Michael Crichton on How We Foster and Promote "Desirable" Technologies

"We don't."............Brilliant man was Mr. Crichton (the fact that government promotion has given us such ridiculous end-results as ethanol, wind turbines, electric cars, etc. - all of which have reamed the taxpayers royally).

On Leftist Dullards Like Joy Behar (Joy Behar LOL) Constantly Throwing Around the Term, "Climate Change Denier"

It's ludicrous. a) I don't know of a single reputable global warming skeptic who denies that the climate changes and that it's been doing so for over four and a half BILLION years and b) the vast percentage of these very same skeptics (80% would be my guess, with Weather Action's Piers Corbyn probably being the most prominent member of the minority) don't even deny that humans have played a role (through deforestation, carbon emissions, urbanization, etc.). The question has always been one of degree (most skeptics asserting that the planet has only warmed about .7 degrees Celsius and that man has probably contributed to less than half of that) and what, if anything (the vast, VAST, majority of folks who've looked at this have stated that adaptation would in fact be significantly cheaper and more effective - the fact that humans don't really control the climate and that there has never been an actual CO2 thermostat per se - than prevention) to do about it. I mean, I know that Behar is just as inept as a lot of the people who she criticizes (in this case, the admittedly doltish Ted Cruz) in terms of not addressing nuance and all but this situation was way over the top even for this nitwit.

Richard Feynman (One of the Greatest Thinkers this Side of Einstein) on Scientists

"The best scientists are continually trying to prove themselves wrong."............Well, that certainly eliminates Michael Mann, James Hanson, Keith Briffa, and Ben Santer, now doesn't it?

On Obama Claiming to Have the Most Transparent Administration in History

Yeah, there are definitely some people who disagree with that. a) Reporters Without Borders - "Serious downgrade.......Obama worse than Bush."............b) James Risen - "The greatest enemy of press freedom in at least a generation."............c) David Sanger - "This is the most closed, control freak administration that I've ever covered."............d) Margaret Sullivan - "It's turning out to be the administration of unprecedented secrecy and unprecedented attacks on a free press."............e) Richard McGregor - "Covering this White House is pretty miserable in getting anything of substance to report on."............f) Ann Compton - "He is the least transparent of the seven Presidents I've covered in terms of how he does his daily business."............g) Josh Gerstein - "If it's a story that they don't want to come out (the fact that there was never a protest outside the embassy in Benghazi and they knew it, for example), they won't even give you the basic facts."............h) Josh Meyer - "There is an across the board hostility to the media.......They feel entitled to and expect supportive media coverage."............Just to quote a few, folks.

On the Concept of Trying to Reduce a Complex and Nonlinear System (i.e., the Atmosphere) Into a Computer Model in Which Only a Couple of Variables Are Seen as Pertinent

It's an absurdity and a primary reason why people such as Judith Curry (climatology professor at Georgia Tech), David Evans (former climate modeler for the Australian government and an electrical engineer), William Happer (physics professor at Princeton), and even James Lovelock (one of the biggest global warming alarmists ever) have decided to take yet another look at this thing (global warming).......That, and the fact that the models were way, WAY, off.

On the Fact that the U.S. Has Reduced its CO2 Emissions by About 400,000,000 Tons Without a National Policy Aimed at Doing so and at Faster Rate than a Lot of Countries that Do Have Such a Policy

The fact here is that the U.S. has been decarbonizing for well over 100 years now (from wood to coal to oil to natural gas to nuclear, with some hydro thrown in for good measure) and we really don't need a bunch of government bureaucrats to tell us that this as a good thing (not from an emissions standpoint but from an efficiency one). I mean, how insulting is that?

David Brinkley on the Irresponsibility of the Media

"When there's no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were."......Boy, do I ever miss that guy.

On the Dangers of Climate Change

"We simply cannot afford to gamble...by ignoring it. We cannot risk inaction. These scientists who say that we are merely entering a period of climate instability are acting irresponsibly. The indicators that our climate can soon change for the worse are too strong to be reasonably ignored." 1978, Lowell Ponte, "The Cooling"

On the Fact that More than 3,700 Strikes Took Place in America in 1943

Yeah, that didn't exactly go over too well with the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were getting their heads blown off in North Africa and the South Pacific. Not even a little.

