Anything Worth Reacting To…

…Is worth over-reacting to appears to be the new policy at the Obama administration. Of course, over-reacting is a way to divert attention to the clueless nature of the Obama administration. The administration has decreed the 20 or so relatively mild cases of H1N1 flu in the US a “public health emergency“.

In an unusual Sunday briefing at the White House, administration officials said a “public health emergency” is being declared in the United States in order to mobilize maximum resources to combat fears of a global swine-flu pandemic.

The term “sounds more severe than it really is,” said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who called the measure “standard operating procedure,” adding, “I wish we could call it a declaration of emergency preparedness.” The same measures, she said, were taken for the inauguration and in cases of flood and hurricane.

The clueless bit? Well, it seems the outbreak began two weeks ago - and Mexican authorities began taking steps to curb it a week ago. 

U.S. public health officials did not know about a growing outbreak of swine flu in Mexico until nearly a week after that country started invoking protective measures, and didn’t learn that the deaths were caused by a rare strain of the influenza until after Canadian officials did.

The delayed communication occurred as epidemiologists in Southern California were investigating milder cases of the illness that turned out to be caused by the same strain of swine flu as the one in Mexico.

This is what we can expect from the “Best and Brightest” Obama appointed? Delayed over-reaction?

God help us.

There were multiple ways for the government to mobilize all their resources without this. There was no need to do this at all.  This gets a whole new category: Obamantics.

Via Memeorandum

How Green Was My Lipodiesel

The ultimate in green credentials! Have your personal fat sucked out and turned into fuel for your lipo-doctor’s SUV!

If you’re keen to establish your green credentials you can install solar panels or stick a wind turbine on your roof.

Or you could become a patient of Dr Alan Bittner.

The leading Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon claims to be saving the planet by using fat removed from clients in liposuction operations to power his 4×4 car.

According to Dr Bittner, his patients are more than happy to be involved in the extraordinary eco-friendly scheme.

‘The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel - and I have more fat than I can use,’ he declared.

‘Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly, but they get to take part in saving the Earth.’ U.S. authorities are less impressed and have launched an inquiry into his claims that he is converting the waste fat into bio-diesel - or ‘lipodiesel’ as he calls it.

Dr Bittner posted his claims on a website lipodiesel.com, which has since been taken down following the sudden closure of his clinic on Rodeo Drive.

Oh, please do read the whole thing. The good doctor has taken his uber-green practice to points afar now that a number of dissatisfied customers have filed suit against him. (Not for turning their personal adipose tissue into road fuel, but for disfiguring them. Apparently, someone needed additional fuel.) The government has also taken an interest since it happens to be illegal to turn human byproducts into fuel. (One could get very close to a Godwin’s Law violation here describing the good doctor’s energy schemes.)

We’ll just leave it at this and let our gentle readers decide for themselves the implications of a “green” doctor and his purportedly happy to help patients.

UPDATE: Wired’s Autopia is calling the doctor’s claims of “lipodiesel” a fraud. They also use a bunch of clever puns.

Clue No. 3: We don’t trust any story that’s based on a movie. In the ’90s, Dr. Bittner could’ve been working at the Paper Street Soap Company. In the ’70s, Charlton Heston would’ve burst into Dr. Bittner’s office screaming, “Alternative fuel is people!”

Thigh test fuel!

Change You Can Believe In

Quick question: Which is more frightening? The lack of judgment in a young political speechwriter in posing for a tasteless picture - then posting it on line. Or the fact that the young speechwriter is the head of Barack Obama’s speechwriting team?

That’s when some interesting photos of a recent party he attended — including one where he’s dancing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of secretary of state-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and another where he’s placed his hand on the cardboard former first lady’s chest while a friend is offering her lips a beer — popped up on Facebook for about two hours. The photos were quickly taken down — along with every other photo Favreau had of himself on the popular social networking site, save for one profile headshot.

Asked about the photos, Favreau, who was recently appointed director of speechwriting for the White House, declined comment. A transition official said that Favreau had “reached out to Senator Clinton to offer an apology.”

Clueless? Tasteless? Stupid? Apparently alcohol-fueled?

All of the above. (If it wasn’t alcohol-fueled it speaks rather more harshly on Favreau’s judgment.)

To put it in movie terms: “Zero point two… Fat thin, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” This is immature, embarrassing and just plain irresponsible behavior. This is part of the change you can believe is going to come to Washington.

Gee, I can feel the hope, can’t you?

Via Memeorandum.

Buddy, Can You Spare A …….. Gulfstream?

Hoo, boy. If this isn’t the most arrogant act of pleading poverty ever, it’s got to be very close. The three CEOs of the big three US automakers all took the same way of getting to Washington to beg for public money.

Private jets.

