Thursday, June 24, 2004

He Got Exactly What He Deserved, The Bastard

I don’t much cotton to so called men manhandling women.  This attitude got me into a bit of trouble, once, in small bar tucked away in the back alleyways of Waikiki, when I confronted a so called man manhandling a young woman.  Not being a very adept pugilist, when he came at me, instead of the young woman, with his fists aflailing, I cracked him upside the head with a large, glass ashtray.  He bled pretty good lying there on the floor til the paramedics came.

Here’s a story, about a so called man, who shot his wife, kidnapped, and possibly sexually assaulted, his teenage daughters, getting his just desserts.

“Kidnapped girl kills dad, cops say."

Bless those young girls hearts, and may they shake off this incident from their lives and walk unfettered.

Via David Gross.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 04:35 PM
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Adding Fuel to the Fire

The raucous, and mostly hyperbolic, debate over homosexual marriage has been shoved far back on the stove, on a setting below simmer, since the events of Abu Gharib came to light, and other sundry items of temporary national importance flared up.  Articles you read on this issue, now, mostly deal with the brush fires left burning after the initial match was thrown into the gas in San Francisco and other cities.  Reading a few blogs this evening, I stumbled into John Ray’s blog, and was pointed to an opinion piece in the News Weekly, an Aussie publication, written by one Dr. David van Gend, whose credentials you can read at the end of the piece I will soon link to.  van Gend, has been reading some of Dr. Robert Spitzer’s research conclusions regarding homosexuality, and what he has read, may cause a flame up in the homosexual community, and could be used as a flame thrower by those who oppose recognizing homosexual unions styled as marriages.  Two very short excerpts.

"The Titanic of Gay Rights, leaving all in its wake, is about to founder on a large and immovable fact."

...

"The iceberg of clinical fact looming up in the dark is this: that homosexuals who want to become heterosexual can and do change, as authoritative medical research has now demonstrated."

van Gend’s piece is titled “Shuffling deck chairs on the gay ‘Titanic’."

Via Dissecting Leftism.

Spitzer’s paper is not available online, but it can be ordered here for $25.00.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 04:03 PM
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"What a Maroon," Speaking About Artful Dodging

Do you recall that line, used above as a portion of the title to this post, from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon?  I’ve always liked Bugs Bunny cartoons.  But the point I really want to make, is, why didn’t Al Gore say something like this about his old pal, “I didn’t have sex with that woman,” “It depends on what the definition of “is” is,” Clinton?  It certainly fits Clinton to a T.

"As a result, President Bush (Clinton ed.) is now intentionally misleading the American people,” Gore said. “Indeed, Bush’s (Clinton’s ed.) consistent and careful artifice is itself evidence that he knew full well that he was telling an artful and important lie—visibly circumnavigating the truth over and over again as if he had practiced how to avoid encountering the truth."

“Gore Says Bush Lied About Iraq to Push for War."

What a maroon.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 12:08 PM
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Warts, And All

A recently released study has determined that a compound in breast milk can effectively destroy warts, which may give the makers of Compound W cause for lament.  Interesting.  An uncle of mine, who has since left this world, swore that spitting on a wart, first thing in the morning, upon waking up, would accomplish the same thing.  I never tried the spitting thing, but my younger brother did, and it worked for him.

“Study: Breast milk kills skin warts."

Via Google News.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 05:18 AM
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He Said What?

Listening to our small local radio station this morning, while chasing one of my sons from here to there, the following quote was offered up as the quote of the day.  It was spoken by Dan Rather.

"Mostly, overwhelmingly, I want to be known as a reporter, an honest broker of information."

Keep trying, Dan.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 04:44 AM
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Big Bang Soungs Like a Whisper

Most of us have heard the conundrum; “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around, does it make any noise?” Various answers have been offered on the question.  What about when the universe came into existence?  Did it make any noise?  Well, according to Mark Whittle, of the University of Virginia, the big bang did make some noise, but more of a whisper than a bang.

"These cosmic sound waves are 30,000 light-years wide and are 55 octaves below what humans can hear.

But when they are shifted to regions of the audible spectrum, the cry from the birth of the cosmos can be heard."

When I listened to the two clips, it reminded me of a day at the airport watching jets takeoff and land, with cotton in my ears.

“‘Birth cry’ of the cosmos heard."

Via Fred Lapides.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 02:29 AM
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Monkey See, Monkey Do

"Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.

A video located today on Sheik Abu Hamza’s website, ..., features four children, doing what as children the world over do: pretending.

But what is completely unnerving about this video is what they are pretending.

One young boy kneels in front of three other children, in the same manner of the condemned man; Three other children stand behind him in the same way that the terrorists stood over the men prior to their beheading. The three standing children are armed with pretend weapons. One of the three children is a girl.

The tallest of the three standing children pretends he is Zarqawi, and reads a list of demands.

