Category — Uncategorized

If you flip a coin you get heads 50% of the time. So, no matter what you guess you’ll be right half the time based on simple probability. It’s not an easy thing to be either consistently right or consistently wrong, but some people and institutions manage it.

Thers at Whiskey Fire notes that the Blight seems to believe that liberal blogtopia™ is having a hissy fit over the New York Times hiring Bill Kristol.

Sorry, can’t worked up about it. In many ways they are good fit, neither one matches the predictive capabilities of loose change.

Pierre Tristam notes in his about.com article on the assassination that before returning to Pakistan from Dubai, Ms Bhutto said: “I do not believe that any true Muslim will make an attack on me because Islam forbids attacks on women, and Muslims know that if they attack a woman they will burn in hell,” she said. “Secondly, Islam forbids suicide bombing.”

But then, that’s the problem with fundamentalists of all types – they justify themselves by claiming that they are forgiven all manner of crimes because their purpose is to purify the religion. “The ends justify the means” is the universal excuse for all manner of human bestiality.

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The birth of the Prince of Peace and the spreading of joy throughout the Christian world:

From the BBC we learn – Unholy dust-up at Nativity church

Members of rival Christian orders have traded blows at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with four people reported wounded in the fray.

Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests were sweeping up at the church following the Christmas rites of the Western churches earlier in the week.

Reports say some Orthodox faithful encroached on the Armenian section, prompting pitched battles with brooms.

Yes, Sir, there is nothing like Christian fellowship at Christmas time and no shortage of asses in the stable.

Via ‘Noz at Rubber Hose we find David L. Stern of the New York Times reporting that Uzbekistan Re-elects Its President

OSH, Kyrgyzstan — President Islam A. Karimov of Uzbekistan won 88.1 percent of votes in the presidential election Sunday, according to preliminary results released on Monday by the country’s Central Election Commission.

The results give Mr. Karimov overwhelming support for a third term, but the contest was widely accepted as a foregone conclusion and casts doubt on the country’s long-term stability.
…

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LJ at Agonist notes the confusion of bankers: BofA chief: Credit-worthy customers default

“There’s been a change in social attitudes toward default,” [Bank of America chief executive Ken] Lewis told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re seeing people who are current on their credit cards but are defaulting on their mortgages. I’m astonished that people would walk away from their homes.”

There hasn’t been a change in social attitudes, the bankers organized a change in the bankruptcy law. You can’t protect your home and you can’t avoid the credit card debt, so the financially prudent thing to do is stop paying for the house and keep paying down those credit cards. You are going to lose the house anyway, so why throw good money after bad?

The financial institutions are reaping what they sowed, and don’t want to admit they did it to themselves. At some point the bankers will realize that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Unfortunately things will get a whole lot worse before they turn around.

The BBC announces that the Queen launches YouTube channel

Announcing the launch of the channel, a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen “always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people”.

“She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit,” she said.

“This will make the Christmas message more accessible to younger people and those in other countries.”

Not surprising in view that last year it was announced that the Queen would podcast her Christmas speech.

The Shrubbery has a video up at the White House site featuring Barney. To quote myself “it’s a bit odd that the smartest male in the White House is the one that is neutered.”

So, I was out and about yesterday delivering this and that to various people and on a major street I noticed the approach of a Fire Rescue vehicle from the opposite direction with the gumballs flashing and siren singing. Even though there was no one obstructing the lane I pulled to the right and slowed down to give up the maximum amount of space and watched for any sudden turns onto side streets.

OK, I like Christmas as much as the next guy, but I want to know who thought it was a good idea to program the air horns on the Fire vehicle to play Jingle Bells? Seriously, if you’re trapped in your vehicle because a guy in a Hummer was talking on his cell phone and didn’t notice the Stop sign or the fact that you had stopped, would you really be thrilled to have the serious professionals who were supposed to be saving your life rolling up to the scene sounding like they just came from an office party?

So it’s time to get everything in line so that there will be smooth sailing tomorrow.

Obviously you need the text of A Visit from St. Nicholas [AKA Twas the night before Christmas] or one of the variations, although Grinchs like August insist on Santa’s Lament.

I assume all of your cards and letters have been sent, and although they won’t be as interesting as DCup’s Holiday Newsletter, we all know that we save them to read aloud after a few too many eggnogs.

But now that you’ve finished putting up enough lights to match the total electrical consumption of a third world nation, you can sit back and watch the North American Air Defense Command’s annual attempt to take out that red-suited commie’s attack on the capitalist system by giving stuff away. [Don’t worry kids, they are using the anti-missile defense system, so there’s no danger to anyone but taxpayers.]

The BBC looks at a study of Conventional Medical Wisdom:

THE SEVEN MEDICAL BELIEFS

• Drink at least eight glasses of water a day
• We use only 10% of our brains
• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
• Shaving causes hair to grow back faster or coarser
• Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals
• Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy

There is no evidence that any of these beliefs is valid, and a good deal of evidence that they are total garbage. The water drinking, depending on your weight, could potentially be harmful because there is water in almost everything you eat as well as what you drink.

When I was in the military I spent a lot of time on bases that belonged to the Strategic Air Command, the guys with the bombers and missiles with the nuclear warheads. When you entered the base there was always a sign indicating the base was part of SAC and the bottom was the command motto: “Peace Is Our Profession”. The general response from those of us not in SAC was “War Is Just A Hobby”.

That’s the way I reacted to the picture accompanying this CNN article on a prisoner at Guantanamo. The picture shows a sign attached to a chain-link fence topped by barbed wire and a coil of razor wire that says:

Camp Delta 2
Camp Delta 3
Maximum Security
[graphics]
“Honor Bound To Defend Freedom”

Guys, it’s a prison. You are keeping people inside. You don’t “defend freedom” with a prison.

I realize that SAC would not have approved of “Raining Death From The Sky”, and the Marines would reject “Abandon Hope All Who Enter Here”, but they really should try harder.

Echidne covers another “water is wet” study on The Cost Of Not Having Health Insurance. The short version is if you don’t have insurance and get sick you will die. I think most people have figured that out.

In some ways the need is made even more obvious by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, who had insurance through Cigna HealthCare and died today. The Associated Press is now reporting that the Family is suing Cigna, but that won’t stop the company’s denial management specialists from refusing to cover treatment for other policy holders.

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If you didn’t know, McClatchy has a Editorial Cartoon Gallery at its site. I am especially fond of the selection from the Miami Herald by Jim Morin, but then I’m a nasty person.

Chet Scoville at Shakesville has a question for liberal-minded people: Do you believe in a utopia?

I’m just not ruthless enough to stamp out all of the Republicans, so there is no way of establishing a utopia. When you have Repubs weaseling their way into power, there’s always an increase in poor people, so that problem will be with us forever.

If you are a liberal, you believe in people making their own choices, and too many people choose to be greedy and ignorant. Utopias aren’t possible until people learn to share, and accept that “all men are created equal.”

Mustang Bobby of Bark Bark Woof Woof received an early NODWISH present: one of his plays, Can’t Live Without You, is being produced in New York City.