LCROSS Impact - LIVE!

I'm watching the impact of the LCROSS satellite on the moon, live on streaming NASA video on the web.  Very cool...

Speaking Piano...

Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize...

Really, he did.  I read it on several news sites this morning.  I don't think it's a parody, and it's not an April Fool's Day joke – it is, after all, October. 

I guess I have a mistaken notion about the Nobel prizes.  I've always thought that they were awarded for actually accomplishing something.  Evidently I was wrong.  Even the Nobel Committee's announcement confirms this:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

So it's the effort that matters, not the accomplishment.  This reminds me of the modern approach to education in many school systems, wherein students are assessed not so much on how well the know the material, but rather on the effort they made.  It doesn't matter if you get the right answer to a math problem; what matters is whether you tried.

Apparently that's also the case with the Nobel Peace Prize.  Only efforts matter.  And maybe not even them – I've heard a lot of talk about Obama's efforts, but I'm unaware of any actual efforts he's made.  Maybe there are some secret efforts that the Nobel Committee has been briefed on that us mere citizens have not.  Or maybe the Nobel Committee has an odd and unexpected sense of humor.  Or maybe they're just all crazy.

The latter seems the most likely.

So now Obama joins a long list of other winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.  Many of these winners are indeed worthy and admirable people of great accomplishment: Mikhail Gorbachev, Elie Wiessel, and Nelson Mandela among them.  But there is also an embarrassing list of losers who have won this prize: Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Mohamed ElBaradei, Kofi Annan, and Yassar Arafat.  In that context, Obama's selection fits right in.


What a crazy, upside-down world we live in!

Record Ice Melt...

Record low, that is.

Since 1980, satellites have been tracking very precisely the amount of snow and ice in both the arctic regions (north and south).  About 90% of all the fresh-water ice in the world is in Antarctica, so of course when the global warmenists talk about ice melting, that's the place of most concern.

If global warming was causing ice to melt, the place where you'd be most worried about it would be Antarctica.   Al Gore, in his movie, painted a vivid picture if Antarctica melting and causing the oceans to rise, flooding thousands of islands and coastal cities.  We'd better watch that ice carefully!

Well, the data is just in from their most recent summer (remember, the seasons are reversed down there).  Marco Tedesco and Andrew Monaghan report in the journal Geophysical Research Letters: for the 2008-2009 summer season, the amount of ice melt was the lowest ever recorded by satellites.

How, er, inconvenient for the warmenist crowd...

Oh, My...

Some commentators have been speculating for many months that Obama's autobiography Dreams from my Father was actually co-written by Bill Ayers (radical, domestic terrorist, SDS member, Weatherman, now professor at the University of Illinois, and neighbor of the Obamas in Chicago).  When I first read these speculations, I thought it seemed unlikely – why would an aspiring politician take a chance like this?  Clearly he wouldn't want to be connected to someone like Ayers.  Furthermore, Obama's book doesn't credit a ghostwriter, and such credits are normal (though certainly not universal).

But now comes word that the speculators were even more correct than they thought.  Bill Ayers reportedly claims to have written the book, not merely co-written it.  Anne Leary, a conservative blogger from Chicago, posts that she had a chance meeting with Ayers at the airport, and he said:

Then, unprompted he said--I wrote Dreams From My Father. I said, oh, so you admit it. He said--Michelle asked me to. I looked at him. He seemed eager. He's about my height, short. He went on to say--and if you can prove it, we can split the royalties. So I said, stop pulling my leg. Horrible thought. But he came again--I really wrote it, the wording was similar. I said I believe you probably heavily edited it. He said--I wrote it. I said--why would I believe you, you're a liar.

He had no answer to that. Just looked at me. Then he turned and walked off, and said again his bit about my proving it and splitting the proceeds.

Assuming this is a truthful account, that's just stunning – it means Barack Obama the author is a fraud.  It means that the public image of Barack Obama – heavily influenced by that book – is a fraud.  It means that a domestic terrorist and criminal helped shape our President.  It's confirmation of the darkest suspicions voiced by the fringe right.

Worst of all, it's utterly shameful...

They Don't Want You to See It...

The healthcare reform bill, that is.  Whatever that might end up being.  The majority Congressional leaders (that would be the dynamic duo of Reid and Pelosi) are fighting efforts to have the bill online for public viewing for three days prior to the vote.

This is not a new tactic, nor is it something the Republicans can claim innocence on.  But it still stinks to high heaven, because there's only one reason why they would do this – the Congressional leadership wants to pass a bill that they know the public (those pesky voters) would object to.

Lead.
Gunpowder.
Steel tube.
Congressional leaders.
Some assembly required.

A Beautiful Morning...

