Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The LDS Jerusalem
Haven't been in a blogging mood for a few days ... terrible weather, and some dull but paid work.
Today NRO is discussing the LDS views on New Jerusalem in the context of Mitt Romney's sudden fall from stellar status. Reminds me of a rare and probably obsolete bit of information.
Back in 1962 I was considering radio as a career; I did a sort of student internship at K-State's low-power student practice station, and visited some other stations.
At that time my favorite uncle worked at KMBZ in Kansas City, which was quietly owned by the Mormons but not operated as a religious station. My uncle showed me some of the internal details at KMBZ. He showed me the Conelrad stuff, which I was already familiar with from my K-State practice: the big red button and the scary tapes pre-recorded by Kennedy to give the impression that our flag was still there after Washington had been turned into a glowing crater by Soviet bombs.
My uncle showed me something unexpected as well. Alone among American radio stations, KMBZ had a second emergency setup. This was not designed for nuclear apocalypse; it was for the return of Jesus, which was going to occur in Independence, just east of KC. The whole reason for owning KMBZ, in other words, was to have a station ready to cover the New Jerusalem!
= = = = =
Overall, I'm sad to see Romney losing track of his chief advantage. His absolutely unique quality among modern politicians is a talent for speaking clearly and selling convincingly. He seems to have fallen into the hands of some experienced Bush handlers, who are teaching him how to act like a Bush. I don't blame him for hiring handlers, but if his leadership is so weak that he can't resist their awful advice, he isn't qualified.
= = = = =
Afterthought:
When I write that KMBZ was "not operated as a religious station", I'm guilty of Nowism, applying modern mindsets to an earlier era.
In 1962 there was no such thing as Christian Radio, so "operating as a religious station" wasn't a meaningful choice. The need and the opportunity hadn't yet developed, except possibly in the largest cities like New York. Radio was still operating under the law and culture of public service, in which each station was a quasi-governmental franchise. FCC insisted that stations should serve the needs of their local communities, which included encouraging religion. Stations offered daily sermonettes and choral programs, and networks provided wonderful series like Family Theater.
But 1962, though not obvious at the time, was a point of inflection in this curve. Television had sapped the audience, so networks simply stopped providing radio entertainment in '62. Local stations, unable to replace the quality, started to decline.
Also in '62, the Soviet saboteurs who occupied the Supreme Court began their long war on Christianity with the first decisions banning school prayer. Soon the notion of public service was reversed: it was illegal to mention religion in public.
By the late '70s the FCC had ceased paying much attention to the stagnant backwater of AM radio. As FM and TV, infiltrated from NPR, moved farther and farther to the left, the need for a pro-Christian (or at least not lethally anti-Christian) media became more drastic. Entrepreneurs like Pat Robertson and the Bakkers, and church-based organizations like EWTN and Moody, took advantage of the cheap licenses of abandoned stations and filled the perceived need.
Today nearly every town has at least one explicitly Christian station, and many are commercially successful. ¶ 8:07 PM
Today NRO is discussing the LDS views on New Jerusalem in the context of Mitt Romney's sudden fall from stellar status. Reminds me of a rare and probably obsolete bit of information.
Back in 1962 I was considering radio as a career; I did a sort of student internship at K-State's low-power student practice station, and visited some other stations.
At that time my favorite uncle worked at KMBZ in Kansas City, which was quietly owned by the Mormons but not operated as a religious station. My uncle showed me some of the internal details at KMBZ. He showed me the Conelrad stuff, which I was already familiar with from my K-State practice: the big red button and the scary tapes pre-recorded by Kennedy to give the impression that our flag was still there after Washington had been turned into a glowing crater by Soviet bombs.
My uncle showed me something unexpected as well. Alone among American radio stations, KMBZ had a second emergency setup. This was not designed for nuclear apocalypse; it was for the return of Jesus, which was going to occur in Independence, just east of KC. The whole reason for owning KMBZ, in other words, was to have a station ready to cover the New Jerusalem!
= = = = =
Overall, I'm sad to see Romney losing track of his chief advantage. His absolutely unique quality among modern politicians is a talent for speaking clearly and selling convincingly. He seems to have fallen into the hands of some experienced Bush handlers, who are teaching him how to act like a Bush. I don't blame him for hiring handlers, but if his leadership is so weak that he can't resist their awful advice, he isn't qualified.
= = = = =
Afterthought:
When I write that KMBZ was "not operated as a religious station", I'm guilty of Nowism, applying modern mindsets to an earlier era.
In 1962 there was no such thing as Christian Radio, so "operating as a religious station" wasn't a meaningful choice. The need and the opportunity hadn't yet developed, except possibly in the largest cities like New York. Radio was still operating under the law and culture of public service, in which each station was a quasi-governmental franchise. FCC insisted that stations should serve the needs of their local communities, which included encouraging religion. Stations offered daily sermonettes and choral programs, and networks provided wonderful series like Family Theater.
But 1962, though not obvious at the time, was a point of inflection in this curve. Television had sapped the audience, so networks simply stopped providing radio entertainment in '62. Local stations, unable to replace the quality, started to decline.
Also in '62, the Soviet saboteurs who occupied the Supreme Court began their long war on Christianity with the first decisions banning school prayer. Soon the notion of public service was reversed: it was illegal to mention religion in public.
By the late '70s the FCC had ceased paying much attention to the stagnant backwater of AM radio. As FM and TV, infiltrated from NPR, moved farther and farther to the left, the need for a pro-Christian (or at least not lethally anti-Christian) media became more drastic. Entrepreneurs like Pat Robertson and the Bakkers, and church-based organizations like EWTN and Moody, took advantage of the cheap licenses of abandoned stations and filled the perceived need.
Today nearly every town has at least one explicitly Christian station, and many are commercially successful. ¶ 8:07 PM
Friday, February 16, 2007
Beck: "Money trumps peace."
Glenn Beck did a neat little riff yesterday on "Money trumps peace." It's an important point, and one rarely voiced by conservatives because it sounds too much like a leftist argument. It is, however, a point that Reagan understood deeply.
Here's a deep and long parable on the same subject, produced back in 1954 by Family Theater, famously the source of "The family that prays together stays together."
Family Theater ran on radio from '47 to '56, essentially sponsored by God through the earthly agency of a semi-official group of Catholics. Because God doesn't need to worry about ratings, the show could present a wide variety of stories, from classics to medieval legends to obscure American short stories to fresh and topical pieces, always with a moral point. Nothing in radio or TV since then has matched Family Theater for variety, literary quality and depth.
Monsieur Payen falls into the topical-piece category. It's a story of France's abandonment of Vietnam to the Communists, which was still unraveling at the time when the show was aired. Payen is a French businessman in Haiphong who decides to let money trump everything. He thinks, "Eh bien, Communists are no different from anyone else. They need fabric, and the workers need work. So I'll keep my factory running and make whatever adjustments are needed."
Along the way, Payen sees the consequences of fighting a half-hearted and compromising war against an unyielding ideology.
The author foresees that the same defeat will happen again and again until we realize several important things.
First: if you're in such a war, FIGHT. Seems like an obvious lesson, but not learned by the Americans in Korea in 1954 (who may have been the immediate target of the parable); not learned by Americans in the very same Vietnam twenty years later; still not learned by Americans in Iraq today.
