More Cholesterol News

I should probably read Business Week more often because I found this article on the efficacy of cholesterol lowering drugs quite enlightening. I highly recommend the piece, but it's 6 pages long so I'll be sweet and hit you with a few bullet points in case your health is not worth ten minutes of your time.

(By the way, this is likely the last you'll see of Dr. King Selfish for a while. I need to get back to being good old King Selfish, Possessor of All Wisdom.)

Cholesterol lowering drugs are the best selling medicines in history--25 million people worldwide take them to the tune of almost 28 billion dollars, yet no more than 1% of current patients benefit--assuming I understand the math.

The link between cholesterol and heart disease (if any) is still poorly understood--there is virtually no difference in the cholesterol levels of those who have heart disease and those who don't. Have a cheeseburger.

And more!

Almost forgot - Happy MLK Day

Please pass the lard

I'm not really in the mood to blog but my spouse keeps whining about that hot photo of Jerry Jones I posted. Sometimes I think I pay too high a price for not being a wife beater. Anyway, here's a thought provoking piece entitled The Great Cholesterol Myth. For those who are not interested in reading the article, I offer this summary -- cholesterol good.

John McCain Sucks (part two)

My dictionary defines the word hero as "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities". Because this is a broad and somewhat subjective definition I find it necessary, sometimes, to use comparisons in order to determine who is and isn't a hero. In my opinion service in the military suggests that one is a brave and patriotic American but does not automatically qualify one as a hero. If, after one's service, they are described as a good soldier/sailor/airman/marine by others of that ilk, that is high praise indeed, but still not enough to elevate them to hero status. Men like I have just descibed, while not heroes, come much closer than someone who simply survives an ordeal. Suviving makes one, well, a suvivor. And often surviving involves some pretty unheroic behavior. Enter John McCain.

Senator McCain wrote, in "U.S. News and World Report" and in his autobiography "Faith of My Fathers" that he traded military information for medical treatment AND signed a war crimes confession. He confessed to this IN PRINT and has admitted that he is ashamed. For his cooperation he was given special treatment including some of the best medical attention North Vietnam had to offer, something which was definitely NOT available to less conversable prisoners. In my mind Senator McCain's failure to adhere to the Military Code of Conduct by no means makes him a coward or a traitor but it does preclude him being considered a hero by any sensible person.

If John McCain was anything other that a self promoting, power hungry, politician he would not trade on his checkered military service and he would never let anyone refer to him as a hero. Whenever one of his political backers or rivals panders by calling him a hero the Senator from Arizona should correct them and provide them with the names of REAL heroes, some of whom, like Lance Sijan, Don Brooks and Rocky Versace died in captivity because they refused to submit.

As I write this the Senator is on TV whining about being smeared by people who dare to question his hero status. It is a wonder he can sleep at night much less look in the mirror long enough to shave.

In closing I would strongly urge everyone to Google the names mentioned above, read about their WITNESSED deeds, then compare them to McCain's and draw your own conclusions.

New Orleans Homicide 2007 - Epilogue

Who says you need an education to be a success?

Be Afraid - Be Very, Very Afraid

Tom Cruise salutes his Scientology mentor, David Miscavige.

Warning: This 9 minute video in which Tom Cruise gets all freaky deaky about Scientology will cause your soul to seek refuge in hell. Even now, after boring a hole in my skull and rinsing my brain with battery acid, I am haunted by his wild-eyed maniacal laughter.

Giants 21 Cowboys 17

Eli Manning may be a drunken, slack-jawed rube, but he beat the Dallas Cowboys.

John McCain Sucks

There are many reasons why any clear thinking patriot should not support John McCain for President. I'm just going to pick two; his leftist stance on man made global warming, and the fact that I hate his guts. I fear that if I attempt to explain my hatred for Senator Weasel I will be forced to admit that my feelings are irrational and at least partially indefensible. So that ain't gonna happen. But so you can see for yourself the vapidity of the distinguished senator's views on climate change, I offer the following handpicked McQuotes.

