Saturday, February 13, 2010

Weird Science

Here's Dr. Demento, a.k.a. Howard Dean, explaining how Republicans don't believe in science...
“One of the most disturbing things about the Republican Party over the last couple of decades is that they just don’t believe in science any more. And that is not an approach that is likely to generate any kind of creative thinking…People who use snowstorms as an example of why global warming doesn’t exist don’t understand the science and they don’t care.”
You know, one of the most disturbing things about the Democratic Party over the last decade or so is that they consider men like Howard Dean to be leaders. Ed Morrissey does a nice job taking Dean apart...
Actually, we do respect science. What we don’t do is adopt belief systems based on hypotheses from so-called scientists that use incomplete and unreliable predictive modeling, include wild conjectures as fact, pass off student dissertations as reliable research, and accept advocacy claims without testing, all while conspiring to hide contradictory evidence and scheme to ruin the careers of those who question them. Science requires that claims get tested, that predictive models that fail get discarded, that data and process remain open for review, and that critical thinking get welcomed instead of demonized.

Now, when Howard Dean wants to discuss scientifically how anyone can represent what the IPCC did as rigorous and reliable science, and how the “science” that predicted unstoppable increases in global temperatures for the last 12 years got it wrong but still remains reliable as a basis on which to enact public policy that massively intrudes on private enterprise, property rights, and energy production, well, I’d bet the GOP would welcome such a forum. But while we’re there, perhaps Dean and the scientific acolytes in the Democratic Party can scientifically explain how a group of cells with a unique, human DNA that divide and multiply within a uterus is somehow
not human life.
I'm not holding my breath on a response from Vermont's former Governor. The problem with Dean's formulation of climate science is that it accepts conclusions without a critical examination of the data and underlying assumptions. Most of the people mocking global warming by pointing to recent weather patterns do so as a joke. It's far more disingenuous to rely on false data to conclude that manmade global warming exists. And that's what the folks at the IPCC appear to have been doing. And the fact that dean may still believe in it would be pretty disturbing, if anyone actually listened to him.

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That's A Philly Fan, All Right

This was the closing letter in Bill Simmons' mailbag column...
A couple of weeks ago at a frat party, I began to get with a pretty cute girl. As the night wore on, and the drinks started flowing, she took me back to her apartment. When I entered her room, the first thing I saw was a giant Sidney Crosby poster. Without saying another word to her, I left. My buddies have never stopped making fun of me since, but I still insist that it was the proudest moment of my life as a die-hard Flyers fan. Can you please give me some consolidation, or should I have just swallowed my pride? In my defense, I would not qualify her as "hot."
I'm not sure whether I'm more shocked that one of my fellow Philly fans had the opportunity to turn down a girl, or that he misspelled "consolation." Of course, I'm not shocked that the girl wasn't hot -- she is from Pittsburgh.

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Friday, February 12, 2010

I Want My... I Want My... Eh, Forget It

I don't think this really qualifies as news...
MTV is embracing change. In nearly three decades on the air, almost everything about the cable network — from its programming, to its focus, to its place in popular culture — has changed with the times, except for its famous tagline, "Music television." Recently, the network quietly unveiled a new logo which has dropped the tagline entirely, indicating that MTV itself is leaving its original mission of an all-music channel in the dust.
On behalf of the first generation that wasted a portion of its childhood with MTV, I can say with confidence that they abandoned the music video at least ten years ago. So I think this falls more into the "truth in advertising" file. The article points out that they're looking for a new tagline -- I can only imagine that "Wasting Your Time Since 1982" will not be a contender.

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Bullock's Worst Move Since Speed II

Dude, this is too much information...
Sandra Bullock burned herself dying her pubic hair.

The actress - who is married to motorcycle enthusiast Jesse James - admits she was horrified when her special Valentine's Day (14.02.10) grooming efforts went wrong.

She explained: "I decided for Valentine's Day I would do a special hair thing. I wanted to try to create a pink heart shape with my lower hair. It was painful.

"You had to bleach it first. There's something about bleach that feels like acid. Then I had to shave it. I was in so much pain, but I kept going and put the pink dye on and it went the wrong colour."
I'm sure there's someone out there figuring out how this impacts her Oscar chances. I'm just trying to figure if she got the idea from old Speed castmate Keanu Reeves. No, I don't know that he does this, but he's wierd enough that you're probably nodding your head and thinking it's realistic.