The film clip ends with the pretend beheading of the kneeling child.

Chilling."

“Muslim children play at beheading." The link leads to the photos taken from the video of the kids.

Via Andrew Sullivan.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/24 at 02:21 AM
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Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Something Wonderful, At Least I Think So

If you’re not doing anything, right now, on PBS, ugh, they are showing “Hank Williams Honky Tonk Blues." Give it a look, if you’re so inclined, or investigate your area listings, and check out when it will show.

I’m back to the show.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 04:10 PM
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Superboy Lives, in Germany

"Somewhere in Germany is a baby Superman, born in Berlin with bulging arm and leg muscles. Not yet 5, he can hold seven-pound weights with arms extended, something many adults cannot do. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat."

Won’t be long and he’ll be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, as long as the scientists don’t get ahold of him and expose him to kryptonite.

“Doctors discover a toddler muscle man."

Via Drudge.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 01:27 PM
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Hanging Em Out to Dry

"UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Facing strong opposition, the United States announced Wednesday it was dropping a resolution seeking a new exemption for American peacekeepers from international prosecution for war crimes."

“U.S. Drops U.N. Bid for War Crime Shield."

Yeah, that’ll draw em in to the military, on a voluntary basis.

Thanks to Steve Brown for the link.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 01:18 PM
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Chewing on Individualism

U.S. News & World Report publishes a piece by Joannie Fischer titled “Those Rugged Individuals," which scantily reviews the history of individualism, and those who promoted the idea, and then delves into individualism’s metamorphisis over time here in the U.S.

The piece presents a mildly negative view of individualism, especially in regards to the thought that individualists care ought for others, a thought I do not necessarily agree with, but, if you have any interest in individualism, it’s worth taking the time to read.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 07:21 AM
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TV Satire in Iraq

Private teevee has come to Iraq, I read in a Reuters article.  The first privately owned Iraqi television station even launched satellite transmission, to more than 90 countries, on June 11.  It will be interesting to see how long they can manage to stay up and operating.  A taste of the satire.

"A journalist stops a man in a Baghdad street and asks about the security situation. The man cheerfully replies: “Security has vastly improved, we used to go home at 7:30 p.m. but now we can stay out as late as 7:45!"

The satire may not go over big, here, but I hope it does in Iraq.  I wish them success.

“New Iraqi TV Station Brings Unique Brand of Satire."

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 06:53 AM
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Part of It Whether They Want To Be, Or Not

Rainbough, over at Somewhere Over the Rainbough, casts her eye on the new class action certified WalMart discrimination suit, that is worth taking the time to read.  An excerpt for your consideration.

"I almost got a job at Wal-mart once when a new one opened up in Athens, GA. Now I am glad that I didn’t, because if I had I would now be one of the 1.6 million women “current and former” employees being represented in the class that is suing Wal-Mart, whether I like it or not.

That means that the lawyers will make it appear to the jury that their are actually 1.6 million women who have been wronged, and 1.6 million women who need to be repaired for the damages. The jury if they decide in favor of the plaintiffs will then try to choose an amount to charge Wal-mart both for the actual damages caused (I use “actual very very loosely in this context) and for “punitive damages.” Punitive means they are charging a little (or a lot) extra as punishment to make sure you have learned your lesson."

The post is titled “No Please, Let Me Pay For That."

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 06:44 AM
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Radiological Attacks

One of the more pressing concerns, in wake of September 11, has been talk of a dirty bomb.  Most articles I have read, in various media, have been relatively vague, raising legitmate concerns, with scaremongering language, laced with generalizations.

The FAS Public Interst Report, has available online, a piece on dirty bombs titled “Dirty Bombs: Response to a Threat," which has more detail than many news reports, but is still somewhat vague, in that the report expresses possibilities of results of a dirty bomb, results that may, or could occur, but may not.

The report mentions the EPA health and toxic material guidelines, in regards to radiation exposure levels, but provides no data as to what those levels are, or, what amount of exposure time would be required to attain an unsafe level of radiation exposure.  For that information, one would have to delve into the EPA’s Radiation Publications.

The FAS report makes for an interesting read, but does not adequately explain the nuts and bolts of what levels of radiation exposure are, in fact, dangerous.  The report is swimming in generalizations that bear further individual investigation.

Linked via Gene Expression.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 04:37 AM
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The Voynich Manuscript

Jason Kuznicki has an interesting post up regarding The Voynich Manuscript and dissemination of knowledge.  Jason provides links to the manuscript itself, just in case you may want to try and decode its message.  The post is titled “The Opposite of the Internet."

Update: Scientific American.com has a new article up titled “The Mystery of the Voynich Manuscript," with a subtitle of, "New analysis of a famously cryptic medieval document suggests that it contains nothing but gibberish."

Link to the Scientific American article via J. Orlin Grabbe.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/23 at 02:51 AM
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