spirit, if we cannot abolish entirely frivolous spending, might we not at least attempt some economies of scale? Could Elmo, Grover, Oscar and Cookie Monster not be redeployed as Intergovernmental Engagement Assistant Jarrett's security detail? Could Leon Panetta not fly home on Big Bird every weekend?

This brings to mind Pelosi's unseemly insistance on having a private Air Force jet at her exclusive beck and call.  Only slightly less directly, it brings to mind another country that was notable for the privileges of its ruling class: the Soviet Union.  Steyn is absolutely right: both in the absolute and in the “optics” (the current euphemism for “appearance”), our government officials shouldn't be enjoying such privilege.  Especially when so many of our citizens are suffering under the general malaise of the economy...

With Supporters Like This...

...you don't need any more useful idiots!

If You're Lost the New Yorker...

The New Yorker, that well-known right-wing rag :), will run the cover below in next week's issue:

If you're a liberal candidate, and you've lost the New Yorker, you might as well just pack it in...

Mitt the Magician...

A meme that's making its rounds on the left is that Mitt Romney's O-tromping debate performance was enabled by cheating, using magician-like sleight-of-hand in plain view of an audience of millions.  They're accusing Romney of cheating by having a notebook full of zingers and canned answers on the podium, contrary to the debate's rules of engagement.

I have several reactions...

First, how utterly pathetic that response is – especially in the crystalline presence of Obama's incompetence behind the podium, and Romney's clear command of the facts in the lines of argument.  It's absurd and preposterous to contend that Romney won because of a few zingers read off a cheat sheet – and the accusers just look pathetic and implausible for their contention.  In the vernacular, with a nice pun thrown in: they look like losers.

Second, the “evidence” being offered up is entirely unconvincing, consisting only of some strident interpretation of fuzzy video that could be any number of things – including the handkerchief that Romney says it is.  The handkerchief that video clearly shows Romney using during the debate.

Third, it's completely implausible to any sentient being that Mitt Romney would resort to cheating.  That's like saying that Santa Claus stole the toys he handed out at Christmas, or that Barack Obama saved us from a much worse recession.  You can claim anything you want to claim, and repeat the claim as many times as you'd like – but that still doesn't make the claim true...

Pathetic. Loser. Chumps.

Headline: Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.1%...

But buried deep within the story is the reason why it fell - and it's not because there are fewer unemployed Americans.  Instead, more unemployed Americans have entered the “discouraged worker” category, and they're not counted as unemployed for the purposes of this bogus and misleading number.

The real number – the percentage of American workers who are out of work, whether “discouraged” or not – held steady at 14.7%.

The damned media is covering for The One again...

Oh My, Part II...

The speaker (former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell) is a Democrat:

Biden is the Best Thing We've Got Going...

Rubio is very good with an audience.  Funny, too!

Nailed It...

Peter Suderman...

...says it better than I could:

There were moments in last night’s debate when you could almost imagine Mitt Romney being president, or at least playing one on TV. He was pithy. He was prepared. He was poised. He was very nearly presidential. But what he wasn’t, however, was specific—at least not in the ways that matter most. Romney’s performance was just that: a performance, designed to suggest what he might be like as president, but not what he would do.

Do yourself a favor: go read the whole thing...

Oh, My...

Taiwanese debate animation, already.  Warning: contains some cartoon violence...

Little Enquiring Minds Want to Know...

Also from The Onion (a satire webzine):

Sasha Obama Asks Father Why He Was Acting Like Such A Pussy During Debate

Romney Ferocious...

From The Onion (a satire webzine):

Mitt Romney Adopts New ‘Ronnie Ferocious’ Persona For Debates

Iowa Electronic Markets...

The slope is still steep, still headed Romney's way – but still favoring Obama overall, now at about 2:1.

We can't help but like the looks of the end of that graph...

Curiosity: Onwards to Rocknest...

Curiosity is about to start sampling soil, putting it through its on-board chemical laboratory.  The area pictured at right – sandy-looking soil with rocks jutting out of it – is the target.

