Trillium

GOP = BUSH

After the Republican presidential candidate debates the other night, I think Paul Krugman has it right.

Mr. Bush has degraded our government and undermined the rule of law; he has led us into strategic disaster and moral squalor.

But the leading contenders for the Republican nomination have given us little reason to believe they would behave differently. Why should they? The principles Mr. Bush has betrayed are principles today’s G.O.P., dominated by movement conservatives, no longer honors. In fact, rank-and-file Republicans continue to approve strongly of Mr. Bush’s policies — and the more un-American the policy, the more they support it.

When asked about torture, the majority of the candidates said go for it. The only candidate against torture was John McCain, the only man in the group who has actually been tortured.

Are the American people really going to elect another "Bush". Bush has been a disaster. The worst president in history. Yet here we have a whole slate of GOP candidates saying they would be more "Bush" than Bush is. Is it really possible to win the nomination by saying you would be just like G.W. Bush?

Hopefully, Bush was correct when he said "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice....can't get fooled again."

White House Supports Troops?

White House: 3.5 percent pay hike unnecessary

Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.

The year before I went into the US Navy an E-3 was making $180.90 a month. In 1972, the year I joined, an E-3 pay had been increased to $333.60, almost double. We now have a professional army (all volunteers). They should be paid a civilian wage.

UPDATE: Bush threatens to veto troop pay raise and $40 increase in family survivor benefits.

Skateboard Park for Saranac Lake

Please help make a modern skateboard park in Saranac Lake a reality.

Below is the text of an email I received requesting help to build a skateboard park in Saranac Lake.

DEAR FRIENDS AND FRIENDS OF FRIENDS:

Please help us with our goal of getting a skateboard park in Saranac Lake .

We have applied for a grant from Hamburger Helper and it is only available till the end of May. An important element is the show of support from the community. To that end, comments can be added to the site. The more support the better our chances of getting some funding.

So please add your comment and please forward this notice and web site to ALL your acquaintances, and encourage them to add their support. And do it ASAP.

www.myhometownhelper.com

-Go to ‘Find a Project’
-Enter NY and Saranac Lake
-Choose the second site for the Saranac Lake Skatepark(without the number) (I submitted it twice because I thought there was a problem –oops!!)
-Add your comment.
-Accept the terms and submit

THANK YOU, Peggy

US Healthcare Costs

I got this chart from Washington Monthly. Kevin Drum got it from the Commonwealth Fund.

the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives. The U.S. is the only country in the study without universal health insurance coverage, partly accounting for its poor performance on access, equity, and health outcomes. The inclusion of physician survey data also shows the U.S. lagging in adoption of information technology and use of nurses to improve care coordination for the chronically ill.

USA ranks last. Ok, the dreaded Canadian system of healthcare doesn't do much better....except for the bottom line. Canadians lead "long, healthy, productive lives" when compared with Americans. And, at half the healthcare cost.

Whining About Gas Prices

Why do we have to pay such high prices for gas? Ever hear of supply and demand? Ask any capitalist and they will explain it to you. Cut the demand and the prices will go down. How do you cut the demand? Maybe not buying full sized SUV's is the place to start. Don't look to our government to help lower gasoline prices. First of all, I'm not sure there is much they can do. Attempts to take over the Iraqi oil fields have been a dismal failure.

Here is a great example of a consumer complaint about gas prices.

"I drive 55 miles each way to work every day," Sandy Colden, of Medford, N.J., said one recent morning while loading groceries into her Honda Pilot SUV. "So I really don't have a choice, unfortunately."

She doesn't have a choice? How about driving a more fuel efficient car? If you are going to commute 110 miles to work and back everyday, maybe you should think about junking the SUV.

Americans have no concept of what other people around the world pay for gas. Netherlands $6.48/gal; Italy $5.96/gal; UK $5.79/ga/; France $5.48/gal; Ireland $4.78/gal; Japan $4.24/gal.

Lot's of information about energy prices and where we are going here at the Energy Information Administration.

Also, check out this cool "gas prices by county" temperature map at gas buddy.

Save the Bunny. Operate!

HERE

Bob and Sam

Time to Take a Stand

Senator Harry Reid has agreed to allow a vote on the Feingold-Reid Amendment which proposes to end the Iraq War by cutting off funding March 31, 2008. The vote will take place this week. A good majority of the American people want to end this war. Now we get to see which senators agree or disagree.