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Start Spreading The News

I'm trying to act surprised...
White House officials sought on Friday to stem mounting criticism of President Barack Obama's handling of terrorism cases, saying they would not rule out using a military court to try accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Both Attorney General Eric Holder and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not rule out a military trial when asked about the Obama administration's options.

Trying Mohammed in military court would mark a further political retreat from Holder's announcement last year that the five Sept. 11 suspects now held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be tried in federal court in New York.

The Obama administration is trying to head off a possible vote in the Senate that could stop any terror suspects currently held at Guantanamo from being brought to the United States to face a civilian trial. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is offering such legislation, after losing a vote last year on the issue.

At stake is the public's perception of the administration's handling of national security, already shaken last year by strong congressional opposition to transferring any Guantanamo detainees to American soil. A Hill defeat over the trial issue could embolden the GOP minority to raise national security concerns in the midterm elections later this year.

The prospect of such a vote could test of how many moderate Democrats have abandoned Obama on the issue.

White House officials said Friday that Obama and his top advisers will play a direct role in ultimately deciding how to prosecute Mohammed. The administration initially decided to try the five terror defendants in New York but have since appeared to backtrack.
The backtrack is effectively an admission that Attorney General Holder and the Justice Department screwed this up royally. The President is seeing bipartisan pressure from Capitol Hill that threatens to cut off funding for the trials, and that's before we consider that NYC politicians like Mayor Bloomberg are vehemently opposed to this decision.

Does this have a parallel to health care? Only in so far as the message sucked, yet again, and the substance was lacking behind it. The message sucked because the rationale never made sense, but also because the rationale being employed seemed to be that New Yorkers should suck it up and be brave. That's hard point to try to assert to people based on what is alleged to be principle, particularly when some people doubt the principle and others doubt your sincereity. The other issue with the message was that the Adminsitration kept saying that KSM would be found guilty and likely executed -- that's perfectly fine, but it seems to be in conflict with the idea that he's going to get a fair trial when they seem pre-ordained to the outcome (in principle, it's okay to have confidence in your case, but selling this as a fair trial politically is a lot tougher if you insist he will be found guilty. If so, why not just do a military tribunal anyway? It's not like there's a danger of convicting an inncoent man, is there?

I don't think anyone in the Administration outlined why KSM needed to be tried in a civilian criminal court, let alone why it needed to happen in NYC. If the military tribunal system in place works (and Holder and Company haven't said that it won't work), then it's hard to understand why KSM, of all people, gets a civilian trial.

Unless, of course, the AG wanted to try the case in civilian court for political reasons, like potentially exposing the methods used to interrogate KSM, which could lead to criminal charges against interrogators and Bush Adminsitration officials. Unfortunately, that looks like the most logical explanation.

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Album Cover Nostalgia

A new recurring series inspired by the Lord of Truth. we all remember certain album covers fondly -- here's one more.

If you grew up around Philly, you know the Hooters -- they were the opening act at Philly's Live Aid concert and registered a couple of huge hits. The Lord sends us this picture as a reminder of their glory days.

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On Gilligan's Island, Professor Meant... Professor

It's quotes like the ones by Charles Ogletree that make me wonder about whether the value of my law school degree is declining...
Barack Obama has been called a lot of things since he hit the national stage: Celebrity, elitist and even one who “pals around with terrorists.” But as his poll numbers come back down to earth, and an emboldened conservative movement sharpens its attacks, the label that seems to be sticking to Obama as much as any lately is that of “professor.”

Speaking to Tea Party activists in Nashville last week, Sarah Palin did her part to keep the “professor” dig in circulation.

"They know we're at war, and to win that war we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern,” the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee told a frenzied crowd.

...Watching the “professor Obama” label bandied about again, one of the president’s longtime mentors says he doubts it will gain traction outside of Tea Party rallies. Taken to its logical conclusion, the message just doesn’t make sense, says Charles J. Ogletree, a Harvard professor who has known Obama since he was a law student there.

“I think anyone who examines it closely and carefully will see this type of criticism of Obama will ultimately be counterproductive,” Ogletree says. “Do you want to tell your children we don’t want smart people in government?”

