Utah is a land-locked desert state. Many might thus be surprised to find out that this state is over-run with seagulls. Horrid, filthy skyrats they are, but they are of religious significance to the Mormons, thus I believe it’s illegal to blow ’em out of the sky for farmcats to feast upon. A pity, that. Oh, well. Anyway, here are some photos I took a few days back up at Mantua reservoir.
From Gawker.com:
Here’s Barack and Michelle Obama with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his family. The State Department uploaded it to Flickr. (What an unlikely sentence!) Whoops-no one in Spain has ever seen Zapatero’s Goth daughters before!
Well, now they have. Thanks to the US State Department, Zapatero’s not-entirely-unreasonable desire to *not* have his daughters faces plastered all over the media has been trumped. And who knew that “Zapatero” was Spanish for “Addams?”
Produced by North American Aviation in 1966, these six drawings present preliminary concepts for landers to transport astronauts from an orbiting spacecraft to the surface of Mars, and back again. Also shown is the interplanetary spacecraft itself, and a concept for the Earth Return Module, the capsule the astronauts would ride down on the last leg of their journey home. You can see more on this HERE.
Sarkozy Mocks Obama at UN Security Council: Hello, Big Media?
Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.”
Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”
The rest of Sarkozy’s remarks were, well, remarkable:
“President Obama dreams of a world without weapons … but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite.
“Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993.
“I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map,” he continued, referring to Israel.
Noted in the writeup at Big Government was that the original National Post article has been de-linked from their front page, and that no major American media outlets have covered Sarkozy’s remarks.
So… since Sarkozy clearly disagrees with Obama, does that mean he’s a racist?
The image quality sucks (it was kinda dark), but the sound gets the idea across…
Another winner from Mark Steyn:
Thus, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of African-American studies at Princeton, was invited on to National Public Radio to expound on the use of “racial code words” in “the current opposition to health care reform.” For example, explained professor Harris-Lacewell, “language of personal responsibility is often a code language used against poor and minority communities.”
“Personal responsibility” is racial code language? Phew, thank goodness America is belatedly joining Canada and Europe in all but abolishing the concept.
“Code language” is code language for “total bollocks.” “Code word” is a code word for “I’m inventing what you really meant to say because the actual quote doesn’t quite do the job for me.” “Small government”? Racist code words! “Non-confiscatory taxes”? Likewise. “Individual liberty”? Don’t even go there! To an incisive NPR racism analyst, the elderly gentleman telling his congressman “I’m very concerned by what I’ve heard about wait times for MRIs in Canada” is really saying “I’m unable to overcome my deep-seated racial anxieties about the sexual prowess of black males, especially now they’re giving prime-time press conferences every night.” With interpreters like professor Harris-Lacewell on the prowl, I’m confident 95 per cent of Webster’s will eventually be ruled “code language.”
I urge you to read the whole article. It’s worth it… entertaining as always, and has a hundred times more truth than any speech by Obama or his ilk.
Yesterday, September 24, 2009, almost became another “Islam Outreach Day” on par with September 11, 2001. But due to the actions of the FBI, it became a day with a few minor news stories, soon to be forgotten.
Officials: Terror Plot Most Significant Since 9/11
Afghan-born Najibullah Zazi set up shop in suburban Denver, scouring the Web and visiting beauty supply stores in a hunt for chemicals needed to build bombs for Al Qaeda, authorities charge, calling the alleged plot one of the most significant terror threats to the U.S. since 9-11.
The 12-page memorandum outlining the alleged conspiracy also used the repeated phrase “and others,” evidence of a possible Al Qaeda cell plotting a homemade bomb attack on U.S. soil.
A chemist posts here that Zazi could have made about six pounds of the unstable explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP) given the supplies he procured. Six pounds of TATP would have done a good job of converting everyone on a bus or a subway train into hamburger.
Also yesterday there were two further attempted bombings of note:
In unrelated terrorism cases elsewhere around the country Thursday:
— Michael C. Finton, a 29-year-old man who idolized American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh, was arrested after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb inside a van outside a federal courthouse in Springfield, Ill., officials said. FBI agents had infiltrated the alleged plot months ago.
— A 19-year-old Jordanian was arrested after placing what he thought was a bomb at a downtown Dallas skyscraper, federal prosecutors said. The decoy device was provided by an undercover FBI agent. Federal officials said the case against Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, who is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, is unrelated to the Illinois case.
Ummm… holy crap. Two *unrelated* major carbombings on the same day?
This brings up something else for me to rant about… “attempted” vs “successful” and the legal differences. To my mind, there ain’t none. If Johhny Jihad takes a gun and shoots someone in the head, killing them, or he takes a gun and shoots *at* someone, misisng them, why the difference in punishment? We arrest people and try them and jail/execute them for not only what they do, but *why* they did it. Someone who kills another person could be an out-and-out murderer, or it could have been in self defence, or it could have been an accident. The legal system properly recognizes this. But why the difference if the murderer just happens to have bad aim?
Let’s say that rather than these jackasses having been tricked by the FBI into trying to set off carbombs filled with flour (or whatever the phony explosive was), they had actual carbombs with actual explosives.
<>In alternate reality A, the detonator had a faulty battery. When they pushed the button, nothing happened. And then they were caught and the bombs disarmed.
In alternate reality B, the wiring was done properly, and a thousand people died.
What did they *do* that was truly different? In reality A, nobody died. In reality B, a thousand people died. But the terrorists *actions* were entirely the same. The terrorists *motives* were entirely the same. The differences in outcomes were not due to differences in intent or action. So why should “attempted murder” get a lesser punishment than “murder”? Is the terrorist who failed somehow less of a danger to society than the successful one, just due to a trick of chance?
A new set of five drawings – three from Martin Marietta, two from North American Aviation – is available showing the X-15. These show external surface details as well as an X-15A-2 general arrangement and scramjet placement. You cans ee more on this here.
Almost. But not quite.
I think I shall hurl.
Disagree with me? Fine. Just watch this video, and imagine the kiddies are singing instead about Bush.
And this ain’t any damned better.
UPDATE: These are apparently the lyrics:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say “hooray!”
Hooray, Mr. President! You’re number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country’s economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we’re really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue —- Mr. President we know you’ll do the trick
So here’s a hearty hip-hooray —-
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!