No Contest

Time to Listen Mr. Bush

I sincerely doubt that we will be out of Iraq before the end of Bush's term as President. He wants to be able to leave office saying that he didn't "cut and run". That will be his legacy and his legacy will be built on the backs of all those soldiers and civilians who are killed or wounded between now and Jan. 2009.

Friday Rabbit Blogging

Spring Has Sprung

Erythronium americanum Ker



Trillium



Narcissus

America-Hating Army General Speaks Out

Comments from yet another unpatriotic, America-hating, terrorist loving...err army general?

The Unpardonable Sin

Twelve years of Catholic School and I don't recall ever being told about the "unpardonable sin" - Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit. Religion wasn't one of my favorite classes so maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Maybe the nuns knew it wasn't a sin that can be committed today. I have no idea. What brings up this topic? The debate between the "Rational Response Squad vs Creationists Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort.

More about the "unpardonable sin" here.

Getting the Evildoers Straight

In Afghanistan the Taliban are fundamentalist Sunnis as is Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda gang. Sunnis are the majority sect of Islam (85% Sunni vs 15% Shi'ites). The guys that attacked us on 9/11 were Sunni fundamentalists. When the Soviet Union was waging war against Afghanistan, the mujahideen were our allies and President Reagan called them "feedom fighters".

In Iraq it's a bit more complicated. The majority Islam sect in Iraq is Shi'ites. Saddam and his gang are (were) secular Sunnis, the minority, who ruled the Shi'ite majority. Saddam didn't much care for Osama and Al-Qaeda.

Generally speaking, Shi'ites tend to be more fundamentalist than Sunnis. Shi'ites believe in a much stricter interpretation of Sharia law than do Sunnis. Overthrowing Saddam put the Shiite fundamentalist majority into power. The Shi'ites, of course, want to consolidate their political power in Iraq. So that is one cause of much of the fighting going on in Iraq. Shi'ites also want their revenge on the Sunnis. It's clear to anyone with a brain that a civil war is ongoing in Iraq and that is going to occur whether we stay or leave. The majority sect in Iran is Shi'ite (89%). They'd like nothing better to have Iraqi Shi'ites as their allies. Saddam, being a Sunni, prevented this from happening prior to his demise.

The Kurds are really a separate people. They are indigenous to the area where Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria converge. None of these countries like the Kurds. The origins of the Kurds is somewhat of a mystery but they seem to have Aryan roots. Saddam was always picking on the Kurds. Kurds are "officially" Sunni muslims but they "hold their Islam lightly".

Our "allies", the Saudis, are Sunni. Pakistan, our other "ally" have both Sunnis and Shi'ites with a Sunni majority.

Ok, so do you now have it straight on wh the "evildoers" are?

For a review on the origins of the Sunni/Shia split go here.

UPDATE: Geez, I almost forgot about the Iraqi Christians! They've recently been told to convert to Islam or die.

Can't Decide on Who Should Be President?

There is always John Taylor Bowles, "the white people's candidate".

He's educated....got an AS degree in "Applied Science".

He's got legal experience....as he's a certified paralegal and a notary public.

He's a good Nazi...

Became active as a National Socialist at age 16 years old in February 1974. Joined the National Socialist White People’s Party led by Matt Koehl, who was Commander Rockwell’s successor when he was assassinated in 1967. Between 1974 through 1977 assisted in the operation of a National Socialist headquarters/bookstore in Baltimore Maryland which sold pro-White literature to the general public. In 1975, was the campaign treasurer to Wolfgang Schrodt, who ran for City Council in Baltimore, Maryland and won the primary election. Mr. Schrodt was the first National Socialist to enter an American general election as a National Socialist. He received over 12% of the White vote. In 2003, switched membership from the New Order (formerly named NSWPP) and joined the National Socialist Movement (Jeff Schoep, Commander) and became the state organizer of Virginia.

He's got a plan to be put in place as soon as he's elected....

The very first thing I would do is sign an emergency Executive Order ordering all non-Whites to be respectfully transferred to their own racial homelands. Non-Whites would be reimbursed for their personal property and real property upon exiting the USA.

He's already a convicted felon, so he has that aspect of politics behind him.

Democracy is beautiful!

