Democracy denied: millions of American denied right to vote

Al jazerra has the story here.  the story is accurate.  How does this make the USA look in the middle east?  we invade Iraq and Afghanistan to bring democracy, only we don't have democracy in our own country.  We are the only country with an alleged democracy that does not have a parliamentary system of government.  even when we create new gov's like in iraq and afghanistan, we import a parliamentary system. We have a strange kind of democracy in the US, and the resistance to same day voter registration, the resistance to allowing all Americans to vote, the resistance of allowing the District of Columbia representation in Congress, is hypocritical.

birth defects in Fallujah

here is the story.  The battle for Fallujah was intense, and used much depleted uranium in bombs.  uranium tipped bombs-missiles can penetrate metal easier than non uranium tipped.  of course, radiation is left behind.  the irony of the Iraq war is that WMD's turned out not to be there, until we entered, and we brought WMD's into Iraq in the form of depleted uranium and white phosphorus.  here is another resource about the destruction we brought to Iraq that is long lasting.

The least we can do after we introduce toxins to a nation is to clean up after ourselves.  in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, there is lots of unexploded ordinance, land mines, and left over toxins from agent orange.  of course, we didnt put in all the mines.  but the least we should do is to help those countries clean up the unexploded ordinance.

its so easy to drop bombs, much harder to clean up afterward.

No doubt the battle for Fallujah took many lives of US soldiers.  It was not clear however if the iraqi men who were fighting in Fallujah were Al queda terrorists, of if they were Iraqi men defending their city.

What a mess.  Now there has been a significant increase in birth defects in Fallujah and other locations across Iraq.  This will effect an entire generation of people.

And there is a video game called "Six days in Fallujah," a real shoot em up game where you can kill terrorists.  making money off the misery of these people.  off the deaths of our own soldiers.

Obscene.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth

I have read this book before, and it is fantastic.  Roth rails against academia, against shallow political correctness, against racism, against sexism, against violence.  I enjoy the main character, Silky Silk, because he works hard to create his own existence, his own identity, in a very existential fashion. Contrasted with the empty, shallow whining of his colleagues, his marginal students, Professor Silk wants to live life on his own terms.  i remember the title of a biography of James Baldwin (my master's thesis) "The furious passage of james Baldwin"  this book could be called the furious passage of Coleman Silk.

It was made as a movie.

It reminds me of the self righteous faculty at SRU.  the shallow feminism.  the smug condescension of the deans and provost and president.  Go along, get along.  Embrace the popular metaphors, the popular myths. Live the illusion.

But Coleman Silk wants to live life on his own terms.  he is a hero.  misunderstood by many, even his own children.  but the alternative?  to live as a black man, to survive academia as a black man in the 50's, 60's, 70's ?  Would he have become a professor of classics?  would he have married who he married?  Silk was born into a racially obsessive culture, he was a brilliant student, gifted athlete, but he was black (or should we  say light almond?)  Like Thomas Jefferson's children, he decided life would be easier, and more successful, a a white man, as a middle eastern looking Jew.  He could live out his potential better by passing himself off as jewish.

But jews are not immune to suffering from racism.  and men in academia are also subject to being reduced as a cultural stereotype.

I was once accused of being part of a "male conspiracy" at SRU - yeah, that was one reason i retired early, what absolute bullshit. but some people thrive on the petty opportunities for grandstanding, for making accusations that make them look superior in some "goldfish bowl" way.

Coleman Silk was true to himself, as he defined himself.  great book.  i think Roth's best book.

Political Scientists predict Romney win

the article is here.  these two political scientists are legitimate, and their economic model is surprisingly accurate.  political scientists know that economics matters more than politics.  This goes back to research in the 1960's where policy differences among the American states were explained (mathematically) by the economic conditions of states, and not so much on the unique political culture variables of the states.  But something is lacking here.  yes, their model predicts the last 8 presidential races.  but that does not mean that extraneous variables, not included in their model, were not at play.  In 2004, for example, Bush relied on fear, on commander in chief issues, on boots on the ground feelings among the voting public.  He also had his operatives pass out campaign literature in churches in Ohio the sunday before election day:  he used christianity, the prostestant evangelical version, to get votes.  In 2000, the economic condition was good for gore; however, there was election day ballot problems in florida, and the Nader campaign also took away votes.  I would have to say that these two political scientists were lucky in the past.  I mean, a sample of 8 elections isnt enough for me to be convinced, and they leave out important variables (such as the church stuffing, the fear mongering....)

