'Summer' in the Adirondacks

Ok, so summer doesn't really start here until the 4th of July and the last warm dry day we had was Memorial Day weekend I think.

Turd Blossom Does It Again

In the current White House there are only two ways to get fired. Be disloyal to GW or be indicted. Bush said he'd fire anyone involved in the Plame leak case. Is that laughable or what? Nope, Rove wasn't indicted even though he outed Valerie Plame's name and then lied about it, several times. I wonder if the press will have any questions for GW now?

Bagdad is Safe

Guys, there is nothing to worry about! Bagdad is now safe. We have turned the corner. Ummmm, what's that smell? (White House press sec. Tony Snow, left and counselor Dan Bartlett, right). Do these guys look like they are crapping their pants or what?

YEARLYKOS Con :Ep. 2: Peace Takes Courage

A political ad made by a 15 yr old with a laptop. Things are changing. The thing I like about young people is that they usually have an acute sense of right and wrong.

The Economy is Great!

It is!!! The tax cuts are working....at least for the rich.

A Cloistered Live

You think you have it hard? Look at the schedule these guys keep. See pictures of the Grande Chartreuse here. This would be a great experience for a week or two, but forever?

Postulant and Novitiate

Upon his entering the monastery, the candidate begins his postulance which lasts from three months to a year. At then end, if his vocation is confirmed, he'll take the carthusian habit and begin his novitiate for a period of two years. Following the novitiate come temporary vows for three years, which are then renewed for two years. Solemn vows takes place at the end of those two years, at which time the monk gives himself to the life in front of God and Church for ever.

Men over 45 are not accepted

Don't worry, there is an order of nuns too. There is also a Charterhouse in Vermont.

Blogs of Upstate NY

Check this out. It's lonely here in the Adirondacks.

Do We Spend Enough on the Military?

Of all the money spent on the military, in the entire world today, the USA spends 48% of it. That's 538 billion dollars out of the 1.12 trillion dollars spent worldwide. The UK, France, Japan and China spend about 56 billion dollars each, 4-5% of the worldwide total.

I'm rotten at math, but it seems that comes to about $1,793 for each man, women and child in the USA. I guess you have to ask yourself, do terrorists scare you that much? If they do, could you figure out better ways to spend the money?

I've never bought into this whole 'War on Terror' thing. It reminds me of the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, and the War on Cancer. You can't have war on a tactic. Who are we at war with? If we win, which government surrenders to us? What exactly has to be done for the war to be over?

Is the war in Iraq over? They have a government now. Has that government surrendered to us? If so, how can there be a war? Who exactly are we fighting in Iraq right now? Whose side are we on, the Shia?...the Sunnis?....the Kurds?

How come no one asks the President or congressional representative these question?

Are You Young or Old? Try This.

This is really interesting. A ringtone that only young people can hear. Click here and if you can hear a very high pitched ringtone....you are young. If not, sorry I ruined your day.

NSA Spying On American Citizens

Spying on American citizens is perfectly legal. Pres. Bush can authorize this type of activity under the US Constitution. No courts, no warrants necessary.

But just in case let's pass a law that grants blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under Bush's authority. I mean it's all perfectly legal but....

Thank the Almighty we have Sen. Arlen Specter protecting our rights. While you are at it, why don't you just give Bush amnesty from all laws he may have broken in the past and might break in the future?

I thought good conservatives were opposed to amnesty?

Those Iowans Are Funny People

Flood prevention is good, but what kind of detention basin is this?

Question

What would it take for a right wing conservative to reach genuine pariah status in the political world?

Stefan on Washington Monthly tried to come up with some answers.

Well, he could shoot an old man in the face...no, wait.

Oh, yeah, he could be exposed as a gay prostitute...no, that's not it either...

Perhaps if he harmed national security by revealing the name of an undercover CIA agent for partisan political gain....no, not really....

Hmm, he could be revealed to be a gigantic crook who's been enriching himself for years by stealing the taxpayer dollars of hard-working Americans...huh, no, that doesn't work either, does it....

What if he sold sold weapons to the Iranian mullahs and then lied about it to Congress...or sold weapons to Saddam Hussein and looked the other way while he massacred the Kurds....or held hands with the repressive Saudi monarchs....or brazenly broke the law by spying on Americans in their homes....