We're having a spell of absolutely lovely weather – cool, crisp, and (by our standards) positively wet air.  No rain, though the forecast holds some possibility of it.

This morning walking the dogs (at 3 am!) was particularly nice.  A light haze blanketed the ground, but it was perfectly clear overhead.  The near-full moon brightly illuminated the yard, making it easy for Race (our border collie) to run around the yard chasing a stick I threw repeatedly.  There's nothing that makes that dog happier than simply chasing that stick...

Marines and the President...

My mom sent a link to this video, which has been floating around for a while.  I refrained from posting it when it initially came out because there was much criticism of the careful and obviously biased (for George W. Bush) editing.

However, since that time I have corresponded with a fair number of our warriors in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  Their comments lead me to believe that this video is a fairer portrayal of our military's attitudes than the critics would have us believe. 

So here's the video, and you can make up your own mind about an appropriate reaction:

Divert Your Course!

Via my mom, who thought I'd enjoy the naval-themed humor...


...and she was right, for it captures rather nicely the amazing arrogance of some (certainly not all) naval officers...

A Doctor's Take on Healthcare Reform...

Dr. Simi Lyss is a regular reader of this site, and is a medical doctor.  He has this editorial in his local paper, and I reproduce it here at his invitation:

I agree that reform in health care is necessary at this time. However the proposals that are being presented by our government, I believe, are a total disaster.

I have downloaded and tried to read the proposals before Congress. I have found, after several hours of reading, that they are totally incomprehensible. Continual reference is made to previous statutes and regulations that are not reasonably accessible to any reasonable person. Not a big surprise because the document is more than 1,000 pages long!

Who wrote this proposal? Clearly not our legislators. I don't know but it was almost certainly a number of “policy wonks” who may or may not reside in the real world most of us live in.

The proposals seem very similar to the systems that significant countries, such as Canada and Great Britain, currently have with all their problems we already know about.

I have a physician friend who has been a consultant on medical issues to multiple nations, including Great Britain, who stated that in the U.S. 30 million people fall through the cracks and that in Great Britain 30 million people are stuffed through the cracks!

So, where should we go from here?

While our medical care system has a large number of problems, many could be made better by the following suggestions:

1) True malpractice reform. Let's not try a demonstration project as President Obama suggests. Let's try a system like, for example, the one that Texas has already instituted. It has very significantly lowered the costs and distortions caused by a runaway malpractice system. These reforms should be instituted nationally.

2) Allow insurance companies to sell their insurance across state lines. This would increase competition in a dramatic way that would benefit all of us with better coverage and lower premiums.

3) Eliminate the ridiculous provision in our tax laws that says deductions for out of pocket medical expenses must exceed 7.5 percent of our “Adjusted Gross Income” before being deductible from our income. How would you react to a rule that said you could only deduct mortgage interest that was above 7.5 percent of your AGI? How is this so different?

4) Allow medical insurance premiums to be deductible for tax purposes. If you have your medical insurance through your work, the premiums are already deductible for your employer. Why is it different if you don't have coverage through your job and have to buy this insurance yourself?

These actions are certainly not all we need to do but they are important first steps. However, lets not throw out our whole system which works fairly well for at least 85 percent of people who are asked. Let's not try to help the 15 percent by going to an untried idealistic system that is likely to be a disaster for us all.

For what it's worth, all of the MDs I know are unhappy with Obamacare and all the multitude of proposals coming out of Congress.  By and large, they agree with Dr. Lyss' on the elements of healthcare that most need reform.

Conservatives vs. Liberals...

Via Jim M.:

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a liberal doesn't like guns, he feels that no one should have one.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a liberal is, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.

If a black man or Hispanic are conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God or religion silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping  for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

This is an old one that's been floating around in various forms for years.  As I reread the note from Jim, it occurred to me that I've never seen the equivalent sort of thing from a liberal's perspective.  Have you?

God Bless...

YouTube philosopher Pat Condell takes on organized religion:


I particularly enjoyed his parting line...

Uh Oh...

A Canadian study shows that there is an increased chance of catching H1N1 (the “swine flu”) if you have had this year's seasonal flu shot.  The study is credible enough that Canadian provinces are re-thinking their vaccination plans:

Distributed for peer review last week, the study confounded infectious-disease experts in suggesting that people vaccinated against seasonal flu are twice as likely to catch swine flu.

The paper is under peer review, and lead researchers Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Gaston De Serres of Laval University must stay mum until it's published.

Met with intense early skepticism both in Canada and abroad, the paper has since convinced several provincial health agencies to announce hasty suspensions of seasonal flu vaccinations, long-held fixtures of public-health planning.

