Help Catch A Killer

Three year old Qian Xun Xue, aka Pumpkin who will never see her mother again.

Have you seen this man? If so contact your police immediately!

This man is Nai Yin Xue. Since he is a native of China and only speaks heavily accented English, the US Marshals and other authorities believe he is hiding among large concentrations of ethnic Chinese in the United States. Possibly Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York or other such places.

Nai Yin Xue is wanted by Interpol, the US Marshals, Melbourne Australia, and New Zealand police for the murder of his wife An An Liu and abandonment of his daughter. Qian was discovered alone at a Melbourne train station and it was thought her father had merely abandoned her. Until 46 hours later in New Zealand the body of An An Liu, Qian's mother, was found in the boot of Nai Yin Xue's car.

Nai Yin Xue purchased a one way ticket from a Melbourne agent to Los Angeles, CA where he had spent six months back in 1999-2000. Sept 16, 2007 is the last known sighting of Nai Yin Xue when he checked out of a Los Angeles Chinatown hotel.

If you have reason to suspect you had met this person, call the police and help catch a killer.

News Sources
TV3
The Age
New Zealand Herald

Comments upon the NZ Herald report by Patrick Gower. Mr. Gower, before accusing the US Marshals for typos perhaps you should get yourself fact-checked. The United States to the best of my knowledge only has 50 states, not 52 as you state. Why do you call Pumpkin Qian Xue Xue when two other news sources say her name is Qian Xun Xue? And why call An An Liu An An Xue? And as to why the US Marshals have people secure their cell-phones before entering their command area, perhaps you should talk to your tech-crime reporter who will inform you that hackers can send a maintenance signal to your cell-phone and turn on the microphone so they can hear anything that is said within range of that cell-phone without you being the wiser.

Ginn's Infidel Warrior Babes

The above has been inspired by Ginn over at Death By A Thousand Paper Cut's own goddess, Ginn. Enjoy and if you have complaints, aim at me; this is all my nefarious doing. Bwahahahaha!!!! :)

What is Art?

Oh what a lovely question to ask to which there is no truly definitive answer since art is sometimes described as being ‘art.’ Unlike science, which hoists itself upon a carefully measured petard before someone disproves a known ‘fact’ that science has declared correct.

At the same time the phrase art is art is such a trite comment that you find it has no meaning when you peek around the curtain. For in the lexicon of art being art, then the scribble your 7 year old does on the baseboards in red marker is just as much art as Salvador Dali’s Madonna of Point Ligat.

So where does that leave us then when discussing art? There is art of the classical style like Titian’s Rape of Europa or Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Annunciation. Lets reflect on Impressionism’s founder Monet and his Japanese Footbridge or Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon at la Grande Jatte. Or talk about the pre-Raphaelites like Monna Vanna by Dante Gabriel Rosetti or William Holman Hunt’s The Shadow of Death. Of course there is Modern Art, which leaves many who walk through the galleries scratching their heads; I have even heard a story of one piece of modern art being hung for twenty years upside down before the error was noticed.

There is also commercial art of the 20th Century. The pin-ups of Varga will draw a smile still from World War II vets because he knew how to present the female figure most alluringly. Michael Whelan has gained a very deserved reputation as a fine artist who sells commercially and does book cover art like the haunting depiction of an alternate Paris gripped in yet another Revolution in Illusion. For disturbing in its blending of machine and man, there is H.R. Geiger and his long-lived Alien spawn. From Japan we see the god of the air-brushed pin-up named Sorayama Hajime. There is also satire and its sub-set the political cartoonist like Nast.

So what is left to discuss when it comes to art? All that is left dear Horatio is protest art. Protest art can only survive in areas willing to subsidize such excursions into the upsetting, which means countries where European post-Renaissance ideals have bloomed, overgrown its beautiful pots, and then perhaps rotted because it has been protected for too long in its walled garden. Some protest art does change the world; Picasso’s Guernica is one such piece; it foretold the horrors in store for the world just a few years later. Other pieces of protest art just endeavor to shock the audience. When an artist decides to create such shocking art that it mocks or inverts the meaning of a more famous piece of art, then that artist better be ready for a backlash. To fall back on the defense of art is art shows that someone never thought of consequences and all they thought of was being edgy as if edgy is cool. Ah yes, edgy; swords have edges so the artist should really be prepared to be cut for art’s sake. Isn’t that another truism of art; that one has to suffer for one’s art? If you are not willing to suffer the consequences of producing protest art, then you should find another line of work.

This just proves such protest artists are not modern day Goyas. That role fell to Theo van Gogh.

Cartoon

Scooters Forever

Found this very cool video on YouTube of AF-1/AF-1A Skyhawks of the Brasilian Navy. These aircraft were flown during Desert Storm as A-4KUs and TA-4KUs of the Kuwaiti Air Force seeking to liberate their country from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The Brasilians seem to really love their Scooters and are part of a rare fraternity, they are carrier aviators who fly off Sao Paolo, formerly the French carrier Foch.



Pretty impressive for an airframe that first saw flight 50 years ago and was thought impossible to build by its customer, the US Navy. But the Douglas, later the MDD, A-4 Skyhawk keeps flying. Brasil, Argentina, and Singapore now are the primary military users. Israel still has a couple, but they are no longer front line like they were during Yom Kippur. While in the US ATSI is the primary user of Heinemann's Hot-Rod, with its mixture of surplus Israeli, New Zealand, and US Navy airframes, in providing training to the US armed forces.

Walkabout the Internet

Just some interesting items I found online.

Neptune is suffering a rise in temperature, the Sun is the cause since the South Pole has been facing the Sun for the past 40 years. Just think, with 1/900th the amount of energy striking the planet, the temperature has risen 18 degrees. Failure to factor in solar energy into any global warming equation renders such an equation false.

Meanwhile we find out that Norman Hsu has seemingly bilked such Hollywood elite as Steven Spielberg and Tobey Maquire. Along with many others. San Jose Mercury News has the killer story, but have to register to get to it. So here is the link to Captain's Quarters story. Class action lawsuits and RICO just maybe in Hsu's future. Which means his associates just might get splashed with the mud also. This might be the Chernobyl of fundraising scandals.

Then there is this unusal story. Of a daughter who's father survived the Holocaust/Shoah and the large book he kept. This book is a seris of 30 paintings showing in haunting detail what it meant to be in such a concentration camp. Strangely enough, it was someone else who had done the paintings. What is still a mystery is how Arnold Unger, a 15 year old Jew from Poland, come into possession of art done by a fellow Pole - Michal Porulski, a Catholic, who had arrived at Dachau in 1941. Unger died in 1972 while Porulski died in 1989. Be interesting to see if anyone from Dachau days can fill in the missing holes.

And since Mila is starring in yet another Resident Evil film, Falco's Rock Me Amadeus set to footage from Mila and Bruce Willis' Fifth Element. Enjoy. :)

Columbia - Short Memory You Have

While Columbia gears up to welcome Ahmadinejad to prove how tolerant they are, ie in typical leftist clap-trap I am superior to you but I am nice so I will let you talk since what you say agrees with what I want to hear, lets remember a bit of recent history.

Back in 2003 a Canadian journalist, Zahra Kazemi, was arrested for being outside one of Iran's most infamous torture prisons - Evin prison. While incarcerated in the prison in question, she died via torture.

To put it more bluntly, the tyrannical regime of Iran murdered a foreign citizen who was a journalist via torture.

And Columbia, which is supposed to be a school of journalism, is going to allow the primary spokesman of the government of Iran to speak on their campus. Columbia is just mad.

Ahmadinejad in the Big Apple

http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/001203.html

Well that scruffy looking evil embracing hate spewing maladroit from Iran has been denied, so far, the opportunity to visit Ground Zero in New York City. As for Columbia wanting him to speak, well they can fall into a singularity for all I care.

As for reason[s] for this desire to visit Ground Zero? Never ever believe in the goodness of the heart motive from a guy who calls for a new Holocaust/Shoah for the Jews. And says that the end of the world sounds appealing. Butter will not melt in this guy's mouth, though U-238 might.

1. To spread discord. Check. Look at how some are embracing his idea of a visit while many are recoiling.
2. By speaking at Ground Zero to confuse further the issue of Iran being an out of control regime. He could say some umbayah stuff to sound moderate and score points among: those opposing any action against Iran, the Non Aligned kleptocrats in the UN, and the Tranzis.
3. By being denied a chance to talk at Ground Zero, it gives him further ammo for his speech attacking the United States inside that moral slum called the United Nations. Which will play nicely to all those countries who hate the United States, aka the Non-Aligned.

