history quiz

the answers shouldn't surprise anyone who has studied history from independent sources.

change we can't believe in

Some children in Kenya are still hoping for the change Barack Hussein Obama promised them.

well-grounded

via discerning texan:
the facts on the ground,
and the facts underground.

against atheism again

i wish i had seen these quotes earlier...

minimum wage raised

minimum-wage workers hardest hit.

talking heads, indeed

the democrats' platform has been "stop making sense" since at least 1968...

global salinization

how long until algore promotes investing in sodium chloride credits?

One of the latest global warming claims is that the weather will just be more unpredictable. Sometimes it will be hot, and sometimes it will be cold, and sometimes it will be just right. Since that pretty much sounds like any other description of the weather for the last 10,000 years, it makes global warming pretty hard to prove or disprove.

There is another theory that says global warming will cause the next ice-age (or a mini-ice-age). Supposedly, we had one of those in the early-mid 1800's. I'm not sure what was supposed to have caused that one, though, since they can't say it was increased carbon-monoxide in the atmosphere.
Another theory blames excess methane (bad cow!). Actually, methane can be released from swamps, deep-sea deposits, and from thawed permafrost (northern tundra that gets too warm). It could come from anything, in other words, and nobody seems to know how to tell what will happen, when it will happen, or even if it will happen. Some people think the oceans will just absorb the extra gases; some people believe the oceans will release extra gases.

Anyway, the bad news is that the last mini-ice-age seems to have come on kind of sudden-like. They went from the warmest summers on record in Europe, to the coldest in less than 10 years. They think it had something to do with the "deep-sea ocean conveyor" that distributes salty, less-dense, warm water from the equator to the less-salty, dense, cold arctic water. Anyway, at some point, the temperature difference between the equator and the northern seas becomes small enough (warming of the polar ice-caps) that the "conveyor" shuts down. Once the conveyor shuts down, Europe freezes over in a relatively short period of time because the warm water that normally flows along the coast is cut off. The wind that was formerly warmed by the warm water in the ocean is now cooled by the cold water in the ocean. Then the Thames river freezes over (like it did in about 1830). Voila, mini-ice-age.

(slightly edited)

wedding bells

congratulations to the local malcontent on his engagement!

update: apparently the engagement took place at a "private well-dressed Indian powwow"...

the results of wishful thinking

varifrank:

The result of wishful thinking after World War I was World War II and the deaths of 52 million people. The result of our long costly effort in Europe after World War II is a continent populated by a generation that has no experience in war, which given the long bloody history of that region is quite remarkable...

As a student of human history I know that wars are often started by well-meaning, peace-loving folks who intended to do just the opposite. Rest assured, that to me the intentions of the next President will make no difference at all if in 6 years time, my son is called into service to fight to liberate Iraq for a third time because of a desire to leave hastily and in chaos just to meet a campaign promise...

...we should all agree that the best policy to follow in the future is the policy that insures that we never have to go back and fight, and that with the right course of action, the middle east might someday be as quiet and peaceful as Europe. This is possible, but only if we do the right thing and not the thing that makes us "feel good".

We left Europe in haste in 1918, it felt good. We embargoed Japan's oil in 1940, and it felt good too. We did both those things beliving it would result in peace, but 52 million people around the world paid the true price for wishful thinking.

read the rest.

fix one thing, break another

while adding a title image to this blog's template, i accidentally made all the text center aligned - trying to fix it now...

update: now everything's left-justified, including the banner (which i've found is the wrong size...)

real change

viewpoint recommends newt gingrich's new book 'real change'

...the problem is that though the American public may know what it wants, it doesn't vote for it. It doesn't have the foggiest idea who in Congress stands for what, and consequently it elects people who actually oppose the very things that Americans say they want. For example:

• Ninety six percent want the Social Security system fixed now.
• Seventy one percent want a flat tax.
• Sixty five percent want nuclear power plants built.
• Eighty seven percent want English declared the official language.

Yet Congress is run by people who refuse to do any of these things.