Besides, politics does matter:  i found in the case of Medicaid reform, that the political culture of a state was a better predictor of reform success than economics:  oregon and massachusetts had effective reform, due in large part to their political culture.  Both these states now have affordable, accessible, and quality health care programs:  and all their citizens are covered by some kind of plan.

If these two professors are correct, however, we will be having a President the next 4 years who wears funny looking religious underwear, and believes that God talked to a farmer and have him a religious text printed on the inside of a hat.  Then again, people believe that some jewish guy lost in the desert climbed up a mountain and received commandments from God written on stone.  so maybe mormonism isnt that weird.  but the underwear stuff is just too weird for me.  I can see wearing a kippah to cover the head out of modesty before God, but the underwear stuff (i mean no one can see it!) is just too weird.

six toed Halle Berry

so we all know that the Nihilist in Big Lebowski had only 9 toes, ("....nihilist with a nine toed girlfriend!"  Walter says during the epic fight scene where he bites off the nihilist's ear, I guess that makes him a one eared nihilist with a nine toed girlfriend....) anyway,  here is a pic of Halle Berry with 6 toes.

This is not a "defect" - our hominoid ancestors had 6 fingers and 6 toes.  It is a dominant trait of humans.  Still is.  however, in a rare moment of adaptation, the recessive trait of 5 fingers and 5 toes is now prevalent. Not dominant, but prevalent.  every once in a while, a child is born with one dominant 6 finger or 6 toe gene, and exhibits what is a dominant human trait.  Usually, it is amputated right after birth.  In Halle's case, it was not, so she has a 6th toe on one foot.  which is dominant, normal for humans, but unusual since most of us have two recessive genes for 5 finger 5 toe expression.

have i cleared that up?

shirtless politicians: the winner is....Vlad Putin

here are the contestants:

Vlad the bad ass.

Don't vote for Ron Paul

Paul Ryan says if you don't want Obama re elected, then don't vote for Ron Paul.  The question was about an alternative to Romney or Obama, about the third party candidates.  But Ron Paul is not running for President, he was candidate in the primary.  he is not the Libertarian candidate.  At first i thought Paul Ryan maybe was being metaphoric, but i really think now that Ryan thought Ron Paul was running as an independent and might be on the ballot in november.  Moron.

Romney thinks airplane windows should roll down

In his latest gaffe, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lamented the fact that airplane windows don't roll down.

Romney's wife Ann's plane had to make an emergency landing Friday (Sept. 21) because of an electrical malfunction. Discussing the incident at a fundraiser the next day, he said: "When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no — and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous."

ok mitt, i am a licensed pilot so here is why airplane windows don't roll down.  (1) planes fly at around 30,000 feet, its damned cold outside (2) there ain't enough O2 at 30,000 feet for anyone to stay conscious for more than 3 min so...(3) airplanes are pressurized, which requires strong fuselages, and at 30,000 feet the cabin equivalent altitude is about 7,500 feet (which is why drinking alcohol is so intoxicating on planes) and  (4) opening a window at 30,000 feet would depressurize the plane (remember Auric Goldfinger, getting sucked out of Pussy Galore's jet after he shoots a gun at James Bond and depressurizes the plane?  which really wouldn't happen but.....) (5) planes that are not pressurized have windows that open, for example, a Piper Cub has a window on the port side that rolls down, and the door on the starboard side opens up and latches on the underside of the wing.  But you don't want to fly cross country in a cub (80 mph, maybe 90 with the wind) (6) and even in non pressurized planes, like a Cub, or a Piper cherokee, or a DC3, you don't open a window if there is an onboard fire, because that fuels the fire with O2.    

Basically, if there is a fire onboard an airplane, you are SOL, which is an aeronautical terms for "shit outta luck."  You land immediately, airport or no airport.  Ann Romney was lucky, it was a small fire, contained, plane landed safely.  good thing Mitt wasn't onboard or he would have opened the  door and probably would have been sucked out.  Which is the only way his campaign could descend any lower than it has so far........

