"" Running Rabbit: May 2012
DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT A BLOG CAN EXIST WITHOUT TRAFFIC, AND PROOF THAT SUCH CONCEPT IS WORKABLE, IS IN THE WORKS HERE, AND SHALL CONTINUE ON IN OBSCURITY FOR PERPETUITY.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Reichsfluchtsteuer

It is a problem I have contemplated facing, the US government wants us to pay to opt out. And, if the liberals have their way, we will have to pay even more.

"I think Schumer can probably find the legislation to do this. It existed in Germany in the 1930s and Rhodesia in the ’70s and in South Africa as well,” Mr. Norquist said. “He probably just plagiarized it and translated it from the original German."
The Reichsfluchsteuer, or Reich flight tax, that the Nazis imposed on Jews trying to flee in the 1930s was 25 percent; Mr. Schumer and his Senate colleague Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, want 30 percent. Give Mr. Schumer some credit for creativity, Mr. Norquist; the New Yorker did not just translate, he also raised the rate.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

TAM

Now here's something completely improbable. A skeptics convention. Don't doubt its existence, or do, I'm not sure.

The Amazing Meeting.

Actually, in a quirky and obscure way, it sounds like fun.  If it turns out to be essentially a collection of ombudsmen for all things science and quasi-science it may be just the thing for our times. I'd be attending as an outsider, if I went. And, while I find myself sympathetic to the cause, I doubt that I would ever fit in.  However, if my net worth suddenly increased to where the money was not an issue, I would attend was all my curiosity turned on.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Time For Last For Rites For OWS

If you aren't old enough to remember the Beatles and the British Pop Invasion, then you may no get this reference, but the Occupy Wall Street fad was to the Tea Party what the Monkees were to the Beatles. And, while I mean to highlight the manufactured nature of both second comings, the comparison isn't fair to the Monkees who were likeable and in the end actually had some talent and integrity. The Monkees were not content with the concocted bubble they existed within, they wanted their individuality, and they wanted to show that they had an earned place at the table; Mike Nesmith has done the most with his ambition and effort. But, they all transcended the reactionary bubble they were created within. Maybe some individuals from the Occupy madness will also take their fervent desires to better heights, but mostly they are now marked for what the group as a whole has been shown to be; a desperate attempt to counter the citizens revolt that is the Tea Party. The Beatles lead an invasion of British bands and showcase real American music to Americans, slick media types must have an American response they can manipulate; enter the Monkees. The Tea Party retro-patriotism mushrooms as citizens of all political affiliation congeal in response as governments at all levels  lose there American way and threaten to economically derail our great experiment; the propagandists create the Occupy Wall Street mayhem.

Walter Russel Mead has more on the demise of OWS.

Much of the Tea Party’s influence was negative from a Republican point of view: weak Senate candidates nominated by Tea Party enthusiasm dragged the GOP down to defeat in Delaware and Nevada races. In other cases, Tea Party enthusiasm increased turnout and swung close races to the GOP. But like it or loathe it the Tea Party did — and does — make a difference. Politicians seek its support; its leaders have taken over local party organizations and made waves in race after race across the country.

OWS is not in the same league. Despite generally favorable coverage from the MSM (something the Tea Party has never had), OWS has essentially fallen apart. It is not a significant presence on the streets; it is not a significant presence in Democratic Party politics; it is not a significant presence in the national conversation. Its vaunted strategy of shunning conventional politics in favor of self organizing groups making decisions from day to day more or less evanesced into space while the Tea Party, equally anarchic, did in fact spawn the kinds of movements and political changes that the OWS crowd did not.
I will always feel a sense of despair that the Tea Party is believed to be equivalent to the Republican Party, I did not feel that I was signing on to the GOP when I attended a local Tea Party rally, (my first and only political demonstration ever, I began voting in 1972, never before did I feel the cause warranted my presence),  But, that is where the media pigeonholed them, and Lord knows what the media wants the masses will accept. The masses are such lemmings. The Tea Party transcended any Party, and to a great extent remain unaffiliated, look at how many old school pols decry what they are doing to the traditional methods of Party, the Tea Baggers are carrying the day where corrupt practices and blind obedience failed us.

