Nobel Peace Prize?

Nobel Peace Prize?

The standards seemed to have dropped dramatically. At least Jimmy Carter brokered a peace deal between Egypt and Israel--a real accomplishment. As this opinion piece over at Fox News points out, nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize closed on February 1--so Obama's Nobel Peace Prize are based on his actions running for President and 12 days of being President of the United States during which time the most major action he took was...promising to close Gitmo in a year. And now he's doing his best to back down from that promise now.

UPDATE: The more I think about this, the more angry I get. It's yet another reminder that Obama is the Affirmative Action President. A white politician with his thin resume and nothing more than an ability to look good and speak (when he has a teleprompter) would never have won the Democratic nomination. (Think Senator John Edwards, for approximately the white equivalent.)

If Obama's speeches had actually led to an outbreak of peace somewhere, anywhere, this might make some sense. But so far, he has accomplished exactly nothing except to look good and sound good. No peace has resulted from his actions or speeches--not even a lessening of hostilities. The only progress has been in Iraq--and that progress is limited, and largely the result of corrective actions taken (almost too late) by the Bush Administration. If a white politician had accomplished as little as Obama, he would simply not have been considered a serious candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

You know what the biggest problem with affirmative action is? It is essentially a demonstration that white liberals don't think that blacks are capable of very much. It's like giving little Johnny an A on his arithmetic test even though he didn't get the right answer on 30% of the problems because you don't really think little Johnny is smart enough to get the right answers--and you want to make little Johnny feel good about himself.

Even more sad: there are plenty of blacks in this country who are perfectly capable of competing in a fair contest, and doing very well. But the racism that is at the core of white liberalism prefers not to see those successes--because then, white liberals would have to abandon their patronizing, "There, there, you did just great, little Johnny" tone of elitist condescension and superiority.

Watch NASA Make Things Go Boom

Watch NASA Make Things Go Boom

From October 8, 2009 CNN:

NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite is scheduled to drop its Centaur upper-stage rocket on the lunar surface at 7:31 a.m. ET.

NASA hopes the impact will kick up enough dust to help the LCROSS probe find the presence of water in the moon's soil. Four minutes later, the LCROSS will follow through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before crashing into the Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole.

The LCROSS is carrying spectrometers, near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. These instruments will help NASA scientists analyze the plume of dust -- more than 250 metric tons' worth -- for water vapor.

...

"We expect the debris plumes to be visible through midsized backyard telescopes -- 10 inches and larger," said Brian Day at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Day is an amateur astronomer who is leading education and public outreach for the LCROSS mission.

Assuming I wake up early enough, I'll roll Big Bertha 2.0 out for a look see.

The Nigerian Scammers Are Getting Less Intelligent, I Fear

The Nigerian Scammers Are Getting Less Intelligent, I Fear

This latest one claims to be from the FBI, offering to help you legally obtain the money that they warn you, would otherwise be unlawfully transferred:

GOOD DAY TO YOU

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
ROOM 4-230, KALANIANAOLE FOB300 ALA MOANA BOULEVARD HONOLULU,
HAWAII 96850-0053.USA.
http://www.fbi.gov
Attn:Honorable Beneficiary.

We the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI Honolulu) United States Of
America have discovered through our intelligence monitoring network that
you have a transaction going on as either inheritance payment,or contract
payment in a tone of Millions of United States Dollars which has been
approved but has not been settled.

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract /
inheritance file after close monitoring and found out the reasons you have
not received your payment,both on your part and on the part of your
debtors. Secondly we have been informed that you are still dealing with
the non- officials in the bank who are attempting to secure the release of
your fund to you.

We wish to let you know that this is illegal and you should stop further
communication with them forthwith because such an illegal act can lead to
cancellation of your fund. we have been having so many complains from
people who have been scammed around the world hence,after a meeting with
members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we came to a conclusion
that every payment will be made through the Central Bank Of Nigeria
(FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA).

We also agreed on the use of ELECTRONIC ATM PAYMENT SYSTEM as the only
direct means to pay all beneficiaries. By this method,your funds will be
loaded in two batches into an ATM card, and send to you. From this card
you can withdraw a maximum of us$9,500 per day from any ATM machine
worldwide. So if you would like to receive your funds in this way please
send the following information to the paying bank.