Paul Ryan another "canned hunter" phoney

Wow!  this guy Paul Ryan is an incredible hunter!  Imagine, tracking a beautiful buck like this through the Wisconsin countryside, armed only with a high tech high velocity bow.  and what a shot!  using only a high tech bow he was able to shoot his arrow at a considerable distance into this big buck.

But wait......this took place in Medill oklahoma, not wisconsin.  what was Paul doing in oklahoma hunting deer?  I mean, there are lots of wild coyotes in oklahoma, but only in the ozark region of oklahoma are there deer.  Ah hah!  It was a game farm!  So Paul went to Oklahoma to hunt deer on a game farm.  Where game is bred and raised for the purpose of selling the right to kill it to someone with the money.  So is this a wild deer, or a domesticated deer?  did Paul pick out this deer before shooting it?  How much does it cost to pick out a big buck like this and kill it?  Did paul have to shoot at a distance, or because this deer was raised domestically, was he able to get up real close to shoot it?

But hey, Paul isnt the only politician to go on expensive, canned hunts.  Dick Cheney was notorious for it.  What Dick liked to do as Vice President was to go on a friend's property (lobbyist?) have a buffet lunch, with beer - a catered picnic - and then shoot hundreds of tame domesticated birds that someone would release to one side.  kind of skeet shooting only with real birds instead of skeet.  for example, it has been documented (previous link) that on one occasion, 500 birds were released, and 417 killed.  If you shot at 500 skeets, and hit only 417, you really suck at skeet shooting (I have shot skeet with a shotgun, so i know what i am talking about).  Dick also shot his buddy while on a canned bird hunt, but perhaps the beer he had first had something to do with that (Dick Cheney was convicted twice of drunk driving in Wyoming, during his reckless youth while dodging the draft).

Paul's wife is from Oklahoma, so thats probably how he got down there from wisconsin, visiting relatives.  I wonder, how did he get the deer meat home?  i looked up processors on google, and there is a deer meet processing company in Medill OK (probably connected to the game farm, right?)  but how did he get it home to eat?  can you freeze a whole cut up deer quickly, then travel with hundreds of pounds of deer meet in your car, or plane?

Dick cheney and his buddies did not eat any of the birds they killed - they were gathered and burned.  so i wonder if Paul Ryan ate this beautiful, tame, domesticated buck?

Condoleezza Rice and American Exceptionalism

"The amount of poverty and suffering required for the emergence of a Rockefeller, and the amount of depravity that the accumulation of a fortune of such magnitude entails, are left out of the picture, and it is not always possible to make the people in general see this."



The above quote is from Dr. Ernesto Guevara de la Cerna.  I often am reminded of these quotes whenever i hear Mitt Romney speak.  When he tells college students to ask their parents for a loan to start a small business, when he talks about how "welfare" (he never gives his operational definition of welfare - does he mean the tax code that favors the rich?) prevents people from succeeding, from taking initiative, from pursuing the American dream of business and wealth, that's when i think of how intellectually shallow he is.

it is the American dream, right?  We are all free, can start our own business, get wealthy, hide money in off shore accounts, pay less taxes than most teachers, fire fighters and police officers (not to mention military service men and women).

and now condoleezza Rice chimes in about American Exceptionalism.  what does she mean by exceptionalism?  Its a buzz word, a code word, for American superiority of our economy, our fair capitalist system where everyone has the potential to be successful, and of our military superiority to mold the world in our own image, or at least control it for our own exploitation.

condoleeza Rice forgets that it was American exceptionalism that brought us the Iraq invasion - she advocated it. on the backs of over 3000 dead Americans, they find an excuse to invade Iraq, which George W. said in the 2004 debates had nothing to do with 911.  How did we pay for it?  One billion $ a month of debt.  China gave us the money $1 billion a month.  And the cost in human life, thousands dead American servicemen, contractors, and over 100,000 dead iraqis.  And the hatred of Iraqi men who were detained without reason and tortured.  (despite our denials of torture, i mean, look at the pictures.....)

And the ultimate result?  Iraq is aligned with Iran, and more iraqi;s are killed every day in bombings.  Saudi Arabia is not any safer (the whole Iraq war, both wars, really about the Saudi's hatred, fear of Iraq).

We are NO SAFER after the Iraq invasion.  We are NO SAFER with rebellion in syria, and neither is Israel safer.

