Things that make you go Hmmm?

Brigadier General Markus Laubenthal recent commander of the 12th Panzer Brigade named Chief of Staff, US Army Europe.  The first non-American named to the post.

Scientists Invent See-Through Mice

Giraffe dies after hitting head on low overpass a la Hangover III

Feel free to add to the list.

WTF OVER

What in Allah's name are you talking about?

In the United States, Eid also reminds us of the many achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy. 

In whole: Presidents Statement on Eid al-Fitr

It's not Muslim achievements or contributions that I dispute but the qualifier "the very fabric of our nation" and "the core of our democracy".  It's not that I don't recognize Islamic contributions to science, literature, or philosophy to name a few, I just can't seem to tie any of those to the fabric of our nation or the core of our democracy.

What am I missing?



 

Can't Get No SATisfaction

Temple University, along with nearby private Bryn Mawr College recently announced that it was doing away with the requirement for prospective applicants to submit standardized test scores (SAT, ACT) as part of their admissions process.  Temple does however urge applicants who scored highly on the tests to continue to submit their results.  This also follows the SAT announcement in March that they are reverting to a 1600 point system rather than the current 2400 point test.

Is this further dumbing down of the American academic system or just doing away with pointless testing that doesn't accurately predict outcomes?

5th Times the Charm

Tired of politics, tired of war, tired of airplane crashes, tired of arguing; here's something nice.

I have done this for thirty one years and could easily do it for thirty more without getting the least bit bored.  Twenty-eight years ago I watched the space shuttle Challenger turn from a target and vector into a cloud of uncorrelated targets on a radar screen, it took a while for what we just saw happen to sink in.  I have gone from working on radars, to ground stations, to the satellite programs themselves.  

I have watched probably close to two dozen launches and about six shuttle landings in person, innumerable others on a radar or tv screen and to this day, I can still stand on the beach in awe as I watch a twenty story tube of steel and aluminum rise on a column of flame and turn into a bright dot that gradually grows dimmer and dimmer until it finally winks out, and I could to it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

From the AFSPC Factsheet:

GSSAP satellites will be a space-based capability operating in the near-geosynchronous orbit regime supporting U.S. Strategic Command space surveillance operations as a dedicated Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensor.

GSSAP satellites will support Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC SPACE) tasking to collect space situational awareness data allowing for more accurate tracking and characterization of man­ made orbiting objects. From a near-geosynchronous orbit, it will have a clear, unobstructed and distinct vantage point for viewing Resident Space Objects (RSOs) without the interruption of weather or the atmospheric distortion that can limit ground-based systems. GSSAP satellites will operate near the geosynchronous belt and will have the capability to perform Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO). RPO allows for the space vehicle to maneuver near a resident space object of interest, enabling characterization for anomaly resolution and enhanced surveillance, while maintaining flight safety. Data from GSSAP will uniquely contribute to timely and accurate orbital predictions, enhancing our knowledge of the geosynchronous orbit environment, and further enabling space flight safety to include satellite collision avoidance.

AFSPC Factsheet 

United Launch Alliance 

ULA Mission Brochure 

Can I take a Mulligan?

Photo: Gage Skidmore

That raging bastion of conservative thought, CNN released a poll on Saturday showing that if Americans had to do it all over again they would overwhelmingly elect Mitt Romney by a nine-point spread: 53% - 44%

 
Of course, the same poll showed Hillary would kick Romney to the curb if the election were held today in an overwhelming 13 point trouncing: 55% - 42%.


Better get your act together Republicans.

Saturday Sessions: Tranquility Bass

Tranquility Bass is the stage name of Mike Kandel and the genre is known as Ambient House, one of a variety of chill-out styles. Ambient music puts emphasis on tone and atmosphere over traditional structure and rhythm. Ambient music is the style pioneered by Brian Eno, the third selection below.

 

And if you're unfamiliar with Brian Eno, he also wrote this piece, that you probably are familiar with:

 

It shouldnt take 2 hours

to carry out an execution.

 

Arizona takes nearly 2 hours to execute inmate

There are people out there that are so depraved, so sociopathic that they can never safely be allowed to rejoin society. Personally, I consider life imprisonment with no possibility of parole to be more inhumane than execution.