The each took their own private, company owned jet to come to Washington and plead for taxpayers to save their companies. Apparently, they couldn’t even think this through enough to car Gulfstream pool.

The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation’s capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy.

The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough.

A first class ticket from Detroit to Washing would set each of these apparently penniless beggars back a staggering $900 each. As opposed to the $20,000 cost of flying the corporate jet there and back.

I’ve been on the fence a bit over the bailout for a number of reasons, but I’m down off it now - so should you be. As a solid union worker told me today - before this news even broke - “Screw ‘em. Let ‘em fail.”

Anyone who is not burning up the phone lines to their Congressional delegation right now demanding this farce of a bailout be killed deserves what they’re going to get.

A wave from the Gulfstream as the executives head back to Detroit with a bucketful of your money.

Typical Leftist Garbage

Now McCain can be tarred with anything and everything somebody (including an Obama provocateur) yells during a rally: McCain does nothing as supporter calls Obama a “terrorist”

We’ll hear it said that McCain can’t be held responsible for what people in his audiences say. Right. Cause it’s never happened before. Oh wait, it did. When an audience member asked, speaking of Hillary Clinton, “How do we beat the bitch?” McCain said it was “an excellent question.” McCain fosters hatred and negativity by not standing up to it. He should know better. It’s appalling and is destroying whatever is left of his reputation.

That’s big talk from someone whose blog returns over 200 hits when you search for the terms “McCain” and “racist.” (As a point of comparison, searching the Crabitat for the terms “Obama” and “terrorist” give 15 hits, one about Ayers and 14 about the war on terror.)

Being lectured by Obama supporters on matters of etiquette is like being lectured by Charles Manson on matters of personal hygiene.

Recycling

Readers may remember my post in which I described the efforts of the Democrats to make Denver a “green” convention. They deployed an army (or a regiment, at least) of 900 volunteers to “help” delegates sort their recyclables. No, really, they did. But they left it up to the Republicans to do the heavy duty recycling. It seems the Democrats took thousands upon thousands - as many as 12,000 - American flags, put them into trash bags and threw them into dumpsters.

This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story.

“What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags,” a Republican official emailed. “We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag.”

I’m not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone’s patriotism here.

Contrary to that little snark at the end, it is quite clear what they could have done with the unwanted flags. They could have - no - should have - given them to the local American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars to reuse and/or dispose of properly. Or they could have donated them to the nearest National Cemetery.

Just about anything but throw them into the trash to be hauled away to a landfill.

What this shows is what the Democrats think the flag is: just something to use as window dressing, another prop to be discarded just like Obama’s fake Greek Temple. It also shows that the people shown waving those flags on camera had no use for them after the photo-op. They didn’t even want them as souvenirs.

Absolutely brilliant way to damage yourselves, Democrats. The funny thing is, even a lot of your party members will not be happy about this. This was bone-deep stupid. You deserve the bashing you are already getting.

Frankly, if the Republicans are smart, they will ship those flags to every single campaign event for the next two months and tell the story to every audience. Then donate them as suggested above.

UPDATE: The link has updated to include the Democrat’s response. As the reporter points out, the original finder of the flags thinks both the Republican take on the events and Democratic response are a bit too much. The fact is that the flags were not taken care of and would have been thrown away had the finder of them not intervened. A mistake, a dropped detail, by the Dems? Maybe. Maybe. But the excuses do not negate the fact that the flags were not taken care of properly. That is a detail that should not have been overlooked. Period. This is literally a phone call to take care of. I’m not really impressed by the Democrat’s war room response on this. Have the Republicans jumped on this as an issue? Yup. Rightfully so. The Democrats gave them the club they are getting beaten with.

It Will Cost Him A Fortune In New Monograms

To each his own, no matter how weird "his own" happens to be: Illinois man changes name to 'In God We Trust'

A school bus driver and amateur artist from the Chicago suburb of Zion has legally changed his name to "In God We Trust."

A Lake County circuit court judge approved Steve Kreuscher's (CROY'-shirz) name change petition on Friday.

The 57-year-old's first name was changed to "In God," while his last name was changed to "We Trust."

He says the new name symbolizes the help God gave him during tough times and says he can't wait to begin signing his artwork with the new moniker.

Well, Mr. We Trust , I find it hard to believe you are only an amateur artist, but you are probably right to change your name.  Picasso never sold any paintings when he was known as Joe Smith III.

 What?  He was never called Joe Smith III?  Hmm…… 

Tired And Shagged Out After A Prolonged Squawk

More about Norwegian Blue Parrots of Monty Python fame…turn out there actual used to be some: Norwegian Blue parrot really DID exist - but now they are all 'stiff, bereft of life and ex-parrots'

Dr David Waterhouse, a fossil expert and Python fan, has found that parrots not only lived in Scandinavia 55million years ago, but probably evolved there before spreading into the southern hemisphere.

