Monday, November 30, 2009

Not that we didn't know it was coming

Charles Johnson breaks with "the Right."

By "the Right," of course, he means:
1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)
And so on. Heck, I'm against the Right too, as Chuckles defines it. Anybody recognize themselves in his list, though?

Last time I link to him, by the way. Or read him.

Abbott ousts Turnbull in Oz

Anti-ETS (Emission Trading System) Lib Tony Abbot has won the leadership of his party by one vote over LINO (Liberal in Name Only) and AGW-believer Malcolm Turnbull. All is not good news, though, as Tim Blair explains. Still, the repercussions of Climategate roll on.

Update: Caz! Comment!

Update II: Forgot the magic word: Please?

My statement on Tiger

by John G. Martin, non-Esq.

He's an idiot like everyone. Here he is on Obama, pre-election:
I've seen him speak. He's extremely articulate [black people are allowed to call each other "articulate"], very thoughtful, I'm just impressed at how well, basically all politicians really do, how well they think on their feet. Especially those debates. It's pretty phenomenal to see them get their point across. But I just think that he's really inspired a bunch of people in our country and we'll see what happens down the road.
Little did Tiger know that it would be an angry wife, a golf club, a fire hydrant, and a tree down that road.

Hey, if Buick's looking for new idiots to promote their products, I'm available.

Yeah, sure

Quote of the Day, from Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, in the Grauniad, natch:
"The processes in the IPCC are so robust, so inclusive, that even if an author or two has a particular bias it is completely unlikely that bias will find its way into the IPCC report," he said.
More craziness from Pachauri in a Guardian piece just before Climategate broke.

Update: Pravda brings its formidable integrity (what?) to bear on Climategate:
‘Climategate’ is not an ordinary case of falsifying data by a few rogue scientists. The fraudulent theory of Global Warming has provided the basis for an international political movement which has the stated goal of completely restructuring the entire global economy based on that fraudulent theory. ‘Global Warming’ is a con game perpetrated by dishonest scientists and the government and corporate leaders who provide the corrupt scientists with opportunities for advancement.

If we fail to stop the further politicization and institutionalization of the fraudulent theory of Global Warming, we will most certainly experience a future of ‘science’ controlled by government decree and of a world government that facilitates the operations of corporate industries while imposing severe restrictions and arbitrary taxes on the general public.
Thanks, P. We'll call if we need you.

(via "JonesII" in this thread at WUWT)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Booker: 'Greatest scientific scandal of our age'

Christopher Booker in the Telegraph:
The reason why even the Guardian's George Monbiot has expressed total shock and dismay at the picture revealed by the documents is that their authors are not just any old bunch of academics. Their importance cannot be overestimated, What we are looking at here is the small group of scientists who have for years been more influential in driving the worldwide alarm over global warming than any others, not least through the role they play at the heart of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). . . .
Update: Not that this will surprise anyone who reads the thing, but the Denver Post has said not a word about C-gate except for a typically clueless Eugene Robinson syndicated column today ("The purloined e-mail correspondence published by skeptics last week — portraying some leading climate researchers as petty, vindictive and tremendously eager to make their data fit accepted theories — does not prove that global warming is a fraud.").

Where's Vinnie?

Update II: Look upon this blog; and, upon this. One has had three (count 'em) posts on Climategate; the other (by rough count) almost 60. Strange.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Laziest scam-mail ever

From one "Jimi Sanchez." In full:
Beloved,

I am Elizabeth Etters, a Christian.I picked your email randomly for an inheritance of $18M. Please contact me for more details via [redacted].
Beloved, huh? Well, who's Jimi, Liz? Always screwing around on me, then coming back and offering me $18 million. It's not enough, Lizzie. In fact, you have many who outdo you in wanting to give me money. And they love me much more than you do.