Go, you little nuclear-powered go-kart, go!

Honey, I Shrunk the President...

That's the title of the inimitable James Taranto's column yesterday, in which he was at the top of his form.  Here's a sample:

We could spend hours quoting disparaging reviews of Obama's performances from journalists who were never as head-over-heels as Matthews and Sullivan, but we like to pretend as if we have space constraints, so we'll just take one representative example, also from the Daily Beast, where our friend Tunku Varadarajan writes: "My God, in the four years that we've seen him in the White House, I don't think we've ever seen the president so flaccid, so dull-brained, so jejune, so shifty, so downcast."

This columnist has to disagree. Obama's lame performance last night seemed typical to us. We can think of a few occasions in which we've seen the president less flaccid, less dull-brained, less jejune, less shifty, less downcast. But only a few.

But these qualities--or, to put it another way, this lack of quality--was harder than usual to miss last night because of the contrast with the highly effectual Romney. One reason it came as such a shock to Obama is that it was the first time in his career that he shared a debate stage with a serious opponent.

But do go read the whole thing...

Even Jon Stewart is Starting to Wonder About “The One”

Kids in San Diego Speak Out...

Via my lovely bride:

What the Debate Was Really Like...

Another New Romney Ad...

Terrorism Tradecraft...

Interesting article from Stratfor...

Quote of the Day...

From Peggy Noonan's column today in the Wall Street Journal, on Wednesday evening's presidential debate:

Mr. Obama's likability numbers are about to go down. It's going to be a reverse Sally Field: You don't like me, you really don't like me.

Ouch!

WTF? How Could This Be?

Someone observed a strange phenomenon and wanted an answer:

Every once in a while, my eighth-inch audio jack will slip loose and I'll seemingly lose only the voice part of a track -- leaving somewhat of a "karaoke" version. What I would guess about how audio plugs work suggests that I'd be making this up; however, I've asked and others tell me they've experienced this as well.

What causes this stripped vocals from audio when a 1/8' audio jack is partially unplugged?

The author of this question couldn't believe this was happening himself.  But I can easily imagine observing this myself, and becoming obsessed with getting an answer to this unexplainable, but repeatable, observation.  It's a bit like walking outside and seeing your car floating three feet in the air – but only when you've accidentally left your front door ajar on your way out.

Naturally, our geeky questioner went to the best crowd-sourcing site around for answering questions on electronics: Electronics StackExchange.  And they got an answer – a sensible, plausible, clever, and unexpected answer.  Go there and read the first answer on this post – it's a classic...

Iran Sanctions Appear to be Working...

Iran's currency is in hyper-inflation.  Bad for Iran's citizens, but worse for Iran's addled government...

Romney Ad...

This new ad went out yesterday, just one day after Biden's gaffe.  Last night's debate will provide much more fodder for Romney's excellent ad men...

Romney Wins One...

That's the consensus, from every point on the political spectrum.  Achieving a consensus like that is an achievement in and of itself :-)

I've got a big link roundup below for your edification. I don't think I'm exaggerating a bit when I say that the conservative pundits are over the moon, and the liberal pundits are howling in despair.  Speaking as someone whose desired outcome from this election is “not Obama”, if this same mood percolates to the electorate, then I'm a happy guy.

But I didn't have anything like the intensity of the emotional response of either group of pundits.  If I said the response of the liberal pundits was a “0”, and that of the conservative pundits was a “99”, then my own response is about a “51”.  Why?  Because I heard Romney making lots of big-government arguments last night, and that's most definitely not what I'd like to see in the country's chief executive.  For example, Romney made it clear that he has no intention of cutting federal education spending, or of even rationalizing military spending.  That's a big-government pol speaking, not the kind of pol that wants to slash the size of government.

