"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
You don’t need to speak/understand Japanese to get the technique (although I have to wonder if the demonstrator isn’t reciting a dirty Japanese limerick while showing how to fold a t-shirt… )
How to fold a t-shirt (for the “folding-impaired”)
PSa at The Conservative Cat where Ferdy is waging unending war on spammers…
Just checked out a PC Magazine article featuring the Apple iMac PC with the Intel dual core. “Setting the Intel chipset free!” is the silly Mac commercial airing, now.
*yawn*
Let’s see… ~$1,800 for a decently configured INTEL computer running the Mac OS X…
Or
~$1,200 for a similarly configured (or slightly better–and including a 20″ LCD screen as the Apple iMac PC does) regular ole ordinary PC running Windows XP. LESS if one wanted to use Linux.
Sorry, Apple. Macophilic Macultists will get a buzz on. Everyone who understands that the extra $600 is just money wasted on a name (and an OS that is still the most rigid, frigid, controlling lil piece of eye-candy out there) will find better uses for the extra cash. Heck, the pics at the PC Mag article show it shipping with the assinine Apple one-button mouse with two awkward “side buttons”! Only a masochist could love the thing…
But you can count on it: there are plenty of pervs out there who will go ape wasting $$ on an imitation PC.
One inexplicably stupid comment made by the PCMag writer was this paragraph:
Aside from cooler cases, another benefit of running dual-core on Mac OS X over Windows is that in a Windows environment, you must run security software (such as antivirus, antispyware, and a firewall). Though dual-core processing helps speed up general performance even with such software running in the background, you are still diverting processor cycles. With Mac OS X, such security software is not necessary, so you’re getting more processing power dedicated to apps you’re actively using.
Yeh, right. Pull the other one. “…such security software is not necessary…” At the very least every knowledgeable Mac user/guru (you know: the ones who actually know how the OS woks) I know of recommends at the very least having a decent firewall—software and/or hardware. And sales of Mac-only anti-virus software haven’t slacked off all that much despite the claims that all the virus writers are targeting Windows and simply leaving macs alone. What? Just because your neighborhood has never been hit by burglers you decide locking yuour door is unecessary? Let me know where you live. I’d be glad to hock your Mac. (Really funny thing? While checking on Mac security products, I saw a Mac Security site that had been hacked. It’s front page was “owned” by the hacker who had taken it down. *LOL* Saved a screen shot for future laughs.)
Then there’s the “diverting processor cycles” comment above. Silly ass. The price comparison I made above was between the iMac Intel PC clone in the article with a 2.0 Ghz INTEL processor and a brand-name PC using a 2.8 Ghz processor—the only brand-name Wintel computer I could find spec’ed down enough for a comparison. Computing cycles to burn, baby. (And isn’t it interesting that Apple’s starting with a processor that’s about 1.5 Ghz behind the curve for most other current Intel machines? Their code’s not all that svelte.)
Gee. Want the advantages of a more secure, robust OS (but one that’s genuinely flexible) AND really hot hardware, you could buy an off-the-shelf regular old PC (with the latest, not the next-next-next latest, as with the iMac PC clone) hardware, pop a Mandriva CD set in, boot and have a really slick Linux comp. Loads more stable and secure than either a Windows or Apple OS. And have money left to burn, as opposed to the over-priced iMac PC clone.
Yeh, but it has the really cool look, right?
Uh-huh. And NO expansion slots. Wanna add peripheral components? Fine, snake a buncha USB wiring and clutter your desktop with boxes and other junk. with the PC I spec’ced above, lotsa that kinda thing can go inside a slick-looking box, with 5 PCI slots available.
Nah. The iMac in its current reincarnation as a PC clone is the same old, same old Apple ploy: eye candy at excessive prices. Funny that to get a favorable price comparison to the iMac, the writer of the PCMag article had to compare the iMac “pony” to a Sony Vaio “dressage competitive thoroughbred” with a faster processor, full media computer capabilities, a 50% larger hard drive, all-wireless remote keyboard/mouse/remote control, etc. All among the many things the Vaio cited comes with which are lacking in the Apple PC clone.
