Friday, September 22, 2006

Michael M(edved)?

Wow I had heard that this guy was one of those whacked out right wing radio hosts who is on the air for one reason and one reason only: money talks.

Yes I figured that much was true. But oh my god what an idiot. Usually these people are shifty and trixy and quite skilled at the art of hiding their stupidity. But Michael Medved just lays it all out there for you.

I just read something written by him and I have to say I'm impressed... it is quite a stunning admission of pure stupidity.

Michael Medved's finest

Check out this gem of a quote:

"And how, exactly, has America, demonstrated lack of respect, or disregarded the sovereignty of nations?"


I read it over and over agian, in context, to see if it was some kind of snark. But no, it's genuine. He is really asking that question. lol


Now here's some more wonderful quotes:

"Wouldn't a true imperial power drive down the price of a commodity as essential to itself as oil, rather than allowing a capricious cartel led by Saudia Arabia to set the cost of energy according to its own whims and interests?"


"No one looking at the balance sheet behind the present and recent past can plausibly argue that our current, lavishly costly efforts to strengthen struggling democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq can enrich our coffers in any way."


This guy is actually getting paid to be on the air, and he doesn't even understand, or he pretends to not understand, even the simplest concepts of imperialism. Pay particular notice to the phrase "enrich our coffers in any way." He's trying to say an imperial power wouldn't invade Iraq because it would cost too much. Wow way to be a moron. Never mind the billions in reconstruction funds missing, the rampant war profiteering, the no-bid contracts, the distraction from domestic economic issues, (that's worth a trillion dollars right there!), and finally, the increased cost of oil resulting from the manufactured instability in the middle east. Earth to Michael Medved: imperialism is NOT about filling "our" coffers. It is about filling the coffers of the elite wealthy. The Halliburton CEOs of the world. And it's pure fraud for you to pretend like you don't know that. Total fraud. You're a hack. This is like some math teacher stating on the record that 1+1=3. Michael Medved has done the exact same thing, except he did it in the political world rather than the mathematical world.

But in the world of right wing radio, it's just another day at the office, working for the man. You people make me sick. Whatever they pay you, it's not enough. lol

Thursday, September 21, 2006

1994

I'm feeling nostalgic, so here are some events that occured in 1994:

Comet Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter
OJ Simpson pleads "Absolutely 100% Not Guilty" of murder
Ace of Base rules the pop charts (unfortunately)
gas = 1.17
Forrest Gump won an academy award
The baseball strike
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is built
Truck carrying millions of bees overturns on NY parkway
Billy Idol ODs
so does Kurt Cobain
John Candy dies
Jimi Hendrix's guitar is sold
Pentium computer beats world chess champ Gari Kasparov
US Ice Skating Federation bars Tonya Harding for life
Houston Rockets win NBA Championship
The Lion King in theaters
The 25th anniversary of Woodstock
The "republicans swept congress and began implementing their "Contract On America"

What a year that was.

Now fast forward to 2006. Imagine that you were in a coma for 12 years. Everything is new and you're just taking it all in. Needless to say you'd be in for a hell of a shock. What are the first things that might really shock you to learn about?

1. 9/11
2. Katrina & New Orleans
3. Bush is back in office? wtf?? lol
4. Another war in Iraq???
5. The Columbia disaster.
6. The national savings rate has gone below zero.
7. Republicans control all 3 branches of government and the top 2% has gotten insanely rich while the bottom 90% have seen their real wages decline for years.
8. The price of oil has risen 500%
9. The national debt has exploded under the rule of the so-called conservatives.
10. GM & Ford are imploding.
11. NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA? The mass exportation of jobs and the mass importation of profits to the elite wealthy.


If I were waking from a 12 year coma, I can tell you one thing: I would feel as if I was in the freakin Twighlight Zone.

The debacle in Iraq and the lies that brought us there.
The fraudulent election of 2000.
The hacking of the electronic voting machines.
The anthrax attacks and other acts of domestic political terrorism.
The colossal trade deficit with China. China??
The CEO of Halliburton makes 100 million on war profiteering and is not even charged with a crime.
Thousands of veterans die from a mysterious gulf war illness, linked to depleted uranium. But that link is ignored by the media.
The "patriot" act and the evisceration of the constitution.
And to top it all off, the zogby poll that says that half of New Yorkers believe the government had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks and consciously failed to intervene.

I'd be saying "Oh my god, this is a nightmare! I want to go back to sleep..."