His discovery was based on a preserved wing bone of a previously unknown species, given the scientific name Mopsitta Tanta - and now nicknamed the Norwegian Blue.

…

Dr Waterhouse, 29, said of Mopsitta Tanta: "Obviously, we were dealing with a bird that is bereft of life, but the tricky bit was establishing it was a parrot."

He was studying for a PhD at the University of Dublin in 2005 when he visited a museum in Jutland and spotted a fossilised 2in-long humerus - appropriately enough, the funny bone - among bird remains which had been found near an open-cast mine.

Research has now confirmed the bone was part of an upper wing from a bird in the parrot family. Although the mine was in Denmark, the birds would also have lived in what is now Norway.

Dr Waterhouse, now assistant curator of natural history at the Norfolk Museums Service, said: "All that remained was a single upper wing bone, but it contained characteristic features that showed it was clearly from a member of the parrot family, about the size of a yellow-crested cockatoo.

"It isn't as unbelievable as you might think that a parrot was found so far north.

"When Mopsitta was alive, most of northern Europe was experiencing a warm period, with a large shallow tropical lagoon covering much of Germany, South-East England and Denmark.

I've got further dialogue going through my head:

"A parrot? In Scandinavia?"

"Well, it probably escaped from a zoo."

"Isn't very likely…."

(As I clearly stated in an earlier post…I'm a bit of a dork.)

(Amazingly Enough) Pop Culture Can Be Worthy Of Study

First the news from Britain: Britain's Brown punished in local elections

Britain's ruling Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national election.

Labour was braced for an even bigger drubbing as pundits and even government ministers predicted the party would lose the prized London mayoral post to a resurgent opposition Conservative Party. The result is expected late on Friday. [ed. Labour did lose the mayoral office as well.] 

Contrite Labour ministers and lawmakers said the government had failed to address Britons' fears of rising food and energy prices, higher mortgages and a possible housing market slump.

The question now is whether Labour can recover before the next general election, due by mid-2010 at the latest, or whether the tide has turned towards the Conservatives. [emphasis mine.]

I was wondering just this back in January.

Come May it will have been 11 years of Labour party rule in the UK. It has been a good run for Labour even if they haven't yet matched the 18 year run of the Tories before them. But I wonder if the inevitable cracks are beginning to show.

What prompted my musing on UK politics?  Well, I had picked up a CD by an English group called The Holloways, and after listening to it I came to the conclusion that Labour's ascendancy might be coming to an end.  A little far fetched you say?  Well, the experts were not predicting the disaster that was this round of UK elections for Labour using more traditional methods.  So, I say don't knock what works!

British Government Waste: Illustrated

A Tory MP in Britain has been campaigning for a crosswalk to be installed near a school in his district. The request was turned down as too expensive, so Oliver Letwin requested a breakdown of the costs with the idea that he could raise the funds locally. The Highways Agency promptly sent his the estimate.

£114,000 or $228,000 dollars. For a crosswalk. Oh, excuse me, a "zebra cossing". Like the Beatles' Abbey Road album shows.

How much would you think it costs to build a zebra crossing?

A couple of workmen, a few pots of black and white paint, two Belisha beacons - it doesn't sound like a lot.

Yet it emerged yesterday that the Highways Agency spends a staggering £114,000 on each new pedestrian crossing.

Incredibly, the figure for the familiar black and white crossing includes £11,000 for "design work".

A further £16,000 is spent on the beacons, electrical wiring and road signs while the remaining £87,000 is swallowed up by labour costs, the equivalent of three and a half years pay for the average worker.

Every year, just before school starts, the town I live in repaints all the crosswalks. Two guys put out road cones, block a lane of traffic and run their little paint machine to spray line on the pavement. They move to the next corner while the first one dries, then go back, move the cones and do the next lane. Takes them a day to do all the crosswalks in the areas around the schools.

I just have to ask them how much they charge for design work.

Moonbat Ejection System

A "war protester" who appears to be affiliated with Code Pink charged toward Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room. The New York Post calls it an "attack" but it is not clear whether physical contact was made. It certainly was aggressive and illegal, however. That protester and several other Code Pink people were then forcibly ejected from the room.

October 24, 2007 — An anti-war protestor, whose hands were painted red to look like blood, stormed up to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she arrived to testify on Capitol Hill this morning, shouting "war criminal" before being hauled away by bodyguards.

Guards were as gentle as possible given the resistance of the protesters and the crowded conditions of the room. But it is only a matter of time until someone is seriously injured as a result of this kind of behavior. The Post has the video of the entire incident so you can judge for yourself. But consider for a moment the treatment of the Code Pink idiots. Then recall the actions of the military junta in Burma when dealing with protests that were actually less confrontational. How long would the Code Pink people survive in a real police state?

