I say to you King Saud, tear down this wall!

BBC NEWS | Europe | Obama pledges new US engagement

"We can't afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us."

The president said part of that process involved giving people a better sense of the US and rejected the stereotype that his country was selfish and crass.

"I'm here to tell you that it's not the country I know and not the country I love," he added.

Now he tells us. But doesn't that sound a bit crass? In anycase, check the box marked "Islam."

Next stop in the Apology Tour is Latin America, where he will say: "We are not the Selfish and Crass imperialist I told you we are!"

How about Trust and Money?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan calls for trust with US

Pakistan's leaders have told visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke there must be trust between the nations as "nothing else will work".

Wait. Wait. Wait. OK, we can stop laughing now. Trust, but wait for the Terror Attacks. 

Well, if we get rid of our nukes they might get rid of theirs.  Trust but self delude.

What's wrong with this statement?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | 'Deadly air strike' in Pakistan

A number of foreign militants were among those killed in the strike at 0300 local (2200 Friday), security officials said.

But a Taleban spokesman said all the dead were civilians.

If George Bush were still President, this is how it would read: A small number of foreign militants were thought to be attending a meeting at the house... according to security officials who requested to remain anonymous. Witnesses at the scene said all the dead were women and children preparing to attend a wedding.

The BBC goes on to inform us:

The drone attacks are said to be part of a new US strategy to eliminate the Taleban and al-Qaeda leadership who are reportedly operating from Pakistan's tribal region next to the border with Afghanistan, says the BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad.

There's an idea: Kill the leadership, not innocents. Why didn't President Bush think of that?

Holy Cows ain't allowed on account of the Methane they produce.

Op-Ed Columnist - The Next Really Cool Thing - NYTimes.com

But what if this time is different? What if a laser-powered fusion energy power plant that would have all the reliability of coal, without the carbon dioxide, all the cleanliness of wind and solar, without having to worry about the sun not shining or the wind not blowing, and all the scale of nuclear, without all the waste, was indeed just 10 years away or less? That would be a holy cow game-changer.

In the meantime we can build coal fire plants and develop our oil resources instead of letting the Democrats systematically sabotage our economy.  Why not?  In ten years we can start replacing these sources of energy with fusion.

What Progressives like about wind and solar power and electric vehicles is that they are costly.  This will keep a huge regulatory bureaucracy up in running to administer the preferences required to keep them going.  Progressives are attracted to "Solutions" that enhance their power and control.

A Scam for our time.

I received a phone call offering me a good job. Natch I figured it was some sort of joke. In any case, after I hung up I googled the offer, just in case I had screwed my future.


FHA Home insurance processing work at home scam, make 38,000 a year - Google Search

Search Results
1.
Be Cautious of FHA Job and Refund Offers — Mortgage Loan Place Blog
I received the same call with the possibility of 38000 per year. ... they were just another work at home scam…and certainly didnt seem right….a refund on an fha ... For only $69.00 you can make up to $38000 a year from home. ... me about a job paying $39000.00 per year; work from home processing FHA Refund Notices. ...
www.mortgageloanplace.com/blog/2007/05/03/be-cautious-of-fha-job-and-refund-offers/ - 38k - Cached - Similar pages
2.
whocalled.us / 971-285-3130
2009-01-08 20:24:01 UTCFHA. The FHA says this is a scam .... a starting package for FHA refunds,can make up to $ 38000 a year. ... do business from your home processing Government refunds to Home Owners who have paid off their mortgage. ..... They claim to offer work at home employment for 38K per year if you pay ...
whocalled.us/lookup/9712853130 - 64k - Cached - Similar pages

It troubles me that even the scam job offers I get are not that good. I'd feel better if I was offered a bit North of $250,000. It shows you how rough the economy is. A few years ago, they would have offered a couple hundred grand as part of a part time, work at home flipping houses scam. I got to wonder: why the cut in wages? It is not like they ever actually paid anyone.

That in Obama's America folks are now tempted by such meager sums is sobering.

Extreme Politics

Edge 219

In the modern world, science and society often interact in a perverse way. We live in a technological society, and technology causes political problems. The politicians and the public expect science to provide answers to the problems. Scientific experts are paid and encouraged to provide answers. The public does not have much use for a scientist who says, “Sorry, but we don’t know”. The public prefers to listen to scientists who give confident answers to questions and make confident predictions of what will happen as a result of human activities. So it happens that the experts who talk publicly about politically contentious questions tend to speak more clearly than they think.