Here's how I put it to my wife last night: it's as if we were planning a big night out, but someone forced us to choose between going to McDonalds or going to Burger King.  I badly wanted squash soup, lobster, and tira misu – but the choices I have are limited to a Big Mac or a Whopper.  I like the Big Mac better than the Whopper, but damn it, I wanted the lobster!  That's how I felt after last night's debate.

My own analysis, for what little it's worth: as a debater, Romney won – he absolutely smashed Obama into the dirty stage floor, and looked like he enjoyed doing it.  On the merits of the arguments, Romney also won, though much less convincingly.  There were some good zingers (pointed out in the linkfest below), mostly in favor of Romney.  The Iowa Electronic Markets took a bit jump this morning, in Romney's direction (though they still favor Obama by better than 2:1), an indication that people putting their money where their mouth is are having a similar reaction...

Bob Owens' tweet must sum up how the Obama team is feeling this morning (sorry, Bo):

Some people eat when they get depressed. I hope Michelle put Bo outside for the night.

The links:

Wall Street Journal
Andrew Sullivan
John Hinderaker: It's Over
National Journal: Liberals Livid
Jonah Goldberg: There Went the Boom 
Breitbart: Halfway Through, They Should Have Stopped the Fight
CoyoteBlog: Is This Really Political Discourse? 
Politico: Not Debatable: Obama Stumbles
Neoneocon: The Emperor's New Clothes
Roger Simon: The Night Liberalism Died 
Tim Blair: Race Identified 
Villainous Company: “Unexpectedly!”, Romney Wins Debate
Rob Long: The Spin Begins 
Mark Hemingway
Jack Dunphy: Mrs. Dunphy Sumps Up the Debate
Rick Wilson: Remarkable 
CATO: How the Media Undermined Obama's Debate Performance

Obama's Winning...

...in the crucial Halloween mask race.  Via reader Simon M.

Paraprosdokians...

A great collection of paraprosdokians (a favorite form of humor of Winston Churchill and Groucho Marx), via my mom:

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

9. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

10. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, Notify:' I put 'DOCTOR'.

11. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

12. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

13. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure..

14. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.

15. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

16. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

17. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

18. You're nobody's fool ... but perhaps someone will adopt you.

19. Behind every successful man stands an astonishing mother-in-law.

It's the Doors!

Via my mom:

Ever walk into a room with some purpose in mind, only to completely forget what that purpose was? Turns out, doors themselves are to blame for these strange memory lapses. Psychologists at the University of Notre Dame have discovered that passing through a doorway triggers what's known as an event boundary in the mind, separating one set of
thoughts and memories from the next. Your brain files away the thoughts you had in the previous room and prepares a blank slate for the new locale."

It's not aging, it's the door! Whew! Thank goodness for studies!

Global Warming on Mars?

Reader Doug S. passes along this story of the unexpectedly warm temperatures Curiosity is finding on the surface of Mars...

Project Mohole Redux...

Geologist want to drill a hole all the way through the Earth's crust and take samples of the molten mantle.  This is far more difficult than most people realize, as this analogy hints at:

It will be the equivalent of dangling a steel string the width of a human hair in the deep end of a swimming pool and inserting it into a thimble 1/10 mm wide on the bottom, and then drilling a few meters into the foundations.

A tenth of a millimeter is roughly 1/250th of an inch. The drill “bits” used to drill through the very hard rock above the mantle only last for about 50 hours of drilling.  After each bit is worn out, the entire “string” of steel rod, miles long, has to be extracted, the working end brought to the surface, the bit replaced, and the entire thing re-inserted in the 30cm (roughly one foot) diameter hole in the sea floor.  To do this just once is an amazing feat.  To get to the mantle, they'll have to do it many dozens of times...

Night of the Living Pelosi...

John Dennis is a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives, running against California's shame: Nancy Pelosi.  Even more shameful than the fact that California has elected Pelosi in the past is that near-certainty that we will re-elect her again this year.  John Dennis has no real chance of winning in Pelosi's overwhelmingly leftist district – a district that includes a significant number of registered Communist and Socialist voters.