“I have had enough experience and enough knowledge to believe that unless we reverse what is happening on this planet, my dear friends, we are going to hand our children a planet that is badly damaged." Addressing the Global Warming and Energy Solutions Conference in Manchester, N.H. 2007

"...the largest environmental peril our species has yet faced." OnEarth Magazine, 2004

"Campaign finance reform took us seven years. This may take longer, but we'll stay at it." On his commitment to pass his oppressive climate bill, 2004

"I will clean up the planet, I will make global warming a priority." Concord, N.H. 2007

"The debate has ended over whether global warming is a problem caused by human activity. Indeed, if we fail to start substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next couple of years, we risk bequeathing a diminished world to our grandchildren. Insect-borne diseases such as malaria will spike as tropical ecosystems expand; hotter air will exacerbate the pollution that sends children to the hospital with asthma attacks; food insecurity from shifting agricultural zones will spark border wars; and storms and coastal flooding from sea-level rise will cause mortality and dislocation." Boston Globe, Feb, 2007

Simple Firearm Facts

I am constantly amazed at the amount of erroneous "information" being disseminated by hordes of self-proclaimed gun experts. Because I care deeply about my fellow man, I decided to jot down a few core facts that, once learned, will save them from floundering and possibly drowning in firearm fallacy and ballistic bullshit.

FACT ONE: Bullets do not knock people down. No metallic cartridge smallarm (rifle, shotgun, or handgun) of any caliber or gauge, fires a projectile (bullet) that possesses the energy to knock a man off his feet. This is not my opinion this is a fact. There is 20 year old video evidence to prove it. In the video a man wearing soft body armor stands on ONE FOOT while being shot in the chest (on the vest) from a distance of about 5 feet, with a full power ( 240 gr. bullet at 1250-1400fps.) .44 magnum load. Not only is the man NOT knocked 15-20 feet backwards, he doesn't even have to put his other foot down to get his balance. On the same video, the same man dons heavier armor, again stands on one foot, and is shot with an H&K 91 assault rifle chambered in 7.62 NATO (.308 Win.), and once again EASILY retains his balance on one foot. Keep in mind that bullet fired from a .45ACP hits its target about as hard as a box of .45ACP ammo dropped from 6 feet hits the ground. Knowing this one simple fact will keep people from believing either movie scenes where bodies fly around after being shot, or self-defense experts who talk about "knockdown power". Remember, a bullets lethality rests solely in its ability to penetrate NOT in its velocity or kinetic energy.

FACT TWO: Modern handguns DO NOT "go off" when subjected to external abuses such as dropping, throwing, or striking with a hammer. All modern revolvers and autoloading pistols that have either internal or external hammers are equipped with transfer bars that physically block the hammer from contacting the firing pin, UNLESS, steady deliberate pressure is applied to the TRIGGER. Knowing this simple fact will keep you from falling for the "idroppedthegunithitthefloorandwentoffandkilledmyhusband" defense. While any mechanical device can fail, I have never heard of a transfer bar doing so, either in real life or during testing. But in cases involving the above mentioned defense, the handgun in question would be available for inspection thereby settling the issue one way or the other. The striker fired pistols like Glock and others, are equally immune to external abuse but not being as familiar with them, I am unqualified to explain the process. Perhaps the King will enlighten us.

FACT THREE: If you assume a vacuum, perfectly level ground, and a rifle barrel that is exactly perpendicular to the ground, and you fired a bullet and dropped an identical bullet simulaneously from exactly the same height, one would hit the ground at your feet and the other a few thousand yards away but at exactly the same instant. Knowing this simple fact will do you no good at all but I thought it was interesting.

This long and ponderous post doesn't even scratch the surface of all the firearm fallacy and ballistic bullshit out there, but having long ago bored you, gentle reader, I have now begun to bore myself. Consider this particular subject dropped, for now.





THERE ARE FEW SOCIAL PROBLEMS THAT CAN'T BE FIXED WITH A LONG HANDLED SHOVEL AND A THIRTY OUGHT SIX.

This is so wrong

My middle daughter, who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons, is apparently quite the redneck innovatress. In order to keep her female Pitbull, Pearl, from bleeding on the furniture when in heat she has outfitted the humiliated canine in an old pair of drawers and a feminine hygiene product. Don't be alarmed if, when viewing the picture, you are suddenly overcome with the desire to yell GIT 'ER DONE! By the way in case you can't read doggy facial expressions, this one is saying "For God's sake please kill me now".

