Hear the candidates......I am Change. Change!. I will bring Change! We need Change! I can make Change happen!
So can a bus driver, or a toll booth attendant, or a grocery clerk. Even a fast food cashier! All can make change.
I don't want change, I want courage of conviction (bye bye Romney and Hillary)
I want competence (I'm here, Huckleberry, er, Huckabee, so you can go)
I do want someone not tainted by Washington (farewell, McCain)
I want fiscal conservatism, but social liberalism (nice knowing you Obama)
I guess that leaves Ron Paul....or emigration.
Monday, January 07, 2008
The Hypocritic(al) Oath of the Press
I'll never forget the press conferences of Bill Belichick during the week of Spygate. He issued a statement and refused to comment on it, other than to say, "read the statement". He has been vilified since then for not being forthcoming, but the vilifiers have become fewer and fewer. Well, look at Roger Clemens. He has been forthcoming, he has denied vehemently the charges against him, he play a tape in which his accuser repeatedly asked "what do you want me to do" to which Clemens replied "I need people to tell the truth" (please note, saying anymore could be considered witness tampering). And yet, the press is saying because Clemens did not have McNamee fly down for the press conference (more witness tampering, offering a free flight), Clemens is still holding back. This is what Belichick was avoiding. The more Clemens feed, the more the the press wants. Belichick knew, you cannot feed the hypocritical press enough, therefore you must starve them.
And I said all that to say this, I wish the science channel would stick more to science and less to editorializing. They had a magnificent show "Pandemic:Bird Flu" showing how bird flu could mutate and spread, in a simulation by actors. And yet, at the end what did we have? A wasted, preachy rant "why didn't they tell us more?" Lady, I'll tell you why. Because there are hard truths in a hospital during a pandemic. Decisions are made about who gets what treatment, who is too sick to save, who is likely to get too sick to save, and who will survive with treatment. You know why the medical community will not say that? Because the press would seize on it, dwell on it, twist it and drive it into your skull, maximizing fear, uncertainty and doubt, playing up the dramatic, making sure you tune in. Hell, they will almost lie to make sure you'll tune in. You doubt me? Here are some examples:
The day of the Mitchell report on steroid use, a list of players was supposedly released by Bloomberg (they deny this!) but MSNBC decided to run with it. Now all the other news media can pick it up, saying "MSNBC reports that...." Except, the list was false. Apology on page Z5, sorry, Jason Veritek.
Hurricane Katrina evacuees were told to bring three days supply of food and water. When aid came 2 days later, the question were, why are you so late, we have no supplies? Excuse, but two is less than three, why weren't you prepared?
Iraq, the surge. The past 6 months of report went "FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!well okay its working, IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, OBAMA..... see, no more news of the surge.
Dan Rather and the letters about Bush written on a PC, years before the PC existed.
I can go on, but enough, I think you get the point. The press is too full of themselves. They will decide whether you are innocent or guilty, but not until the story has lost its luridness, or appeal. The Peter Kings of the world, pontificaters from on high, will not let go so long as ratings or accolades increase. I wish Roger Clemens had looked more carefully in the Bill Belichick method of handling the press, he could have saved a lot of ink, trees and bandwidth. Don't feed the beast, let it get hungry and move on. Maybe someday, we can starve it out at last.
And I said all that to say this, I wish the science channel would stick more to science and less to editorializing. They had a magnificent show "Pandemic:Bird Flu" showing how bird flu could mutate and spread, in a simulation by actors. And yet, at the end what did we have? A wasted, preachy rant "why didn't they tell us more?" Lady, I'll tell you why. Because there are hard truths in a hospital during a pandemic. Decisions are made about who gets what treatment, who is too sick to save, who is likely to get too sick to save, and who will survive with treatment. You know why the medical community will not say that? Because the press would seize on it, dwell on it, twist it and drive it into your skull, maximizing fear, uncertainty and doubt, playing up the dramatic, making sure you tune in. Hell, they will almost lie to make sure you'll tune in. You doubt me? Here are some examples:
The day of the Mitchell report on steroid use, a list of players was supposedly released by Bloomberg (they deny this!) but MSNBC decided to run with it. Now all the other news media can pick it up, saying "MSNBC reports that...." Except, the list was false. Apology on page Z5, sorry, Jason Veritek.
Hurricane Katrina evacuees were told to bring three days supply of food and water. When aid came 2 days later, the question were, why are you so late, we have no supplies? Excuse, but two is less than three, why weren't you prepared?
Iraq, the surge. The past 6 months of report went "FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!well okay its working, IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, OBAMA..... see, no more news of the surge.
Dan Rather and the letters about Bush written on a PC, years before the PC existed.