What do you think?

By the rocket's red glare

photo: paffairs_sanfrancisco

Since the beginning of the month roughly 1,700 missiles have been launched at Israel.  In June it was 53, in May it was 4, April - 19, March - 65, February - 9, January - 22.  In 2012 a total of 2,257 rockets were launched against Israel.

In 1845 Congress admitted the former Mexican territory of Texas to the United States.  In 1947 the United Nations created the nation of Israel.

Imagine if you would that this July 1,700 missiles launched out of Ciudad Juárez fell upon El Paso Texas, launched by Mexican nationals demanding the return of Mexican territory.

All I can say is that 90% of the whining liberal jackasses currently wearing Keffiyehs and waiving Palestinian flags would be cheering the M1 Abrams as they rolled across the border leveling everything in sight.

So tell me, what difference does 102 years make?

East meets West

 

In China

One dead from bubonic plague, 151 in quarantine, and Yumen, a city of 30,000, has been reportedly sealed off.  The man in China supposedly caught it from a Marmot. 

In Colorado

Four cases of pneumonic plague in Colorado... and, nothing. Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous variant of Y. Pestis as it can be spread from person to person whereas bubonic and septicemic plague requires a transmission vector such as the flea. The Colorado case supposedly was transferred from Prairie Dog to pet dog, to owner. In the Colorado case only the dog is reported to have died.

Cooperative Medicine

In China the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care System covers roughly 80% of the population.  The cost is 50 Yuan per person ($7) per year, of that 20 is paid by the central government, 20 by the provincial government and only 10 ($1.61) by the individual.

But hey, everybody's covered. 

 

 

On another note, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the federal subsidy for those enrolled in the states that are using the federal exchange.  Of course, this is just a technicality.  

The Glass Ceiling

Meet AF Lt Gen Lori Robinson

Finally a woman breaks the glass ceiling in PACAF...

She's not a pilot!

Anonymous?

The following video has been floating around for a while now, I cannot verify the veracity of its claim to come from the group known as anonymous. The source isn't really relevant to the message.  The video is long, 16:42, but you should watch it anyway.

Why I love the 1st Amendment

Decide What To Be and Go Be It

There's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what's wrong and what's right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I'm frightened by those that don't see it

We went and saw the Avett Brothers at Red Rocks last Friday night and it was an awesome show.  They are even better live, and they put fantastic spins and twists on their songs that do not detract from the studio versions, which to me is a the mark of a great band.  The different vocal harmonies and the musicality was amazing, not to mention their energy, playing for over two and a half hours.

The entire amphitheater was on it's feet the whole concert, but the song "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Dreams" sparked a palpable emotional response that resonated through the crowd .  That caught me by surprise, because of all their songs, I had never paid much attention to that one.  It is a deep song, and everyone seems to get something slightly different out of it, even as Scott Avett has stated that it is about the temporary nature of life.

Something is wrong, most of us feel it, and this song taps into that in an existential way.

“Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise was written about the temporary nature of our buildings and our mentality,” says Scott Avett. “Accepting the temporary state we may be in. (Artist) Jason (Ryan Mitcham) with his landscape paintings, and some that I’d seen that he’d animated, dealt with the temporary nature of the world around us.”  (Music that Motivates)

Two more quotes about the song from the men who co-wrote it, Scott and Seth Avett:

Scott - "The "Darkness" song! I don't want to sell out the song, because some people will get other meanings from it, but the reference to darkness came from looking around and thinking, things look great but I don't know about this. 'Things look great, things and they sure are pretty and they sure are moving fast, but something does not feel right.' With all of the traveling we do, things can feel menacing at times when you are in a new town and around strange people, and that was written around one of those shopping center areas where I was like, 'This isn't working. It looks like it is, but I don't think it is."

Seth - "The phrase that anchors this song is "there's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light..." and that line refers to these frivolous times where the dark side of life is a lot of times romanticized and made out like it's just fun when really it will destroy a person."  (A Preacher's Life)

It's a powerful song, made more powerful by the artistry of the video.

* - I hate to have to say this, but I will delete any political comments.  This is about music and life, not politics.