Update: Okay, this one beats all. It's from FedEx:
FedEx provides access to a growing global market place through a network of supply chain, transportation, and business and related information services.
Yes yes?
The FedEx courier Service Company is hereby passing an essential message to all our valuable customers to be very careful while presenting their Receivers/Residential Address to avoid wrong delivery. Authoritatively, this is the FedEx courier service company mailing you in respect of your parcel that was brought to this company to be delivered to you by one JOHN PETER. Before the delivery protocols commenced, there was a misunderstanding between you and the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON) over the Insurance Certificate which caused the delay of you receiving your parcel for the past one year.
Now that you mention it, I do have some vague recollection . . .
Meanwhile we are happy to inform you that the FedEx has finalized everything with the (NICON) and subsequently approved yours among the 24 valuable parcels' to be couriered after the released of the parcels from the (NICON)We are happy to inform you once again that your parcel that contains a cheque worth $3 Million is among the 24 parcel's listed which is now in our office and also with your name as the receiver despise that we lost your private residential address which is an indication that you can now re-send your residential address back to the FedEx company where your parcel can be delivered to you without hesitation.
Yes yes?
Meanwhile remember that the sender of this parcel JOHN PETER. still owes this company the sum of $105 before the incident occued. Know you that we have spent some money in the process by recovering back your parcel. We once again appreciate your patronage.
Check's in the mail!
Without hesitation you are to pay for just the balance [I said, check's in the mail!]left by your sender via western union money transfer so that your parcel can be delivered to your residential address before it attracts demurrage.
Demmurage, eh?
Your parcel is not just an ordinary parcel but with a huge amount and I think you understand what I mean by accumulating a demurrage? [Now I do!] Which you will not allow to happen to the recovered parcel that almost gone if not for the love that the good God has for you and I. I urge you to make hay while the sun shines. We assure you that your parcel will arrive your country within 3 days as soon as this company receive your full residential address and the balance left by you and the tracking number of your parcel will be sent to you via e-mail immediately so that you can track it yourself to see whether we are competent in the discharge of our duties.
FedEx loves me!
FedEx courier Service Company do hereby inform all their customers to be at alert especially with allsorts of scam mails that might be coming to you Globally. Be careful with their e-mails so that your parcel will not be in danger with their evil.
And they're looking out for me!

Update II: I spent at least two minutes diligently looking for the Three Stooges doing the "Yes yes?" routine. No luck.

Friday, November 27, 2009

So 80s

Be afwaid. AP:
A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff's officials mystified.

Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.

But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.
Wait, you didn't use the phrase, "surgical precision."
Two officers from the Costilla County Sheriff's Office have investigated the mutilations but say they don't know what's killing the calves.

"There's nothing really to go by," said Sanchez, who's ranched for nearly 50 years. "I can't figure it out." . . .

Some in the area believe the mutilations are the work of aliens. An area UFO chaser, Chuck Zukowski of Colorado Springs, has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.
I'm betting it's the joooooos.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Just a pic . . .

Of Smelly Slob at the Pa-in-Law's today.


He had fowl, he had potatoes, he had green bean casserole, he had pie (apple), and he had Frisbee.

First pic with the 70-300 lens the enigmatically generous "Mr. B" gave me, free, gratis, and, uh, I forget. He said he never used it. You don't use that Lexis of yours much, either, Mr. B!

In any case, I need to learn how to use the damn thing.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thought for Tomorrow

Today!

About three-quarters of all adult Indians suffer alcoholism and/or other forms of substance abuse. This is not a ‘genetic condition.’ It is a desperate, collective attempt to escape our horrible reality since ‘America’s Triumph.’ It’s no mystery why Indians don’t observe Thanksgiving. The real question is why do you feast rather than fast on what should be a national day of mourning and atonement. Before digging into your turkey and dressing on Nov. 23, you might wish to glance in a mirror and see if you can come up with an answer.--Guess who

Too lazy to find out which book it came from; found it quoted today at Dissident Voice.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Record?

Huffpo's piece on Sarah Palin being booed by disappointed autograph seekers in Indiana has amassed almost 15,000 comments. You have to look at the front-page right sidebar for that number, but there are 285 pages of them (mostly supportive of Palin, natch). I'll leave it to others to assess the possible political implications. Fifteen thousand. Don't believe I've ever seen even 2,000 anywhere else, including LGF back in the day.

Update: Oops, I see that Huffpo itself apparently routinely gets several thousand comments on individual posts. But still.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Climategate?

Andrew Bolt has it:
Hackers have broken into the data base of the Hadley GRU unit - one of the world’s leading [climate] alarmist centres - and put the files they stole on the Internet, on the grounds that the science is too important to be kept under wraps.

The ethics of this are dubious, to say the least. But the files suggest, on a very preliminary glance, some other very dubious practices, too, and a lot of collusion - sometimes called “peer review”. Or even conspiracy.