When you look at the big picture the way someone waking from a 12 year coma would, you can easily see that it goes way beyond some archetypial boogie man like Bin Laden.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Strongest Evidence for Evolution

Normally I wouldn't blog about something I see in the comedy section on google video or youtube.... but in this case I have to make an exception.




The reason this video is significant, aside from the obvious, is because it clearly highlights the process of Natural Selection. That cow shouldn't be breeding. And luckily for the rest of his species, his own clumsiness helps ensure that he will not be breeding.

Natural Selection is the primary mechanism of evolution, and the evidence for it is overwhelming and not even really disputed anymore. The creationists shift their arguments to the time scale of the process. They say it takes too long for new mutations or traits to be entered into the process.

For example, consider this. The first primate who gained the use of an opposable thumb would have been so successful that he would have spread his new genetic trait throughout his entire species in a very short period of time. But still, a creationist might say it takes a longer time than I'm suggesting, because I have no proof of how long the process would actually take. But the key is that I don't need to know how long it would take.

Yes, proof can be a tough thing to come by sometimes. I'm sure any neocon will tell you that. But sometimes the proof that is missing is not the same kind of proof that is required, and nor is it the only kind. For example, you do not need to prove that the sun is round to prove that the earth revolves around it. And, curiously, once you prove the earth does revolve around the sun, you have proven indirectly that that sun is round. That's the great thing about science (and truth).

I dont know how long it takes for one new trait, like an opposable thumb, to filter through an entire species. But luckily it does not matter. Because I DO know that such a strong trait would lead to new abilities, and those new abilities would cause rapid selection of other traits. The ability to hold and use a weapon or tool for example. And from there comes the selection of many more traits: the ability to detect motion well, the ability to imagine what would make a good weapon or tool, the ability to sketch, etc etc. All of these traits would have already existed, but they might not have been very large factors in evolution. Now with the introduction of just one new trait, the opposable thumb, those other traits can begin entering the natural selection process and producing new results.

The whole process snowballs (ie, the ability to pick up and throw snowballs, thus allowing the snowball-loving children to pressure their parents to move to higher latitudes... I'm joking, but this too makes sense in a way, doesn't it? Sorry, I'm still reeling from that cow video). And that's how you end up with a new species in a short amount of time.

If one could chart evolution, one would see a series of rapidly occuring natural selection events (spikes) interspersed between long periods of relative inactivity and evolutionary stagnation. The opposable thumb is one of those traits that would produce a spike on the evolutionary chart. One of many such traits. They are the keys to understanding evolution.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Robert Novak reveals himself for the fraud that he is

Washington Journal, 9/15/06

http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=WJE&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=WJ&Rot_HT=205&Rot_WD

Excerpts can be found at 2:17-2:19 of the 3 hour program

Here is a link to the streaming video

Some republican caller says that he's having a tough time remaining a republican in light of this current misadministration. And who can blame him for that? lol

Anyway, the caller revealed nothing to indicate that he could possibly be a "fake" republican. And yet Novak practically accuses him of being a communist posing as a republican caller. "This guy's about as much a republican as my foot is." (Yes that's an actual Novak quote.) How can he know that? The scope of the conversation was Joe Wilson and Novak. Did he mention tax policy? Foreign policy? Social programs? NO!

So on what grounds can Novak possibly suspect that the caller was not a true republican?

Because he spoke out against the administration and suspected that Novak has been lying to cover his ass. And for that reason and that reason alone he's not a republican, according to Novak. You see, you can't be a real republican if you question Novak or the administration he shills for. Heavens no!

What a fraud... hack... phony. Only a hackjob would say something like that. The idea that republicans can't question what is going on with this criminal administration... it's just completely bogus and completely revealing.

Here's another golden quot from Hack-vak: "I just despise these people... these bloggers..."

Yeah I'll bet you do. But it's ok because you can take your stupid republican foot remarks and stick up where the sun dont shine. Judging by the looks of you, they would get lost in the 30 pounds of undigested red meat you've got packed up in there.

Why anyone would want to read some stupid column written by some idiot who just proved he doesn't even know what a republican is, is beyond me. If he can't get that much right, then he's worthless as a media source.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Wake up and smell the hypocrisy

Ok so our wonderful so called christian conservative leaders tell us that "islamofascism" is really really bad. One of the examples they like to use is how they treat women. Women have very little freedom compared to women in the US. Just look at what they're forced to wear! lol.