Think of the Children

This is not about Immigration

A woman in NC was arrested for letting her 9 year old play in a park unsupervised several hours each day for two days while she was at work at McDonalds. When another parent asked the girl where her mother was the child replied "at work", this parent then called police.  The mother admitted leaving her child at the park and was arrested, child protective services took custody of the child.

Is this or should this be, a crime?

At 9 I would walk with my friends a few blocks to the playground at our elementary school, unsupervised.  "But it was a different world back then", you may say.  Is it? 

Discounting abduction by family members, usually involving custody disputes, abduction by a stranger is very rare. Statistics seem to vary widely depending on who's talking, but a common figure based on FBI statistics seems to be around 1 in 2,100,000.  The odds of your child being killed in the car on the way to the park are 1 in 23,000.  Should we be taking children away from their parents for letting them play, alone in the park? Or driving them there?

Now I wouldn't advocate letting your nine year old child play alone in the park but does it warrant an arrest and the state taking custody?  Frankly the odds of the child be abused or killed in state custody are far higher than of that happening in the park.

Riddle me this Batman: Why do we take a child away from it's mother if she leaves it at the park for a few hours, but give the child back if the mother lets it walk 1500 miles from El Salvador to Texas?

Atlantic
WJBF
Discovery 
Free Range Kids 

Nasty Rumors

It seems there's a nasty rumor floating around that Republicans and Conservatives are trying to deny women contraceptives.  As a public service Western Hero would like to dispel that rumor right now:

Walmart

Walgreens

CVS

So let's get this straight, we're not denying you contraceptives any more than we're denying you Bananas

The Problem with Communism

From each according to his ability, 

to each according to his need

I've a standing challenge with Ducky, asking him to point to one successful implementation of communism, one successful state that illustrates that the system is better than "Kapital", as he puts it.

 

Set aside disbelief for a moment and imagine if America were that country, a workers paradise in which the government owns the means of production and distributes the benefits (profits) of that system to each of us, citizens in this grand experiment.

 

The problem with communism is incentive, incentive to work and even more, incentive to work harder.  In 2013 the US Gross Domestic Product was 16.8 trillion dollars, in 2013 the Chinese Gross Domestic product was 9.4 trillion dollars.  That in itself appears to be an indictment of the communist (or hybrid communist system), but it's worse than that.

 

In December of 2013 the total US workforce stood at roughly 155 million. In 2013 the Chinese workforce stood at 937 million.  The US is 56% more productive with 17% of the workforce.

 

The median US household income in 2012 was $51,371, in China it was $2100.  In China, like the US there is a wide disparity in income regionally, in Shanghai it was $4700 whereas in rural areas it was as low as $1600.

 

So, lets get back to that idyllic communist dream.  As I said the GDP in 2013 was 16.8 trillion subtract from that what the government spent and that leaves 13.35 trillion. Dividing that number by our workforce gives each worker $86,129... seems pretty good.

 

Now we get back to that productivity issues and worker incentive. Discounting workforce numbers if you eliminate America's 56% advantage that 13.35 trillion drops to 7.47 and that payout drops to 48,193. But if you consider workforce numbers each American worker is almost as productive as 5 Chinese workers. So if productivity were equal that 7.47 Trillion would drop further to  only 1.26 Trillion.  Now we're talking a mere $8187 a year paid to each worker.

The problem with communism and communists is that they have the false belief that economies and workers are going to behave the same under communism as they do under capitalism.  Every attempt at implementation has proven that they don't, which is why workers thrive under capitalism and wallow in misery under communism.  When the state consumes all and redistributes it from each according to his ability to each according to his need, worker productivity plummets, there is no incentive other than to show up, punch in, do as little as possible, and punch out. 

US GDP

Chinese GDP

US Median Household Income

Chinese Median Household Income

US Workforce

Chinese Workforce

 

Get Up and Bar the Door

The wind blew high, the wind blew cold,
It blew across the moor,
When John Jones said to Jane, his wife,
"Get up and bar the door."

"Oh, I have worked all day," said she,
"I've washed and scrubbed the floor,
You lazy man, get up, I say,
Get up and bar the door.

