Saturday, September 8, 2012
Biden in Repose: #4
Michigan Disenfranchising Illegal Alien Vote
Yeah...the title is an eye catcher for a reason. Until now, I have rolled my eyes at the Democrats who say that Voter ID requirements would disenfranchise minority voters who would be intimidated by the obligation to secure, and show ID (or some such nonsense). Personally, I believe to suggest that minorities would be hampered is denigrating to minorities. My opinion is that Voter ID would take away some (but not all) of the opportunistic cheating by the Left. Even so, the argument has, perhaps, the slightest morsel of possiblity. Not enough to consider, honestly...but a morsel.
However, in Michigan, another issue has risen, and it is hilariously telling of just why the Left is afraid of voting fraud policies such as Voter ID. Check this out:
Now, answer me one simple question. What possible objection could someone have to having to check a box stating whether the voter is a US Citizen or not? What possible motive could you have to objection to this scant responsibility? The only reason I could think of is that it would intimidate potential fraudulant voters from participating. Non-US Citizens would be hanging their butts out there just daring those who enforce the law to throw the book at them (as they should).
This isn't about having to secure a valid indentification. This isn't about the difficulty involved in driving down to the DMV to obtain a free ID. It isn't about inconvenience. It is simply about cheating, and getting caught.
And the Democrats? How do they see this simple box checking?
However, in Michigan, another issue has risen, and it is hilariously telling of just why the Left is afraid of voting fraud policies such as Voter ID. Check this out:
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson vows that a check-off box asking voters to confirm their U.S. citizenship will once again appear on November ballot applications, raising concerns among voting rights advocates who argue it’s unnecessary, intimidating and could suppress voting.That's it. All the Secretary of State wants is a check-off box on the ballot where the voter has to check "yes" or "no" when asked if they are a US Citizen. It's on the honor system. Of course, if you check "yes" and later are found to have misinformed, you have a problem with a felony violation of a Federal Law that is easily proven.
Now, answer me one simple question. What possible objection could someone have to having to check a box stating whether the voter is a US Citizen or not? What possible motive could you have to objection to this scant responsibility? The only reason I could think of is that it would intimidate potential fraudulant voters from participating. Non-US Citizens would be hanging their butts out there just daring those who enforce the law to throw the book at them (as they should).
This isn't about having to secure a valid indentification. This isn't about the difficulty involved in driving down to the DMV to obtain a free ID. It isn't about inconvenience. It is simply about cheating, and getting caught.
And the Democrats? How do they see this simple box checking?
“We should not subject 7.3 million voters to an interrogation — it’s a completely idiotic way to solve the problem,” said Jan BenDor, statewide coordinator for the affiliated Michigan Election Reform Alliance. “People are just stunned that any party would go after the building block of our democracy.”What nonsense. The only reason to object to this simple ballot alteration is that it will minorly discourage cheating. End of story.
Friday, September 7, 2012
The Oil Exploratory Two-step
A Norwegian oil and gas company is delaying plans to explore for oil offshore in the Alaska Arctic until at least 2015 because of concerns about regulatory challenges faced by rival and sometimes partner Shell Oil Co., according to a company spokesman.Oh look, it's another business wanting to get to work in the US that won't because Interior Secretary Ken Salazar keeps throwing out regulatory requirements that no one can understand or possibly apply towards a valid business plan. This one is offshore up by Alaska.
"The bottom line is, in light of the significant uncertainty regarding Alaska offshore exploration, we've decided to take what we believe is a prudent step of observing the outcome of Shell's efforts before finalizing our own exploration decision time frame," Schwartz said.In other words...StatOil is going to sit back for at least three years and watch how many hoops Salazar makes Shell Oil Company jump through to see if exploratory oil drilling is actually a feasible opportunity or just an example of the Obama administration deceiving the industry.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week announced that regulators had approved a drilling permit that allows Shell to begin construction of a single well without a key oil spill response vessel on the scene. But Shell can't drill deep enough to hit oil until the spill containment barge passes inspection in Washington state and makes it to the Arctic. The Environmental Protection Agency last week awarded Shell a one-year revised air pollution emissions permit for its Chukchi drilling rig, the Noble Discoverer.Hoops to jump through, temporary permits that can be pulled at a whim, expensive counter measures for every occasion. I'm getting the impression that Salazar wants the oil companies to heavily invest just so the EPA can pull the rug out from under them at the opportune time to cause as an egregious loss of capital as possible.
