Thursday, March 7, 2013
Hugo Chavez’s body will be preserved and put on permanent display, a la Lenin and Mao
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez’s body will be preserved and forever displayed inside a glass tomb at a military museum not far from the presidential palace from which he ruled for 14 years, his successor announced Thursday in a Caribbean version of the treatment given Communist revolutionary leaders like Lenin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh.
Corker: 'Appalling' waste and abuse in Iraq reconstruction under Hillary's State dept
Millions of tax dollars misspent and Iraqis who see no benefit to American-funded projects. Iraqi officials interviewed for the report leveled three main criticisms, according to the report: insufficient U.S. consultation with Iraqi authorities when planning the reconstruction program; corruption and poor security fundamentally impeding progress throughout the program; and limited positive effects from the overall rebuilding effort.
“The Iraq reconstruction program," the report concludes, "provided a plethora of lessons about what happens when stabilization and reconstruction operations commence without sufficient systemic support in place."
“The Iraq reconstruction program," the report concludes, "provided a plethora of lessons about what happens when stabilization and reconstruction operations commence without sufficient systemic support in place."
via Instapundit.
The Right to Self Defense Isn't Negotiable
Government compels, restrains and takes. Thomas Jefferson understood that when he wrote that our liberties are inalienable and endowed by our Creator, and the only reason we have formed governments is to engage them to protect our liberties. We enacted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land to restrain the government. Yet somewhere along the way, government got the idea that it can more easily protect the freedom of us all from the abuses of a few by curtailing the freedom of us all. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that's where we are today.
The right to self-defense is a natural individual right that pre-exists the government. It cannot morally or constitutionally be taken away absent individual consent or due process.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
New anti-gun idea to avoid arming women: Teach men not to rape
Read the whole post at HotAir. Excerpt:
Via Katie Pavlich, I’ll go one better: Let’s teach people not to commit crimes of any sort. Then, not only can we dispense with guns, we can dispense with police. And then we can take those billions we’re saving on LE and use them for programs overseas to teach them how not to commit crimes too. The White House should add that to their nonproliferation ambitions. Global Zero — not just nukes but all bad things.
Google Says the FBI Is Secretly Spying on Some of Its Customers
National Security Letters allow the government to get detailed information on Americans’ finances and communications without oversight from a judge. The FBI has issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs and has even been reprimanded for abusing them. The NSLs are written demands from the FBI that compel internet service providers, credit companies, financial institutions and businesses like Google to hand over confidential records about their customers, such as subscriber information, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, websites visited and more as long as the FBI says the information is “relevant” to an investigation.
Meat inspectors have to go, but fine wines are still on the USDA menu.
In its bid to make the sequester as painful as possible, the White House announced Tuesday that it is canceling all visitor tours of the White House "during the popular Spring touring season." This fits President Obama's political strategy to punish the eighth graders visiting from Illinois instead of, say, the employees of the Agriculture Department who will attend a California conference sipping "exceptional local wines" and sampling "tasty dishes" prepared by "special guest chefs."
Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn noted in a Tuesday letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that while these conferences may be "fun," or "even educational," they reveal an agency unable to set priorities that serve taxpayers as opposed to its own bureaucratic interests. The agency fans public fear about salmonella outbreaks even as its public servants serve themselves haute cuisine.
Mr. Coburn and others are providing Americans with a window on this and other fiscal contradictions at #SequesterThis on Twitter, and we recommend that readers take a look. Then decide if the federal government is so wonderfully efficient that it can only cut spending that most hurts the public.
Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn noted in a Tuesday letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that while these conferences may be "fun," or "even educational," they reveal an agency unable to set priorities that serve taxpayers as opposed to its own bureaucratic interests. The agency fans public fear about salmonella outbreaks even as its public servants serve themselves haute cuisine.
Mr. Coburn and others are providing Americans with a window on this and other fiscal contradictions at #SequesterThis on Twitter, and we recommend that readers take a look. Then decide if the federal government is so wonderfully efficient that it can only cut spending that most hurts the public.
The Official Rules
For a change of pace, here's a selection of "The Official Rules," drawn largely from Paul Dickson's venerable book of the same name:*
Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero.
