Saturday, February 19, 2005

The Religion of Science

For those of you who think science is the be-all and end-all of intellectual discussions, read this.
A flamboyant anthropology professor, whose work had been cited as evidence Neanderthal man once lived in Northern Europe, has resigned after a German university panel ruled he fabricated data and plagiarized the works of his colleagues.
In their report, they called Protsch's 30 years of work a "dating disaster.
Chris Stringer, a Stone Age specialist and head of human origins at London's Natural History Museum, said: "What was considered a major piece of evidence showing that the Neanderthals once lived in northern Europe has fallen by the wayside. We are having to rewrite prehistory."

"Anthropology now has to revise its picture of modern man between 40,000 and 10,000 B.C.," added Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Greifswald.

Frankfurt University's president, Rudolf Steinberg, apologized for the university's failure to curb Protsch's misconduct for decades. "A lot of people looked the other way," he said.

Pagan elitists; you gotta love 'em!
They are SO desperate to "prove" their hollow "intellectual" ideas, that they will go to any extreme, even if it includes fabricating alleged proof (most of us call that lying).
And Bill Maher thinks Christians believe in fairy tales?
Moron.

Keep An Eye on This

Remember back in November, just after the election, I said I didn't think Dick Cheney would be around too long?

Seems I'm not the only one. The hot, new rumor circulating around Capitol Hill is that Condi Rice will replace Cheney in 2006.
"We all know that Dick Cheney has been the best vice president of modern times, perhaps in American history," one such chairman told Wheeler. "And we know that he absolutely will not run for president in 2008. Further, he has an unfortunate history of heart trouble. So let's just say none of us will be surprised if, sometime next year, he will step down from the vice presidency due to his health."

Continued the source: "Should this happen, President Bush would need to appoint his replacement, just as Richard Nixon chose Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew. It is quite clear to us whom the president would choose should he need to: Condoleezza Rice."
Lets see just how insightful I actually am.

Anybody Know History?

How many times have you heard Jews proclaim that the Holocaust "must never be forgotten so that it is never repeated"?

Well, how many recall what one of the first steps Germany took in the eventual enslavement of the Jews? Right...they took away their guns.

Now one of their supposed-own is attempting to send them up the river.
Dalia Rabin-Pelossof joined leftist leaders Friday and called for confiscating weapons held by Jews living in northern Samaria and Gaza.
She joined the Adam organization, which demanded the government take the weapons out of fear that they will be used by a "new Jewish underground movement."
Wasn't it a number of these dreaded underground movements that saved the lives of innumerable Jews in Nazi-occuppied Europe?

The other frightening thing is the undertone of these statements: you are only entitled to your "rights" if you agree with the way we (the annointed pseudointellectuals) think.

Pretty scary stuff.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Microsoft OS Under Attack

Hmm. Imagine that.
Microsoft's new Anti-spy software is under attack, according to Reuters.
Microsoft Corp. is investigating an attack on its new anti-spy software by a program designed to cripple it and snoop on computer users' activities, the world's largest software maker said on Thursday.

The program, called "BankAsh-A Trojan", removes files from Windows AntiSpyware, suppresses warning messages and deletes the program entirely.
Can't they make ANYTHING secure??

Check this link for programs that actually work. (Thanks Crispy23 @My Round Box)

Or better yet, go Linux.

Whose Side Are We On?

First, it was LtCol Allen West. Now, once again, the US shows why some consider the phrase "military intelligence" to be an oxymoron.
In an attempt to devour more of its own, WND reports that a US Marine faces the death penalty for killing 2 terror suspects.
A U.S. Marine charged with premeditated murder for shooting two Iraqis may face the death penalty, although one of the men he shot appeared to be preparing to attack the Marines or detonate nearby explosives, says the Marine's attorney.
Isn't the purpose, the premise, the goal of war the essentially premeditated killing of the enemy? Don't you go in knowing that the possibility exists that you will need to kill someone?
Are we now to think that killing during a war comes as a surprise?
Second Lieutenant Ilario G. Pantano was charged Feb. 1 in connection with the April 15, 2004, shooting incident, according to a Marine Corps statement released yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, convened an investigation to determine if the 33-year-old Pantano should stand trial, but no further details were released.

The Marine platoon Pantano commanded had been tasked with searching a suspected terrorist hide-out south of Baghdad last April. After finding weapons, ammunition and bomb-making material in the building, they observed two men fleeing in a sport utility vehicle, Gittens said, according to the wire report.

Upon shooting out the vehicle's tires to stop it, the Marines took the two Iraqi men into custody, ordering them to search for booby traps and secret compartments in the vehicle by ripping out its interior and seats, Gittens told Reuters.

Then, according to Gittens, one of the suspects turned suddenly toward Pantano "as if to attack." When Pantano ordered them to stop, they kept moving toward him, Gittens said.

"He (Pantano) thought he was in danger and he fired and he killed them and that's what we do to terrorists who don't listen to orders. ... It's a combat situation, kill or be killed," the attorney told Reuters.

Be aware that this took place in the Sunni Triangle, the most violent area of Iraq.
Sounds totally justifiable to me.

While we're at it, lets have an investigation into the competency of MajGen Richard Huck to effectively command the 2nd Marine Division. Sounds to me like he's a few slices short of a full loaf.