And In Today’s Completely Pointless News

JK Rowling announces completely fictional character is fictionally gay.

NEW YORK (AP) - Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."

"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."

Which means its time for an IMAO top-ten list contest. Readers are asked to submit a comment giving one of the top ten reasons that fans knew Dumbledore was gay. RightWingDuck has a couple of good prompts up to get you started.

Which means its time for an IMAO top-ten list contest. Readers are asked to submit a comment giving one of the top ten reasons that fans knew Dumbledore was gay. RightWingDuck has a couple of good prompts up to get you started.

Bounce!

This guy has to be an honorable mention for the Darwin Awards. An Australian man living in a high-rise apartment building decided it would be fun to lay a plank from his window across to a neighboring apartment. He happened to live on the ninth floor of the building. Unfortunately, the man, wearing nothing but his underpants, lost his balance and fell about 100 feet. But don't worry - the underpants saved him.

The 35-year-old was attempting to build planks across to a neighbour's flat when he lost his footing and plummeted 30 metres (100 feet) to the ground, police said.

The man crashed through an iron and timber pergola which broke his fall.

"He was skylarking around, building planks across to his neighbour's place when it happened," police spokesperson Ros Weatherall said. "He was very lucky."

Residents at the apartment complex in the western Australian capital Perth said they heard a strange noise shortly after midnight.

One said he woke to find police tending to the scantily-clad man in the apartment's courtyard.

The man reportedly suffered only minor cuts and scrapes and may have a broken leg. That's it. Whatever brand of underwear he happened to be wearing now has bragging rights. But they probably won't - some idiot would want to try them out. (The report does not mention whether alcohol was involved or not.)

A Lesson In Dumb

I do not even begin to know where to start on this issue. James Dobson explains, quite clearly, why he is very, very dumb. Watch the video.

Apparently, it is better to commit political suicide than to, you know, actually accomplish anything. Dobson's zeal to protect the unborn will lead him to abandon the actual born - and any real chance to protect the unborn in the long run. What chance do the unborn stand if the courts are packed against them?

Dobson would abandon the courts and will argue that the backlash will sweep his favorites to power later on. I'd submit that his viewpoint is arrogant and counterproductive. Because losing the courts for a generation would be a disaster. The only power Dobson has is to destroy - not to create. He would destroy a viable challenge to the coronation of a Democrat for the sake of his own ego. And sacrifice the courts to extend his importance.

(Yeah, this will be a popular post, too. Not.)

Dumb Media

I hate posting about stuff like this, it just gives it more exposure. But at the same time, I think the frank stupidity of the media has got to be exposed. They have been giving helpful hints to terrorists for ages, but I think it is actually getting worse in recent years. So now the Associated Press makes sure that if terrorists did not already know that there were vulnerabilities in the US, that they know now.

WASHINGTON - A government video shows the potential destruction caused by hackers seizing control of a crucial part of the U.S. electrical grid: an industrial turbine spinning wildly out of control until it becomes a smoking hulk and power shuts down.

The video, produced for the Homeland Security Department and obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, was marked "Official Use Only." It shows commands quietly triggered by simulated hackers having such a violent reaction that the enormous turbine shudders as pieces fly apart and it belches black-and-white smoke.

The video was produced for top U.S. policy makers by the Idaho National Laboratory, which has studied the little-understood risks to the specialized electronic equipment that operates power, water and chemical plants. Vice President Dick Cheney is among those who have watched the video, said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because this official was not authorized to publicly discuss such high-level briefings.

"They've taken a theoretical attack and they've shown in a very demonstrable way the impact you can have using cyber means and cyber techniques against this type of infrastructure," said Amit Yoran, former U.S. cybersecurity chief for the Bush administration. Yoran is chief executive for NetWitness Corp., which sells sophisticated network monitoring software.

"It's so graphic," Yoran said. "Talking about bits and bytes doesn't have the same impact as seeing something catch fire."

The electrical attack never actually happened. The recorded demonstration, called the "Aurora Generator Test," was conducted in March by government researchers investigating a dangerous vulnerability in computers at U.S. utility companies known as supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The programming flaw was quietly fixed, and equipment-makers urged utilities to take protective measures.

I have no doubt, having been in the utility field for a long time, that a lot of the SCADA systems were never designed for today's world. A lot of them predate the internet for heaven's sake. But the AP is not doing this country any favors by broadcasting it. Most of the manufacturers of these systems are pretty fast to get fixes out if they identify a problem. Hopefully the AP will stop helping people who we should not be soon. Before their lights go out.

I'm not counting on it, however.