Headache

So last night I felt a little odd toward the end of work, felt like my tie was too tight and I told my wife that it felt like my blood pressure was up. Wake up this morning to a killer headache in the back of my head so of course my hypochondriac self thinks he is having a stroke. So take some tylenol and go to work, felt relatively ok. Around 12:45 I decide to eat my sandwich and read Fark. For some reason the screen is blurry, I am having some odd tunnel vision effect. Well I knew then I was definitely not normal so I drove to the nearby hospital. Sit in the ER for around 5 hours. Get a CT scan, a chest xray, an EKG and a blood pressure check. Turns out I have mega high blood pressure. So really it turned out ok and I found out I wasn't about to keel over. Got some medicine and will start monitoring it glad I am still alive. Of course now I am listening to the Caucus news. I just heard the Obama and Hillary speech after Hillary's big win. And now my head is hurting again. The silly appeal to the poor and middle class always makes me shake my weary head. Liberal policies hurt the poor and middle class yet some of these people believe it. The religious fervor of the people does tell me all I need to know though. That being said, after that brutalness I almost wish I would've keeled over than listen to that silliness. Bring me some Aspirin!

In Tune With Nature

I don't mean to brag, but it's often noted that when it comes to the natural world I possess a combination of gifts heretofore unseen in man. Like Daniel Boone I impose my will on the woods and the fields. Like Dr. Dolittle I speak fluently the language of every creature that inhabits earth. And like the noble savage I live in harmony with the Spirit of all that is. An illuminating example of my way of being is this Grackle.

This afternoon, while parked on the grounds of a local Chevrolet dealership, I noticed a number of my feathered friends darting about in search of food. When this he-bird flew into the midst he immediately sensed my presence and came to rest upon my mirror. Though we had never met, we had known one another forever. Words were unnecessary, insignificant, impossible. We simply shared a brief moment, exchanged a knowing nod, and parted ways.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Being stupid I can deal with, feeling stupid is something else altogether. When I first heard the story of sisters Amina and Sarah Said (sigh-heed) I didn't get it. After all, they appear to be normal teenage girls, undeserving of being shot to death by their muslim father. Then I looked closer, deep into those menacing eyes. If I wasn't such an idiot I would have noticed it right away. These she-devils were into hot boys, popular music, and the latest fashion. Allah be praised.

Oh by the way, if you see Mr. Said please contact the authorities, they would like a word with him. In case you don't know what he looks like here's his official description as published in the Dallas Morning News -- Mr. Said is about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black turtleneck shirt, a brown coat and tan pants.

Hmmm, something seems to be missing. Are they looking for this guy or this guy?

This is my favorite Christmas ever!

The Archduke's Motto

Photo of the Day

As part of their gymnastics training these Chinese boys are supposed to hang from the bar for 5 minutes. I'm betting the one 3rd from the right made it.

As long as they're happy

Who are we to judge?

One little thing

that gets under my skin, and it is something I may have chatted about before, is the representation of criminals on tv. I am not the stat guy that my peers are, but I am gonna step way out on a limb and claim that even though the black population is still a minority in this country, they commit majority of the crime. This isn't a secret to anyone. It isn't even news. What bugs me are the way criminals are represented on TV. From commercials to drama shows, whites are shown to be the ones doing most of the crime. I hate beating the old PC horse, but this is silly. It would be like showing a representation of a football game where the team was made up of 80 -90% white guys so as not to hurt my feelings. The positive representation of blacks on TV started a about 40 years ago and I don't disagree with that, but 40 years of positive black representation or the attempt to show black children that they don't have to grow up to be criminals by NOT showing black criminals is NOT working, and if it is working that is even scarier. We have to quit running from the truth as a society to make people feel better. Denying a problem doesn't make it go away in fact, in my opinion, it makes it worse. Of course I have stated that before and yet things haven't changed. I wonder why?