THIS Is Sustainability?

According to energy expert, Robert Bryce, in order for wind energy just to keep up with the increased demand for energy worldwide, we (as in the world) would have to cover 93,000 square miles (roughly the size of the state of Minnesota) with 400 foot-high wind turbines EVERY YEAR. That is madness, folks, MADNESS, and isn't it about time that our politicians a) wised up (as in, educated themselves) and b) told the truth to the American citizens?

On Press Secretaries

Why don't they just cut the bullshit and call these people what they really are; chief propagandist for the American welfare/warfare state, and just move on?...................................................................................P.S. And, yes, I felt the exact same way when Bush's minions were patrolling the sideline and feeding us their garbage (especially during the early stages of the Iraq War).

On those Dullards on Fox News's, "The Five", Cavalierly Talking About Bombing Iran Today

To say that these people are clueless doesn't even begin to touch it. I mean, do they actually think that Iran is just going to sit back and take it (an especially ludicrous notion in that we would probably have to hit them every two years or so)? That they wouldn't try and destabilize Afghanistan (by riling up the Persian speaking population there)? That they wouldn't try and destabilize Iraq even more so? That they wouldn't encourage and bankroll Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, etc. into attacking Israel? That they wouldn't attack OUR troops in the region? That they wouldn't fire off missiles into Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel? That they wouldn't try and shut down the Strait of Hormuz (where 90% of Persian Gulf oil goes through) and mine the hell out of that sucker? Look, I get it. They don't like Obama and that is fine (I'm not a fan myself). But the guy is trying and probably pursuing the best of a bunch of bad options. Cut him some slack, I say.

On the Fact that Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington Were Both Born into Slavery and Yet Neither of Them Ever Asked for Preferential Treatment from the Government and in Fact Were Adamantly Opposed to Such Policies (Asking Instead Only for Equal Opportunity)

Now THAT is an "inconvenient" truth, folks.

On Art (in the Minds of Some Folks) Being Subordinate to a Prefabricated Political Ideology

This isn't just political correctness run amok. It is art via fascism and both sides of the political spectrum have been guilty of practicing it (from progressive feminists all the way to the religious right). The way that I see it, art and politics should never intermingle and if the politicians and thought-police are offended they can choke on it.

On the Fact that Oil and Electric Companies Have Been Prosecuted Hundreds of Times for Violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty and Eagle Protection Acts but the Wind Industry (Which Slaughters Endangered Species at a Higher Rate Per Unit than the Fossil Fuel Industry) Has Only Been Prosecuted Once

Has it ever really been about the birds, folks (as opposed to government power, control, influence, dogma etc.)? I mean, seriously?

On Ted Cruz Announcing His Candidacy for the Presidency Yesterday and the Fact that He Did it at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University

Yeah, that latter part is a major obstacle for him in terms of getting my support (the fact that it underscores my preconceived notion of the guy as a bible-thumping moron, etc.).

On the Ethanol Scam (AKA, the Longest Running Pilfering of the America Taxpayer in History)

It has NEVER been an energy policy and ALWAYS been a farm subsidy policy. And if you're interested in the abject absurdity of this policy, just get a load of this. According to the periodical, Strategic Studies Quarterly, just to replace the U.S. oil needs for transportation, it would take a land area of about 700 MILLION acres (37% of the continental United States) with nothing but corn growing on it....It's insanity, folks, and just the mere concept that we're destroying food and destroying it at a juncture when many people are struggling is enough to make me vomit. I'm sorry but it is.

On the Fact that 77 Australian Soldiers Held Off a Significantly Larger Contingent of Japanese Troops for Days on the Kokoda Track Near Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea (Prior to Ultimately Capitulating)

Not surprising, in that this is a country in which the fellows who play their version of football run nonstop and don't wear padding or a helmet.

On the Fact that the Japanese Used as Their Template for Pearl Harbor the British Onslaught of the Italian Navy at Taranto (in Which They Destroyed Half the Italian Fleet in Less than a Night) One Year Earlier

Yet another example of the inability of Churchill and FDR to connect the dots (the former especially thinking that the allied navy was impervious to air attack).

