Um, That’s Not Your Heart Mr. President!

This is an oldie (from 2006) but a goody. It’s been blogged numerous times, but I’ve seen it most recently at The Fail Blog.

The picture requires no explanation. I will say only one thing. Aside from the obvious issue (Bush finding his heart), check out the guy in the back-left who found it necessary to put his hand inside his coat jacket. His superhero, space-age polymer, cyrptonite-repelling, bullet-stopping, magnatized jacket is obviously too great of a barrier for his hand to feel his heart.

It’s still much better than having his hand on his stomach. Even the little girl dressed in black and pink got closer to the general area of her heart than Bush did.

So You Think Your Commute Sucks? Don’t Take The Train In Tokyo!

Your commute does not suck. Trust me! Watch this video and stop your whining.

http://www.flixxy.com/tokyo-japan-train-station.htm

 

Bad Runway Design Teaches Us About Evolution, Makes Us Laugh

During a recent 2008 Fashion Show, an event occurred that can teach us a great deal about evolution – which imparts nothing about creation, so don’t leave me irrelevant comments. In addition to its educational value, this video is darn funny. Watch it first and then read on. You may actually need to watch it more than once to completely appreciate the points below.

1. Notice that the models are walking backstage on the right side of the runway. The lady in yellow is the designer. She takes a bow, turns 90 degrees, and falls through the middle. At first, there is a glimmer of hope that she might get herself out. But soon, she begins to disappear as though she’s in quick sand. This teaches us that propagation of species is based partially on intelligence and partially on pure luck.
2. Notice that as the victim continues to sink down, the last model (in red) has not yet passed the scene of the accident. She could stop and help. Instead, she takes one look at the victim, quickly calculates that one fewer woman in the world increases her own chances of finding a mate, and continues to walk backstage. This teaches us that fierce competition for finding a mate is central to strong and lasting propagation of species.
3. A photographer (on the right) rushes to the victim’s aid. He exhibits sufficient intelligence to stay on the solid part of the runway because he knows the middle part is unsafe. This teaches us that within species, the strong and the intelligent have higher potential for survival.
4. Another person (on the left) feels obligated to help, but waits for the first responders to reach the victim first. He then walks toward the victim, albeit reluctantly. This teaches us that survival of species is highly dependent on accurately assessing and avoiding danger.
5. Although he (the helper on the left) witnessed the accident a mere 15 seconds before, he is unable to fully appreciate the mechanics of what happened and how to avoid the same fate. This teaches us that reliably consistent memory and strong sense of deduction are both essential for positive natural selection.
6. Last, but not least, there is little doubt that many of us find this video funny. Humor and laughter are powerful distinguishing traits that have helped elevate Homo-Sapiens above all other species.

It was un-necessary for Darwin to travel to the Galapagos to fully appreciate the concept of Evolution. He could have watched a fashion show on Youtube!

Newt Gingrich: Confused? Deceitful? Communist? Un-American? Irrelevant? You Decide.

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Expecting trust from the people in the form of “giving up liberties” to the government is oxymoronic.
If you do not greatly value your sacred gift of individual liberties granted to you through the suffering endured by the early settlers, the unquestionable vision of and sacrifice by our founding fathers, and the many lives lost in wars we have fought, you truly do not deserve the freedom that America offers. As such, Mr. Gingrich is proving himself increasingly irrelevant in the arena of governing the people. His time, it appears, has come and gone.
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During a visit to Drew University in New Jersey on April 17, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was asked how the government could justify stripping rights from Americans in such pieces of legislation as the Patriot Act. Gingrich responded “If there’s a threat, you have a right to defend society . . . People will give up all their liberties to avoid that level of threat.“

Wow, where do I begin?!

First, since when are Republicans willing to relinquish more control to the government? Not a day goes by that I don’t hear Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Shawn Hannity, Brit Hume, or any other prominent conservative personality tout the idea of ‘less government’. There is even a conservative website for it: lessgovernment.org. When was the last time you heard a liberal advocate less government? Generally, it doesn’t happen very often. Gingrich is unable to sell the idea of citizens giving up their liberties even to his own party. Have we forgotten that America was founded upon rebellion against the government of England? Who among us can deny that Communism and Fascism indeed thrived upon encroachment on and sacrifice of individual freedoms and liberties?

Second, as Think Progress and other media outlets including MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann have pointed out, Gingrich’s comment sharply contradicts the views of Benjamin Franklin (Gingrich’s own hero) who strongly rejected this notion by saying “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” I have included other relevant quotes at the end of this post.

Expecting trust from the people in the form of “giving up liberties” to the government is oxymoronic. It is certainly un-becoming of a prominent Republican politician who carried a copy of “Contract with America” in his pocket for years. As a side note, you won’t find a reference to Contract with America on conservapedia.com. Did the Republican party do away with it? No contract; hence, no liberty?!

