Not So Fast

Killer whale takes out a great white shark.

I wanna go there.

Mark Steyn and Victor Davis Hanson for your reading pleasure.

In a brief op-ed in USA Today, White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan charges that critics who question the Obama administration’s decision to grant Miranda rights to accused Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab are “serv[ing] the goals of al Qaeda.”

“Too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points,” Brennan writes. “Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.”

Those fear-mongering, right-wing, jingoistic fascists…oh wait.

General Motors, who can’t build a decent enough car that Americans will buy it, are helping NASA build robots? Shouldn’t NASA be working with Honda, who are already making advanced humanoid robots?

Pictures of awesome model town and cars. The 50s were a great time for cars.

One journalist is upset about the global warming scandals.

Let me back up. Because of manmade global warming, I warned in 1996, that “sea levels could rise as much as three feet by the year 2100 … warming can lead to hotter and more frequent heat waves … stronger and more frequent hurricanes to Hawai‘i … endanger native plants species [and] coral reefs.” These dire predictions came from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Researchers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia provide much of the IPCC’s analysis and predictions. In November 2009, hackers released thousands of e-mails from the CRU, going back years, and it is these e-mails that reveal the very unscientific, unethical activities I described above.

I feel I’ve been had.

It’s nice to see someone admitting they were wrong, even if they blame the scientists, instead of themselves for not looking into it further before pronouncing doooom.

When Europeans start in on the but-but-but Bush it means a whole different thing than when Obama does it.

And then you realize that your math has been off for 80 years. The story is only mildly interesting, but a spherical cow reference is always awesome.

Doh, can’t embed. This is the direct link.

Vodkapundit has some excellent advice for publishers concerning ebooks.  And it’s a valid scenario. I am considering the choice today. Buy the used book for $7 + $4 shipping,  wait a week and get a hardcopy or buy the Kindle version for $10, get it now and then worry about how to get it out of DRM so I can read it how I want.

I’ll end up getting the Kindle version. I’ll fight it for a day or two, but I’ll get there in the end. But a 35 year old book should be $5.  If it was that much cheaper for the ebook, there would be no debate at all. Just so you know.

Interactive budget graphic. Check out how much the Net Interest changes between this year and next year.

Now that he has Apple in his corner, the CEO of Macmillan Books took out a full page ad to demand Amazon raise their prices on ebooks. Which are priced too high as it is, IMHO. He mighta shoulda waited to see if Apple sells any books first.

An author’s rebuttal to Amazon. As he points out, I, the consumer, don’t care about the finances behind the scenes. I want to buy cheap books.

…while the folks at Cato would respond to special-interest lobbying by reducing the size and scope of government so less of life is politicized and there is less to lobby about, Lessig would respond by amending the Constitution to restrict freedom of speech. Given this fundamental disagreement, Lessig’s efforts to “build an understanding” with libertarians (and other fans of the First Amendment) will not get him where he wants to go.

A little bit more here. For the record, I agree with Cato on this.

How To Be Invisible. It may not be relevant to your interests, but hey, free book.

Roundup of the right-libertarian blogs.

What really irks me about the speech is Congress’s standing ovation on the Supreme Court slam. Like they aren’t the cheating, lying weasels that created the problem in the first place. Like they don’t whore out their votes to the highest bidder. No one knows why these rules are in place because are their lily-white hands would never accept money from anyone that waves a few bills in front of their noses. And of course their consciences are clean because they certainly aren’t going to gleefully accept any money that this ruling might enable them to receive despite knowing that it would be wrong.

As for the rest, the usual. Lots of good and bad ideas, few of which will be implemented and those that are will be done in such a way that it costs the taxpayers and shovels money to Congress’s favorites.

I’d also like to point out that I never think of Obama as a black man unless someone blatantly mentions. And even then I don’t care what color he is.

How to use a semicolon; what?

Obama wants to axe the moon mission. The one big government thing I want to spend more money on and Obama—who wants to spend money on everything—cuts it from the budget.

In their place, according to White House insiders, agency officials, industry executives and congressional sources familiar with Obama’s long-awaited plans for the space agency, NASA will look at developing a new “heavy-lift” rocket that one day will take humans and robots to explore beyond low Earth orbit. But that day will be years — possibly even a decade or more — away.