The IPCC's Response to the Fact that Their Climate Models Have All Essentially Crashed and Burned?

How 'bout I just quote them; "These projections were not intended to be predictions over the short time-scales for which observations are available to date." The Wizard of Oz/the youngster on the playground who clearly got tagged but who jumps up and down claiming that he wasn't couldn't have said it any better.

On the Fact that Radical Environmentalists Support Windmills and Solar Panels but Don't Support the Copper and Rare-Earth Mines that Are Necessary to Build Them

Their version of the immaculate conception, perhaps.

On the Highly Acclaimed Hong Kong Lesbian Flick, "Hu Die"

I haven't experienced this much Oriental hotness since I tried the green curry up in Brattleboro last year.

Double Down on Stupid

What would be my answer to the question, "so, what's the hard-left's typical reaction to having their collective backs up against the wall (the fact that Medicare is 8 Xs more expensive than they predicted, the fact that 96% of their climate models have crashed and burned, the fact that Keynesian policies have utterly failed wherever they've been tried, the fact that their green energy initiatives have proven to be a total failure, etc.)?"

What My Message to the Iranians Would Be

"We are NOT going to bomb you. There, now let's trade."

On Me, Israel, and Netanyahu

I consider myself a strong supporter of Israel (the fact that I've sided with them at least 95% of the time, etc.). But on this one topic (Iran and nukes), I really and truly believe that Netanyahu is fully of shit. a) The fellow has been predicting incorrectly on this subject for going on a quarter of a century now and b) our own security agencies (the alphabet soup of America) have repeatedly stated that they aren't building a bomb (hell, even Leon Panetta has stated as much when a reporter was able to briefly get him off script).....................................................................................Look, I'm not saying that Iran has been a good actor over the years but the facts are the facts here and they shouldn't be ignored (I would also submit that Iran thinks that we're going to bomb THEM, and that this accentuates the paranoia). That, and I would also remind you of how the second Bush administration wholly blew what was a golden opportunity to normalize relations with the Iranians after 9/11 (the fact that Ryan Crocker - a person who both sides seem to respect - was able to make solid progress in negotiations, the fact that Iran was willing to help us bich-slap al Qaeda, etc.) and of how the situation deteriorated majorly when Bush instituted his ham-handed "Axis of Evil" bromide. Yeah, I'm not a major fan of Obama but on this one the man is clearly pursuing what is probably the best of a bunch of shaky options while Mr. Netanyahu....not so much.

On Frank Sinatra's Two Leading Ladies in "Pal Joey" Being Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak

Yeah, I suspect that old blue eyes was down with that (I most certainly would have been).

A Rare Display of Journalistic Integrity and Courage

Jonathan Capehart (a columnist for the Washington Post) did something that not a lot of people do these days. He admitted that he made a mistake. I guess that Mr. Capehart was one of the folks who was peddling that false narrative of "hands-up, don't shoot" in the Michael Brown case but, instead of doubling-down and/or ignoring the Justice Department report which essentially exonerates Officer Wilson, he read the report thoroughly and admitted that his initial assessment was wrong.........................................................................................Needless to say, Mr. Capehart is rapidly becoming a pariah and getting tagged by leftist kooks as some sort of "house negro" and worse. But like the fellow himself has said, sometime you just have to do the right thing and kudos to him for having the bravery to do it. 

Thank the Lord for Midway

While it may have been the majority opinion in our intelligence community that the Japanese were going to advance their next offensive at Midway, it was far from a unanimous one. Yes, Nimitz was on board but other commanders strongly felt that Yamamoto was either going to attack Hawaii again or possibly even the U.S. mainland. Thankfully, Nimitz (who ended up putting all three of our aircraft carriers and multiple torpedo squadrons near the island) was right and the Japanese suffered one of the most lopsided defeats in their history (the Akagi, Soryu, and Kaga all being set ablaze by dive-bombers), never again mounting such an offensive in the Pacific. Talk about a bet, huh?

On the Union

I am only against maintaining it at the point of a bayonet (self-determination - you're either for it or against it, folks).

