Inbred: Bush, Cheney, and the Hummers

The article In Politics, Some Ties Are by Blood shows that President Quagmire and Dick "Shotgun" Cheney are relatives. Fascinating.

Speaking of inbred, I find it amusing that the [$125,000+] 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha now has a 51.5 gallon fuel capacity (range=570 miles). At today's prices, that means the H1 takes over $150 to fill the tank. If the Israel-Hizb'Allah War continues for long, and gas goes to $4/gallon, I wonder how many of these will be prowling the streets?

Worth mentioning: the H1 has been all but discontinued, apparently. The H2 (range=290 miles) and H3 (range=460 miles) models live on. Worth a look: The Green Hummer Project.

preserving the timeline

I was a Star Trek junkie for many years, and suppose I still may be, although I've never dressed up as a Breen and attended a Star Trek convention! There were several spinoffs: The Next Generation ("the shark jumper"); Voyager; Deep Space Nine; Enterprise (bridging the gap between present day and The Original Series).

A Star Trek theme which recurs is the fantasy of time travel, and a subtheme is that of preserving the timeline (i.e. not doing anything while you're gallivanting through time that will change future events). I've thought about this a bit over the years, and find the concept of Timeline Preservation to be mostly absurd, as somewhat insignificant events can significantly change history.

An egregious example would be this theory: the 2002 bankruptcy of US Airlines is due to a pint of ale in 1836 Austria.

(History students will grasp this faster than others:) due to a chance encounter (let's assume a carriage driver was hungover .. one too many pints of ale the night before), Maria Anna Schicklgruber met a man at the carriage stop, "hooked up" with him and eventually gave birth to Alois Schicklgruber.

Alois Schicklgruber and Klara Polzl (Alois' niece!) were the parents of Adolf Hitler, whose Holocaust so enraged the world that the state of Israel (a safe haven for Jews) was mandated in 1945. Further, US support of Israel inspired Arab militants (including a Saudi named Osama bin Laden) to attack the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, creating such havoc in the airline industry that several carriers were thrown into economic chaos, including US Airways.

If, in 1836, the bartender had sent the carriage driver home without that last pint, and he'd been on time the next morning, would that have kept Delta Airlines out of bankruptcy, and saved the lives of 60 million people (total deaths in World War II). Further, what if one of those 60 million had a descendant who developed an early cure for the 2006 Avian Flu Pandemic?

Such thoughts boggle the mind ... how many seemingly insignificant events will happen today that will forever alter human history?

how I spent my Thursday vacation

(early) voted - done

get a flu shot - done

drop off quarterly mailing at the BME (Business Mail Entry) - done

lunched at Golden Chick - done

figured out how to "install" the 15x17x5 Large Cat Pan Liners - done (and duh!, after having to Read The Instructions)

watched the South Park episode from last night (thanks, TiVo!)

note to self: gotta git me one of them Future Tellin' Devices

Today's Education: Nuclear fuel cycle (in light of yesterday's announcement that Iran wants to nuke Israel, just because they're so intimidating)

perspective

I've been watching Mosaic (offered up by LinkTV) since April. This daily half-hour show is a compilation of news reports from television stations in the Middle East. It's interesting to try to figure out which ones are state-run propaganda, and which are the result of a "free press".

I've learned to cringe when the video feed from Tehran (Iran) appears; it frequently takes an extreme anti-Jewish view of whatever's happening in the region. It's almost as bad as watching Fox "News" and expecting impartiality. Example: When the Israeli settler in the West Bank shot and killed three Palestinians, the Tehran anchorwoman in a hijab (Islamic head scarf) matter-of-factly said that (quote) "Jews are taught to hate Arabs in school," and showed photos of older Arab women weeping, faces strained.

It's apparently okay for a Palestinian to sneak into Israel and blow himself up with as many Jews as possible (in the name of "martyrdom" - a very overused term) but an international jihad must be issued if a Jew attacks a Palestinian. Then again, Israeli retaliation is often very lopsided, which only fans the hatred.

In this country, we'd see "TV-Tehran" as inflammatory rhetoric, yet that's the only thing the Iranians are allowed to see, so they Must Believe It. TV-Tehran never presents both sides of the story.

Did you know that Arab maps commonly don't show Israel? How would you feel if USA were replaced by something else - not even acknowledged? Arab maps frequently show "Palestine" and not Israel. See science.co.il for an Israeli view on the Arab-Israeli conflict. This reminds me of a book I read (years ago) where it became clear that there is no way that conflict will ever be settled; it seems that no one in that part of the world is willing to bury the hatchet, or let bygones be bygones. They simply cannot live peacefully with one another. That's why The Puppet's War (projected to end in 2009) is such a farce: the second we leave, it'll disintegrate into civil war (unless they're broken into 3 countries first: Kurd-Iraq, Sunni-Iraq and Shiite-Iraq). And then they'll be attacked by their neighbors (Turkey, Iran, Syria). That's just the way things are done Over There.