*feh* That was a review? A puff piece written by someone who expected only subliterates to read it.
[Let me be clear: the Mac OS is fine… for Great Aunt Tilly. After all, since it is the ultimate “training wheels” OS, it does prevent people from easily messing about in its innards and doing wild things to screw it up. Which also means it is inordinately difficult to get anything done any way EXCEPT “the Mac way”. Amusing—and true—story. Was once part of a small office where each of us used our own computers at work. Right. Very small office. I had a coworker—a devoted Macrophile who had run the all-Mac computer lab in college—who was constantly coming to me and asking to borrow the use of my computer to do things he was unable to do with his Mac. Yeh, largely the result of being the only Macuser in the office and needing to manipulate PC files, a task never quite as easy as Apple claims. He also continually complained that my PC was too hard to use because it didn’t do things the way he was used to… on his Mac. Each time, I’d show him how to do things: “See? Just push this little button on the CDROM drive. You don’t have to drag the CD to the trash bin… ” “Your CDROM drive has a button?!?!? Amazing!” etc. *sigh* Inflexible, almost unteachable. Mac user. Needed his “training wheels” OS. Never “got” it that I liked doing some things at a command line (still do). Windows ain’t all that great, but at least it’s not like using a computer while wearing a straightjacket.]
“Gore to publish book on global warming” (What? Another one? Get with it, Al. The catchphrase for au courant enviro-wackos is “climate change”)
Deadly freeze claims more lives in Eastern Europe (The atypical cold weather in Europe this winter is reported to be featured in Algore’s book’s arhythmia section as proof of global warming… along with…)
“Skating flamingos, swollen elephant ears in frosty German zoos” *brrrr* More of that damnedable global warming at work.
Here’s a roundup for ya:
It Is About Time We Were Politically Incorrect Part II from All Things Beautiful. Preach it Alexandra. (And don’t miss It Is About Time We Were Politically Incorrect Part I.) Regarding the intolerance of the left for religion (as long as that religion espouses Judeo-Christian principles) in America,
And, as I recall, the Founders wrote a great deal about the fact that if America ever ceased to be a religious society, freedom, and the republican ideal, would fail, because the citizenry would lack the moral virtue to keep it all going.
Yeh, I touched on that comment by John Adams in my guest post over at Bloggin’ Outloud, Teach Your Children Well. Jerry Pournelle referred to the truth of that sentimentrecently as well:
I know of absolutely no argument for assuming human equality other than religious postulates, as Jefferson did in the Declaration. War on religion is a war on the underlying assumptions of American political life. Why the same group that insists on equality of outcomes in all matters also insists on undermining the religous basis of American politics is an interesting question. Hypocrisy or double dyed villainy?
Dafydd ab Hugh notes the temblor in Canadian politics: Canadian Vote a 7.2 On the Political Richter Scale. He closes his post with this piece of black humor:
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the Liberals don’t simply dig in their heels and try to prevent any legislation at all from occurring, as the Democrats are doing here. It would be decent to give Harper at least one chance to make good.
Riiiiight… like that’s going to happen in my lifetime: the faux liberals of the 21st century actually acting decently? Not. Going. To. Happen.
Data-Mining, the FISA Court, and Wartime from TMH’s Bacon Bits:
[Michael] Chertoff, formerly a federal judge and head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, explains in fairly clear terms the National Security Agency’s “warrantless eavesdropping” and the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court’s place in all of this…
Read it. And while you’re there, load the main page and read Williewonkaville: Rebuild or Reload? and other great posts by the Bacon Bits crew.
If you missed my pointer to the Carnival of the Recipes #75, head on over to Christine’s Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea so you can add a few things to your grocery list.