I can go on, but enough, I think you get the point. The press is too full of themselves. They will decide whether you are innocent or guilty, but not until the story has lost its luridness, or appeal. The Peter Kings of the world, pontificaters from on high, will not let go so long as ratings or accolades increase. I wish Roger Clemens had looked more carefully in the Bill Belichick method of handling the press, he could have saved a lot of ink, trees and bandwidth. Don't feed the beast, let it get hungry and move on. Maybe someday, we can starve it out at last.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
How to Lose to the Democrats
It figures that the state which brings us such poppycock ideas like corn ethanol would attempt to give us President Huckabee. The man is the worst kind of religious zealot which is probably why he is so stupid (He APOLOGIZED for the death of Benizir Bhutto, idiot used the wrong word, or he did kill her). He is the WORST kind of Republican, a fiscal spendthrift and a social facist. I will have much more to say if this worthless piece of fecal matter wins anymore primaries or caucuses. I will say this - I would rather have Kucinich in office than Huckleberry
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Separation vs Establishment
Wow, I guess my faith in the intelligence of the average American needs to diminish. Can anybody find the separation of Church and State in the Constitution? Anybody? You in back, you got something? Of course not! There is no separation of Church and State in the Constitution. There is a clause procluding the ESTABLISHMENT of religion, but nothing about separation. There is a difference, you know. One means you can have absolutely no religion in government funded anything. The other means that there will never be a Church of the United States, like there is a Church of England.
I'm not advocating prayer in schools, or 3PM prayers in the direction of Mecca. I am warning people that ANYTHING that can be construed as a religion is going to be under fire. Will we stop putting crosses on the graves of soldiers? Will we declare Darwinism to be a religion (evolution is not, Darwinism is, but we'll discuss that later). How about politcal philosophy's? Is socialism a religion? Is republicanism?(I assume if you found this blog, you know we do not live in a democracy, we live in a republic. A democracy is mob rule, he who has the most votes gets his way. In a republic, you have representative government who decides, and there are checks and balances so that the many cannot destroy the few...but I digress). Where do we stop?
I'm not sure why I am ranting on this...an old subject, well discussed and documented. I get a'skared when I hear a debate between the luntic fringes of both sides of this aregument. I stick my by formula, T = 1/g, that is the technological capability of a civilation is inversly related to the number of gods they have. Whenever I hear people debating religion in a political context (i.e. ANY Rrepublican debate) I fear a little bit that g will increase...and T will go down. Anybody for the Dark Ages, the Inquisition...or maybe the Salem witch trials? I thought not. Let's hope we all keep thinking and stop this nonsense.
I'm not advocating prayer in schools, or 3PM prayers in the direction of Mecca. I am warning people that ANYTHING that can be construed as a religion is going to be under fire. Will we stop putting crosses on the graves of soldiers? Will we declare Darwinism to be a religion (evolution is not, Darwinism is, but we'll discuss that later). How about politcal philosophy's? Is socialism a religion? Is republicanism?(I assume if you found this blog, you know we do not live in a democracy, we live in a republic. A democracy is mob rule, he who has the most votes gets his way. In a republic, you have representative government who decides, and there are checks and balances so that the many cannot destroy the few...but I digress). Where do we stop?
I'm not sure why I am ranting on this...an old subject, well discussed and documented. I get a'skared when I hear a debate between the luntic fringes of both sides of this aregument. I stick my by formula, T = 1/g, that is the technological capability of a civilation is inversly related to the number of gods they have. Whenever I hear people debating religion in a political context (i.e. ANY Rrepublican debate) I fear a little bit that g will increase...and T will go down. Anybody for the Dark Ages, the Inquisition...or maybe the Salem witch trials? I thought not. Let's hope we all keep thinking and stop this nonsense.
Friday, October 26, 2007
I guess we are taken for granted
CNN touts the release of Genarlow Wilson for having oral sex with a 15 year old when he was 17. Forget the fact that the act was illegal on the face of it, he RECORDED it. That is why he is in jail. But will you see that in the news stories tonight? Of course not. We are taken for granted, we will believe what they say. The Jena 6 incident makes sense, if he was sooo hurt, how did he make it to the dance (and the pity fucks for all those bruises). Wilson TAPED this 15 year old. Why, except to exploit her? But we will never hear about it.
By the way, anybody notice that when you tell SOME people to get three days food anf water and meet at the football stadium for improvised housing, they throw a party; versus OTHER people who whine and cry and lie? Can't say more, but look at the video from Charger Stadium this week versus the Superdome after Katrina.....
By the way, anybody notice that when you tell SOME people to get three days food anf water and meet at the football stadium for improvised housing, they throw a party; versus OTHER people who whine and cry and lie? Can't say more, but look at the video from Charger Stadium this week versus the Superdome after Katrina.....
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Even Paranoids Have Enemies
Forgot to add some comments about the book "Internal Combustion" by Edwin Black (don't buy it Karen, you can have my copy when I'm done). 408 pages of text, only 316 is text, the rest is typical paranoid thinking that if you can document 2 words in an 3 word sentence, people will believe. Well, if the sentence is "Fred killed Tom", and you can prove Fred exists, and Tom exists, does that prove the assertion? Not really. In one chapter, a reporter is murdered by the subject of a muckraking article he is working on. Though the muckraking has little or nothing to do with the books premise (please see Amazon.com for a description) the murder is given front and center status, in hopes of the reader making a leap from logic to fantasy.
But you know, forgetting about the paranoia rampant in this book, there are nuggets of truth. His description of the current state of the ethanol industry is fascinating, as has his descriptions of how the early electric cars slowly disappeared. Unfortunately, he forgets about Thomas Edison's fatal mistake (choosing DC versus AC for his power distribution system) which would have doomed his dream of electric cars, and without distribution, electric cars will not exist.
In short, it's really too bad to see an author with a great concept (the electric car did not die a natural death, like the steam car did, but was murdered) get so obsessed with the conspiracy aspects that he ignores the facts that would back him up, without appearing to be a conspiracy nut. There is much good in this book, unfortunately, it is intertwined with stories to nowhere, and looking for "reds under the beds" type thought. I will say this, you can't help but yearn for an electric car after reading this.
BTW, for a better read, try "The Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson. If you ever heard of the Broad Street Pump, you will amazed at the REAL story, and if you haven't, you will be amazed at how the infrastructure in our cities started, and why. He starts out a little crass for my tastes (I prefer feces to sh_t) but when the story really gets started, it's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, surrounded by a powerful misconception. Great book!
But you know, forgetting about the paranoia rampant in this book, there are nuggets of truth. His description of the current state of the ethanol industry is fascinating, as has his descriptions of how the early electric cars slowly disappeared. Unfortunately, he forgets about Thomas Edison's fatal mistake (choosing DC versus AC for his power distribution system) which would have doomed his dream of electric cars, and without distribution, electric cars will not exist.
In short, it's really too bad to see an author with a great concept (the electric car did not die a natural death, like the steam car did, but was murdered) get so obsessed with the conspiracy aspects that he ignores the facts that would back him up, without appearing to be a conspiracy nut. There is much good in this book, unfortunately, it is intertwined with stories to nowhere, and looking for "reds under the beds" type thought. I will say this, you can't help but yearn for an electric car after reading this.
BTW, for a better read, try "The Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson. If you ever heard of the Broad Street Pump, you will amazed at the REAL story, and if you haven't, you will be amazed at how the infrastructure in our cities started, and why. He starts out a little crass for my tastes (I prefer feces to sh_t) but when the story really gets started, it's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, surrounded by a powerful misconception. Great book!
Ramblin on
This will meander for a bit, not quite sure what I want to say. I'm working for my upteenth startup, and it suffers from the same disease of all the other startups. In the face of cold hard facts, the powers that be, or at least a significant number of them, blithely go on with the original plans. Why worry that NOBODY wants or needs your product? Why worry about quality when there are stylistic issues to be handled? Grrrr...I'll get over it.
Then there is the coy coworker trying to hide she is having a long distance relationship. Lady, I really don't care who, where or when you get your jollys, so please don't waste my time torn between giggling and acting sober when you are dancing around the fact you are going to get laid this weekend after a long plane flight. Been there, done that, and not ashamed at all, why are you?
The reaction to the bridge disaster in Minneapolis really pisses me off. Excuse me, you asses who voted 20 million dollars for bicycle paths in RI, and over $250,000,000 for a bridge between two underpopulated places in Alaska, maybe, just maybe, you should better spend the BILLION's you pissed away on earmarks, rather than raise gas taxes, which will only be used for even MORE earmarks.
I see NASA dodged a bad one, letting the space shuttle land with tile damage. Haven't heard about the impact on shuttle turnaround yet, sure they will wait until we forget about this flight before telling us about frame damage. I don't blame them, their VSE is based around the external tank structure, if it is fatally flawed (and it is) they won't have a VSE. I remember a ST:TNG episode where Data and Troi are analyzing Rikers tactical approaches. After much over analysis by Data, Troi reminds him that in the end, he is the man he is, or as Popeye would say, "I'samwhatsIam".
OK, enough of a rant for now. Be back soon.
Then there is the coy coworker trying to hide she is having a long distance relationship. Lady, I really don't care who, where or when you get your jollys, so please don't waste my time torn between giggling and acting sober when you are dancing around the fact you are going to get laid this weekend after a long plane flight. Been there, done that, and not ashamed at all, why are you?
The reaction to the bridge disaster in Minneapolis really pisses me off. Excuse me, you asses who voted 20 million dollars for bicycle paths in RI, and over $250,000,000 for a bridge between two underpopulated places in Alaska, maybe, just maybe, you should better spend the BILLION's you pissed away on earmarks, rather than raise gas taxes, which will only be used for even MORE earmarks.
I see NASA dodged a bad one, letting the space shuttle land with tile damage. Haven't heard about the impact on shuttle turnaround yet, sure they will wait until we forget about this flight before telling us about frame damage. I don't blame them, their VSE is based around the external tank structure, if it is fatally flawed (and it is) they won't have a VSE. I remember a ST:TNG episode where Data and Troi are analyzing Rikers tactical approaches. After much over analysis by Data, Troi reminds him that in the end, he is the man he is, or as Popeye would say, "I'samwhatsIam".
OK, enough of a rant for now. Be back soon.
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