As for arresting this guy as some wish to do, it won't happen. The US is not part of the ICC and never will be as long as US citizens and politicians think of themselves Americans first, world citizens second. Also this mad little buffoon will be under Diplomatic Immunity which the chattering elites in Western countries think is more sacrosanct than church sanctuary ever was while ignoring how Iran violated those strictures when it seized the US and British embassies. If the US did nab him, in the game called politics, it would just increase his standing among those who think of the US as the world's one true evil. All we can hope for is his motorcade gets lost in Yonkers or breaks down near Little Odessa. Or the families of the Marines killed in Beirut in 1983 hire Blackwater or Dog the bounty hunter to put the bag on him to collect their $3billion in blood money.

Better to let this joik prance his 'our upon the UN stage like a ballerina that to give him more soapbox to stand on. He already has enough after this attempted to jaunt to Ground Zero.

A Petty god Is A Vengeful god

As tin-pot dictator for life[well he hopes] Hugo Chavez sets about centralising under the control of his brother Adnan the educational system of Venezuela, lets look at other dictators with delusions of divine mandate.

From Frank Capra's Why We Fight - Prelude to War we see Chavez lacks anything approaching an original idea. His is the kind of creeping socialism that is backed by brutal 'people's' justice when uppity serfs assume they are free-thinking citizens.



De Oppresso Liber

Das Boot - Reloaded

Thanks to Ride A Pale Horse, I can pass along a very excellent video of a special historical exhibit. That of the one German Kreigsmarine Unterseeboot that was captured by they US Navy just before D-Day 6 June 1944. I present for your viewing enjoyment, the U-505 - one of only two surviving Type IXCs in existence. U-505 can be seen in Chicago, Ill.



The only other surviving Type IXC can be found in the United Kingdom. U-534 was the last U-boat sunk in WWII and miraculously the whole crew was able to escape before she went down. In 1993 she was raised from her watery resting place.



Alas it seems U-534 may not last longer in one piece since its current owners are planning to cut it in three sections. Here are the two petitions that can be signed to try and save this historical warship.

And if you are adventerous and want to dive on a sunken U-boat in about 45 meters of water, the U-260 can be found off the coast of Ireland. This nine minute video shows off in some spots the inner pressure structure of the submarine. Like the air intakes just behind the conning tower. Or the encrusted periscopes who's optics are still clear. Or cruise down the deck and see the stern with its frozen propellers.



Finally there is one more U-boat still in existence and this one can be found in Germany. The U-2540 is a Type XXI boat and was scuttled on 4 May 1945. Raised in 1957. Presently located in Bremerhaven and is open for tours.

Easy Listening

As the leftists rant, screech, and protest; just sit back and enjoy the following.

Call the Whaaaambulance

This past Monday a socialist front organisation founded to 'help' citizens of the US to get over the infidelities and dereliction of duty committed by President William Jefferson Clinton strayed even farther afield than the norm by running a full page ad in the New York Times accusing General David Petraeus, Commander Multi-National Forces Iraq, of being a political lapdog of the Bush Administration willing to shade his report to Congress and hence a betrayer of the soldiers under his command.

Pretty strong accusations that one would expect MoveOn.org to have evidence to back up. But it is very hard to accuse anyone of betrayal when the accused has not even formally reported to Congress yet and all that can be attacked is a public letter General Petraeus sent to his own troops that admits things are not going smoothly but progress is being made. Which means this is another example of the despicable tactic of smear and assassinate the character of the messenger when the message does not fit some one's agenda that some political hacks are very partial to.

As formal complaints filed with the FEC swirl around the New York Times over the deep discount they gave MoveOn.org for running this vicious attack ad, the reaction of various Presidential hopefuls has been most illuminating. From Democrat front runners like Sen. Hillary Clinton, wife of the skirt chasing and lying former President William Jefferson Clinton, and Sen. Barack Obama the response has been silence until now. Why now you ask?

Well Republican candidate Rudy Guiliani has come out swinging by placing his own ad in the New York Times accusing Sen. Hillary Clinton of spewing venom and in general rebuking her.Guiliani has also asked Sen. Clinton to apologize for her comments against American soldiers and to condemn the attack ad by MoveOn.org. The Guiliani camp also has a web ad rebuking Clinton.


Hat-tip: Mike at Mike's America for posting this video, thanks.

So in typical leftist thinking of effect and cause, only now has Sen. Hillary Clinton been stirred to act. Naturally she is going into attack mode by accusing the Guiliani camp of trying to divert attention away from this unpopular war in Iraq - right.. sure.. - Sen. Clinton, approval ratings for this war are higher than approval ratings for this Democratic controlled Congress. I guess Sen. Clinton is hoping by attacking Guiliani she can make people forget her silence on the ad; looking at her past track record with attacking Gennifer Flowers and other accusers of her husband, she has had success in this manner of attack. And what of the vile morally retarded yapping chihuahuas of MoveOn.org who started this, where have they been? They are now promising to attack Guiliani for daring to question them, all I have to say is good luck you schmucks - Guiliani survived the glass snake house of New York City as mayor in which his every mistake was a major story for weeks.

My comment on all these leftist anti-American forces who are having an attack of the vapors while sucking their thumbs because Guiliani had some harsh words for their actions, grow up! Or let the real adults step forward because I am sick of the whining that the left thinks passes for rational discourse.

Music - Who's Gonna Drive You Home by The Cars.

Blink

Well that had to have been one of the more imaginative Dr. Who episodes ever. The episode is called Blink, hence title of this post.

It starts out with an inquisitive young lass named Sally Sparrow who stumbles across a long abandoned house. Imagine her surprise when, after snapping a picture in a room, she peels off some of the wallpaper to eventually reveal 'Beware the weeping angel Sally Sparrow. And Duck. Really Duck. Now Doctor Who 1969.' And then she ducks as a rock goes whizzing over her head to strike the wall. And out in the overgrown garden is seen a statue of a weeping angel who's hands are covering her whole face.

These angels, we learn as the story progresses, are in fact assassins created in the far past who are virtually unbeatable. As long as a living person observes such a creature, the creature freezes into stone. But beware if someone takes their eyes off the angel or even blinks, for like when a boojum strikes, they will find themselves thrown into the past to die while the assassin feeds off the temporal energy.

Unfortunately for Doctor Who and Martha, the angels struck and sent them into the past. So using his wits, a bit of future tense knowledge of Sally Sparrow, and some luck; the Doctor rescues himself and Martha from 1969 while saving Sally Sparrow and defeating the weeping angels before they could pinch his TARDIS and destroy two-thirds of the universe.

I may not be able to look at another statue in the same light ever again as the ending plays on nicely. As I said, this was a bloody good episode.

The Ballad of Sandy Hsu

I promise not to try and write lyrics, but with Sander Berger and Norman Hsu in the news I could not resist merging the two into one. So please forgive me.

Fugitive financier with bags of money Norman Hsu presents an interesting dilemma for Sen. Hillary Clinton's Presidential aspirations. Of all the Democratic hope fulls, she is the only who has had a Secret Service detail since 1992 when her husband William Jefferson Clinton became President. One of the interesting things about having such a detail is, they do very thorough background checks on anyone who wants to see their principal. Which means the Secret Service had to have known Hsu was a fugitive so the question becomes who did they tell and who possibly overrode their warnings so Hillary Clinton could rake in $850,000? For a control freak like Hillary Clinton, the buck does stop with her because of her drive to become the first female President. When Hillary Rodham was trying to decide to attend Harvard or Yale for law school, she told Saul Alinsky who had offered her a chance to work with him, "The only way to make a real difference is to acquire power." - pg 31 American Evita Christopher Andersen.

Which folds into the next man that is in Hillary Clinton's current political life. Former President William Jefferson Clinton national security wonk Sandy Berger. It must be remembered that Berger has some interesting baggage of his own, not in the $40million that Hsu snookered I admit, but for someone entrusted with giving a President information and advice on national security issues it is pretty darn significant. Namely Mr. Berger went into the National Archives, pulled out classified information supposedly to be ready for testifying before the 9/11 Commission, smuggling said documents out, and then destroying them. Among the items that Berger apparently destroyed was a report from Richard Clarke outlining things to do to prevent terrorist attacks, this copy had handwritten notes written by President Clinton saying no to many of the recommendations. And Berger did plead guilty to destroying these documents, so Hillary Clinton has someone with a proven criminal record in a key campaign spot.

