Feb 2007 report from the GAO on Oil...I have not read it yet...it is on my to do list.
Roscoe Bartlett (R) Rep. Maryland is the source.
http://www.bartlett.house.gov/uploadedfiles/GAOCrudeOil.pdf
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Real Climates April Fools
Well worth the time. If only for the sheepish grin you will have.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/04/the-sheep-albedo-feedbacki/
Actually it is as good an idea as some of the outlandish stuff in MSM now...
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/04/the-sheep-albedo-feedbacki/
Actually it is as good an idea as some of the outlandish stuff in MSM now...
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Killing Frost...
Morning,
...the Orchardists will be complaining loudly today...paper says record lows last night...when I opened the door to get this mornings paper I could hear the wind machines thrumming in the distance...strange that this is a common sound...not natural...but common...a kind of white noise...like traffic or sirens...only confined to mornings and random morning musings...cold spring mornings used to greet us with a dirty sooty cloud that would cover everything...the dirtiness overlooked because of the perceived protective powers of the heat from the pots and the smudge clouds that cloaked the trees...spring then, though a time of renewal and beauty was also a time of gray mornings and sleepless nights...Sunday, April 01, 2007
The Future and Tyrannical Republican Party
Reading Talking Points Memo this morning and there was a very good link to Salon and Glen Greenwald that you should read.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/04/01/romney_giuliani/index.html
Why am I scared?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/04/01/romney_giuliani/index.html
Why am I scared?
Friday, March 23, 2007
how I spent my evening....
had chili for dinner...washed that down with a beer...making me a code red on the Homeland Security Terror rating...I am sure they would have labeled me equivalent to a dirty bomb...you know the one that does very little physical damage...it is the fallout that is the killer...after loading my body with this potentially explosive mixture, I went to the store...the key here is to keep moving and ignore the people falling and writhing in your path...keep repeating that you are on a "mission from God"...as I was leaving ...large black government vans were pulling up and people in HazMat suits were swarming out of them...courdoning off the whole supermarket with that yellow "Do not Cross" tape, like on CSI...I went home to watch the whole thing on tv...because everything is more real on tv...hey...pull my finger...
Monday, March 12, 2007
David Brin is straightening it all out for us...
....Russ Daggatt is on top of his game. Here’s his latest:
Bush is Still Trying to Figure Out Which Side We're On
At this point, you may be getting really confused. It's really not that complicated:
We were attacked on 9-11 by al Qaeda which was in cahoots with the Taliban, all a bunch of radical Sunni Muslims.
Most of the 9-11 terrorists were Saudis and Saudis provided the money and ideology for al Qaeda. Saudi Arabia is our ally.
When we drove al Qaeda and the Taliban out of Afghanistan, they regrouped across the border in Pakistan where they have been more or less unmolested ever since. Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, the technology for which they provided to North Korea, Iran and others. Pakistan is our ally.
Saddam Hussein, a secular Arab nationalist, had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks and brutally repressed racial Islamic fundamentalists. He also was the major rival of the radical Shiite government of Iran next door. He was a close friend of the Bush family foreign policy entourage... until he stopped being controllable and made the mistake of offending neighbors who were even closer Bush family friends.
So, we overthrew Saddam Hussein and... installed a pro-Iranian Shiite government in Iraq. Are we having fun yet?
After 9-11, Iran supported us in our overthrow of their other major rival, the Taliban in Afghanistan (who, you will recall, harbored al Qaeda who attacked us on 9-11). Having overthrown Iran's two major geopolitical rivals, Saddam and the Taliban, we actually managed to make relations with Iran WORSE in the process -- saber-rattling at intervals perfectly timed to drive Iran’s moderates and students back into the mullahs’ arms -- demonstrating political finesse that would have made Machiavelli -- well, Don Rickles -- proud. (Bush called them "evil". Showed them. heh, heh, heh)
In summary, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (which has nuclear weapons), who finance and harbor al Qaeda, are our allies. Iran, which had nothing to do with 9-11 and helped us overthrow the Taliban, is "the enemy." So we overthrew the largest secular Arab government, and Iran's major rival, and installed a pro-Iranian government in Iraq. Because Iran is an existential threat. Which aspires to acquire nuclear weapons (like Pakistan, which is harboring al Qaeda and the Taliban -- and is our ally). Got it yet?
