Patriot's Charge

Real Americans are out in force on Black Friday so we may be well on the way out of our financial crisis. Long Island crowds of patriots broke down the doors of a WalMart and trampled someone who was trying to keep them from entering the store before opening time (probably a terrorist trained to destroy our economy). In California, shoppers show they are Real Americans and that shopping is a second amendment issue that requires them to pack heat and use it. America may finally be awakening from it's long, wimpy economic daze.

Got pain? Change your glasses and get one of those trick mirrors?

Of course I'm thinking something different, maybe, than the author of this article. People experienced pain less severely when they see the afflicted area of their body as smaller. So, naturally, not being a scientist, I figured everyone would feel better if they were actually smaller or had corrective glasses and mirrors that made themselves look skinnier etc. etc.. That might also leave more pie for me. :)

Forget Airplanes, What About EKGs?

Most electronic devices sold in the UofS have to be tested for electromagnetic emissions that are of the proper quality and signal shapes that will not interfere with or be interfered with by other devices. I went off to get a flu shot at this clinic but wound up getting an electrocardiogram while I was there. Well almost. It seems the EKG gizmo wouldn't work properly. After a couple of rounds of getting some spot shaves and having sticky electrodes applied, watching the machine spit out some squiggled lines, see the Doc get puzzled, getting the electrodes ripped off and re-applied, they gave up. They mentioned at one point that there must be some kind of electrical interference causing the goofy readings like maybe someone is using the microwave. Of course, they were all using wireless laptops in the exam room and everyone had a live cell phone, including the one in my pocket. Anyway, after two and a half hours, I finally got my flu shot. I mentioned to them that their clinic was almost directly under a cell tower so if their stuff was that sensitive they might should do some testing. They said they had never notice that before. Or it could just be my Vulcan heart.

Oh No! I got banished!

There are a couple of newspaper web sites in West Texas that I like to prowl, One in Abilene and one in San Angelo. The Angelo paper had a big melt down a while back where the editors got all sweaty because of all the mud slingin' and name calling going on in the comments on their site. So, they shut down comments for a month, changed their user policy to prohibit links to any site except theirs and said keep all references local, re-arranged their web site so that it takes several clicks to even see the comments and banned several users. I was not dumped with the crowd that got the axe that round. I got around to visiting there a couple of times a week after that. Then two or three weeks ago I lowered the boom on some editorial with links to the WSJ and I think one other place. A couple of days ago I left another short comment on something. Then a day or two later I went back and was going to leave another thought on the same editorial. I noticed my comments had disappeared. I logged in and presto, they reappeared. Logged out and poof, they were gone! I had been banned! So I figured maybe I could sign up for a new account since my IP address had changed a little since the last time I was there. I used a different email address and created an account and signed in with a different name and address and all that stuff. So I left a short comment and it showed up on the story page. Logged out and blamo, the comment was gone. Those guys are good! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Make up your mind and get happy.

People spend a lot of time going to therapy, shopping, drinking, spending, collecting, chasing the opposing gender and generally committing huge commerce in their pursuit of happiness. Mostly not to very good effect. Roni Caryn Rabin even writes to tell us that happy people don't watch television. So watch this.

Yay! It's Tuesday and Nova is on tonight.

The Bible's Buried Secrets

Your Brain On Molecules

Everything from advertising to our most heart-felt emotions run on chemicals. Knowing these things makes for even better chemistry.

THOMAS is a powerful brain circuit that releases the neurochemical oxytocin when we are trusted and induces a desire to reciprocate the trust we have been shown--even with strangers.

The key to a con is not that you trust the conman, but that he shows he trusts you. Conmen ply their trade by appearing fragile or needing help, by seeming vulnerable. Because of THOMAS, the human brain makes us feel good when we help others--this is the basis for attachment to family and friends and cooperation with strangers. "I need your help" is a potent stimulus for action.

Eat Local?

Raising those local veggies may do more damage than shipping apples all the way from New Zealand to your door. more»

Merry Chistmas - The Energy Crisis Is Over.

Two things.