Dennis is running his campaign on a shoestring, as every potential contributor knows he has no chance of winning.  The campaign recently released this ad: Night of the Living Pelosi, which is definitely the kind of thing you're only likely to find in a place like modern California...


Oh, my...

Why Are People Surprised By This?

Last evening, the Daily Caller released the video below of Barack Obama addressing a mostly-black audience in 2007.  In the video he lavishly praises the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and speaks with a recognizably “black”accent (still with the rest of his superb speaking voice, including his trademark calmness, authority, and tonality).  The reaction of most pundits seems to be surprise, but I can't figure out why.

In the campaign of 2008 (less than a year after this speech), he very publicly denounced Jeremiah Wright and quit attending Trinity church, as Wright's radical leftist views were obviously not going to help Obama get elected.  At the time, that seemed like a rather obvious hypocritical move designed to help Obama's image. 

I don't think it's surprising at all that Obama would have a very different message for an audience that was likely to think quite highly of the radical Reverend Wright.  Nor do I find it surprising that Obama adopted the accent of his heritage when speaking to that same group.  Both of these behaviors are standard fare for any politician, though most wouldn't be able to pull them off as smoothly as Obama did.  You have to give him credit for the skills he has as a politician, even if you don't like the man.

I think all that's really going on here is in the Internet age these time-honored behaviors of politicians are much more likely to be revealed.  In an era when practically everyone carries a video camera on their person (in their phone), and when anybody can post a video to YouTube for all to see, it's nearly impossible for any politician to keep such shenanigans confidential.

The speech is instructive to watch for at least one reason: it transforms into absolute certainty our suspicion of Obama's hypocrisy in denouncing Reverend Wright in 2008...

Curiosity: Scenes Along the Way...

Curiosity is still chugging away up there on Mars, quietly doing great science work every day.  All systems are now checked out, and Curiosity is in perfect health except for one non-critical weather sensor.  Hoo-ahh!

Taking Hope from Little Squiggles...

The latest results from the Iowa Electronic Markets are at right.  They're still calling Obama a 3:1 favorite over Romney, but looky there at the end of the lines – a little squiggle that shows (for two days, anyhow) a reversal of the previously inexorable rise of Obama's trajectory.

I takes my hope from little squiggles on charts...

Confused Twaddle...

CATO with another interesting post on education...

Obama, in His Own Words...

Remember this when you vote in November...

Mars, Up Close and Personal...

“What is that?”, you may well be asking...

It's a rock on Mars, seen up close and personal, much as if you were there in person with a magnifying glass.

It's from Curiosity, using it's “hand imager” camera that's specifically designed to work just like a field geologist with his magnifying glass.

Feels like I could reach out and rub that rock's surface...

Squandering Public Education Money...

CATO has a great article analyzing the return on our investment in public education.  Conclusion: Zip.  Nada.  Doo-dah.  All that money is being thrown at public education with no discernable increase in student performance.  Wasted.

Unless you're a teacher's union member, of course.  Or a politician benefiting from the union donations.

Every once in a while, you really need a revolution to clear out the rot.  Public education in the U.S. is long, long overdue for a such revolution.  Anyone up for a little “Education Spring”?

Deep Thoughts...

...from my mom:

I was engaged in some deep thinking on a range of topics.

At one point I considered this age old question: Which is more painful? giving birth, or getting kicked in the nuts?

Women say that giving birth is more painful. Way more painful.

After more deep thinking, I came up with a different answer. I think that getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than giving birth. Here is why I think that.

A year or so after giving birth, a woman might say, "It might be nice to have another child."

But you never hear a guy say, "It might be nice to have another kick in the nuts."

I can't fault her logic :-)

The Libya Deception...

I'd like to think that this sort of behavior by the American leadership would be absolutely unthinkable.  Unfortunately, here in the real world, it is all too common.

