Month: December 2010

A New Life!

We are always on the look out for a new form of life to which we can extend our dominion over…….and so the scientist search and search and look and look….and all their hard work has found a……you guessed it!….A new life  form!

Leave it to the Rocket Scientists at NASA……..

In a press conference held at NASA’s Washington D.C. headquarters, scientists announced that they had discovered a new form of bacteria, known as GFAJ-1, in California’s Mono Lake that has DNA completely foreign to anything ever before found on Earth. It substitutes arsenic at the DNA level for phosphorus.

That would distinguish it from every other form of life known to man, all of which, no matter how diverse, is comprised of the same six elements, phosphorus, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. But the bacteria found in Mono Lake–which is known for its unusual chemistry, including very high levels of salinity, alkalinity, and arsenic–is made partly of arsenic, and has no phosphorus in its DNA.

NASA feels that this discovery is important because it will help scientists with many areas of future research, such as the “study of Earth’s evolution, organic chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, disease mitigation, and Earth system research. These findings also will open up new frontiers in microbiology and other areas of research.” 

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20024450-52.html#ixzz16zQOlMBr

A new life form?  How long will it take man to screw up this find?  On a more positive side….there is the possibility of new members for the Tea Party…..or some preacher to give this some sort of religious overtones?  (and you thought I could not make this into some political statement….HA!  Ye of little faith!)

Your Democracy At Work

First of all, I am NOT positive that it is working….but that is for another post…..and NO!…I never get tired of pointing out the total crap that our politicians call democracy…….WE CAN DO BETTER!

We all have an idea how the government is suppose to work……none of it is how it will work in reality….it is being said that the last mid-term election shows that the voters are wanting Washington to work and that the problems of the country are solved….the voter replaced many reps that had been there long enough to be a fixture…all be3cause the people wanted some sort of compromise in the Capital and that the issues would be more important than the bickering…….

How did we do?  McClatchy-Marist survey,

According to the poll, 72 percent of registered voters say congressional Republicans should work with their Democratic counterparts and the president to get things done, with one in four saying that Republicans should stand firm on their positions even if things don’t get done.The survey indicates a partisan divide on the issue, with 94 percent of Democrats saying the GOP should cooperate with Obama and congressional Democrats, with more seven in ten independent voters agreeing. But Republicans appear divided, with 49 percent saying the two sides should try to reach common ground and 47 percent saying that GOP leaders should stick to their beliefs even if it causes political gridlock.

Fifty-one percent of self-described Tea Party movement supporters say they want Republicans stand firm while 45 percent say the GOP should try and seek compromise.

There you have it….the American voter wants a bi-partisan approach to government….will they get their wish?

The same survey found….

A new McClatchy-Marist Poll finds just 28% of voters think the Republicans in Congress will negotiate with President Obama and Democrats. Instead, 64% believe the Republicans will hold fast to their positions and 7% are unsure.

Lots of  promises during the campaigns and lots of promises after the election…..the voter wants the government to work as it should….as an agent of the people and the country….the voter is cynical of the politicians….and yet…they vote for the same type every time…it is insanity…but unfortunately…that is what we Americans are best known for by many…….

So no matter what happens in “Foggy Bottom”…..it will be politics as usual…that is the voter has NO say once the election is over…….enjoy!

Finally, A Conserv With Cajones!

It is my ALL Palin Day!

Sarah Palin has been making the news a lot…..she is a master at making everything about her and nothing about real issues….there has been speculation that she may throw her wig into the fray for the GOP nomination….there are many in Washington that are afraid of Palin…not the person but the persona and what her loyal following would do if they were to speak out on her shortcomings…..most think that it would be disastrous in 2012….and we know how they are drooling at the possibility that they could win the White house…..and so, they remain silent on Palin…..

But finally there is a conserv that has nothing to lose by speaking up and out….that conserv is Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe…..and boy has he spoke out!  Read his opinion piece in the Politico…..

politico.com/news/stories/1…

I give Joe two thumbs up for being a concerned conserv and that he is willing to speak out, something his counterparts in Congress are too yellow to do…..Kudos!

2010 Info Ink Book Review #6

From time to time I am given a book that someone thinks that I will appreciate or dislike, usually as a gag gift…last year a conserv friend gave me Sarah Palin’s first book, which I thrashed and now that same well-meaning person is at it again…..this time it is her new book….

America By Heart:  Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag

It has been out now for awhile and all the speculation about her timing, her future is just noise by the media…..is she afraid of the larger cities…..seems a serious author would be jumping at the chance to show their stuff…..and there is the answer….a serious author…..it is about the cash….nothing else….no substance and no information….just attacks and convenient facts……

First of all, not a hard read if you have the IQ and reading skills  of a 12 year old…….a good way to waste an afternoon……

Second, just I thought….it was all about attacks on the pres and the Dems with a few references to famed political types in the past…such as Plato and Tocqueville, who she was so proud of for writing on the American exceptionalism that she overlooked the fact that he said there was NO, I repeat NO party of principles in the US…that somehow did not make her point so she eliminated it from her (with lots of help) thinking…..