But, dealing with media propaganda is nothing new, or going away soon. So, let those fools ply their trade, and let the lemmings parade off the cliff with them. They will tell you it isn't so, yet, but the the OWS phenomenon is on life support provided by that media. It should not recover, it serves no purpose as constructed. If there is a legitimate argument to be made about income disparity, and capital, then now is not a good time to bring it forward; the Occupy crowd has fouled the waters of reason as surely as they fouled the streets with excrement, rape, violence and general foolishness. It is time to pull the plug on them, they are done.
 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Explaining The Joke.

So, a story appears in the local paper today about a woman scorned who hits her ex=lover in the face with a sledge hammer in retaliation.

In my mind nothing needs to be said about this story, obviously, the woman is a loser and her methods are truly unacceptable.

And, then there is the comments section. Where one man reiterates the running joke, the sledge hammer should be outlawed. And, then that is followed by someone who allows that they don't get the joke. So, I explained it.

Here are the comments:


SNOWBIRD27 writes:
Geez. She could have used a gun instead, right?
naplesconservative writes:
in response to SNOWBIRD27:
Geez. She could have used a gun instead, right?
Now we need to ban sledge hammers so this does not happen again.

Patriot_1 writes:
in response to naplesconservative:
Now we need to ban sledge hammers so this does not happen again.
WTH? Nobody is even suggesting a ban on guns... so why are you right-wing extremists so paranoid about it? It makes you look silly and whiny.

OP writes:
in response to Patriot_1:
WTH? Nobody is even suggesting a ban on guns... so why are you right-wing extremists so paranoid about it? It makes you look silly and whiny.
It is awful to have to explain a joke, but, because you are special...
Background- There is a long running dispute about whether the gun or the man is to blame when somebody gets shot. One side blames the gun and wants them banned, The other side says, no, it is the man who misused the gun who is to blame. The first party remains unmoved by the logic of the second party.
So, the joke is that any inanimate object should be banned, in the logic of the first party, if it is used as a weapon. In this case, the inanimate object is a sledge hammer. But, the same mocking connection can be made with any inanimate object which is used as a weapon. And, so, to further elaborate; this is a running joke meant to parody the nonsensical approach of members of the first party who wish to ban guns when banning guns will not eliminate violence.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Photo: These Are The Ones Who Killed Bin Laden

According to Obama, that is to say.
















I am reminded of the night we learned that Osama was dead. As the event continuously ran across the bottom of a television, those of use in the local English Pub were praising Biden for flying in there, probably without even needing an aircraft or map, and doing the deed himself. We were, of course, already mocking the Obama administration for the self-congratulation which we all knew they would heap upon themselves. Events since that night, especially including those leading up the anniversary of the killing have proven us to be correct. Obama would have all the credit; forget the decade of work that came before, forget the soldiers who risked it all to go there, forget any contribution to this long awaited event from any other person except Obama.

I blame George Bush for Osama's death. And, in these Orwellian times I get to define blame as I choose. I choose to define it in this case as giving President Bush credit for establishing the basis which lead to the discovery of OBL's hideout, and for the intelligence and training of the military which did the deed.

Obama would have us only focus on his part in the matter, but, truth be told, giving that order was the easiest part of the entire mission. Anyone who would not have given the go ahead to kill that beast does not deserve to call themselves American. And, having said that, I will share my suspicion about Obama's actual order.  I contend that there exists the strong probability that what Obama ordered was an order to capture Osama Bin Laden, and it is when the soldiers defied that order and took him out instead that Hillary covered her face in disbelief, shocked that the Emperor's orders were ignored.

a carrot to- iOwn The World

Saturday, May 5, 2012


















I've spent too many nights trying to get my pro-abortion sister to accept that abortion did kill babies. This new movie, showing in selected theaters, enhances my argument. Not that it would ever change her mind. I don't even ask that she disapprove of abortion, just that she admit the obvious; they are babies.

October Baby...is a film about Hannah, a 19 year old girl who discovers she was adopted after surviving a botched abortion. Along with some friends she sets out on a quest to discover her birth mother.
Jason Burkey, the lead actor who plays Hannah’s lifelong friend Jason Bradley, told the Gazette that while there were times they wondered if the film would ever be made, it was an enlightening experience for him.
“Prior to reading the script, I never knew there was such a thing as abortion survivors,” Burkey said.  “I didn't realize those two words went together.  And Jon wasn't either until he met an abortion survivor and heard her speak. He was floored by her story and that is what inspired him to produce the film.”
 On a further political point, Obama would have had this film's character killed. No, really, he legislated it to be so.