A warning, of course. We can only say with a 90 per cent confidence interval that these emails are real.
And his latest update:

8.15 PM UPDATE: The Hadley CRU director admits the emails seem to be genuine:
The director of Britain’s leading Climate Research Unit, Phil Jones, has told Investigate magazine’s TGIF Edition tonight ..."It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago that someone had hacked into our system and taken and copied loads of data files and emails."…

TGIF asked Jones about the controversial email discussing “hiding the decline”, and Jones explained what he was trying to say….
So the 1079 emails and 72 documents seem indeed evidence of a scandal involving most of the most prominent scientists pushing the man-made warming theory - a scandal that is one of the greatest in modern science. I’ve been adding some of the most astonishing in updates below - emails suggesting conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organised resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more. If it is as it now seems, never again will “peer review” be used to shout down sceptics.

This is clearly not the work of some hacker, but of an insider who’s now blown the whistle.
I left out Bolt's links. Read the whole thing. And they're going nuts over at WattsUpWithThat.

Update: RealClimate, the leading pro-AGW blog, finally responds, and doesn't deny that the e-mails and data are genuine. Lots of mealy-mouthedness, of course. "This is the way scientists talk to each other in private," etc.

Update II (11/22/09): I love this. The Grauniad, after posting one weak and biased "news" story and one even more biased thumbsucker on Friday, has this on its front page today: "Climate change sceptics and lobbyists put world at risk, says top adviser"
Chance to limit warming squandered, says scientist

Climate change sceptics and fossil fuel companies that have lobbied against action on greenhouse gas emissions have squandered the world's chance to avoid dangerous global warming, a key adviser to the government has said.
Aw, rats. Guess we can pack it in then.
Professor Bob Watson, chief scientist at the department for environment and rural affairs, said a decade of inaction on climate change meant it was now virtually impossible to limit global temperature rise to 2C. He said the delay meant the world would now do well to stabilise warming between 3C and 4C.
Wiki on Watson. A bigwig, no? Notice though that the Guardian doesn't mention his affiliation with the University of East Anglia, home of the Climate Research Unit.
In an interview with the Guardian, Watson said: "Those that have opposed a deal on climate, which would include elements of the fossil fuel industry, have clearly made making a 2C target much, much harder, if not impossible. They've clearly put the world at risk of far more adverse effects of climate change.". . .

The British government last month published a map that laid out the stark details of a world warmer by 4C. It showed that the rise would not be evenly spread across the globe, with temperature rises much larger than 4C in high latitudes such as the Arctic. Because the sea warms more slowly, average land temperature will increase by 5.5C, which scientists said would shrink yields for all major cereal crops on all regions of production. A 4C rise would also have a major impact on water availability, with supplies limited to an extra billion people by 2080.

Watson backed controversial calls for research into geoengineering techniques, such as blocking the sun [excellent!], as a way to head off dangerous temperature rise – one of the most senior figures so far to do so. "We should at least be looking at it. I would see what the theoretical models say, and ask ourselves the question: how can we do medium-sized experiments in the field?"

Such an effort could divert attention and funds from efforts to cut carbon and switch to cleaner technology, he said. "I think it should be a real international effort, so it isn't just the UK funding it."
Yeah, just the UK.

Update III: The Harry_Read_Me.txt file examined at Devil's Kitchen (the word "clusterfuck" is used repeatedly by the blogger, though with asterisks. We don't need no stinkin' asterisks here).

Update IV: Via Tim Blair:


Available here.

Update V: OMFG. Bolta on George Monbiot, the biggest GW idiot in the MSM (non-US division), finally having his eyes pried open: "Even Monbiot says the science now needs 'reanalyising'" No quotes, just read. This keeps getting better and better.

Update VI: BTW, information wants to be free. Anybody got an idea why?

Update VII: Good God almighty, is everybody fucking insane? TimesOnline:
At least half the years in the next decade will be warmer than the previous record year for global temperatures and next year could be the warmest to date, according to the Met Office. . . .

The Met Office’s Hadley Centre announced its predictions as a separate scientific analysis showed that previous estimates about the rate of temperature rise had been too low. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said the planet could warm by 7C (10.8F). The increase would make large parts of the planet uninhabitable. . . .
Update VIII: It just keeps getting better and better (read comments, too, then go back to the home page and scroll for more hijinks!)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Wart speaks for Mutulu Shakur!