And since Iraq seems to be in the midst of a sectarian civil war between the Sunnis (backed by our Sunni allies in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere) and the Shiites (backed by our existential enemy, Iran), it's clear we need to stay and fight in Iraq on behalf of our existential enemies, the Iranian-backed Shiites.
Simple.
Well, maybe not so simple. But, fortunately, we have the geopolitical genius of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney figuring this stuff out so we don't have to. All we need to know is that they're fighting "The Enemy" and "The Terrorists" (whoever that happens to be today -- it's classified).
Seymour Hersh has the one MUST READ piece this month, in . I hate to edit it or pull out selective quotes. Read . But the crux of his piece is that the Bush administration has essentially decided to REDIRECT ITS ATTENTION away from radical Sunni jihadists -- i.e., the folks who attacked us on 9/11 -- and instead take sides in the brewing Sunni-Shiite civil war in the Middle East. In fact, he says we've pretty much decided to throw in our lot with the Saudis and buddy up with the al-Qaeda wannabes:
"This time, [a] U.S. government consultant told me, Bandar and other Saudis have assured the White House that "they will keep a very close eye on the religious fundamentalists. Their message to us was 'We've created this movement, and we can control it.' It's not that we don't want the Salafis to throw bombs; it's who they throw them at -- Hezbollah, Moqtada al-Sadr, Iran, and at the Syrians, if they continue to work with Hezbollah and Iran."
But if they created and control it... doesn’t that mean that, back in the summer of 2001...
Ooooog. Now Russ has me depressed. And confused. So let’s simplify. Time for a modified truism.
Fool my leader once, shame on you.
Fool my leader twice, shame on my leader.
Fool my leader a zillion times?
Clearly, my leader is cahoots with you and I am the fool.
Bush is Still Trying to Figure Out Which Side We're On
At this point, you may be getting really confused. It's really not that complicated:
We were attacked on 9-11 by al Qaeda which was in cahoots with the Taliban, all a bunch of radical Sunni Muslims.
Most of the 9-11 terrorists were Saudis and Saudis provided the money and ideology for al Qaeda. Saudi Arabia is our ally.
When we drove al Qaeda and the Taliban out of Afghanistan, they regrouped across the border in Pakistan where they have been more or less unmolested ever since. Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, the technology for which they provided to North Korea, Iran and others. Pakistan is our ally.
Saddam Hussein, a secular Arab nationalist, had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks and brutally repressed racial Islamic fundamentalists. He also was the major rival of the radical Shiite government of Iran next door. He was a close friend of the Bush family foreign policy entourage... until he stopped being controllable and made the mistake of offending neighbors who were even closer Bush family friends.
So, we overthrew Saddam Hussein and... installed a pro-Iranian Shiite government in Iraq. Are we having fun yet?
After 9-11, Iran supported us in our overthrow of their other major rival, the Taliban in Afghanistan (who, you will recall, harbored al Qaeda who attacked us on 9-11). Having overthrown Iran's two major geopolitical rivals, Saddam and the Taliban, we actually managed to make relations with Iran WORSE in the process -- saber-rattling at intervals perfectly timed to drive Iran’s moderates and students back into the mullahs’ arms -- demonstrating political finesse that would have made Machiavelli -- well, Don Rickles -- proud. (Bush called them "evil". Showed them. heh, heh, heh)
In summary, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (which has nuclear weapons), who finance and harbor al Qaeda, are our allies. Iran, which had nothing to do with 9-11 and helped us overthrow the Taliban, is "the enemy." So we overthrew the largest secular Arab government, and Iran's major rival, and installed a pro-Iranian government in Iraq. Because Iran is an existential threat. Which aspires to acquire nuclear weapons (like Pakistan, which is harboring al Qaeda and the Taliban -- and is our ally). Got it yet?
And since Iraq seems to be in the midst of a sectarian civil war between the Sunnis (backed by our Sunni allies in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere) and the Shiites (backed by our existential enemy, Iran), it's clear we need to stay and fight in Iraq on behalf of our existential enemies, the Iranian-backed Shiites.
Simple.
Well, maybe not so simple. But, fortunately, we have the geopolitical genius of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney figuring this stuff out so we don't have to. All we need to know is that they're fighting "The Enemy" and "The Terrorists" (whoever that happens to be today -- it's classified).