Second: to prevent such a war from happening, be sure you're not giving the enemy an easy handle on the people. Payen is forced to realize that he had treated his workers badly, making the Marxist propaganda about capitalist slavedrivers just a bit too resonant. In modern terms: pick your alliances carefully, not letting money trump everything. If we are seen as aiding the slavedrivers (such as the Saudi government or the Mexican maquilladoras) we are handing the revolutionary enemy a propaganda gift. If we are seen as supporting the slaves, even if only on a moral basis, we subtract one advantage from the enemy.
Third, perhaps the most original point: If there's a risk of being defeated, don't leave the enemy a physical legacy. Payen ends up by burning his fabric mill and escaping with his life. In modern terms: don't build schools, sewage treatment plants and oil pipelines that the enemy can take over. You may do those things after you've completely defeated, eliminated, destroyed, abolished and killed every vestige of the enemy's tribe or ideology. If you do them while the barbarian is still alive, you're only leaving gifts that he will use for his own advantage.
We need to remember one basic difference: Civilized people build things, while barbarians only use and destroy. If we sell or give pipelines, nuclear plants, or even fuel oil, we are simply confusing the picture. The barbarian can then offer the fruits of civilization as if they were his own idea, without gaining any of the qualities of a builder. If we leave the barbarian to his own devices, the people will see the difference clearly, and will be more likely to support a civilized force when it emerges.
Fourth: if you're on the side of civilization, God will be there also. Ask him. [I suspect this wasn't in the original story; probably added by Family Theater. But it turns out to have been uncannily prophetic, since Reagan finally defeated the Commies with the physical, social, and spiritual aid of the Roman Church.]
= = = = =
Later edit: I had the audio of the 'Monsieur Payen' program here, but it appears that the Family Theater outfit (still very active) has done a thorough combing of the web. The clip was deleted from my website, and the entire series is no longer available through the store where I bought it on CD. No point in putting it back up; it will just get deleted again later. Apologies to searchers who were looking for it.
= = = = = ¶ 8:00 AM
Here's a deep and long parable on the same subject, produced back in 1954 by Family Theater, famously the source of "The family that prays together stays together."
Family Theater ran on radio from '47 to '56, essentially sponsored by God through the earthly agency of a semi-official group of Catholics. Because God doesn't need to worry about ratings, the show could present a wide variety of stories, from classics to medieval legends to obscure American short stories to fresh and topical pieces, always with a moral point. Nothing in radio or TV since then has matched Family Theater for variety, literary quality and depth.
Monsieur Payen falls into the topical-piece category. It's a story of France's abandonment of Vietnam to the Communists, which was still unraveling at the time when the show was aired. Payen is a French businessman in Haiphong who decides to let money trump everything. He thinks, "Eh bien, Communists are no different from anyone else. They need fabric, and the workers need work. So I'll keep my factory running and make whatever adjustments are needed."
Along the way, Payen sees the consequences of fighting a half-hearted and compromising war against an unyielding ideology.
The author foresees that the same defeat will happen again and again until we realize several important things.
First: if you're in such a war, FIGHT. Seems like an obvious lesson, but not learned by the Americans in Korea in 1954 (who may have been the immediate target of the parable); not learned by Americans in the very same Vietnam twenty years later; still not learned by Americans in Iraq today.
Second: to prevent such a war from happening, be sure you're not giving the enemy an easy handle on the people. Payen is forced to realize that he had treated his workers badly, making the Marxist propaganda about capitalist slavedrivers just a bit too resonant. In modern terms: pick your alliances carefully, not letting money trump everything. If we are seen as aiding the slavedrivers (such as the Saudi government or the Mexican maquilladoras) we are handing the revolutionary enemy a propaganda gift. If we are seen as supporting the slaves, even if only on a moral basis, we subtract one advantage from the enemy.
Third, perhaps the most original point: If there's a risk of being defeated, don't leave the enemy a physical legacy. Payen ends up by burning his fabric mill and escaping with his life. In modern terms: don't build schools, sewage treatment plants and oil pipelines that the enemy can take over. You may do those things after you've completely defeated, eliminated, destroyed, abolished and killed every vestige of the enemy's tribe or ideology. If you do them while the barbarian is still alive, you're only leaving gifts that he will use for his own advantage.
We need to remember one basic difference: Civilized people build things, while barbarians only use and destroy. If we sell or give pipelines, nuclear plants, or even fuel oil, we are simply confusing the picture. The barbarian can then offer the fruits of civilization as if they were his own idea, without gaining any of the qualities of a builder. If we leave the barbarian to his own devices, the people will see the difference clearly, and will be more likely to support a civilized force when it emerges.
Fourth: if you're on the side of civilization, God will be there also. Ask him. [I suspect this wasn't in the original story; probably added by Family Theater. But it turns out to have been uncannily prophetic, since Reagan finally defeated the Commies with the physical, social, and spiritual aid of the Roman Church.]
= = = = =
Later edit: I had the audio of the 'Monsieur Payen' program here, but it appears that the Family Theater outfit (still very active) has done a thorough combing of the web. The clip was deleted from my website, and the entire series is no longer available through the store where I bought it on CD. No point in putting it back up; it will just get deleted again later. Apologies to searchers who were looking for it.
= = = = = ¶ 8:00 AM
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Souder's excellent speech
Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana gave a wonderfully well-written speech yesterday during the "debate" over the anti-surge resolutions. Souder speaks accurately for all who want our side to work toward victory, not Stay The Course.
I voted to support this war because I believe Iraq presented a direct threat to the United States. Iraq had, was developing, and was attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was, at a minimum, cooperating with the funding and harboring of terrorists committed to our destruction. Saddam Hussein was repeatedly defying UN resolutions, contesting no-fly zones, and blocking WMD inspectors. Our intelligence estimates, never 100 percent accurate in any case, apparently overstated the immediate risk, but the basic facts remain the same. Knowing what we know now, perhaps we could have waited another six to 12 months, which would have given us valuable time to solidify our position in Afghanistan. But the decision to go to war was still the right decision, just possibly premature. I would not have supported this war had the initial selling point been a goal of establishing democracy in Iraq.
....
Certain basic arguments being made by the administration are simply not accurate.
To insist that the war in Iraq is not a civil war – when the entire world and Americans all understand that it is – continues to undermine the credibility of those who make it.
....
We had hoped that the early, smaller-scale civil war could be countered by a strong central government. It is now a large scale civil war eroding the already-limited power of the Iraqi government. It is now absurd to deny it is a civil war.
Making exaggerated statements of progress in Iraq also does not pass a basic credibility test.
While we have made sporadic progress – a school or project here and there – it is apparent to any Member of Congress who visited Iraq a number of years ago and again recently that security had deteriorated.
Baby-boomer Americans especially tend to see everything as Vietnam. A government that denies basic realities has little hope of persuading even its friends. We want our government to tell the truth, pleasant or not.
....
I have repeatedly heard from returning soldiers that, when the gunfire starts, the Iraqis by and large disappear. They only seem dedicated when Shia get to kill Sunnis and vice versa.
By being bogged down as the main security force in Iraq in increasingly hostile cities, we are undermining our long-term potential to fight the War on Terror.