I'm as outraged as anyone by the Obama administration's behavior with respect to the attack on the embassy in Benghazi – but I won't pretend that this is a particularly egregious example of the abuse of power by a President of either party.  It's more like a continuation of a pattern of such behavior that roughly keeps pace with the size, wealth, and power of the Federal government.

In other words, the more that's at stake for those with their greasy paws on the levers of power, the more it gets abused.  Naturally ... as that is how a significant subset of our fellow humans behave when we let them get away with it.  Listen, and weep for your country.  And remember all this when you vote in November...

Geek Stuff: Bit-Twiddling Hacks...

A nice collection from Sean Anderson, with C code examples...

Imagine...

This is my first attempt, ever, at writing lyrics to a song.  Sing to the tune of John Lennon's Imagine:

Imagine there's Nobama
It's easy if you try
No healthcare taxes
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living in freedom

Imagine Nobamacare
It isn't hard to do
No looming death panels
And doctors too
Imagine all the people living life in health

You, you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the trillions in debt will be done

Imagine no Democrats
I wonder if you can
No progressives any more
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the unions closing up their shops

You, you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be a lot more fun

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Fail...

I suspect this started as a joke.  Steven Olson applied for a patent on a method for swinging on a swing.  The patent appears to be quite narrow, covering only swings suspended from horizontal tree limbs, and swinging from side-to-side, “Tarzan style”.  I'd imagine that Mr. Olson had no expectation that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office would actually approve and issue his patent.  But they did!

I think we need some reforms in the USPTO...

This Is How You Do It, Folks...

If you own and iPhone (as I do), and you upgraded to IOS6 (as I did), you've probably already had first hand experience with the massive screw-up otherwise known as “Apple Maps”.  My own first experience matches that of many other people: just to try it out, I set it up to give me directions on how to get to work.  Within a mile it was trying to send me down a 20 mile long four-wheel drive only dirt road – one that I know has several locked gates across it.  Virtually everyone who's tried to use the app reports similarly hideous results.  The geek media's talking heads have been howling for days.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, responded yesterday with a letter to Apple's customers.  Here's the lead:

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

No weasel words, no finger-pointing – just a straight-up and direct apology, along with a commitment to fix it.  Go read the whole thing if you'd like to see how a real class act deals with their mistake.

Kudos, Mr. Cook.  I wish we saw our leaders (business, political, or of any other flavor) exhibit more of exactly this willingness to take responsibility. I'll survive with Google Maps.  When Apple comes out with an upgrade for Apple Maps, I'll try it again.

Skewed Polling...

Charlie Martin has a great post on how polls get so badly skewed – especially as election day draws near.  Anyone who believes that the polls are an effort to measure the facts is in for a rude surprise.  The real purpose of the polls is to discourage people from voting – specifically, conservative people.  And it works so well the liberal media keeps it coming, year after year...

Poster of the Day...

Romney's 47%, Personified...

I've never seen the entitlement mentality better exemplified:

The Women of the Right...

Many observers over the years (including your intrepid blogger) have noted that if there were a beauty contest between the women of the left vs. the women of the right, the latter would win – and not by a small margin, either.  The unabashedly objectifying video below is typical of these observations.  Said observers have been called cads, misogynists, idiots, and worse.

Now science has come to our rescue:

"Female politicians with stereotypically feminine facial features are more likely to be Republican than Democrat, and the correlation increases the more conservative the lawmaker's voting record," said lead author Colleen M. Carpinella, a UCLA graduate student in psychology.

The researchers also found the opposite to be true: Female politicians with less stereotypically feminine facial features were more likely to be Democrats, and the more liberal their voting record, the greater the distance the politician's appearance strayed from stereotypical gender norms.

In fact, the relationship is so strong that politically uninformed undergraduates were able to determine the political affiliation of the representatives with an overall accuracy rate that exceeded chance, and the accuracy of those predications increased in direct relation to the lawmaker's proximity to feminine norms.

There you have it. Science has proven the accuracy of what our eyes are telling us: hot female politicians are more likely to be conservative than liberal.

