Differences Among US Presidents

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts." A. Lincoln

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. . . the Almighty has no attribute that can take side with us in such a contest." T. Jefferson

"No Man is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expedience." T. Roosevelt

"When even one American - who has done nothing wrong -- is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all of Americans are in peril." H. Truman

"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted." J. Madison

"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier."
"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." G.W. Bush

Friday Scientific Instrument Blogging

Can slice meat (and your finger) very very thin.

Finally - A Killing Frost

I think our plants can be considered officially dead now.



I also had to find my windshield scraper.



And, a ghostly morning scene on Lake Flower.

The Internets Were Down Today

No posts today cuz the internets were down. Looks like tonight will be the first big freeze for Northern NY.

Did Bush Know Rove Leaked Plame's Name?

According to the NY Daily News (http://nydailynews.com/front/story/357107p-304312c.html), a 'counselor' to Bush has leaked that 'W' has known for 2 yrs that Karl Rove leaked Valerie Plame's name to the press. Bush was supposedly VERY angry with Rove. "Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way."

So Bush knew all along even though he said he didn't. And why was Bush angry with Karl Rove? Not because of what Karl did, but rather the slipshod methods he used. If true, then classic.

I mention all this because I doubt it will be reported very well, although the press does seem to smell blood in the water these days.

Political Animal

I consistantly read 3-4 political blogs because that is how I get my news and I'm a political junkie. My favorite political blog is 'Washington Monthly's' Political Animal authored by Kevin Drum.

One of the topics posted last night concerned the use of liquified coal as an alternative source of internal combustion engine fuel. The govenor of Montana is very interested in this concept because Montana has vast reserves of coal. Anyway, one of the funniest replies I've ever seen is below:

Southpark had an episode in which everyone switched to cars powered by buggery. Might solve the population problem too.

Unfortunately, as the Emperor Justinian pointed out, buggery is the principal cause of earthquakes. We'd just be trading one big problem for another.

However, I did have an idea for cars that run on rage. You'd just get in, hook up the electrodes, think about how much you hate your boss or your ex-wife and zoom! -- off you go!

Plus, we could make a practice of cutting one another off on the road to increase fuel efficiency.

Many know that I'm also a South Park junkie. And the 'buggery' powered vehicle episode was a classic, although it turned out that 'buggery' actually had nothing to do with powering the vehicle.

So Which is It?

When a Democrat President is the target of a criminal investigation it's all about the "Rule of Law".

When the target is a Republican, all of a sudden it's all about the "Criminalization of Politics".

Nice to know the conservative standard.

James Carroll Asks:

What if God's unknowability is the most illuminating profundity humans can know about God? Comments?

When Will the Sun Return?

It's been like this in my backyard for about 10 days now. I actually got a glimpse of the sun yesterday while driving home from Plattsburgh.