For years we have been utilizing our National Guard and our Reserves as if they were regular military. Many are about to enter their second 12-month-plus tour of duty in combat, something historically many regular military veterans did not do.
Because of this heavy usage, we are starting to short training funds and repair funds for those units. We are finding that employers are getting increasingly nervous about disruptions to their firms. Family objections are becoming more intense. Recruiters are running into increasing resistance.
....
It has been said many times by defenders of this surge that Iraq is the place the enemy has chosen to fight and thus it is the place that we must fight.
That is partly true.
Hezbollah has chosen to fight us on many fronts. Iran is a threat itself, not just by funding terrorism in Iraq. Terrorists attacked in Madrid, London, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other places throughout the world. And they continue to try to attack us in the United States.
Iraq is not the only place terrorists have chosen to fight.
....
If we burn up the support of the American people, our military’s ability to recruit, the usage of our Guard and Reserves in Iraq, how do we defend ourselves elsewhere?
....
But we cannot sustain this intense an effort indefinitely. Complete victory over terrorism is unlikely ever to occur. Sometimes you have to reposition and prepare for the broader battle, not exhaust yourself on just one front and then risk defeat in the overall conflict.
I beseech our President, Secretary Gates, Secretary Rice and others never to give up the War on Terror but to understand that, without significant tactical drawdowns in Iraq, our entire counterterrorism and military efforts are threatened. Our nation can ill-afford another decade of defeatism and retreat that seized the United States after Vietnam.
Read the whole thing here. ¶ 8:05 AM
I voted to support this war because I believe Iraq presented a direct threat to the United States. Iraq had, was developing, and was attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was, at a minimum, cooperating with the funding and harboring of terrorists committed to our destruction. Saddam Hussein was repeatedly defying UN resolutions, contesting no-fly zones, and blocking WMD inspectors. Our intelligence estimates, never 100 percent accurate in any case, apparently overstated the immediate risk, but the basic facts remain the same. Knowing what we know now, perhaps we could have waited another six to 12 months, which would have given us valuable time to solidify our position in Afghanistan. But the decision to go to war was still the right decision, just possibly premature. I would not have supported this war had the initial selling point been a goal of establishing democracy in Iraq.
....
Certain basic arguments being made by the administration are simply not accurate.
To insist that the war in Iraq is not a civil war – when the entire world and Americans all understand that it is – continues to undermine the credibility of those who make it.
....
We had hoped that the early, smaller-scale civil war could be countered by a strong central government. It is now a large scale civil war eroding the already-limited power of the Iraqi government. It is now absurd to deny it is a civil war.
Making exaggerated statements of progress in Iraq also does not pass a basic credibility test.
While we have made sporadic progress – a school or project here and there – it is apparent to any Member of Congress who visited Iraq a number of years ago and again recently that security had deteriorated.
Baby-boomer Americans especially tend to see everything as Vietnam. A government that denies basic realities has little hope of persuading even its friends. We want our government to tell the truth, pleasant or not.
....
I have repeatedly heard from returning soldiers that, when the gunfire starts, the Iraqis by and large disappear. They only seem dedicated when Shia get to kill Sunnis and vice versa.
By being bogged down as the main security force in Iraq in increasingly hostile cities, we are undermining our long-term potential to fight the War on Terror.
For years we have been utilizing our National Guard and our Reserves as if they were regular military. Many are about to enter their second 12-month-plus tour of duty in combat, something historically many regular military veterans did not do.
Because of this heavy usage, we are starting to short training funds and repair funds for those units. We are finding that employers are getting increasingly nervous about disruptions to their firms. Family objections are becoming more intense. Recruiters are running into increasing resistance.
....
It has been said many times by defenders of this surge that Iraq is the place the enemy has chosen to fight and thus it is the place that we must fight.
That is partly true.
Hezbollah has chosen to fight us on many fronts. Iran is a threat itself, not just by funding terrorism in Iraq. Terrorists attacked in Madrid, London, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other places throughout the world. And they continue to try to attack us in the United States.
Iraq is not the only place terrorists have chosen to fight.
....
If we burn up the support of the American people, our military’s ability to recruit, the usage of our Guard and Reserves in Iraq, how do we defend ourselves elsewhere?
....
But we cannot sustain this intense an effort indefinitely. Complete victory over terrorism is unlikely ever to occur. Sometimes you have to reposition and prepare for the broader battle, not exhaust yourself on just one front and then risk defeat in the overall conflict.
I beseech our President, Secretary Gates, Secretary Rice and others never to give up the War on Terror but to understand that, without significant tactical drawdowns in Iraq, our entire counterterrorism and military efforts are threatened. Our nation can ill-afford another decade of defeatism and retreat that seized the United States after Vietnam.
Read the whole thing here. ¶ 8:05 AM
Vichy at AEI
Listening to G. W. Vichy's "major speech" at AEI this morning. He's still using the same logic, even after it's been shown invalid.
Specifically:
"If we fail over there, the turrists will follow us home."
Think about this for a minute. How will they do this? Several thousand Sunni and Shiite warriors will not be able to infiltrate easily into American life. These guys are not the elite Westernized types that performed 9/11. If they do attack en masse by some method, it means we are not doing the basic job of controlling our ports and borders.
"All people desire to live in peace."
Observe what they do, not what they say. It's perfectly obvious from their behavior that Arabs do not desire to live in peace. Arabs love fighting. They are a warrior culture with no achievements other than death.
"9/11 happened because Afghanistan was a failed state."
Afghanistan was part of the story, but most of the training and planning for 9/11 happened in Germany and in Florida. There are always failed states around the world; Somalia and Sudan are both failed states that serve al-Qaeda well, and we haven't done anything to eliminate them. Eliminating failed states is neither necessary nor sufficient to protect OUR people from Mohammedans and Arabs.
And what does he propose for solutions? More wasted money, more use of our military in places where it won't make any difference. If we can protect the borders of Iraq, we could protect the borders of the United States.
GGGGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
Now he's talking about our success in building 4000 miles of roads in the "Young Democracy" of Afghanistan, and the failed attempt to eliminate poppy production there. This is the same administration that REFUSES to build a fence around the "Old Democracy" of the United States, and the same administration that PUNISHES the Old Democracy's border guards when they dare to arrest and shoot Mexican drug dealers.
AAAAAAAAAGGGGHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRH!!!!!!!!!!
I thought it couldn't get any worse, but it does. Now he's talking about helping Afghanistan to get rid of bad judges. I can hardly even write about this.
What would happen to an American who tried to assist the "Old Democracy" to get rid of bad judges and develop a fair judicial system? The FBI would bomb his house and kill his family, that's what would happen.
¶ 7:21 AM
Specifically:
"If we fail over there, the turrists will follow us home."
Think about this for a minute. How will they do this? Several thousand Sunni and Shiite warriors will not be able to infiltrate easily into American life. These guys are not the elite Westernized types that performed 9/11. If they do attack en masse by some method, it means we are not doing the basic job of controlling our ports and borders.
"All people desire to live in peace."
Observe what they do, not what they say. It's perfectly obvious from their behavior that Arabs do not desire to live in peace. Arabs love fighting. They are a warrior culture with no achievements other than death.
"9/11 happened because Afghanistan was a failed state."