So when Rice talks American Exceptionalism, read that as invasion of Syria, invasion of Iran, more war, more debt.  What she is really doing is trying to defend her policies under George W.  She doesn't want to go down in history as a complete moron, a foreign and international security clown.

where have we seen Paul Ryan before? the Munsters!

i think i see a similarity.  the first pic is of Paul Ryan as a child with his favorite doll.  the second is of Paul grown up (no longer holding the doll).  there are strange Republicans out there who somehow get elected despite holding delusional viewpoints:  they run on the politics of morality, the politics of nostalgia, for a time period that never existed (the US without hispanics, or freed blacks, when people remained virgins until marriage, no abortions, and we fought wars to make people free).  Santorum is one of them.  We have another in Pennsylvania, Pat toomey, a real nut.  I think Paul ryan is Sarah Palin on testosterone.  Is the USA ready for small town Wisconsin thinking?  Paul is George W without Karl Rove.

If he gets elected VP i am moving to Nova Scotia.  seriously.  

Picasso's post war peace art available through WalMart

Yes, you can buy a post WWII Pablo Picasso peace artwork through Walmart.  I am reading a book Dreaming in French  Jackie Kennedy, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis's experience in Paris during a "college abroad" experience during their young years.   Its a good insight into France post war, emerging through the 50's into the 60's, the changes of politics, economics, and even the appearance of Paris itself.  But also an insight into the lives of these three amazing young women who would have such an impact on American culture, politics, art.  Anyway, one thing mentioned is Pablo Picasso's artwork, his peace artwork, post war in Paris, how he would lend a hand designing Posters that were put up all over Paris organizing Parisian Youth for peace rallies ("never again" i guess).  So i did a google search of Picasso peace artwork WWII, and this picture came up, available through Walmart on line.

You can buy a classic Picasso print, post war peace artwork, through walmart:  already framed.  I dont know if Picasso ever met Andy Warhol (I did a quick search on google but the results were confusing, imagine a search containing both words "picasso" and "warhol.").  But this is certainly a "warhol moment" for me, finding a picasso peace print at walmart.

BTW, here is a portrait. of what someone thought Picasso would make of Warhol, if Warhol ever sat for a portrait.  

Dan Richards - Asshole of the month

The head of California's Fish and Game commission was FIRED after killing a cougar in Idaho, as part of a free $7,000 hunting trip provided by lobbyists.  He says he followed the law: its illegal to kill cougars in California, but not in Idaho.

hey Dan, who's the "Ho?  You a Ho?  Yes you are, you are a whore of the hunting lodge that paid for your trip.  Of course, Dan paid back the lodge once it was publicized.  and he didnt break the law.

But look at the picture:  what a beautiful cat.  You are a heartless murderer Dan richards.  If you are ever out hiking in one of California's parks, where cougars live in the wild, watch out:  you have the scent of dead cougar on you.

Jenna jameson endorses Mitt Romney

Well known LDS porn star jenna jameson has endorsed Mitt Romney for President.  She really looks terrible here: anorexic, bleached, orange tan.  She says if you're rich you want a republican in the white house.  great reasoning.  doesnt she have a lot of gay friends?  I thought she preferred doing lesbian porn, in order to be faithful to her husband.  dear god.....

cheetah breaks world land speed record

11 year old Cheetah (77 in human years) runs 98 mph, but receives no Olympic medal.  cheetah ran on a special course created by national geographic.  3 times as fast as faster human.  

Chik fil A: about as gay as it gets

Ok, so here is a milk cow, artifically kept milk producing with hormones, long after her calf was born, riding cowgirl style a large floating phallic symbol.  "Eat more chikin."  the term, "eat mor chikin" i believe is from the song "Backdoor Man" by Muddy Waters.  the song is about a black man, who has to use the "back door" when seeing his girlfriend. or its about a black man having anal sex with his girl friend (the chorus is "I'm a backdoor man!!!!")  and another lyric from song is "I eat mor chikn any man ever seen"  i dont think he was referring to chicken, but to cunninlingus (Col. Lingus from SNL).  So the whole idea that a fried chicken chain, featuring waffle fries, would adopt a slogan that is about anal and oral sex, is humorous, given that the same chain is against gay marriage.