Pearl Harbor - It Could Have Been Worse (Seriously)

a) The Japanese failed to sink any of our three aircraft carriers (they were fortuitously out to sea). b) They failed to destroy our power plant (so at least the base was able to maintain electricity). c) They failed to destroy any of our factories/machine shops (important in that repairs were allowed to begin immediately). And d) they failed to blow up any of our oil storage tankers (ergo no fuel shortage). Yep, folks, it could have been a shitload worse.

Fox News's Megyn Kelly - Tenacious Reporter or Partisan Shill?

My suspicion is that she's probably a little bit of both (the fact that she has challenged conservatives such as Dick Cheney, Bobby Jindal, Karl Rove, and Dinesh D'Souza leads me to cut the gal a little slack); the true test of course being when and if we get a Republican President and see just how intensely that that person gets covered. If I had to make a guess at this point, I'd probably have to say NOT.

Admiral James O. Richardson - The Wisest Man of the 20th Century?

If he isn't, then he's gotta be close. a) As early as a year and a half before Pearl Harbor, Richardson protested vociferously to Stark that it was stupid and reckless to leave the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in that it quite literally posed a danger to every vessel (his recommendation being that the ships be called back to the West Coast ASAP). b) He recognized that the manpower of the Navy was woefully inadequate (prior to Pearl Harbor) and, much more importantly, that it would take a good 24 months to ameliorate the situation (the amount of time that it takes to make a petty officer third class out of promising recruit). And c) he was one of the few people who had the foresight to predict that a war with Japan could easily take multiple years, cost billions of dollars, and result in thousands of casualties......................................................................................Needless to say, this learned man (a la Powell and Armitage under Bush 2) was marginalized by FDR and a war that either could have been delayed (hopefully to a point where America had better preparedness) or avoided altogether exploded and boy was it a doozy. Thank you Mr.s Churchill and Roosevelt.

I Can See it Now, Folks, Al Gore, Sitting by the Fireplace

I think that every person should be coaxed into taking a course in the history of energy. You see, that way these environmental nut-cases who constantly go around bashing fossil fuels would be forced into seeing just how intensely miserable that human life was prior to their discovery; the poverty, the pitiful life-spans, etc.. And, while, yes, I do understand that these folks aren't always capable of learning, at least the rest of the populace would be better informed, not so easily persuaded by crazy-assed nonsense, etc., and that that would be a good thing.

On FDR Telling the American People on February 23rd, 1942 that "We Have Destroyed Considerably More Japanese Planes than They Have Destroyed of Ours" (this, After the Americans Had Gotten Their Asses Handed to Them at Pearl Harbor, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines and the Brits Likewise at Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaya)

It was a ludicrous statement (even by Roosevelt's standards) and there are only two possible explanations here. a) He was lying (and exploiting the accompanying censorship policies - the man actually had an Office of Censorship) or b) he was totally clueless. Either way, I find him contemptible and don't even try, "the ends justifies the means", here, folks. Don't even try.

On the Fact that the Arctic Ice Sheet Has Decreased Slightly Since the Early 1980s

Don't people realize that these events are both normal and cyclical? I mean, just go back to 1906 when Amundsen was able traverse though the Northwest passage, or to 1944 when the St. Roch was able to do it, too....That, and I would also point out that Greenland was significantly warmer during the days of Eric the Red than it currently is, and that none of the supposedly vulnerable coastal regions were under water back then....The way that I see it, folks, everyone just needs to calm down and realize that, for the type of sea level rises that folks like the IPCC and Al Gore have been predicting...to actually come true, the Antarctic ice sheet would have to melt and it hasn't for 15 MILLION (I refer you to the writings/lectures of geologist and paleoclimatologist, Don Easterbrook) years.

On the Fact that the Brits Didn't Even Try and Defend the North of Singapore in the Days Leading Up to the Japanese Invasion (a Strategy that Was Based on a Belief that the Japanese Wouldn't Be Tenacious Enough to Traipse Through the Malaysian Jungle in an Effort to Surprise-Attack)

Yeah, the British and the Americans both thoroughly underestimated the Japanese; their strategy, tenacity, technology, etc., and even thought that the war would be won in a couple of weeks (the media being just as guilty as the moronic schmucks in government). Dick Cheney, anyone?

On the IPCC Parading Around Terms Such as "Extremely" and "Likely".