In Denver November 28. "'Til It Breaks--Denver Anarchist News":
Presented by Denver and Aurora CopWatch, Sisters of Color United for Education, and Denver ABCF

when: Saturday, November 28th. 7:30-12ish
Wart's found another murderer to defend! Four-and-a-half hours worth.

where: Sisters of Color 2895 8th Ave, Denver, CO (8th and federal across the street from the bus yard)

how much: Sliding Scale 1-5$ (if you ain’t got it don’t let it stop you from coming) Please join us on Saturday, November 28th to stand in solidarity with Dr Mutulu Shakur before his appeals hearing on Monday, November 30th at the super-maximum Federal prison in Florence, CO.

Doctor?
Dr. Shakur is a New Afrikan (Black) man whose primary work has been in the area of health. He is a doctor of acupuncture and one of the most prolific, committed and conscious freedom fighters and political prisoners to whom the Black liberation struggle has given birth.
Oh. Doctor of acupuncture. So am I. Well, when I lived near New York I liked to stick pins in women on the subway. Doctor Drunkablog.
Since the age 16, Dr. Shakur has been a part of the New Afrikan Independence Movement. As a part of this movement Dr. Shakur has been a target of the illegal Counterintelligence Program carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (COINTELPRO). This was a secret police strategy used in the U.S. starting in the 1960’s to destroy and neutralize progressive and revolutionary organizations. It is believed that Dr. Shakur’s resistance to this program led to his arrest and trial.

“Straight ahead, stiff resistance”
Here's an episode of "American Gangster" on Shakur. Billy Ayers, where are you?

More: An account of Wart's appearance in AZ the other day.

Update: Weirdities: Watching American Gangsters being interrupted by Wal-Mart commercials and trying to watch tonight's episode of WWIIinHD at the same time. I'm trippin', man.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

You all watching . . .

WWIIinHD on the History Channel? Wow. And told, amazingly, in a pro-American style. And IN COLOR! (Mostly.)

Actually I hate the History Channel, but this is something else. My first dose of color WWII footage--the theatrical release of famed H-wood director George Stevens' footage, "D-Day to Berlin"--was back in the late 80s. This is much better.

Update: The next program illustrates why I hate the History Channel: Hitler and the prognostications of Nostradamus. God help us all.

Update II: Though I still love this.

Serial liar to appear in Denver for PeaceJam!

And it's not Ward Churchill! No, it's Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the Nobel Peace Prize winner for her book about growing up in war-torn Guatemala, I, Rigoberto Menchu, which was shown to contain many fabrications, but is still taught in the kind of college courses we all know and love. The Post interviews Dawn Engle,
co-founder of PeaceJam, an international education program based in Arvada that brings young people into contact with Nobel Peace Prize winners to work for change. . . .
I wrote about PeaceJam's gathering of Nobels and yoot in Denver back in 2006.

[Menchu] will introduce a screening of the 1983 documentary "When the Mountains Tremble" at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium of the Denver Post building, 101 W. Colfax Ave.
You'll note if you look at the links just above that the Post's writers were unbelievably smarmy and supportive of PeaceJam back then; today, the tradition continues.
We asked Engle about PeaceJam and the documentary featuring Menchú Tum, who is longtime friends with Engle and her husband, PeaceJam co-founder Ivan Suvanjieff.

Q: What do you hope filmgoers take away from seeing "When the Mountains Tremble"?

A: I think the film will hopefully inspire people to feel that when all the odds are against you and it feels like the whole world is turning against you, that you can prevail. I think a lot of people now are feeling hopeless and even beaten down. I think this film will really help lift them up.
Just tell a few lies about your beaten-down-ness and you too can win a Nobel Peace Prize and make lots of money!
I cried when I saw it. And I really felt involved with this brave young girl, Rigoberta. You kind of fall in love with her during this film.
Maybe there'll be Nobel-winner-on-Nobel-nominee action! (third bullet-point).
Q: What is the significance of Menchú Tum's visit?
Who cares! Here's the PeaceJam "package" for the flick:
PeaceJam is selling a $175 ticket package [gack!]called "A Day With a Nobel Peace Prize Winner." The package includes a ticket to PeaceJam's Inaugural Hero Awards Luncheon on Wednesday at the Seawell Ballroom, a reception where participants can meet Menchu Tum, and a ticket to the screening. Tickets for just the film go on sale Wednesday for $12 at the Starz box office.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Drone

JWP links to bad video of Wart's appearance in Arizona last week. Again, I cannot understand why anyone has ever referred to him as a "firebrand," etc. He's a disorganized liar and a bore, and tells the same shit over and over. Hey Wart, when did Germany attack Russia again?