When taken together, having Norman Hsu and Sandy Berger on her team raises serious questions about how good Sen. Hillary Clinton's judgement is. Then what this is all about hits you; she has never given up on what she told Saul Alinsky all those years ago, she craves power. She will endure infidelities by her husband, smelly sources of political money, and the presence of a trustworthy if bungling bag man if it increases her chances of moving into the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave as the first female President.

Suddenly that inexperienced guy who advocated attacking Pakistan while running away from Iraq, Barrack Obama, seems like a good choice. God save the Republic if either is elected.

GASA?

Down Silicon Valley way, the moguls of the Internet and source code are seeing a color green they have not spied since the last Wyse terminal was recycled.

What has elicited this outbreak of envious green? What could make these titans of the new economy blink in astonishment? Tired of all my hyperbole yet? :)

Well I shall cut to the chase then. It seems the billionaires of Google have literally landed a sweetheart deal, literally. Where the rest of Silicon Valley has to head to San Jose or San Francisco to catch a plane, the sultans of Google have just a ten minute ride to board their jets - one Boeing 767 jumbo-jet and two Gulfstream V business jets. And where is this convenient airfield and how comes no one else in Silicon Valley has their jets parked there?

Why NASA's own Moffett Field which is normally off limits to civilian aviation, right next to Google's Mountain View home. Some estimate Google is saving almost $360,000 a year in ramp fees just for the two Gulfstream Vs. There is no estimate on how much a 767 costs in ramp fees - to quote one anonymous source, "It’s like if you lived in a condo and decided to own a semi."

Supposedly how Google swung this neat deal is, they will allow NASA to use the aircraft on scientific missions. Naturally local officials and opponents to the continued existence of Moffett Field are raising stink over this deal. Truthfully I have wonder if NASA's IG has signed off on this as legit since Google is not one of NASA's usual contractors like Lockheed-Martin which is also located on Moffett. This opens all of kinds of questions and need for full transparency or will NASA allow other private companies with no prior connections to NASA access to Moffett to keep some people placated while irritating others who do not like jet noise over their home?

Sept 11, 2007

Angel by Masamune Shirow for Toshiba EMI Ein Requiem Fur Menschen.

Page 103, image 2079 Intron Depot 2: Blades.

Dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives six years ago. You are not forgotten and your names will live on. Amen.

Deja Vu On Congressional Hearings

As Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, and the Democrats make a farce of pretending to listen to General Petraeus' report on Iraq, I recalled a similar shameful incident of the recent past, the Borking of Clarence Thomas. Seems old Dems can't learn new tricks.

Balls I Tell Ya!! Balls!!

With the latest videio tape from Osama bint Laden, I started to get Foghorn Leghorn flashbacks. Like when dealing with Willie the Weasel and then thinking of the Democrat lead Congress with the likes of Harry 'Petreaus is a Liar' Reid, Nancy 'So Asad how's my hijab?' Pelosi, and Jack 'Lets retreat to Okinawa' Murtha. Plus the other assorted nuts and wingers of the left side.

Now imagine in this clip that Reid is Foghorn. Dawg is our poor set-upon President. And Willie the Weasel is Osama bint Laden.

Socialized Insurance

I know in the past John Stossel has taken aim at the Federal Flood Insurance Program as a boondoggle. One that encourages people in building their houses in hazardous places while saying the aim of the program is to help people.

Well never fear for Congress wants to help those in coastal areas that may be affected by another hurricane. Rep. Gene Taylor[D-MS] has proposed to expand this program to cover wind damage since after Katrina many insurance companies were ruling wind caused water damage as flood damage to avoid paying out.

Well I think Rep. Taylor and Sen. Trent Lott are wrong to push this. After reading this opinion piece on why Taylor's expansion is a good idea, I see the opposite. If there had not been a Federal Flood Insurance Program, then the insurance companies would not have been tempted to shift cost. The downside would have been people paying before Katrina heftier insurance fees for living in flood prone areas. Which would mean there might have been fewer people in the Coastal areas to have been hit by Katrina.

Right now, roughly, 1/3rd of the US population lives in coastal areas or over 100 million people. Now think if this insurance program put forth by the federal government and paid by all tax-payers did not exist, how many of those millions of people would be living in condos on the beach or quaint cottages? Like any socialized program, the National Flood Insurance Program has artificially warped the market for insurance and what do people in Congress propose? To increase the amount of Federal intervention in the insurance market.

As John Stossel says, give me a break!

Nagin Has a Delusion

of himself and of Louisiana.

As rumours swirl around the Big Easy about Ray Nagin's political aspirations faster than water trying to drain out of a claw-foot tub down in the Ninth Ward, lets look at what he can use to sell the voters of Louisiana on him as he ponders his gubernatorial run.

Two years after Katrina, total population in New Orleans is barely two-thirds the pre-Katrina level. In the Ninth Ward, barely 7% have returned to the poorest and hardest hist area of New Orleans.

In two years since Katrina, the crime and murder rate in New Orleans has skyrocketed. One judge has threatened the Orleans Parish DA with fines and jail time because of how sluggish the office is with getting cases to court. A newly formed unit has had three prosecutors resign in quick succession; this unit was created to deal with the surge in violent crime.

The New Orleans Police Department is still being supported by National Guard soldiers as the protesters who tried to take over HANO's office found out. What is interesting, according to New Orleans radio, is the National Guard is finally going to pull out and the NOPD has to talk to its union to see if they will agree on working 12 hour days to make up the shortfall in manpower. Meanwhile in a real war zone, the Iraqis, with US help, are churning out soldiers and police in droves.

I will happily note this little missive on Ray Nagin that someone else has to say:
"Statewide, Ray Nagin is dead in the water," said G. Pearson Cross, an assistant professor of politics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

This AP article is interesting in how it highlights the poles apart world view between the leaders of New Orleans and those of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One is full of why haven't you done more during these two years while the other is full of thank you so much for how far we have come in two years.

Until Mayor Ray Nagin can get the various feuding elements of his own city on the same page and people like Stewart-Moore to move back; then he has no reason to run for governor. One Blanco in a century is enough.

In politics,

an absurdity is not a handicap.

Do you crave plastic fundraisers, plastic food, and yes even the seemingly plastic politician? Trust Japan to develop our salvation from this gastronomically twisting conundrum of which came first: the plastic food or the plastic politician. It is still far from perfect as the following video shows, but they are striving to correct the shortcomings as we speak. As spectators and participants of the political game will attest, they can come none too soon. Just to save us from the likes of John Edwards and his plastic smile. So please Japan work harder and save us!



High politic is only common sense applied to great things.

But if the idea of a truly plastic politician which can be programmed to say the right things really turns your stomach, never mind the robot being a cute looking Japanese woman with an equally cute voice, then may I suggest something else? Perhaps a statesman who means what he says? Even if it alienates many who normally support him? If the answer is yes then I offer then for your consideration President George Bush, who just paid a surprise visit to Al-Anbar province of Iraq aboard Air Force One. With Secretary Gates and General Pace among those traveling with President Bush, it sends a clear message to all of American resolve as the President met with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki just before the Iraqi Parliament reconvenes from its August recess along with tribal leaders of Al-Anbar province.

All quotes - Napoleon.

Malvoisin, thy name is Louisiana

To mark the second anniversary of Katrina, it seems the politicians of Louisiana are casting aspersions upon their fellow survivors in Mississippi. The editorial board of the Mississippi Gulf Coast sole newspaper, the Sun Herald, starts their Sunday editorial with the following words:

There is a particular sadness with which we consider the offensive launched against Mississippi survivors of Hurricane Katrina on the very somber second anniversary of the awful day in which the great storm devastated our state and caused a civil engineering failure of vast and deadly proportions in Louisiana.

It seems the state of Mississippi has stolen money that Louisiana deserately needs. Right. The cities of Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, and Waveland were wiped out by the fury of Katrina's storm surge. New Orleans drowned because the levees failed and people like Nagin and Blanco would not lead and make the hard calls that would have saved more people.

As Hurricane Felix gathers strength in the Caribbean it seems a very poor and sad thing for the people of Louisiana to be casting envious eyes upon their equally devestated neighbors in Mississippi.

