Zee Links and Minifeatures: November 2007 Archives

Politics, American Style at Scrappleface.

Cute Geography Game

Michelle Malkin on CNN using questions from democratic activist plants at the republican debate, and allowing them to misidentify their actual positions.

Hot Air has video of one.

I used to be disgusted. Now I'm just jaded. Luckily, the internet makes this easy to discover. Thanks, Michelle.

Man takes hostages in NH Clinton office

Here's hoping "the bomb" is just Hillarycare II. (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

Really, let us hope that nobody gets hurt. Despite my dislike of Ms. Clinton's politics and personal character, she's entitled to sell her message unhindered. If not enough people decide to buy, that's her problem. If enough do, well, she'd be entitled to the presidency, however much I might dislike it.

It did cross my mind that with her campaign hurting in recent weeks, this might be a put-up of some sort so she can play the victim card that won her the senate race again. But it's too easy (and far less prone to investigation) just to let Bill do what he does naturally instead. With how easily plots are researched once there's reason (see above for one of millions of examples), I don't think even John Edwards is that stupid and uneducated in the power of the internet any longer.

Islamic rage, edition seventeen trillion and forty three: Calls in Sudan for execution of Briton

Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

She was imprisoned for nine days, for allowing a student to name a teddy bear "Muhammad." Which was, incidentally, the boy's own name. How many children in the US and elsewhere have stuffed animals named after themselves or a family member? But because the boy's name happened to be Muhammad, they go ballistic with the clubs and knives, straight out of the mob scene.

This is about power, plain and simple. If they didn't want the name used for other things, they shouldn't be using it for other things. How many Buddhists do you know called "Buddha"? How many evangelicals named "Jesus" (Catholics do it, and that's fine by their lights - but they don't get upset when the name gets applied to dolls and stuffed animals by those same kids).

These people need to be told point blank to get their thinking out of the seventh century if they want to be considered fit for the rest of the world to trade and associate with. This sort of thinking is nothing less than a disease, and far more dangerous than most such. Nobody has any kind of a natural right not to be offended. The only people who would try to enforce such a thing are dictators and absolute monarchs, able to enforce it at the point of a gun.

Round and round she goes, where she stops, everyone knows: EU-Iranian talks break up; no compromise.

Talks between Iran and the European Union broke up Friday without compromise on Tehran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, and the top EU foreign policy envoy said he was disappointed at Tehran's refusal to budge.

But this way, the politicians can pretend they did something about it to their constituents.

I expected more and therefore I am disappointed," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after a five-hour session with the Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. The failure of the meeting was likely to increase pressure for new U.N. Security Council sanctions, with the five permanent council members set to discuss such actions Saturday.

Just minutes before Solana spoke, Jalili had sent a different message, describing his meeting as "good" and saying the two men had arranged to meet again next month.

Solana, the EU representative, isn't fooling anyone. All these talks do is buy Iran time to achieve nuclear weapons and allow the EU politicians to pretend they did something to stop it, so they don't have to rattle sabers they don't have, and they won't get lynched when Iran launches nukes. I'd say the whole thing is like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, except that 1) The EU is more like the fiddle, and 2) It's a myth that Nero fiddled while Rome burned in the first place.

Kasparov: Russian election a farce

Former chess champion and Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov on Friday dismissed Russia's parliamentary elections this weekend as a farce that will push the country toward what he called a "single-party dictatorship."

A day after he was released from five days in jail for a street protest, Kasparov said massive state support for President Vladimir Putin's party and growing pressure on dissenters will cast a mantle of illegitimacy over the Kremlin and will galvanize its opponents.

Mr. Kasparov cares about his country, which has gone from mostly democratic back to autocratic in less than a decade, and if it continues on this course will once again be a police state within the term of our next president. Bush Sr, Clinton, and Bush Jr. all share the blame for this.

"A meaningful number of political forces ... are being excluded from the process," Kasparov said, leaving tens of millions of Russians without any chance of representation by politicians who share their views.

"This in itself makes the election a farce, and the volume of falsifications, violations and pressure on any political opponents and political criticism is pushing the current regime into illegitimacy," he said.

Turk army gets green light to hit rebels in N.Iraq

"Intelligence reports show about 2,000 of the rebels have passed into Iran and a further 1,000 into Turkey, leaving only about 500 or so in caves in the Qandil mountains (of northern Iraq). This is not worth a major military operation," he said.

This is, nonetheless, something that we need to shut down, and fast. How would we feel about it if seperatist rebels were hiding out just north of the border in Alberta, and the Canadian government was letting them operate?

Off to go get the new puppy.

Fake Photos Alter Real Memories

There are still suckers who think Dan Rather's TANG documents were real. Or the Reuters photos of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Or the thoroughly faked ambulance photos.

People remember what they're told first. That's why these folks do it.

