Weak Leftist grip on reality

There is a post here which shows that everybody (both GOP and Donk voters) rightly sees the GOP presidential candidates as being on the conservative side of American politics but Democrat voters see their candidates as centrist. Once again we see a reliance among Leftists on a false "consensus" and a poor grip on reality. The post takes a bit of thought to get the point but it is a striking and important point.

Posted by John Ray

Paper Plane Launch from International Space Station

(University of Tokyo) In preparation for a launch from space, an experiment has proven that a paper plane can withstand a Mach-7 air stream for 10 seconds without burning up.

Shinji Suzuki, a professor in aerospace engineering at the university who took part in the experiment, said that in the plane's actual flight, it would be released from the International Space Station, 400 kilometers from the earth, at mach 20, but immediately after entering the earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 80 kilometers, it would slow to about mach 7, matching the conditions of the experiment at the university.

Researchers plan to calculate the plane's return trajectory based on experiment data such as the pressure exerted on the aircraft, and design a paper plane to be launched from the International Space Station. The plane will be 30 to 40 centimeters long and weigh about 30 grams, bigger than the 7-centimeter-long plane used in the experiment.

Data from the paper plane project will be applied to the development of new transport craft. Unfortunately, no information has been disclosed regarding plans for experimental cosmic spitballs.

In-Store Sex Mixing

(Kota Bahru, Malaysia) Here's an odd requirement of the religion of peace.

In 1996, a regulation was enacted which requires separate checkout counters for males and for females in supermarkets and department stores. Separate counters are deemed necessary to suppress mixing of the sexes, to curb social ills like kissing and to "prevent perverts from groping women" in line.

Unfortunately, compliance with the law has been lax so the municipal council has been ordered by the local government minister, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, to impose fines for violations. Up to RM1,000 ($300) will be assessed on the store owners if customers are checked through the wrong line.

Oklahoma Teacher Busted for Drugs

(Ada, Oklahoma) A 31-year-old special education teacher at Willard Grade Center, Konawha Don Ade, was arrested last week after attempting to buy cocaine from undercover police officers. Ade also works for the Pontotoc County Co-op Preschool Program.

Reportedly, Ade faces additional drug charges. She is one of eight people arrested by Ada Narcotics Officers in a sting operation.

Ade was booked into custody with bond set at $30,000.

Hugo Chavez: I Chew Coca Every Day

President Chavez admitted to chewing coca and it's being viewed as an endorsement of illegal drug use. I'm not surprised.

From Miami Herald:

Chavez's comments on coca initially went almost unnoticed, coming amid a four-hour speech to the National Assembly during which he made international headlines by calling on other countries to stop branding two leftist Colombian guerrilla groups as terrorists and instead recognize them as "armies."

"I chew coca every day in the morning . . . and look how I am," he is seen saying on a video of the speech, as he shows his biceps to the audience.

Chavez, who does not drink alcohol, added that just as Fidel Castro "sends me Coppelia ice cream and a lot of other things that regularly reach me from Havana," Bolivian President Evo Morales "sends me coca paste . . . I recommend it to you."

It was not clear what Chavez meant. Indigenous Bolivians and Peruvians can legally chew coca leaves as a mild stimulant and to kill hunger. But coca paste is a semi-refined product -- between leaves and cocaine -- considered highly addictive and often smoked as basuco or pitillo.

"It is another symptom that [Chavez] has totally lost the concept of limits," said Aníbal Romero, a political scientist with the Caracas Metropolitan University. "It shows Chavez is a man out of control."

Chavez has praised coca before, saying he wanted to de-Satanize the product.

All this information possibly sheds a new perspective on why Hollywood-types and other celebrities flock to have meetings with Chavez. Also somewhat explained is Chavez's apparent paranoia regarding the U.S. and the ease with which he can give four-hour speeches.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Silenced Pope Update



Students who were blocked by Italy's modern-day Fascist Left from hearing the Pope go to where they can hear him:

"It was announced yesterday that a scheduled visit by Pope Benedict to La Sapienza University had been cancelled due to the rowdy protests of a contingent of students who argued that the Pontiff was "anti-science." Previously the students had announced their intention to disrupt the Pope's scheduled speech by blasting rock music over loudspeakers.

The Vatican cancelled the Pope's visit to the university, which was started by a pope in 1303, following a break-in and sit-in by 50 students in the university rector's office. Vatican spokesmen said it was "considered opportune to postpone the event," which had been planned "by invitation of the major rector."