Eurofighter Too Pricey?

I know in the past I have written copiously on how shaky the cost per airframe for the Eurofighter Typhoon/Taifun has been. $112.9millionUS to Saudi Arabia. Well things are getting a bit more ticklish it seems Italy is balking at buying all of their allotted Tranche 3 airframes since the price has jumped to $137million US. And look at the timeline of delivery, after 2012. Meanwhile we have this article that talks about RAF Eurofighters intercepting some of Putin's Tu-95 Bears and find an even higher price-tag for the Typhoon: $165.6 million. To say I am boggled is an understatement. And to add to the jollies when you surf to the official Eurofighter web-site one picture it will show is of a Luftwaffe Taifun and is titled 'Nothing Comes Close - Low Cost of Ownership' Yikes! Austria and Saudi Arabia remain the only two export orders for Eurofighter with Austria taking delivery of their first aircraft in July 2007, all Tranche 1 standard which means Austria has 15 air defense fighters with no ground attack options. It seems that Eurofighter is still in the hunt for the Indian order of 126 airframes. Please note the F-35 is not being offered to India, Lockheed and Boeing are offering F-16s and F-18s.

Of course this could be the reason why Italy is backing out of more Eurofighter orders. They will be the second FACO in Europe for the F-35 Lightning II. Which means they will produce all 131 airframes for Italy starting in 2014 along with producing F-35s for the Netherlands. About 20 of these Italian F-35s will be the STOVL versions for their new 27,000tonne Cavour class carrier. They have also secured the designation of second source for wings, which could be an order for 1,300 wings. It seems the US and Lockheed are offering them a very sweet technology deal along with a good chunk of production.

Meanwhile the primary FACO in Europe for the F-35, British AeroSpace is still mired in controversy. While the UK's Serious Fraud Office abandoned its investigation of kickbacks that lead to the sale of Tornados to Saudi Arabia, it seems the US Dept. of Justice is now rooting around since BAE is now a major US military contractor. But on the bright side it seems Warton is finally producing the kits to upgrade Tranche 2 airframes to Tranche 3 standards, it will cover a total of 140 airframes.

Of course if Italy remains firm about not buying those last Eurofighters, 48 of them, will we see the cost per airframe jump to $200million each? Or twice the cost of an F-15 and four times the cost of a STOVL F-35?

Music Videos

To lighten things, some current treasures from 'modern' music. Not seen so much Saran wrap since I don't know - the movie Brazil I think. And the purple bangs Shakira, trying to cop some Ayanami Rei fandom? If so, yikes! At least Rihanna is hanging around a lot of cool cars like Mustangs and Ferraris in her video. With those bangs and attitude, she could play a live action Motoko Kusanagi. And note her jacket in the street racing scene: has Captain America stars on the arms and a FDNY patch on the left breast. Though in both cases, I have to imagine if Premier Khruschev being on the lot of either music video and having a heart attack over Western decadence.

Shakira:


Rihanna:

SitRep

Well I have been laid low past two days after eating some tilapia at Red Lobster. No food for 48 hours is probably good for my waistline but when I can't even read blogs or books for more than a few minutes, why its surely something akin to Hades in a hand basket. Good news is, on the mend and eating again - plus reading.

Well on to some serious stuff. Naturally this is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina slowly moving ashore as a borderline Cat-2/3 storm and killing more than 1300 people. Unfortunately New Orleans is still under the piper's song of Ray Nagin whilst Gov. Kathleen Blanco wont be governor for long, assuming she don't somehow become a co-defendant in this case. And there is doubt the Army Corps of Engineers is really up to the task since it seems they are still aiming to build up levees and pumping stations to fend off a Category 3 storm, assuming they even do that. Never mind a Category 5 storm like Camille or Andrew or Dean.

While on Katrina talk, I am reminded of my battle with my mortgage company after Katrina in which they arbitrarily cut off my automatic payments because I was in Katrina's disaster area and because I did not respond to their mail in a timely manner. My mortgage holder is Countrywide, which seems to have had to borrow $11.5billion to keep afloat and Bank of America has tossed them another billion or so. My faith in Countrywide staying afloat is minimal. They keep trying to talk me into renegotiating my mortgage with them, but when I factor in the closing costs which could be $1500 I never come out ahead so I stick with what I have.

To tie in with my ire at Countrywide it was something of a shock to find out that one of Nancy Pelosi's sons, Paul Jr, works for the California part of Countrywide. And if you look around a bit one fines something mighty interesting on how, as this writer puts it, 'the six degrees of Kevin Bacon' syndrome comes into play.

Darius Anderson had been one of Gray Davis's major fundraisers, and is best friends with Susan Kennedy, formerly deputy chief of staff to Gray Davis, now Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief of staff. Darius Anderson is also a very good friend of Willie Brown, and Gavin Newsom (he spearheaded a fundraiser to help retire Newsom's campaign debt). San Francisco seems to be a small town, in many ways, and it turns out Gavin Newsom is cousin to the Pelosi kids, including Paul Jr., and Laurence. Paul Jr. works for Countrywide Home Loans, which has significant subprime loan problems. Laurence formerly worked for Lennar Corporation, which is developing Treasure Island in tandem with Darius Anderson's Kenwood Investments LLC. Laurence Pelosi also sits with Darius Anderson on Berkeley's IGS National Advisory Board.

What this tangled briar of incestuous political/economic interest have in common is the goal of padding their bottom lines at the expense of the Donner Pass' environment. As to why all this horsepower is behind this, well it seems not enough Republicans could be bought off when they were in power. Kudos to Kathryn Gray for correlating all this. This is the kind of political behind the scenes skulduggery that needs to be stopped.

Ein Requiem Fur Menschen

Back in 1995 Masamune Shirow did a series of CD images for Toshiba EMI in an attempt to draw new listeners to classical music. Shirow even selected the tracks that would appear on the CDs. The image above was created to illustrate Rossini's Stabat Mater.

I may add other images from this collection. But for now please enjoy.

A Climate of Uncertainty

The blogosphere has been abuzz over NASA quietly adjusting some climate data after a goof was discovered. What had the prophets of global warming, aka climate change, all in a lather was this adjustment by NASA moved several years that predate the accepted start of global warming as being among the top ten warmest years on record. Naturally this has aroused the ire of the followers of the Goracle as their pet world view, akin to the Ptolomean Terra-centric view of the Earth, has been threatened by facts, remember Copernicus and Galileo, that seek to overturn their 'conventional' wisdom. So riding to the rescue upon his newsprint horse is Andrew C. Revkin of the New York Times.

Alas Sir Revkin it seems forgot to fasten all the straps that hold the saddle upon his horse, so instead of riding high upon his horse he is being dragged in the dust.

Suddenly, 1934 appeared to vault ahead of 1998 as the warmest year on record (by a statistically meaningless 0.036 degrees Fahrenheit).

If the average temperature of 1934 is higher than the average temperature of 1998, then 1934 is the warmer year. Statistically meaningless it seems is just a throw away line intended to sabotage rebuttals.

Everyone appears also to agree that too much attention is paid to records, particularly given that the difference between 1934, 1998, and several other sets of years in the top 10 warmest list for the United States are so small as to be statistically meaningless.

I thought that by empirically measuring the temperatures was one way to scientifically measure such vital things as climate change? But apparently record setting years are again statistically meaningless.

Indeed, there is enough wiggle room in the numbers that the center has a different list of the 10 warmest years than those produced using NASA’s and Mr. McIntyre’s analyses. By the climate center’s reckoning, 1998 remains the warmest year for the 48 states (with 2006 second and 1934 third).

Well so much for how rock solid the measurements are if several different sets of 10 warmest years can be produced from the same dataset.

The National Academy of Sciences has repeatedly called for improvements in climate monitoring. An independent group of meteorologists and weather buffs is compiling its own gallery of American weather stations at http://www.surfacestations.org/, with photographs showing glaring problems, like thermometers placed next to asphalt runways and parking lots.

So we learn the data that makes up the datasets is not trustworthy and also the glaring problem with the recording stations. Surfaces that radiate heat or emit heat in close proximity to these stations will adversely affect the measurements, giving an artifically higher reading. Which calls into question the whole mantra of Hansen and others of a measurable broader warming trend that is called man-made global warming.