In the meantime, the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects — principally, researching and monitoring climate change — and on a new technology research and development program that will one day make human exploration of asteroids and the inner solar system possible.

I’m sick and tired of this puttering around LEO crap.  Let the earth-scientists worry about Earth and let the rocket scientist do something about space. Whatever happened to our reach exceeding our grasp cause that’s what a heaven for? NASA’s been frittering away decades already or I’d be living on the moon by now.

Also:

Pie in a jar. I’m trying this soon.

Keynes vs. Hayek; the rap

A small spending freeze is better than no spending freeze. Know what would be better? A big spending freeze…starting about 18 months ago.

Today’s Calvin and Hobbes is a life lesson for us all.

Governments should prepare for the worst if aliens visit Earth because beings from outer space are likely to be just like humans, a leading scientist is claiming.

Wouldn’t they be just as likely to be able to visit us as we are them, then? Also, science fiction writers have saved us the trouble of creating these plans from scratch since they’ve thought through most of the possible permutations by now.

If a meteor fell through my roof, I’d keep it. They could take a fragment for study or whatever but it’s mine. Space salvage laws.

A long, but fairly interesting look at suburban America and the latest assault on it from Washington.

Matt Welch explains why the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission isn’t entirely a horrible thing.

U2 and Jay-Z are writing a song for the Haitians to play on George Clooney’s telethon. I’m glad they’re doing this because it has been kinda under-reported and it’s difficult to find ways to give to help the Haitians now.

A US filmmaker used his iPhone as a flashlight to escape the rubble and then as a first aid handbook in Haiti. I’m impressed he had service. And he used his camera to see with because he lost his glasses.

The best explanation of the Leno-Conan-NBC love triangle.

Michael Yon has some awesome pics of Spitting Cobra artillery in Afghanistan.

I thought we knew calcium and vitamin D help with bones 50 years ago and that’s why they put the Vitamin D in milk.

Why would we want Haiti? What would it add to the Union except a sinkhole for money? If we want to bail out a flailing economy we have California. If we’re going to take a 3rd world country I think we’d choose Mexico, solve that whole illegals problem.

See also, the inevitablity of US hate.

Can the Americans do a better job coordinating? No doubt. Should the whiners put up or shut up? Yes. Float in your own aircraft carriers, hospital ships and security forces, show us how to do it right.

A working phaser.

Sure, you can only kill balloons with it now, but when has mankind ever been satisfied with its weapons technology.

Apparently the TSA and airlines are bad about losing or stealing expensive stuff (never personally had a problem with this), but if you put a gun in your checked luggage you get to lock your stuff up and they keep an extra-special eye on it.  I like that.

Yeah, blocking roads because you’re not happy with how fast help is getting to you sorta minimizes my sympathy for you.

Is there no one that doesn’t expect help to be handed to them? I’d think that dead poor countries would be used to doing stuff without or despite government help. Although, the more I think about it, governments play a large part in keeping their people poor.

In case you forgot how much communism sucks, a look at China’s crackdown on computer services,.

IMHO, Google did get what was coming to it for compromising to do information business in a country that’s all about censorship.

Well, imagine it’s Foslom Prison.

Really cool pics of Martian dunes.

Also in space news, something small whizzed by the planet this morning.

Really expensive cars destroyed last year. Thankfully, no Veyron’s were harmed in the making of the post.

While we’re talking about cars, the ugliest car in the world. Apparently, the entire Pontiac line was unavailable for comment.

Ramesh Ponnuru nails the reason Republicans aren’t going to be making any big comebacks any time soon.

Good lord, THIS:

One of the worst by-products — among many — of the rapid expansion of government in the past 50 years has been the politicization of everything, including aspects of personal daily life that government has no business in. Relationships, child rearing, garbage collection, even the replacement of light bulbs have come under government scrutiny.

The Big Picture has some cool pictures from the later Apollo missions, along with some of the LRO pictures.

Michael Totten has an interview with Christopher Hitchens in which Hitchens makes several good and significant points about how the West is dealing with radical Islam.

Man that survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs died. I would be really perturbed when the second one went off.

Christopher Lee’s “metal” album clips.