Leishmaniasis in U.S. Soldiers

US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back home infected with Leishmanisis. Leishmanisis is a disease caused by infection with the protozoa Leishmania. It's transmitted by the bite of the sandfly Phlebotomus.



Leishmania promastigotes. This is the form that lives in the sandfly and is injected into humans or animals. Notice the flagella.



Leishmania amastigote. This is the form that lives in the human. Notice the lack of a flagella.



Phlebotomus (sandfly) is the insect vector of "Old World" Leishmania.

Leishmaniasis occurs in the "Old World" as well as the "New World". Both areas of the World have cutaneous (skin) and visceral (organ) forms of the disease caused by infection with different species of Leishmania.

The "Old World" forms are found in Europe, Africa and Asia. Cutaneous forms of the disease are due to infection with L. tropica or L. major with a "diffuse" cutaneous form caused by infection with L. aethiopica. The visceral form of Leishmaniasis is du to infection with L. donovani. Similar forms of the disease are found in the new world and are caused by different species of Leishmania. The different Leishmania species all look similar under a microscope and can best be identified using DNA or isoenzyme testing of the parasite. Otherwise, the geographic location and type of lesion can help one guess the species one is dealing with.



The life cycle of Leishmania is relatively simple. When a sandfly takes a blood meal, it injects Leishmania promastigotes into a human. The promastigote form of the parasite is taken up by macrophages which under normal circumstances (for most pathogens) would kill the promastigote. Unfortunately Leishmania protozoa have evolved to make the macrophage their home, inside a parasitophorous vacule. In the macrophage, the promastigote loses its tail and transforms into an amastigote. Amastigotes undergo rounds of asexual replication in the macrophage until eventually the macrophage ruptures releasing newly formed amastigotes to infect more host cells. Uninfected sandflies become infected when they take a bloodmeal from an infected individual. The sandfly ingests amastigotes which transform into promastigotes in the gut of the sandfly. Promastigotes reproduce by longitudinal binary fission, quickly reaching numbers that clog the anterior gut and pharynx of the sandfly. When the sandfly feeds again, promastigotes are dislodged and enter the human or animal host.



Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a somewhat mild skin disease that features a "crater-like" lesion. In humans the initial sign of infeciton is a nodule appearing at the site of a sandfly bite. The lesion eventually becomes ulcerated and then erupts.

A "dry sore" is found in those infected with L. minor and a "wet sore" in those infected with L. major. Most lesions tend to heal within a year if there are no complicating bacterial infections. Fluconazole, an anti-fungal drug, can be used to speed up healing of lesions.



Visceral leishmaniasis or "Kala-azar" is caused by infection with Leishmania donovani. Parasite-infected cells can be found in spleen, liver, lymph glands, intestinal mucosa and bone marrow. This can result in a very enlarged liver and spleen. This can be a fatal diseas of humans if not treated. Unfortunately, the treatment, pentavalent antimonials, is almost as bad as the disease. Treatment with Amphtericin B is also used also with harsh side effects.

America's Dumbest Congressmen

As ranked by Radar Online.

10. Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) Has little interest in legislation that doesn't involve baseball.

9. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) Late for a floor vote at 3 AM in the morning. Actually...stoned.

8. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) Crook.

7. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) Don't ask her for her ID.

6. Representative Jean Schmidt (R-OH) One of my favorites, "mean Jean". Knows a coward when she sees one.

5. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Can't walk a block.

4. Representative J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) Looks as dumb as he is. Nickname

3. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) Only #3 on the list? How can that possibly be?

2. Representative Donald Young (R-AK) Mr. "Bridge to nowhere".

1. Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL) Couldn't keep a staff, but come on, Inhofe is so much dumber than Harris.

While you're at it, you can also look at the Worst Hair in Congress.

Creepy comb-overs. Macabre toupees. Misadventures in gel. (And that's just the women.) Radar investigates the eight worst trends in congressional coifs

My favorite category..."Crazy Old White Guy Hair".

Lil' Bush

Have you heard about the Lil' Bush cartoons on YouTube? Comedy Central is going to start broadcasting them next month.

The show follows the misadventures of Lil' George Bush and his precocious pals Lil' Condi, Lil' Rummy and the unintelligible, foul-mouthed wisecracker Lil' Cheney.

See more Lil'Bush at YouTube.