As the face of the Tea Party she did what anyone would expect her to do….come to the rescue and defend the movement from attacks of various types.  At one point she chastised people for demonizing the TP, while she demonized the President and Dems……this is typical Palin spin and rhetoric….lots of cutesy but NO substance…..she just does not have what it takes to be a politico…..

One of my fav parts of this book  (I use the term loosely) was her attacks on Reality TV she calls them a “cult of self-esteem”……but wait!  She has a reality show on TLC and her daughter is on DWTS….this type of double standard is what she and her political rhetoric are all about….NOT centered in reality!

As usual she pointing out all that was wrong with the Obama presidency….and as usual with Conservs did not offer any substantive solutions….just endless criticism…..Her reflections are trite and puerile and if you were expecting anything other than that….you need a shrink!

The only saving grace was that it was a gift and I did not have to waste my money on this endeavor….all in all a complete waste of time….nothing informative and certainly not entertaining…….my advice is if you want something interesting and informative to read…try the closest port-a-potty!

Is It All Just Silliness?

WikiLeaks!…….now here is the subject of the week……everyone has an opinion on what is to be done with this Assange dude that has leaked these quarter million documents…I have heard that he is guilty of treason or something just as strong…..as I think back to the release of the “Pentagon Papers” by Daniel Ellsberg (yes I am that old!) I recall hearing a bunch of the same criticism….that Ellsberg was killing American soldiers or that it would harm our diplomatic mission for years to come…..on and on and on……

To begin with…this latest release of previously secret documents is mostly gossip, NOT intel of any kind….I mean when you have emails or the like that calls Sarkozy a “naked emperor”…..that is NOT something that is classified……yes there has been some released that could be seen as some sort of secret….. but treason?

I heard Mike Huckabee say that the person releasing these was guilty of treason and should be executed…..made me think back…..some little toad named Scooter outed an active CIA agent named Plame…..did anyone on the Right call for him to be executed?  Do not hurt yourself….NO THEY DID NOT!  Even though it is a massive crime to do so…..this is just a political football….it is a use of news to make points back home and reinforce the idea of “American Exceptionalism”……..

But the airwaves are full of people, some well intentioned, calling for someone’s head….mostly the head of Assange….but ask yourself this…..

How did a lowly PFC get access to all this info if we have such a good security system in place for our computer system that is so basic to our national security?  And now the US has changed the way info is accessed…kinda like closing the proverbial barn door after the cows have made their escape……and is NO one looking at the higher ups that allowed this type of thing to happen?  I mean the Minister of Defense in S. Korea resigned after the N. Korea attack last week….why is the US placing the blame solely on the shoulders of this lowly analyst….apparently it was not that hard to retrieve the info….someone at the top was asleep at the wheel….and they are the REAL criminals in this continuing saga……I am sure this is FAR from over!

Another point…..this is being used to avoid talking about the real issues that face Americans….lack of jobs, a struggling economy……it is all smoke and mirrors….hoping that the American people will feel betrayed by someone other than their elected officials…..nice try….but it does not work…..well maybe on idiots!

“Cut The Head Off The Snake”

You know that every time we try to get more democracy going in the Middle East we are told to mind our own business and that they will do things in their own time…..(a paraphrase….sort of…..).  The Saudis refuse to give women a chance to be more than second class citizens……or to let them vote or drive or do anything on their own…….

Off the subject for a minute…..I will get back to the point….eventually…..

Wikileaks is all the rage this weekend……everybody in the government is all a twitter about secret documents being released to us, the unwashed masses…..enough about that….in a cable or email or whatever there is one from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia…….

In a report of a 2008 meeting with U.S. General David Petraeus, the Saudi ambassador to Washington said King Abdullah wanted the White House ‘to cut the head off the snake’ before Iran developed nuclear weapons and threatened its neighbours in the Middle East.

The secret document revealed that the Saudis demanded ‘severe U.S. and international sanctions on Iran, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending’.

It added that ‘the use of military pressure against Iran should not be ruled out’.

Let me see if I get this right…….they do not want us to interfere in their “internal” affairs but they want us to attack Iran…….is that about it?
Let me see Saudi buys a massive amount of planes, tanks, arms, and do-dahs from the US….may I suggest that if they want Iran dealt with then maybe they should stop hiding behind their women’s skirts and do it themselves…..Why is it up to the US to do the dirty work?