The Vic

1991 CAGE MATCH (Dr. Singer vs Mr. Sagan)

In 1991, on "Nightline", Carl Sagan (noted Martian hunter and catastrophe predictor) debated Dr. Fred Singer (noted atmospheric physicist and man made global warming skeptic) on the enviromental impact of smoke from the Kuwait oil well fires. Mr. Sagan predicted that the smoke would travel to the upper atmosphere, interfere with the monsoon (whatever that means) and cause GLOBAL CATASTROPHE. Dr. Singer said that was ridiculous, that the smoke would go no higher than a few thousand feet and be washed out of the atmosphere by rain. The matter was pretty much dropped 3 DAYS after the debate when black oily rain began to fall on Iran. We can only assume that Dr. Singer then went back to his job INCREASING MANKIND'S KNOWLEDGE and Mr. Sagan went back to his, which was I believe, looking for little green men.

Did you know, that as they were fleeing Kuwait, Saddam's men deliberately pumped 11 million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf? Or that they deliberately pumped 50 million barrels of oil onto the Kuwaiti countryside creating a lake of crude 1/2 mile long which contained 9 times the oil ACCIDENTALLY spilled by Exxon's Valdez? Of course we all know that they set 753 oilwells ablaze and that these fires were burning 6 million barrels of oil a day. We also know that some environmental "experts" at the U. N. called it the worst man made environmental catastrophe in history and predicted that it would take up to 10 years to put them out. But did you know that a handful of AMERICAN companies like Red Adair Co., Wild Well Control, and Cudd Pressure Control, ET AL, put all the fires out in 8 months? Oh well, it's all old news but I thought it was interesting.

To give or not to give

My eldest, Lady Selfish, has kindly accepted my invitation to submit a guest post here at Defending the Realm. The following is a piece which she recently published on her own site. It came untitled so I took the liberty.
King Selfish

*****

I can't believe this question or Miss Manners' response.

Dear Miss Manners,
I am a 20 year old college student from Boston and I need your advice concerning giving money to those less fortunate. I honestly try to give as much as I can, however, being that I am a poor college student myself, how do I politely turn down someone who asks me for spare change when cash is low without sounding extremely rude or coming off as I'm better than the asker? The last thing I want to do is make their situation worse than it already is! Thank you for making the world a more polite place, one letter at a time.

Gentle Reader,
And Miss Manners thanks you for recognizing that all human beings should be treated with dignity. That is what you need to convey, whether or not you comply with the request. Just look at the person regretfully and say "Sorry," as you pass."

This is so retarded. A strange person is so PRESUMPTUOUS as to STEAL time and attention from someone who owes them nothing and then DEMAND money from them! This person has no dignity and should not be treated with dignity. I can't stand being approached by crackheads who ramble on and tell lies and complain that the world owes them something, and that I owe them something. This college students' sense of guilt makes me want to retch and the correct response to bums is to say "no" unemotionally and keep walking because even then they keep flapping their mouths and being hateful. No matter how much we give, there is ALWAYS someone else waiting with his hands out, accusing us of being selfish just for having something more! That something wasn't given! Are people not allowed to achieve financial autonomy without immediately being expected to pour it down the toilet? If some guy is pressuring a woman for sex (because he is "less fortunate" in getting it), should the woman offer a respectful "sorry," or should it be a firm, unapologetic "no"?
Our political world is full of pushovers.

Secular vs Religious

King Selfish found this article about the secular vs the religious quite interesting and thinks you may as well. Also, King Selfish has discovered that referring to himself in third person makes him feel...let's see...separate, different, in a word, superior. King Selfish says get used to it.

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"Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace." Miss Manners

Renaissance Man

It seems I can't escape being reminded of just how big a loser I am. While channel surfing the other night, I came across a tribute to a man who by the time of his death at the age of 51 had accomplished more than I could hope to if I lived to be a hundred. Here was a man who counted among his friends those in the literary, political, and entertainment worlds. Here was a man who was a five time Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Here was a man who was an author of eleven books. Here was a man who was an advocate of inner-city youth. Here was a man who those at his memorial were vowing to remember, to honor, to emulate. Here was a man who brutally murdered four innocent people in two separate robberies for a grand total of $280. Here was a man who according to those singing his praises was executed by the state of California for no other reason than it was time to sacrifice another black man to the "death dealers". Here was a man named Tookie Williams. I curse him and his memory. I curse those who fought to save his wretched life. I curse those who, with their promises to never let this puke's memory die, continue to spit on his victims and their families. I am King Selfish and I approve these curses.