It's called the InterGOVERNMENTAL Panel for a reason, folks.

On the Slandering of Black People Who Speak Out of Turn (i.e., Differently from Sharpton, Jackson, the Congressional Black Caucus with Luminaries Such as Maxine Waters, John Conyers, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Gregory Meeks, the NAACP, etc.)

Yeah, I'm thinking that this needs to be part of that "conversation" as well.

On Why I Detest Radical Environmentalists

It's simple, folks. They've lost their humanitarian soul. They oppose DDT being sprayed on the inside of African huts (an act that could save hundreds of thousands of lives a year), all GMO including golden rice (a substance that could prevent millions of third-world children from going blind), cheap and abundant fossil fuels (which could all but eliminate indoor air pollution, not to mention provide electricity to millions). And they even oppose fluoride in the drinking water...........................................................................................Of course what makes me the sickest of all is that they engage in all of this advocacy from the most comfortable of circumstances possible; eschewing even the remote possibility that it is poverty which reigns as the real evil and that solar-panels on huts and mosquito nets simply aren't good enough (they certainly aren't good enough for their kids)....That, and they're so damned smug.

On Greenpeace Proclaiming that "We Must End Our Addiction to Oil" While at the Same Time Hobnobbing Around on a $32 Million Diesel-Fueled Vessel

Yeah, these are the same idiots who from the plush comfort of their air-conditioned offices bitch and moan about mining while at the same time utilizing numerous devices/gadgets (personal computers, cell phones, etc.) that could have never been produced if it wasn't for, yeah, you got it, MINING!!!!!!!!! Yep, the same folks.

On this Whole Philosophy of Trying to Get Career C Students to Go to College

You are not doing those people a whiff of good in that the likelihood of a person who struggled in grade school and high school doing well in college is extremely small. You would be much more helpful in guiding them toward an apprenticeship program, a regional vocational technical school, the armed forces, or, if you really and truly wanted them to go to college, a certificate program (our CC has them in pharmacy technician, therapeutic recreation, nursing assistant, security officer, etc.) at a local community college (the reason that I say a certificate program rather than an Associate's degree is because it is something that can be done in a much shorter period of time and the dropout rate would obviously be less, and you could always go for the Associate's later). This whole notion that everybody has to go to college is really something that the pols need to stop hawking in that is isn't just unrealistic but harmful, too.

On Burt Gordon's (AKA George C. Scott's) Sunglasses at Night Look in "The Hustler"

More devastatingly cool it could not have been (and, yes, I searched the internet looking for a picture and failed).

To the Near Future in a Hand-Basket

According to data from the Bank for International Settlements, the IMF, and the OECD, if France refuses to make substantive changes to it's entitlement programs, their debt to GDP ratio will be damn close to 400% by 2040. Hopefully they don't have a bunch of imbecilic Pelosi-like politicians who go around saying that the solution to France's welfare system is "France's welfare system"....Oh, and the projected debt to GDP ratio of America - yeah, it's even higher at close to 500%. What say YOU, Mrs. Pelosi?

On the Fact that Japan Has Engaged in a Keynesian Experiment for Going on Two Decades Now and the Only Things that They Have to Show for it Are a 20 Year-Long Recession and a Debt to GDP Ratio of Close to 200% (Worse than that of Spain, Italy, and Even Greece)

How much more information do we need that this a thoroughly bankrupt and mind-numbingly stupid philosophy? I mean, does the entire planet have to implode?

On Sean Hannity Comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Winston Churchill

I actually agree with Mr. Hannity here. I just don't see it as a compliment, that's all; the fact that both men are/were men of war, men who hyped their adversaries (in Netanyahu's case, Iran, and in Churchill's case, Germany) in an effort to gin up support for more war, etc..............................................................................................P.S. And I don't mean to just pick on Churchill and Netanyahu here. American Presidents such as McKinley, Wilson, FDR, Truman, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, and the Bushes have also been of this ilk and a pox on each and every one of their houses, I submit.

On Modern-Day Conservatives Who See the Problems in Domestic Interventions but Who Fail to See the Problems in Foreign Interventions and Modern-Day Liberals/Progressives Who See the Problems in Foreign Interventions but Who Fail to See the Problems in Domestic Interventions

That, in a nutshell, is why I've become more libertarian and far less trusting of the two major parties.