“That seismic disturbance is George Westinghouse spinning…” in his grave. (h.t. “Jim” – email posted at Chaos Manor Musings. You can find my own brief comments about Jesse Jackson Jr.’s-call him JCube-proposed “Education Amendment” to the Constitution at the same link… as well as some interesting Dr. Who brews news. 🙂
University students offered B-minus to stay away. Diploma-mill-style, a Canadian lecturer offered a B minus grade to students who would bring him a tuition reciept and then not come to class. While I can think of a couple of classes in my undergrad years where that would have enhanced my educational experience (classes where the droning of a stupid, stupid prof were guaranteed to lower students’ IQs by a couple of points *sigh*), being open about the fact that colleges and universities are becoming little more than certification stops for illiterate high school grads (and full employment for academia nuts) may not be the best way to insure the downgrading of education continues.
At least it was in Canada. This time.
Hit up Keep the Coffee Coming for some Bob Dylan, The Tokens (“…Lion Sleeps…” yeh, the memories) and Billie Holiday. Let kat know you dropped by. drop her a note in comments and just say “Hi” wouldya?
iHillary has a great photoshop spoof to accompany his repost/commentary of a WSJ article in his post, Plantation Madness. A must-see to go along with the WSJ article… (BTW, you’re one mean blogger, dude. Love it.) While you’re there, steal his Alito graphic featuring democrappic attackers with an image of Joe McCarthy in the background…
Winds of Change notes the effect of killing terrorist leaders. (Hint: it’s a good thing.)
Dan Riehl’s mini-fisk of Cindy Sheehan’s “matriotism” is just exactly as much attention as the twit should get. Thanks, Dan. Especially for sparing us by quoting only as much of the twit as necessary to have done with her.
Woody’s own comment on his “Bin Laden’s Real Message” post in reply to a moonbat’s spouting of lying memes about the war on Islamic jihadists really deserves to be brought onto his front page. it closes with,
The fact that Bin Laden talked about a truce is evidence enough of the weakened state of Al Quaeda. How did that happen? UN Envoys? NO… US Cowboys.
Correctamundo, Woody. Read the rest of his comment at the link.
And, from the People’s Cube:
Bin laden’s New tape Narrated from the Astral
heh
Douglas Kern, writing at Tech Central Station, succinctly sums up the feelings I have been unable (or unwilling to let loose and… ) articulate about a recent ruling by a Vermont judge in the case of the serial rape of a child… If you have strong stomach, read, “What the Monster Learned.”
And still reading The Founders Constitution. (Navigating the book[s] online is not all that straightforward, but worth your time, IMO.)
Well, I didn’t get 95 theses, and I’m nowhere near Wittenberg, so I’ll just tack this to the door over at Adam’s Blog and Historymike’s Musings
Yep. Link here and trackback: it’s an Open Post.
Normally, Tuesday is a “Free John Kerry’s 180” day, and, really, today’s no exception.
But today is a very different kind of “Free Jean Fraud sKerry’s 180” day. Today, I’m asking both of my readers *heh* to finish this thought:
“Jean Fraud sKerry’s lies and obfuscations in pursuance of avoiding the release of the records he has repeatedly promised to release is like NOT emptying a weeks’-long overfull cat litter box, because… ”
Answers in comments or a trackedback post, please.
Dumping this litterbox at 
Here’s a bonus crosspost from Heidi at Euphoric Reality
Last week, those of us who keep an eye on border issues noticed that several mainstream media sources had featured articles about the regular Mexican military incursions over our borders and into our country. This is nothing new, as the Border Patrol has documented hundreds of such illegal incursions by an armed Mexican military over the past decade, and our government has done nothing to curb these incursions. In fact, it seems our government has looked the other way. While I’m relieved that this information is getting out into the mainstream, I have little confidence that our governement will actually do its job and secure our borders.
