Posts from — December 2005

Into this atmosphere steps an agnostic, paleontologist Gregory S. Paul of Baltimore, who is tired of the ID/Creationist attacks on evolution. Being an academic, he used a scholarly tool to irritate the “Talibaptists”.

Mr. Paul decided to research the claim that a “secularized” society is worse that a society of the faithful. He called his study: Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies.

The MSNBC article is subtitled: Researcher of religion’s link to social ills comes under withering attack, which is a mischaracterization as bad as the distortions of those attacking him.

The “victims” are accusing Mr. Paul of claiming to prove that religion makes societies worse, while Mr. Paul states that the report generally shows a lack of correlation between religion and condition of society.

The Reich just can’t stand being judged irrelevant.

™ ^{[Kevin Drum]}

Annoying Ringo

Bring that box closer…got it!

[Editor: Ringo is not a fan of posing and really doesn’t like the flash.]

Friday Ark

US-Canadian relations are a bit strained over the unilateral imposition of tariffs on Canadian lumber. The matter has been investigated by the various arbitration panels and the US keeps getting told to stop it and pay the escrowed tariffs to the Canadians, but the US refuses.

Prime Minister Paul Martin [Liberal] has been trying to improve relations with the US, but the Canadian lumber industry is looking for resolution. Stephen Harper [Conservative], Martin’s main challenger, thinks that Canada should be tougher in its dealings with the US than Martin is.

If Ambassador Wilkins would like to convince politicians in Canada to stop bashing the US during the campaign, he might suggest that the US government comply with its trade agreements.

Some people felt he was a cheapskate because he refused to accept contributions, probably didn’t spend $1000 on his six campaigns for the Senate [that’s a total for all six combined], opposed Congressional pay raises, and handed out Golden Fleece Awards to people he felt were wasting tax dollars.

I objected to some of his targets because they were for basic research that later resulted in significant advances, but most of what he highlighted were pork barrel projects that helped politicians get re-elected.

Wikipedia has a basic biography and CNN has a short obituary.

The country could use a few more Proxmire’s to clean up the mess the Shrubbery has created.

The spin is that the Shrubbery “took responsibility” for going to war. Like, hell he did.

He said:

At any point along the way, Saddam Hussein could have avoided war by complying with the just demands of the international community. The United States did not choose war — the choice was Saddam Hussein’s.

Fact: there were no WMDs in Iraq when the country was invaded.

Fact: Saddam’s government had been saying for years that their WMDs were gone.

Fact: the UN weapons inspectors were forced to leave by the US war and were not allowed to complete their mandated mission.

Another example of Bushspeak, which is called lying in the real world.

I hope to return to some form of normalcy tomorrow or Thursday.

Happy NODWISH
Merry Solstice
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
С Рождеством Христовым
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Nadolig Llawen
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noël
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
Happy Hogwatch
Happy Christmas

and hope they are visited by: [select one]

Дед Мороз
Saint Nicholas
Santa Claus
Kris Kringle
Pere Noël
Babbo Natale
Los Reyes Magos
Hogfather
Father Christmas

who leaves good things in their: [select one]

Stockings
Boots
Shoes
Clogs
Box
Pillow Case [some people are greedy]

rather than the: [select one]

Lump of Coal
Raw Liver
Bloody Bones
Birch Switch
Sticks

some of them may deserve.

Don’t forget to leave out the: [select one]

Oats
Hay
Grass
Turnips

For the: [select one]

Horses
Reindeer
Donkey
Camel
Boars

And: [select one]

Водка и перожки
Milk & Cookies
Wine and bread
Sherry & pork pie

For the driver.

Wikipedia has a brief biography of the Senator, one of the leading politicians who opposed the Vietnam War.

His primary challenge for the Presidency in 1968 is considered to be a major reason for Lyndon Johnson deciding not to seek re-election.

The correct procedure is to assign someone to accompany the body home and to coordinate with the family to see if they wish a military ceremony. While a family may elect to have a local funeral home take care of the transportation, you don’t send the family a note saying that you are shipping the remains airfreight and they should check with the airline for the arrival details.

The casualty officer assigned should take care of these things and act as the liaison between the survivors and the military. That is the procedure. That is what is contained the manual. If the military cannot properly honor the dead in accordance with the procedures, they should stop sending them to die.

Reading the article made me extremely angry, beyond the capacity of even swearing to release the fury. You don’t desert your dead on the battlefield. Why would the individuals involved in this assume that it would be acceptable to abandon them once they had been returned to this country? The cost of doing this properly is a pittance compared to the price the family has paid in the service of this country.

So they are going out to recruit Mad Max to take on Conan.

I’m not sure that he is the Lethal Weapon that will neutralize The Terminator, but I’ll be happy to let them try.

California doesn’t change. They should just make Mel Brooks governor for life and admit what they are.

[Anyone who demands their spouse post a “silly site of the day” from their hospital bed deserves the traffic.]

™ ^{[Kevin Drum]}

Sharing the Warmth

See, I told you I can behave…for a while.

[Editor: The entire crew decides that it is necessary to share the warmth.]

Friday Ark

Lambert at Corrente has a post on the Katrina hearings in which survivors compare the lack of regard for their plight to genocide:

“The comparison is inappropriate, according to Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.

‘Not a single person was marched into a gas chamber and killed,” Miller told the survivors.'”

That’s right Jeff, being abandoned to drown in an attic or bed bound in a nursing home, is not like being “marched into a gas chamber”. Having armed police refusing to allow you to escape from hunger, thirst, and pestilence because of your skin color, is not the same as forcing you into a concentration camp because of your religion. Nonfeasance is not the same crime as malfeasance.

I wonder if Jeff talks to Joe, because that comment is remarkably similar to Joe’s reaction to what Milosevic was doing in Kosovo and Bosnia.

The logic would seem to be that everyone will be celebrating Christmas at home and since it’s on a Sunday this year they don’t think their congregations will want to go to church.

I’m, sorry, but this is a little stunning. A Christian church is not holding services on a Sunday because it is also the day designated as the birthday of Jesus? What happened to “the reason for the Season”?