Ogletree, founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, says he sees the “professor” label as a thinly veiled attack on Obama’s race. Calling Obama “the professor” walks dangerously close to labeling him “uppity,” a term with racial overtones that has surfaced in the political arena before, Ogletree said. Describing his divisive confirmation hearings as a “circus,” Justice Clarence Thomas called the proceedings “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas.…” It is perhaps ironic, then, that Ogletree, who represented Anita Hill when she made harassment allegations against Thomas in 1991, now sees a bit of the “uppity” label being placed on Obama.

“The idea is that he’s not one of us,” Ogletree says of the professor label. “He has these ideas that are left wing, that are socialist, that he’s palling around with terrorists -- those were buzzwords, but the reality was they were looking at this president as an African American who was out of place.”
A few points, if I may...

1. President Obama is/was a Con Law professor. I can't really say whether he was any good at it, but he was a professor. If it's racist to call him professor, even though that was his job, it might also be racist to refer to him as a former state legislator and Senator. To be fair, calling someone a "Senator" nowadays is pretty demeaning, since it means you belong to the same club as John Kerry.

2. When I think "professor", I think of Gilligan's Island and college, usually in that order. I don't think of people palling around with terrorists, nor do I think of professor as a buzzword for making me think of that. When people want to reference President Obama palling around with terrorists, they simply need to say the name William Ayers.

3. Actually, I want smart people in business more than government. But I want them in government as well. But smarts aren't just obtained working in academia -- real world practical experience would be helpful. One of the problems with president Obama and his coterie of advisors is that most of them have spent the vast majority of their careers working in government or the public sector. The lack of private sector experience means that they may not have the perspective to relate to problems being experienced by people in the private sector. That has little to do with book smarts. It also has nothing to do with race.

4. I have no idea how calling someone "professor" translates into calling them "uppity." I agree it can be a derogatory term, in that it translates to calling someone an "egghead." I've never seen anyone say "egghead" is a racist term, although I don't know what Professor Ogletree would say about it.

5. Full disclosure: I was once a student at HLS and interacted with Professor Ogletree. I like him a lot. I just think his ideas may be loopy. I hope saying that doesn't make me a racist.

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The Annual Rite of... Truck Day?

Truck Day? Man, pro sports now manages to commercialize everything...
The 2010 Spring Training Truck Day presented by JetBlue Airways is scheduled for Friday, February 12. The Red Sox equipment truck will depart Fenway Park for the 1,480-mile trip to the club's Spring Training home in Fort Myers, Florida on Friday at approximately 12 noon.

The equipment truck, which will depart from Fenway Park on Van Ness Street - adjacent to Gate D, will be led in procession by a flat-bed truck carrying Wally the Green Monster and Fenway Ambassadors who will be tossing soft Red Sox baseballs to fans.

Fans are also welcome to stop by and see JetBlue Airways, The Official Airline of the Boston Red Sox, and Wally the Green Monster between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the Yawkey Way Store next to Fenway for their chance to win a roundtrip flight on JetBlue, a trip to Spring Training in Ft. Myers, and other great prizes.

All media outlets are welcome to cover the departure of the equipment truck and go live from Van Ness Street.
I can imagine the stirring coverage. "The truck is starting up -- the driver is checking the rearview -- now he's adjusting the radio station -- wait, now he's adjusting his crotch."

Craig Calcaterra wins for best line about this...
Can I ask a dumb question? Why is an airline sponsoring an event which glorifies alternative transportation?

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One More Excuse To Run A Simpsons Quote

Loyal reader ST sends us this story from the same county where we both work...

"R-60" is a zoning classification for subdivisions of single-family houses where commercial activity generally isn't permitted. The 6300 block of Tone Drive in Bethesda is such a place, a tidy street of mostly 1950s brick ranchers just across River Road from Walt Whitman High School.

"BDSM" is short for "bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism." Velvet whips, leather hoods, six-inch stiletto heels, that kind of thing. If you were into the BDSM scene and periodically threw BDSM parties in your home -- as Pickthorne, a burly, jovial Briton, does in the castlelike 3,600-square-foot McMansion he rents at 6304 Tone Dr. -- you'd attract quite a crowd.

"Section 59-C-1.31" is the zoning code provision you'd be violating by having said parties in an R-60 zone if the guests pay to get in, as they do (or used to) at Pickthorne's nocturnal get-togethers. His events draw dozens of people. The cost: $20 for a basic ticket, $50 for VIP treatment.