Man, this is a harder question than it looks....

Chuckle

Dr. James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family wants everyone to have a choice in what cable channels they have beamed into their homes. That way, the really moral, God-fearing families won't have to pay for that MTV trash etc.

This doesn't really sit well with the Reverends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell who damn well know that no one would pay to watch their codswallowing TV networks CBN and TBN. They will be out of business.

So to whom does the poor family values constituency pay attention?

Wanna Toss GW Around?

Go here...use your cursor....have fun, then feel better.

6-6-06

Good news! Online oddsmakers say it's 100,000 to 1 that we will survive tomorrow. Yea Earth! The 'rapture index' hasn't really crept up much so I guess that is a good sign too. Even better, rapture expert, the Rev. Tim LaHaye says the apocalypse will not occur tomorrow. There are some suspicious things going on with barcodes however!

A few other important numbers
Octal of the beast = 1232
Binary of the beast = 1010011010
Reciprocal of the Beast = 0.00150150...
Anti-Log of the Beast = 1.738 x 10289
Square Root of the Beast = 25.8069758...
Number of the Blond Beast = 6, uh..., I forget

NOTE: the number of the beast may actually be 616 not 666.

EMERGENCY UPDATE!!!!
Information for mothers from Landover Baptist Church here!

Who Won the 2004 Presidential Election

If you are a citizen of the USA it is your obligation to read the article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Rolling Stone Magazine. It's called Was the 2004 Election Stolen? and you can read it here.

A good commentary on the article, by Thom Hartmann, can be found here. I followed the 2004 Presidential election very closely and was glued to my computer all night. It was clear early on that the exit polls had John Kerry winning the election. Then a bit later in the evening something happened. It seemed the exit polls were all wrong in predicting John Kerry as leading the race. Next morning I was really disappointed, but I never bought into 'conspiracy theory' of the race being stolen by the Republicans. There was nothing in the 'liberal' mainstream press suggesting such a thing....at least not on the front page and even the liberal blogs didn't really dwell on it for very long. And, being a good citizen, I figured nothing like a stolen presidential race could ever happen in this country. However, as a scientist I know that, when properly applied, statistics don't lie. Kennedy has certainly convinced me that something very fishy concerning the exit poll results went on in several states during the 2004 election.



Take a look at the map and decide for yourself, but definitely read the entire article. Much, much more went wrong than just 'funny' exit polling results took place.

The Finish, The Drums, and Home

The finish line at the Burlington waterfront. A good time was had by all. Can't wait til next year and the year after etc.


A nice show by the Burlington Taiko Drummers. These folks are full of energy and they can really beat those drums.

Heading home on the Grand Isle Ferry to a lonesome bunny.

Vermont City Marathon - 3rd Handoff and Finish

Didn't get a picture of Zippy handing off to Anna, but here is Anna handing off to Kim. Anna had the run up the big hill where the Teicho drummers drum you along.


Zippy, Julia and Anna killing time between the last two legs of the race.


Here is Steph with about a couple hundred meters to the finish. Part of the last leg of the race is run on the shores of Lake Champlain.

Why mMT Mice Don't Have B Cells

For Sara and Susan. mMT mice do not have B cells because the membrane exon of the mu heavy chain has been disrupted. Targeted disruption of this exon results in failure to make productive rearrangements and thus death of the developing B cell. Basically, in order for a pre-B cell to survive it has to make cytoplasmic m. If this doesn't happen the pre-B cell dies so you never get any mature B cells and thus no antibody production.

What is Christianity All About?

Christianity as it exists among fundamentalists isn't about behaving like Jesus. It's all about faith--about believing the story. The underlying message seems to be: you can behave any way you want as long as you believe the story and say you're sorry before you die. Following the teachings of Jesus is much too demanding, whereas with the Christianity of fundamentalists all you have to do is shut your mind off.

From here.

This guy seems to have it right in my mind. Christian fundamentalists rarely seem to follow the teachings of Jesus very closely. To them it's all about the moral values espoused in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), not the teachings of Jesus as described in the New Testament. But even the Old Testament values fundamentalist preach about are chosen very selectively. You don't see them advocating slavery or dietary laws that often. But, bring up the subject of gay marriage and watch out. Christian fundamentalists are obsessed with sex. The values of tolerance, non-violence and love are way, way down the list for these people.