I'd like to see that study extended to Libertarian women.  From my own observations, I suspect they'd win the contest hands-down...

Libya Deception: the Timeline...

Glenn Kessler, writing at The Washington Post, has done a fine job of assembling a timeline of the administration's statements about the attack on our embassy in Benghazi and the murder of four of our citizens (including our Ambassador to Libya).

It's becoming increasingly obvious that the administration's statements – most especially those in the first few days after the attack – are outright lies.  We can't know for certain what motivated them, but Occam's Razor says that the simplest explanation is the most likely, to wit: Obama (aka “Killer of Bin Laden”) didn't want to admit to a terrorist attack on his watch, as that demonstrate the ineffectiveness of his Middle East policy in a way that even the most addled citizen would recognize.

As more details emerge, the Obama administration's conduct in Libya looks less and less defensible, and more and more like a bunch of starry-eyed naifs wandering around amidst men with weapons and deadly intent.  It reminds me a bit of the hippies who traveled to North Vietnam in the early '70s, believing that if only they could smoke a joint with Ho Chi Minh the war could be ended immediately.

We need an adult in the White House.

Remember that when you vote in November...

Curiosity: An Ancient Stream Bed on Mars...

The Curiosity rover made a major discovery this week: a section of ancient rock that is unambiguously an ancient stream bed.  This sort of “alluvial fan” structure is very common on Earth – so common that geologists even know how to estimate the speed and depth of water flow from the stream bed's composition.

What's the significance of finding an ancient stream bed?  Mainly this: liquid water is one of the prerequisites for life-as-we-know-it to exist.  It's the only prerequisite not previously proven to exist on Mars.  Now we know that all the prerequisites have been met.  That doesn't mean we know that life did exist on Mars (or that it still does) – it just means that now we know for sure that it is possible that it did.  And that, of course, is just life-as-we-know-it.  It's entirely possible that some completely different form of life existed (or exists) on Mars.  The challenge there will be to figure out how to look for it.  That has been the subject of many a fine science fiction yarn...

I'm Tired...

I ran across this piece from an email that incorrectly attributed it to the actor Robert David Hall.  It was actually written by Robert A. Hall, formerly a Massachusetts state senator and a Marine Corp veteran.  According to Snopes, it's also been attributed (wrongly) to Bill Cosby.  Ah, the delights of the Internet!

The message here is one that I'm sure resonates with many people who aren't lefties...

I'm 63 and I'm Tired
by Robert A. Hall


I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked hard since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought Mc Mansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela ..

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari’s law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madras Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I #@*# sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught.. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

From Obama's Lips to Your Ears...

Via my lovely bride.  Remember these when you vote in November:

1.      "But I think it is an imperfect document, and I think it is a document that reflects some deep flaws in American culture, the Colonial culture nascent at that time."- Illinois State Senator Obama during a panel discussion about the U.S. Constitution that aired on Chicago's WBEZ-FM on Sept. 6, 2001. Do you agree that the Constitution is an imperfect document?

2.      "The truth is that right after 9/11 I had a [U.S. Flag] pin.  Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security." - Senator Obama explaining why he refuses to wear a U.S. flag pin on his lapel during an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids in Oct 2007. What was the President really protesting?  Was the President ashamed of our Patriotism or our American ideals that our flag stands for?

3.     "At least we can let doctors know - and your mom know - that you know what, maybe this isn't going to help.  Maybe you're better off, uhh, not having the surgery, but, uhh, taking the painkiller." - President Obama responding to a question from audience member Jane Sturm about whether or not the government is the right place to make judgments on healthcare procedures during an ABC news sponsored Q&A on healthcare in June 2009.Do you want a government bureaucrat to determine which procedure your mother, father, husband or wife receives?

4.      "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.  That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."- Senator Obama at a campaign speech in Portland, OR at Waterfront Park in May 2008. Should our liberties be determined by what other countries think?

5.      "It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation." -Senator Obama speaking at a Wesleyan University graduation ceremony in May 2008. Do you agree with the President?