Some confrontations between the Mexican military troops and our own Border Patrol agents have become violent as Mexican soldiers have fired their weapons at the Border Patrol. It’s a mystery why our government refuses to acknowledge these hostile invasions. They surely know about it, and the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C. has gone so far as to publicly deny that the Mexican soldiers are hostile, but rather there to “patrol for illegal border jumpers”. Contrary to that public statement, however, most of the Mexican military troops on the border are moonlighting as security escorts for drug smuggling gangs the coyotes who are running large groups of illegals across the border.
T.J. Bonner, a 27-year Border Patrol veteran who heads the National Border Patrol Council [said], “Intrusions by the Mexican military to protect drug loads happen all the time and represent a significant threat to the agents. “Why else would they be in the area, firing at federal agents in the United States? There is no other explanation,” said Mr. Bonner, whose organization represents all 10,000 of the nonsupervisory Border Patrol agents.
He also challenged reports that Mexican military units had crossed mistakenly into the United States, saying, “Every country’s military has a [global positioning system] nowadays, including the Mexicans. “If the border is so poorly marked, why don’t the thousands of Border Patrol agents working 24/7 along it ever seem to get lost, and none of us have been issued a GPS,” he said.
[…]
Attacks on Border Patrol agents in the past few years have been attributed to current or former Mexican military personnel. U.S. law-enforcement officials have long thought that current and former Mexican soldiers are being paid to protect drug shipments bound for the United States.Several agents said the attacks have escalated in the past two years as U.S. security efforts on the border have increased — including the July shooting of two agents in an ambush near Nogales, Ariz., by assailants in black commando-type clothing, who fired more than 50 rounds. Authorities said the gunmen used military-style cover-and-concealment tactics to escape back into Mexico. No one has been arrested.
Without any federal commitment to secure our borders, the Minutemen, a volunteer citizen’s group, has performed an invaluable civic service in patrolling our borders to document and verify the location of illegal border crossers. They, too, have encountered Mexican soldiers on the WRONG side of the border. The video clip below comes directly from the Arizona Minutemen who told the Mexican soldiers, when confronted, they were there as “media” to document the border situation. It is incredibly important to note that there is no reason why American citizens should EVER be required to justify their lawful activities on American soil to a FOREIGN military presence. That is anathema to our rights as American citizens!
(SCOTTSDALE, AZ) January 20, 2006 – The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”) announced the release today of video footage of an incursion by a unit of the Mexican army across the U.S. border in Arizona.
Chris Simcox and a group of Civil Defense Corps volunteers encountered a squad of approximately eight armed Mexican soldiers about 500 yards inside American territory. The Mexican soldiers started running back through the brush to Mexico when they realized they had been spotted.
The video shows a uniformed Mexican soldier climbing through a barbed wire fence on American soil to return to the Mexican side of the border as he races to catch up with the other Mexican soldiers who had also climbed back through the fence as they retreated back into their country.
A group of armed Mexican soldiers then returned to the barbed wire fence (on American soil) and confronted Simcox and the volunteers. A discussion in Spanish ensued, with the agitated soldier ‘in charge’ saying the Americans had no business being there.
Simcox and the volunteers did not budge. The Mexican soldiers left and drove off. Judging from earlier activity observed at the ranch that morning, Simcox is of the belief that a trafficking operation had been disrupted by the volunteers.
The footage, filmed in 2004, was sent to then Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. His office did not respond. The video has remained in the Minuteman video archive and is being released in response to recent news reports that over 200 cross-border incursions by the Mexican army have been documented since 1996.
This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.
Blogs already on board:
Actually, you might call this Quick Quasi Stroganoff.
heh
Ingredients:
Prep
If using (lean) ground chuck, start browning the meat*, then add the chopped onion and minced garlic as the meat releases a little fat. Brown the meat on medium high and clarify the ionions and garlic with the meat. It should come out about right: the meat will be cooked through about the time the onions/garlic are done. Tinker with your timing. With good lean ground chuck, you shouldn’t have much grease to drain at all.