Perhaps StatOil thinks so as well:
"We do think it's important to observe whether they will be able to obtain all necessary permits, secure regulatory approvals and kind of demonstrate exploration operations can be reliably and cost efficiently conducted in the field," he said.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Biden in Repose: #3
Biden in Repose: #2
Biden in Repose: #1
"You know...I've watched a lot of cartoons, and no matter when I look, or how quick I am, I've never once seen a light bulb materialize up there."
Amish on the Slippery Slope
No big deal, right? A more stringent sect of Amish decided to do a little barbering on the Amish bishops (didn't even know they had such things) because the "flock had lost their way."CLEVELAND — The sheriff in a county with one of the nation’s biggest Amish settlements testified Wednesday that residents were upset and screaming after a community leader had his beard and hair cut by fellow Amish in a nighttime home invasion.
On the surface, it seems like a minor case in which there were some internal disagreements as to where the religion and lifestyle were headed. It happens. Opinions vary. However, there is a very big significance to this case, and it has nothing to do with the Amish.
Attorneys for the defendants have not denied that the hair cuttings took place and said in the opening statements that members of the breakaway group took action out of compassion and concern that some Amish were straying from their beliefs. Defense attorneys also contended that the Amish are bound by different rules guided by their religion and that the government shouldn’t get involved in what amounted to a family or church dispute.Ah...there's the rub. Amish are bound by different rules guided by their religion. Hmmmm...where have I heard that before? And, why does it make my stomach churn? Oh, right.
A Pennsylvania judge has dismissed charges against a Muslim man who physically attacked an atheist dressed as “Zombie Muhammad” during the Mechanicsburg, Pa. Halloween parade.
Talaag Elbayomy, a 46-year-old Muslim man, allegedly attacked Ernest Perce V, who was dressed as “Zombie Muhammad” and walking with a man dressed as “Zombie Pope” during the October parade. Both men were members of the Parading Atheists of Central Pennsylvania.Are you getting it now? A judge in Pennsylvania decided to apply Sharia Law (Islamic Law) to a case in PA and let the defendant skate because he had beeen blasphemized or some such nonsense.
Judge Mark Martin threw out a grainy video of the attack and explained that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Elbayomy of the harassment charge.
Martin further dressed down Perce for his insensitive behavior, going so far as to call him a doofus and telling him that in Muslim societies he could have been put to death for mocking Muhammad.You can bet the US Clerics of the Muslim faith are watching this Cleveland Amish case. Because if the defense is ruled valid by the Court...well, let's just hope that doesn't happen.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Massachusetts is Disenfranchised !!!
Having lived in New Hampshire for a number of years, I was alway amused, and then annoyed by all the Massachusetts Liberals who would bus it up to New Hampshire on election day. At the time, the law stated that anyone could register to vote on the very day of the General Election without ID. So, of course, Liberals from Massachusetts came up in droves to put the Democrat candidate(s) over the top.
Not this year.
Not this year.
CONCORD – The U.S. Department of Justice has given the okay to the state's new photo identification law for upcoming elections.The current governor of New Hampshire (a Democrat by the way) vetoed the bill previously, but the legislature was eventually able to get enough support to over turn the veto. Interestingly enough, after five terms as governor, John Lynch is not running again in 2012 (the cynic in me says this is because, ummm, he's a Democrat in a pretty Conservative state that, until 2012 had a deluge of Massachusetts Democrats coming up to vote for him...but they can't anymore).
The federal government had until Tuesday to make a decision on the law that will require voters to have a photo identification to vote beginning in November's general election.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Semantics and the Illegal Immigrant
Let me correct that for you. Ten ILLEGAL immigrants. Undocumented implies that they don't have identification. They probably wouldn't have gotten that close to the convention if they didn't have identification. They were only on block away. The question is...just whose identification did they have?CHARLOTTE, N.C. Ten undocumented immigrants were arrested Tuesday afternoon after sitting down in an uptown intersection and refusing police orders to disperse.
Since Mecklenburg County participates in the federal 287 (g) program, which screens all arrestees for immigration status, all those arrested Tuesday stand the chance of being deported.
I'm not too broken up about that.
Let's Get This Freakshow Started!!!