Afghanistan was part of the story, but most of the training and planning for 9/11 happened in Germany and in Florida. There are always failed states around the world; Somalia and Sudan are both failed states that serve al-Qaeda well, and we haven't done anything to eliminate them. Eliminating failed states is neither necessary nor sufficient to protect OUR people from Mohammedans and Arabs.
And what does he propose for solutions? More wasted money, more use of our military in places where it won't make any difference. If we can protect the borders of Iraq, we could protect the borders of the United States.
GGGGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
Now he's talking about our success in building 4000 miles of roads in the "Young Democracy" of Afghanistan, and the failed attempt to eliminate poppy production there. This is the same administration that REFUSES to build a fence around the "Old Democracy" of the United States, and the same administration that PUNISHES the Old Democracy's border guards when they dare to arrest and shoot Mexican drug dealers.
AAAAAAAAAGGGGHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRH!!!!!!!!!!
I thought it couldn't get any worse, but it does. Now he's talking about helping Afghanistan to get rid of bad judges. I can hardly even write about this.
What would happen to an American who tried to assist the "Old Democracy" to get rid of bad judges and develop a fair judicial system? The FBI would bomb his house and kill his family, that's what would happen.
¶ 7:21 AM
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Random note
Fox's relatively new reporter Douglas Kennedy has the most annoying intonation pattern I've ever heard. He seems to have a ferret in his pants, which bites his balls several times in the middle of each sentence.
¶ 7:25 PM
Mall gas ... just a thought
When Spokane's huge Northtown Mall was emptied by a semi-toxic (but not seriously harmful) gas on Sunday, I naturally wondered if it was a 'test' or 'ping'. After hearing about the Salt Lake mall shooting yesterday, and hearing that the shooter was a Mohammedan from Bosnia, I'm wondering even more. What makes my Spidey Sense tingle: many of the tough teens in the Northtown area are Bosnian immigrants. The police seem to have some clues, but they haven't done any identifications yet. We shall see.........
¶ 12:38 PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
What's wrong with Romney?
I've already given up on Romney after his squishy waffling on the war a month ago. Since then, it seems that he's trying to be as stupid as possible.
He made his official announcement in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.... thus hitting the Trifecta of political stupidity. First and most obvious, Ford is instantly recognizable as anti-Jewish and pacifistic.
Second, Dearborn is a center of Arabs and thus a center of pro-enemy activity, for reasons that have no direct connection to Ford's fascist tendencies.
Third and dumbest, why honor the museum of your father's antiwar and anti-semitic competitor when your father himself is commemorated in a nice museum? The Chrysler Museum in downtown Detroit has a large section on American Motors, since Chrysler swallowed up AMC in 1987.
Dumb, dumber, dumbest. ¶ 9:12 AM
He made his official announcement in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.... thus hitting the Trifecta of political stupidity. First and most obvious, Ford is instantly recognizable as anti-Jewish and pacifistic.
Second, Dearborn is a center of Arabs and thus a center of pro-enemy activity, for reasons that have no direct connection to Ford's fascist tendencies.
Third and dumbest, why honor the museum of your father's antiwar and anti-semitic competitor when your father himself is commemorated in a nice museum? The Chrysler Museum in downtown Detroit has a large section on American Motors, since Chrysler swallowed up AMC in 1987.
Dumb, dumber, dumbest. ¶ 9:12 AM
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Odd gas in Spokane
Just noting this for the record.... Around 3:30 PM today, Spokane's Northtown Mall was evacuated because of some kind of gas leak or released gas. Not natural gas; reported to smell "like pepper spray". Several people have been hospitalized, at least for checking. At this point (4:30) the authorities are clearing out a larger area around the mall, and are being "very tight-lipped."
4:50: appears to be all-clear, but still no sense of what it actually was.
5:13: not so all-clear. Some people seem to be "getting worse"; some folks went home, then started having skin irritation and respiratory symptoms, and took themselves to the hospital. May not be pepper spray; one witness claimed to be familiar with pepper spray and said it was something else, tasted "medicinal".
6:29: The chemical doesn't seem to have been anything serious, though about 20 people are still being checked. What is serious is that Northtown was shown to have no effective evacuation procedure. There was apparently no announcement; even after firemen closed off the parking lot and started checking the air, customers and store employees were still allowed to mill around and ask each other what was happening. So if this was a test, a 'ping', the enemy has now detected a huge vulnerability.
= = = = =
A media note. Spokane has three major TV stations: KREM (CBS), KXLY (ABC) and KHQ (NBC). In this event as in the last few weather emergencies, only KREM has done the job that television was meant to do! KREM starts covering an emergency as soon as it's evident, and stays on with wall-to-wall news until it's over. The other two stations basically stick to their consultant-ordered formats, ignoring the emergency and covering the officially denominated "local news" topics, namely breast cancer, breast cancer, breast cancer, breast cancer, and cute puppies.
KREM's newest reporter Othello Richards deserves a special tip o' th' hat for possessing old-fashioned reportorial guts. In this event as in the windstorms, he's been first on the spot and first with the facts.
Needless to say, KREM won't receive any awards for an outstanding job of reporting important news. Broadcasters receive awards only for serving Lenin and destroying America. ¶ 4:36 PM
4:50: appears to be all-clear, but still no sense of what it actually was.
5:13: not so all-clear. Some people seem to be "getting worse"; some folks went home, then started having skin irritation and respiratory symptoms, and took themselves to the hospital. May not be pepper spray; one witness claimed to be familiar with pepper spray and said it was something else, tasted "medicinal".
6:29: The chemical doesn't seem to have been anything serious, though about 20 people are still being checked. What is serious is that Northtown was shown to have no effective evacuation procedure. There was apparently no announcement; even after firemen closed off the parking lot and started checking the air, customers and store employees were still allowed to mill around and ask each other what was happening. So if this was a test, a 'ping', the enemy has now detected a huge vulnerability.
= = = = =
A media note. Spokane has three major TV stations: KREM (CBS), KXLY (ABC) and KHQ (NBC). In this event as in the last few weather emergencies, only KREM has done the job that television was meant to do! KREM starts covering an emergency as soon as it's evident, and stays on with wall-to-wall news until it's over. The other two stations basically stick to their consultant-ordered formats, ignoring the emergency and covering the officially denominated "local news" topics, namely breast cancer, breast cancer, breast cancer, breast cancer, and cute puppies.
KREM's newest reporter Othello Richards deserves a special tip o' th' hat for possessing old-fashioned reportorial guts. In this event as in the windstorms, he's been first on the spot and first with the facts.
Needless to say, KREM won't receive any awards for an outstanding job of reporting important news. Broadcasters receive awards only for serving Lenin and destroying America. ¶ 4:36 PM
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Clinton luck ... again.
The Anna Nicole thing is a classic sad story. Country girl wants fame and fortune, goes to Hollywood, shows her assets, gets fame and fortune. Ends up in the hands of vampires and vultures who keep the fame going regardless of consequences to the actual girl, because the vampires and vultures are making a wonderful living off her troubles.
I'm tempted to say that the old-world method worked better. Leave fame and fortune to the aristocrats, who know how to handle it. They aren't necessarily better people, but their 'family retainers' are more focused on maintaining the family name than grabbing the maximum bucks from momentary fame.
