Poke Hollywood in the eye
...by going here and buying the DVD. I did, and look forward to watching it. A good way to show your support for our troops and your disdain of lefty Hollywood.
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March 31, 2008
Astonishing happenings in Berzerkely
Berkeley pro-troops rally- what world did I just wake up to?
via the blogfadda
March 28, 2008
Just because it's cool
March 27, 2008
Things that make you say 'hmm'
BOGOTA, March 26 (Reuters) - Colombia said it seized at least 66 pounds (30 kg) of uranium from the country's biggest left-wing rebel group on Wednesday, the first time radioactive material has been linked to the four-decade-old guerrilla war.
via LGF. I don't know, but if freakin' FARC can get hold of 66 pounds, what may Al-Q have in mind? I'm just sayin'...
March 26, 2008
A thorn in the side of Islam
...is one Zakaria Botros.
Raymond Ibrahim's summary omits one key factor in Botros' success. It is factor hardest for the West to reproduce. Western intellectuals can also use the "new media"; learn to speak in Arabic; even learn Koranic theology. They potentially have everything but the one thing that Botros spontaneously possesses in spades. Faith.
Botros believes he has found the true religion and is eager to tell Muslims about it. Thus he offers them not only a critique of the absurdities of Islam but an invitation to embrace an alternative. He tells them not only what to turn away from but what to turn to. It is this last obstacle which the modern intellectual stumbles over.
A brave man indeed. Please go and read it all- in this day and age it is still possible for a man of faith to succeed.
March 25, 2008
Paterson
Oh LOLOL....
That said, this scandal a day thing is getting annoying. When people in Arkansas and Louisiana are laughing at you (and with good reason), you know you've got problems.
I feel sorry for the fine people of New York. Oh, wait a minute- no I don't! Morons.
March 20, 2008
Global Coldening
I guess Ace is doing all my posting for me today...
Ummm... can I ask a question?
Are these super-awesome climate models sophisticated enough to include a Sun and a spherical earth, rather than a flat one? Just want to make sure y'all aren't simplifying any other conditions to help your models run more smoothly.
Oh, and in these super-awesome climate models... What color are the infinite skies on your made-up world?
Just wanted to know.
Wouldn't want to lose that $5billion in grant money would we?
Words don't matter?
The new exciting remix all the morons are talking about. Ace's title says it best:
Rap By Rev. Jeremiah "J-Dog" Wright, With Special Guest Vocal By Barack "ChangeHope" Obama
March 19, 2008
Sweet Home Alabama
Performed by the Leningrad Cowboys, with the Red Army Choir doing backing vocals and traditional instruments. Stoli alert!
h/t Protein Wisdom
The shrinking $
File this as NOT GOOD
The Last Master is gone
First Heinlein, then Asimov, now Arthur C. Clarke.
Godspeed sir, you one who changed my life.
I didn't do it for this
From Roger L. Simon:
Barack, I didn’t do it for this.
Barack, I dream of my kindergarten best friend Andy from Walden School, Manhattan, born one day after me, shot dead in Mississippi 1964.
Barack, I idolized Stokley Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Barack, I lost the full use of my left hand for life in South Carolina.
Barack, I didn’t do it for this.
What could I possibly add?
March 18, 2008
w00t!
Iowahawk with a blast (literally) from the past!-
Though the company no longer exists, mere mention of the name "Turbonique" still inspires a shudder of awe among drag racing enthusiast, the company's principle target market. Even in the Wild West atmosphere of 1960s drag racing, Its products represented the zenith of no-compromise, crazyass crazy. Recall Acme, that enigmatic mail order purveyor of catapults and jet skates to cartoon coyotes? Pikers, compared to Turbonique.
As best as I can determine, Turbonique Inc. was established in Orlando in 1962, reportedly an offshoot of a NASA space program subcontractor who was determined to establish a consumer market for rocket technology. Its founder was a Mr. Gene Middlebrooks, about whom I can find little information except a 1969 book reference. Turbonique's product line consisted of three items: "AP superchargers," "rocket drag axles," and the legendary "microturbo thrust engines." All employed the same basic rocket technology, albeit in stepped grades of insanity.