I just watched Extreme Ice on Nova, in which "an acclaimed photographer teams up with scientists to document the runaway melting of arctic glaciers." The episode was half good (and all bad) at explaining the science of glacier melting (if I may call it that). However, it excelled at illustrating the wisdom of the above quote by Freeman Dyson. The show was a saturated in, and ruined by, the politics of global warming. It was full of scientist "who speak more clearly than they think." That's the way they were presented by Nova. In a one hour show, I heard one guy speak of his "hypothesis" (that warm ocean water was speeding the "calving" of icebergs from glaciers), and, though he sounded mighty sure of himself, he at least used a word that acknowledged the possibility of error. The others, as presented, barely gave a nod toward "doubt."

Freman Dyson went on to write, "As a scientist I do not have much faith in predictions." Well, this show was chalk full of predictions, from the ridiculous to the sublime, extending out a hundred years and beyond. If you believe this show, we really need President Obama to sweep back the Oceans rising waters.

I said the program was half good and all bad at explaining the science, and perhaps I should explain what I mean. They often used the phrase "the last thirty years" when discussing the time frame of the "runaway melting." This period corresponds roughly with the end of the last "solar minimum," when the sun produces less warming rays, and the run up to the latest "solar maximum" -- when the sun produces relatively more. From about 60 to 80 percent of the increased warming during that period was likely caused by the activity of the sun, not the activity of man. And yet this was never mentioned on the program. To not address the effects of sunlight on a large body of ice -- to not treat it as a variable -- is bizarre. So no matter how good the science was on that program, it was all bad because it left the untidy bits out -- even the untidy data mountains.

These folks want us to spend 45 trillion dollars over the next fifty years or so and their approach would make hell's most vile use car salesman blush.

A Song for All Time.

I started work on a production number for Belmont Club (The Musical), inspired by this post from Wretchard, The pits (the song, with a bit of opening dialog, follow):

Comments in some of the most recent Belmont Club posts have been haunted by what Scott Johnson and Victor Davis Hanson have called depression. No longer do people put forward solutions as much as despair of solutions until the prevailing conditions change or the national mood shifts. Afghanistan? Well it’s no good discussing it until someone serious is in office. The economy? We’re all doomed so let’s just measure the rate of our decline...

What probably keeps the world from being hijacked by the melancholy of intellectuals are its ordinary people. The world’s sanity is upheld by people who haven’t watched the movies and haven’t attended Harvard. The BBC reported a survey showed that Nigerians were the happiest people in the world.

I am not depressed nor do I feel despair. What is my secret? I just whistle. Whistle? Yes, whistle.

Just whistle while you walk
Do-dee do, do, do, do, do!
Just whistle while you walk,
Pass the graveyard.
(Pass the graveyard)

Should you find you're in despair
Because you're totally aware.
Go ahead, just deny.
Live life on the fly and whistle
Pass the graveyard.

If you find you’re feeling blue
’cause work no longer needs you.
After you’re laid off
Just whistle as you walk!
Pass the graveyard.

If you were a Nigerian
You’d be happy just to own a hen.
And when the militias came
if you weren’t the ball in some game.
At the graveyard.
(In the graveyard)

If there’s a planetary war
And you’re terrified to the core.
Just put on your boots and do skidoot
And whistle! Yes Whistle.
Passed the graveyard!

They say VX is a gas
And it will really kill you fast.
Don’t argue it ain't fair
Just spit out your cares...

Lay your cards on the table
And whistle (if you're able)...

OK...

Say you're dead and just don't know!
Then continue with the flow.
And Go!
Past, the Graveyard!
(Get Past, the Graveyard)

(Done with Rockette style kicks)

Turn your Depression upside down
Wear a smile, hardly ever frown!
Do as we do and whoop-we-doo
And whistle! Yes, whistle.
Past the graveyard.

Do-dee Doo-doo do!

I'm thinking this could be a duet between a Basso profundo and an Alto, tremble-a-lot oh, my. It should be sung to the tune of, well, ah, Stairway to Heaven.