= = = = =
However, one Big Story will tend to occupy the drawkcaB sweN entirely, crowding out what would otherwise have been the big story. In this case, Anna Nicole's death has stomped all over Abu Hussein Obama's official announcement of candidacy! The drawkcaB sweN were undoubtedly planning a whole month of Obamafest, but now they have no choice but to cover a politically irrelevant story.
Hillary lucks out again. If I were an Abu Hussein Obama supporter, I'd feel paranoid right now, just as all the other Clinton opponents have felt paranoid when their cherished and well-timed stories were mysteriously drowned by other irrelevant events. It's not worth the paranoia, though; it's just the Clinton luck as always.
= = = = =
Irrelevant sidenote: The name of Anna Nicole's chief vulture, Howard K. Stern, provides an interesting shibboleth. Anyone over 50 unavoidably says or thinks 'Smith' after 'Howard K.' I find myself doing it, and Fox's John Gibson is having real trouble with it. Gibson has to stop for a full second each time; you can hear him internally swallowing the 'Smith' and forcing 'Stern' out of his mouth, and still he sometimes misses. Indeed a testament to the power and authority of those old newsmen. Looking up Smith, I find that he retired from daily broadcasting 30 years ago and died in 2002. But his name is still an automatic instinct for those of us who grew up along with television.
= = = = =
Polistra disagrees with my cold detached sociological approach. Instead, she simply wants to offer up a prayer for Anna Nicole's soul, aimed at Saint Germaine Cousin, the patron saint of country girls who endure a hard life and die young. Germaine never achieved fame and fortune in life, but her posthumous power among the country folk of France was so intense that the Communists of 1789 found it necessary to desecrate her grave.
¶ 7:47 PM
I'm tempted to say that the old-world method worked better. Leave fame and fortune to the aristocrats, who know how to handle it. They aren't necessarily better people, but their 'family retainers' are more focused on maintaining the family name than grabbing the maximum bucks from momentary fame.
= = = = =
However, one Big Story will tend to occupy the drawkcaB sweN entirely, crowding out what would otherwise have been the big story. In this case, Anna Nicole's death has stomped all over Abu Hussein Obama's official announcement of candidacy! The drawkcaB sweN were undoubtedly planning a whole month of Obamafest, but now they have no choice but to cover a politically irrelevant story.
Hillary lucks out again. If I were an Abu Hussein Obama supporter, I'd feel paranoid right now, just as all the other Clinton opponents have felt paranoid when their cherished and well-timed stories were mysteriously drowned by other irrelevant events. It's not worth the paranoia, though; it's just the Clinton luck as always.
= = = = =
Irrelevant sidenote: The name of Anna Nicole's chief vulture, Howard K. Stern, provides an interesting shibboleth. Anyone over 50 unavoidably says or thinks 'Smith' after 'Howard K.' I find myself doing it, and Fox's John Gibson is having real trouble with it. Gibson has to stop for a full second each time; you can hear him internally swallowing the 'Smith' and forcing 'Stern' out of his mouth, and still he sometimes misses. Indeed a testament to the power and authority of those old newsmen. Looking up Smith, I find that he retired from daily broadcasting 30 years ago and died in 2002. But his name is still an automatic instinct for those of us who grew up along with television.
= = = = =
Polistra disagrees with my cold detached sociological approach. Instead, she simply wants to offer up a prayer for Anna Nicole's soul, aimed at Saint Germaine Cousin, the patron saint of country girls who endure a hard life and die young. Germaine never achieved fame and fortune in life, but her posthumous power among the country folk of France was so intense that the Communists of 1789 found it necessary to desecrate her grave.
¶ 7:47 PM
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Canadian cancer cure: how to donate.
I note that Glenn Beck, the only American NON-drawkcab news source, did a feature today on the Michelakis cancer cure, which I mentioned a couple weeks ago.
Glenn said that many folks have been donating to the University of Alberta to help Michelakis continue his research, since our idiotic government and our idiotic drug companies aren't interested. But Glenn didn't mention how to make a contribution, so here we go:
The link below includes a video interview with Michelakis, and a donation link, which I've just used.
Donate here.
Incidentally, the donation process is mainly the expected stuff, but there's a somewhat obscure part where you define the donation's purpose. On the second page, you have to scroll down to the middle and click on the line that says "DCA - Cancer Research Fund". (DCA is, of course, DiChloroAcetate.) ¶ 7:29 PM
Glenn said that many folks have been donating to the University of Alberta to help Michelakis continue his research, since our idiotic government and our idiotic drug companies aren't interested. But Glenn didn't mention how to make a contribution, so here we go:
The link below includes a video interview with Michelakis, and a donation link, which I've just used.
Donate here.
Incidentally, the donation process is mainly the expected stuff, but there's a somewhat obscure part where you define the donation's purpose. On the second page, you have to scroll down to the middle and click on the line that says "DCA - Cancer Research Fund". (DCA is, of course, DiChloroAcetate.) ¶ 7:29 PM
Gaia's Papa
Listening to the great Roger Hedgecock (who really needs to replace Rush permanently!) discussing how Kyoto favors China.
This is, of course, no accident, but even Rush never tells us exactly why. The connection is quite simple. It's one man, Maurice Strong. I got the feeling that Pope Maurice must be coming back into action, and sure enough found some fresh news about him.
Nice article in Canada Free Press and a piece by Claudia Rosett on the Fox News website.
Rosett gives Strong's full story, much of which I hadn't read before. Strong is a birthright Communist; his mother defected to China and is buried there. He worked for the UN for many years, and began the process that led to the Kyoto agreement. He was nominally fired when payments from Saddam's oil-for-food business were revealed, but he has continued working for the interests of China and North Korea through the "University for Peace", a loosely connected UN institution that was basically a shell until Strong took it over in 1999. Unfortunately, the new Secretary General, a South Korean, has close ties to Strong. So any promises of reform by SecGen Ban are now guaranteed to be empty (s'prise, s'prise!) and Strong will continue to be the main power-broker. (I was going to say the main power-broker for the environmental branch of Communism, but I think the sentence is more accurate without the qualifying phrase.) In other words, China and North Korea still own us.
We will not begin to function as an independent nation until we disconnect ourselves entirely from the UN, and from all of its friends and operators. It's that simple.
George W. Vichy, needless to say, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UN; he shapes all of his policies to serve their interests, not ours. ¶ 10:39 AM
This is, of course, no accident, but even Rush never tells us exactly why. The connection is quite simple. It's one man, Maurice Strong. I got the feeling that Pope Maurice must be coming back into action, and sure enough found some fresh news about him.
Nice article in Canada Free Press and a piece by Claudia Rosett on the Fox News website.
Rosett gives Strong's full story, much of which I hadn't read before. Strong is a birthright Communist; his mother defected to China and is buried there. He worked for the UN for many years, and began the process that led to the Kyoto agreement. He was nominally fired when payments from Saddam's oil-for-food business were revealed, but he has continued working for the interests of China and North Korea through the "University for Peace", a loosely connected UN institution that was basically a shell until Strong took it over in 1999. Unfortunately, the new Secretary General, a South Korean, has close ties to Strong. So any promises of reform by SecGen Ban are now guaranteed to be empty (s'prise, s'prise!) and Strong will continue to be the main power-broker. (I was going to say the main power-broker for the environmental branch of Communism, but I think the sentence is more accurate without the qualifying phrase.) In other words, China and North Korea still own us.