At the mild end of the Turbonique product line were its AP (for "Auxiliary Power") superchargers, so named because they had their own power supply. Unlike regular superchargers (driven by a crank pulley belt) or turbos (driven by exhaust pressure), Turbonique AP superchargers operated independently of the engine and scavenged no power from it. They appeared to be a spiral turbo with a spark plug, and were engaged with a dash-mounted switch - a sort of prehistoric Nitrous setup. When the driver threw the switch, the supercharger unit would receive liquid oxygen for ignition, and then it was fed a rocket fuel named Thermolene -Turbonique's trade name for N-propyl nitrate. The exhaust thrust from combustion would spin a turbine impeller up to 100,000 RPM, ramming the engine with such intense boost that it essentially turned it into a giant two-stroke. Turbonique dyno-tested an AP unit on new Chevy 409 in 1963, increasing horsepower from a stock 405 to 835 -- backing up their advertised guarantee to "double your horsepower" -- although it came with a recommendation not to run the unit for more than 5 minutes and only with forged cranks, pistons and connecting rods.
LOL- and later, near the end-
Those days are long gone. Turbonique seems to have ceased operation around 1969. Original Turbonique equipment is extremely difficult to find, in part due to their extreme heavy duty use, and possibly because of deliberate destruction to avoid liability judgments. Details are sketchy, but I've heard various stories that the company folded after a series of customer explosions/accidents/deaths and the subsequent lawsuits.
Ya think?
March 14, 2008
Prostitution
An interesting post, and a more interesting discussion in the comments- Megan McArdle on why she wouldn't want to be a hooker...
Look, first of all, there are lots of jobs that I would never want to do. I like to shoot a little hoops now and again, but I would never, ever want to be a professional basketball player. Nor would any of my friends--I mean, they might like to be Michael Jordan, but they wouldn't want to do the actual job of spending hours a day running up and down a court, practicing shots, and lifting weights. I do not therefore consider myself qualified to proclaim that no one in the entire world wants to be a professional basketball player.
And from the comments-
"Reasoning from first principles" is not a good way of going about thinking about human sexual relations. I reasoned from first principles about sex when I was 19. It made me an asshole. By the time you're in your thirties, hopefully, you've started to figure out how people work a little better. One of the things you discover is that actually, in this particular arena, men and women are rather different, and being "fair" means trying to accommodate those differences, not treating everyone alike.
The discussion provoked by a certain Governor's downfall has made me rethink a lot of my assumptions about prostitution- I have always had a certain libertarian attitude that "a woman should be able to do what she will with her body" but, at least in current society, that makes her susceptible to a real slavery to her keeper (ahem-PIMP). That said though, a certain Kristen is very much on the road to having her 15 minutes of fame and is liable to walk away with a pantload of money. Not bad for being reasonably attractive and compliant, for a fee.
via the Godfather
March 11, 2008
Get out the popcorn!
The Belmont Club:
Plausible deniability refers to informal arrangement through which a person may deny any connection to a disreputable activity he actually orders. The two ends to this clever arrangement are the protected principal and the secret agent acting on the mastermind's behalf. When Geraldine Ferraro said that "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position" only to resign after Hillary Clinton expressed her high-minded indignation, were the two acts unrelated?
This meltdown is gettin more and more impressive...
The principle followed by kidnappers in Baghdad who sent five severed fingers belonging to "four Americans and an Austrian taken hostage more than a year ago in Iraq" was that if you want to be taken seriously you have to demonstrate how far you are willing to go in order to get what you want. And although neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton have sent anyone actual severed fingers yet, both have amply shown their astonished supporters that they are willing to ignite race war, tear the Party apart or engage in political cannibalism to serve their own individual ambitions.
Can I have butter on that? RTWT here
March 06, 2008
Cat Tales
h/t Scalzi
March 05, 2008
...and I thought I was a Barbarian...
I Am A: Lawful Good Human Paladin/Sorcerer (3rd/3rd Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-12
Dexterity-12
Constitution-14
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-14
Charisma-12
Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.
Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Primary Class:
Paladins take their adventures seriously, and even a mundane mission is, in the heart of the paladin, a personal test an opportunity to demonstrate bravery, to learn tactics, and to find ways to do good. Divine power protects these warriors of virtue, warding off harm, protecting from disease, healing, and guarding against fear. The paladin can also direct this power to help others, healing wounds or curing diseases, and also use it to destroy evil. Experienced paladins can smite evil foes and turn away undead. A paladin's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast. Many of the paladin's special abilities also benefit from a high Charisma score.
Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)
R.I.P. Gary Gygax- your HP is now 0.
March 03, 2008
Aliens?
This post at Ace's is going to give me nightmares...