dense

I've been watching/reading the different views of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and continue to be baffled by the difference in population density. I'm not going to attempt repeating what's been written elsewhere (see Palestinian Technical Team: FAQ About Israel's Unilateral Disengagement if you're interested), but ...

depending on which numbers you use, it appears that the Israeli Jews in the Gaza Strip were living in some of the lowest population densities on Earth. No wonder they didn't want to move! It took significant searching for me to find a nearby area (Ellis County) with a similar low density:

Los Angeles CA           7,400/mi²
Gaza Strip/Arab          7,222/mi²
Plano TX                 3,101/mi²
Lucas TX                   345/mi²
Gaza Strip/Jew             162/mi²
Ellis County TX            118/mi²

Bottom line? The Gaza Strip Palestinians are living in a density similar to that of Los Angeles, while the Jews "across the street" were living in a density about half that of Lucas, Texas.

Conspiracy Theories

The biggest problem with Fahrenheit 9/11 is that people will confuse it with A Documentary, versus A Viewpoint. The fact that Moore ignores America's unconditional backing of Israel (and how that sense of unfairness plays in the Arab world) then barely admits that the coalition includes the UK, torpedos his credibility. If he really wanted to present a documentary, he would've shown both sides. As I opined yesterday: he's getting better as a filmmaker, but much of the movie is still Vintage Michael moore.

If you've seen Michael Moore's prior work, you'll know that he never met a conspiracy theory that he didn't love. More Distortions from Michael Moore (by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball) is an important read, highlighting several problems with the film. Some of Moore's conspiracy theories are red herrings; he could have done better, had he not aimed for theatrics. I suspect he's only marginally smarter than the target of this film.

Numbing: The Puppet's quote: "after all, Saddam tried to kill my daddy!" (he comes off as a Class A Goober, and appears to believe that alone justifies war). Was greed (by a few people) the real reason for the The Puppet's Oil War(using the al-Qaada attack on 9/11 as a pretext)? Does this make me a believer in Real Conspiracy Theories? Hmm.

Moore undoubtedly picked the juiciest of all the Bush-Saudi connections and ignored the rest. This is not to say that greed hasn't driven a lot of bad policy. The scenes of seminars explaining how to make obscene profits in rebuilding Iraq were most disturbing. Companies such as Halliburton come off smelling like huge rotting fish corpses.

I'm betting Michael Moore hasn't read the terrifying account of WMDs, from the week of 5 October 2003: George W Bush.com :: Official Blog

It bothers me that The Regressives (Christian Fascist Republican Party) appear in control, by proxy. Is there a goal of a Return To Mayberry, turning the USA into The Stepford Nation? What The Regressives won't accept is that 1) "Mayberry" was not idyllic for a lot of people; 2) the world is a place where hidden agendas are the norm; 3) problems cannot always be light-hearted and solved in a 22-minute episode (allowing 8 minutes for commercials).

Related: the "OREO Animation" on TrueMajority.org is a simplified explanation of the problem with our military spending.

Jill-Bob and I had a brief discussion about Mandatory Voter Testing, where people would have to prove they are logical. When someone indicates they're voting for someone because "he has nice hair", their voter card would be taken away. I like this idea! Good thing such a plan could never be abused, and that it's completely objective.

I found a Texas Request for Voter Registration Applications, and noticed that you're only required to certify that you're not insane. And over 18 years old. Hmm.

Unrelated: Godwin's Law FAQ (How to post about Nazis and get away with it)

politics, nukes, military spending (i.e. nothing controversial)

While reading RSS feeds, I listened to AirAmerica (again), paying careful attention to the advertising. Lesson learned: AirAmerica's target market is health conscious; buys insurance; attends national parks and museums; recycles; dates; trains guide dogs; and shows other signs of being obvious social outcasts. Prediction: that audience will be too busy tie-dying their Earth® shoes to vote.

Politics: From Bush, Unprecedented Negativity (and we still have 5 months until the election). Makes me wonder if the Republicans will nominate J. Danforth Quayle as W's intellectual advisor? Randi Rhodes reminded me of the web site showing which of my (and your) neighbors are donating to the campaigns: fundrace.org

Nuclear weapons: Dimona, Israel has the "capacity to produce plutonium for five to ten nuclear warheads a year"; NucNews includes an item about depleted uranium (used in artillery as tank-killers in the Bush's Oil Wars).

Military spending: Cost of War (dynamically updated); Ramsey Clark's Neighborhood Bully Interview (August 2001)
Note the "our military spending is absolutely, certifiably insane" line

Miscellany: The Straight Dope: Where does the term "86" come from?; CD Baby ("a little CD store with the best new independent music")

The Daily Routine

I know I won't do -this- more than a few days, but I thought it might be entertaining to take notes on my Palm and publish them to GeneBobBlog. It would be hard to go back to my Life Before The Palm (PDA), since I'm accustomed to turning it on, jotting a random note and turning it off. Later, I HotSync™ it. Woo hoo.