Students of La Sapienza opposed to the protests, however, responded by flocking to Benedict's Wednesday general audience at Paul VI Hall on January 16 as a show of solidarity to the Pontiff. They displayed banners that read "If Benedict doesn't come to La Sapienza, La Sapienza goes to Benedict," and "Students with the Pope."

A professor from La Sapienza has also responded to to the protests, and has written an article accusing the protestors of being bigoted intellectuals who have a personal dislike for Pope Benedict XVI..... "[The students] have never expressed a word of criticism against Islamic fundamentalism or against those denying the Shoah [Holocaust]. This is just a part of the secularist culture that has no argument, so it demonizes, it does not argue as a real secular culture, but creates monsters."

Source

Posted by John Ray

Mom Accused of Intimacy with Son's Friends - Updated

(Ramapo, New York) A 44-year-old mother-of-four and wife of the Spring Valley Police Chief, Beth Modica, has been accused of hosting wild parties and engaging in intimate relations with high school boys as young as 16 at her home in Sloatsburg.

Modica has been under investigation since rumors started to circulate at Suffern High School last year. An indictment delineating specific charges will be unsealed on Tuesday.

A high-ranking official said that on at least one occasion Modica provided alcohol and marijuana for some of her 16-year-old son's teammates on the Suffern Mounties ice hockey team.

She is also accused of having intimate relations with some players as young as 16, the official said.

"This is a very delicate thing . . . this is a very sad story for her family and friends," he said. "It's a very shocking, disturbing and sad incident."

It was not clear whether Modica's son or her husband, Paul, the police chief in Spring Valley, were home at the time of the parties.

Beth Modica is a former PTA President and prosecuting attorney.


[Update 04/12/08]

From Lohud.com:

A former prosecutor admitted in court yesterday that she had sex with two teenage boys in her Sloatsburg home during the summer.

Beth Modica, 44, a PTA mother of four children, faces a maximum sentence of two years in state prison at her June sentencing on yesterday's guilty pleas to felony charges of third-degree rape and third-degree criminal sexual act. She faced 1 1/2 to four years on each felony count.

The judge ordered Modica held in Rockland County jail until her June 13 sentencing. Jail officials transferred Modica to an upstate facility for her protection.

Based on her guilty plea, Modica also faces 10 years post-release supervision, registering as a sex offender and paying about $1,300 in DNA testing and court fees. She also will be disbarred.

Modica's lawyer, Gerard Damiani of New City, still hopes to persuade acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bartlett to sentence Modica to county jail time or probation. A presentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 4.

Standing with Damiani yesterday in the courtroom, Modica admitted that in July she had intercourse with a 15-year-old boy in her bed and gave oral sex to a 16-year-old boy in the bathroom of her house.

She softly answered "yes" to at times graphic questions about her sexual acts from Supervising Assistant District Attorney Dominic Crispino.

Modica admitted she knew that both Suffern High School boys - who were friends with her eldest son - were underage when she had sex with them. She had been accused of providing oral sex to the 15-year-old on several other occasions.

Heh.

An old but instructive deception



Those of us who are old enough to remember the Vietnam era will remember how the two photos above were ceaselessly used by the media to denigrate the American war effort. Larger versions of the photos are here and here. One depicts a little girl running naked from a napalm bombing and the other depicts a Vietcong assassin being executed.

The impression always given is that America was guilty of brutality towards innocent Vietnamese. See here for the real story. American forces were not involved at all. It helps put in context the way deceptive photographs are repeatedly used to denigrate Israel's attempts to defend itself -- with the connivance of the Western media again, of course.

Posted by John Ray

Earth Hour - Incremental De-Modernization

(Toronto, Canada) As one of 17 cities in seven countries, Toronto will participate in a voluntary Earth Hour when everyone turns the lights off to save the planet from people.

With vast clouds of greenhouse gases spewing from vehicles, factories and generating stations around the world, it's like an ant trying to halt the juggernaut of destructive climate change.

But Earth Hour is all about the power of one, multiplied many, many times.

If you, your neighbours and many others take the little step between 8 and 9 p.m. on March 29, not only will the city's electricity consumption drop for 60 minutes, you'll be making a major statement to sluggish governments and industry, and to one another.

"Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action," says the World Wildlife Fund, a main organizer of what, in its second year, has become a global event.

The next logical step is for the cities to make lights off mandatory by law and have Earth Hour on a weekly, then a daily, basis. Acclimating the population will take some time but, ultimately, Earth Hour could be incrementally increased to two, four, eight or even 12 hours hours a day.