If you do not greatly value your sacred gift of individual liberties granted to you through the suffering endured by the early settlers, the unquestionable vision of and sacrifice by our Founding Fathers, and the many lives lost in wars we have fought, you truly do not deserve the freedom that America offers. As such, Mr. Gingrich is proving himself increasingly irrelevant in the arena of governing the people. His time, it appears, has come and gone.

Leave me a well-thought out comment if you feel differently.
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Notable Quotes – sources are actionamerica.org, http://www.dojgov.net/Liberty_Watch.htm, and other conservative portals:

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
— Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Archibald Stuart – 1791)

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
— Wendell Phillips (speech in Boston, Massachusetts, January 28, 1852, citing Thomas Jefferson, though it has also been attributed to Patrick Henry)

“When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny.”
— Thomas Jefferson (attributed to Jefferson, by his contemporaries)

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
— Benjamin Franklin (on the title page of An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania – 1759)

“… rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our own will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual”
— Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Isaac H. Tiffany – 1819)

 ”Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.”  William Pitt in the House of Commons November 18, 1783

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
— James Madison (attributed to Madison, by his contemporaries)

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”  George Washington

“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! “
— Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

“What I am describing now is a plan and hope for the long term — the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.”
— President Ronald Reagan speaking to the British House of Commons at the Palace of Westminster

 

Bulgarian Idol’s Tribute to Mariah Carey

We all know Mariah Carey’s song “Without You”. Trust me, you’ve heard it. It goes something like:

. . .
I cant live
If living is without you
I can’t live
I can’t give anymore
. . .

Did you know the Bulgarian translation of it is “Ken Lee”? Check it out.

Those who know me are well aware that I do not ridicule lightly, but this makes me laugh. I think she should have advanced to the next round purely based on the sheer genius of it. In some ways, it’s better than the original version. I’ve watched this video at least 50 times already, and it still puts a smile on my face. I don’t remember the last time I listened to Mariah’s version.

Cindy McCain’s (Not So) Original Family Recipes . . . Yummy And Plagiarized!

Weren’t you just crushed when you learned Santa Clause didn’t really exist? Weren’t you disappointed when the Tooth Fairy turned out to be your Mom or Dad? Don’t you just hate it when your family recipes, handed down through many generations, happen to be stolen from The Food Network . . . and you get caught?!

It’s an old but familiar story. Man (or woman) runs for President, and gets all the attention. Wife (or husband) feels left out, and decides to do something grand. It backfires.

Examples: Bill Clinton continues to seek the spotlight at the expense of Hillary’s campaign. Michelle Obama gives irrelevant speeches at numerous rallies. Cindy McCain cooks for her husband and shares her ‘family’ recipes on the Internet. Brilliant idea, except for 3 problems:

1. When does she have time to cook? Before John was on the campaign trail (in his gimmicky ‘Straight Talk mobile’), he was an Arizona Senator. Cindy herself is the chairman of her family’s business, is on the Board of Directors of several companies, and is the founder of several organizations. The McCains are both accomplished and quite busy. She doesn’t cook much, trust me!
2. Recipes such as “Farfalle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas, and Mushrooms”, “Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage”, and “Crab Scampi and Whole Wheat Spaghetti” do not sound like family recipes. And they certainly don’t endear Cindy to the average American demographic.
3. It turns out that her original family recipes are plagiarized, word for word, from The Food Network recipes on line.

Ah, Yes, the Internet. it’s a dangerous place to post plagiarized material; that Google thing really puts a damper on the practice. See Google’s cached page of Cindy’s Recipes - while it’s available. Here’s a side by side comparison – original source is Huffington Post where you can find other examples.

Why did she plagiarize? Perhaps she had an unexpected ’under sniper fire in Bosnia‘ moment. Official explanation, according to McCain’s spokesman Tucker Bounds, is as follows: “apparently a Web intern added Rachael Ray to our policy team without her knowing it.” Bounds went on to say “he was swiftly dealt with, and the page is down for revision.”

What does that mean? Did they make the intern eat the recipes? Did they send him to Guantanamo? How can an intern do this? Can we trust anything that is on McCain’s website now?

By the way, Democrats should refrain from using this incident to their advantage. This case – even if Cindy was personally responsible for it - has no bearing on her husband’s integrity, just as Michelle Obama’s “for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country” comment is not indicative of Barack’s beliefs.

All this talk about food has made me hungry. I wonder where I put my original family recipe for Ahi Tuna. Ah, yes, I remember. I filed it under Rachael Ray’s favorites.

Scientists Predict Earthquake Will Hit California By 2038. Duh!

According to a recent study, California will endure a major disaster in the next 30 years. See if you can guess what it may be:

1. locust invasion
2. too many celebrities
3. Al Gore, the governor
4. a major earthquake

If you guessed a major earthquake, congratulations! Your IQ is over 50.