The decade in war, alphabetically by country. Horrible typography on that page though. Makes you not want to read it.

Solar system may be younger than originally thought.

Bonus: cool solar system pic.

Blue moon on a New Year’s Eve. Not that I can see it through the clouds.

The new TSA bans are random and  insane. Which is what you should expect from the government I guess. I can’t wait for them to start making rules about my health care (yes, I went there).

Next up: everybody sit upright with your hands on your head for the entire flight. Nobody move.

the rest starts here.

John Scalzi gives us the ups and downs of the sci-fi movies this last decade. Without mentioning Serenity*.  Also, the movies he mentions all actually have science in their fiction [I wish the comic nerds could get their own genre though].

*I can’t believe he killed Wash.

TSG’s Mug Shots of the Year.

Backupify backs up your online content on Flickr and WordPress and Twitter and Facebook and Gmail and the like. It is free with unlimited storage if you sign up now.

Cry, Cry Christmas – The Sweptaways
Last Christmas – Jimmy Eat World
Happy Christmas – Street Drum Corps
Fairy Tale of New York – The Pogues
Christmas Is Going To The Dogs – Eels
Feliz Navidad – Emperor Norton
I Want An Alien For Christmas – Fountains of Wayne
12 Days of Christmas – Reliant K
Sleigh Ride- Persephone’s Bees
Deck the Halls – Los Straightjackets
White Christmas – Trophy Fire
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Jars of Clay
A Holly, Jolly Christmas – Scissors For Lefty
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day – Jars of Clay
Jesus Christ – Elephant Micah
Silent Night – House of Heroes
Love Came Down At Christmas – Jars of Clay
I Saw Three Ships – Sufjan Stevens
Silent Night, Holy Night – Mahalia Jackson
O Holy Night – Weezer
Handel’s Messiah – Reliant K
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Weezer
If You Were Born Today – Low
Rock of Ages – Ben Kweller
The Coventry Carol – Mediaeval Baebes
Greensleeves – Vince Guaraldi Trio

FWIW, you’ll find some of these available for free on Amazon.

You can download a seven hour train trip in Norway in HD. Bonus: it’s Creative Commons licensed, so you can use it too.

The AV Club presents the least essential albums of the year. I was blissfully unaware of most of them, thankfully.

The stuff from the future doesn’t qualify. Of course they’ll have infinitely resolute(?) cameras, mind-boggling storage space for security footage, hyper-fast computers and the advanced algorithms needed then.

The top 8 gadget screwups of the decade. We’ve come a long way, baby.

The top 100 stories of the year, as chosen by Digg, so you know it’s good. Choice user comments too…

Unfortunately, they skipped the crucial dilithium. And something about Efimov trimers, which would be a good name for a band.

eMusic’s Top 100 albums of the decade.

I’m not a person who gets poetry, but every once in a while I find a poem that makes sense.  I just found this poem, Renasence by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It starts like this:

ALL I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.

and it has a great ending;

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

The stuff in between isn’t too bad either.

Well, rich and delicious note, why not?

Google may or may not be using quantum computers to power their new image recognition stuff.

Top 20 sci-fi movies of the last decade. A significant portion of which aren’t actually sci-fi, of course. I’m really surprised by Pitch Black because, while I liked it, I didn’t think anyone else had even seen it, much less appreciated it.

Pictures of classic computers.

Agh, the constant hiss. And then MP3s came along and saved us from having to buy entire albums at a time. God bless the Future.

Play Guitar Hero on your garage door.

How come all we got was a week of freezing cold?

This Avatar review includes the this awesome line.

Sully quickly falls for the non-specific mystical rabbitings of the tribe, involving memory-harbouring trees, intimate relationships with flying lizards, and other such prog-rock-influenced stylings.

I’m intrigued by it, but really, really don’t want to go see a movie where the evil, greedy American industrial-military complex ruin a pristine nature preserve and try to force the primitive natives onto a reservation with indoor plumbing.  Could you find another punching bag please. If it ends up like that, I’m out.

Also, the animated parts of the trailer looks like a video game cutscreen.

Related: I’m torn about the M. Night Shyamalan Avatar movie. If they don’t let him ruin it with one of his horrible stupid “twist” endings, it could be a beautiful film.