It's unclear exactly how much reduction in the "vast clouds of greenhouse gases spewing" will be realized by shutting down cities, however, it's fairly clear that eco-leftists with derive an elevated sense of superiority and arrogance from turning steaming horseflop into warm and welcoming breakfast muffins.

In the end, just think, people will only use what is allowed, capitalism will be extinct, everyone will receive rations from the government and the planet will be saved. Mother Gaia will be proud.

Venezuelan Military Buildup

(Bogota, Colombia) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen visited Colombia and spoke a few words about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mullen spoke at a news conference with Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos and Armed Forces Chief General Freddy Padilla at the outset of a two-day visit.

Chavez is negotiating with Russia to buy five diesel electric submarines that he says Venezuela needs to protect its extensive offshore oil drilling facilities.

He also went shopping in Belarus in June for an air defense system.

And in 2006, Venezuela signed contracts with Russia to buy 53 Mi-24 armored helicopter gunships, Sukhoi 30 fighter planes and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

The Venezuelans also have talked about building a factory to manufacture the AK-47 assault rifles in Venezuela, a development that US and Colombian officials fear could flood the region with arms.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has taken a dim view of Chavez's intentions, accusing him of supporting Colombia's main rebel group, the FARC, and rejecting his call for it to be removed from the US list of terrorist organizations. (ed. bold)

I'd say that Chavez's intentions must be questioned because it looks like he's going to be starting something.

British government renames Islamic terrorism as 'anti-Islamic activity'

Yes. You read that right:

"Ministers have adopted a new language for declarations on Islamic terrorism. In future, fanatics will be referred to as pursuing "anti-Islamic activity". Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that extremists were behaving contrary to their faith, rather than acting in the name of Islam.

Security officials believe that directly linking terrorism to Islam is inflammatory, and risks alienating mainstream Muslim opinion. In her first major speech on radicalisation, Miss Smith repeatedly used the phrase "anti-Islamic".

Source

She should read the Koran. Take the comment in Sura 4:89 about Non-Muslims:

"They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them"

Even Hitler was not that blunt -- though he was just as genocidal in practice, of course.

The above passage is in my copy of the Koran and my copy was printed in India under the auspices of the Nizam of Hyderabad so I am pretty sure I have not been misled by a neocon plot.

Posted by John Ray

Born in the Toilet

(Norway) Here's a strange story. It's reported that 23 years ago a 17-year-old girl named Brita surprisingly gave birth to a son in the toilet.

Brita thought she had an upset stomach but, instead, she was unknowingly pregnant.

Somehow the birth was discovered by the media and became front page news throughout the nation with the headline "Gave Birth to Son in the Loo." Imagine the teasing the boy was destined for.

Well, the story doesn't end there. It seems that the boy, now 23-year-old Robert Midtrud, who started in the toilet, recently completed requirements to become a plumber. What irony?

And to celebrate receiving a plumber's diploma, the editor of the newspaper that heralded the birth gave Robert a copy of the front page at a ceremony (pic) in Robert's home as mom, Brita Midtrud Moller, looked on.

Tip: Barry (providing translation)

Wal-Mart Purges Mag Racks

Announced on January 15, Wal-Mart is eliminating more than 1,000 titles from its magazine racks. Many of the the newly-denied are small but there are some biggies.

BusinessWeek, The Economist, Forbes, Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post are a few well-known publications being snuffed.

Mexican Police Death Rate

According to a report in La Cronica de Hoy, Mexican police officers are being killed at a rate of more than one a day. Specifically, data indicate that 20 officers were murdered in the first 17 days of 2008.

The murdered policemen were largely victims of organized crime groups, narco-traffickers.

It's inexcusable that these daily tragedies are not being reported, much less emphasized, by the American mainstream media. We've got a full-blown shooting war occurring on our southern border while the majority of the American public is kept unaware.

Mexico Condemns Anti-Immigrant Actions by U.S.

From Borderfire Report:

The "Permanent Commission" of the Mexican Senate "expressed its most energetic repudiation concerning the xenophobic actions materialized in the United States against Mexican emigrants."

A resolution approved by senators of all political parties "also stated its opposition to round-ups and massive deportations of Mexicans carried out by American immigration authorities."

The accord exhorts the Executive Branch to use all diplomatic and consular channels for the purpose of emphasizing protective and defensive activities for those countrymen victims of human rights violations in the neighboring country.

It also condemned the construction by the United States of a fence on the northern border and pointed out that neither fences nor restrictive walls are what is needed to stimulate the integration and cooperation between the two nations.