Add the grated nutmeg, pepper and a couple of dashes of Chinese five spice just as the meat is cooking thtough, toward the end.
Add the mushroom soup, sour cream and mushrooms (if using “fresh” mushrooms, add them a little earlier as the meat is just about done, as well). Bring to a nice low bubble and then back the heat down to simmer. Cover for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice, egg noodles or… baked potatoes.
A side of fresh or frozen peas (cooked your fav method, of course, silly) and a salad can round this out nicely.
It’s a meal from semi-scratch in under 30 minutes. If I’m using baked potatoes to serve the stuff on, I just nuke ’em; rice—even brown rice—and noodles cook really quickly, so it really does only take 30 minutes to prepare. Easy, and it is at least evocative of real stroganoff.
*You thought I’d forgotten instructions if you use leftover roast beef, didn’t you? Nah, just tacking it on here cos it’s such an easy variation—actually saves time. Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add the meat and everything else and simmer til done. What could be easier?
America’s problem with slavery didn’t end in 1865 at Appomattox. After that, wage slavery was still as common-or more-as before, for example. And today, we have a moral problem of gargantuan proportions as we allow the import of illegal labor in order to keep effective wages depressed.
Yep. Our porous border is a dual assault on those at the low end of the earnings curve. Offer what jobs they may have to people who will work-often doubly illegally-for less and keep the wages offered to those who manage to keep their low-paying jobs artificially depressed.
It’s been done before as “an economic tool to keep the wages of labor near subsistence levels.” Ya know, Rome?
Yet another reason to dumb down schools. What the potential serfs/slaves don’t know helps keep them from making waves…
This has been a drive by dope slap as a part of the Guard the Borders blogburst. Stealing a riff from TMH’s Bacon Bits (where The MaryHunter examines security aspects of our porous borders),
“If you’d like to join the blogburst, send an email to kit.jarrell AT gmail.com with your blog’s name and URL. About 40 blogs are currently signed up.”
See my left sidebar for a list of blogs involved.
Running the border at Committees of Correspondence
h.t. for the Rome in Crisis article and slavery tie-in to Charles Brumbelow, commenting at Jerry Pournelle’s place. Thanks for the reminder.
…a conspiracy to create dunces?
But first, some housekeeping: this is an open post. Link to this post and trackback.
Now, to the topic of this post. Jerry Pournelle is no wild-eyed conspiracy nut, but he does note something interesting about America’s broken system of public education:
Of course if the goal is to see that the children of people rich enough to send their children to private schools, or to have a stay at home parent to home school, will get far ahead of everyone else regardless of intelligence or merit, we may achieve that goal.
So, what are our choices? That all the “smart” people who tell us to just do more of the same that has resulted in sub- and illiterate high school and college graduates over the past 30+ years-just spend lots more doing it-are too stupid to pound rocks and too prideful, greedy and power-hungry to admit their educratic edicts have made a ruin of public education?
Or, is it really a plot by self-designated elites to breed serfs?
Of course, Pournelle also mentions “…Vonnegut’s wonderful story Harrison Bergeron…” (IMO, one of the few really good Vonnegut works). Yep. Harrison Bergeron is definitely where the dark side of “No Child Left behind” seems to point…
Kept after school at The Uncooperative Blogger. And “writing lines” on the blackboard at
Christine, who honored me by adopting me as her blogfather for Blogfathers Day, is hosting this week’s Carnival of the Recipes. Delicious food, beautifully presented (of course) at Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea.
Go. Graze the buffet. I’m gonna have some of that Lazy Broad’s Smoky Chicken to start…
(I’m a baaaaad dad. I forgot Christine was hosting the Carnival of the Recipes this week and tagged her with the Four Things game for another of her blogs… Oh. Well. I’m lucky she’s the forgiving kind. 🙂