It seems Rivkin tried to write an article that minimized the damage this adjustment by McIntyre and NASA has caused to the global warming movement. Instead he has helped undermine the foundations to a house of cards with his writings. Thank you Mr. Rivkin.

Who Benefits?

That is the question that has to be forefront in one's mind as we read that Russian authorities say they have arrested ten people in the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya last October 7th.

The Russians might have gotten the button men that did the actual killing but, to sound like something akin to a conspiracy advocate, those hiring the killers sought to discredit the government of Vladimir Putin by having Politkoskaya killed? That is the reason for the murder? Politkoskaya was doing far more alive to discredit Putin's government by documenting the human rights abuses Russia and its allies, in Soviet/Spetnaz fashion, have perpetrated in Chechnya than her murder could.

Another problem with this explanation is the Russians saying this murder has links Paul Klebnikov and Andrei Kozlov. Which implies these murders were also intended to discredit Putin's government. A far easier to believe motive was an attempt to silence critics of the government. Can we say damage control since the critics have not been silenced and this is their latest attempt to deflect things?

Russia's standing on the international scene has been plummeting with every one of these murders of Putin's critics. Thirteen journalists since Putin was elected in 2000 have been murdered in contract style killings. The radioactive poisoning of Litvinenko has caused relations between Russia and the UK to chill. Putin's government has tried to extort money from various countries via charging exorbitant fees for oil and natural gas. Russia is in a feud with Estonia because the Estonians moved a statue symbolizing Russia's illegal occupation of the tiny country. Russian opposition to the countries of Eastern Europe seeking closer ties with the West. And now Putin is sending Russian Tu-95 Bears on saber-rattling missions against the US and UK has further eroded relations.

So set against this backdrop it is well nigh hard to believe an outside cabal of people sought to have Anna Politskaya murdered along with those other two people to discredit Russia's government. Putin is doing a stellar job of discrediting his government on his own, murders not required. And Putin, it seems, is finding that murdering a journalist is not the same as silencing said journalist. A certain king exclaiming 'Will no one rid me of this meddling priest!' could have counseled Putin on the matter of obstreperous critics are harder to get rid of once murdered.

Hurricane Dean

Footage taken by the International Space Station of Hurricane Dean.

As Dean makes it's second landfall in Mexican territory with 100MPH winds, we can be thankful for one thing it seems. The death toll is standing at only 11 dead, all before the Yucatan landfall. Even though Dean struck the Yucatan Peninsula with winds of 165MPH.

The tourist town of Tulum was an evacuated ghost town over a day before Dean made landfall while many of the people heeded government evacuation orders and fled to shelters. Some communities still need to be contacted in the wake of Dean, but no deaths have been reported.

Dean made landfall about 11:30AM Central forty miles south of Tuxpan Mexico after regaining some strength in the Bay of Campeche. Tuxpan is near Tampico. Hopefully the evacuation here has been as successful as the one in the Yucatan was.

Losing My Nutroots

Triangulating in the age of YouTube and the Internet can be hazardous to your political career. As this clip of Sen. Clinton at AIPAC totally freaks out the peaceniks that she has tried to court to vote for her. Marionette for Christians??? Bwahahahahahaha

That's me on the stage
That's me in the spotlight, I'm
losing my nutroots
Trying to keep up with Obama
And polls don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you protesting
I thought that I heard you whining
I think I thought I saw you cry

With apologies to REM, well kinda. :)

Spirit of Wonder

Once again Dr. Breckenridge's invention misfires and Miss China is shrinking! Baka Hakase!

Talk about being a complete slacker. I remember purchasing the DVD called Spirit of Wonder because it was more stories from Kenji Tsuruta. But until last night I could not remember ever watching this DVD. Argh! Baka! Baka!

I first fell in love with Kenji Tsuruta when Dark Horse translated some of his manga into English, titled naturally as Spirit of Wonder. His artwork is not your typical manga style and I am glad. Nor are his stories typical manga, they follow their own pace and lacks lots of violence and fan service. The bad side, Kenji has had a low output as he talks about in this 1996 interview. Along with Spirit of Wonder; he has produced Hydrogen, Forget Me Not, some Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade, and a Miss China collected art book.

Suffice to say all the stories Kenji Tsuruta has produced are heavily infused with a whimsical sense of adventure that I find sadly lacking in a lot of current shows. The men are mad scientist types and awfully naughty, for shame Dr. Breckenridge for peeking under Miss China's dress! *WHACK* Well Miss China can take care of herself. Hard to find is Miss China's Ring in which we see Dr. Breckenridge's invention destroy the Moon and turn it into a ring. Then there is the two part story Spirit of Wonder we get to see the Scientific Boys Club and their dream of going to Mars that was inspired by Percival Lowell and his canals of Mars. Miss China makes an appearance in this story which is set in 1958, though the main female character is Windy who is Gordon's daughter. It is her theory of the ethereal current that allows these men to realize their dream and find a red Mars far unlike what Lowell reported. Bookending this story arc we get to see JPL as the scientists and media anxiously await the first pictures from Viking 1. And do not miss the ending music for Spirit of Wonder; the song is called 'Born to Dream,' its in English and very catchy.

Also included on this DVD are two Miss China shorts. In one, Miss China is once again demanding back rent from Dr. Breckenridge and as she pulverizes the barricaded door into submission, she is struck by a strange green beam and starts to shrink. So its up to Breckenridge, Jim - whom China is sweet on, and Lily at the flower shop who supplies unusual parts for Jim and Breckenridge to save her. They do, but once again Breckenridge overdoes things and we get to see a 50ft Miss China! Second short is a very hallucinatory short that is powered by Breckenridge's Reflex Telescope that is supposed to bring symmetrical space to the user, why go to Mars when Mars can be brought to Earth. Well that is the theory but all they get is a blurry image until all are fueled by too much alcohol and never before or since has a Martian city been laid to waste by a fire breathing Breckenridge/Godzilla with bottles of various spirits poking out his back. Luckily Miss China, even though tanked, is able to take down the monster and Lily turns the telescope off; saving Mars from the fate of the Moon .. or did they? :)

Enjoy.

That Sense of Adventure

Tribute music video set to footage of Apollo 11, Challenger, and Columbia.

More Dean-ism

Well one good thing, between the 8PM Eastern update for Saturday and the 11PM Eastern Update, Dean's projected path jogged south so the eye will pass to the south of Jamaica. Bad news it means Jamaica will get more surge battering its coast as the rain fails amidst the 145MPH winds.

The eye of Dean will skirt to the south of the Caymans by about 30 miles at 8AM Eastern Monday with 150MPH winds in that eye. Still expect the Caymans to get deluged and whipped by the wind.

Landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula is now predicted for after 5AM Eastern on Tuesday with winds possibly at 160MPH. Bad news is Dean continues to speed along. At one time it was traveling at 23MPH, right now it is traveling at 18MPH. If it continues at this speed when it strikes the Yucatan, then Dean just might still be a Category 5 storm at landfall. Earlier models suggested winds of 145MPH at landfall. The entire coast of the Yucatan facing Dean is now under a Hurricane Watch as the predicted spot for landfall has shifted south from the tip to the center of the coast. People in the Yucatan, time to get away from the coast.

Looking towards Wednesday and landfall in Mexico. Brownsville, TX is now the northern most point of the strike cone. And like landfall in Yucatan has shifted south, so to has it shifted for the Mexican coast to being about 200 miles south of Brownsville. Eye landfall is expected to 8PM Eastern on Wednesday with winds of 115MPH.

Stay tuned.

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean continues to churn through the Caribbean towards running over Jamaica tomorrow. As of 11AM Eastern the prediction is Dean reaching winds of 155MPH about 8AM Sunday with landfall in Jamaica happening about 2PM with winds of 150MPH.

Last night's 11PM update/prediction for Dean and Jamaica was a 2PM Sunday landfall at 155MPH.

Though one thing is still true from each update, after Jamaica Dean is expected to strengthen to 160MPH before hitting the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday about 2AM with winds of about 125MPH.

There is one bit of troubling information, the expected landfall in Yucatan has shifted slightly to the north so Dean will graze the very tip.

As for where Dean will land when it truly hits North America, that is a bit fuzzy. While the Yucatan strike has shifted north slightly, the cone of probability has shrunk so Houston is no longer in that cone. Landfall for the eye is predicted for Mexico about 10PM on Wednesday with winds of 125MPH about 100 miles south of Brownsville, TX.