Older white women join Kenya's sex tourists

As long as they keep it legal, I can't find it in me to condemn them any more than I can the male sex tourists who also keep it legal. But it's still not something to encourage. So long as there are consenting adults on both sides, I can't see that 60 year old woman with 20 year old male is any worse or any better than 60 year old man with 20 year old female. But just because I can't condemn it doesn't mean I think it should be encouraged, and there's also the risk of STDs to consider.

Too silly not to link: Web site ranks stupid holiday gifts

Private Papers on academia and Free Speech.

Gore Visits White House

Wait until you see who sponsored the visit!

It's not reality, it's Scrappleface! Reality imitates Scrappleface!

Compare and Contrast, over at Wizbang.

The American Non-Empire, over at Captain's Quarters

Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate

Congressional stupidity, Pentagon gets blame, Wounded Soldiers Get Bill

Ralph Peters on what went right in Iraq.

Or, for the intellectually challenged among us: You don't win wars by quitting. You win them by fighting better than your enemies until they give up, or there are none left. Usually the first, but the second works also.

This looks like a misapplication of the principle of adverse possession, failing the tests of exclusive, hostile, and most certainly, continuous and uninterrupted.

(Via Instapundit

Adverse possession is a item of legal precedent with a very long history, but the requirements are rigid.

Here's a citation that matches what I remember from studying for my agent license:

ExpertLaw

Does it not seem to fail three of the requirements? to wit: "exclusive", "hostile", and most certainly "continuous and uninterrupted"

It does not appear as if the law was correctly applied, although Colorado law may differ.

It looks far more like grounds for impeaching at least two judges for abusing their positions, followed by criminal trials.

I'm off to buy the dinner rolls for tomorrow!

Strange how the older I get, my list of things to be thankful for gets longer every year. (Okay, not really strange at all. I simply figure out more of the way the world works every year).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Carnival of the Capitalists

You Can't Make This Up Department: Sesame Street released on DVD

Sunny days! The earliest episodes of "Sesame Street" are available on digital video! Break out some Keebler products, fire up the DVD player and prepare for the exquisite pleasure-pain of top-shelf nostalgia.

Just don't bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, "Sesame Street: Old School" is adults-only: "These early 'Sesame Street' episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child."

Is there anybody out there who doesn't think the nanny mentality has gone too far?

Dalai Lama may appoint successor.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama chose 6-year-old Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama, the most exalted figure of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. The boy and his family disappeared soon after and have not been heard from since.

China's communist-led government later named Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama and said Nyima and his family were being kept in a secret location for their protection.

Tibetan Lamas are supposed to be reincarnations of the former holder of the office. The Dalai Lama, as the most revered, selects or confirms the lesser lamas (depending upon how you look at it). But it is to the Panchen Lama that the leadership of Tibet is supposed to be given during the search for the reincarnated Dalai Lama, and the Panchen Lama is given the prerogative to accept or select the next Dalai Lama. China, being the paranoid repressive government it is, wants to control this eminently controllable selection process, so they made the "true" Panchen Lama disappear and instead foisted their own choice upon the people of Tibet. If they can make it stick, they will control the succession from here on out.

Their plan is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but in order to defeat it, the Dalai Lama has to break with a centuries old tradition. Since the high Lamas are typically confirmed very young, they are raised in accordance with the precepts they need to live by, and tend to do a much better job of practicing what they preach than the average politician elsewhere. Whether this makes them better leaders is not evident, but it's still sad. I think Tibet may have gone longer without a succession struggle than any other polity in the world.

Carnival of Personal Finance

Q and O on news media selectively editing what they want you to hear.

Pentagon is left scrambling to pay for war

The congressional inaction may trigger Secretary Robert Gates to carry out his threat last week to furlough as many as 200,000 civil servants and defense contractors this winter, raising the stakes for Democratic lawmakers determined to tie war funding to a drawdown of US troops from Iraq.

Gee, I wonder what districts are most likely to get their workers furloughed?

Before lawmakers left town Friday for their Thanksgiving recess, they did approve the Pentagon's $470 billion base budget, but not a supplemental funding request to pay for war operations. Democrats don't want to fund that $189 billion defense request from President Bush unless the money is tied to deadlines, or at least goals, to bring the bulk of troops home from Iraq by the end of 2008.

This is what I call poetic justice for those speaking out of both sides of their mouth.

Not to mention a wake-up call for those who are determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Me? I don't like it. But it's rather disingenuous to play these games and expect the other side not to follow suit. I can hardly fault the current President from playing the games of politics as they are played. If the other side is going to play these sorts of games, he can give in completely, or he can play the same sort of hardball back. Since his current policy is in the best interest of the country, the hard-ball response is the correct one.

Mark Steyn on something to be thankful for.

Carnival of Personal Finance

Education doesn't get any more pathetic than this (via Dr. Sanity)

megan McArdle on why we need entitlement reform now, not in 2041.

A wish list for the perfect strategy game. More than slightly tongue in cheek.