"Oh, I have worked so hard," said he,
"I know I can't do more;
So come, my own, my dearest wife,
Get up and bar the door.

Then they agreed between the two,
A solemn oath they swore,
That the one who spoke the very first word
Would have to bar the door.

The wind blew east, the wind blew west,
It blew all over the floor,
But neither one would say a word
For barrin' of the door.

Three robbers came along that way,
They came across the moor;
They saw the Light and walked right in,
Right in through the open door.

"Oh, is the owner of this house
A rich man or a poor?"
But neither one would say a word
For barrin' of the door.

They ate the bread, they drank the ale,
Then said, "Come, give us more."
But neither one would say sword
For barrin' of the door.

"Let's pull the old man's beard" said one,
"Let's beat him till he's sore."
But still the old man wouldn't speak
For barrin' of the door.

"I'll kiss his pretty wife," said one,
"Oh, her I could adore."
And then the old man shook his fist
And gave a mighty roar.

"Oh, you'll not kiss my wife," said he,
"I'll throw you on the floor.
Said she, "Now, John, you've spoken first,
So get up and bar the door.

Meet Israel Andrade, poster boy for the Department of Homeland Insecurity.  Four time deportee that came back across the border a fifth time, broke into a home and molested a nine year old girl.  He still had her panties in his pocket when arrested. 

Aside from first wanting to step forward and volunteer to put a bullet in his head, let me say this:

GET UP AND BAR THE F'ING DOOR

War and Those Responsible

The Apotheosis of War - Vasily Vereshchagin (1871)

Quite a few liberals and progressives like to accuse the Republicans and Conservatives of being Warmongers, the tools of the military industrial complex, but is it really so one-sided? From blame for extermination of the native population in the ongoing quest for American Exceptionalism to today's "war for oil".

A list of Wars of the United States and the presidents in office when they started.  I've left off the Northwest Indian War (1785-1793) because it started four years before George Washington took office in 1789. Democrat Presidents are in Red Font, all others appear in Blue. The basic list is courtesy of Wikipedia "This is a list of wars involving the United States of America during and since the American Revolutionary War, detailing all constituent military theatres and campaigns. 

Quasi-War (1798-1900): John Adams (F)
1st Barbary War (1801-1805): Thomas Jefferson (D-R)
Patriot War - West Florida (1810): James Madison (D-R)
Tecumseh's War (1811): James Madison (D-R)
War of 1812(1812-1815): James Madison (D-R)
Creek War (1813-1814): James Madison (D-R)
2nd Barbary War (1815): James Madison (D-R)
First Seminole War (1814-1819) James Madison (D-R)
Arikara War (1823): James Monroe (D-R)
Winnebago War (1827): John Quincy Adams (D-R)
First Sumatran Expedition (1832): Andrew Jackson (D)
Black Hawk War (1832): Andrew Jackson (D)
Second Seminole War (1835-1842): Andrew Jackson (D)
Patriot War (Canada) (1838): Martin Van Buren (D)
Mexican-American War (1846-1848): James Polk (D)
Cayuse War (1847-1855): James Polk (D)
Apache Wars (1851-1900): Millard Fillmore (W)
Puget Sound War (1855-1856): Franklin Pierce (D)
Rogue River Wars (1855-1856): Franklin Pierce (D)
Third Seminole War (1855-1858): Franklin Pierce (D)
Yakima War (1855-1858): Franklin Pierce (D)
Second Opium War (1856-1860): Franklin Pierce (D)
Utah War (1857-1858): James Buchanan (D)
Navaho Wars (1858-1866): James Buchanan (D)
1st & 2nd Cortina War (1859-1861): James Buchanan (D)
Paiute War (1860): James Buchanan (D)
Reform War (1860): James Buchanan (D)
Civil War (1861-1865): Abraham Lincoln (R)
Dakota War (1862): Abraham Lincoln (R)
Colorado War (1863-1865): Abraham Lincoln (R)
Snakes War (1864-1868): Abraham Lincoln (R)
Red Clouds War (1866-1868): Andrew Johnson (D)
Comanche Campaign (1867-1875): Andrew Johnson (D)
Modoc War (1872-1873): U.S. Grant (R)
Red River War (1874-1875): U.S. Grant (R)
Las Cuevas War (1875): U.S. Grant (R)
Great Sioux War (1876): U.S. Grant (R)
Nez Perce War (1877): Rutherford B Hayes (R)
Bannock War (1878): Rutherford B Hayes (R)
Cheyenne War (1878-1879): Rutherford B Hayes (R)
Sheepeater War (1879): Rutherford B Hayes (R)
White River War (1879-1880): Rutherford B Hayes (R)
Pine Ridge Campaign (1890-1891): Benjamin Harrison (R)
Kingdom of Hawaii (1893): Benjamin Harrison (R)
Second Samoan War (1898-1899): William McKinley (R)
Spanish American War (1898): William McKinley (R)
Philippine-American War (1899-1902): William McKinely (R)
Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): William McKinley (R)
Border War (1910-1919): Wiliam Howard Taft (R)
World War I (1917-1918): Woodrow Wilson (D)
Russian Civil War (1917-1922): Woodrow Wilson (D)
World War II (1941-1945): Franklin D Roosevelt (D)
Korean War (1950-1953): Harry S Truman (D)
2nd Indochina War Advisors (1950-1965): Harry S Truman (D)
Vietnam War Troops (1965-1973): Lyndon B Johnson (D)
Gulf of Sidra (1981): Ronald Reagan (R)
Grenada (1983): Ronald Reagan (R)
Panama (1989-1990) George H. W. Bush (R)
Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) George H. W. Bush (R)
Somalia (1992-1994) George H.W. Bush (R)
Bosnian War (1993-1995) Bill Clinton (D)
Haiti (1994-1995) Bill Clinton (D)
Kosovo War (1998-1999) Bill Clinton (D)
Afghanistan (2001-    ): George W. Bush (R)
Iraq War (2003-2011): George W. Bush (R)
Libya (2011): Barrack Obama (D)