Vice President Joe Biden had to be taken aside and delicately informed that, no, he is not in the movie Top Gun, and that pinching his wife's posterior every time he shouts "Goose" is not something to which a Vice President should aspire.
Media Sychophancy Requires an Amazing Imagination
"As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power." KEPT
A natural gas pipeline starting in Alaska has made progress under the Obama administration, while the stimulus invested in clean coal technology. The president has also stepped up nuclear safety reviews in the U.S. and also invested in international efforts to improve nuclear safety.
The Keystone Pipeline?!?!?!?! Obama has "MADE PROGRESS" in that regard? I don't think so. What he did was shut down the northern portion of that project under the guise of "further study being necessary." In fact, all the way up until March 9, 2012 he was lobbying hard against allowing the southern portion to proceed. 22 days later, he was taking credit for TransCanada proceeding with a campaign stop in Oklahoma. Incidentally, he argued against the entire project when he was in the Senate.
I, also, find it amusing that the promise from Obama was to find ways to safely harness Nuclear Energy (which we already have instituted, by the way)...and the CBS cheerleader thinks this is a fulfilled promise because the "president has stepped up safety reviews." Ummm...apples in oranges. The president isn't pioneering ways to harness nuclear energy...he is increasing the beaucracy by having myriad due diligence inspections pepper the industry.
As far as the coal industry goes....ask West Virginia how they feel about Obama's investments. He is slowly (or not so slowly) cramming EPA requirements down their throats, and sabotaging the entire industry, just like he said he would at a San Francisco campaign stop that wasn't meant for public consumption.
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Perfect Murder...
(Here is another post from that previous blog. It's several years old, but still valid) It occurs to me that tonight I have finally pieced together the perfect murder. Undeniably, and without the necessity of modesty, I can assure you that it is, not only, fool proof, but a work of, absolute simplicity. Location is not important. Witnesses are not an issue. |
A knife, an ice pick, a gun, a baseball bat, poison, it doesn’t matter the tool. The subway, a busy city street, the board room, in the middle of the convocation of the Policeman’s Benevolent Ball, it doesn’t matter where. A conviction of murder in any degree would not be considered. It could not.
Ahhhh….but the question of “who” is key. The murderer must be of a certain and specific pedigree. “Who” is the plan, the act, and the success all wrapped up in a neat little package. “Who” is everything.
I can guarantee you that the perpetrator of the murder would not, even, be alone when he plunged the knife, pulled the trigger or leveled the club. He would, more than likely, be arms length from a witness who could identify him with unimaginable clarity. That witness would have no difficulty convincing the authorities as to the identity of the culprit. More importantly, the accused would be taken into custody, almost, immediately. The suspect could hold a press conference and state with unequivocal confidence that, yes, he committed the murder. And yet, there is nothing that the police could do.
How?
Simple. Conjoined twins. Provided they share a common and needed body organ that prevents surgical separation there is no way to incarcerate one of the twins without infringing on the rights of the other. So you see, the perfect murder has nothing to do with the planning or the act. It has, everything to do with the defense.
The Great Pierre Bruneseau
| (I wrote this on a previous experiment of a blog a number of years ago. I liked it, and I'm still getting the logistics settled here. So...here's something to pontificate over...) Some of the world’s most accomplished explorers never really received the acclaim that they deserved. Despite the intricate mapping and intense dedication to their exploratory task, you wouldn’t know their undertakings. You wouldn’t even know their names. Such is the case with Pierre Bruneseau. |
His task was a land that had been known for nearly 400 years. However, no one had risen to the challenge of making it more familiar. Napoleon, a man basked in self-importance, was truly impressed that Bruneseau had the persistence and fortitude to, not only, take on the endeavor, but complete it with such brilliance. The area explored was considerably more ample in comparison to, say, Rhode Island. That miniscule State is about 40 miles long and 30 miles wide. Bruneseau covered nearly 1,300 miles in his intricate set of maps. It was a marvel. Bruneseau was a phenomenon. And, still, you have never heard of him.
Pierre Bruneseau had a very good friend who was well known at the time. His friend is described for posterity as a genius of sorts. He had a true gift for capturing the moment on paper. He applied his art intertwined in the steep history of his homeland. His accomplishments are lauded in the present as he was in the past if not more so. I could tell you his name and you would know it in a second. You can see the influence of his greatest accomplishments in some of the largest (and smallest) cities all over the world. I know you’ve seen his work in one form or another. You might not have read anything by this writer, but I hope you do some day. He was quite wonderful.