There was a time when I might have cared. But Wart's done.

Update: "I'm getting back in my professorial role here." Sorry, Wart, but, no.

Update II: "Polarity"!

Update III: "Polarity"!

Update IV: When I say I don't care anymore, that doesn't mean I don't want to mock. I always want to mock Wart.

Update V: "Bill O'Reilly." Drink!

Update VI: Much better if you want to get drunk: "Okay?" Oh, God, there's over an hour to go. Maybe tomorrow.

Update VII: Called Wart a "fake fat Indian" a couple posts down, but, though it's hard to tell, it looks as though he may have lost some weight. Hot, hot, hot.

Mmmmmm . . .

TimesOnline:
The Frankenfood that improves you

The future of food includes baby purée to improve brain
power . . .
Sorry, that's all I read.

Jail time for another Wart-pal

The fat fake Indian is the kiss of death to his fellow rads. The (NY) Post:
A federal appeals court today ordered a convicted terror-coddling civil rights lawyer to begin serving her prison sentence.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Lynne Stewart's conviction upon announcing its ruling.

Stewart, 69, was convicted in February 2005 of conspiracy and providing and concealing material support of terrorism for her actions in smuggling messages from "blind sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman to his followers in the Islamic terror group Gama'a al-Islamiyya.
You'll remember Wart has spoken at various rallies in her defense over the years, and she, repaying the favor, came to his trial last spring. They also joined forces recently to defend the no doubt soon-to-be-convicted "San Francisco 8," Black Panthers charged with the murder of a police officer 38 years ago. Others Wart has helped keep in jail are Mumia Abu-Jamal and Lenny "Still in a Cage" Peltier. LoveStruggle!

Update: Yes, she was sentenced to only two years, which I suppose means one actually served. Oh well.

Update II: According to Wikipedia, charges against four of the Frisco (as natives call it) 8 were dropped in July.

Update III: Natsui?

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hyper-something, anyway

Ran across this rather OCD-ish list of 100-odd tips for "hypermiling" and was surprised at how many of them I instinctively followed. My faves:
6) Join a fuel economy forum

Join an outstanding forum to learn ways to increase your fuel economy by talking to others who share your enthusiasm and goals.
God, you mean I can make my life even more boring?
14) The 'corridor effect'

All else being equal, traveling at a constant speed on a freeway within a flow of traffic (in the same direction) is more efficient than going the same speed in isolation. The reason is aerodynamic: a flow of traffic generates a localized wind current in the direction of travel. You will benefit from this artificial breeze.
Actually I don't like this one, because in my decades of x-country driving I've learned that it's best to keep away from crowds.

Here's the first really obsessive one:
25) Pick up cargo "high", deliver "low"

If possible, shop at stores that are higher in elevation than your home. That way the extra weight you pick up (shopping items) is on board for the descending return leg where it's less of a penalty than it would be on an ascending return leg.
I do this one:
26) Conserve momentum: stop sign 'stop and crawl'

When multiple vehicles ahead of you are progressing through a stop sign (or a right turn at a red light), this represents a mini 'stop and crawl' situation normally found in a bumper to bumper traffic jam. Time your approach, to arrive at the stop sign as the last car ahead is departing.
And this:
30) Traffic light timing - stale 'green', no pedestrian signal

In the absense of any other indication about how stale the light is (eg. if there's no pedestrian signal or waiting cross traffic), assume that the green light ahead is about to change. Adjust your approach speed accordingly (IF traffic permits - ie. you don't hold anyone up) to avoid a full-on brake application should the light change.
And this:
45) Conserve momentum: avoid stopping

Avoid coming to a complete stop whenever possible (and when safe and legal of course). It takes much less energy to accelerate a vehicle when it's already traveling just a few kilometers per hour than it does from a complete stop.
Uh, no:
47) "Drive without brakes" (DWB)
Although the Drunkawife tried to help me out with this one, IYKWIMAIKYD.

This one is really scary:
55) Engine off coasting

Engine-off coasting (EOC) is one of the largest contributors to increased efficiency of hybrid vehicles, many of which automatically shut down the engine when the accelerator is released and the vehicle is coasting.