- David Ellis ("Some Precise Formulations on the Alleged Perversity of Nature," 1957)
Proverbial Law. For every proverb that so confidently asserts its little bit of wisdom, there is usually an equal and opposite proverb that contradicts it.**
- Richard Boston (The New Statesman, 9 October 1970)
Wolf's Law of Historical Lessons. Those who don't study the past will repeat its errors. Those who do study it will find other ways to err.
- Charles Wolf, Jr. (reported by Robert Specht of the RAND Corporation)
Gardner's Rule of Society. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing
because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy
because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
- John W. Gardner (Forbes, 1 August 1977)
Somewhat related is:
Hoffer's Infrastructure Conjecture. It is the capacity for maintenance that is the best test for the vigor and stamina of a society. Any society can be galvanized for a while to build something, but the will and the skill to keep things in good repair, day in and day out, are fairly rare.
- Eric Hoffer (America's "peoples philosopher," attributed)
Runyon's Law. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.
- Damon Runyon (U.S. short-story writer, attributed)
Tom Jones's Law. Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.
- Dr. Thomas Jones (one-time president of the University of South Carolina)
Herbert's Law. He who is not handsome at twenty, nor strong at thirty, nor rich at forty, nor wise at fifty, will never be handsome, strong, rich, or wise.
- George Herbert (1593-1633) (Jacula Prudentum)
Three of my favorites:
Algren's Precepts. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a
man named Doc. And never lie down with a woman whose troubles are greater
than your own.
- Nelson Algren ("What Every Young Man Should Know")
Wingwalking, First Law of. Never let go of what you've got until you grab hold of something new.
- Donald Herzberg (former dean of Georgetown's graduate school)
The First Law of Expert Advice. Never ask your barber if you need a haircut.
- source unknown
* N.B. Paul Dickson, The Official Rules, Delta, New York, 1978. Mr. Dickson is a very prolific free-lance writer, still active here in Washington, D.C.
** For example, "Many hands make light work" vs "Too many cooks spoil the broth."
A visual addendum:
Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero.
- David Ellis ("Some Precise Formulations on the Alleged Perversity of Nature," 1957)
Proverbial Law. For every proverb that so confidently asserts its little bit of wisdom, there is usually an equal and opposite proverb that contradicts it.**
- Richard Boston (The New Statesman, 9 October 1970)
Wolf's Law of Historical Lessons. Those who don't study the past will repeat its errors. Those who do study it will find other ways to err.
- Charles Wolf, Jr. (reported by Robert Specht of the RAND Corporation)
Gardner's Rule of Society. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing
because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy
because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
- John W. Gardner (Forbes, 1 August 1977)
Somewhat related is:
Hoffer's Infrastructure Conjecture. It is the capacity for maintenance that is the best test for the vigor and stamina of a society. Any society can be galvanized for a while to build something, but the will and the skill to keep things in good repair, day in and day out, are fairly rare.
- Eric Hoffer (America's "peoples philosopher," attributed)
Runyon's Law. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.
- Damon Runyon (U.S. short-story writer, attributed)
Tom Jones's Law. Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.
- Dr. Thomas Jones (one-time president of the University of South Carolina)
Herbert's Law. He who is not handsome at twenty, nor strong at thirty, nor rich at forty, nor wise at fifty, will never be handsome, strong, rich, or wise.
- George Herbert (1593-1633) (Jacula Prudentum)
Three of my favorites:
Algren's Precepts. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a
man named Doc. And never lie down with a woman whose troubles are greater
than your own.
- Nelson Algren ("What Every Young Man Should Know")
Wingwalking, First Law of. Never let go of what you've got until you grab hold of something new.
- Donald Herzberg (former dean of Georgetown's graduate school)
The First Law of Expert Advice. Never ask your barber if you need a haircut.
- source unknown
* N.B. Paul Dickson, The Official Rules, Delta, New York, 1978. Mr. Dickson is a very prolific free-lance writer, still active here in Washington, D.C.
** For example, "Many hands make light work" vs "Too many cooks spoil the broth."
A visual addendum:
Taken from Ed's Quotation of the Day, only available via email. Leave your email address in the comments if you want to be added to his list.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Stolen Shotgun Hits Trigger on Stolen Rifle, Kills Burglary Suspect
INDEPENDENCE, Ore. (AP) — A burglar died when a rifle he'd just stolen was jostled and fired during a ride down a bumpy farm road, Polk County authorities say.