Cool new pictures of Cassini’s wacky hexagon.

Thank God it’s them instead of Jews. [nsfw]

A chart of who holds America’s debt. Suckers.

This guy doesn’t bother taking into account that prosperity gospel preachers and predatory lenders both prey on the poor. Are prosperity preachers useless leeches leading way too many people astray from actual Christianity? Yes. Did they cause the bubble to pop? I doubt it.

I also love the “Clinton and Obama are our true hope” conclusion. And by love I mean, my eyes hurt from rolling so far back in my head.

Really cool pictures from under the Antartic.

One of my fondest memories of high school (the part that happened at school anyway) was chipping out dead animals from a science class freezer that look very similar to the one in this list. It was mostly fish, some small mammals, btw.

I’m not saying I disagree with the conclusion of this article, but I am saying that just because in a nation as large as China there is poverty, even lots of it, doesn’t mean that China can’t kick our butts economically.  Vast, economically powerful empires have been built on slave labor. Just not in the last 100 years (well, USSR did okay for a short while…), so for some reason  maybe they don’t count.

In that big a country there’s lots of room for economic disparity, especially with their communism and all. Will that disparity decrease as China grows economically? My capitalistic heart likes to think so, but to the degree that it has in the US and Europe? Not without a democratic revolution of some sort. Can China contain the explosion into some sort of democracy in a relatively non-violent revolution? I hope so.

His Nobel prize argument is different. Does a large economy necessitate Nobel science prize winners? That’s a very modern (in the not postmodern sense), Western way of thinking. I like it because I agree with it, but I’m not used to seeing that in the media.

I would totally go for the Seven Samurai in Space. It could be awesome. If Kurisawa or possibly Speilberg were directing.  As it is, I’ll probably be disappointed by the writing, directing and acting, but I’d pay to see it anyway. I’m kinda stupid like that.

Jon Stewart points out a few problems in Washington.

Some MST3k is on Hulu!

Not only do they now have bionic fingers, you can choose the skin covering. I would go with the industrial robot look. Gizmodo has video.

Materialism vs Teleologism vs Obama.

I’m not completely convinced, but it does make you stop and think. I do believe we should ascribe people’s actions to stupidity before malice, so I like to think it is true.

Ebooks are tools of the devil, according to this guy. He has some valid points, but his grasp on some basic concepts is, I think, flawed and undercuts his concerns.

I am hoping that all the ebook competition causes someone to un-DRM their books, because that’s when I’ll buy a reader.  And know what? I can already download books illegally. I don’t bother because it’s not worth it. If I like an author I realize they need money to keep making more books that I’ll like so I buy them.

Props to Baen Books for being years ahead of the curve. I buy their ebooks all the time because I know I can use them on whatever machine I want and in perpetuity. Plus, they’re instantly available. I don’t have to go to the store or wait 3 days to 3 weeks for them to ship to me.

Tree attacks man(’s car), man cuts it up and uses it for Christmas tree.

Bill Whittle on Climategate.

Furthermore, you will note that I have not denied that AGW is real, or that it is serious. But the POLITICAL intersection of science has ruined the scientific method — which is a way of thinking — at least at that installation. You don’t think that’s important? I think it is CRITICAL. You cannot wield the sword of science as a politician. POLICY is separate from THEORY, RESULTS and DATA. When scientists become involved in policy decisions, you get Climategate. And you DESERVE Climategate.

Except our access to it. A flame war about food from 1872 New York Times.

The Handy Cereal Chart.

The only A Christmas Carol manuscript in Dickens’ hand, online for your reading convenience.

Pictures of the US (formerly) secret plane.

The world is overcrowded, there isn’t enough food and resources for everyone, farming is ruining the earth, save the small bugs and rainforests, why are people still having children, we’re ruining the planet. Oh noes, global warming will solve these issues!

One president takes action and sticks with it and he’s a cowboy, a renegade, he doesn’t listen and is ruining our standing with the world; the next president speaks softly and doesn’t do anything and he’s weak, talks too much and is ruining our standing in the world community. What exactly do you want, you jabberous poo-flinging simians?

The Shatner scene that wasn’t.

CERN managed to collide the beams.

Those unwilling to go into debt for Christmas presents are Scrooges with stress problems, who hate America and want it to fail. I’m looking at you Dave Ramsey.