Great American Hero

How do you doo

Wanna know who I don't get? Someone who takes their dog to a well used public space with the express purpose of encouraging it to loosen its bowels, that's who. Over the last fifteen years or so I have logged hundreds of miles on the track that you see in the photo above. In that time there is no telling how many seemingly nice, normal people I have seen walk their little poo-maker from somewhere in the neighborhood onto the track or football field so it could unleash a steaming pile of canine goodness right where folks are walking and kids are playing. What makes the whole thing so irritating is that there are a couple of acres just east of the track which the school has clearly designated for just such occasions. Click the photo to see for yourself.

Energy Incongruity

We are all aware of the importance of energy independence. Politicians of every stripe are constantly braying about America's need to wean herself off of foreign oil. To that end the government is willing to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to develop inefficient fuels like ethanol. Soon we'll all be burning staggeringly expensive ethanol in our unbelievably expensive, plastic shitbox cars. The bad news is that these vehicles will be structurally unsafe, the good news is that they will lack the necessary power to pull a sick whore off a pisspot. But I digress.

There are currently 1828 land based drilling rigs working in these United States, 872 of which are in Texas alone. Everybody knows that Texas is a large oil and gas rich state, but what you may not be aware of is that Alaska is over TWICE the size of Texas. That's right, if you cut Alaska in half then Texas would be the THIRD largest state. Keeping in mind that the density and distribution of Alaska's mineral resources are AT LEAST equivalent to Texas', we can extrapolate that Alaska has at least twice as much oil and gas as Texas. Based on this information we can assume that there are approximatly 1750 drilling rigs working in Alaska. Close, there are 10. Lets recap, 872 rigs drilling in Texas, 201 rigs drilling in Oklahoma, 117 rigs drilling in Colorado, 10 rigs drilling in Alaska. At the risk of showing my stupidity, I pose this question. Instead of wasting time and money on silly solutions like ethanol, wind farms, and $10 light bulbs, why not just go get the oil and gas that we already own? The answer to my question is so obvious and simple that it can't possibly be correct, but for an in depth explanation of just how wrong it is you'll probably need to ask the fine folks over at greenpeace or the sierra club.

No guns allowed

I just read where the mall in which the Omaha Kid slaughtered 8 people was a gun free zone. Too bad he didn't see the signs.

They went and done it

US Senate Panel Approves Bill To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By Deborah Tate Washington 06 December 2007

A U.S. Senate committee has passed landmark legislation aimed at combating global warming by limiting carbon dioxide emissions. The vote was timed to coincide with the U.N. conference on climate change taking place in Bali, Indonesia. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The bill would set caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from electric utility, transportation and manufacturing industries beginning in 2012 with the goal of cutting emissions 60 percent by 2050. It would create an incentive system that would give credits to industries that cut pollution. Industries that failed to reduce emissions would be forced to buy credits from others.

The Democratic-led Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 11 to eight, largely along party lines, to send the measure to the full Senate for what supporters hope will be action early next year.

"We are facing a crisis that will hit our children and our grandchildren the hardest if we do not act now. Not to act would be wrong, cowardly, and irresponsible," said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, chairwoman of the committee.

Senator Boxer, who is expected to travel to Bali as part of a U.S. congressional delegation next week, said committee approval of the bill sends a signal to the rest of the world that the United States is serious about reducing global warming.

But many Republicans oppose the legislation, saying it would increase energy costs and lead to job losses. They argue the measure does not ensure that other nations, particularly China and India, will cut emissions.

"China's emission will continue to accelerate as it builds coal plants and imports jobs from the United States. This will be enormously expensive to households within seven years as electricity prices skyrocket by 35 to 65 percent," said Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the committee.

But co-sponsor Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia, who broke with many in his party to support the measure, offered a different view: "If we do not act, China and India will hide behind America's skirts of inaction and take no steps of their own. Therefore we simply have to lead," he said.