It's true, but... was it really our wonderful christian conservatives who brought women these freedoms? Ha, don't make me laugh. Women have their freedoms because they stood up for their freedoms. No wonderful christian conservative decided out of the blue that women should have equal rights. People had to fight for them. If it were up to the wonderful christian conservatives, women would still be relegated to the status of housewives. Just like blacks would still be slaves on the plantations.

It really irks christian conservatives that women are so free. They really don't want women to be free. Just look at the abortion issue for starters. You can't assign all sorts of stipulations like that if you truly believe in freedom and equal rights. They seem to have at least that much in common with the so called "islamofascists".

Yes, if those so called christian conservatives had their way, women would be about as free as the stereotypical islamic female.

Curious isn't it?

In fact if you take the time to analyze both groups you will see that they have a great deal in common.

They of course will deny it but at this point that is nothing more than good humor.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The myth of "full employment"

First off, it is difficult to discuss the economy because of all the doctored figures being used. The Bush administration (and their lackeys) uses highly doctored numbers when referring to how well the economy is doing. For example, they say Bush has created oh so many millions of new jobs! But then when you take into account population growth, you end up with no real job growth. They use the same tactics when criticizing the evil socialist europe doesn't create as many jobs as us. Well duh, their populations aren't growing as fast.

And when they say wages are up, it may be "technically" true that average wages are up, but that's only because the top 1% has seen their wages go up so dramatically. Everyone else has seen declines in real wages, wages adjusted for inflation. And of course they always like to pretend inflation doesn't exist. Even their highly doctored nearly meaningless "core inflation" numbers show that real wages for most people are going down.

The facts are just the facts. I hear people say that all the time. Yet people aren't quite aware of how badly they're getting screwed. Any guesses as to why? Well I bet it is related to that other curious fact ... that half of Americans still think Saddam was responsible for 9/11. Need proof that the corporate media is nothing more than a massive disinformation and brainwashing machine? Look no further than that.

So when they say we're at "full employment", do I believe them? Of course not. But we're doing pretty "well", if you like to think about it that way. Just about everyone who wants to work, is working. And that's probably a good thing because we're getting screwed so badly on such a high level, that we've got no choice but to work full time. Now is that really a good thing? Is it a measure of success that everyone is working? I don't think it is at all. Even if you are totally materialistic, you'd measure success in more logical terms. How much your wages are going up. How much your living standards are going up. Not by how much you're working. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats so they say. Yet the facts are indesputable that we as a people are getting poorer in terms of real dollars, while all the while working more hours. In reality the tide isn't rising. Our boats are sinking.

Don't you see, that IS the scam. They talk about rising tides but it's not really about that. It's just to distract us by coming up with some clever explanation for what we see happening all around us. Technically, the tide is rising, but only because our boats are sinking.

Regardless of how you want to think about it, us scurrying to keep up isn't healthy at all.

How healthy is an ant colony that has all the ants working all the time? Not very. It's actually a sign of some kind of fundamental, but serious, problem. For example, in the ant anology, the workers would be working too much if their food source was too far away. They could actually be quite close to the edge of extinction if they don't make serious changes, ie relocation. Of course ants really can't see it coming.

Take another anology...imagine going to the doctor and telling him that your heart has been beating 180 bpm all day long, even while sitting down. Yeah he'd be sending you to the ER. Unless he's one of those republican Bush supporters who can't comprehend the real purpose of the media sources they know and trust. In that case he'd tell you your heart is perfectly normal. Just like it's perfectly normal and wonderful to work 3 jobs. Is it really outlandish to conclude that someone who says that to you wants you to die? That's pretty much where we're at at this day and age.

Like the overworked ants and the ovebeating heart, our country is in equally grave peril. The middle class has to succeed. And by success I don't mean how many houses and cars and tvs people have. That's nonsense. Success at this point could be measured by how unplugged from the damn tv a person is. It's gotten that bad. Anyway, America rides on the back of the middle class. How much can it take before the back breaks? Or will it never physically break, but instead leave our spirits to bear the burden?

The next time you hear someone ask, "how did it come to this?", you'll know the answer. Everyone was at work, no one took the time to think about what was actually happening. Our spirits are being systematically destroyed. And the human spirit is real. It's not some imaginary concept. You treat a person like a dog and eventually they'll act like a dog. That's real. You treat a person like a cattle and they'll act like a cattle. That's real too. There's not even anything metaphysical about it either. So the question you need to ask, before asking "how did it come to this", is, "how am I being treated?"