DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

We have seen the future, and it sucks.

Archive for December, 2008

Tyrannicide: Now in a Theater Near You

31st December 2008

Bryan Caplan is not afraid to ask the hard questions.

In hindsight, I’m amazed that people who don’t think twice about killing conscripts (or even civilians) are so reluctant to justify violence against serial killer statesmen.  What could be less objectionable than trying to stop mass murder by killing the specific individuals most responsible for it?

Actually, come to think of it, it’s not really a hard question at all. The hard question is, What are these numbwits thinking that are so opposed to terminating psychopaths like bin Laden, Assad, Chavez, Morales, and Achmedinijad? It goes beyond stupid.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Tyrannicide: Now in a Theater Near You

Shocking news: College football and basketball players not as smart as their classmates

31st December 2008

Steve Sailer is always worth reading.

And yet, when you think about it, like medieval noblemen, they really don’t have to be, do they?

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Shocking news: College football and basketball players not as smart as their classmates

Women bishops demonstrate the Anglican tradition of compromise

31st December 2008

Read it.

Well, actually the Anglican tradition of being a Christian-themed Cargo Cult.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Women bishops demonstrate the Anglican tradition of compromise

New Year Honours: Knighthood for Terry Pratchett

31st December 2008

Read it.

And about time, too.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on New Year Honours: Knighthood for Terry Pratchett

Indiana Jones sequel is the most mistake-ridden film of 2008

31st December 2008

Read it.

And, to the best of my knowledge, the only people who give a shit can be numbered on one hand.

Guys, get a life.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Indiana Jones sequel is the most mistake-ridden film of 2008

Senate Democrats Say They Won’t Seat Obama Replacement

30th December 2008

Read it.

“Of gods we believe, and of men we know, that those who have power will exercise it.”

The law clearly gives him the right to appoint somebody to the vacant Senate seat. Absent any evidence that the appointment is corrupt, this is a blatant and illegitimate power-play by the Senate Democrats.

Posted in Your tax dollars at work - and play. | Comments Off on Senate Democrats Say They Won’t Seat Obama Replacement

Smells Like Pork?

30th December 2008

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If the smell is so bad that even the Washington Post can tell, then it must be really bad.

Posted in Your tax dollars at work - and play. | Comments Off on Smells Like Pork?

Ex-US Rep on Damaged Gaza-bound Ship

30th December 2008

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A timely reminder that insanity is no bar to elective office.

Israelis: Doing jobs that Americans won’t do.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Ex-US Rep on Damaged Gaza-bound Ship

Team hopes to build 200 eight-wheeled Eliica electric cars

30th December 2008

Read it.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Team hopes to build 200 eight-wheeled Eliica electric cars

TV News Winds Down Operations on Iraq War

30th December 2008

Read it.

No more Bush to bash, apparently. We won, so it isn’t news any more.

Once upon a time, we had journalists. Those were the days.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on TV News Winds Down Operations on Iraq War

Obama Tax Cuts Likely Soon

29th December 2008

Read it.

And if you believe that one, they’ll tell you another one.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on Obama Tax Cuts Likely Soon

Should Workers Take Performance-Enhancing Drugs?

29th December 2008

Read it.

To tell the truth — most of them, it wouldn’t help.

Posted in Think about it. | 1 Comment »

Video: Great white shark circles kayakers and fishermen in Sydney

29th December 2008

Read it.

Can you say “Darwin Award”? I knew you could.

Posted in You can't make this stuff up. | Comments Off on Video: Great white shark circles kayakers and fishermen in Sydney

Hamster powers environmentally friendly paper shredder

29th December 2008

Read it.

You knew it had to happen.

Hey, hamsters are cheaper than Arabs — and they don’t blow shit up.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Hamster powers environmentally friendly paper shredder

A PE teacher has been sacked from his secondary school for wearing trainers and a tracksuit in lessons.

29th December 2008

Read it.

  1. Thank God you don’t live in Britain.
  2. Nothing else.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on A PE teacher has been sacked from his secondary school for wearing trainers and a tracksuit in lessons.

Last Call

29th December 2008

The Hog is history.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Last Call

Unemployed ‘earning more in benefits than working households’

29th December 2008

Read it.

  1. Thank God you don’t live in Britain.
  2. Without eternal vigilance, it could happen here. (What am I saying? It’s already happening here….)

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Unemployed ‘earning more in benefits than working households’

Afghan car bomb kills 14 children

29th December 2008

Read it.

Not a massacre, of course, by definition.

Posted in Living with Islam. | Comments Off on Afghan car bomb kills 14 children

Working Together for Peace

29th December 2008

Read it.