( King Selfish here. How idiotic is that quote from Warner? China is going to follow the U.S. into the world of reduced emissions? uh-huh )

The House of Representatives has yet to draft its own version of the legislation.

Open Letter to the True Believers

Dear Believer in Man-Made Global Warming,

We've never met, but I'd like to think that if we did we could develop a deep, mutual hatred.

Just kidding. Seriously though, I think you're an idiot.

For politicians, scientists, and the media to push the man-made global warming hysteria is understandable, they've got a vested interest. Politicians crave power and influence, scientists want the money that the politicians control, and the media is a bunch of whores who know fear-mongering is the easiest way to grab an audience. No doubt there are true believers among them but they don't interest me.

I'm interested only in you, the true believer, who with no aim toward personal gain adheres to the idea that the earth is warming, humans are causing it, and catastrophe awaits. I have to admit, you make me a little crazy.

For all I know the earth may be experiencing a warming trend. And I am confident that the human race, if it lasts long enough, will eventually be threatened by atmospheric and climatic changes. So? Things change, people adjust or die, always have. What I want to know is how you reconcile your belief that man is the cause of whatever climate changes may now be occurring with all the periods of warming and cooling the earth experienced long before man could have been a factor.

The illustration above shows the extent of glaciation in North America during the last ice age, which ended 10 or 15 thousand years ago. Check out the Laurentide ice sheet. According to the experts it reached a thickness of 2 miles at its center, and at its southern edge New York and Chicago sat under a mile of ice. Think about that for a second. As recently as 15 thousand years ago all of Canada and a significant portion of the U.S. were frozen under a solid sheet of ice. And now, except for a few scattered glaciers, it's all gone. What happened?

After studying the scientific literature I think I have the answer. The most recent ice age, like every one before it, ended due to the warming of the earth's climate, with no influence from human activity. Now that was easy, wasn't it? That's right, according to the science there are many factors that go into the warming and cooling of our planet, but they all add up to the Sun and the earth's relationship to it.

Not convinced? Maybe this brief paragraph from NASA will help -- No one is certain what caused the lower temperatures of the Ice Ages, and several different causes probably worked together. The 100,000 year long cycle is likely caused by variations in the Earth's orbit and tilt that change the amount of heat reaching Earth from the Sun. A small change can make the few degrees difference between a temperate climate and ice. Also, the Sun's total output of heat may vary a little.

To that I say, duh!

Listen, I have to go. All I'm saying is that it won't hurt you to open your mind a little and consider the possibility that the earth and it's climate are doing now what they've always done and that man is just along for the ride.

Yours, King Selfish


P.S. Here are a few links for further study.

No matter how you slice it the first major ice age was a mother.

Life in the Midwest 16,000 years ago.

What causes ice ages?

Anticipation

I can hardly wait to see who the geniuses of the BCS pick to play in the National Championship. I know they will get it right because they always do, never mind the fact that 9 times this year their #1 and #2 picks have been beaten. Keeping in mind that the football Gods don't speak to me directly (like they do for BCS voters) and I don't have giant super computers secreted in underground vaults being fed esoteric mathmatical data that would confound even Einstien and Oppenhiemer, I still think that my team has a case.

By the time game 13 rolled around, the BCS in all its wisdom had chosen 1 loss Missouri as the #1 team in the land. To whom did they lose, you ask? Why that would be my Sooners. Interesting. Game 13 being the week of the Big 12 Championship, who is #1 Missouri's next victim, you ask? Why that would be my #9 Sooners. Even more interesting. Now you might think that the numerical ranking assigned, by the BCS, to each team would give some indication of who would would be expected to win. Not so.
As it turns out the #9 Sooners are favored over the #1 Tigers. How can that be, you ask? Beats the hell out of me. And should the Sooners prevail FOR THE SECOND TIME over the last week's #1 team, wouldn't that make the Sooners the #1 team you ask? The fact that you ask all these infantile questions shows that you lack the sophistication of thought needed to understand BCS logic.