Of course, CNN considers this another salvo in the War on Christmas. Silly news organization. Didn't you get the word? The war on Christmas is over. We won. It's a secular holiday, atheists can celebrate it any way they want, Christians can continue to pretend it's baby Jesus' birthday, and everyone has the freedom to interpret the meaning of the day in whatever way they choose. The freethinkers of America are victorious.

Twenty-five years of electricity for your house and all those Christmas lights, just $1250. That's just about $4 a month.

Update: On closer reading, that atomic thing will probably cost 3X as much as the hype says it will. So, 12 bucks a month per house for the power to run your electric generators is still a good deal even at today's prices for wind or coal.

Eugene and Helene Allen

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Future Texas Political Career Paths

Dallas County Obama 57% McCain 42%
Harris County Obama 51% McCain 49%
Travis County Obama 64% McCain 35%
Bexar County Obama 53% McCain 47%
Cameron County Obama 64% McCain 35%
El Paso County Obama 67% McCain 33%

Dallas county went for Obama at way over twice and almost three times the national rate. If I were a Texas politician in one of the major metro cities in Texas, I would start making some serious Democrat sounds real soon.

The Nation Owes This Historic Moment To It's Youth!

Last night a young thoughtful and courageous man was propelled into America's history by a smart enthusiastic following of connected young people and their outreach across a wide spectrum of this country. They lifted him up because of his vision, good temperament, education and the right things. This morning we are seeing an outpouring of good will and happiness from around a world grateful to see the defeat of the destruction of the last eight years by a man widely respected for his grace, character, articulation and serious optimism for the future of this country and the world. I have renewed pride and appreciation for the young and new generation that has stepped up to govern this nation. Thanks younguns, go gettem!

NOT EVEN CLOSE!

Obama Won!

Creationist Gets Shredded

Ken Ham of Creation Museum and Answers In Genesis gets his hat handed to him again. Here, here and here. My favorite paragraph:

You said that unicorns are real. You claim that the Beowulf story is evidence of human cohabitation with dinosaurs. You say that sometimes religious genocide is OK. You think that the government is training people to talk to aliens. You believe that evolution is a random process, a process of blind chance, which is just factually wrong. You target children because they can't defend themselves and trust you (talk about a cowardly act). You believe if a 2-year old understands it, it must be cutting edge science. You believe that observation and measurement cannot trump "common sense." You believe you do the type of science that you need "faith" to understand instead of, you know, "understanding" to understand. You believe...whatever the fuck this is. You employ the nanny-nanny boo-boo defense. Your ilk does not even try to publish outside of its little circle, and you set up a bogus journal to pretend that you were scholars, THEREBY AVOIDING THE DEBATE YOU CLAIM TO CRAVE. You stare at evolution, describe evolution, and then say, "It's not evolution."

I've really tried. The rest is my opinion.

I had a pretty crammed weekend after I overloaded the days with some volunteering and company and then my dad-in-law going to the hospital. But, I poked around on the Internets last night after I kind of slowed down and saw the prank someone pulled on Sara Palin. I've tried and tried to think that she couldn't be as flaky as it seems and that there is actually some hidden substance to her that McCain actually knows about but just isn't getting out there. I listened to the audio of that prank call several times. It erased from my mind every scrap of respect at all for the woman. She just lied through her teeth at every turn of conversation in that call. She showed absolutely no hint of knowing what she was talking about. In that call she reminded me of the kind that just cannot tell the truth about even the smallest things in life. The kind of person who volunteers lies just to be carrying on a conversation thinking that everyone is so stupid that they can lie to them and it won't matter. The simplest lies are the ones that tip you off. Palin was just so thrilled to get a call from someone important that she just gushed at everything said to her then filled the pauses with more of the same. Vain self-importance. Not the kind of person we should want for her position. It would be a drag just having her as an acquaintance. I feel sorry for her family and friends. They are stuck way too close to her and there is no sign she has the least bit of self awareness or capacity for introspection and change. We've all been through some of that and it sucks.

William Ayers

From PZ:

Bill Ayers is a reason to vote against Republican demagoguery tomorrow.