Bear in mind that a “massacre” is what occurs when one or more Palestinians are killed by Israelis. When a suicide bomber blows up dozens of Jews, or a Qassam rocket drops into a school, that’s not a massacre. It’s an act of random vandalism, or a criminal matter to be investigated by the appropriate authorities, or justifiable resistance against illegal occupation by a foreign power, or an understandable reaction to decades of apartheid oppression.

Take your pick. But, unless Palestinians are dead, it’s not a massacre.

Posted in Whose turn is it to be the victim? | Comments Off on Working Together for Peace

Victim’s family call for shark to be spared

28th December 2008

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I say we go them one better, and feed the entire family to the shark. I’m sure they would want it that way.

Posted in You can't make this stuff up. | Comments Off on Victim’s family call for shark to be spared

Filled pauses and faked audio

28th December 2008

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I was only mildly suprised, a few weeks ago, when I found ABC News peddling a fake video Q&A with President Bush, in which segments of his answers to two different questions were spliced together, out of order and out of context, with no indication that this surgery had been performed (“In president, out president, fake president”, 12/5/2008). Perhaps I should have been more indignant, but I’ve learned not to expect much in the way of journalistic ethics from broadcast news organizations.

I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked.

And I accepted, years ago, that even first-rank newspapers like the New York Times routinely fabricate virtual quotations in textual form, by splicing together out-of-context fragments from widely separated parts of an interview.

My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on Filled pauses and faked audio

Hostage Halts Robbery ‘Like In the Movies’

28th December 2008

Read it.

It can be done.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Hostage Halts Robbery ‘Like In the Movies’

Hamas ‘bars injured leaving Gaza’

28th December 2008

Read it.

Of course not, they’re needed to provide victims for propaganda purposes.

Posted in Living with Islam. | Comments Off on Hamas ‘bars injured leaving Gaza’

Pressure to reform Dutch drug laws as gang violence grows

28th December 2008

Read it.

Further evidence that legalizing recreational drugs isn’t the cure-all that some arrested adolescents would have you believe.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Pressure to reform Dutch drug laws as gang violence grows

“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God”

28th December 2008

Read it.

Well, that depends on which God you have. Nigeria and Sudan have a lot of Muslims who “have God”, and I can’t say that it helps a whole lot.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God”

RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song

27th December 2008

Read it.

This sort of attitude is why Republicans are LOSERS and will continue to be LOSERS while people of this caliber are in charge of the party.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song

Failing the Chesapeake Bay

27th December 2008

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Government administrators in charge of an almost $6 billion cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay tried to conceal for years that their effort was failing — even issuing reports overstating their progress — to preserve the flow of federal and state money to the project, former officials say.

My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Government states that government is in the business of hiring and paying government workers, whatever its formal business may be.

Posted in Your tax dollars at work - and play. | Comments Off on Failing the Chesapeake Bay

EU calls for ceasefire after Israel airstrike on Gaza

27th December 2008

Read it.

Note that they never “call for ceasefire” during the continual bombardment of Israel by rockets and mortar shells coming from Gaza and Lebanon. Guess they do learn from experience after all.

Posted in Whose turn is it to be the victim? | Comments Off on EU calls for ceasefire after Israel airstrike on Gaza

Students to be taught Latin in schools curriculum overhaul

27th December 2008

Read it.

Sometimes the old ways are best.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Students to be taught Latin in schools curriculum overhaul

NPR Rewrites Rathergate History to Cover Up Fraud

27th December 2008

Read it.

Not really news, but a useful reminder.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on NPR Rewrites Rathergate History to Cover Up Fraud

Man killed by flesh-eating disease after getting small cut on arm

27th December 2008

Read it.

Much like attracting the attention of a taxing authority.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Man killed by flesh-eating disease after getting small cut on arm

Man uses blowtorch to melt ice but ends up setting house on fire

27th December 2008

Read it.

Bet he’s a Democrat. Sounds like something a Democrat would do.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Man uses blowtorch to melt ice but ends up setting house on fire

Worst politically-correct Christmas carol named

27th December 2008

Read it.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Worst politically-correct Christmas carol named

It is cold in Los Angeles.

27th December 2008

Jerry Pournelle waxes dyspeptic.