1. Full name
2. Full address (P.O box not acceptable)
3. Phone and fax numbers
4.Your balance payment
5. Your age, sex and current occupation

Below are the contact details of the PAYING BANK(CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA)
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA to whom you will send your information for the
processing of the ATM card as soon as possible:

CONTACT PERSON
Rev. Ademola Ejiofor,
HEAD OF OPERATIONS,ATM CARD PAYMENT SYSTEM
DEBT SETTLEMENT COMMISSION,
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.370 CHURCH STREET,
PRETORIA,E144QJ ABUJA- NIGERIA.
EMAIL: revademolaejied@yahoo.co.jp

The DEBT SETTLEMENT COMMISSION has been mandated to issue out your
payments for this fiscal year 2009. Also for your information, you have to
stop any further communication with any other person(s) or office(s) who
claim that to be established agent using it to defraud innocent people
worldwide.This is to avoid any delay in receiving your payment.
THANKS FOR LISTENING TO OUR
ADVICE
Faithfully Yours,
MR S. MUELLER, III
FOR CORPORATE AFFAIRS
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
(FBI Honolulu)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

So, here's the question: is there any American, anywhere, that is both stupid enough to be taken in by something this bad, and yet smart enough to afford a postage stamp?

The Past Is Another Country

The Past Is Another Country

And you don't have to spend much time reading through books about early America to realize how different it was. I was reading James W. North, The History of Augusta, From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time… (Augusta, Me.: Clapp & North, 1870), and I found an account at pp. 493-5 of a Henry McCausland who became insane in 1793, with religious delusions. He became convinced that he needed to beg God's pardon with a burnt offering and a human sacrifice. So he burnt down a church, and stabbed a woman to death. He pleaded guilty at trial, but was found not guilty reason of insanity. He then the next thirty-six years in jail (until his death), where he became a tourist attraction. Thousands came to look at him, and hear him tell the tale of how he killed a “wicked woman” and burned down a church. Admission fees helped to cover his costs of confinement.

Obama Is Serious About Immigration Law

Obama Is Serious About Immigration Law

Well, at least he's serious about making sure that there aren't enough police enforcing the law. From the October 7, 2009 Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration is curbing the powers of an Arizona sheriff who has led one of the most contentious fights against illegal immigrants.

Under an agreement involving local enforcement of federal immigration law, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies will no longer have the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in the streets in the course of their duty.

Now, if you think that this is just aimed at Sheriff Arpaio, whose deputies have been accused of "racial profiling," you are thinking wrong:

Homeland Security announced in July that all localities participating in the enforcement program -- more than 60 from Alabama to California -- would have to sign revised enforcement deals by Oct. 15. Unlike others participating in the program, Mr. Arpaio will be restricted to determining the immigration status of inmates booked into Maricopa County jails. Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix, declined to comment. ICE is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Arpaio was an early participant in a federal immigration program that enlists and trains local police to identify suspected criminal aliens in jails and on the streets. The program, known as 287g, is designed to target drug dealers, gang members and human smugglers.

Since February 2007, Mr. Arpaio has arrested about 30,000 illegal immigrants who were booked into jails in his county. The street-enforcement component, the most contentious portion of the program, resulted in the apprehension of far fewer people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

So what, exactly, did they revise? You might get the impression that the Obama Administration isn't keen on having any help from local law enforcement with respect to enforcing federal law. But guess what? This was the goal from the start:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered a comprehensive review of the 287g program shortly after taking office.

A person close to the Obama administration said some DHS officials had been hoping Mr. Arpaio would withdraw from the program altogether when confronted with a watered-down version.

Make no mistake about it. The Bush Administration only with the greatest reluctance was willing to do what the executive branch is supposed to do: enforce federal law. And the Obama Administration seems intent on doing even less.

One off these days, the Republican Party will decide to get on the side of the vast majority of Americans: white and black, Republican and Democrat, and enforce the existing law about illegal immigration. And if they do so, and choose to make an issue of it, they can probably win elections. As if the Republican Party wanted to do that.

The Aliens Are Among Us!

The Aliens Are Among Us!

I am renewing my passport online, and there's a place where you identify, among another things, your height. I pulled the "feet" menu, and noticed that the choices went all the way from 0 to 10. This isn't the same menu used for "inches" (which goes, logically enough, from 0 through 11).

I'm not completely skeptical of the value of passports for those who are 0' 11". (Are there premies that small?) But seriously: how many 10' -- or even 9' -- applicants are they expecting to get? And from what planet? Do we have naturalization procedures for those off-planet sorts? Was Men in Black a documentary, not a comedy? Or did someone set up this website with the expectation that improved nutrition was going to make this necessary sometime soon?

Advantages of Glasses

Advantages of Glasses

The ballast on one of the fluorescent light fixtures in the garage failed. So I'm up on a ladder, replacing it, and while stripping the wires, the tool I'm using comes back and cracks the right lens. I shudder to think what might have happened if I didn't have glasses on.

UPDATE: The good news: I was just a day or two out of scratch warranty, and they covered it anyway, so at least I won't be putting any money out of pocket to get this fixed. (This damage was to "scratch" about like GE minigun is to rifle.)