Israel's Next Prime-Minister?

One can only hope so (that sick I am of Mr. Netanyahu's constant - starting in 1992 - Chicken Little crap)

On the New Justice Department Report Which All but Exonerates Officer Wilson in the Tragic Michael Brown Death

And Mr. Wilson goes to get his reputation back where exactly?

On the Current Scrum in Iraq

What we essentially have is a battle between the Iranian-backed Shia forces and ISIS, and what the neocons have to realize is that one of them has to emerge (I do find it kind of amusing that this big, bad threat to American Democracy, ISIS, is presently on the receiving end and the talking-points have gone back to Iran being the great devil). Yeah, there might have been a third, somewhat more tolerable option early on in the form of Tariq Aziz or somebody similar (and there actually were people in the Bush administration whose concept of "regime change" was more along these lines and less along the lines of assuming the universality of American liberalism, capitalism, democracy, etc.), but that ship has sailed and it literally sickens me to hear neocon fools like Charles Krauthammer try and lay this totally on Obama's doorstep (not that his policies have been perfect, either, obviously). As for what we should be doing, how 'bout we simply let these two sets of bad actors kill each other for a wee-bit longer and monitor it (that, and knock off the closeness with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the U.A.E, Kuwait, etc.)? I mean, it's better than us diving in yet again, no?

On Netanyahu and Iran

In 1992, Netanyahu addressed the Knesset and claimed that Iran was 3 to 5 years away from a nuclear weapon. In 1996, he addressed a joint session of Congress and stated that they were "extremely close". Da' ya' see a pattern here, folks?.......................................................................................And like I said in a previous post, the actual evidence is paltry. a) Our own intelligence community (I guess that there are close to 20 agencies now) has essentially admitted it (http://www.newsweek.com/intelligence-agencies-say-no-new-nukes-iran-79143). b) The Iranians have consistently complied with both the nonproliferation treaty and the safeguards agreement that had been put forward by the I.A.E.A.. And c) the Iranians have only been enriching uranium at the 3.6% (for industrial electricity) and 20% (for a few medical isotope reactors) levels (over 90% enrichment is needed for a weapon and that doesn't even address the equally sticky issues of warheads and delivery). If you're asking for my opinion here, this is just Netanyahu politicking again and hopefully the President still has the balls to stand up not just to him but the neocons, too.......................................................................................P.S. I understand that former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, will be challenging Netanyahu for the Prime Ministership this year. Please, do consider me a supporter.

And She Could Shake Her Fanny Well, Too (as Evidenced Early on in "Topper")

According to TCM host Robert Osborne, the highest paid actress of the mid to late 1930s wasn't Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Katherine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Jean Arthur, Irene Dunne, Gloria Swanson, Jean Harlow, or Myrna Loy. It was Constance Bennett. Gracing the screen in such classic films as "Topper", "Merrily We Live", "What Price Hollywood?", and "Bed of Roses", Ms. Bennet raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars (a staggering sum for back then) and, while her star-power obviously didn't last as long as some of these other ladies (or even that of her not quite as sultry sister, Joan), is still considered one of the major stars of that era (yes, actually getting top billing over Cary Grant in "Topper")....and one of the hottest as well.

Note to Shayna Baszler (in the Wake of Her Brutal TKO Loss to Bethe' Correia in Which She Absorbed a Dozen or so Devastating Rights)

Keeping your dukes up I believe is an option.

On the Upcoming Republican Primary Debates

It's gonna be a horror show; 14-15 neocons bashing each other over the noggin to try and convince the increasingly hawkish Republican base that it's THEM who'd gonna kill the most terrorists. I mean, at least last time we had Paul, Huntsman, and Johnson who gave us a wee-bit of understanding (knowing the difference between a Sunni and Shiite, for starters) and candidness and, while, yes, the younger Paul may ultimately provide us with that, I'm not exactly holding my breath here (the fact that the fellow appears to be calibrating his positions of late) and fully expect a clown-show.

The FDA - Hazardous to Your Health?