As you know the Sooners not only prevailed, they SPANKED the #1 Missouri Tigers, but NOW, after the fact, that previous #1 ranking means almost nothing and the best my Sooners can hope for is #4 or #5.

In closing I would like to suggest that if we can't have a playoff system then let's at the very least compare the historical records of the odds makers (who choose the favored team) with the BCS rankers (who assign the arbitrary numerical rankings) and let the winner of that contest decide who plays in the National Championship.

Meet Eunice Carter

Author's note: This post is much longer than I intended. Good luck.

Sometimes Republicans can't keep up with all the evil that needs doing. With so many kittens to torture, children to starve, and homosexuals to euthanize, they are often forced to temporarily abandon their well intentioned schemes of misery. In fact, as ludicrous as it sounds, Republicans occasionally get spread so thin committing acts of unspeakable cruelty that truly important heinous deeds, like the proper abuse of black folks, must be postponed indefinitely. Over the years the frustration caused by this inability to mete out wickedness on all fronts at once has resulted in Republicans temporarily losing their immoral bearings.

The best known example of the Grand Old Party losing its way occurred during the War Between the States. Almost exactly 100 years before Al Gore's father voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Republican President Abraham Lincoln was engaged in an heroic battle to hold the Union together so future Republicans would have access to more people to oppress and more land to rape, pillage, and pollute. It was during this distraction that Lincoln made the grievous error of freeing the slaves. Even men possessed of an obscene capacity for viciousness can only do so much. Unfortunately, once the slaves were freed, black people were able to insinuate themselves into American society in such a way that they were able to take advantage whenever Republicans faltered. That brings us to Eunice Carter.

Little Eunice was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1899. When she grew big and strong she moved to New York City to attend university and law school, and after passing the bar exam in 1934 she went into private practice. This is where it starts getting ugly.

By the mid 1930's the Italian Mafia ruled much of New York City, including many of its leaders in politics and law enforcement. Organized prostitution rings, bootlegging, and numbers rackets (whatever that is) were the order of the day. The Mob was rolling and one man was pissed.

New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Republican, took office on New Year's Day 1934 and he hit the ground gunning for gangsters. Now, before you get to thinking that this was a case of a Republican being motivated to do good, you should know that LaGuardia was only 5 ft 2 inches tall. So, in addition to being a Republican, he also suffered the dreaded small man syndrome. His meanness knew no bounds, as long as he had something to stand on. I digress. Anyway, it was while distracted with showing the mafia just who was boss that LaGuardia let his guard :) down and appointed Eunice Carter to a position of some minor import. She then became assistant DA to special prosecutor Thomas Dewey, Republican. While serving under Dewey, Republican, Carter played a prominent role in bringing down the top mafia boss of the day, Lucky Luciano. Thomas Dewey, Republican, was so appreciative of her efforts in this case that after he was elected New York District Attorney he appointed Eunice to head the D.A.'s Special Sessions Bureau. Now that's one confused Republican.

I am officially tired of writing so let me try to sum up. Republicans are bigots, racists, and homophobes who desire nothing more than causing pain and suffering and, of course, stopping the Democrats from doing the Lord's work. However, there are just so many mean Republicans to go around so they are often forced to choose between evil doings. From time to time this inability to do it all allows many of those who would be natural targets of Republican villainy to slip through the cracks. Even worse, it is not uncommon for a Republican to get so focused on the depravity at hand that those they wish most to harm actually benefit from their actions.

You can take the brother out of the hood...

I have spent less time thinking about the shooting death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor than you have reading this sentence. However, this is what I would have written if I were a big, black sportswriter and I wanted to pen my thoughts on the matter.

Guy Stuff

Cult of the SAS.

Good Morning Amerika

Last week, over a period of three days, Good Morning America spent almost 19 minutes promoting the Robert Redford anti-Iraq War film, Lions for Lambs. Because I know stuff, I can tell you with certainty that 19 minutes in TV talk show time is a virtual eternity. Now don't get me wrong, it's their show and they can do whatever they want. Hell, I sleep through the son of a bitch anyway. All I'm saying is that every minute which the stars of the movie, Redford, Meryl Streep, and Scientology's favorite midget, Tom Cruise, were allowed to preach their silly "Bush lied, people died" message was one less minute that could have been devoted to the perils of global warming. Instead of pimping a movie that has been universally panned and will fail, GMA should be teaching people how to recycle their farts.

