Month: June 2007

From The Jupiter Theft, by Donald Moffitt The ritual spying had become a way of life during the year-long preparations for the joint Chinese-American Jupiter mission…The big prize in the game was the new boron fusion/fission engine that was going to power the Jupiter ship, courtesy of the United States. The Chinese didn’t have one…

From The Next 200 Years, by Herman Kahn It seems very likely that many subtle and sophisticated questions will arise as mankind–increasingly relieved of the burdens of simple sustenance and richer in technological capabilities and economic resources–continues its inexorable march across new frontiers. Indeed, some such questions are already arising. The fundamental physiological and psychological…

In more posts than I can count, I’ve raved against AB 1634 (mandatory spay and neuter), and my position on anthropogenic global warming is beyond that of a mere denier; I’m a defier. Not that I advocate using incandescent bulbs or not spaying pets for other people; my position is a very simple one. I…

Two videos. The first one is labeled, simply, “Kuwait dancer” (I don’t know what the song is, but the dance is interesting. The title should say “Kuwait dancers” as there are two of them, plus a couple of spectators.) And the second one is titled “Kuwait scandal 2” — and quite a scandal it is!…

I was all set to write a post about Sidney Sawyer, but when I Googled “Sidney Sawyer” and “eunuch” or “Sidney Saywer” and “neuter”, the only links I got were to my own blog. I had in mind a long-winded essay about how the best way to avoid raising a eunchoid son would be to…

We can change the world Rearrange the world It’s dying – to get better — Graham Nash In a self-reproaching post yesterday, I grudgingly admitted that the ice at a local lake is showing clear signs of global warming, and I don’t want it said about me that I am one of those passive types…

If this isn’t considered proof positive of the anthropogenic global warming/scientific alarmist consensus, I don’t know what is! The above picture was taken yesterday, and, skeptic that I am, I have to admit that things are worse than the sign ever anticipated. The ice isn’t just thin; it no longer exists. As you can clearly…

Today’s Inquirer has a great op ed from Victor Davis Hanson in defense of the critics of the immigration bill: Washington pundits and Beltway politicians are furious at critics of the bill, from radio talk-show hosts and writers for conservative magazines, to frontline congressional representatives and Republican presidential candidates such as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt…

The mystery of Western thought is how a term that originally meant the manliness of a man came to mean the chastity of a woman. — Leo Strauss In an interesting review of Mathew Kuelfer’s “The Manly Eunuch: Masculinity, Gender Ambiguity, and Christian Ideology in Late Antiquity,” Hagith Sivan touches on some issues which I…

Well what do you know? Marijuana can stop lung cancer. The administration of THC significantly reduces lung tumor size and lesions, according to preclinical data presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Los Angeles. Investigators at Harvard University’s Division of Experimental Medicine reported that THC inhibited…

In my numerous posts about AB 1634 (California’s mandatory Spay and Neuter bill), my focus was on dogs — primarily the right of dog owners to decide for themselves what’s best for their dogs. By focusing on the role of government, I didn’t focus much on cultural factors, because my primary goal is to defeat…

In Philadelphia yesterday, I saw the foundations of the house which Robert Morris lent to the fledgling executive office and which was occupied by George Washington and John Adams. When the foundations were first unearthed, I ridiculed the contentions of activists of a historical coverup, as the place was torn down in 1832 to become…

Forgive me for the frivolous nature of this post, but I have run completely out of time for blogging, as this as sandwiched between afternoon and evening obligations which are putting the squeeze on me. Anyway, I have a goofy bust of a silly Caesar (no idea where it came from), and to heighten its…

One of my pet peeves is that libertarians and Christians — especially fundamentalist Christians — have more in common than they realize, but they are distracted by spurious (yet highly emotional) issues which cause extreme animosity. This animosity causes them to forget the big picture, which is an area where they have a lot in…

When I first contemplated the candidacy of Fred Thompson in mid-March, my reaction was positive. I was sick of the election then, and I’m more sick of it now, but I might as well repeat what I said: I would not be surprised to find that because Thompson is the equivalent of genuine combat veteran…

Chris wants some help: American Express is having a contest to fund one idea to “make the world a better place”. They have received several thousand ideas, and will pick the top 50 (in their opinion), and then let people vote to pick the best. The top idea will be funded for between $1M and…

That’s the question asked by some anonymous European fan in the audience to Champion Jack Dupree at the beginning of this video. Dupree (a former boxer) promises something to “knock him out.” An utterly charming video — especially for people who like the barrelhouse piano style, of which Dupree was a master. It’s amazing to…

On the front page of Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer is a shocking expose on what I think is a corruption of medical practice — the fact that the once-risky (and distinctly icky if not unnatural) procedure of delivering babies by cesarian section is “now is used in about a third of U.S. births“: “This is mostly…

I visited the site of the world’s first atomic pile CP-1 (which stands for Chicago Pile One) while I was in Chicago for my son Jonathan’s graduation from the University of Chicago. There is a Henry Moore sculpture at the site. I hugged it and climbed in it to commune with the gods of energy.…

In a comment to my earlier post about the shooting of a dog by Philadelphia police, NickL pointed out that “it seems that it is now standard practice for police to shoot the family dog when turning up to arrest someone,” and cited two very disturbing posts by Radley Balko. The first one discusses two…