"Kinky people" is the accepted term for folks who derive erotic pleasure from BDSM. "An amazing cross-section of humanity," says Pickthorne's friend Susan Wright, founder of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. "Men, women, transgender, heterosexuals, gays, bisexuals. Every ethnicity. White-collar and blue-collar. It's really very, very diverse -- though we do have an unusually high percentage of lawyers. I don't know why."

Anyway, you can imagine what Pickthorne's non-kinky neighbors think of all this. Fed up, they convened a meeting in someone's living room last week, then fired off indignant e-mails to County Council member Roger Berliner (D), whose district includes their Merrimack Park subdivision.

"I share your sense of outrage that a sex club is operating in your lovely neighborhood," Berliner wrote back. "I want you to know that my office has been advised that our County has moved aggressively to put an end to this blight on your community."

The county moved, all right. Pickthorne received a written warning from a zoning inspector Monday. But hold on. Suppose Pickthorne stops charging admission, as he says he might? Suppose he complies with the regulations and holds all BDSM gatherings as strictly noncommercial functions in accordance with Section 59-C-1.31? What then?

"Well," Berliner says on the phone, hesitating. "Certainly one has to respect everyone's constitutional rights."
As the Lord of Truth pointed out over drinks in St. Croix when I showed him this article, the story's sudden transtion from zoning codes to BDSM is pretty funny. Better yet is the line later in the story, where it's explained that partygoers often park in Unitarian Church parking lot. which brings to mind a great Simpsons quote...

Bart: "Ice cream at church? I'm intrigued, yet suspicious."
Lisa: "Wow, look at all these flavors! Blessed Virgin Berry, Command-Mint, Bible Gum?"
Reverend Lovejoy: "Or, if you prefer, we also have Unitarian ice cream." (hands Lisa an empty bowl)
Lisa (staring into bowl):
"But there's nothing here."
Reverend Lovejoy: "Exactly."

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The Health Care Follies Continue

Oh, goody. The Dems have a trick for passing health care...
"In comments reported by Congress Daily, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s top health care aide Wendell Primus admitted top Democrats have already decided on the strategy to pass the Senate's pro-abortion, government-run health care bill.

"Primus explained that the Senate will use the controversial reconciliation strategy that will have the House approve the Senate bill and both the House and Senate okaying changes to the bill that the Senate will sign off on by preventing Republicans from filibustering.

“'The trick in all of this is that the president would have to sign the Senate bill first, then the reconciliation bill second, and the reconciliation bill would trump the Senate bill,' Primus said at the National Health Policy Conference hosted by Academy Health and Health Affairs.

“'There's a certain skill, there's a trick, but I think we'll get it done,' he said."

The comments from Primus raise an obvious question: Since it is inconveible that Democratic congressional leaders are moving in this direction without the knowledge of the White House, why call a health care summit and challenge congressional Republicans to come with their best ideas when the plan is already in place to use legislative trickery to pass Obamacare?
I am thoroughly impressed by the Democrats' desire to commit mass electoral suicide on health care. It's one thing to lose a Senate election in Massachusetts in part because of the bad optics of health care; it's another thing entirely to acknowledge that you'll use a "legislative trick" to pass the same legislation the public opposes. And for the record, even if it's not a "trick", calling it one is asinine public relations. And it looks even worse when the President is trying to convene some sort of grand bipartisan summit to discuss health care reform.

Megan McArdle's been a voice of sanity on the health care bills, and I think she's spot-on with this analysis. More to the point, her statement here hits the nail on the head...
Asking Republicans to be part of a televised forum on health care reform is a clever move: put up or shut up. Nonetheless, I'd guess it probably fails. Republicans are saying what you'd expect them to: we won't engage in sham negotiations. If you want us to come to the table, shelve this monstrous and unpopular plan and let's start over.

...The problem is, the public doesn't get mad at you for obstructing things the public doesn't like.
Health care reform has been a problem in multiple ways for Democrats and the President, but there are three overriding problems with what they did:

1. First, the message sucked. The President never delivered a good closing argument, or a good elevator pitch, or even a useful executive summary. The supporters couldn't hang their hat on what this reform was intended to accomplish, because it was trying to accomplish too many things. There was no rallying cry for the public to get behind.