So these guys who run Chik fil a are back door men who eat more chicken any man ever seen, then close on sunday to go to church, hopefully after taking a shower after their extremely hetersexual sex.

Chik fil A success is based on expansion: first, they started in malls, low overhead. then, they went the franchise route, but only sold operator's franchises - the operator runs the restaurant, has a profit after expenses, but the corp owns it, makes decisions about marketing etc.  It only takes $5000 investment to be an operator, if you are chosen.  they expanded quickly, and kept expanding.  Can they operate successfully once their expansion stops?

They were sued in Calif for selling steam cooked chicken- supposedly, the plantiffs argued that high temperature causes the chicken to become carcinogenic (or more so), the suit was thrown out.  chik fil a can cook a chicken sandwich as fast as a hamburger, supposedly.  they are all precooked, sit there on the warmer, look awful.  they probably taste good:  fat, deep friend, spices, lots of salt, then waffle fries, more fat, more salt, then milk shake more fat and sugar and so forth.

So all those back door lovin, chikin lovin, conservative evangelical men and women who love steamed and deep fried junk food are lining up to show their support against gay marriage.    get me out of this country - societal insanity.  a bunch of lemmings running over the cliff of pure reason.

Uncle Charley's sausage business for sale

Uncle Charley's is for sale.  Uncle Charley lost his son in plane crash, tragic, and now is reluctantly running the business again (age 79).  His remaining kids dont want the business (stupid).  he says business expanded with his own profits, no debt.  Business has been good, steady sales.  Local distribution, but internet sales too.  good product.  made in Pittsburgh (Vandergrift) not china, has no sawdust in ingredients.  undercapitalized, can it expand, compete with national brands?  i think so with right financial backing.  unfortunately, a successful local company, with no debt, is a prime candidate for Bain Capital takeover:  sell the business to some national brand, move it to mexico, fire everyone, pocket the profits.

I am a vegan, but i would love to own this business. Lots of potential.  good food if you're into local sausage, food made by pittsburghers.  

We lose so many businesses here in pa:  The Clark bar - sold.  Rolling Rock beer - sold.  Iron City beer - sold.

Alan Furst new novel Mission to Paris

This is a 1938 Panhard Dynamic, featured in alan furst's latest "night soldiers" book, Mission to Paris.  Unlike other historically based novels, Furst gets his history correct, and grasps the mood of the time.  i have read, and re read, his novels many times.  Other authors attempt to write novels combining history with fiction, like Newt Gingrich or Bill O'Reilly, but they fail because of (1) poor history, history manipulated for their own purposes or (2) they have a hidden agenda, packaging history for a market that has been researched for its political values.  thus, Lincoln's assassination takes on a new meaning for O'Reilly, namely terrorism, and Gingrich's novels portray Grant et alia as moralistic southern evangelicals fighting for our traditional values (and the Yankees, as it turned otu).  anyway, Furst's latest novel is great, not as great as the others, but a pleasure to read.  I prefer Alan Furst's espionage novels to health science textbooks anyday!

Black Bears in Pittsburgh Mills Mall

"The black guy is up to no good...."  a black bear was spotted near the pittsburgh mills mall, and one actually got inside.  Finally, that mall is attracting some business.  the bear probably wanted some cappucino from starbucks.  so now everyone is going nuts about bears, bear attacks, 'are we safe?"  the above black bear is the one that inspired Winnie the Pooh, and we all know how dangerous Winnie is.    Black bear attacks on humans are rare, usually related to food, not to humans themselves.  these are omnivorous eaters, they esp like cadavers.  dead stuff.  we have nothing to fear from black bears.  other than our gardens being eaten.  So the township is trying to trap the bears in these big bear containers - why not just leave the bear alone.  some guy photographed a black bear on his deck!  OMG!  the black guy moved into the neighborhood.  he is up to no good.  just leave the black bear alone and he or she will leave you alone.  why is this so hard?

income inequality - trees from space

this is great article, you can see income inequality from Google earth, poor neighborhoods have fewer trees than wealthier.  So "greening of the neighborhood" is directly proportional to income inequality.  Above is example from chicago, top is hyde park, Obama's neighborhood at the Univ of Chicago ("the only neighborhood where whites and blacks join together against the poor....") and Englewood, a neighborhood currently under renovation with a humongous federal grant, but still remains economically challenged (or poor). notice the green difference?