Flu vaccinations have been controversial for a while because they're not very reliable.  There's also a bogus controversy about the safety of the flu vaccine from the loonies who are convinced that vaccines (in general) are linked to autism, but this has been thoroughly debunked.  But the controversy about the effectiveness of flu vaccines seems to be well-founded.  For example, last year in San Diego the seasonal vaccine missed every flu variant we actually experienced – so the flu shot was worthless.

But this study shows something much more concerning: that getting a flu shot is worse than worthless – it actually increases the likelihood that you'll come down with H1N1.

I think I'll skip the flu shot again this year...

DMV-Style Healthcare...

This is great!

Little Israel Is Still Leading the Way...

As Uri Dromi points out:

A uranium enrichment facility nobody knew of suddenly emerges in the sacred city of Qom, Iran launches missiles that can threaten not only U.S. targets in the Persian gulf, but also Israel and southern Europe, and now the world panics.

Surprised? Not if you're an Israeli. For years we have been sounding the alarm, only to be told to stop crying wolf. Now we are asked to lie low and let the responsible leaders of the world take care of the situation.

It must be tremendously frustrating for many Israelis to watch obvious world-threatening problems develop – while most of the world ignores them.  Repeatedly the Israelis have acted when other nations would not or could not, to the benefit of us all.  The most recent example is their discovery and destruction of a nuclear facility in Syria.

My cynical bet is that the world will do nothing effective to stop Iran before Israel feels the need to take unilateral action.  Past experience suggests that when they do, the action will be effective – and they'll be publicly denounced by the entire world, while private nearly all countries will breath a huge sigh of relief.

We're lucky the Israelis are here to do the dirty work for those – like us – don't have the balls to do it themselves...

On Roman Polanski...

Me, I'm just tickled pink that the shithead is on his way back here to face the court.  It's a foregone conclusion that his punishment will be light, unless a miracle happens and the court decides to punish him for skipping the country.  I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, the disgusting spectacle of the Hollywood “elite” (and I put that term in scare quotes, because, well, in that context it is scary) defending Polanski goes on and on, endlessly.  Mark Steyn notes (in the middle of a typically excellent column):

One sympathizes. Except that there are millions of children of the Holocaust struggling under the burdens of the past – and only one who deals with them as Roman Polanski does. Working on the film "Chinatown," the writer Robert Towne found it hard to concentrate at the director's pad, what with "the teenyboppers that Roman would run out and take Polaroid pictures of diving off the f***ing diving board without tops on. Which was distracting. With braces."

Braces. Cute.

Which leads directly to this:

Rope.
Tree.
Amoral Hollywood scum.
Some assembly required.

Isn't it amazing how many problems we can solve with a few feet of rope and a convenient tree?

Obama Administration FAIL...

At right is the chart originally published by the Obama administration earlier this year, with a red line added to show the actual unemployment rate.

They used this chart to sell the “stimulus package”, saying that without it unemployment would rise to about 9%, and with it unemployment would drop to below 7.5%.

Well here we are at 9.8% (as of September) and still climbing.

I don't think that even the Obama administration believed this chart.  Anybody with even the slightest understanding of economics and experience with government knew that there was no way in hell the stimulus package could have an effect that fast.

Even so, the sorry bastards used this chart to sell our descendants into debt.

Rope.
Tree.
Stimulus-supporting politician.
Some assembly required.

Viewer for Lyons Peak Cameras...

I've got a new viewer page up for the HPWREN cameras on Lyons Peak (permanant link on the sidebar at right).

This page makes it easy and convenient for anyone to view the cameras, and includes the ability to zoom and move around the image.  On the north and east facing cameras there's even the ability to identify the features you point to on the picture (I haven't finished them for the other two cameras yet).

Enjoy!

Exactly Right!

Glenn Reynolds (aka The Instapundit) succinctly expresses one of my feelings about the Obama administration:

Meanwhile, with this gang in charge who would be surprised to find that under ObamaCare your chances of a liver transplant really will depend on your politics? Not me.

Exactly right.

And isn't that scary?

NJ: The Loser State...

The fellow at right is Robert Melia, Jr., a former Moorestown, New Jersey police officer.  He has an interesting hobby:

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ -- A former police officer accused of having a moonlight tryst with a group of cows will not be facing animal cruelty charges after all.

As it turns out bestiality is not a crime in New Jersey.

Former Moorestown police officer Robert Melia Jr. was charged last year with sexually assaulting three girls.

During the investigation, police say they found a video in the man's home that showed him sexually molesting cows.

But that didn't have any consequences, being that it happened in New Jersey (aka “The home of contented cows...”).  His assault of three young girls (with his girlfriend?!?) will hopefully have more.

And now everyone knows that if oral sex with cows is your thing, then New Jersey is the place to be...