Of course all of this is subject to change. There is a massive trough of rain hovering over the southern US of which Erin is now part. Dean may veer towards that. Dean may just fizzle. Or Dean will keep going the way its going.

Alex, 12ga to Spyware Category

I have spent around four hours cleaning a pernicious piece of spyware from my laptop. Courtesy of allowing one person at MechaCon to check their MySpace profile. If I ever see them again, I just may slap them into next week for being such a freaking idiot when it comes to computers. I think four hours of my time is enough punishment for me, never again will anyone be allowed near my computers. Or they die.

As for the malicious piece of code, its called Outerinfo and if you aint watching it will install like a normal program. However it goes rooting through your computer and your anti-virus will scream about a downloader. It seemed Norton stopped the files, but as I said Outerinfo installed itself on the XP laptop and then everytime Internet Explorer opened, a pop-up window for Outerinfo also opened. I thought I had tracked everything down by uninstalling it and then booting into Safe Mode to clean out registry and Norton. Nope, that thing still came back this morning when I booted up laptop. So went Googling and found a site with instructions on how to really remove it. Now I have to watch it to see if it is truly gone. First time I opened up IE after ComboFix rebooted computer, IE said it was not the default browser. Time will tell whether I need to re-image the laptop.

I hate spyware, I truly do.

Alex, I will take Proofreading for $1000.

This is absolutely mind boggling. Does anyone actually check what is written before it is being voted on? What are the taxpayers getting for their money? If this is an example, not much. Time for an audit.

What am I babbling about? Arkansas has accidentally passed a piece of legislation that allows anyone, even toddlers, to be married.

The bill reads: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."

The problem lies in that not highlighted above. The intent of the bill was to set the minimum age for marriage at age unless someone is pregnant, then with parental approval they could marry the other person. Alas Rep. Will Bond, the sponsor, nor anyone else noticed the typo before it became law. When the goof was spotted, a committee fixed it but some legislators say this is not a typographical error and want the legislature to fix it. So now Arkansas is pondering a special session to correct this goof.

No comment from Bill Clinton on this latest misadventure from his home state. And to extropolate, the US Congress also enacts bad or poorly worded law on occasion. The RICO law that is hanging over Michael Vick is a classic example, its original intent was to go after the Mafia but it was so broadly written that any money making criminal enterprise falls into its sphere - even House Representatives on the take can fall victim to RICO. Just more reasons why government is NOT the answer, its infested with humans.

A British Lion Falls

From the battlefield of Helmand Afghanistan comes the story of Captain David Hicks.

In excruciating pain from the shrapnel wounds that would later kill him, Captain David Hicks was supposed to be evacuated to safety.
But the 26-year-old refused to abandon his men and ordered them to let him return to his post, even refusing pain-killing morphine to keep his mind clear for the rearguard action against a Taliban rocket attack.

Such devotion and bravery harkens back to another moment immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.

Tropical Forecast

The big island in Hawaii is bracing for the effects of Hurricane Flossie tonight. Hopefully all they get is some rain and wind, nothing else on top of the earlier earthquake.

Meanwhile there is a massive cell of storms in the central Gulf of Mexico that has some worried about development. If it keeps sending storms to Texas development is unlikely, though it will definitely rain on everyone's parade for the rest of the week.

More attention is being focused on Tropical Storm Dean that is zipping westward at 21mph. Should be skirting south of the Greater Antilles sometime this weekend and entering the Caribbean. According to current forecast, which must be taken with a grain of salt. Hopefully this Dean lives up to a previous Dean, Howard Dean. One 'Yeeeaarrggghh!' moment and then no more.

Stay tuned everyone. And this would be a good time to review one's storm supplies to see where the shortfalls are.

For Scott Thomas

When Beauchamp writes next, perhaps he will aspire to what might have possibly inspired his poisonous purple prose instead of butchering the English language and pretending to be an author.

For his zombie dogs eating a corpse, I am reminded of the opening page of Oriana Fallaci's novel Ishnallah.

"... or perhaps they did not exist because they weren't dogs but ghosts of dogs who materialized with the darkness to imitate the men who had killed them. Like men they divided into bands consumed by hate, like men they wanted only to tear each other to pieces, and the monotononous rite always took place under the same pretext: the conquest of a sidewalk made precious by food scraps and scum. ... at first you did notice them because they stalked without a sound: the strategy of soldiers who creep in wary silence to surprise the enemy and butcher them."

Or how about when a driver of a Bradely cuts a dog so quickly in half the dog is still smiling? I am again drawn to Gus' Short Timers when Joker and Rafterman hitch a ride on an M-48 Patton into Hue.

Suddenly the tank shifts to the left. Rafter Man and I are thrown hard into the turret. Metal grinds metal. The tank hits a bump, shifting sharply to the right and jerking to a halt, throwing us forward. Rafter Man and I hang onto the gun and say, "Son-of-a-bitch..."
The blond tank commander climbs out of the turret hatch and jumps off the back of the tank. The tank driver has run the tank off the road.
Fifty yards back a water buffalo is down on its back, legs out straight. The water bo bellows, tosses its curved horns.

On the deck, in the center of the road, I see a tiny body, facedown. Chattering Vietnamese civilians pour out of the roadside hootches, staring and pointing. The Vietnamese civilians crowd around to see how their American saviors have crushed the guts out of a child. ...
The blond tank commander climbs up onto his tank and reinserts his legs into the turret hatch. "Iron Man, you fucking shitbird. You will drive this machine like it's a tank and not a goddamn sports car. You hit that little girl, you blind idiot. Hell, I could see her through the fucking vision blocks. She was standing on that water bo's back..."

Of course that last excert could now be used to describe Scott and the whole TNR staff including Foer. Scott is the negligent driver of the tank. The small dead child represents the honor of the 160,000 soldiers who were slandered by these articles. The struggling and bellowing water bo is Foer as he tries to right himself and TNR while denying a hard fact, truth is a brutal mistress that plays no favorites. While the irate tank commnder is all the mil-bloggers who smelled a rat in these writings and took it upon themselves to fact check Scott's writing.

Climate History

This is interesting bit of news. A village submerged in the English Channel for the past 8,000 years off the Isle of Wright has been discovered. And just in time it seems, some bits are dangling over a cliff. It seems back then there was a land bridge linking England and France, alas the rising sea levels at the end of an ice age submerged this land bridge and thus this village.

Which reminded me of Dr. Ballard's expedition in the Black Sea back in 1999 and 2000. From about 12,000 years to about 7,000 years ago, there was a dam keeping the Black Sea a fresh water lake. That natural dam broke, flooding the Black Sea with saltwater from the expanding Mediterranean. The water had to go somewhere with an Ice Age melting down after all. It is from this flooding of the Black Sea that some theorize the Great Deluge stories of Gilgamesh and of Noah came from.

Of course from reading Dr. Hoffman's book, we also see cycles of desert and rain in Africa. One such cycle happened at the time the last massive ice age was ending. And then there were the land bridges linking Asia to North America that brought migrating bands of human beings.

With all this past evidence of Earth going through extreme climatic cycles, one wonders how the heck it is the fault of humans for this much disputed rise in temperature that has so many in a dreadful fret? I am now reminded of the Permian Extinction where 95% of all living things went extinct. First over tens of thousands of years land species went extinct. Then there was a quick die off of marine species. And finally a further land species extinction. In the middle of the marine die off there was an extremely rapid rise in C-12 which stumped scientists until they realized the Siberian magma flows managed to raise the atmospheric temperature by over four degrees Celsius which meant the frozen methane trapped in the seabed could be released quickly and thereby leaving the C-12 evidence and raising the Earth's atmospheric temperature a further four or five degrees Celsius. Twas a miracle any life survived that, but a cow-sized creature did and from that animal all species that came later can trace their lineage.

Anime Con Pics

Well finally did upload pictures from MechaCon 3.0. Yay!

Friend in the Netherlands gave me this link to AnimeCon2007 that just happened over there.

Enjoy.

Quiz

What should you be in the military? navy seal congrats!! the best job you would do in the military is be a navy seal, navy seals are one of the most elite units in the u.s military, they handle some of the most dangerous situations Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

MechaCon - The Videos

Well for your viewing pleasure, here are some videos people have posted about MechaCon. Tis a bit 'fowl' in one video while others are just a bit more fun. The assorted geniuses in the elevator could have been Darwin candidates and more than likely the world would have been better. ^_^; As for the Kingdom Hearts 2 cosplayers, uuhhh get a room already. In one video we see a green screen where in the dealers room you could get a custom badge made.

