Category: Uncategorized

Bring the noise

Here we go again:

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he’s going to try a third time.

The fact that Ron Paul was absolutely right about everything he warned Republicans during the last primary should make him the automatic nominee. Naturally, this means that the Republican leadership is going to do everything they can to stop him so that they can throw up a sacrificial RINO like Romney to secure a second ObamaHillary’s first term.

Anyhow, Rep. Paul just guaranteed that the Republican debates will be a lot more interesting. I can’t wait to hear Romney stumbling over his defenses of invading Libya, raising the debt ceiling, and letting the banks off with foot massages since hand slaps would be too harsh.

Mocking the mocker

Mr. PZ Myers unwisely elected to mock Texas governor Rick Perry’s prayer request for some much-needed rain in the face of a drought:

Texans, you have my sympathy. But don’t worry! You have a dynamic governor and a responsive legislature that will do everything it can to aid drought-stricken farmers and parched cities. They will provide the Republican solution.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my Office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 21st day of April, 2011.

Isn’t that helpful?

Based on the empirical evidence, the only answer one can provide is, apparently, yes.

Mother Nature gave the hundreds of firefighters battling the Possum Kingdom Complex fire an Easter Sunday blessing in the form of rain. On a day that Governor Rick Perry had declared a “Day of Prayer for Rain,” 2 to 3 inches of rain fell over Possum Kingdom Lake. Along with heavy rain and pea-sized hail, the storm brought with it a Tornado Warning in Palo Pinto County that later expired without incident. The much needed rain was a welcome sight to the hundreds of firefighters working to contain the fire.

And yet some dare to say that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. One of the things I most appreciate about God is the apparent enjoyment He takes in mocking His mockers.

Android is less evil than Apple

Talk about damning with faint praise…. Anyhow, being an Android user myself, I was concerned about reports that Google was doing the same thing as Apple in collecting location data on Android users. After looking into the matter, however, the behavior of the two companies appears to be rather different. The reason for my concern was that I had always kept the two options for location tracking, wireless and GPS, turned off, and it seemed astonishing that Google would be so stupid as to attempt to give its users a false sense of location security while secretly tracking them against their clear wishes as determined by their chosen settings. However, numerous people looking into the matter have determined that off really is off.

If you want to find out whether your Android phone is collecting location information tap Menu, Location & Security. You will see the screenshot shown above, which has two options for how your phone collects location information, either via wireless networks or by using GPS satellites. If you do not want your location information tracked, clear both check boxes.

Be aware that if you turn off location tracking, apps like Google Maps that show your location will not work. If you decide to turn location tracking back on, you will see the screen as shown below, telling you that you are allowing Google’s location service to collect anonymous location data, and that collection will occur even when no applications are running.

In other words, the real “problem” with Android is that people who have either never looked at their location settings or ignored at least one, and usually two, pop-up warning that their location will be tracked, don’t realize that they have opted in to location tracking. That’s not an actual problem; although it would be preferable if the default option was always set to off, the total cluelessness of many, if not most users, make it understandable why Google would have the default option set to on. The point is that it’s not nefarious and unlike Apple, Google has provided a way to completely turn off location tracking.

That being said, it is obnoxious that Google ties Android to a Gmail account and it would be vastly preferable if it did not do so. But it’s still to be preferred to the sheltered life in Apple’s technofascistic walled garden.

WND column

The Problem with Evil

The fact of the existence of evil troubles many individuals, religious and irreligious alike. Numerous strategies have evolved for dealing with it, from denying it like the Buddhists, enduring it like the Stoics, combating it like the Christians or redefining it like the Marxists. But regardless of the method one chooses, there is observably something to which all of these people from the panoply of religious and philosophical creeds are responding.

Considering the AGOT Cast

I very seldom approve of book-to-film translations. I still absolutely refuse to watch the Disney destruction of Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron or the abomination that passes itself off as the cinematic version of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. Despite my skepticism, I thought the first installation of A Game of Thrones was very good. Apparently I was not the only one to think so, since HBO has already decided to renew AGOT for a second season thanks to the 4.2 million viewers who watched the premiere. This is good news, as the series promises to be the most successful cinematic adaptation of a fantasy novel since Peter Jackson put The Lord of the Rings on film. It would have been hard for the producers to go seriously wrong, so long as they stayed faithful to the source material – one of these days Hollywood is going to figure out that having their cliche factories “improve” a much-loved literary tale actually harms their pocketbooks – but the casting is one crucial component that can ruin even a perfectly faithful adaptation. My take on the what has surprisingly turned out to be a really good cast is posted at the Black Gate. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD Do not read further if you have not read or seen AGOT.

Christ is risen

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
– Luke 24: 1-12

Who could have guessed?