2. The process dominated. The legislative process is ugly. Just like most people wouldn't eat a hot dog if they watched it get made, they won't like laws if they watch them get made. So the Democrats tried to craft a bill with a bare minimum of transparency (to satisfy campaign promises) and an emphasis on getting the minimum votes necessary to pass the bill. This meant little in the way of real opportunity for bipartisan reform, and it effectively gave the opposition a foothold on the idea that the other side was ignoring them. At the same time, Obama failed to take the lead and put his political capital on the line for specific features of the bill, effectively delegating control to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, making them the public faces of the bill. Neither one is particularly popular like the President is/was, and they effectively dragged the President's most important agenda item down with them (and brought down the President's own approval rating to boot).

3. The substance just wasn't there to convince skeptical Americans. To get people to embrace wholesale change like what Obama sought with health care is difficult but not impossible. But the substance of the bills being debated aren't attractive to most Americans, particularly those who have insurance. That's part of the reason the message sucked, since even the best salesman has trouble selling a lousy product.

The new strategy of looking bipartisan isn't likely to change any of the above, and I think it's very late in the game to try and make it work. And if they do get it passed, Election Day may end up being worse than 1994 for Democrats.

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Maybe He Meant 250,000 Pennies

Hmmm. I remember this pledge...



Now this was already proven wrong when federal taxes on tobacco were raised, but the President skated by on that one. But why do I get to read this today?
President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.

Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

“The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table,” the president said in the interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions.”

Obama repeatedly vowed during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would not raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 and households earning less than $250,000 a year. When senior White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner suggested in August that the administration might be open to going back on that pledge, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs quickly reiterated the president’s promise.

In the interview, Obama said that putting preconditions on the agenda of a bipartisan advisory commission, which he said he would soon establish, would just undermine its purpose.
Remember, it's not his fault, it's the fault of that nasty commission. Ed Morrissey breaks it down...
What changed? Obama’s economic policies have had the effect that we predicted they would during the campaign. The White House sees trillion-plus budget deficits for most of the next ten years, thanks to massively expanding federal budgets and the drag they put on economic growth. Either Obama has to drastically reduce federal spending and the intrusion it creates in American lives, or he has to hike taxes in a broad manner to generate enough income to offset the spending. Taxing just the upper 5% isn’t an option.
I like Jim Geraghty's idea about reporters finding a way to bring YouTube clips to press conferences. The truth is, this is the sort of promise people will hold a politician to -- it's pretty easy to know whether your taxes went up or down and what your salary was. All politicians renege on promises made to get elected -- but reneging on ones that affect voter pocketbooks isn't the best idea.

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She's A Man, Baby

This may or may not be an argument against arranged marriage (especially since that term is used to define a wide range of different arrangements) It is a pretty good argument for better due diligence...
An Arab ambassador has called off his wedding after discovering his wife-to-be who wears a face-covering veil is bearded and cross-eyed.

The envoy had only met the woman a few times, during which she had hidden her face behind a niqab, the Gulf News reported.

After the marriage contract was signed, the ambassador attempted to kiss his bride-to-be. It was only then that he discovered her facial hair and eyes.
(hat tip: Megan McArdle) Unfortunately, they don't identify the guy, which means we've unilaterally decided this is actually every single member of Iran's government. Yes, I know they're not Arabs, but that's beside the point.

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On This Basis, Maybe Al Gore Can Take Credit For Inventing The Internet

Joe Biden wants credit for success in Iraq to go to the Obama Admininstrration...
I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government.
Good thing he and the President backed all of the measures that resulted in this success. You know, like the surge... I'm sure the videotape will show Obama was a big supporter.



Oops. And lest you think Biden was on board with the surge, you can watch this.



Well, perhaps Obama later acknowledged the surge worked. Right?



Well, I guess we can give them credit for acknowledging that Iraq is now a success. Coming soon, Biden will claim that Obama did a bang up job beating the British at Yorktown.

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What Annoying Song Is Stuck In My Head Today?

If I need to suffer with a song stuck in my head, why shouldn't you have to do the same? Sometimes they're good, most times they're bad... but no matter what, they make you suffer. So I like to share the suffering whenever it happens.

I'll have another post about the Super Bowl TV ad that inspired this Most Annoying Song Post, but the song deserves its own moment in the sun. One reason is because the song is by Cheap Trick, known in Japan as the "American Beatles" (whereas Aerosmith is known as the "American Rolling Stones", Winger is known as the "American Monkees", and the Scorpions are... well, no one cares about the Scorpions). The other reason is that the Simpsons once had an episode where Apu sings this very same song while washing his car. You have no idea how much better the song is with an Indian accent. But here's the original...



You're welcome.

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