Gingrich rightly faults Republicans for failing to lead on these and other issues when they had the majority, and he rightly faults Democrats for thwarting reform largely because they're beholden to bureaucracies, unions and interest groups which would lose power and money were real reforms to be enacted. But he nowhere faults the American people for their slothful approach to politics and their indifference to the responsibility imposed upon them by the rigtht to vote.

do the math

to paraphrase any number of hysterical reform-peddling concerned citizens (tm), "won't someone please think of the economic impact!"

wow

judging by the headline, either the chinese have invented time travel, or bbc writers have absolutely no concept of history.



(granted, the story clarifies the point, but still...)

is anyone surprised by this?

today, obama is offended by a cartoon.

does that remind you of anyone?

related: jonah goldberg, in summarizing muslim outrage, may also be describing a more local phenomenon:

"Maybe, just maybe, these guys brought some issues to the table long before they ever heard of these cartoons... Around the world, Muslims suffer from a mixture of legitimate grievances and an enormous inferiority complex."

dig in

www.antiobama.net has lots of reasons why (in a sane world) barack hussein obama should be unelectable:

in obamaspeak, 10,000$ > 31,000$

same waffle house, new management

bill and ted meet obama

11 questions that everyone should be asking

some obama staffers are more equal than others

forget silver

25th anniversary? move to paraguay!

;)

so do i

lileks wishes he knew:

...the exact point at which it became required to love the Beatles in order to be a reasonably enlightened member of western civ. Not just like them enough for their catchy tunes and winsome ways and insouciant follicle arrangements, but believe that they were somehow the zenith of all music, the apogee of song, the toppermost of art. I agree there’s some brilliant stuff in there, some lovely tunes and new ideas. Compared to a Beethoven Sonata, though, it’s monkeys pounding on a xylophone.

and - trust me - don't dare ask one of those beatle-worshipers about it.

hear no evil, see no evil

michael ramirez via discerning texan

swiss minaret ban

Typically, the first to complain about witchhunts are the witches:

Far right groups in Switzerland have collected enough signatures to force a nationwide referendum on banning minarets, the distinctive towers of Islamic architecture.

In what is being seen as a sign of growing Islamophobia in Europe, more than 100,000 Swiss citizens signed a petition to halt the construction of minarets...

to parallel: In what is being seen as a sign of growing West-o-phobia, Islamofascists kill and maim innocent civilians on a regular basis, and are perpetually outraged at the slightest excuse...

The petition was launched by Ulrich Schlüer an MP from the controversial Swiss People's party, which was accused of racist campaigning last year...

The UN expert on racism, Doudou Diene, has said the campaign is evidence of an "ever-increasing trend" toward anti-Islamic actions in Europe...

The UN "expert" had no comment on the "ever-increasing trend" toward anti-female actions in Islamic countries, or the "ever-increasing trend" toward anti-Christian actions by Islamofascists in the rest of the world...

who, indeed?

Local Malcontent asks that eternal question: "Who wants to type anything, after a hot day and cantaloupe?"

have you noticed?

tvfoh has:

have you noticed that there are no farmers running around with stolen plasma TVs or holding stolen liquor over their heads. There’s no looting or yelling “Where’s Bush?”, “Where’s FEMA?, Where’s my check?”, or ”Why isn’t the Gov’t out here saving me and my farm?”

Likewise, I’ve also noticed there are no reports of any other country coming to help or sending aid.

Shocking contrast isn’t it???!!!!

...and with all those guns in "flyover country", it's amazing that no one has taken a potshot at a helicopter! :P

you say "potatoe"

and he says "57 states"

forced prayer in schools

...but not to the true God...

Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel in class and pray to Allah

Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and ‘pray to Allah’ during a religious education lesson.

Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.

They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent — which included wearing Muslim headgear — was a breach of their human rights.

One parent, Sharon Luinen, said: “This isn’t right, it’s taking things too far.

“I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn’t join in Muslim prayer.

“Making them pray to Allah, who isn’t who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful."

to those two brave boys, and those who would follow their example, i repeat some words from churchill:

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

...and paraphrase some others:

This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of peoples and of causes. There are vast numbers, not only in this island but in every land, who will render faithful service in this war, whose names and deeds will not be recorded in this life below but in the one above. Let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the dark curse of Mohammed will be lifted from our age.

happy independence day

(oops, in the midst of all the festivities, i forgot to actually post this one...)

if fireworks are illegal in your vicinity, try these