The long-term rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is further dismantling a cherished atheist belief in real time:

Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, who is facing a difficult election next month, blamed the violence narrowly on what he called a “lunatic element,” but Devine, the historian, sees a more sinister threat.

“I think it’s ironic that in a post-Christian, secular society, the problem seems to be intensifying,” he said, adding: “What’s happened over the last few days is unprecedented. There have been riots, but sectarianism in Scotland has never had this violence and criminality.”

Of course, the situation is only ironic if you still subscribe to the inaccurate notion that religion is a primary cause of group conflict and war. Even when religion happens to serve as the marker for the inter-tribal violence, that doesn’t mean it can’t be mitigating the situation.

No worries, he won’t date babykillers

It’s always somewhat amusing to see how some young women attempt to make the political personal, never realizing how it is guaranteed to come around and bite them in the behind. And I tend to doubt that the national championship- and Heisman trophy-winning multimillionaire pro quarterback is going to be overly concerned about the threat that some would-be babykiller would not date him due to his willingness to speak out against the legal murder of unborn children:

I realize I’m not the most reliable when it comes to dating guys who are totally on the up-and-up. But I draw the line at hardcore pro-lifers. I refuse to date a guy who doesn’t believe in a woman’s right to choose because I essentially view that as someone who believes women are too stupid to make decisions for themselves.

This woman is certainly too stupid to understand that a pro-life position has nothing to do with a belief concerning women’s inability to make decisions, (that would be Game and “disinclination” would be the more appropriate term), but rather, revolves around a belief that she has no right to pay people to kill other individuals. And while some pro-life men might be BETA enough to fall for this female posturing, the reality is that pro-choice women won’t think twice before dating pro-life men.

Even before I was a Christian, I was forthright about my anti-abortion position. It spawned numerous arguments, as you might expect, but it never once caused a woman to lose any interest in me. In fact, the fact that I was impervious to their waxing emotional tended to make me more attractive to them. As with most things that women say they want, politics that are in sync with her own are one of the many things that would be required of a BETA but will be jettisoned on sight should a sufficiently attractive man enter the picture.

Riding Occam’s Razor

It’s not hard to understand why Jerome Corsi’s new book from WND Books is the #1 book on Amazon and will be the #1 New York Times bestseller upon its release. Although this has surprised even the likes of the normally perceptive Instapundit, the logic is inescapable. Obama is hiding his birth certificate and other personal records because he has something to hide.

And, based on what we know of his family history, it is unlikely that he is eligible for the office he presently holds. It is perfectly possible for him to have been born in Hawaii and still be ineligible as a citizen who was not natural-born. This entire episode has been a good lesson in the limits of media power, as the entire power structure of both parties as well as the mainstream and conservative medias have been lined up against a single Internet site that just keeps asking the obvious questions. But no amount of evidence-free assertions and appeals to authority have managed to trump Occam’s Razor, which is why Corsi’s book is such a smash hit already.

Consider the two primary logical possibilities:

A) Obama is eligible and is hiding the evidence of his eligibility because questioning his eligibility makes his opponents look bad.

B) Obama is not eligible and is hiding the evidence of it because it proves he is not eligible.

Which makes more logical sense, especially in light of the fact that questioning his eligibility has now produced a #1 best-selling book and propelled a celebrity to an early pole position in the Republican primary? The logic of (A) doesn’t stand because its foundation is flawed. Questioning his eligibility actually makes his opponents more successful and popular. Therefore, Obama is either wildly inept in not releasing the information or he simply cannot afford to release it as per (B).

It is amusing to see how a savvy individual like Donald Trump have used the issue to his benefit whereas foolish politicians like Michelle Bachmann are so tied to the old power structure that they dutifully submit to the pressure of the groupthink. I once said that if Hillary wanted to nail down the presidency, all she had to do was come out against immigration. She didn’t and she blew it. In like manner, all a Republican candidate has to do to win the nomination is to be the first “serious” candidate to openly align himself with the Tea Party and the birthers, although a strong anti-immigration position would help secure the deal.

Of course, it will be a lot easier for Republicans to win in 2012 if they don’t cave on the debt ceiling, but since they will, they’ll be under a lot of fire as the economy and the deficit continue to worsen.

The joys of diversity

This is what a vibrant American community will increasingly look like. You simply cannot expect to maintain civilization by giving barbarians responsibility for upholding their share of the social fabric. As the social scientists have discovered, much to their chagrin, the more diverse a community becomes, the less contact people wish to have outside of their race and ethnicity. This is not hard to understand, given incidents like these. The problem is that European cultures tend to do nothing about obvious problems for far too long, then brutally overreact. The Western way of war is unlike the Eastern, it is total and destructive in nature rather than limited and predatory.

In other words, when the reaction finally comes, history suggests that it is going to be very ugly indeed. And the worst thing is that it will have been completely unnecessary.