Monday, November 19, 2007

Green Team!

At least they have a sense of humor. 

An Inconvenient Truth about Iraq

Things are getting better there. So much better that even the NY Times and Newsweek have to admit it. Grudgingly, but still. That’s got to hurt.

The quagmire seems to be drying up. It’s still too early to be sure this trend will progress. But the Iraqi forces have become more effective in dealing with problems. The factions that were supposed to be engaged in a civil war, according to the left, are uniting to fight Al Qaeda.

The Iraqis are tired of war, just as the Germans were at the end of WWII. They had the same kind of insurgent problems when the war ended there, but they got sorted out.

In the end, most people want to live in peace. The idea that Middle Easterners want to live in a state of perpetual war and conflict is a racist notion. The problems in the region have more to do with tribalism than anything. Competing versions of Islam and radicals trying to seize power are several other major factors. This happens when a power vacuum happens, as in the fall of Saddam. Iraq has hug oil reserves. Naturally, different factions would like to own that.

But when those factions got the message that we’re not leaving despite what the pres and lefties want, they realized their insurgency was a failure. And Iraqis got tired of seeing friends and family dying or being maimed by the insurgent’s bombs.

The US made several mistakes when they went into Iraq. They’ve had to learn this the hard way. But the actual level of casualties on the US side is at record lows. Further, another terrorist sponsor state was taken out of the picture. Now there are only two left. If you include Libya, that more than 60% out of the picture. All in a relatively short amount of time.

Afghanistan and Iraq are still not entirely stable. There is also the fear of Pakistan falling apart. But we’re a long way from where we were six years ago. I’d say that’s a positive accomplishment.

UPDATE: Now this is really painful if you’re on the left. If the Bush Doctrine is a big success, which just might happen, a lot of people are going to look really, really stupid. No wonder they’re so pissed off.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

10 Modern Snake Oil Gadgets

Yes people will believe anything.
Such as...

The Origins of Band Names

Interesting trivia.

Nazi Jews

A scene that was cut from Monty Python and the Life of Brian

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Eat Your Bacon

Here’s another story that reverses another claim about food.

Eating nitrite/nitrate-rich foods such as vegetables and cured meats may help improve the chances of surviving a heart attack and of recovering more quickly.

That’s the finding of a preliminary study in the Nov. 12 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers found that mice fed extra nitrite and nitrate had 48 percent less cell death in the heart following a heart attack than mice fed a regular diet. Mice fed a low nitrite/nitrate diet had 59 percent greater cell death.

One week that say it’ll kill you, the next it will save your life. Sheesh!

The New Bigotry

It’s one of the last forms of bigotry openly accepted in this PC age. The derision of fat people. And now governments are getting into the act.

New Zealand immigration officials are keeping a U.K. wife from joining her husband “down under” because they say she is too fat, the Daily Mail reports.

British citizens Rowan Trezise, 33, and Richie Trezise, 35, are living apart as she tries desperately to shed the pounds needed to comply with New Zealand guidelines that immigrants maintain a healthy BMI, or body mass index.

BMI is a weight-height ratio that estimates percentage of body fat. The New Zealand Immigration Service requires all applicants to undergo a complete medical examination, which includes body size measures like “waist circumference.”

The regulations were supposedly put into place for budget reasons. The country’s health care system cannot afford to open its doors to overweight immigrants, a spokesman for New Zealand’s Fight the Obesity Epidemic explained to the Daily Mail.

This after it has been revealed that being overweight isn’t always unhealthy. In fact, you can be overweight and healthy. The BMI is a false method of judging people’s weight.

But between airlines charging passengers more and governments denying them visas we have a new form of segregation. One that is sanctioned by governments who are eager to push the “obesity epidemic” theory so they can cut people out of insurance plans. It’s yet another agenda to cut more people out of entitlement rolls. 

Awesome Book Designs

Most of these have a pop art feel, but they show you what you can do with simple, good graphical design. There’s a lot of covers in here I really like. Beautiful stuff.

Check This Out

Dual guitars. One player.

Seven Weird Natural Phenomena

The planet is much stranger than people realize.