Detective John Williams says investigators found a shotgun and the rifle Sunday morning, side by side on the passenger-side floorboard of a stolen farm truck, barrels pointed at the driver.
Williams says it appears that a lever on the shotgun got into the trigger guard of the rifle and fired it.
Detective John Williams says investigators found a shotgun and the rifle Sunday morning, side by side on the passenger-side floorboard of a stolen farm truck, barrels pointed at the driver.
Williams says it appears that a lever on the shotgun got into the trigger guard of the rifle and fired it.
Tuesday links
Scientists Put a Working Eyeball on a Tadpole's Tail
Watch this lizard shoot a five-foot stream of blood from its eyeballs.
Rodent Mind Meld: Scientists Wire Two Rats’ Brains Together.
Train Snowplows Compilation.
Watch this lizard shoot a five-foot stream of blood from its eyeballs.
What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box?
Download this gun
Read the whole thing: 3D-printed semi-automatic fires over 600 rounds.
Last year, his group famously demonstrated that it could use a 3D-printed “lower” for an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle—but the gun failed after six rounds. Now, after some re-tooling, Defense Distributed has shown that it has fixed the design flaws and a gun using its lower can seemingly fire for quite a while. (The AR-15 is the civilian version of the military M16 rifle.)
The lower, or "lower receiver" part of a firearm, is the crucial part that contains all of the gun's operating parts, including the trigger group and the magazine port. (Under American law, the lower is what's defined as the firearm itself.) The AR is designed to be modular, meaning it can receive different types of “uppers” (barrels) as well as different-sized magazines.
Last year, his group famously demonstrated that it could use a 3D-printed “lower” for an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle—but the gun failed after six rounds. Now, after some re-tooling, Defense Distributed has shown that it has fixed the design flaws and a gun using its lower can seemingly fire for quite a while. (The AR-15 is the civilian version of the military M16 rifle.)
The lower, or "lower receiver" part of a firearm, is the crucial part that contains all of the gun's operating parts, including the trigger group and the magazine port. (Under American law, the lower is what's defined as the firearm itself.) The AR is designed to be modular, meaning it can receive different types of “uppers” (barrels) as well as different-sized magazines.
via Geekpress.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Watch this lizard shoot a five-foot stream of blood from its eyeballs
In a last-ditch effort to ward off predators, several species of horned lizards will increase the blood pressure in vessels surrounding their eyes, to the point that they actually rupture, gushing five-foot fountains of hemoglobin at the faces of coyotes, bobcats, and other beasts of prey native to the Sonoran desert.
More at io9.
Scientists explain 'beer goggles'
‘Beer goggles’, the phenomenon used to explain how a few stiff drinks can transform the plainest face into something much more attractive, has been revealed as a myth by a brain expert.
“We still see others basically as they are,” she said. “There is no imagined physical transformation - just more desire."... nature sees alcohol closing down the section of the mind that stops us acting on impulse long before it deadens the 'reptilian' part responsible for our sexual urges.
The area of the brain that makes us want to mate is the oldest part - and located so far down that it keeps functioning however much we drink - until we are ready to pass out.
“We still see others basically as they are,” she said. “There is no imagined physical transformation - just more desire."... nature sees alcohol closing down the section of the mind that stops us acting on impulse long before it deadens the 'reptilian' part responsible for our sexual urges.
The area of the brain that makes us want to mate is the oldest part - and located so far down that it keeps functioning however much we drink - until we are ready to pass out.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones
Homeland Security's specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a civilian is armed. Also specified: "signals interception" and "direction finding" for electronic surveillance.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show.
 |
Homeland Security required that this Predator drone, built by General Atomics, be capable of detecting whether a standing human at night is "armed or not."
(Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
|
The Origins of 10 Great Insults
Brat as a slang term dates from the 1500s in England, and meant “beggar’s child.” Re barbarian, “bar-bar” was how ancient Greeks imitated the babbling stammer of any language that wasn’t Greek.
See the whole list here.
See the whole list here.
Bunnies implicated in the demise of Neanderthals
Signs that our extinct cousins hunted dolphins and seals were presented in 2008 as evidence of their sophistication. But, experts claimed in 2009, they weren't clever enough to catch fish or birds – which could have given our ancestors an edge. Then came the discovery of fish scales and feathers on Neanderthal tools.