The legislators stated they were for an "integral migratory reform" which supports a framework of shared responsibility, aids family reunification and preserves human rights and international law.

Frankly, what is meant by "integral migratory reform" is unclear. I think it means elimination of the border and allowing Mexican nationals to roam the United States as they please.

Obviously, the Mexican Senate is not on the same wavelength as the American people who believe a secure border is necessary. In any event, this is barely newsworthy since official pronouncements have previously come out of Mexico denouncing American attempts to slow the flood of illegals. It is worthwhile, though, to know what is in the minds of adversaries.

Companion post at Diggers Realm.

SC Woman Accused of Sex with Boy

(Sumter, South Carolina) A 31-year-old woman, Connie Gainey (aka Michelle), was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy. The sexual episodes allegedly occurred between October and November 2007. The boy's guardian reported the offense.

Gainey has been charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy


[Update 01/23/08]

Gainey arrested again for violating the conditions of her bond. She was ordered not to have contact with her alleged victim. On Monday, the boy ran away from home and spent time with Gainey.

Blasting Brains From Pigs' Heads

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating an illness reported at pig slaughterhouses by workers blasting the brains out of pigs' heads using jets of compressed air.

Originally seen at the Quality Pork Processors Inc. plant in Austin, MN, the illness is described as neurological with changes in sensation and weakness in the limbs. Eleven Minnesota workers were afflicted.

According to Lola Russell, spokeswoman for the CDC, the illness is only associated with slaughterhouse workers who handle pigs' heads. Only three plants (MN, IN and NE) have been identified as having used compressed air to blast pig brains and all three have ceased using the technique.

Homeless in Dallas Cost Over $43 Million Per Year

(Dallas, Texas) Here's a cluster of interesting numbers from Dallas.

In 2000, the City of Dallas, Dallas County, other government agencies and charitable organizations spent a total of $20,341,000.00 serving the homeless population in our community. By 2006, that total had more than doubled to an estimated $43,785,577.00 annually.

Recent "point in time" census counts of the homeless population indicates that there are somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 homeless individuals on the streets of Dallas at any one time. About 1,000 are chronically homeless.

The chronically homeless use 50% of the shelter capacity of our community.

Almost half (43%) of those surveyed in 2006 reported that they were homeless due to the lose of a job. In that same count, 12% reported that they had been homeless on four or more occasions in the past three years.

Here in Dallas more than 45 agencies offer housing, food, medical care and counseling/employment services to the homeless population.

I'm skeptical regarding the accuracy of the population numbers simply because "between 5,000 and 6,000" is not a point-in-time census count. It's obviously an estimate.

And, logically, estimates of homeless populations tend to be exaggerated because the people who customarily conduct the censuses are the same people who receive funds to help the homeless. There is a built-in bias to enhance the numbers.

On the other hand, estimates are not immune to being low because entire groups of homeless can erroneously be missed. Nonetheless, I'd trust the former occurring much more often than the latter.


[Update 01/19/08]

Interestingly, according to this report, Dallas and Collins Counties will undergo a census of homeless people next Tuesday. It's also reported that the 2007 count found 5,163 homeless people in Dallas County.

The Dallas Homeless Alliance will conduct Tuesday's census, accompanied by Dallas Police.

Florida Woman Jailed for Sex with Boy

(Ocala, Florida) A 47-year-old woman, Jennifer Lyn Crossin, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in sexual activities with a 16-year-old boy more than once.

Detective Frank Scala went to the teen's home on Dec. 4, where the boy's father relayed the story.

On Dec. 13, Scala interviewed the teen at the Marion County Sheriff's Office. He reportedly told the detective that sometime in July, he and his brother went to Crossin's home where they watched television. The boy said he was sitting on the couch when Crossin began making sexual comments to him, then began touching his legs.

She told the boy's brother to leave, but the brother told investigators that he watched the activities with his minor brother from the window. The 16-year-old told detectives he eventually went into her bedroom.

In his report, Scala noted that the victim told him they had sex on two occasions. Scala also talked with the victim's other brother, who told him Crossin allegedly fondled him, but he left.

Crossin was booked into custody at the Marion County Jail with bail set at $15,000.

Something strange here, it seems. Why would teen boys gather at the home of a middle-aged neighbor woman to watch television?

Quote of the Day

Jack Nicholson says age has changed him.

"I can't hit on a girl in public like I used to," he says.

Heh. I'd suggest he's still ahead of most guys, even at age 70.