In college, and my 2nd [sic] job out of college, I was a news reporter. That followed a few years working as the Sports Editor (and Photographer) of my high school paper (The Eastern Eagle) where I also learned to use a 35mm camera. Maybe that's why photography and writing are such second nature to me. Pity I never learned to type correctly.

During the work week, I commonly wake at 5am or so. I've had an insomnia problem for the past several years. Not sure if a doctor could help.

My Morning Ritual involves walking outside to fetch the Dallas Morning News™ - DMN off the lawn (it's there waiting for me, most mornings). There are times when I've gone outside at 4am and it wasn't there yet, so I watched through a window until I spotted a slow-moving car (with emergency flashers blinking) and heard the telltale [plop] as the paper hit the lawn. Now this is excitement in The Big City. Even more excitement when I go outside to find the sprinklers on, but that's another story.

While I have a sidewalk that goes from the house to the street, the DMN carrier rarely hits it. Today, the paper was 9 paces frm the sidewalk. Yeah, I count them. His end-of-year tip depends on how many days he hits the sidewalk in 365 days. For Calendar Year - CY 2003, he's 1 for 190.

BTW, the DMN is known locally as the Dallas Managed News (I'll explain that later)

Another step in My Morning Ritual involves giving my dog (Beta) a pill for healthy skin and a shiny coat. I like Derm-Renu™, made by a company in Fort Worth (30 miles away). However, I can no longer find their product in the local stores (it was available at Petco™ but they dropped it). So, now I order it from a company 1500 miles away, in California, because I found it on their web site (thanks, Google™). Go figure. Will have to call Virbac AH (817-831-5044) to inquire if there's someone closer, Real Soon Now.

I'm boycotting PetSmart ever since they put (former Dallas mayor) Ron Kirk on their board of directors.

I was -amazed- that Wikipedia had Metroplex in the search engine, but not as a term. So, I just added it: Wiki: Metroplex

There's lots of stuff in the DMN each day, and here are a couple things that caught my eye today (some for later web browsing, some just to discern how I think - a scary thought). They're in no particular order.

• YoungGayAmerica.com (caveat: I'm straight but have many friends, some of whom are gay (some still in the closet)). This article says that gay teens are really not discriminated against, and do not commit suicide. I'm leery.



• article: Visions of summer: Find joy in the season's hidden beauty (photography article with way cool photos, requires free registration on the DMN web site)



• Singles Groups are listed in Texas Living section (1st Saturday?) .. gotta see if any of these interest me (I scanned the list and downloaded it to my Palm a few months ago .. it hasn't changed since then). There are 23 groups listed.



• movie candidate: Owning Mahowny, playing @ the Inwood



• A study by Nucleus Research shows email spam reduces productivity by 1.4%, costs the average company $874/employee/year. I downloaded the 3 page PDF and was amused to see "The average employee receives 13.3 spam messages per day" and spends 6.5 minutes dealing with it .. I guess I'm not average, since I get much more than that. The vast majority of my spam lands in my Inbox at work; I use a company-wide filter which traps a lot, but not enough. SBC+Yahoo does a credible job of keeping it out of my Inbox at home; even so, I check my inbox using their Web Mail app first, before I download anything.



• Richard Alm article: Sports still a hot ticket here



• 93 people sworn in as US citizens yesterday at Old City Park including an Iraqi (Ahmad Aljaberi). I'm adding Old City Park to my list (Palm) of Culture To See In Dallas.



• TheSmokingGun.com



• savedallaswater.com campaign: today's item - soaker hoses



• fireworks explosion Friday in Kilgore TX (115 miles east of here) kills 3, severe damage to 6 homes



• redesigned BMW 5-series debuts in Europe, will be in the USA by autumn (I drive a 330Ci, aka E46)



• Takeru Kobayashi won his (6th-in-7 years) hot dog eating contest on Coney Island (44.5 Nathan's Famous hot dogs in 12 minutes)



• Iran's Shahab-3 missile can reach Israel (Haaretz paper)



• Letters (to the editor). After reading this, I have to keep asking myself if all Texans are idiots, or just the ones who write?



• Leonard Pitts (Miami Herald columnist) opines re www.donotcall.gov (I emailed him about The Magic Words:)
  

  Hi, Leonard.
  
  I spotted your column about the donotcall.gov web site in today's
  Dallas Morning News.
  
  For several years, I've been using The Magic Words to deal with
  telemarketers: PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM YOUR LIST.
  
  It's amazing how well that works, and is a near-permanent solution (I
  have yet to get another call from a telemarketer after using those 6
  words). Yes, I too signed up for the national list, via the web site.
  But I get so few calls anymore that I'm not expecting to notice any
  changes.
  
  Some people say "I'm not interested" TWICE (at which point the
  telemarketer will go away) but that's only good for THAT CALL. The
  Magic Words work for that, and all subsequent calls. Try it!