The friend of Pierre Bruneseau was a writer, a novelist, a poet, a dramatist and one of the best French Romantic authors of all time. His works include Hernani, Marion de Lorme, and The King Takes his Amusement. You might not know any of those. Perhaps you have read Han of Iceland, or maybe Bug Jargal.
No?
Well, have you ever had the opportunity to witness a little show called Les Miserables? Per chance, have you had the pleasure of turning the pages of The Hunchback of Notre Dame? If so, then you know this author. You know Victor Marie Hugo.
More importantly, you are familiar with one of Pierre Bruneseau’s close friends. In fact, provided that you are familiar with Les Miserables, you have intimate knowledge of Pierre Bruneseau’s most extraordinary accomplishment for it is soundly and profoundly represented within that superb tale.
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Hugo, even, described his friend's undiscovered land as "tortuous, fissured,...interrupted by quagmires, rising and falling illogically, fetid, savage, wild."
Hugo had the gift of tempting your imagination in the way he brings poignant scene after poignant scene from Les Miserables to life with extraordinary detail. The rebels on the barricade fighting against all odds had you there in the rubble. The description of Javert invokes memories of comparable contempt. The setting of, protagonist, Jean Valjean stumbling through the underground of Paris with a wounded rebel draped over his shoulder transfers the pain.
It, also, transfers something else.
Hugo provided incredible detail of the underground sewers of Paris known as the cloaca. Pierre Bruneseau was, no doubt, his consultant in that regard. For you see, Pierre Bruneseau knew those sewers better than most Parisians knew the streets above. He mapped them for posterity. He mapped all 1,300 miles of those labyrinths. Upon completion of this voluminous task in 1812, he was lauded all throughout France as "The Christopher Columbus of the cloaca."
Sometimes the most undiscovered of all lands is right under our feet.
Hugo had the gift of tempting your imagination in the way he brings poignant scene after poignant scene from Les Miserables to life with extraordinary detail. The rebels on the barricade fighting against all odds had you there in the rubble. The description of Javert invokes memories of comparable contempt. The setting of, protagonist, Jean Valjean stumbling through the underground of Paris with a wounded rebel draped over his shoulder transfers the pain.
It, also, transfers something else.
Hugo provided incredible detail of the underground sewers of Paris known as the cloaca. Pierre Bruneseau was, no doubt, his consultant in that regard. For you see, Pierre Bruneseau knew those sewers better than most Parisians knew the streets above. He mapped them for posterity. He mapped all 1,300 miles of those labyrinths. Upon completion of this voluminous task in 1812, he was lauded all throughout France as "The Christopher Columbus of the cloaca."
Sometimes the most undiscovered of all lands is right under our feet.
The Elusive Microbe of Methane
The researchers suggest that microbes isolated from the rest of the world since the ice closed over them, some 35 million years ago, have kept busy digesting organic matter and making methane—a much more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
If global warming causes the ice sheets to retreat in the coming decades or centuries, the researchers warn, some of the methane could belch into the atmosphere, amplifying the warming.
Wow...interesting. However, read a little further in the National Geographic piece and you stumble on cold hard reality.
Jemma Wadham of the University of Bristol, England, and her colleagues have not actually detected methane-producing microbes under the Antarctic ice sheet. They haven't detected methane either—though they are participating in drilling projects that could do so later this year.
Just so we're clear. This hasn't been proven. It's a theory. But, that doesn't stop the hysterical alerts from flying.
Wadham and her colleagues calculate there could be anywhere from 70 to 390 billion tons of carbon in hydrates under the East Antarctic ice sheet, and a few tens of billions of tons under West Antarctica. (The methane there may have been made by geothermal heating of sediments rather than microbes.)
The cynic in me wants to point out that this would be a wonderful way to try and influence various countries to avoid drilling for natural resources in Antarctica. Too late on trying to influence the Russians, however.
Russia has been busy with oil exploration in Antarctica. Interestingly enough, they drilled down over four (4) kilometers into a sub-glacial lake that has not been exposed to the surface for nearly 10 to 20 million years. Guess what...no methane.
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