Think about it: we have an all volunteer military. In an attempt to recruit volunteers, among whom we hope to attract some of America's brightest and best, what do we do? Criminalize what they were recruited to do!

"The Few. The Proud. The Jailed. The Marines."

That should do wonders for enlistments.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Unconstitutional Charity Revisited

Back on January 01, 2005, I posted regarding the illegality and immorality of so-called "federal disaster relief".

Well, in his column today, Dr. Walter Williams expands on the subject.

Its well worth your 5 minutes to go read it.

Monday, February 07, 2005

Super Bowl thoughts

Congratulations to the New England Patriots on another Super Bowl victory!

Tom Brady is incredibly poised, especially for such a young age. He's got many great years ahead of him.

Deion Branch must have cloned himself...he seemed to be everywhere! Congrats on the MVP trophy.

Donovan McNabb is a 2nd rate hack. The Eagles will never win a Super Bowl with him as QB. If he was white, he wouldn't even be in the NFL.

My vote for best commercial goes to the Ford Mustang Convertible (though by the third time they showed it, I was tired of it already).
The Ford Truck one at the very beginning was also entertaining.

Worst commercial? Easy...FedEx. (BTW...Burt Reynolds has had WAY too much plastic surgery).


Thursday, February 03, 2005

State of DisUnion

Wednesday, February 02, 2005, President George Delano Bush, gave his State of the Union address.
The following are the parts I found "entertaining".
America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline.
Interesting statement from someone who added a huge new entitlement program (prescription drugs under Medicare), added an enormous new Cabinet-level department (Homeland Security) and failed to veto ONE spending bill.
My budget substantially reduces or eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities.
If they are ineffective or duplicate efforts, why only reduce them? Get rid of them!
Now we must demand better results from our high schools, so every high school diploma is a ticket to success.
How could this possibly be acheived? You cannot guarantee success, unless you plan on controling every aspect of a person's life, and, in the process, redefine success.
And we will make it easier for Americans to afford a college education, by increasing the size of Pell Grants.
Oh good, more government and more debt.
To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities, so we must free small businesses from needless regulation
Is not the essence of government needless regulation? The opposite of regulation is freedon, which requires smaller, limited government. Other than Ron Paul of Texas, is there ANYONE in DC working toward smaller government?

To make our economy stronger and more productive, we must make health care more affordable, and give families greater access to good coverage, and more control over their health decisions.
Check the stats. Healthcare costs began to spiral out of control when government intervened in healthcare in the 60's via Medicare, and got worse with every attempt by them to "fix" it. Does anyone really think more government involvement will solve the problem they created?
I have appointed a bipartisan panel to examine the tax code from top to bottom. And when their recommendations are delivered, you and I will work together to give this Nation a tax code that is pro-growth, easy to understand, and fair to all.
Isn't that an oxymoron?
We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border.
That's not what they do. They punish people who enter this country illegally. They punish criminals!
One of America's most important institutions - a symbol of the trust between generations - is also in need of wise and effective reform. Social Security was a great moral success of the 20th Century, and we must honor its great purposes in this new century.
Can you believe this crap? An alleged conservative praising and protecting one of the biggest Socialist programs ever thrust upon the people of the United States.
A moral success? Explain to me how taking money from someone by force and giving it to someone else is moral. If any individual were to try that, its called theft. But when the government does it, its moral and compassionate!
With each passing year, fewer workers are paying ever-higher benefits to an ever-larger number of retirees.
Read that sentence VERY carefully. Read it again. Ol' Bush let the cat out of the bag here. You are not paying into a "trust fund" (by the way, there is no Social Security Trust Fund...it doesn't exist). It is a direct transfer of wealth..."workers are paying...to...retirees".
The goal here is greater security in retirement, so we will set careful guidelines for personal accounts.We will make sure the money can only go into a conservative mix of bonds and stock funds.
Lets see...its my money, but you're going to tell me what to do with it.
We will make sure that your earnings are not eaten up by hidden Wall Street fees. We will make sure there are good options to protect your investments from sudden market swings on the eve of your retirement.
And, you're going to exert some sort of bazarre control over Wall Street.
We will make sure a personal account can't be emptied out all at once, but rather paid out over time
But what if I want MY money all at once?
The reason that this is all being done is to prop up Wall Street. Forced infusion of money almost guarantees a rising Dow.
Now we need to focus on giving young people, especially young men in our cities, better options than apathy, or gangs, or jail. Tonight I propose a three-year initiative to help organizations keep young people out of gangs, and show young men an ideal of manhood that respects women and rejects violence.
I thought this problem was solved with Clinton's Midnight Basketball Program?
Because one of the main sources of our national unity is our belief in equal justice, we need to make sure Americans of all races and backgrounds have confidence in the system that provides justice. In America we must make doubly sure no person is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit - so we are dramatically expanding the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful conviction. Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side.
I can't wait to read the fine print of these proposals. There are going to be some ugly things hidden in here. Maybe like a Federal DNA data bank, where your DNA goes on file from birth.

Bush then goes on with his "we will bring freedom to the world" pipedream, which I find so frightening, I don't even want to go into an analysis of what he said.
Just let me repeat what I've said in previous posts: Nation-building is a bad idea and a disasterous policy.

Bush is not a conservative.
Bush is not a Christian.
Bush is a global socialist, with the expansion of government his greatest goal.