third world county

It’s Good Friday. Have a nice trip. (Do you know your destination?)

See the first (Good Friday) half of “Cruci-fix”.

Joe Schembrie marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Verne

I missed it yesterday, but March 24 was the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Verne. If you’re thinking “Huh?!?” right now, just go read Joe Schembrie’s essay, “Jules Who?”

An excerpt:

“…Verne’s two novels of space travel, From Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon… foretold of NASA’s actual lunar voyage a century later with surreal accuracy. For example, Verne’s space-shell resembles the Apollo 8 Command Module and even weighs the same. Both real and fictional vehicles carried a crew of three. Verne’s space-shell was launched from a location in Florida just one hundred and fifty miles from where Apollo 8 was launched, and the actual mission splashed down in the South Pacific just two and a half miles from where Verne’s fictional mission returned. “

Heck, don’t just read Schembrie’s essay, go read (or re-read) some of Verne’s prescient 19th Century novels.

Jerry Pournelle on Terri Schiavo, again

In Chaos Manor Musing‘s Current View, Thursday, this comment from Jerry Pournelle:

She is unfortunate. She is a white female Catholic innocent of any crime. Were she Black, or Hispanic, then she would have her defenders and the more her brain damage the more insistent the ACLU would be on defending her rights. As it is, she has no one to defend her but some people who actually believe in law and justice and are not raising a rebellion in her aid.

Esmerelda had her beggars as defenders. But she was hanged quickly even so. Along with her goat.

One is tempted to add, “Of course.” But then, one always attempts to resist such temptations. Not. Further, were she a confessed monster, convicted of horrible acts of brutality and justifiably sentenced to death after all due process of law, she would be the poster child of the Left as they sought every means to prevent her death.

This isn’t irony. It’s the “logic” of monsters, Satan-spawn. Once can almost hear the dialog between Wormtwood and Screwtape…

You DO have a dog in this fight.

First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.

–Martin Niemöller

Enough with this shilly-shallying around, Ann; tell them what I really think…

Now here’s a scary thought: either Ann Coulter’s been reading my mind or she thinks a lot like I do. You doubt that? Here’s me a couple of days ago:

“But the legislature and administration of Florida (are you listening, Jeb?) were also wrong in the way they have allowed judges to become little emperors in their State in the last few years. Florida law allows for the prosecution of those who torture people who are in their care. Jeb ought to order the arrest of the judge in the Schiavo case and vacate his order by the simple expedient of taking her into protective custody.”

And here’s Ann Coulter, today:

“Just once, we need an elected official to stand up to a clearly incorrect ruling by a court. Any incorrect ruling will do, but my vote is for a state court that has ordered a disabled woman to be starved to death at the request of her adulterous husband.”

Of course, since I posted my remark noted above, I’ve read quite a few others who think essentially the same thing. I have noted several times in the past that legislatures and executives (both stte AND federal) need to exercise their responsibility to reign in judges/justices who violate both the letter and the intent of laws duly passed, as well as their respective constitutional documents’ letter and intent.

Gutless legislators and executives are the proximal cause of much of the woe being caused by inperial courts.

More On The Babe Theory of Political Movements

View the evidence and the development of his thesis. It is compelling. (And not bad on the eye candy chart, either. )

Money quote:

Where and when there are hot babes, an exponential number of men will show up. If 100 cute girls with voluptuous bodies are protesting for freedom, you can count on a thousand men being there as well.

If sexy babes are involved in a peaceful political movement, it has a far greater chance of succeeding. If there are no good-looking women involved, the odds of a successful (and peaceful) movement fall dramatically.

Well, duh.

🙂

A little help, here…

Yeh, yeh, I know about (and have read, though 40 years ago) the John Lymington book, “Froomb!” (1964). What I’m looking for, with no joy so far, is the cartoon I vividly recall of about the same vintage—but with an interesting variation on the cartoon’s theme—also titled, IIRC, “Froomb!” (for “Fluid’s running out of my brakes!” as with the title of the Lymington book).