We will not begin to function as an independent nation until we disconnect ourselves entirely from the UN, and from all of its friends and operators. It's that simple.
George W. Vichy, needless to say, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UN; he shapes all of his policies to serve their interests, not ours. ¶ 10:39 AM
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Maybe there's hope......
I've been wondering if anyone anywhere is willing to stand up against the Leninists and lawyers. (Well, wondering about this country anyway; the Ethiopians and Australians are doing a fine job of standing firm for Christian civilization.)
Here's a small bit of hope, even though it's not really relevant to the main war.
Several years ago the Catholic hierarchy in Boston decided to close and sell 20 churches, to pay off the witch-hunting lawyers. Nine of those churches rose up in protest; their parishioners started to occupy the churches constantly in a kind of vigil. One of those churches, though officially closed, has been occupied 24/7 since October 2004!
The Leninist media enjoy reporting on sit-ins and protests, as long as the protests are on the Leninist side. This protest, though it beats all known 'civil rights' or 'pro-immigration' protests for sheer stamina, has never been mentioned on the national news.
Bless these folks. They know the difference between the Church and the hierarchy, and they are standing up for the Church.
They have also been pushing a legal case to decide whether the churches belong to the parishioners who donated the land in the first place, or to the Bishop to sell as he pleases. The Mass Supreme Court will take up the case tomorrow, which is why the situation hit the Boston media today. ¶ 7:33 PM
Here's a small bit of hope, even though it's not really relevant to the main war.
Several years ago the Catholic hierarchy in Boston decided to close and sell 20 churches, to pay off the witch-hunting lawyers. Nine of those churches rose up in protest; their parishioners started to occupy the churches constantly in a kind of vigil. One of those churches, though officially closed, has been occupied 24/7 since October 2004!
The Leninist media enjoy reporting on sit-ins and protests, as long as the protests are on the Leninist side. This protest, though it beats all known 'civil rights' or 'pro-immigration' protests for sheer stamina, has never been mentioned on the national news.
Bless these folks. They know the difference between the Church and the hierarchy, and they are standing up for the Church.
They have also been pushing a legal case to decide whether the churches belong to the parishioners who donated the land in the first place, or to the Bishop to sell as he pleases. The Mass Supreme Court will take up the case tomorrow, which is why the situation hit the Boston media today. ¶ 7:33 PM
Lunar-tics
Must admit I was thinking of a snide cartoon about the astronautess in diapers, but when I saw Nowak's face in the courtroom, I just couldn't do it. Her face showed more clearly than any words could say, that she had been in the grip of a hormonal delusion and that the delusional bubble had been well and truly popped.
Happens to all of us, though generally around age 18 instead of age 40.
One broad comment: Any time you set up a tightly-knit caste with specialized training and a code of silence, whether priests, astronauts, spies, or elite paramilitary, you need to keep those folks busy. You need to give them a well-defined and clear mission that holds their attention and excitement. When you see priests diddling the altarboys, or astronauts pursuing delusional love interests with mallets and saws, or spies leaking to newspapers, it's a pretty good sign that the caste has too much time on its hands and not enough clarity of mission.
For NASA, it's obvious that the mission of manned spaceflight has gone stale. There's no scientific purpose and no public excitement in going to the fucking MOON one more time. As I've said a dozen times, weather control would be scientifically interesting, exciting and understandable to the public, and quite possibly the most heroic and life-saving effort by science since vaccination. ¶ 12:44 PM
Happens to all of us, though generally around age 18 instead of age 40.
One broad comment: Any time you set up a tightly-knit caste with specialized training and a code of silence, whether priests, astronauts, spies, or elite paramilitary, you need to keep those folks busy. You need to give them a well-defined and clear mission that holds their attention and excitement. When you see priests diddling the altarboys, or astronauts pursuing delusional love interests with mallets and saws, or spies leaking to newspapers, it's a pretty good sign that the caste has too much time on its hands and not enough clarity of mission.
For NASA, it's obvious that the mission of manned spaceflight has gone stale. There's no scientific purpose and no public excitement in going to the fucking MOON one more time. As I've said a dozen times, weather control would be scientifically interesting, exciting and understandable to the public, and quite possibly the most heroic and life-saving effort by science since vaccination. ¶ 12:44 PM
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Just for joy
One of my graphics acquaintances made this lovely heart-shaped swing. Polistra had to hang it up and try it out.
Nope, no socio-politico-economico-geographico-religious implications this time. Just a moment of sweetness and light.
¶ 7:42 AM
One of my graphics acquaintances made this lovely heart-shaped swing. Polistra had to hang it up and try it out.
Nope, no socio-politico-economico-geographico-religious implications this time. Just a moment of sweetness and light.
¶ 7:42 AM
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The blind faith of the atheist
There's a long-running dispute over Intelligent Design in the letters column of New Scientist magazine. The latest issue has an especially well-written letter from Peter Brooks on the atheist side, nicely illustrating the pure blind faith of the atheist.
= = = = =
I believe 'good science' will come from the Biologic Institute's efforts to find experimental proof of intelligent design, but not in the way that it intends.
Starting with a premise or hypothesis, one ... attempts to negate the hypothesis, demonstrating that it does not hold true for all cases, or not for any cases.
Starting with a bad premise simply means that it will take longer to come to the realisation that it is a false start; the premise must be refined and the process reiterated. ... Imagine replacing all instances of "I don't know the answer yet" with "God did it", and continuing to labour to uncover the facts. Over time, we will inevitably chip away at the mountain of "God did it" assertions - we have been quietly doing so for centuries - but now we will be able to publicly state that what was once thought to be an act of God is not. Thus we will gather tangible and mounting evidence of the continued erosion of God's claimed ability.
I wonder how many believers will be able to face daily despondency as yet another cherished "God did it" claim perishes before the unstoppable juggernaut of the search for truth.
= = = = =
Part of Brooks's assertion is certainly true. We have been chipping away at the primitive "God did it" claims for a long time.
Beyond that, he goes wrong in several ways.
For 3000 years, very few serious religious thinkers have bought the primitive and concrete idea that God grabs hold of cars, brains, lightning bolts, or planets, and shoves them around with his hands. If Brooks thinks that these claims are still alive in the Christian world, he's simply wrong.
There is an exception to this progress, though. The most modern of all religions does in fact believe in a purely concrete deity, and believes that our physical actions directly offend this deity, and believes that the deity punishes us physically and concretely for our transgressions. I'm talking, of course, about the Earth Goddess Gaia.
[Sidebar, Polistra's Second Law of Human Nature: The total sum of taboos and beliefs remains constant. If one generation drops certain taboos and beliefs, it will invent other taboos and beliefs to fill the gap. The Greatest Generation considered marijuana evil and tobacco normal; Baby Boomers consider tobacco evil and marijuana norml. Each generation feels liberated in its enjoyment of the 'normal' herb, and feels righteously enlightened in its punishment of anyone who dares to use the 'evil' herb. In the big picture, both of these taboos and freedom-feelings look silly. We're only talking about burning herbs, after all.]