EOC can be accomplished in non-hybrids as well simply by shifting to neutral and switching the key from "Run" to "Acc" (being careful not to switch to "Off" and cause the steering to lock). As soon as the engine stops, return the key to the "Run" position or else you will be in danger of locking out your steering and crashing. Also be careful to not steer at all while the key is off to prevent a lock up.
Another one I do:
73) Manual transmission: cruise in high gear

When cruising at a constant speed, shift to the highest gear you can use without lugging the engine.
Bummer:
107) Listen to slower music

Leave the speed metal at home. Fast paced music can make a driver more impatient, more agressive and likely to speed. At the same time, slower paced music is more relaxing and tends to promote a more sensible driving style while also reducing stress.
No Golden Earring? Surely you jest.

There are many, many more. See which ones you do. YMMV.

Update: Should note that I don't do any of this stuff out of concern for, like, Gaia or anything. I'm poor, and, as one of the hypermiler points encourages, I treat getting good mileage like a game. The 93 Ford Escort wagon I drive is rated 28 mpg combined city/highway; believe it or not, I've gotten 40 mpg combined (rarely), but routinely get 42-43 mpg on over-the-road distances, driving just under 80 (where the limit is generally 75). I enjoy that.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Balloon head gets plea bargain for Balloon Boy parents

Yes, BB's parents pled guilty, Dad to a felony. Another win for Clarence Darrowish Wart-lawyer David Lane, who said an incredibly stupid thing after the plea:
After the hearing, Richard Heene's attorney David Lane said that the seriousness of the charges reflects the anger Americans felt after learning they had been duped by the parents into fearing for Falcon's safety.

"Don't mess with America's emotions," Lane said. "America has the emotional instability of a hormonal teenager."
That includes, of course, the judge in the case, right, Dave? Very smart. Further quotage:
Richard and Mayumi Heene quietly answered a handful of questions from a judge as she pled guilty to a misdemeanor and he to a felony. They made no other statement during the short hearing.

Larimer District Judge Stephen J. Schapanski allowed them to remain free on bond until sentencing on Dec. 23, and did not discuss the possible sentences they face. Each could be eligible for brief jail terms. . . .

Schapanski said restitution for the search will be part of any sentence they face.

"The financial consequences will be significant," Schapanski said.

The arrest affidavit for Richard Heene was unsealed after the hearing. It charges that deputies found evidence in the home that the Heenes were having financial trouble, and had been working with a company called RDF Media Group to pitch a reality show about the family to networks.

The affidavit says the balloon was manufactured specifically for the hoax, and that the release, the fake 911 call and the parents claim to deputies that Falcon was aboard were all intended to "influence" deputies into conducting a search and "in turn, attract media attention."
Well, duh.

Update: Caplis and Silverman have Lane on. Silverman: Did he (Heene) do anything wrong?

Lane: As a matter of law, yes.

Lane says that Heene pled guilty to a class-four felony because otherwise prosecutors would have charged his wife, a Japanese national, with a felony, which would have left her open to deportation.

Caplis mocks Lane's claim that Heene loves his children. Lane: there are many forms of love. Caplis goes mental, pointing out that anyone who would try a hoax like this with his six-year-old child is messed up.

Lane: Beating your children, raping your children . . . this doesn't even make it on that scale (I'm paraphrasing).

Lane: The only reason (Heene) was charged with a felony was media hysteria . . .

Silverman: Who created the hysteria . . .

Will they get jailtime? The wife may get one day . . . No followup on Heene pere.

At the end Caplis attacks Lane for the "Ward Churchill-type garbage you keep throwing out." to "a tiny bunch." Lane asks, "you mean, the jury?" Caplis says he means the assholes (my term) around Wart. Lane again defends his characterization of Americans in general as "hormonal teenagers."

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Not yet, anyway

The alluring Chuck Plunkett in a Post blog:
Tomorrow we’ll weigh-in with an editorial on coming Congressional hearings regarding Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

It’s made me interested in considering what we might learn from the hearings in terms of our nation’s laudable obsession with diversity.
Laudable obsession.
Though I’m a big fan of diversity and tolerance, I’m not a fan of weak-minded acceptance of folks who go on to commit kill-crazy rampages.
Racist.
Because it could very well be that Army officials were way too tolerant with Maj. Hasan and now will forever regret the result.