Government can protect some people from bad guys. It doesn’t always do that and never does it perfectly, but it can, sometimes, do that.  It can, sometimes, as Adam Smith notes, undertake projects that have great benefit to all with little benefit to any one person — he had in mind roads and canals and fire departments, not the over-all direction of the economy. Alas, it doesn’t take a lot of bad thinking to expand that list, and everyone does. After all, if we can put a man on the moon, surely we can give every child a world class university prep education, can’t we? Not just in the United States, but everywhere. And guess what: all the university professors, both tenured and wannabe, agree completely, and rub their hands in anticipation — since of course they won’t be paid by those who will benefit from universal university education, but by the taxpayers who won’t be asked what they think about having everyone go to university and get a degree if they want to become a manager at Jack In The Box. The largest joke is that even the taxpayers can’t pony up enough, and everyone who goes to these overpaid institutions will get to pony up a grand a month for the rest of their lives; this in exchange for the pretended education they get in order to get the credentials that prove they are educated and worthy of having a job. Of course that credential can lead to one of the coveted positions among the governing class.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on It is cold in Los Angeles.

Thoughts on Long Term Climate

26th December 2008

David Friedman is always worth reading.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Thoughts on Long Term Climate

Gift of the Season? 2009 Palin Calendar Tops Best Seller List

26th December 2008

Read it.

She’s the closest we’ve got to a Heinlein Girl in politics today. What’s not to like?

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Gift of the Season? 2009 Palin Calendar Tops Best Seller List

Father and son set off for South Pole

26th December 2008

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Darwin Award nominees.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Father and son set off for South Pole

Putting Allah Back in Christmas

26th December 2008

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Suggest to Jews that they ought to invite a Storm Trooper to Hannukah and see where it gets you. Or put Simon Legree in a Kwanzaa scene.

Posted in Living with Islam. | Comments Off on Putting Allah Back in Christmas

France Overrules Muslim Couple’s Annulment

26th December 2008

Read it.

Note that nowhere on the entire first page of the article does it mention the word “annulment” or explain what the legal issue is.

We used to have journalists. Ah, those were the days.

Posted in Axis of Drivel -- Adventures in Narrative Media | Comments Off on France Overrules Muslim Couple’s Annulment

A Muslim View of Christmas

26th December 2008

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One of the things to think about as you read this article is that some of the criticism it contains — an objection to the commercialization and excessive materialism that has come to be associated with Christmas — is not specifically Muslim. It’s a reminder of why Islam appeals to people who are repelled by the hedonistic sinkhole that Western popular culture has become.

Posted in Living with Islam. | Comments Off on A Muslim View of Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Kwanzaa

25th December 2008

Read it.

Posted in Whose turn is it to be the victim? | Comments Off on How the Grinch Stole Kwanzaa

Glucose Shortage In Brain Causes Alzheimer’s Disease?

25th December 2008

Read it.

Well. There it is.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Glucose Shortage In Brain Causes Alzheimer’s Disease?

New nanotechnology augments vision, optic blasts not included

25th December 2008

Read it.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on New nanotechnology augments vision, optic blasts not included

Red Plunder

24th December 2008

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Sean McMeekin details the staggering thievery of Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

Not really news, but a useful reminder. Leftoid are distributionsists; they don’t produce anything, they just re-distribute (“steal”) what others produce.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Red Plunder

Two snowmobilers killed in Utah avalanche

24th December 2008

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Think of it as evolution in action.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Two snowmobilers killed in Utah avalanche

Taking Care of Your Own

24th December 2008

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Why should the tribulations of distant strangers be as important as those of people near and dear to us? What requires us to care about the sufferings of faraway people whom we will never meet?

The answer is obvious: Nothing.

Neither evolutionary biology, nor tradition, nor common sense would dictate any concern for distant peoples with whom we share neither kinship, language, nor customs.

The imperative to empathize with distant alien peoples is an artifact of our times, a product of the strange and inverted moral structure that has emerged out of the wreckage of the twentieth century.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Taking Care of Your Own

Japanese who say they are the descendants of Jesus

23rd December 2008

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Funny, he doesn’t look Jewish.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Japanese who say they are the descendants of Jesus

Divers Claim Lusitania Carried Arms

23rd December 2008

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Not really news to those of us who have been paying attention, but a good pat on the back for the conspiracy theorists. Now maybe they’ll look for an unedited copy of the Zapruder film.

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on Divers Claim Lusitania Carried Arms

Not to Worry: it’s Merely a Moral Collapse

23rd December 2008

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Thus, we have two situations which ethics underpin, yet the current wisdom claims both are beyond the reach of ethics. It seems as though we are repeatedly hit in the face by the swinging doors of unintended consequences wherever we turn. We can see the results very clearly in these two areas: abortions and markets. Both of them proclaimed to be ethics-free and both of them riddled with problems no one foresaw. Or at least no one was listening to those who did foresee and tried to warn us.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Not to Worry: it’s Merely a Moral Collapse

VHS distribution grinds to a halt

23rd December 2008

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The moving finger writes, and having written moves on….

Posted in News You Can Use. | Comments Off on VHS distribution grinds to a halt