Saturday, March 19, 2011

Ann Coulter Claims Radiation is Good for You!

Someone please tell Ms. Coulter her 15 minutes of fame was up years ago.  She is "kicked in the head" stupid or just an amazing delusional liar  I suspect both.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Debate In Montana Over Sodomy Law Goes Off The Rails

Spewing not only outright lies, but just plain disgusting crap the hearings on trying to reconcile Montana's criminal code with the law, the lawmakers of Montana go on a rampage.  The testimony is disgusting and filled with not just half-truths but downright lies and bigotry.  From the folks at Bilerico comes this clip of the testimony.

Hang on to your hats if you listen to this crap.

Inspiring New Video From Tsunami In Japan

Ramos May Be Ousted By New Bill

So fellow termites, the DINO (Democrat In Name Only) that is Dan Ramos may be turned out of his office as Democratic Party Chair in Bexar County by a new law.  A bill introduced by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, (D-San Antonio), would let the state executive committee of any political party remove a county chairman for incompetence or official misconduct.Though the measure says nothing abouty Ramos by name, we all know what it is about. 

More about it here on MySanAntonio.com.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Foreign Citizens Leave Japan In Droves

Too Little, Too Late - Spent Fuel May Pose Greatest Risk In Japan

Tokyo Electric was planning to build an off-site storage facility for spent fuel rods from its reactors.  Unfortunately those plans were not finished before the situation at Fukushima Daiichi deteriorated into what it is now.

The pools containing the spent fuel rods have lost a lot of water and the rods may be exposed to air. This means they will heat, a lot.  If the zirconium shielding around the fuel oxidizes or catches fire the fuel will be exposed to the open air and that is a bad thing.

According to experts from Tokyo Electric there is a chance the rods may reach “recriticality”.  This means fission may start again, in the open air!  Should that occur, the fuel would likely melt down and eventually contact water causing an explosion that would send molten uranium into the atmosphere.  The other problem may be that just pouring water on them might not help, it would take large quantities of water laced with boron to absorb the neutrons being radiated and stop the chain reaction.

There probably won't be a Hiroshima style explosion, but a steam explosion that shoots radioactive material into the atmosphere would be devastating.  Call me a pessimist, but I don't see a happy ending on this one.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Texas Representatives Co-Sponsor Homophobic Bill

So out of the 95 Republicans who co-sponsored a bill to force President Obama to defend DOMA are the following Texans.  If they are your representatives, call them and let them know in detail how you feel about their homophobic bill.

Rep Barton, Joe [TX-6]
Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26]
Rep Canseco, Francisco "Quico" [TX-23]
Rep Carter, John R. [TX-31]
Rep Conaway, K. Michael [TX-11]
Rep Flores, Bill [TX-17]
Rep Hall, Ralph M. [TX-4]
Rep Johnson, Sam [TX-3]
Rep Marchant, Kenny [TX-24]
Rep Neugebauer, Randy [TX-19]
Rep Olson, Pete [TX-22]

Cindy Jacobs Blames Disaster On God!

OK actually this odd preacher Cindy Jacobs, blames Japan's idolatry for the tragic events of last week.
"In the early nineties, the Lord gave me a prophecy for Japan that it was a "sickle in the hand of the Lord" that will be used for great harvest. The physical geography of the islands look like a curved sickle with the handle being the island of Hokkaido in the north. One could also say that it looks like a curved sword. Where Japan has historically been a sword of war across Asia. I see God raising up young revivalists from the nation who will impact Asia and the world for the gospel.

On the other hand, if you look at it another way, this island, Hokkaido, looks like the head of a dragon with the body being the rest of Japan. The people of Asia have worshipped the dragon for 5,000 years. If one looks at the place where the earthquake took place, it looks like the soft underbelly of most vulnerable part of the dragon. Let's pray that the deep idolatry and the worship of hundreds of idols under the guise of Shintoism, Buddhism, and allegiances to being "sons of the dragon" will be broken and thousands will turn to the Lord.

My interpretation of this is that while God did not want people to perish, He is going to use this to "pierce" the darkness surrounding the Japanese people if we will cry out to God for them in the midst of this crisis ..."
So the god Cindy Jacobs worships sends tsunamis and earthquakes killing thousands of people because they have a different religion.  Of course there are Christians and Jews and Muslims in Japan, and I feel pretty sure some of them were among the victims, but to Cindy Jacob's god they must just be "collateral damage".

There is so much wrong with this kind of psychopathic image of a hate-filled god I can't even begin to start picking apart the theological issues.  It's beyond belief that someone could look at the tragic events and instead of showing compassion and actually doing something to help, they sit back clucking and shaking their head saying "well they had it comin' 'causin they was idolaters you know".

May the God of love have mercy on her hate-filled soul.

Video - Detroit Gay Bashing Victim Speaks Out

"What happened to decency?" That is the question the 23 year old victim of a hate crime asks in this video. Really poignant question.

AssHat Parade- GOP on Nuclear Power Safety, Before the Meltdown

A nice montage of the Republicans defending the safety of nuclear power and belittling detractors, prior to the Japanese meltdown. Enjoy, and please don't spit at the screen.

Gaman - A Message from George Takei

Japan Reactors Monitored, but Abandoned

The government of Japan and the owners of the crippled power plants are speaking in well parsed words when they describe having to remove all workers from the nuclear plant because of high levels of radioactivity.  What they are saying is that they are abandoning the melting plant and hoping for the best.  With no people on-site to do anything if needed, the plants are on their own.  Already damaged by the earthquakes and tsunami, the plants have been rendered useless by the seawater used as a last ditch attempt to cool the reactor cores.

Now, with radioactivity levels spiking and fires breaking out near spent fuel containment ponds, things look like a worst case scenario. Still the government and officials will not give any details except measurements from detectors and what they have observed on video of the plant. 