MechaCon 3.0 Raiders


The Elevator Adventure


Sexy Kingdom Hearts

My friend says, after all the Kingdom Hearts cosplayers, that they can never play that game again.

Random otakuness


Crazy with the video camera


And I should probably post my pictures from MechaCon, I am such a slacker.

A Historic Endeavour

As OV-105 Endeavour closes in on the International Space Station carrying Barbara Morgan, the first teacher in space, there is more than one historical moment to reflect upon.

As we remember the tragedy of OV-99 Challenger's catastrophic failure 22 years ago killing McAullife, Onizuka, Scobee, and the others; lets remember another space related event that happened on August 10th.

It was on this day in 1945 that the father of modern rocketry died, his name was Dr. Robert H. Goddard. After twenty plus years launching liquid fuel rockets, first from a cabbage patch to later experiments in New Mexico and work with the US Navy to develop JATO, it was Dr. Goddard's experiments that proved the ideas first put forth by the likes of Tsiolkovsky while blazing the path Werner von Braun would use to lead the United States to the Moon.

Goddard Space Flight Center is named for this pioneer and on September 16th, 1959 Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal in the name of Dr. Goddard.

Zero

I am boggling at this. There are some who are tying to get Johnny 'Taliban' Lindh sprung from his 20 year sentence. Excuse me? What kind of mind altering drugs are you on? Yeah he is a mixed up young adult, so he should suffer the consequences.

He voluntarily went to Afghanistan to join the Taliban to join their violent jihad. An adult American, of his own free will, traveled to a foreign country and took up arms in service of that country. To me, by those actions, Lindh has NO American citizenship to claim.

Then, when he was captured in Afghanistan with a bunch of other Taliban dead-enders, he refused to divulge any information to his American captors. This refusal, in my opinion, was tacit participation in the uprising that later killed a fellow American, Mike Spann.

Lindh should be moldering at Andersonville and not subject to an early release.

Hero

I accidentally or serendipitously stumbled across this story. Or perhaps I was 'meant' to find it.

SSG Timothy Hahn, assigned to the 563d Maint. Sq. at Davis-Monthan AFB, was spending some of his time off with friends this past Saturday at the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area when a flash flood struck. Swept away in the swirling water was Angela Knoche. Without thinking of himself or his three year old daughter, Hahn leapt into the water and tried to rescue Angela Knoche. Alas the currents were stronger than this young man's strength and courage, both young people were killed. There is a memorial planned for Wednesday for this brave man and Angela Knoche.

News story.

The Black Mummy Part II

From reading Dr. Hoffman's book, Egypt Before The Pharaohs, I stumbled across this interesting paragraph that could sink which culture beget which culture that this show on the Science Channel is based around.

The site they are talking about is called BS-14 located in the Libyan Desert. Now before someone goes 'a-ha!' about this Libyan Desert, Dr. Hoffman is using the accepted nomenclature that calls the desert[Sahara] to the west of the Nile the Libyan Desert.

... ostrich eggshell and the bones of a horselike creature (possibly Equus asinus - the wild ass) make it, along with Arkin 8, one of the few and most important Lower Paleolithic sites in Egypt. The presence of ostrich eggshell recalls a custom employed by the contemporary bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, who use these objects as water canteens on hunting trips into the desert, while the equid bones may suggest the late Acheuleans had migrated out onto the grassy plains of the Sahara during the Abbassia Pluvial, or rainy period. This pluvial, which prevailed for nearly 30,000 years between about 120,000 and 90,000 years ago, succeeded a 400,000 year drought and in its wake sent late Acheulean peoples out onto the former wastes in search of large grazing animals. - page 57.

Of course the type of humanity at the time of the Abbassia Pluvial was transitioning from Homo Erectus and that of Homo Sapiens Neanderthalis. What is also established though is a cycle of lush pastureland and barren wastes with humans going with the flow.

For foreign cultural contamination, there are other places to think about besides the central Sahara. Like the delta city of Maadi was a major crossroads for trade and ideas between 3600BC and 3000BC. Like several houses built in a style seen in Palestine, underground houses. - page 201.

In Lower Egypt, trade and metallurgy set the tone at strategically located sites like Maadi, while in Upper Egypt social status, burial, public ritual, and display dominated the Naqadan world view. - page 212.

Upper Egypt is where the scientists in the show about the Black Mummy suggest the Saharan culture first impacted Nile culture. But is it the Saharan's who professionally mummify a child of seemingly no social import while the Naqadan's seem to go in the opposite direction.

On page 218 we see Dr. Hoffman offering support for at least some of the scientists surmises of Saharan culture impacting Egyptian culture. Namely it is from the sand dwellers of the Libyan Desert that the dwellers of the Nile River learned farming, cattle pastoralism, and long distance trade.

As for the pottery this show is all agog over and it seems to show these archaeologists as the ones who did 'discover' the link. Alas Dr. Hoffman scuttles this by recounting the excavations at the VIth Dynasty site of Armant by Oliver Myers in 1935 who found Saharan pottery at this Nile site and identified it as Saharan pottery. - page 229.

Still Dr. Hoffman's book offers a cautionary note least we truly jump on this bandwagon.

..our best evidence for the cultural changes that took place on the deserts of northern Africa between about 7000 and 4000 B.C. are not provided by stone tools and potshards but by the spectacular rock art of the Sahara which suggests a slow transition from hunting to cattle pastoralism between 7000 and 6000 B.C. - page 233.

I am still reading through this book gleaming more information. I think I will end with this part since it bears on the Sahara witnessed by the child who became the Black Mummy.

Even if the impetus for the new pastoral way of life came from the Middle East, it soon caught on throughout North Africa, moving swiftly across the grassy savannas, and being adopted by native peoples, who only a few centuries before, had wandered as hunters into this land. - page 237.

I think when it comes to the Nile Valley and the influence of the Libyan Desert is still open to debate and interpretation. Just as how much influence the Sinai and Palestinian cultures also impacted Egypt in its early formative days is also open to debate.

For Your Consideration

I am being in a silly mood right now and things are perculating through my brain. Like renaming this blog to something else. Some over on LGF think I should use this one just for grins, yeah you Pyro. :)

Sister Mary Stigmata of the Immaculate Smackdown....

As I said, I am in a silly mood right now. Comments, opinions, raspberries?

MechaCon

I spent the weekend on the Vermillion Bayou in Lafayette, LA attending MechaCon, an anime convention in only its third year of existence. MechaCon 1 is considered a trial run since Katrina overshadowed everything that year.

Though fear not readers, even while sequestered with 3000 or so anime/gamer/science fiction fans, I did try to keep tabs on the world. Like those two yutes your Honor caught outside the Navy's nuclear storage depot with bomb material, the strange submersible that turned out not to be Champ nor Ted Kennedy, or the 150 screaming DEFCON attendees running an NBC Dateline reporter to ground when she tried to infiltrate their gathering - note to self, watch the video soon.

Back to the reason for this post. It was a small convention, which after the 12,000 or so at Project A-kon 18 this year was a positive breath of fresh air. It was more relaxed and the staff tried to keep it that way. One of the best things they did was to have a wandering minstrel all dressed up in costume while he played anything including Iron Man on his electric guitar and portable amp. During the shockingly long wait for the costume contest Saturday night, while we sweltered in the faltering air conditioning, this minstrel kept people entertained and made the wait bearable.

As for the costume contest, it was like others I have endured. There are some truly gifted people pulling off some insanely funny skits and then there are those you wish Berry and his gong were still around. The costumes also ranged from good quality to 'is that Naruto character running around in a Hilton bedsheet?' I have a photo, will post pics soon on Photobucket, of one of the costumers dressed as Link from Zelda; the cosplayer's grandfather created the shield from real metal. Now that is impressive. There were others who had multiple costumes, like one 17 year old young lady I photographed early Saturday dressed as Cait Sith from Final Fantasy VII who for the costume contest dressed up as Gatomon from Digimon. Naruto and Kingdom Heart were the most cosplayed series seen.