I'm a little behind the writing curve, because I spent Monday night and most of Tuesday trying to cough up a lung (fortunately, I failed). I was also committed to help with my daughter's class field trip Wednesday, and I still have to polish the seminar for Thursday night a bit more, and the major thing that can give is new writing here. So if there's a couple of extra repeats this week, that's what happened.

Carnival of Personal Finance

Congress hands Bush first veto override

"The president is standing up for the taxpayers," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "No one is surprised that this veto is overridden. We understand that members of Congress are going to support the projects in their districts. Budgeting is about making choices and defining priorities - it doesn't mean you can have everything. This bill doesn't make the difficult choices; it says we can fund every idea out there. That's not a responsible way to budget."

The bill funds hundreds of Army Corps of Engineers projects, such as dams, sewage plants and beach restoration, that are important to local communities and their representatives. It also includes money for the hurricane-hit Gulf Coast and for Florida Everglades restoration efforts.

The majority of this bill consists of home district earmarks for the house and senate.

This goes to show there is one thing more powerful in national politics than anything else: Pork.

A matter for considerable concern: Ground said rising at Yellowstone Park

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Yellowstone National Park, once the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up, possibly because molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface, scientists report.

I saw a Discovery Channel documentary on this a couple years ago. Yellowstone is not merely a volcano site, it is the site if one of the most powerful volcanoes on Earth. Erupting at about 600,000 year intervals, it typically blows with 1000 times the force Mt. St. Helens did. The entire valley is an active caldera - that's why the geysers. If it goes, everything from there to Chicago could be buried under a foot or more of ash.

A very interesting development, from one of my wholesalers:

Ginnie Mae recently announced that it would no longer limit loan amounts to the one-unit conforming loan limits on mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The current limits are $417,000 ($625,500 in Alaska and Hawaii).

To support this initiative, DELETED will allow VA loans up to $700,000, effective Nov. 19. Exceptions for higher loan amounts (up to $1.5 million) will be considered on a case-by-case basis...

Talk about changing the calculus of the VA loan!

Just FYI, I'll be doing a seminar, at 7pm on the 15th at my office. This is going to become a regular feature, on second Thursdays. This month is going to be on buying foreclosure with zero down, but it's going to have a lot of applicability to people who want to do one or the other, as well as both.

Email for for directions

Next month, I choose the topic.

Too surreal to ignore: Chessboxing. Precisely what you'd think from the name. Six rounds of speed chess, five rounds in the boxing ring.

"The problem is adrenaline," he says. "It can bring you to the point of overestimating positions. After the first boxing round, don't make fast moves - try to slow down. And try to make the last move before the boxing so your opponent has to make the first move afterward."

If I were twenty, I'd probably give it a whirl.

Creature ID'd as coyote, not chupacabra

It would have been cool to see the legend verified. But the facts didn't support that.

California Prepares for More Fires

None of more than two dozen air tankers and military helicopters that arrived from around the country to fight last month's blazes are returning to their home bases, said Francis Solich, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Now why didn't they think of that - sooner?

I had a fairly large boost in traffic from covering the fires. Still, I'd rather not have a repeat.

Planet Hunting: Find Neptune and Uranus

I've seen Uranus naked eye and through my old telescope, but never Neptune. It's worth doing, especially if you're out away from city lights and have binoculars (or better). The official moon count for Uranus was about 9 or 10 back then, and no, my telescope wasn't good enough for the rings. For that matter, I wasn't certain if the flecks around Uranus were Oberon and Titania or just dim stars in the right place.

(The first time you see Saturn's rings through a decent home scope, you will be hooked)

I am very put out. We didn't get even one trick-or-treater last night. Last year, we had half my daughter's school, and everybody was raving about how they were getting great candy everywhere as they walked by. What's with that?

Now that most of the links are fixed and pages redirected, October's stats are twice September's, and climbing. There is not a day in October that didn't beat the best day of September for traffic. 404 errors fell almost 90%. October ended up having 66,596 visits, but page views were 324,114. My new host separates out search engine and bot traffic (which accounted for another 200k page views) from actual human visitors, and we're entering the slower period of the year. I think it's also set for a longer period before it counts as a new visit than my previous host, because page views per visit has almost doubled from the prior host. But I'm going to accept it all "as reported" like if it were simply a revision to GAAP, which gives me an obvious goal of getting my monthly visit count back where it was. Running totals: 2,129,592 visits, 7,497,047 page views.

Private Papers on government mandated health insurance plans. We won't have a real solution until we stop treating healthcare as an all you can eat buffet, and this explains a few reasons why.

One by one, the heroes who saved the world are leaving us. Fare thee well, Paul Tibbetts

What he did was clearly necessary and beneficial by any reasonable standard. If you don't understand this, you need to go demand a refund from every school you've ever attended. Preliminary plans for the invasion of the Japanese home Islands had combat casualty estimates in the millions, never mind collateral damage or innocent bystanders. But the hard part didn't end there. For the rest of his life, he had to put up with useful idiots telling him what a butcher he was, and he didn't want a headstone or a grave because he knew it would be defaced.

Clear skies, sir. You will be missed.