(Like the good folks at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who got suckered into quickly handing tenure to that hack Ward Churchill, whom they thought was an American Indian, in order to increase diversity among its faculty. And no, Churchill’s academic crimes don’t include kill-crazy rampages, but the debacle we had to endure for so many years helps make the point.)
Wart, of course, has claimed repeatedly that he took up arms against the U.S. Total lie, but who knows what his atherosclerotic brain might come up with next? Keep watching the skies!

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Did anybody else around here see

Fox NFL Sunday from Afghanistan today? Brilliant. Corny. All-American. Sweeps. I don't know if they advertised that the crew would be there, but I don't think so.

Said it before, but these young(ish) folks in our military today are unbelievably smart, handsome (both men and women) and honorable.

What made me tear up at the end was Terry Bradshaw leading everyone in "God Bless America," and all the niggers, spics, crackers and indeterminate mongrels were belting it out bigtime. Then they broke, spontaneously, into the time-honored chant, "USA! USA! USA!"

We bring freedom. Sorry about that. Happy Veterans Day.

Update: You are all communists.--Howie Long.

Bullies

In comments some posts down the subject of bullies came up, and it's come up again (at least from me) in relation to the filthy assholes around Wart. So, I want to hear readers' stories about their childhood (or adult) confrontations with bullies.

Several of us in that down-post thread mentioned running from them when we were kids (jwp, I believe, said he wore a superhero cape when he did). I mentioned "The Fat Kid," who once chased me off the end of a boat in drydock, resulting in the oddly shaped skull people often comment on, even today.

But I do have a hero story, as well:

Seventh grade, Junior High (as it was called then). There was a ninth grader who hated me, for no reason that I could ever discern. I never even knew his name. But he tormented me. In study hall, for example, he'd sit opposite me and try to crush my feet with his size 12s. He was a good six inches taller and outweighed me by maybe 70 pounds (I probably weighed about 100 pounds then).

Worse, his locker was right next to mine.

One day, we met up at the lockers at the same time--something I always tried to avoid. He started the usual shit, crowding me, shoving me against my locker, etc.

This time, though, was different. No idea why. I reached back with my tiny right fist of fury and smacked him in the mouth so hard it echoed down the halls. This is not an exaggeration. My friend since first grade John Fable (where are you John?) was 20 feet down the hall and around the corner, and he heard it.

Prick never bothered me again.

Your turn.

Friday, November 06, 2009

"I'd defend Osama, I'd defend Hitler . . ."

Wart-lawyer David Lane just now on C & S about whether Ft. Hood terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan should face the death penalty.

He's agin it. I'll post the audio when it shows up.

Update, a long time after: What bugs me is not that Lane would defend Hitler, etc., but that he would be able to fool himself enough to believe, just as he did with Wart, that his client was actually innocent of any wrongdoing.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Give the devil his due

Front-page profile of Wart-lawyer David Lane in the Post today. Fave quote:
One thing that hasn't changed is the way Lane has been attacked for representing Churchill. Like the day he sat with a client, in prison for second-degree murder and facing a first-degree murder charge for a slaying behind bars.

"This guy's doing second-degree murder time, facing the death penalty, and he says, 'Can I ask you a personal question?' " Lane recalled. "I said, 'Sure.' He said, 'No offense, but how do you represent a scumbag like Ward Churchill?' "
The rest is about what you'd expect. Wart has a brief quote. I suppose the Post did this now because Lane is representing the Balloon Boy family.

Update: Benjie over at his moribund blog:
Missed this ’cause I’m out of town, but there was a great writeup of Denver civil rights attorney David Lane on the front page of yesterday’s Denver Post. I get accused of being everything from an anarchist to a militia member, and though I kind of like both of those tags, David Lane probably sums up my political beliefs better than anyone when he says that “the most dangerous entity on earth is a government that has the ability to do whatever it wants whenever it wants without control.”
Never seen Benjie accused of being either. Liar, sure. Sociopath, absolutely. Bully--well, isn't everyone in his circle? What Benjie and his stinking ilk want is for the gubmint to do what they
want, whatever that happens to be. U.S. off the planet!

Update II: So who among us will buy a copy of Pike and pass it around so we can all mock it? (It will surely be mockworthy.) We certainly don't want to inflate his sales figures beyond five.