If anything, the list shows that we go to war or resort to force regardless of the party in the oval office.  

One can also take a look at military interventions short of war, keep in mind in some places these lists overlap: 

History of US Military Interventions

 

Lying Liars and the Lies they Tell

Obama Deports More

That's a lie fostered by the administration and lately regurgitated around here in defense of the administration in light of the current illegal immigration invasion.  Fact is, what Obama says is true only in the most twisted and obscene sense of true.  The administration has in fact a higher number of "Removals" than past administrations, as you can plainly see from the red in the chart above.  The claim that Obama deports more is simply smoke and mirrors, redefining deportations to mean only removals in the hope that you don't notice that the number of returns is dropping and that the total number of illegal immigrants removed is going way way down. They hope you don't notice that...

Total deportations in 2011, the latest year for which complete numbers are available, numbered 715,495 – the lowest level since 1973. The highest number of deportations on record was in 2000, under the Clinton administration, when 1,864,343 aliens were deported.

CIS

Removals

There are two types of removals, and Expedited Removal and an Order of Removal.  An Expedited Removal occurs at a port of entry or within 90 miles of the border. An Expedited Removal cannot be appealed, does not occur before a judge, and bars an individual from reentry into the United States for a period of five years.  An Order of Removal is issued by a judge and bars an individual from reentry for a period of ten years.

Returns

In a return, an individual is fingerprinted (usually), and turned around and kicked back across the border. It used to be the most common form of deportation.  

So, rather than reducing the numbers of illegal immigrants the administration is really allowing their numbers to increase, by not turning them around at the border and giving them a (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) "order" to appear, they are allowing them to simply wander off and disappear amidst the population never to be seen again.

“This is the most transparent administration in history,”   ~ Barack Obama

Seriously, Pravda and the KGB were amateurs in the Disinformation department compared to this administration, and the following definition certainly hits the nail on the head:

Disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or supporting false conclusions. A common disinformation tactic is to mix some truth and observation with false conclusions and lies, or to reveal part of the truth while presenting it as the whole

Update: 

Silver gave an excellent defense on this subject Friday and I'd like to include a graph from one of his references.

  
MotherJones 

Saturday Sessions:

This post is dedicated to 

German-American Relations