Seymour Hersh has the one MUST READ piece this month, in . I hate to edit it or pull out selective quotes. Read . But the crux of his piece is that the Bush administration has essentially decided to REDIRECT ITS ATTENTION away from radical Sunni jihadists -- i.e., the folks who attacked us on 9/11 -- and instead take sides in the brewing Sunni-Shiite civil war in the Middle East. In fact, he says we've pretty much decided to throw in our lot with the Saudis and buddy up with the al-Qaeda wannabes:
"This time, [a] U.S. government consultant told me, Bandar and other Saudis have assured the White House that "they will keep a very close eye on the religious fundamentalists. Their message to us was 'We've created this movement, and we can control it.' It's not that we don't want the Salafis to throw bombs; it's who they throw them at -- Hezbollah, Moqtada al-Sadr, Iran, and at the Syrians, if they continue to work with Hezbollah and Iran."
But if they created and control it... doesn’t that mean that, back in the summer of 2001...
Ooooog. Now Russ has me depressed. And confused. So let’s simplify. Time for a modified truism.
Fool my leader once, shame on you.
Fool my leader twice, shame on my leader.
Fool my leader a zillion times?
Clearly, my leader is cahoots with you and I am the fool.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Fungus Among Us
I was reading Carl Zimmer's blog,The Loom, http://www.scienceblogs.com/loom/ yesterday. Carl is a scientist (biology) and an author, his blogs are fun because they at times are like reading about alien life forms. What I read yesterday has stuck with me. It was a piece on how certain funguses can change the behavior of creatures that they infect. The name of this fungus is both unpronounceable and unspellable by me, so I will call it the ant fungus. This ant fungus forces the ant that it infects to climb as high as it can climb and to grip the stem that it is on with its mandibles so that the ant will not fall off. Then the fungus grows a spike out through the top of the ants head (ant dies). The spike takes up to 3 weeks to grow and mature. Upon maturation the spike explodes, shedding spores down on all ants that may be below it, starting the cycle over. This fungus can wipe out whole colonies of ants.
The thing that is of interest to me is that the fungus changes or I guess you could said redirects its hosts mind set to follow the funguses survival program. If this sort of thing can happen at the ant level (not only ants, but several insect species have their 'fungus amongst us' cross to bear) why could it not happen at the human level.
Are there humans infected with some fungus (minus the spike growing out the head) that causes a behavior conducive to that funguses survival. This would be an interesting investigation. What abnormal behaviors could be studied? What 'mental illnesses' could be caused by a fungal infection. Schizophrenia can happen to a person suddenly. Could a fungus be the trigger that we are looking for in the case of schizophrenia or maybe some borderline acceptable social behaviors.
Scary thought when you think about all the psycho babble and political rhetoric out there demanding that we take responsibility for our actions. What if many of us are hosting a fungus and following the primitive programming set down by that fungus?
Could be that the 'Pod People' are real.
Who do you trust?
The thing that is of interest to me is that the fungus changes or I guess you could said redirects its hosts mind set to follow the funguses survival program. If this sort of thing can happen at the ant level (not only ants, but several insect species have their 'fungus amongst us' cross to bear) why could it not happen at the human level.
Are there humans infected with some fungus (minus the spike growing out the head) that causes a behavior conducive to that funguses survival. This would be an interesting investigation. What abnormal behaviors could be studied? What 'mental illnesses' could be caused by a fungal infection. Schizophrenia can happen to a person suddenly. Could a fungus be the trigger that we are looking for in the case of schizophrenia or maybe some borderline acceptable social behaviors.
Scary thought when you think about all the psycho babble and political rhetoric out there demanding that we take responsibility for our actions. What if many of us are hosting a fungus and following the primitive programming set down by that fungus?
Could be that the 'Pod People' are real.
Who do you trust?
Friday, November 10, 2006
Schadenfreude
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
This is a good definition of what I am feeling for the Republican party
right now.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Found: Thoughts from Sept 11, 2001
Found this in some notes that I had taken during the 9/11 time frame:
bombing 9/11/01
thought: no one will come forward and take credit for this atrocity. The
US will not be able to focus on who. Its assets will be divided
therefore diluted. Purposely done for that reason.
thought: not a conventinal war. could be upwards of 100,000 (actual est
number around 5000) people killed.
thought: not a tragedy - is an atrocity.