I find it inconceivable that they pulled the last crew from the area before the situation is under control.  That is basically throwing your hands up and walking away and waiting for the cores to melt down and things to get even more disastrous than they already are.

I understand the need to keep the workers safe, but I would think in Japan, home of robots and high-tech, they would have at least one more trick up their sleeve.  The sad truth may be that the operators of the plant just didn't plan for a worst case scenario.  This is a worst case scenario if there ever was one.

UPDATE:

Just an hour ago this story appeared in the NY Daily News - Workers going back in to the troubled plant.  Hopeful sign.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Face Of A Real Bully - Andy Blom

Andy Blom explains how anti-bullying campaigns are just another part of the "homosexual agenda". Blom is the executive director of something called the American Principles Project, and he is closely aligned with the Tea-baggers. Why do these people spend so much time and money making sure we are miserable? I guess the growing number of LGBT suicides as part of that agenda as well? Watch this clip and get a good look at one of the biggest enemies of LGBT people. A real bully!

Charlie Sheen Tries a Geographic Cure

That's what they call them in 12 Step programs, geographic cures. That's the belief that moving to a fresh location can leave the old addictive behavior behind.  It rarely works, but apparently Charlie Sheen is going to try.  He's leaving "Sober Valley Lodge" his mansion on Mulholland Drive to move just a few doors down from Paris Hilton.  


I am guessing the neighborhood must be called "Crisis Management Heights".  All that area needs is Lindsay Lohan to make it perfect!

Kansas Steps Further Back Into The Dark Ages

From the state that teaches "Creationism" comes this gem.  State Lawmaker, Rep. Virgil Peck (R) has come up with an amazingly Middle Ages solution to the illegal immigrant problem.  Shoot them from helicopters like wild pigs.

I am not joking here.

The Lawrence Journal World reports that Peck refused to apologize for the remark. “I was just speaking like a southeast Kansas person,” he said. The Kansas blog Dome on the Range has the audio clip and direct quote of Peck’s remarks. “It looks like to me if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal immigration problem,” he said:

Ukrainian Gaga?

This is a video from the Eurovision Song contest, sort of a European Idol show.  Nice video, and apologies to Lady Gaga for that headline.

Interesting that most the songs are in English. Enjoy?

Can Japan Trust Its Government?

After the continued stream of platitudes and "there is no danger" coming from the Japanese government, I have to wonder if its citizens will ever trust it again.

A few days ago, the official spokesperson said the situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex was serious, but controllable.  They also noted that three of the six reactors were already shut down prior to the quake and tsunami.  Well, not so much.

After the first explosion, the situation was declared more serious, but still official voices urged calm and assured everyone that steps were being taken to prevent further damage, besides it was a hydrogen explosion outside the containment vessel, so not as disastrous as it could have been. 

After the second explosion, the evacuation zone was widened, but the situation was being monitored.  That's when they began using sea water in the cooling effort.  That means the plant will never be used again since sea water corrodes things pretty fast.

After the third explosion, the one that is most mysterious, now the government is serious.  They have asked people living closer than 19 miles to the plant to stay indoors. One report also showed government officials preparing to distribute iodine tablets, used to minimize radiation sickness.

Now there is a fire in one of the reactors that was supposedly shut down.  What next?

CBC News Reports:
Yukio Edano, chief cabinet secretary, warned that the fire had helped release more radiation.
"Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower," he said.
"Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight. Don't turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors."
"These are figures that potentially affect health, there is no mistake about that," he said.
 This continued stream of half truth and parsed words may lead the Japanese people to begin mistrusting their government.  That would be a cultural shift for Japan and something that might make recovering from the effects of this disaster more difficult than expected.

By trying to retain calm by not giving the extent of the governments knowledge they have undermined confidence.  If the officials didn't know how bad it was, they should have said that.  The Japanese people are intelligent and value truth and candor.  They have behaved exemplary in the face of the worst natural disaster ever faced by their country.  Now it's time for the government to do the same.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Tsunami Video - Heartbreaking

Watching this 7 minutes of home video, it's hard not to cry as a whole town is inundated. The power of the internet!

Take 2 Bexar and Call Me In the Morning

Bexar County in Texas has an interesting figure as Chair of the Democratic Party.  Dan Ramos, the bearded curmudgeon who holds this post sounds much more like a right-wing wacko than a Democratic Spokesperson.

His recent statements in the San Antonio Current may give a clue to who he is.  Speaking about the Stonewall Democrats ( LGBT Democrat Organization) he says:
“I liken them to the Tea Party — the Tea Party and the fucking Nazi Party — because they’re 90 percent white, blue-eyed, and Anglo, and I don’t give a fuck who knows that. Just like the blacks … they’re American, but you can’t get your way just because you’re black.”
How statesman-like!

Ramos shows his true colors as a bigot of the highest order, and proves that you don't have to be white to be prejudiced.  I suspect that Ramos is under a lot of stress as well, considering the former treasurer of the Bexar County Democrats is being prosecuted for embezzlement of $200,000 from the party coffers. 

Ramos, in my opinion represents the dichotomy that is Texas.  Urban centers in Texas tend to be more liberal and rural areas more conservative.  Bexar county is both and perhaps this is why such a polarizing figure as Ramos heads the Democratic Party there. 

Ramos is a problem for Democrats and specifically Bexar, and my guess is he will not be head and headache of that organization for much longer. 

Yet Another Explosion At Japanese Nuclear Power Plant

This is pretty startling video.  Amazing how much power hydrogen has when ignited in a confined space.  Officials continue to play down the "China Syndrome" scenario for these plants, but as a third plant has developed similar problems, I am not putting much stock in the official statements.