6.      "Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness." -Senator Obama responding to Charlie Gibson as moderator in an April 2008 debate with Hillary Clinton. If you want to downsize your home after owning it and paying off your mortgage after 30 years, should it be fair for the government to tax more from you because of fairness?

7.      "The market will take care of everything, they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes -- especially for the wealthy -- our economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers.  But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else.  And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn't trickle down, well, that's the price of liberty.  Now, it's a simple theory. And we have to admit; it's one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government.  That's in America's DNA.  And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker.  But here's the problem: It doesn't work. It has never worked."- President Obama speaking about the economy to a group in Kansas on Dec 6th, 2011 at Osawatomie High School. Do you agree that the "success" of the last four years proves the previous 200 plus years wrong?

8.      "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him [Vladimir] to give me space.  This is my last election.  After my election I have more flexibility." - President Obama speaking to Russian President Medvedev after a joint press conference in Seoul, Korea without realizing there was an open microphone in Mar 2012.After raiding Medicare for over $500 million dollars for ObamaCare, delaying Medicare price increases until after the election, and the request to delay missile defense, what else is the President delaying until after his re-election?

9. "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you've got a business - you didn't build that.  Somebody else made that happen." - President Obama during a campaign speech at a Roanoke, Virginia fire station in July 2012. Since 35% of Generation America members are self-employed or own their own business, who do you think built their businesses? 

References:

1. http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/obama-constitution/2008/10/27/id/326165
2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21138728/ns/politics-decision_08/t/obama-stops-wearing-american-flag-pin/#.UClr86Bt1SU
3. http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/21/video-let-them-eat-painkillers/
4. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-wpxs1Re-8vx2Zk5xnYygW1W67w
5. http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/19595329.html
6. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/DemocraticDebate/story?id=4670271&page=1&singlePage=true#.UGIBM6Cz7dk
7. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/06/remarks-president-economy-osawatomie-kansas
8. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/microphone-picks-up-obamas-private-exchange-with-medvedev/
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ZO7XOpwa8

Truth: Obama's Biggest Opponent...

Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal with an interesting take on Obama...

Israel Must Be Eliminated...

That headline, of course, is taken from Ahmadinejad's speech yesterday to the United Nation's General Assembly – that most disgusting and corrupt waste of space, oxygen, and energy on the planet.

The revolutionary government of Iran in general, and its president Ahmadinejad in particular, remind me very strongly of Hitler and Nazi Germany just before the onset of WWII.  Their shared hatred of Jews isn't even the main point of correlation there (though it is both striking and curious).  The correlation that concerns me most is how those two countries were able to accumuate frightening power that represents an existential threat to world peace, all while the rest of the world did nothing effective about it.

Today's Wall Street Journal ($) contains two interesting commentary pieces on exactly this subject (here and here).

But what we really need, of course, is a credible counterpoint to Iran.  Not just words, which is really the only thing the world has on offer at the moment.  We need credible actions.  That is, of course, exactly what the world needed before Hitler started invading other countries.  Never happened.  It probably won't happen now, either.  There is one big difference between Hitler and Ahmadinejad, though: the latter will likely soon have nuclear weapons to threaten us with.

Charming.

A Tale of Two Doctors...

Via reader Jim M.:

A Tale Of Two Doctors

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require hip surgery.

The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The SECOND sees his family doctor after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment, then waits 8 weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another week and finally has his surgery scheduled for 6 months from then pending the review boards decision on his age and remaining value to society.

Why the different treatment for the two patients?

The FIRST is a Golden Retriever taken to a vet.

The SECOND is a Senior Citizen on Obama care...

In November if He and his Czars get another term, we'll all have to find a good vet.

We're in good shape – we have a great vet already...

Letter from a Soldier in Afghanistan...