Oh, you had better believe it. Using their own damn numbers this sucker has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and, being that there doesn't seem to be any sort of reform on the horizon, I strongly suspect that we have only scratched the surface...............................................................................................So, why is this shit happening? Three reasons, probably - a) bureaucratic inertia which has radically lengthened the amount of time that it takes for a drug to get to market (it's gone from 2 to 3 years to 10 years), b) high costs (predominantly brought about by government regulation) which now make it almost impossible for a smaller company to patent and market a new drug, and c) a borderline paranoiac adherence to the precautionary principle in which these assholes are so afraid of committing a Type 1 error that they are now making Type 2 errors straight up the poop-shoot...............................................................................................Now, this isn't to say that we should be getting rid of the FDA completely in that we probably do need a certain amount of oversight. But this whole bullshit of perpetually keeping drugs off the market, many of which have already been approved in other countries (and, yes, I'm talking European countries here), is something that has to stop and quickly.

On 2017 Being the Centennial Anniversary of President Wilson's Idiotic Interventionism in Europe (Mexico Not Being Enough of a Lesson, Apparently)

I've already ordered my black armbands for it.

On the War-Mongering Republicans, Stimson and Knox, Teaming Up with the War-Mongering Democrat, Roosevelt, in 1940

Yeah, that's not exactly the type of bipartisanship that I've been seeking out of late (Simpson-Bowles and Rivlin-Domenici Being Far More to My Liking)........................................................................................P.S. And, yes, one might also refer to this dismal pairing as the McCain and Lieberman of the 1940s. 

The Craziest Person to Ever Run for President?

Does this fellow's face ring a bell?

The Neocon Wall of Stupidity - Edition 2

Dinesh D'Souza.

Some Thoughts on Israel

So, would the world have been better off if the Jews from Europe had settled somewhere else after WW2 (someplace sane like British Columbia or Northeast Maine)? Yeah, probably. But what the world also has to know is that the Zionists have actually been pretty reasonable for long stretches throughout this whole Palestine process. I mean, just take a look at their response to the Peel Commission proposal of 1937; an offer that only allotted them approximately 5% of British mandate Palestine (25% of Western Palestine which in turn was only 20% of the whole mandate - the other 80% going to the Hashemites). The Jews accepted it and the Arabs rejected it. And it's continued that way over the past 80 years; the Jews accepting the 1948 partition, the 1992 Oslo Accords, the 2000 Bill Clinton/Ehud Barak proposal, the 2008 Ehud Olmert proposal, etc.. Yes, Israel is flawed and maybe we do need to look at our policy of bankrolling them to the tune of billions a year but let us not get too seduced by the Ron Paul/ Michael Scheuer theory of "blowback" that we forget who the real maniacs are.

On the Fact that Many Physycists (Jeffrey Grupp, Jim Elvidge, Leonard Susskind, George Smoot, Alan Cuth, Edeline D'Souza - Just a Few) Are Now Contemplating the Possibility that Life as We Know it Is Little More than a Computer Simulation from the Brain of Some Superior Entity

I find this fascinating in that, while, yes, it blows to smithereens that whole Biblical explanation for life on the planet, it also gives a surprisingly adequate boost to the theory of intelligent design; the fact that somebody/some superior being had to be the one to create the simulation (or virtual reality, if you prefer). And I ask you, what could be better than a theory that simultaneously bitch-slaps both the religious-right and the academic elitists of the world? Not a lot, from my perspective.

On How Some People Point to the Peculiar and/or Stupid Ways that Other Folks Spend Their Money and Parade this Around as Evidence that the Market Isn't "Perfect"

It's a total strawman in that nobody of a serious bent has ever said that the market was perfect, just that it was a better paradigm than the alternatives; fascism, socialism, and communism (the thought being that millions of individual and voluntary transactions/experiments are far more preferable and less catastrophic than some small cadre of massive ones that have been perpetrated by dullards such as Obama and Bush, their underlings, henchmen, etc.).......That, and who in the hell would want to live in a perfect world (defined by who?) anyway, for Christ?