Most importantly, Brooks shows that he is thinking like a True Believer, not like a scientist, and also shows that he doesn't even realize it. His discussion of "starting with a bad premise" shows that he is absolutely certain beforehand, a priori, of the total absence of anything that could be described or manifested as a supernatural power. So he is not really proposing a series of experiments; he's just chortling over the believer's stupidity.
The ID people are not starting with the idea that "God did it"; in fact their underlying hypothesis is the other way around. They start from the usual scientific assumption that everything in biology can be explained by purely random mutation and adaptation, and they look for counterexamples. They look for DNA sequences or patterns in nature that cannot be explained without some form of intelligence.
If the ID folks don't find such exceptions, it won't prove the non-existence of a god; it could mean that a god is not especially interested in showing his existence through hard-to-find discrepancies. It could mean that the researchers are looking through the wrong end of the microscope. If the Judeo-Christian god exists as described, he's responsible for the big stuff: the laws of physics and mathematics that make all of biology, including the brains of the ID researchers, function. If he exists as described, he didn't want us to wait for obscure exceptions; he wanted us to know his presence in everything.
And if the ID folks do find such exceptions, it won't convince the science-ists anyway, because the science-ists have blind faith in their own primitive and concrete god. ¶ 9:04 PM
= = = = =
I believe 'good science' will come from the Biologic Institute's efforts to find experimental proof of intelligent design, but not in the way that it intends.
Starting with a premise or hypothesis, one ... attempts to negate the hypothesis, demonstrating that it does not hold true for all cases, or not for any cases.
Starting with a bad premise simply means that it will take longer to come to the realisation that it is a false start; the premise must be refined and the process reiterated. ... Imagine replacing all instances of "I don't know the answer yet" with "God did it", and continuing to labour to uncover the facts. Over time, we will inevitably chip away at the mountain of "God did it" assertions - we have been quietly doing so for centuries - but now we will be able to publicly state that what was once thought to be an act of God is not. Thus we will gather tangible and mounting evidence of the continued erosion of God's claimed ability.
I wonder how many believers will be able to face daily despondency as yet another cherished "God did it" claim perishes before the unstoppable juggernaut of the search for truth.
= = = = =
Part of Brooks's assertion is certainly true. We have been chipping away at the primitive "God did it" claims for a long time.
Beyond that, he goes wrong in several ways.
For 3000 years, very few serious religious thinkers have bought the primitive and concrete idea that God grabs hold of cars, brains, lightning bolts, or planets, and shoves them around with his hands. If Brooks thinks that these claims are still alive in the Christian world, he's simply wrong.
There is an exception to this progress, though. The most modern of all religions does in fact believe in a purely concrete deity, and believes that our physical actions directly offend this deity, and believes that the deity punishes us physically and concretely for our transgressions. I'm talking, of course, about the Earth Goddess Gaia.
[Sidebar, Polistra's Second Law of Human Nature: The total sum of taboos and beliefs remains constant. If one generation drops certain taboos and beliefs, it will invent other taboos and beliefs to fill the gap. The Greatest Generation considered marijuana evil and tobacco normal; Baby Boomers consider tobacco evil and marijuana norml. Each generation feels liberated in its enjoyment of the 'normal' herb, and feels righteously enlightened in its punishment of anyone who dares to use the 'evil' herb. In the big picture, both of these taboos and freedom-feelings look silly. We're only talking about burning herbs, after all.]
Most importantly, Brooks shows that he is thinking like a True Believer, not like a scientist, and also shows that he doesn't even realize it. His discussion of "starting with a bad premise" shows that he is absolutely certain beforehand, a priori, of the total absence of anything that could be described or manifested as a supernatural power. So he is not really proposing a series of experiments; he's just chortling over the believer's stupidity.
The ID people are not starting with the idea that "God did it"; in fact their underlying hypothesis is the other way around. They start from the usual scientific assumption that everything in biology can be explained by purely random mutation and adaptation, and they look for counterexamples. They look for DNA sequences or patterns in nature that cannot be explained without some form of intelligence.
If the ID folks don't find such exceptions, it won't prove the non-existence of a god; it could mean that a god is not especially interested in showing his existence through hard-to-find discrepancies. It could mean that the researchers are looking through the wrong end of the microscope. If the Judeo-Christian god exists as described, he's responsible for the big stuff: the laws of physics and mathematics that make all of biology, including the brains of the ID researchers, function. If he exists as described, he didn't want us to wait for obscure exceptions; he wanted us to know his presence in everything.
And if the ID folks do find such exceptions, it won't convince the science-ists anyway, because the science-ists have blind faith in their own primitive and concrete god. ¶ 9:04 PM
Friday, February 02, 2007
Madame Polisztra sees all.........
Madame Polisztra can spot this one coming without even tuning up her crystal ball for peak performance.
A speech by Hillary today included the flat statement "We can stop global warming."
That's a pretty audacious marker to lay down, and Hillary will get the credit for it when it happens. Why? Because most of the curves indicate that the peak of temperature has already been passed. Temperatures will soon begin to drop noticeably. And Hillary, with the Clinton luck, will be in office when the turnaround begins to show.
It won't matter if she does anything concrete. Since CO2 is the result of warming, not the cause, no change in our emissions will make the slightest difference, and even the folks who claim otherwise have acknowledged that the Kyoto destruction of Western civilization would make only an imperceptible difference in their apocalyptic prophecies.
Anyway, concrete action isn't the point. For the Gaia worshippers, as with most fundamentalist religions, reciting the creed or formula is the main point. And Hillary has recited the creed of the Earth Goddess often, loudly, and convincingly.
Overall, it will be a neat trick, a classic piece of medicine-show magic disguised as science. Tell the unwashed masses that you can control light and darkness; wait for an eclipse; wave your arms and shout "Kyoto! Kyoto! Kyoto!", and then you have the masses eating out of your hand when the sun mysteriously disappears.
The classic trick worked, of course, because the High Priests had access to accurate astronomy, while the dumb masses couldn't read. Same here. The real curves of temperature and solar activity are available, and a few genuine scientists are speaking the truth, but the fools who get their info from TV are subjected to a 24-hour pounding of constant falsehood and fear. They are perfectly conditioned to treat the truth as craziness when they encounter it. ¶ 9:48 PM
Madame Polisztra can spot this one coming without even tuning up her crystal ball for peak performance.
A speech by Hillary today included the flat statement "We can stop global warming."
That's a pretty audacious marker to lay down, and Hillary will get the credit for it when it happens. Why? Because most of the curves indicate that the peak of temperature has already been passed. Temperatures will soon begin to drop noticeably. And Hillary, with the Clinton luck, will be in office when the turnaround begins to show.
It won't matter if she does anything concrete. Since CO2 is the result of warming, not the cause, no change in our emissions will make the slightest difference, and even the folks who claim otherwise have acknowledged that the Kyoto destruction of Western civilization would make only an imperceptible difference in their apocalyptic prophecies.
Anyway, concrete action isn't the point. For the Gaia worshippers, as with most fundamentalist religions, reciting the creed or formula is the main point. And Hillary has recited the creed of the Earth Goddess often, loudly, and convincingly.
Overall, it will be a neat trick, a classic piece of medicine-show magic disguised as science. Tell the unwashed masses that you can control light and darkness; wait for an eclipse; wave your arms and shout "Kyoto! Kyoto! Kyoto!", and then you have the masses eating out of your hand when the sun mysteriously disappears.