Now, John Fa of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Trinity, Jersey, says Neanderthals eventually bit the dust because they were unable to adapt their hunting to small animals like rabbits.
Not The Onion: JPMorgan Gold Vault Linked by Underground Tunnel to the Vault of the New York Fed
Remember the question a couple of months back about why Germany was repatriating (moving from the NY Fed vault back to their own soil) their gold?
Read this whole post at Zerohedge.
Previous posts: Holy crap: Germany to pull its' gold bullion from the NY Fed
Read this whole post at Zerohedge.
Previous posts: Holy crap: Germany to pull its' gold bullion from the NY Fed
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Smothered by safety: the dark side of overprotecting kids
Walter Olson at the excellent Overlawyered links to the Lenore Skenazy (of the also excellent Free Range Kids blog) piece at Cato:
Throughout history until just very recently, tree stumps were things for kids to stand on, jump off, sit on, or use as tables for tea parties. But seen through the lens of risk, they are simply hazards.
That’s the lens government is looking through all the time. If to a hammer everything looks like a nail, to a government agency charged with protecting children, everything looks like a health threat, death trap, or predator.
But the dark side of protecting kids is how easily this slips into over-protecting them from ever doing or encountering anything on their own, and insisting on constant oversight of everything they might encounter. At its very worst, whether out of real concern or political pandering, the government steps in and tells parents that their children are in such danger that only the authorities can do a good enough job of protecting them.
The message to parents? The government is better at raising your kids than you are. The message to kids? You are weak little babies. The government will swaddle you in safety.
Previous: Helmet laws may be reducing kids' head injuries by encouraging kids to ride bikes less
Throughout history until just very recently, tree stumps were things for kids to stand on, jump off, sit on, or use as tables for tea parties. But seen through the lens of risk, they are simply hazards.
That’s the lens government is looking through all the time. If to a hammer everything looks like a nail, to a government agency charged with protecting children, everything looks like a health threat, death trap, or predator.
But the dark side of protecting kids is how easily this slips into over-protecting them from ever doing or encountering anything on their own, and insisting on constant oversight of everything they might encounter. At its very worst, whether out of real concern or political pandering, the government steps in and tells parents that their children are in such danger that only the authorities can do a good enough job of protecting them.
The message to parents? The government is better at raising your kids than you are. The message to kids? You are weak little babies. The government will swaddle you in safety.
Boy, 7, suspended for chewing pastry into shape of a gun
At Park Elementary school, Josh was enjoying his breakfast pastry when he decided to try and shape it into a mountain.
Josh said, "It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top and it kinda looked like a gun but it wasn't."
Josh said, "It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top and it kinda looked like a gun but it wasn't."
Friday, March 1, 2013
Russian meteorite exploded in air instead of hitting the ground because a UFO shot it down
It's in the Daily Mail, so it must be true.
- Theory is based on analysis of several different pieces of footage
- U.F.O. watchers claim object seen close by could be a U.F.O.
- They suggest alien 'guardian angels' blasted rock to minimise threat
- Reports of a surge in UFO sightings in the Urals before the strike
U.F.O enthusiasts insist a small 'object' can be seen colliding with the meteorite on its trajectory through the atmosphere, despite the fact there were no reports of Russia launching missiles to down the celestial intruder, they claim.
3 new giant cockroach species found
Helmet laws may be reducing kids' head injuries by encouraging kids to ride bikes less
Cycling is popular among children, but results in thousands of injuries annually. In recent years, many states and localities have enacted bicycle helmet laws. We examine direct and indirect effects of these laws on injuries. Using hospital-level panel data and triple difference models, we find helmet laws are associated with reductions in bicycle-related head injuries among children. However, laws also are associated with decreases in non-head cycling injuries, as well as increases in head injuries from other wheeled sports. Thus, the observed reduction in bicycle-related head injuries may be due to reductions in bicycle riding induced by the laws.
via Mark Hemingway.
Friday links
Why did men stop wearing high heels?
3D-printed plastic car.
When animals used to be put on trial.
Solving A Rubik’s Cube While Juggling It.
Bizarre experimental tanks.
400K piece Lego Hogwarts replica.
3D-printed plastic car.
When animals used to be put on trial.
Solving A Rubik’s Cube While Juggling It.
Bizarre experimental tanks.
400K piece Lego Hogwarts replica.
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