9/16/01
am tired of all the flag waving & self pity/ congratulatory bullshit.
Does not accomplish anything. The talking heads don't add any
information. Don't help with the understanding of this situation.
Thought: Bush - unilateral initiatives- Star Wars and such are now under
suspect. We can't exist in this world without our policies effecting
others. The coalition that he needs now to act in this international
environment will or should be an excellent template for future actions
taken by this admin and future admins. We do not live in a vacuum. Our
actions are not without impact. I did not think this way before the
Bombing. Changing.
Thought: Is retaliation what was wanted by the bombers? Are we now
dancing to their tune? I think Yes. We are reacting not acting. What
could we do that would be better for us and the World than a war of
revenge? Don't have an answer. But what is the zig that would nullify
their zag?
9/21/01
The paper today had a list of songs that a radio owner (1000 stations)
thought should not be played. At first I was mad as hell. Then it became
humorous. The Political Correctness that pervades this Society is not
dead. That anyone should be expected to go through life and not offend
another is an absurity. Life is a string of offences, given and taken,
that shape us.
Right now I hate...terrorist...more specifically suicidal fanatics. This
begs other questions. Are dead war heros suicidal fanatics. Depends I
guess on point of view. All things are relative? iiiick, not liking
that. Want only my POV to be correct.
Thought: not original, just something that came to mind. Seems like
Bertran Russell said that there can only be one truth. What came to mind
was that there can be an infinite number of POV's, but only one truth.
Not an astounding revelation I know, but for me, eh.
12/8/01 2:12 pm
todays news is that Taliban has surrendered after 62 days of fighting.
Now seems to be a dangerous time. Are the bad guys going to get away?
Non of the leaders have been captured.
bombing 9/11/01
thought: no one will come forward and take credit for this atrocity. The
US will not be able to focus on who. Its assets will be divided
therefore diluted. Purposely done for that reason.
thought: not a conventinal war. could be upwards of 100,000 (actual est
number around 5000) people killed.
thought: not a tragedy - is an atrocity.
9/16/01
am tired of all the flag waving & self pity/ congratulatory bullshit.
Does not accomplish anything. The talking heads don't add any
information. Don't help with the understanding of this situation.
Thought: Bush - unilateral initiatives- Star Wars and such are now under
suspect. We can't exist in this world without our policies effecting
others. The coalition that he needs now to act in this international
environment will or should be an excellent template for future actions
taken by this admin and future admins. We do not live in a vacuum. Our
actions are not without impact. I did not think this way before the
Bombing. Changing.
Thought: Is retaliation what was wanted by the bombers? Are we now
dancing to their tune? I think Yes. We are reacting not acting. What
could we do that would be better for us and the World than a war of
revenge? Don't have an answer. But what is the zig that would nullify
their zag?
9/21/01
The paper today had a list of songs that a radio owner (1000 stations)
thought should not be played. At first I was mad as hell. Then it became
humorous. The Political Correctness that pervades this Society is not
dead. That anyone should be expected to go through life and not offend
another is an absurity. Life is a string of offences, given and taken,
that shape us.
Right now I hate...terrorist...more specifically suicidal fanatics. This
begs other questions. Are dead war heros suicidal fanatics. Depends I
guess on point of view. All things are relative? iiiick, not liking
that. Want only my POV to be correct.
Thought: not original, just something that came to mind. Seems like
Bertran Russell said that there can only be one truth. What came to mind
was that there can be an infinite number of POV's, but only one truth.
Not an astounding revelation I know, but for me, eh.
12/8/01 2:12 pm
todays news is that Taliban has surrendered after 62 days of fighting.
Now seems to be a dangerous time. Are the bad guys going to get away?
Non of the leaders have been captured.
Terror Alert...what took so long?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15442751/
Have been waiting for this...my thinking is that the election cycle would
not be complete without it.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
From Olbermanns newsletter: Stay the Course still active
In a radio interview today with Sean Hannity, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld confirmed that the Bush administration isn't planning to shift its
strategy. Rumsfeld called media reports about Bush's reversal "nonsense,"
and said "of course" Bush is "not backing away from staying the course."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