The Dealers Room was a smallish affair. There was one that dealt only in games and game supplies. One dealt only in DVDs and collected translated manga. Another dealer had bootleg anime CDs from Taiwan. One had a small mountain of Gundam models for sale along with a lot of figures. By far the largest contingent of sellers had edged weapon replicas. Things like Bill's Hanzo Hatori katana from Kill Bill I&II. Or Lionel's Sword of Omens from Thundercats. Tetsaiga from Inu-Yasha was another spied. There was no one pushing anime cels or artbooks and there was a couple of empty booth areas; even with these accidental spaces, the dealer area still felt small for all the attendees circulating through it.

Another good idea the con organizers had was to have their spokespeople, yeah those cute anime girls on the web site actually exist and were constantly circulating. Big kudos need to be given to them for being good troopers, they even did this at A-kon when they advertised for MechaCon. The reason why they were circulating was to give out prizes to people who could answer some anime trivia. And the prize giving did not stop in the hallways, but was even encountered in the panels like Harmony Gold's Sunday talk about Robotech and its future. Good questions were rewarded by the questioner getting a Robotech Southern Cross polo shirt while the really good question got a Masterpiece Edition VF-1J Veritech, one of only 15,000. Freebies are expected as part of the pre-registration package but during the con, thumbs way up from this attendee on this smart move.

Barring some culinary faux pas like ordering Saturday night some Chinese and finding the Hilton charged me for the local call, I had a real good time at this con. So did my friends who went with me, they had a blast also. And if you want some good sushi, try Tokyo Live on West Pinhook in Lafayette, that place rocks and so do its prices. Next will work on the pictures from the con, will update when I get this done.

I hope next year there is an art show to go with the gaming room. They had DDR in there and even the professional grade DDR pads bore the MechaCon logo. Time will tell but it seems they are off to a very good start.

The Black Mummy

Science Channel has an hour long program on archaeologists trying to understand the mystery around a child mummy found in the central Sahara that dates more than 5,000 years ago. It does a fairly decent job of postulating how the central Saharan culture, as it waned due to a climatic shift that set the Sahara back to desert, might have influenced the Nile culture in respect to mummification, cult of the cow, and even a carving showing a dog headed human. Normally my red warning flags go up over this kind of archeology due to an early encounter with a book called Black Athena that asserted all that is Western Culture was borrowed/stolen from black African culture.

As I said, this show does try to make sensible linkages between this Saharan culture and the culture of the Nile River. The sophisticated method of mummifying a child and the Egyptian method of mummifying their dead is one of their arguments of a linkage. There is a bit of a problem, the child it seems was an average child of no great social standing while in Egypt to be mummified meant you had to be royal or high up in the Pharaohic bureaucracy like a governor to rate such a burial. Cult of the cow or bull is another tenuous link since the Minoans worshipped the bull and so did such Greek city states as Mycenae along with the Egyptian Apis Bulls. And the Masai are still firmly a tribe who's lifeblood is tied with the fate of their cattle. The final attempt at linkage is the infusion of central Saharan style pottery into Nubia about 6,000 years ago. Yes it seems pretty strong evidence of a link, except when one remembers the Nubians imported from the Egyptians later on the concept of the pyramid as a mausoleum method of burying their dead. So this link is also tenuous.

Now one way for these archaeologists to truly sew up, as a slam dunk, this theory that the Saharan culture influenced the evolving culture of the Nile is to do a survey of all the pre-Menes sites to see if these concepts like mummification existed then, before this documented influx of decorated Saharan pottery into the Nile valley. But this show does not make any such assertion. What are we left with after fifty years of research is only a possible explanation of the observed facts, but we are no closer to an actual resolution.

Anyway I am digging through Dr. Michael Hoffman's book Egypt Before The Pharaohs to see if I find any corroboration or further refutation of this show's premise.

GEICO - Embrace the Suck

I am about to scream at GEICO for their penalizing me for accidents not my fault. I switched insurance companies because I was being charged over $1000 every six months for three vehicles - the Mustang and two paid for cars. When I first went through GEICO's online application it was going to be $642 every 6 months for the same three vehicles with similar monetary coverage. Well GEICO did an online query and found I had been involved in two accidents, in both I was listed as not at fault. Still my premium jumped to $712 for every 6 months. Then they asked about an accident in December 2003 I was involved in. Told them a deer jumped out in front of me and could not avoid it causing over $2000 in damage to truck. So guess what, my premium is now up to $752 every 6 months.

GEICO, only a caveman would go with you.

Obama Got Credz?

There has been much talk about nomination seeking candidate hopeful Barack Obama and his ideas on how to handle foreign relations and to look tough- namely invade a country that has never adovcated death to America[Iran], harbored collaborators in attacks on American civilians[Taliban], or plotted to assasinated a former US President[Iraq]. So which country has gotten Obama all up in a dander? Why Pakistan it seems. And Pakistan is not taking this cheap shot lying down as they have fired back calling Obama's comment uninfomred.

If Obama does somehow get elected in 2008 as the next President of the United States, I somehow have the bad feeling the following scene will become sad reality as Obama alienates friends and foes alike with his cavalier mouth.

To the Incoming Plebes at the USNA

Here is a sight you shall get used to seeing over the next four years before being allowed to become officers in the United States Navy or the United States Marine Corps.

Picture taken back during the very cold and snowy winter of 1999/2000 as I attended Ft. Meade for Combat Camera and other media studies. They let us loose with a 35mm SLR and a roll of black&white film we later developed. We were told to shoot whatever struck our fancy. This goat obviously struck something with me....

Botta Skates

Good news for Erik Botta and his wife Jennifer seems in order. Remember how I commented on his case before. In what appears to be a strange move from the Army, they have released Botta from duty.

According to what has been released by the United States Army, Erik Botta is medically unfit to deploy and is being released. Of course this has puzzled Botta and his lawyer Waple since Botta has never claimed any medical disability.

I can think of one reason for the Army to rule this way and it may mean Botta's celebration will be short lived. I can imagine the discharge to read in part:

It is the determination of this board that SGT Erik Botta be forthwith discharged from military service due to him being medically unfit for deployment. The board has reached this determination upon review of all of SGT Botta's military and medical records. At the end of this review it became clear that SGT Erik Botta, due to his previous short-notice deployments, has experienced undue emotional hardship that another deployment would only compound negatively. Henceforth SGT Erik Botta is discharged under Honorable conditions from service in the United States Army.

Erik Botta and his lawyer just may regret dragging this into the spotlight and a court case. Bureaucracies hate to be made to look like insensitive ogres. While the above appears to be magnanimous, would anyone hire Erik Botta if he has emotional issues that render him unfit to serve his country? Mental problems are medical problems after all.

Singing For Your Supper

I have never commented on this person before since I considered it a waste of space, but when such a comeuppance happens that event merits commentary epsecially when the person in question has so few redeeming qualities to evoke sympathy.

The woman who was the definition of walking talking narcissistic waste is now facing something akin to pauper hood as her grandfather has cut her out of $60 million in inheritance because of her selfish destructive antics.

But fear not dear readers, she still can redeem herself at least on a personal level. Our erstwhile waif-in-waiting has landed a gig to sing in a science-fiction musical dealing with organ transplants and a doomed human race. No word on the betting pool of when the woman in question will get selected as a live organ donor in this movie since it is still in production. This road to respectability has been travelled before by a woman wearing a scarlet letter around her neck, though Traci Lords did not fall from rarified heights to redeem herself as this woman apparently shall.

Can you guess whom I am talking about?

If You Blink

You just might miss something amazing.

So there I am last night driving into that great pagoda of consumerism called Wal-Mart when I spy the price of gasoline, Regular 87 octane, is standing at a mere $2.55/gallon so I diddy-bop on over most PDQ to fill the tank. Once the vital mission of feeding the metal beast is done, I proceed to perform that other modern ritual, hunting for food in the vast aisles of the Wal-Mart jungle. After thirty minutes I doth emerge successful in the hunt and secure my hard won vittles into my metal beast. As I do so, carefully storing them least they spill everywhere, I glance over to where I just fed my steed and notice the price has gone up to $2.59/gallon.

The adage timing is everything still applies.

Some Truth

Well someone finally has some 'nads to say how they really feel. Outstanding! They just better be ready to accept the consequences when others express their feelings in return.

And I finished reading 'Short Timers' and went looking through Gus' site. Stumbled across this quote from 'The Phantom Blooper' that really resonates with truth.

The American weakness is that we try to rule the world with public relations, then end up believing our own con jobs. We are adrift in a mythical ship which no longer touches land.