This comprehensive forecast study, published by the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF), predicts a 99% probability of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in Southern California by 2038. Ned Field, USGS geophysicist and lead scientist, describes the southern section of the San Andreas Fault as being “10 months pregnant”.

I wonder who the father is!

Mr Field further explained that “Planners, decision makers and California residents can use this information to improve public safety and mitigate damage before the next destructive earthquake occurs.”

Gee, I guess without this study, no one in California would ever dream of the possibility of an earthquake.

Next, scientists plan to research the probability of the Sun rising from the west in the next 30 years.

Positive Proof Of Global Warming

No one can dispute this overwhelming evidence!

 I do not have a source for this image.

When Did It Become Acceptable To Block Internet Search Terms (such as abortion)?

We condemn many countries for their profound un-open societies, childish treatment of their people, needless restriction on information dissemination, and un-remorsed slaughter of human rights. Then how is it acceptable to filter search results (especially in the US) by making the word abortion a stop word? If you truly believe that doing so is OK, you rank among the most pathetically unintelligent and oxymoranic people in the world.  You do not deserve freedom – it is not for you. Think about it – if you have the mental capacity to do so.
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POPLINE (Population Information Online) is the world’s largest reproductive health database. It is maintained by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is funded by USAID (US Agency for International Development).        

Librarians using POPLINE recently noticed that searches involving the term abortion resulted in uncharacteristically low citations. The reason, it turns out, was that POPLINE converted the term abortion into a stop word (such as ‘a’ and ‘the’) which are ignored by search engines. The reason is partially attributed to a USAID inquiry of POPLINE about questionable abortion-related material. You see, USAID is prohibited from using federal funds toward activities that promote abortion.

USAID denies asking POPLINE to remove abortion as a search term, and the functionality has since been restored. At first, this appears to be a case of over reaction by POPLINE administrators. Examine this case a little more carefully however, and you will discover the profound irony and precarious blunder in judgment irrespective of your personal and religious views on abortion.

Consider the old Soviet Union and its state-controlled media. Many in Russia were unaware of events elsewhere due to severe restriction on free flow of information. Did we not strongly condemn the Soviets for needless censorship? Think about communist Cuba and China suppressing freedom of speech. Recall how China filters Internet searches so that information received by anyone in China is cleansed according to government’s definitions and guidelines. Do we not ridicule China’s government for childish treatment of its people? Consider many African and Asian countries with less than desirable freedom of expression and information.  Do we not label them as oppressive regimes that crush the very basic human right that is pursuit of the truth?

We condemn many countries for their profound un-open societies, childish treatment of their people, needless restriction on information dissemination, and un-remorsed slaughter of human rights. Then how is it acceptable to filter search results (especially in the US) by making the word abortion a stop word? If you truly believe that doing so is OK, you rank among the most pathetically unintelligent and oxymoranic people in the world.  You do not deserve freedom – it is not for you. Think about it – if you have the mental capacity to do so.

Apple’s Apple Bullies NY’s Apple

 

No one is going to look at a green looped logo on the side of a NYC bus and think that is an ad for an IPod. Similarly, no one is going to look at an Apple computer logo and think that is an ad for the city of New York green campaign. And if someone does have difficulty distinguishing the two logos, he or she is either blind or mentally challenged.
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Take a look at these two apple symbols.  Do you think you may mistake one for the other? The mentally challenged Apple executives certainly think so.

In 2007, New York’s GreeNYC campaign applied for a trademark for its new logo. The new looped green apple is appearing on everything from environmentally-friendly shopping bags to hybrid city vehicles and buses. This past Friday, Apple issued a renewed challenge to GreeNYC’s trademark registration application, citing that NYC’s logo is too similar to its own.

Well, let’s examine both logos. One is green, the other is not. One is in the form of infinity symbol, the other is not. One has a bite missing out of it, the other does not. One has a solid, almost reflective tone to it, the other does not. We’re almost talking apples and oranges.

No one is going to look at a green looped logo on the side of a NYC bus and think that is an ad for an IPod. Similarly, no one is going to look at an Apple computer logo and think that is an ad for the city of New York’s green campaign. And if someone does have difficulty distinguishing the two logos, he or she is either blind or mentally challenged.

Having said all that, Apple’s law suit is not surprising. I have no doubt that they don’t expect to win this case, and they know it. They are merely using it as a scare tactic and deterrent for any potential future infringement issues.

Microsoft’s litigious culture is finally affecting Steve Jobs’ mental stability. Shouldn’t Apple sue Microsoft for having the following apple symbols in Word’s clip art? Those seem more similar to Apple’s logo than the looped symbol. Oh, that’s right! Microsoft Word runs on Apple computers. Apple certainly wouldn’t want to bite the hand that feeds it.