While the film’s character survived an abortion, it is fortunate the character was not born during the time Obama was a state senator in Illinois.
During his time in the Illinois legislature, a bill was introduced that would have given children such as Hannah and Jesson legal protections including the right to medical care. The reasoning was the woman’s right to choose ended once the child was born.
However, Obama opposed the bill on the grounds that it would place an “undue burden on the mother.” The reasoning among abortion supporters is that, since the choice to kill the baby was made prior to it being born, that choice should be honored even if the baby survived.
Nurses have reported they were ordered to take these living children into a dark room and leave them alone to die.
Burkey acknowledged the film could draw attention to the issue of Obama supporting what Newt Gingrich called “infanticide,” however, he said that was not the intent of the film.
“We knew that the topic of abortion survivors is an important issue and that it would stir up some things on both sides of the issue, however, we didn't time it to be released to coincide with the November elections, it just happened to be that way,” Burkey said. “The goal from the outset was to tell a powerful character driven story that just happens to be about an abortion survivor which is a very real thing. This is a very crucial time for it to come out.”

Microburst of Wind Blows Off Roof














As reported in the paper of record for Greeley, Colorado, a local home suffered this unusual wind damage.

the home’s residents were not home at the time of the incident and passers-by had reported what they thought to be a explosion to the nearby neighborhood fire station, prompting the fire crews initiating the fire crews response.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Shadows Of Twelve Monkeys Possibilities

H5N1 Tweeks may be published.

Kawaoka's team delved into the H5N1 strain of avian flu, which caused a health scare in Hong Kong in 1997 and still surfaces sporadically today.
H5N1 spreads easily among poultry and wild birds but is hard to transmit to humans. When it does, it is brutal, killing more than one infected person in two.
So, the controversy is over whether publishing the reports of the research will constitute a health risk from terrorist groups following the information provided to create a super virus pandemic.

Nature showed journalists a report from "a bio-defence agency outside the US", which it declined to name, that said the benefits of publication outweighed the risks.
"This information could be used by an aggressor and shows one of the building blocks for the development of a potential BW [biowarfare] weapon," the report said.
"[Such skill] is a demanding capability, probably beyond the capacity of the majority of those groupings of concern," it said.
"On the other hand, not publishing this information would slow, or even block, the development of a vaccine against a virus that still has the potential to mutate naturally to a pandemic form, which could cause huge numbers of fatalities worldwide."
Touching on the tension between freedom of expression and scientific responsibility, Nature said it was "desirable" to have a forum such as NSABB but in this case the panel had over-reacted.
"There are justified concerns among the research community about the NSABB's processes, and these processes should be reviewed."

Headline of The Day- Man Exposes Himself at Association For The Blind

If a tree falls in the woods...

Apparently that analogy does apply when the woman present can see.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Real War On Women Comes From The Left

So, as with much of progressive policies, this one is chock full of unintended consequences. Unionizing childcare will force moms to chose between staying home and raising kids in a safe environment, or hiring pricey and potentially unqualified/dangerous individuals to watch their babies while they work — paying excessively high taxes while they do so.

When Will The Masses Say Enough To Occupy Thugery

It is one thing to speak out for a cause, it is another to foment anarchy and non civil behavior.

For all that is said of the Tea Party, they did behave with maturity; the Ocupuppies don't want to be responsible citizens, they want to be the biggest brat on the school yard.

Dopamine and Effort Connection

Slackers beware, increasing your Dopamine levels could lead you actually try.

Did the ancients fly? Discuss among yourselves.

We Have A Space Plane?

Secret project to me.

The

mysterious X-37B spaceplane

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Sixto Rodriquez, The Not Forgotten

I can not recall a movie that fully captured a man; I do not have expectations that the one about the musician who gave it all up to live a regular working life will be the first.

Today is the first time I listened to his music, and I find it worthy of my time.





Slim, Chance Not His Legacy

When the poker boom happened my memory harkened back to a name I had heard many years before, Amarillo Slim, and as legends of the game were paraded before us watching the televised games that name was missing. As I recalled Slim was the best, but there was no explanation for his absence from the scene. Today I learned why he was not lauded with the others; he plead guilty to molesting his grand daughter. Slim died this past week, and it was only in his story as told by a man who knew him that this awful episode came to my attention.