The Neocon Wall of Stupidity - Edition 1 (Based on a Suspicion that I'll Probably Forget a Couple)

Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol, Fred Barnes, Dick Cheney, Frank Gaffney, Elliot Abrams, Charles Krauthammer, John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, Bret Stephens, Jon Bolton, Marc Thiessen, Peter King, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Hayes, Jonah Goldberg, Ralph Peters, George W. Bush, Daniel Pipes, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Bremer, Karl Rove, Norman Podhoretz...........................................................................................P.S. There are other people who supported the Iraq War who I could have also included here (Gingrich, Coulter, etc.) but being that they didn't quite fit the precise definition of a neoconservative (i.e. those who've made an ideological transformation and who've consistently advocated preemption, militarism, etc.) I decided not to. I also didn't include dead people (Jean Kirkpatrick, Irving Kristol, Scoop Jackson, and the like) because I wanted to keep the list contemporary.

Cenk Uygur is a Damned Liar, a Slanderer (Against Sam Harris), and a Soundrel

And here is the unimpeachable evidence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GSobo5sk4s

On What the Libertarian Candidates Can Say to Black Folks

There are several things actually. a) The fact that it is a libertarian think-tank (The Cato Institute) which operates the watchdog web-site, policemisconduct.net. b) The fact that it is the Libertarian Party which has most vociferously opposed the "war on drugs" (a policy that has disproportionately damaged the black community). c) The fact that it is the Libertarian Party which has most strenuously advocated for school choice (something that inner-city black parents strongly support). And d) the fact that the Libertarians are also strongly against draconian licensing fees, "certificate of necessity" requirements (both of which are barriers to entry for potential black businesses), moronic regulations that disproportionately eviscerate small businesses, etc........Hey, it's a start.

On the Fact that Geoffrey Immelt Has Apparently Made a Killing on that California Solar Ranch

He never seems to miss a thing, does he?

On John Hospers of the Libertarian Party Being the First Openly Gay Man to Run for President and Ralph Raico (the Real "Great One" - Sorry, Douchebag Levin) in 1975 Starting the Libertarian for Gay Rights Caucus

And the party that was ahead of its time was which one again?

On the California Valley Solar Ranch/Power Plant

Take a good look at it, people, 'cause this is your tax money in action; $1.6 billion in state and federal subsidies (refer to Lipton and Krauss, New York Times, 2011). And here are some additional stats; an exorbitant $6.4 million per megawatt, 1,500 acres of space (far removed from the point of actual usage), a pitiful operating capacity of 22%, and a belief by most folks that the sucker will never turn a profit long term (yes, there will be money made due to the subsidies and the usual suspects of course will be reaping the benefits;  the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, G.E., Google, etc.)...............................................................................................And of course there are other options, for Christ sakes. I mean, just take a quick look at natural gas; the fact that those plants can be set up on as little as 10 to15 acres (and in much closer proximity to the actual usage), operate at close to 90% capacity, and cost just $1.5 million per megawatt. That, and the carbon footprint (if in fact you're worried about such things - I'm not) is probably similar to Solar when you take the time to figure in the extremely important concept of resource intensity (the amount of energy, resources, etc. to bring it to market). But, yeah, I know, natural gas doesn't fit the template and so we'll probably have to empty out our wallets for more of this cronyism well into the future.

On Obama Referring to George Bush's Deficits as "Unpatriotic"

Yeah, I kinda agree. But what Mr. Obama refuses to mention here is that a) Bush had a Democratic Congress for those final two years (the Congress holding the purse-strings), b) the Wall Street bailout, which was one of the most pricey aspects of those deficits, was something that he as a Senator championed, and c) a fair number of his deficits were actually much larger than Bush's. I mean, I know that these politicians aren't very adept at context and all but this sucker has, "pot, kettle, black", written all over it.

On Successful Revolutions

Yeah, they tend not to happen in stable, non-chaotic countries that opt not for perpetual warfare. All things being equal. 

On the Fact that Oil Went from Nonexistent to Total Market Domination in Two Years While Windmills Have Been Around for 2,000 Years, Heavily Subsidized, and Still Account for Only a Tiny Percentage of Our Energy Needs

You can't force technology (especially if it's ancient), folks, and you certainly can't alter the Law of Thermodynamics - TRY AS THEY (idiots like Al Gore, George Monbiot, Josh Fox, etc.)  MAY.