The cartoon features a personified world/globe (wears a hat, has eyes, mouth, hands, etc.) driving a car that’s headed off a cliff with—surprise!—the caption, “Fluid’s running out of my brakes!” IIRC, it (the cartoon, not the Lymington book) was meant as a commentary/cautionary on the dangers of the nuclear standoff policy, MAD—Mutually Assured Destruction.

Anyone, among my legion (where legion=2) of readers have any clue

1.) who the cartoonist was
2.) where I can find a copy
3.) whether this exists or I have imagined all this

Awaiting your responses with baited breath. (Baited with cheese, garlic and smoked turkey, if you really wanna know. Or even if you don’t.)

I’ve got news for John Cole: it’s years and years too late. What? Exhume the corpse of conservatism and proclaim it dead?

John Cole breathless ly asks in the aftermath of our congresscritters’ involvement in the Terri Schiavo situation, “How far will they go to kill conservatism?” Newsflash, John: they’re just beating a dead horse.

I’ve watched so-called conservatives (and even more sneaky, disingenuous, fake “Liberals” and damned lying bastard “Moderates”) for years and can say unequivocally that the remaining members of ANY species of genuinely conservative, liberal or moderate politicians amounts to just about enough to fill a one-stall public toilet. Almost.

The substantive difference between Republicans and Democrats? The Democrats are determined to run the country off a precipice at 90mph. The republicans are aimed at the same cliff, just poking along at a relatively sedate 70mph (used to be about 45-50mph, but they’re picking up steam).

Or, as a 19th Century Reformed theologian said, in speaking of social conservatives and liberals,

“American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition…It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle.” –R. L. Dabney

Sometimes no news is NOT good news…

It’s not news to anyone who generally registers 98.6 (leaving out HUGE swaths of Democratic “voters”), but a report issued March 21, 2005 by The American Center for Voting Rights about vote fraud in Ohio points the finger at… Democratic party-aligned third party groups.

Duh.

“Third party organizations, especially ACT, ACORN and NAACP engaged in a coordinated “Get Out the Vote” effort. A significant component of this effort appears to be registering individuals who would cast ballots for the candidate supported by these organizations. This voter registration effort was not limited to the registration of legal voters but, criminal investigations and news reports suggest, that this voter registration effort also involved the registration of thousands of fictional voters such as the now infamous Jive F. Turkey, Sr., Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins. Those individuals registering these fictional voters were reportedly paid not just money to do so but were, in at least one instance, paid in crack cocaine.” “Third party organizations, especially ACT, ACORN and NAACP engaged in a coordinated “Get Out the Vote” effort. A significant component of this effort appears to be registering individuals who would cast ballots for the candidate supported by these organizations. This voter registration effort was not limited to the registration of legal voters but, criminal investigations and news reports suggest, that this voter registration effort also involved the registration of thousands of fictional voters such as the now infamous Jive F. Turkey, Sr., Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins. Those individuals registering these fictional voters were reportedly paid not just money to do so but were, in at least one instance, paid in crack cocaine.

Move along folks. Nothing to see here…

h.t. Ankle Biting Pundits.

But do I deserve so high a ranking?

OK, it’s just a number one ranking (for now) in a google search some visitor to my site made on the phrase, “Boudicca battle cry truth against the world.” That google search turned up this post: “Public (and other) Servants: Words that lie”

Ought google to have returned my post in the number 1 spot? Well, since you’ve yet to read that post (taps foot impatiently), you’re not yet qualified to answer that question, now are you?

🙂

But seriously. I didn’t mention “Boudicca” in that post at all…

*heh*

“…he always claims it is his duty.”

“TSA stops troops from invading SFO Airport”

See: “Sigh”

and

This Article

Does anyone with more than two working brain cells think that the purpose of the Thousands Standing Around (otherwise known as TSA) is anything other than a full employment effort for idiots, goons, poltroons, bullies and other recent typical products of our government schools? Surely no thinking person believes the TSA has anything serious to do with making air travel safer? (Unless—now here’s a thought!—the Thousands Standing Around are merely a huge distraction camoflaging some other real security effort. Nah. Fails the feeb government stupidity and mandatory mismanagement tests. But it was an intriguing thought… )

Oh, h.t. to Robbie Walker, posting at Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor mail page.