perfidy

Astronomers have discovered that a giant black hole located in a cluster of galaxies in the Perseid Cluster has been vibrating on B-flat for about 2.5 billion years. The tone is 57 octaves below Middle C, and is the lowest, sexiest bass note ever recorded. The Pleiades are expected to give up the booty within another .5 billion years.

Geeky doggerel follows. Consider yourselves duly warned. 

Bass! How low can you go?
Big Bang, what a brother knows.
Once again back is the incredible
the inexorable
the gravimetrical B- Galactic Enemy Number One
Chandra said "Freeze!" and I got numb
Can I tell 'em 30K is the wavelength of my spin?
Theorized by many, hey Hawkins try again
Now I'm in Science and newsweeklies cuz my attractors attract weakly
And a black hole like me will not go meekly
Einstein was a prophet and I think you ought to listen to
what he can say to you, what you ought to do is
Follow for now, the power of the gravity
"Make a miracle, B, pump the lyrical"
Black is back, you'll all be sucked in
Check it out, yeah y'all, here we go again
Turn it up! Bring the noise!
Turn it up! Bring the noise!

The September 11 Digital Archive is being added to the Library of Congress's permanent collection, and the LC will host a day-long symposium on Wednesday, September 10, 2003. If you're in DC, play hooky and go. In the meantime, you can view the collection of images, video and stories here.

From Rocket Jones, (by way of Terra Taco) here are a couple links to nifty, neato google tricks:

Here you will discover how to use google as a calculator,

and here you will find a plethora of useful google tips.

Kerry has been on a tear lately. The other day, he jibed Dean for his comment that we should not take sides in the Middle East:

"It is either because he lacks the foreign policy experience or simply because he is wrong that governor Dean has proposed a radical shift in United States policy towards the Middle East. If the president were to make a remark such as this it would throw an already volatile region into even more turmoil."

Of course, Dean could lack experience and be wrong.

Then, he took a cheap shot at the Administration, I heard this on the radio this morning and couldn't find a link, but he said something on the order of:

"As I look out on this audience, I see people of every color, every creed and background. This must be John Ashcroft's worst nightmare."

Whatever you think of the Patriot act, calling the man a racist is just not right. It often infuriates me to hear anyone who disagrees with the left instantly labelled "racist" or "fascist" - it's just utter bullshit.

I don't want a bitter, lemon sucking jerk in the White House. Happily, he won't ever get there.

By the by, Dean also took a shot at Ashcroft:

"John Ashcroft is not a patriot. John Ashcroft is a descendant of Joseph McCarthy."

More bullshit, I'm afraid, from the Deanster. Ashcroft is not Satan. For that matter, tailgunner Joe was not Satan.

It would be nice if the Democrats could mount a campaign without inciting hatred for conservatives. Policy disagreement does not equal evil incarnate.

Yesterday, I remembered that I had not read the Limey Brit in some time. Instantly, I rushed over and found... a movie review.

Limey raves about the movie Equilibrium. Convinced by his sparkling prose, I rented the movie last night. It kicks ass. I have not enjoyed a movie as much since I was forced to watch Boondock Saints. (I have watched that movie of my own volition several times since. It also kicks ass.)

I have a few quibbles with the plot, but on the whole, it was fairly well thought out. And the action sequences are amazing. The Brit was right, this is not guns and martial arts, it is guns as martial art. Clever idea, and perfectly realized on film. Curiously, I am reading the Gunslinger series from Stephen King, and it gave me a new way to think about what the gunslinger does. Added bonus.

The funny thing is that I might have watched this movie months ago, but for the fact that when I picked up the box at the lackluster video, the front screamed, "better than the Matrix!!!" Needless to say, I was dubious. Oh well, now all is right with the world, and I need to find someone to teach me gun fu.

Joe Bob says, "Check it out!"

Clueless has a short (for him) post up focusing on the recent goings on in the Palestinian leadership. I've been thinking a bit about this since Abbas quit.

When I saw the first news reports of his resignation my first thought was, "Damn, he just set made a huge deposit in his Karma bank." Clueless commented,

If another Prime Minister is appointed and forms a cabinet, and then Arafat is exiled, then as a practical matter the new Prime Minister will have far more control than Abbas ever did. I think Abbas was genuinely trying to work things out, and the next PM might not be willing to do so. But such a leader would not have the kind of grip on power that Arafat has, and would in turn be easier to replace.

I don't know for sure whether Abbas is genuinely interested in peace or not, but I am sure that this resignation not permanent. Abbas will be back, and the very fact that he resigned because Arafat would not give him the power to work with the Israelis will in the future give Abbas some serious world credibility. If Arafat leaves, Abbas will come back, and likely with the support of both the American and Israeli governments.

What he does with that power, we'll have to see.

Have you ordered your copy yet?

If you need to ask what Quicksilver is, or who Neal Stephenson is, get off my webpage immediately. Thank you, come again!

Apologies for the light posting. Even community college staff get slammed sometimes.

Over at Oliver Kamm's excellent blog, I found a delightful attack on Noam Chomsky. Here is a choice excerpt:

If Chomsky's normative judgements are perverse, his empirical ones are - I search for the most neutral word I can find in the circumstances - ahistorical. He asserts, for example:

Kennedy invaded Cuba and then launched Operation Mongoose leading right to the missile crisis which practically destroyed the world.

...This type of thing is typical of Chomsky's work. To those who are unfamiliar with history, Chomsky's political writings might seem a rational and informed case. Yet when you strip away the invective you're left with little but heroic assumption, tendentious assertion, egregious omission and even outright fabrication. Unfortunately, historical literacy is an increasingly scarce condition, and Chomsky has managed to build a large constituency on the strength of it among those of college age.

The whole article, indeed the whole blog is informative and well written. Joe Bob says, "Check it out!"

The Kansas City Star is reporting that while Dean has attacted much support from young whites, his success in attracting minorities has been rather limited. The report goes on to detail how minorities are less lekely to be internet users than whites, and that this shows that Dean's internet fundraising is therefore inherently racist.

Just kidding.

Apparently, Dean's stances on gun control and gay marriage are limiting his appeal to blacks.

But this is all nonsense, since blacks and minorities will vote in huge majorities for whomever the Democrats put on the ballot. Jews and Blacks have historically voted as much as 9 to 1 in favor of Democrats.

Blacks have long been taken for granted by the Dems, and have suffered the most from Democratic policies on the national and local levels. They won't increase their electoral clout until there is some perception that their votes are up for grabs. Blacks used to be traditionally Republican, before the evil Goldwater pissed off Martin Luther King. If blacks in significant numbers, even as small as 25%, started voting Republican, the Democrats would lose the key bloc that allows them to maintain parity with their opponents. They'd have a very hard time keeping seats in Congress. That should make Black leaders more willing to negotiate for what they want, rather than remain the lackies of the Democratic Party.

The latest "Know Thy Enemy" installment is up on IMAO, and today the focus is Hamas. Among the many facts we learn are these jems:

• Hamas won't rest until the Jews are pushed out into the sea. That will significantly improve the GDP of the sea.
• Hamas is a big part of the "cycle of violence". They blow up innocent men, women, and children, and then Israel is like, "Hey, don't do that." And thus the cycle of violence continues.
• If you see a Hamas member, shout, "Hey! Look! It's a Jew!" Maybe he'll set himself off early. Dumbass.
• Contrary to popular belief, Hamas has nothing to do with ham. Actually, if you throw hams at them, they'll get angry.
• I don't like to loosely throw around charges of anti-Semitism, but I don't think Hamas members like Jews.

Frank even thinks Aquaman can beat Hamas.