The classic trick worked, of course, because the High Priests had access to accurate astronomy, while the dumb masses couldn't read. Same here. The real curves of temperature and solar activity are available, and a few genuine scientists are speaking the truth, but the fools who get their info from TV are subjected to a 24-hour pounding of constant falsehood and fear. They are perfectly conditioned to treat the truth as craziness when they encounter it. ¶ 9:48 PM
Boston again
Mario Loyola at NRO brings up an important question. We shouldn't be asking why Boston police were so quick to detect the fake bombs; we should be asking why the dozen other cities didn't notice anything odd.
The test has certainly provided important information to our Arab enemies, one of whom is in the management team of Iridium Group. They now know which cities are easy targets for electronic-looking bombs. ¶ 10:04 AM
The test has certainly provided important information to our Arab enemies, one of whom is in the management team of Iridium Group. They now know which cities are easy targets for electronic-looking bombs. ¶ 10:04 AM
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Empiricism
I've said these things before, but today they came together in a nice clear way, so I'll write it down before it disappears again in senile fog!
Americans are above all empirical. In industry and in daily life we are devoted to the basic notion of science: we don't accept anything on authority until we see whether it works or not. After we determine that a certain approach works, we keep doing it until somebody shows us an even better way.
Over the last century, American leaders have tried two styles of foreign policy. Each has received a good solid experimental run, and the results are clear. The data is in, and has been analyzed well and truly.
The Wilson style assumes that all humans want the same things, and thus aims to achieve certain moral goals for the world. It was tried in WW1 and the aftermath. It failed. Moral goals led immediately and directly to Hitler.
The Roosevelt style (Teddy & Franklin are the same in this context) makes no assumptions at all; it simply aims to serve the interests of the American people by defeating our enemies, regardless of morality, courtesy, the Golden Rule, or any other shit. It was tried in WWII, and later by Reagan. It worked both times.
Despite such a clear A/B pair of experiments, George W. Vichy is still taking the Wilson approach. Even today, after his OWN experiments have so clearly and predictably failed, he is still on the Wilson path. No mention of victory, just endless process and details and democracy and elections.
Osama loves it when we get bogged down in process, details, Rule of Law, and "long twilight struggles". Osama and his ilk are long-term thinkers. They will always beat us, by subversion and demographics, in a long chronic war. A gradual increase of troops, with the same rules of engagement, makes no difference at all to the enemy. It just gives them more targets, and gives our bureaucrats more chances to punish our soldiers for doing the job of a soldier. Result: more deaths, more discouragement, more wasted billions, more cynicism, more confusion about the goal, less will to win.
Someone needs to ask George the same question that Lynne Cheney asked to Wolf Blitzer:
"Do you really want us to win?" ¶ 4:33 PM
Americans are above all empirical. In industry and in daily life we are devoted to the basic notion of science: we don't accept anything on authority until we see whether it works or not. After we determine that a certain approach works, we keep doing it until somebody shows us an even better way.
Over the last century, American leaders have tried two styles of foreign policy. Each has received a good solid experimental run, and the results are clear. The data is in, and has been analyzed well and truly.
The Wilson style assumes that all humans want the same things, and thus aims to achieve certain moral goals for the world. It was tried in WW1 and the aftermath. It failed. Moral goals led immediately and directly to Hitler.
The Roosevelt style (Teddy & Franklin are the same in this context) makes no assumptions at all; it simply aims to serve the interests of the American people by defeating our enemies, regardless of morality, courtesy, the Golden Rule, or any other shit. It was tried in WWII, and later by Reagan. It worked both times.
Despite such a clear A/B pair of experiments, George W. Vichy is still taking the Wilson approach. Even today, after his OWN experiments have so clearly and predictably failed, he is still on the Wilson path. No mention of victory, just endless process and details and democracy and elections.
Osama loves it when we get bogged down in process, details, Rule of Law, and "long twilight struggles". Osama and his ilk are long-term thinkers. They will always beat us, by subversion and demographics, in a long chronic war. A gradual increase of troops, with the same rules of engagement, makes no difference at all to the enemy. It just gives them more targets, and gives our bureaucrats more chances to punish our soldiers for doing the job of a soldier. Result: more deaths, more discouragement, more wasted billions, more cynicism, more confusion about the goal, less will to win.
Someone needs to ask George the same question that Lynne Cheney asked to Wolf Blitzer:
"Do you really want us to win?" ¶ 4:33 PM
Ghhhllrrraaaarrrrrkkkhhh!
Just after I posted the silly pun below, about confusing the Aqua Teen whatever-it-is with AquaNet, those hippie-ass dickheads who actually performed the terroristic fakery gave a news conference in which they talked only about 1960's and 1970's hairstyles.
I don't often feel shocked or unclean; I'm reasonably comfy with the stranger and sleazier parts of the universe. In this case I feel unclean, just knowing that my mind, though accidentally and through different paths, somehow reached the same subject as these hippie-ass dickheads.
I quickly checked the Site-Meter thing, and to my relief found that nobody had read the blog in the period in question. This is, of course, the normal and default condition; this blog is never actually read by humans. So I really didn't need to worry about the possibility. Still, it's good to know that those hippie-ass dickheads did not actually derive their idea from here! ¶ 3:07 PM
Just after I posted the silly pun below, about confusing the Aqua Teen whatever-it-is with AquaNet, those hippie-ass dickheads who actually performed the terroristic fakery gave a news conference in which they talked only about 1960's and 1970's hairstyles.
I don't often feel shocked or unclean; I'm reasonably comfy with the stranger and sleazier parts of the universe. In this case I feel unclean, just knowing that my mind, though accidentally and through different paths, somehow reached the same subject as these hippie-ass dickheads.
I quickly checked the Site-Meter thing, and to my relief found that nobody had read the blog in the period in question. This is, of course, the normal and default condition; this blog is never actually read by humans. So I really didn't need to worry about the possibility. Still, it's good to know that those hippie-ass dickheads did not actually derive their idea from here! ¶ 3:07 PM
Boston 'bombs'
Nice to see CNN's parent company under the magnifying glass. Needless to say, DOJ (Department of Jesse Jackson) won't do anything serious to the company, because DOJ is just as solidly leftist as CNN. If Rupert Murdoch's company tried the same trick, they'd be in instant and deep doo-doo.
One question that hasn't been asked: What if these fake devices still aren't merely a joke? What if they are an instance of 'guerrilla marketing' AND a diversion and test for Arab terrorists?
Check out the upper management of the Iridium Group, parent company of Interference Incorporated, and see if you can spot any, er, interesting names.
Must admit it ... when I heard the name of the TV program being advertised, "Team something-or-other Aqua something-or-other", the only picture that came to mind was
The AquaNet Team!Getting old, for sure.
¶ 7:50 AM
One question that hasn't been asked: What if these fake devices still aren't merely a joke? What if they are an instance of 'guerrilla marketing' AND a diversion and test for Arab terrorists?
Check out the upper management of the Iridium Group, parent company of Interference Incorporated, and see if you can spot any, er, interesting names.
Must admit it ... when I heard the name of the TV program being advertised, "Team something-or-other Aqua something-or-other", the only picture that came to mind was
The AquaNet Team!Getting old, for sure.
¶ 7:50 AM