You mean we have to pay back the money we borrow? Who knew? Where was this article any time in the last, oh, 10 years?

“Clever debt management strategy,” the group said, “can’t completely substitute for prudent fiscal policy.”

I’m glad to see there are about 275 anti- Kick a Ginger Day facebook groups now.  One for every redhead on Facebook, no doubt. And I’m pretty sure that Trey and Matt are chargable under the new hate crimes bill, right?

A look at the Google Chrome browser.

Hackers released some stolen emails and documents in which scientists say they will use the “trick of adding in the real temps” to “hide the decline”.  That’s no way to do science, son. Great way to do politics though.

See what your senator knows about your state, for the ones brave enough to answer.

Wallpaper: it’s bombproof.  Kinda. Wonder what it would do in earthquakes?

Wil Wheaton says you should read this (free) book.

There is no chance it won’t snow tomorrow?

See, kids, to be awesome, the machine has to take energy and create matter, in whatever form desired, out of it. Taking matter and making other matter, while cool, is not Star Trek awesome.

Don’t Take Your Ones To Town

I knew there would be a Padres uniform in this list.

If only there was a way to easily search the internet, Google might have avoided this potential embarrassment.

Checking it out now. Very excited.

Can’t load non-Kindle books. Interest waning.

I was told to expect to have a bit of a hard time finding a taxi, have to deal with horrible traffic because of the Veteran’s Day Parade, and that it would cost a lot to get to the airport. Walked outside the hotel, got in a taxi that had just pulled up to drop someone off, there was no traffic and it cost relatively little. All of which made me about an hour early(ier) to the airport, but hey.

I recommend air travel during a recession. Most the flights were partially empty, everything was timely (5 of 6 flights landed early) and it was all generally enjoyable (for spending 12 hours in airports and planes).

Final thoughts on NY:

• Subways = genius
• Not even rock is a permanent surface there. Stone steps are worn down. They have to put metal over the curbs to keep them from falling apart. Amazing.
• A surprising number of people still smoke.
• The culture is surprisingly conformist and monolithic. At least from the outside.
• Apparently, there are no bad eating establishments. You could pick anywhere randomly and the food was good.
• Everything is small and crowded. Fun for a while, but it would drive me nuts after a while.

First off, the Empire State Building. It’s very tall.

Also, surrounded by annoying bus tour hawkers. It was pretty hazy, so the view wasn’t all it could have been.

Lunch was at the Shake Shack. Every time we walked by this week there was a huge line, so we stood in it.

30 minutes we stood in it to order. And it was a good burger, fries and shake; but for a 30 minute wait, I want a singing and dancing burger, fries and shake. Leaving we saw them setting up for a movie shoot, so we came back later. Turns out it is The Adjustment Bureau with <team america>Matt Damon</team america>.

yes, it's out of focus, my bad

Watched that for a while, went downtown  and walked by the COD: Modern Warfare 2 launch event. I saw the giveaway H2 earlier in the day and wondered what that was about, then I understood. Then dinner at some panini place we walked by.

Sunday morning, church of course at Trinity Grace Church. Then lunch at Mariella’s Pizza, which unbeknownst to us, Oprah really likes, so WIN. It was very good pizza. Then the Sony Wonder Technology Lab which is pretty cool. I particulary liked the interactive floor.

In the evening, Stomp at the Orpheum, which is a tiny theater. No pictures, of course.

Went to breakfast at at the Big Booty Bakery, had a chicken empenada. It was not too bad. Then we took the subway to Times Square. Or we would have, if the subway wasn’t 2o minutes  late. Some people were upset. It did eventually arrive and so did we. On the way by we saw Rockefeller Center which is waaaay smaller than it looks on the TV. Then, Times Square. It’s nothing but a very large, very crowded, outdoor mall with all the stores you see in any mall. I was underwhelmed. Lunch at Bubba Gumps, not bad.

Then the wedding at this cool looking Lutheran church. Pastor had a Australian? Scottish? accent, which automatically makes whatever he says cooler.

The reception had a hot dog cart for the authentic New York experience. There was also the obligatory painfully white dancing.

Dinner was sushi. Really good sushi, actually.