Michael Yon has published (with permission) a letter from a soldier in Afghanistan to his father.  Yon (by email) said that he has verified its authenticity.  Assuming it's all true (and I'm afraid that's all too plausible), this is a damning revelation of a failure of our political leadership.  That means Obama, of course.  I reproduce it in its entirety, trusting that Mr. Yon's intent is to spread this word as far and wide as he can.

Dad,

I am fed up. I cannot believe the lack of attention the recent changes in this war is receiving by the media or the country. I think I saw one thing on CNN about the following subject, but I had to dig extensively to find it. The purpose of this letter is to let you know of the garbage that our soldiers are going through right now. With this knowledge, I hope that you take action by writing your congressmen.

First, because of the recent green on blue incidents or "insider threats" as the new buzz phrase dictates, all coalition forces in Afghanistan have completely stopped partnering with the ANA, AUP, and ALP in order to prevent the death of anymore CF casualties by ANSF or Taliban disguised as them. This is also greatly spurred by President Karzi's indifferent attitude and lack of action to take measures to prevent further insider attacks.

Second, because of this massive change in policy (and complete change in mission) all U.S. forces are forbidden to actively patrol their AO and are to remain on their respective COPs/FOBs. There are only a few exceptions to this rule and they all pertain to "hardening" highway 1 in our AO. We have received orders that clearly state that all CF will no longer be allowed to drop air to ground munitions within the country of Afghanistan. This preempts Karzi's announcement that will be made shortly that states the above mentioned order, making it a tactical directive that he is ordering.

To the first point: Our mission in Afghanistan is to partner with the ANSF on all levels. Now the policy makers are telling us that we are not allowed to do that and further more we are to take immediate measures to secure ourselves from the ANSF that are co-located with us. So the question now becomes, what is our mission? Furthermore, the implication is that we have absolutely no reason to still be in this country if we are not partnering with the ANSF. So why are we here?

To the second point: I don't think that the American citizens would be happy if they knew that their soldiers were being prohibited from defending themselves in any way because of politically driven orders, but that is precisely what is happening in this war right now even as I write this letter. The soldiers of the U.S. never engage the enemy unless we know that we have will always have the tactical advantage in defending ourselves, that advantage is the use of close air support and air weapons team. To take those weapons away from us is to level the playing field for the enemy and thus exposing our soldiers to more danger. In the school house they teach us that the minimum ratio that we are to engage the enemy with, is a 3:1 ratio. In other words, we have the highest probability of winning because we don’t fight fair. The sound tactical principles behind this teaching have saved lives. The very presence of aircraft over our foot patrols has also saved lives and now our chain of command is being told by our political leadership that this is now not allowed. If we are not partnering with the ANSF and we are not actively patrolling to prevent our enemies from massing their attacks on our COP and we can’t drop a bomb on the enemy that we have positively identified, than what the hell are we doing here?

Give us a mission or send us home. I honestly have no preference on what the politicians decide, as long as they just make a decision. Of course this will be a terrible inconvenience on the current elections so I am sure we will be forgotten, which really does not seem to be too different for how things have been going for the last eleven years.

Do not buy into what the some media outlets have already said about this. Casually saying that this is a frequent occurrence is false, and is an attempt to downplay the major ramifications for these decisions. We have never been so restricted in defending ourselves as we have now. This is not just a stand down. The other implication of this decision is that we will perhaps never regain our relationship with the ANA after we have executed these measures to protect ourselves from them. Essentially, we have left them to die as we watch from our high-tech cameras and UAVs. They will not forget this and I fear the relationship will never be the same.

I love you very much Dad and I don’t want you to worry about me any more than you already are, but I also know that this has to be brought up, someone has to say something about this. It is wrong to keep this hidden away while American soldiers are under constant threat of death and dying. I don’t care if you send this letter directly, this needs to be known.

Your son,

[In Afghanistan]

If You're in the Newspaper Business...

...it's time to be looking for another job.  The graph below shows the most abrupt decline of an entire major industry I've ever heard of:

Monkeyflower and Sea Blush...

From Botany Photo of the Day, of course: