Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
2009 Election, Health Care Vote and the GOP "civil war" in New York
Its been a little over a week since I last had the time to post, but it seems a lot happened during the week I was campaigning in Virginia for Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell. So here is a recap of what has changed on the political landscape over the last week and a half and the implications it has going forward, especially into the 2010 midterms.
Posted by Scottie at 11:19 AM 1 comments
Thursday, October 29, 2009
iPhone Politics
Daniel Henninger, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page, has a great, non-partisan, editorial in today's Wall Street Journal that is absolutely worth a read.
Posted by Scottie at 10:20 PM 2 comments
Friday, October 23, 2009
Let Censorship Begin! (or not...)
Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –
(Crosstalk)
Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.
Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –
Gibbs: ABC -
Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?
Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.
Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” -- why is that appropriate for the White House to say?
Gibbs: That’s our opinion.
Then to cap all of this off, yesterday the White House offered interviews to the White House pool (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and FOX) of the new White House 'pay czar'. Except that when they offered that interview they said FOX couldn't participate.
Now I am assuming that the Obama team made a calculated decision that this was their shot to finally knock Fox News out of the White House Reporting pool. What they didn't anticipate was the backlash from the other four members of the pool. Upon hearing that the interview of the new 'pay czar' would not be allowed to Fox News, the DC bureau chiefs of ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN said they would not participate in any pool activities that the entire pool wasn't invited too participate in.
What has transpired over the last few weeks has been an all out war not just on Fox News, but on the opposition to political ideas. And it hasn't been going very well. The simple fact of the matter is that Fox News, like CNN and MSNBC has opinion programming as well as News. Shepard Smith reports facts and happenings, Glenn Beck offers his opinion on those facts.
If the White House gets a clean pass to censor who gets to report the news, it wont be very long until the White House censor's what news is reported by the select group they allow into the briefing room. And good for the other four members of the pool for taking a stand against the administration.
If the American public and the American FREE press doesn't keep vigilante on this issue, it won't be just Fox News that is kicked out of the White House. Next CNN will say something disagreeable to Obama and get the boot, then CBS, ABC or NBC and eventually they could all be replaced by Pravda.
So don't just look at this "war against Fox News" as an attack on Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, it has much graver consequences than talk radio hosts.
Posted by Scottie at 10:25 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Amazing Pop-Up Diorama Made of Legos!
From Alex on Neatorama: "a pop-up diorama of the Kinkaku-ji Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, made entirely out of LEGO blocks! YouTube user talapz created this out of 4,500 bricks."
Posted by Cameron at 6:13 AM 0 comments
Monday, October 12, 2009
As Global Warming Continues, Montanans Prepare for Frostbite
Currently, the top two headlines on the Drudge Report read as follows...
BBC:What Happened to Global Warming...
Montana Cold Breaks Record...
Now, I have to point out that I was pretty excited to click on a link on the Drudge Report and be re-directed to "Montana's News Station," but I was more excited when I realized that, whereas I could be hunkered down trying to keep warm back at home in the States, I currently live in a city that posted almost 80 degree weather today! Now, 80 degrees in October is not out of the question in Montana, but to be able to count on warm days all week, midway through October, is something that I'm not quite used to yet. I'm working on being comfortable with this...
Which, in some random way, leads me to my next point. The article from the BBC begs the question that I've been asking myself for a few months now; "What happened to global warming?" We haven't heard much about it in the news recently, which either reflects poorly on the media for neglecting such a global problem, or reflects poorly on the scientists who purport the truth of this apocalyptic trend.
One segment of the story, in particular, stood out to me...
In addition, say Met Office scientists, temperatures have never increased in a straight line, and there will always be periods of slower warming, or even temporary cooling.
What is crucial, they say, is the long-term trend in global temperatures. And that, according to the Met office data, is clearly up.
To confuse the issue even further, last month Mojib Latif, a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says that we may indeed be in a period of cooling worldwide temperatures that could last another 10-20 years.
Professor Latif is based at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University in Germany and is one of the world's top climate modellers.
But he makes it clear that he has not become a sceptic; he believes that this cooling will be temporary, before the overwhelming force of man-made global warming reasserts itself.
So what can we expect in the next few years?
Quite frankly, this seems like the typical scientific ploy - if the numbers don't add up, just change them...or say that "there will be periods of cooling before things begin to heat up again..."
I would recommend reading the whole article, there is some interesting discussion on the effect of Ocean warming and cooling on global temperatures.
Posted by Cameron at 6:31 AM 0 comments
Batman: The Musical?
So, what's a guy to do when he lives in Turkey and doesn't have to go to work until 6 PM. Spend his days surfing the internet finding fun and exciting new things, of course! Which brings me to this little gem from The Zeray Gazette by way of Neatorama.
It seems Cartoon Network is currently airing a new Batman animate series called "Batman: The Brave and the Bold." More information on the new series, currently airing it's first season, can be found here. One particular episode, which apparently hasn't aired in the States yet, guest stars Neil Patrick Harris as "The Music Meister," a villain with the ability to hypnotize people with his beautiful singing voice. The episode is currently available through YouTube - but may not be up for long as it is set to air on October 22, so watch it while it's still there! I'll make it easy and give you the first part...
Go here for Part Two
and here for Part Three
Posted by Cameron at 2:57 AM 0 comments
Friday, October 09, 2009
Even Jimmy Carter did more
In an astounding move to further discredit the reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee today voted to give the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to none other than President Obama.
Posted by Scottie at 3:34 AM 1 comments
More in the Health Care Saga
In an interesting and potentially damaging letter to Congress, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops takes the time to point out 3 main reasons they will currently not support the democrats health care legislation.
Posted by Scottie at 3:06 AM 0 comments
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Touche Verizon
I think this video speaks for itself, so I'm not going to say anything else about it...
Posted by Cameron at 5:41 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Potentially Bad News for Health Care
It is being reported over at Red State that some Republican senators are talking about folding on health care and voting for a government sponsored system.
Posted by Scottie at 5:57 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Stunning, funny and storied photos
Found this over at Neatorama:
Posted by Scottie at 10:46 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bush the Warmonger or Obama the Warmonger
In a recent article discussing the press coverage of caskets arriving at Dover Air Force Base in the Washington Examiner an interesting fact stuck out to me that wasn't even the main point of the story.
Posted by Scottie at 4:54 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Further Stupidity of Mr. Obama
Posted by Scottie at 3:13 PM 0 comments
Saturday, September 19, 2009
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
see more Funny Graphs
Truthfully, as an adult, you don't need to have kids to play with Legos...but it helps.
From GraphJam on FAILblog.
Posted by Cameron at 10:36 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thank You Mr. (Former) President
Thank you Jimmy Carter for this gem...
"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat who served from 1977-1981 told students at Emory University.
But, just for my own edification - was this ok?
What about this...
This one?
Oh wait, I forgot...those are all just satire.
Read the rest of the former President's statements here...
Posted by Cameron at 10:57 PM 1 comments
A Truly Iconic Film Series
What if some of the iconic films of the later 20th century were made during the golden era of the industry?
YouTube user whoiseyevan answers that very question with a wonderful series of three (so far) re-worked movie trailers; Ghostbusters 1954, Raiders of the Lost Ark 1951 and Forrest Gump 1949. Utilizing black and white material from the period he turns Charlton Heston into Indiana Jones and Jimmy Stewart becomes Forrest Gump. Enjoy.
Via Neatorama.
This post is rated SPF 50.
Posted by Cameron at 10:25 AM 0 comments
1984 anyone?
House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has released a helpful, updated primer for members regarding their conduct on the floor and in committees.
Especially useful: The section on how to properly insult the executive branch in the in the chamber.
"Disgrace" and "nitwits" -- okay.
"Liar" or "sexual misconduct" -- ixnay.
Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:
• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:
• call the President a “liar.”
• call the President a “hypocrite.”
• describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
• charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
• refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”
Posted by Scottie at 1:18 AM 0 comments
Monday, September 14, 2009
You Won't Need Glasses
You won't need special glasses to enjoy this 3-dimensional scan of the Northeast Church at Hippos. The scan was conducted this dig-season and the following video shows a "fly-through" of the church. This technology is pretty incredible, I'm curious to see if they do anything else with this information!
This post is rated SPF 0 because the scanning was all done at night!
Posted by Cameron at 10:31 PM 0 comments
Friday, September 11, 2009
Stove Repair with Dad
And now it's time for another thrilling episode of "Stove Repair with Dad." Enjoy.
This post is rated SPF 450 - If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen...especially when dad's in there.
Posted by Cameron at 4:15 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
That was Innocuous Enough
A few thoughts on the President's Speech to America's school-children...oh wait, let me rephrase that. According to the "Language Police" America is "banned because it suggests geographical chauvinism unless it refers to all people in North America, South America, and Central America; refer instead to people of the United States."
So, let's try this again...
A few thought's on the President's Speech to the school-children of the United States...
1. The speech was incredibly innocuous, and frankly, not overly inspiring.
2. I was never worried THAT the President was giving a speech. More so, I was worried WHAT the speech would be about. I had been afraid, based on the original lesson plan that was released, that the speech would be much more political and more agenda-driven. With that said, I am curious if the speech we saw today would have been the same if there had not been any controversy over the lesson plan mentioned above.
3. To me, as an educator and someone who has worked with children on a daily basis, the biggest issue here is the level of hubris that it takes for someone, even the President, to think that he can give a 15-minute speech and somehow accomplish something (namely encouraging and inspiring school-children)that a group of professionals has trouble doing over the course of a 180-day school year.
4. At it's core, the speech today encouraged students to "work hard" and "stay in school." However, I find it ironic that the National Government, and indeed this administration has made it so incredibly easy to NOT do these things. I'm talking here about food stamps, nationalized/free healthcare, cash for clunkers, loan forgiveness after the housing crisis, etc, etc, etc...
5. Finally, if this speech is somehow connected to a larger agenda (I know, now we are delving into the world of conspiracy theory), then it has occurred to me that the President really didn't have to say anything about this agenda because there are many out there who will spread this message for him...like the teacher in the video below or the little girl who was interviewed shortly after the speech who said that the President's message was "if you fail yourself, you fail your country." A startlingly nationalistic statement which seems to come straight from Orwell's 1984.
This video is from before the election last November, as you will see. The thing that is startling about it is that the teacher professes to allow her students to have whatever opinion that they want. She also says that she supports those opinions. However, as the video progresses and students begin to say that they support John McCain she appears obviously disappointed. Then she tells one girl, whose father was deployed in Iraq at the time, that if John McCain is elected he will keep the troops there as long as it takes, even if it takes 100 years. She basically implies to this girl that if John McCain is elected her dad will never come home from the war, but if Barack Obama is elected he will end the war (a campaign promise he has yet to make good on) and will, therefore, bring her dad home...
The President didn't HAVE To give a rousing speech today...The "bipartisanship" that he promised during his campaign has already so polarized the country that he doesn't have to do much to get his agenda discussed in the news, on the web or in the classroom...
This post is rated SPF 11,816,652,059,366. Find out why here...
Posted by Cameron at 10:37 AM 0 comments
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Mike Tyson..er... Democrat activist strikes in Southern California
In what can only be described as a Mike Tyson style attack, according to reports out of Ventura, California today, during a protest over Obamacare, a pro-Obamacare supporter from a MoveOn.org supported rally bit off the pinky finger of 65 year-old William Rice.
Posted by Scottie at 9:35 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Happy, Healthy and Completely Unawares...
Ok, I'm convinced - I don't want Swine Flu...I don't want any flu. The flu's no fun, but seriously; why are my tax-dollars paying for this ad as well as www.flu.gov; which, apparently, provides "One Stop Access to U.S. Government H1N1, avian and pandemic flu information."
Last I checked, the flu is the flu, and, according to this report from May -
Swine flu is not hyper-virulent. While it spreads relatively easily it does not appear to be any more virulent that the strains we have circulating every year around the world....
Currently [remember - May] in the US it appears that for every 1000 people who get infected, about 40 people need admission to hospital and about one person dies. This is a still an aggressive virus, but no more so than the Flu viruses that change slightly every year or so, and then circulate around the world, mainly causing problems in winter....
Given this Swine Flu strain is H1, we would expect many in the population to have some immunity because variations of H1 strains have been recirculating in people since 1918. This appears to be the case and is reflected in the relatively small numbers of people over the age of 30 who have been infected.
So, don't forget to use those rudimentary hygiene skills that Elmo and Obama reminded us of and I'm pretty sure you won't die...
This post is rated SPF Death because swine flu is going to kill us all...and then the pigs will rule the world...kind of like Animal Farm.
If you liked the image above, visit the Neatorama store. I personally won that shirt for having the best swine flu related pun - "Chicken's cry fowl as swine flu hogs world spotlight."
Posted by Cameron at 11:18 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
The Longest Amendment
This past evening I was helping out my younger brother as he was working on a 'getting to know the constitution' worksheet for his American Government class. As we went through the sheet it became very apparent that he was not exactly appreciating the 'historical' context that I was adding to his work, he just wanted to fill in the bubbles and move on to other things.
Posted by Scottie at 4:30 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Author's Quiet Birthday
Ray Bradbury turned 89 last week. His iconic work, Fahrenheit 451 - first published in it's entirety in 1953, turned 56 this year.
"So what?" you're probably thinking, and you wouldn't be wrong in thinking that this post seems somewhat random. Unless, of course, you knew that I just finished reading this book, for the first time actually. It was never part of the required reading as I was moving through school (and, even if it had been, there is a good probability that I would have only skimmed). I am surprised that I had not read the book, but glad that I waited until now because I do not think that I would have understood it or seen its poignancy had I read it previously. How did Bradbury do it? How did he foresee an era where electronic media would foreshadow the written word in ink (yes, I understand the irony of writing this electronically)? How did he foresee a time when snippets of information, for example knowing Napoleon's Birthday, would become more valuable than actually knowing who Napoleon was?
For those who haven't read the book it follows Guy Montag, a fireman in a futuristic society. However, he is not the kind of fireman that we think of today. Instead Guy, and all of the others in his profession, move around the city starting fires. Specifically, they burn books.
The reason for this is explained by the Fire-Chief on pages 58-60 of the book:
"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for then there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind"..."Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet into the incinerator."
At its core the book is about censorship, and the author's absolute love of books. A secondary theme is the encroachment of technology, and it's overshadowing of literature and the written word. Finally, the book also discusses the concept of the police state and the inability of it's people to think for themselves. Ironically, the book was itself censored in the mid-1960s. The publishing company removed all of the "damns" and "hells" in order to make the book more appropriate for the classroom. Another ironic outcome of the book comes from more recently. Various people have been trying to bring Fahrenheit 451 back to the screen for 15 years. The process began in 1994 when Mel Gibson signed on to play the role of Guy Montag. Eventually, after a few scripts were worked up and turned down, Gibson moved into the role of producer. Eventually, Tom Hanks signed on to play Montag, but he has also moved on. The irony is outlined in a 2001 article from Variety magazine which says: "Gibson said he couldn't find a "451" script that worked. Adding to his reluctance: the realization that, in the age of computers, the crucial plot element -- burning books in a futuristic society to permanently erase their existence -- might no longer play." Source. How ironic - a book about book burning...about technology overtaking page and ink...a book warning of the perils of conformity and a lack of free-thinking individuals has been deemed obsolete because of the technology that seems to have overtaken our lives.
Ray Bradbury turned 89 last week...did anyone notice?
Oh, since I'm sure you're wondering, Napoleon's Birthday is August 15, 1769.
This post is rated SPF 451, I hope for obvious reasons.
Posted by Cameron at 9:48 PM 1 comments
Sportscenter and Brett Favre
Well I hate to put two posts up in one day but I just saw this Sportscenter commercial on ESPN today and couldn't resist.
Posted by Scottie at 2:52 PM 0 comments
A Few Words on Term Limits
According to Politico, with the passing of Sen. Kennedy, the state of Massachusetts will have its first opening in the Senate since John Kerry was elected in 1984. Which means that throughout the course of my life I have literally never seen anyone but Kennedy and Kerry representing the state of Massachusetts in the US Senate.
Posted by Scottie at 8:51 AM 0 comments
R.I.P. Sen. Kennedy
It has been reported late Tuesday night that Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has passed away after having battled brain cancer and ill health for some time now. He was 77 years old and the third longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate.
Posted by Scottie at 2:13 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
It aint Over 'til it's Over
As the great and profound Yogi Berra once said of his 1973 Mets division run against the Cubs, on Monday night the Colorado Rockies truly proved that 'It aint over 'til its over'
Posted by Scottie at 1:19 AM 0 comments
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Un-Assist
It's only been officially recorded 15 times in MLB history; which is saying something because, depending on who you ask, Major League Baseball has been around either - since the Cincinatti Red Stockings were established in 1869 or since 1903 when the National Agreement was signed. Either way you figure it that's over 100 years and a lot of games to consider...So, what is this amazing feat that has only happened a few times? The unassisted triple-play.
And in case you missed it, the most recent unassisted triple play happened on August 23, 2009.
Now, upon doing some research, one will find that this has actually happened one time in each of the past three seasons, so maybe it's not THAT special. However, what makes Eric Bruntlett's unassisted triple-play that much more exciting is the fact that it was a game-ender...and it's only the second time in MLB history that that has happened.
This post is rated SPF 95 because the Mets just got burned (what else is new).
Posted by Cameron at 11:02 PM 0 comments
Friday, August 21, 2009
Now That's Dedication
I don't know much about this clip - all I know is it's incredible and you should watch it.
Link via Neatorama.
This video is rated SPF 85 for brilliance and contorsionism.
Posted by Cameron at 11:42 AM 0 comments
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Would you survive a zombie attack?
I don't want to speak for all men out there, but generally speaking I think it is safe to assume that if you are a male between the age of 15 and 35, not only have you pondered if you would survive a zombie attack but thought out detailed plans of how you would go about surviving said attack.
Well for those out there that have always guessed as to whether or not you would survive a zombie attack, Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Jow Imad, and Robert J. Smith, mathematicians at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have taken the guesswork out of this question and spent the time determining the statistical probability you or I would survive such an attack.
"Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all."
Posted by Scottie at 1:54 AM 0 comments