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"[Mother] had a lot of good ideas. One of her ideas was that everybody should have to vote. You have to vote. And if you don't, you're fined. And after three times that you're fined, then you don't get to be a citizen anymore. You can still stay here, you just have to go line up at the INS. And get your green card renewed and stand in that line. And then the great 62 percent who are eligible to vote, but don't vote, would motivate themselves. I think it's a really good idea." Meryl Streep, Good Morning America, November 8, 2007

Yeah, I know, she's joking. Except, not. If you don't believe me you can go here and fast forward to the 3:18 mark. Only from the left.

Truth

Of course none of us have missed the group that call themselves truthers. I won't go into what they believe since I know less than my colleagues about what the truthers are all about. But the other night I was thinking about their self imposed title and decided to discuss something I think I discussed before and that is DOGMA. To me it is a fascinating and probably necessary human thought process that causes people to believe things and when I say believe I don't mean consider that something might be true, I mean IT IS TRUE NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS! This means that no evidence to the contrary could ever dissuade them of their beliefs. To me the far left is funny about this. They disdain Christianity as a silly low intelligence emotional crutch that should be banished from the earth but never see themselves as apostles of their own dogmatic cocoon. Let me sidetrack a little. In my opinion a fact is a fact, our belief about that fact doesn't make a fact less of a fact or more of a truth. I am not saying there aren't gray areas because I think we could talk about that forever and never get to an answer but just because we put something in gray doesn't mean there isn't a truth about that thing it is just we may not have or be able to have enough information to show that truth to be a fact. My point simply put is that facts exist outside of our opinions. For example: the fact I don't believe in a god doesn't mean there isn't one. The fact of god existing would be true no matter what I think or WANT TO THINK! Ah ha the crux of the issue surfaced! What we want to be true is what we believe and we fight over it. James Watson a co discoverer of DNA said recently that blacks in general weren't as smart as lighter skinned races. Is he right? Could be. They either are or they aren't. He of course was attacked but he could be right evidence seems to support it but it is anecdotal so it isn't real evidence but still could be true, but we are supposed to be outraged but what if it is true? Should we run from the truth because we don't like it?

Obviously the left is a bastion of Dogma that tolerates no dissent or debate. From my readings online from both sides it seems apparent that Liberal arguments generally consist of attacks such as "you're just to stupid to understand" "you must be from the south" must be inbred rednecks" or they may intellectually argue this way. "The argument has been decided already so we can't debate it" or "well the source of that information is funded by big business or corporations so since the source is questionable then it cannot be true" It amazes me that so many intelligent people can wrap themselves in a cloak of feel good or self loathing dogma and can't see through the shroud to even search for the truth much less see it. There is no admitting of being wrong when you can never see the possibility that you might be wrong. From hating the president to global warming to affirmative action to abortion etc etc they show time and again that their agenda is based on a need to believe and not facts.

But what about the right? What about abortion? What about evolution? What about homosexuality? I do think that in general the right sits on the moral and intellectual high ground in most areas but then they can easily get into a glazed eyed mouth foaming dogmatic defense of beliefs too. I can write a long essay on the attack of the science of evolution by the religious right.
They attack it because they do not want it to be true, but if one chooses to not want to consider it then that is fine and I don't mind a debate on it since I believe that science will solve that problem in the long run because science is falsifiable, religion isn't and that is simply why creationism doesn't belong in science classes, but if schools want to have religious classes I don't care. I was thinking the other night how our cute little blog of 2 active writers and myself the wayward son, and in spite of what we say out loud, do consider our selves a cut above the average Joe when it comes to intelligence, philosophy, politics and almost any subject that could possibly come up on this blog or in private conversation. BUT are we above dogma? What if? homosexuality is innate? What if there is no god? What if descendants of Europeans aren't as smart as Africans? what if Europeans aren't as athletic as Africans? What if global warming is true? Could we handle the truth?


Just a rambling thought

the Vic